New project (are you surprised?)

I partly blame Papa because he is the one that enables me on all my projects. Meanwhile, the house literally looks like a tornado hit it. But, despite my lack of time and, more importantly, sewing skills, I’ve decided to make a crib set for Little Bear. By “crib set” I mean bumper, skirt, window valance, curtains, and maybe sheets if everything else goes well. Ooh, or maybe a baby blanket… I didn’t think of that before. Anyway, this is as far as I got tonight. Pretty good, if I do say so myself!

This is the pattern I’m using:

And these are pieces of the bumper that I have cut out so far. I’m replacing the flowers in the pattern with buttons (in case the next little one is a boy) but other than that, everything is the same. I’m excited to see how it all turns out! (All the fabric is inside out… I didn’t notice that until just now!)

Of course, at the same time, I’m already planning out what her “big kid” room will look like when baby #2 comes along (not anytime soon, don’t panic). I am sort of opposed in principle to “bedroom sets” but I love love love this one from Target!

A day in the life…

 

I know, it’s been a long time coming but here it is. One day in our life. Minus some of the crying and fussing because really, who wants to see that in a video?

My work space

It needs to be cleaned up but, well, story of my life!

Snow Day

Because our city isn’t equipped to deal with any amount of snowfall, school was cancelled for the day. Little Bear and I went outside, but she wasn’t too impressed with the cold white stuff. She did, however, smile for the camera and look intently at the falling flakes. Really, what more can I ask?

"More"

"More", originally uploaded by the.three.bears.

Ever since Little Bear was about three months old, I have been signing to her as often as I can remember. Not a lot of signs, just the basics, like milk, more, all done, water, drink, and eat. Anyway, I was doing "more" again at dinner tonight and thinking to myself that she was never going to pick it up and then she looked over.... and signed it right back to me. She's got food in her hand during this video but she did it several more times when I said "more" to her and then a few more times on her own. Like Nana said, "I guess we better step up the signing!"

Trying to get some work done

while someone was whiney and needed to be held. Doesn’t she look happy?!?

Poor, sick baby.

Little Bear hasn’t been feeling well this weekend.

So sleepy

Great play date (both for adults and kids tonight). So great that I am just now getting to bed (at 2:23am). That is why I’m posting this picture and not one of the good ones from today… because then I would have to wait for them to upload to my computer and it’s taking FOREVER! Good night!

Sunny days

Keepin’ the clouds away…

                Nana and Little Bear

This counts for Friday….

…. since I’m not in bed yet.

My little girl

Somehow, sometime in the last nine months, Little Bear has turned into a toddler. She doesn’t speak or walk yet but this last week has left me wondering where my baby went. First of all, we’re buying  18 month clothes for her. Her arms and legs are just so long that she won’t fit right into 12 month sizes. I was in Target the other day and I had to turn to the toddler section for clothes. Papa laughed at me for getting teary eyed but those tiny little onesies have all but disappeared into my memory.

And then today, I took her to a local café that has a little indoor play area. Well, it’s not actually that little, but you get my point. Little Bear was all over the place, and certainly holding her own with the two and three year olds that were there. She even grabbed a (miniature) shopping cart and started pushing it around! I am just in awe of how quickly she is learning and growing. Soon we will see first steps, and first words…

I try each day to be thankful for whatever stage she’s in and to appreciate all the new things she is learning to do. I am excited to see her grow, but sad when each day has passed us by. Torn between wanting one more moment with my baby and wanting to discover the person she is becoming right along with her.

And by all that, I mean to say, here, look at these pictures. Enjoy today just as much as I have!

P.S. The new diaper cover fit! Hooray!

Second attempt at diaper covers.

After making yet another trip to the fabric store (which of course, I have to go to a different town for) I have completed a second diaper cover. This one is way better than my first, though I still have a long way to go.

Here is how I addressed my problems from before:

1. I used velcro. It’s not perfect, and I forgot to sew the squares on to the tabs before I sewed the cotton and the PUL layers together. But other than that, it worked out well. Oh yeah, and the band that the sides attach to is too close to the seam. But those things can, with some concentration next time as I’m sewing, be fixed.

2. Sew on the elastic from the outside (cotton side), not from the inside (PUL side). I did this. Acutally, what I did was use a straight stitch with the PUL side facing up, then flipped it over and did another straight stitch with the cotton side up. This way it hid my first straight stitch and it looked nicer.

3. Use straight stitch, not zig-zag. Did it.

4. My pattern was too big. I didn’t actually make it smaller, even in the crotch. I’m not sure why…

5. My elastic didn’t bunch enough. For the stretchy parts, I actually sewed in a piece of swimsuit elastic first, then did the FOE over that. It was much stronger and worked much better. That was Beth (the lady at the fabric store)’s idea.

I might actually be ready to try with fabric that I like more. We’ll see how it fits tomorrow!

Dog (late)

Diaper cover attempt #1

As a direct result of some late night internet searching this weekend, I’ve gotten it into my head that I want to try and make my own diaper covers. My lovely husband enabled me and took me to a giant fabric store to get materials. Two days and many hours later, this is what I came up with:

And this is what I’ve decided/learned for future attempts:

1. Use velcro (aplix), not snaps. While my cheap self prefers snaps in covers that I buy (because of the longevity of the snaps versus aplix) they are MUCH harder to work with than velcro is. I say this, of course, after only one attempt, but I really think I need to get better at the rest of the cover sewing before I tackle snaps again. Plus, as far as I can tell, you can only buy plastic ones online and then I can’t have instant gratification.

2. Sew on the elastic from the outside (cotton side), not from the inside (PUL side). As you can sort of see in the bottom picture, the elastic on the outside looks terrible because I couldn’t see what I was doing.

3. Use straight stitch, not zig-zag. I’m not actually convinced about this yet but the Thirsties Duo covers that I have use straight stitch and they look fine. It’s easier to make it look nice (see #2) also, by doing it that way.

4. My pattern was too big. Specifically, too wide in the crotch area. I will make it smaller next time.

5. My elastic didn’t bunch enough. I don’t know how to fix this.

Overall, though, I guess it was successful. I am especially happy with the gussets, as they were a bit difficult to work with. I think it will be way too big for Little Bear but we’ll try it on tomorrow anyway. Also, this was my least favorite fabric so I’m glad I used it first. I’ll try again tomorrow… stay posted. Maybe if I actually get good at this, I’ll post a tutorial so all you more talented seamstresses (seamsters?) can show me up.

Catch me if you can!

In the last few weeks, we’ve had quite a few motor developments around here. Little Bear learned to clap, play peek-a-boo, wave, kiss, dance, and now she wants to play tag. She starts crawling away and looks behind her to see if you are chasing her. If you are, she squeals and crawls faster. It’s quite cute, and she had fun playing it today with both her Grandma and her Nana!

Also, let’s just pretend one of these pictures counts for yesterday. I took a bunch of video (working on a “day in the life” montage) but no photographs and by night time was too tired to post.

Tomorrow: Attempting to make a cotton/PUL diaper cover!

Sleepy Bear

It’s been a long day for this little bear. She got to go to the science museum with Nana and then spend the evening with Grandma and Grandpa. Needless to say, when Mama and Papa finally got her home to her own crib, she was totally zonked out. Enough that I could snap some pictures before I turned off the light.

 

In other news, she kissed her first boy today at the science museum. Papa says Little Bear is not allowed to go out with Nana anymore. :)

Sleepy park trip

I took Little Bear to the park this afternoon. She was quite sleepy after a day with Boppa, but she enjoyed it anyway! I also got a chance to practice my (very rough) video editing skills. Enjoy!

A day at the Park, originally uploaded by the.three.bears.

Cheese face!

Little Bear hasn’t really met a food she doesn’t like yet, though she’s increasingly getting frustrated with anything pureed. Lately, her favorite has been cheese of any kind. Cheddar and feta are her favorites. Especially now that she has teeth, she’s just been nomming down on solid food like there’s no tomorrow. She’s also been really interested in trying whatever we are having, especially if she has something else in front of her, so lately we’ve just been giving her smaller chunks of our dinner. Tonight I’m trying a video here for the first time… that counts as a picture, doesn’t it?

Eating Cheese, originally uploaded by the.three.bears.

Early to bed.

Literally. I went to bed at 8:15 yesterday evening, which is why I forgot to post. But I took the picture at Little Bear’s 9 month well baby check. She is looking great (I could have told you that) and comes in at 96th percentile in length, 60th in weight, and 54th in head circumference. She spent most of the visit kissing her reflection in the mirror and trying to eat the paper off the table. Yep, just another day!

Happy 9 month birthday, Little Bear!

You’re getting so big!

Sunday night

Play date

Little Bear had a playdate today, at a local mommy-and-me café with a fun indoor play area. She had a great time, despite the fact that on a regular day, she would have been taking a nap right then. However, she passed out in the car on our way home. Awww…

Busy baby

Lately, Little Bear has been here, there, and everywhere. She will explore anything within reach, and sometimes things that are out of reach. She’s pulling up (and squatting down, and pulling up, and squatting down…), crawling, sitting, scooting, rolling, grabbing, pushing, and even taking a few steps. Lately she’s been really into looking under things, or taking an object and flipping it over and over and over to see all the sides of it. Oma took a great series of photos today of her moving around the house:

And, because it’s my 365, here’s one that I took, post Dog kiss:

Sweet smiles

I can’t ever get enough of this little girl’s smiles!

Hurricane Little Bear

Little Bear got to spend some time tonight playing in her new play corner in the family room. I say “play corner” but obviously she just spreads out wherever she feels like it! She definitely likes her new toy box, though not for it’s intended purpose as much as for it’s handy height for standing next to.