Charlie has been engaging this week. It is fun watching him make the leaps where he wakes up one day and has new skills. He seems to understand more of our language and is trying to string it together himself, doing some solo imaginative play, and noticing even the smallest things. He is saying Momma a lot more, which Amanda appreciates.

We think moving up to the older toddler room at daycare is rubbing off on him.

On Saturday we put together a toddler bed for him (one of the low to the ground style that he can get in and out of by himself), involved him in the setup process, and made a big deal about it. Afterward he took a nap in it (after spending some time getting used to it… new things are exciting!).

That night it was a little rockier. We got him to bed, but he got up five times throughout the night. That said, we were able to soothe him back to sleep in his bed instead of caving and letting him cosleep in our bed, so that is a win. Hopefully it gets easier.

Amanda reminded me of what some friends said: When they got serious about drawing bedtime boundaries, they decided to only have Dad go in when the kids cry. When Mom isn’t an option, they tend to figure it out quicker. My new term for the regular nighttime cries is Mommafishing.

Walks with Charlie have been sweet. He reaches up on his own to hold our hand. Playground time, too. He is getting faster and more independent by the day!

Here is what walks in the woods with Charlie last year looked like vs this year:

I created some Micropub Shortcuts for iOS and have been using them a lot. Next step is setting up autosyndication for these Micropub posts.

I’ve also used my Upload Photos to WordPress Shortcut a lot this week and I refactored it to work with the Share Sheet.

I put in a PR to update the Authentication section of the WordPress.org REST API docs that was approved and merged: https://github.com/WP-API/docs/pull/149 – Here is a link to the new section: https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/using-the-rest-api/authentication/#basic-authentication-with-application-passwords

I upgraded my work computer to the new MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip this week and I’ve been blown away at how fast it is. UI changes are instant. The battery lasts a long time. The fan doesn’t run like my i7 Intel version. Great update. I do miss the touchbar, though.

Some new-to-me songs I’ve enjoyed recently:

Reading

I recently finished Recursion by Blake Crouch and Daemon by Daniel Suarez. I’m now working on Freedom by Daniel Suarez (second book in the Daemon series) and listening to Solomon’s Gold by Neal Stephenson, another book in the Baroque Cycle.

My Weekly roundup

I realized tonight that I could use the Query Loop (I prefer the one from Generate Blocks because you can restrict the query with before and after dates, just like wp_query) to include the Microblog posts and Likes I’ve posted in the last week as a roundup in these weekly posts.

This week’s Likes

This week’s microblog posts

2023-02-06

Bookmarked https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/books/review/hobart-book-village.html.

This little town with 8 indie bookshops is only 2.5 hours away from us in the Catskills. Seems like a great summer weekend getaway destination.

2023-02-08

I don’t know who needs to hear this: You don’t need to measure with any kind of precision in most types of cooking. Some blogger just made that recipe up. Eyeballing is totally fine.

Baking, other than fine pastry, doesn’t need precision, either. But you aren’t ready to hear that yet.

2023-02-08

There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.

Octavia Butler

2023-02-08

Wow, the new Apple MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro chip looks and feels like the MacBook Pro I had in 2008, right down to the body and MagSafe connector.

2023-02-08

Initial thoughts on upgrading to an M2 Pro MacBook:

• It looks a lot like my old 2008 MacBook Pro
• The Migration Assistant is much better than the Migration Assistants of Yore (I think I first used one in ~2004), but it still failed on the first try, just like it did on my iPhone last month.
• Using a Thunderbolt cable connected to both machines was the right move. Very fast migration.
• This machine is stunningly fast. I can’t believe how much faster it is than my 2019 Intel i7. UI changes are instantaneous.
• My Google Chrome Extensions didn’t transfer. Also, no surprise here, Chrome didn’t respect any of my previous preferences.
• I miss the Touch Bar.
• Keyboard is better.
• Booting up from sleep is instant.
• It drives two external screens much better than my 2019 machine.

2023-02-09

I put in a PR to update the Authentication section of the WordPress.org REST API docs that was approved and merged: https://github.com/WP-API/docs/pull/149

Here is a link to the new section: https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/using-the-rest-api/authentication/#basic-authentication-with-application-passwords

2023-02-10

Making Paul Clarke’s Falernum number 10: https://thelosttikilounge.com/ingredients/falernum-guide/

2023-02-11

Charlie and I went on a walk in the woods and noticed the Skunk Cabbages starting to pop up. Last year we noticed them on February 10.

2023-02-11

In reply to https://cagrimmett.com/micro/34622c96eb/.

Finished product.

2023-02-11

Went to Peekskill Brewery for dinner and had a tasty sour brewed with black currants and spruce tips. “River Currant” – Would drink again.

2023-02-11

In reply to https://indieweb.org/Micropub#New_Reply.

Testing micropub reply from Shortcuts

2023-02-11

Bookmarked https://punchdrink.com/recipes/angostura-colada/.

2023-02-11

Testing posting an image with micropub via shortcuts. These are cornmeal griddle cakes.

2023-02-12

Pinecone!

2023-02-12

Are spambots now using GPT3 to create spam comments? I’m seeing an uptick of comments that look like a real person wrote them, but with email addresses and author links that make me think they are spam.

2023-02-12

Creative way to paper windows in a closed shop. Tarrytown, NY.

2023-02-12

Driving across a bridge while out running errands, I looked out to the river and saw a friend rowing a Guideboat we made together! I’d recognize that boat anywhere. Made my day.

2023-02-12

A friend asked:

I was wondering what your go-to recommendation for a book for a beginning spoon carver would be? Also what beginner level knife set (if any) is the most preferable?

My answer:

For beginner knives: You need a Sloyd knife and a hook. I recommend a Mora 106 for the sloyd and probably the BeaverCraft Open Curve Spoon Knive for the hook.

Both are roughly $20-$30 each and unless you do carving to sell things on a daily basis, you might not outgrow them. As long as you keep them sharp they’ll serve you well.

I can’t remember if you are left or right handed, but know that most hook knives can come left or right handed. It looks like the specific one I recommended from BeaverCraft is right hand only, but Robin Wood has a similar open curve style that comes left or right. (In fact, it is his design originally)

For sharpening, get some sandpaper in various grits from 120-3000 and use that on a flat block to sharpen your sloyd and on a round dowel to sharpen the hook.

This is a great video on sharpening from Emmet van Driesche:

For books: The one I want to recommend isn’t available yet. My friend Emmet van Driesche is writing one now. So I think I’ll recommend Barn the Spoon’s Spoon book.

I think that is along the lines of what you are looking for: Primary greenwood carving with knives and axes, not bandsaws and sanders. Though if that assumption is wrong, I can recommend others.