28 April 2010

Homemade Baby Sling


I made this a few weeks ago and am so happy with it (still haven't used the mei tai). It folds up super small, is super quick and easy to put on and to fit Henry into, is surprisingly comfy, and keeps Henry happy when he just wants to cry in the stroller. So I keep it in the diaper bag all the time and have used it a few times in shops and all the way home from shops.
It took just about an hour to make and I used a bit of fabric from a $1 fabric surprise bag. I used these instructions:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Look-Mom-No-Hands-A-Simple-Baby-Sling/

27 April 2010

Henry is growing!

Henry is growing FAST! Last week he surpassed 11 pounds, the weight limit of my kitchen scale, so I don't know his current weight (have added bathroom scale to my list of things to look out for in thrift stores). And today it was surprisingly cold so I just had to grab the hat that I keep in the diaper bag and it is so tiny on him now - it's practically a yamika!

I needed a photo comparison.

At a few days old:

Just 2 months later:

Henry is slowly figuring out his hands

Henry is really starting to suspect not only that those things hanging off his arms might belong to him but also that he might have control of them.

Here he is yesterday thinking about them.
And today discovering them again.

Using them to explore this bag of granola that landed on his legs (I did this because he liked it not because I'm a wacko).
And, of course, discovering that he can suck on them.

26 April 2010

Wooden Cars


I finished my toy cars. I was all excited about using dowels as perfect little wheels BUT they are harder to cut on the table saw than I thought (lots broke) and I still have to try my best to put the hole in the middle and straight. So they are not the perfect solution to all my wheel needs. But I think they work better than using the hole saw. The bus works really well. The car doesn't roll so well.
Now I really want to stop making toys for a while because I keep reminding myself it is going to be so much more fun to make them when I can then immediately give them to Henry and watch him play with them.

Henry is 2 Months Old


He's still getting more and more fun every day. He is smiling more and more and even does a funny laugh more. And he's crying less and less which is great especially for trying to take him out.




22 April 2010

Clothes Peg Bag Sewing Project


I finally made a clothes peg bag like I've been meaning to for years. I bent a coat and used some cotton and some corduroy that I got in the $1 bag of fabric scraps that I got from the thrift store recently. And apart from cuttin gwhich I did beforehand I got the whole thing done in less than 2 Coronation Streets.

21 April 2010

Garden Salad


It is Spring! We've been eating some delicious salads the past couple days. We have mache and chives from the garden. And yesterday I found one lonely carrot in the garden that missed the harvest last fall. And I got some really nice lettuce and grape tomatoes from our local food co op to add. Even Kevin said it was a delicious salad... even Kevin!

18 April 2010

Stegasaurus Friend



Tonight I finished my first pull along toy. I am pretty happy with it. Especially because it opens up a whole new world of easy toys to make. Except there were a few chips in the stegasaurus after router-ing and drilling so I think I should stick to slightly simpler shapes because I was already being very careful.

The Last of the 2009 Carrots



We are down to our last 2 2009 carrots. They are a bit small and I think when they are washed I might decide there are too many bad spots to bother cutting around. So I am calling Friday's dinner the last of the 2009 carrots. We had them with grocery store veg and chickpea cutlets (http://www.veganpeace.com/recipe_pages/recipes/ChickpeaCutlets.htm). And this was just a few days after planting the 2010 carrots (won't expect to be eating them till June though).

It feels pretty good to have grown enough to last through the winter. They kept very well in the cold cellar but they were getting more and more bad spots over the months and I was getting a bit sick of dealing with those. So I haven't planted quite so many this year.

08 April 2010

New Baby Sun Hat


Henry has at least 3 sun hats already but he has a very small head and they are all much too big. So I decided to measure and make him one that would fit. It turned out a little big but still fits him better than any of the others.

07 April 2010

Magnet toys


Kevin and I started these just before Henry was born and just finished them last night. It is a fun magnet play set for Henry to use when he gets a bit older. We used some 1/4" hardboard and Kevin did all the drawing and I used the scroll saw to cut them out. I think we still need a zoo keeper with a bucket of food.

Homemade Mei Tai



I finished sewing this mei tai. I used the instructions here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-as-ABC%3a-Asian-style-Baby-Carrier-or-Mei-Tai/

I'm not super happy with it as it's not much easier to put on than the stretchy wrap we have and it doesn't fold up as small. I was imagining it folding up small enough that I could just keep it in the diaper bag a lot of the time but that is not the case at all. I still think I might use it a bit. It has a lot more head support than the ergo (especially when I added some safety pins to make the top tighter which I didn't have in this picture) and it is less hot than the stretch wrap.

06 April 2010

My artsy photos



Today I attempted some artsy photos of Henry. These were the best I got before he got fed up.


And isn't this the best smile! He has been smiling just about all day today!

03 April 2010

Good Friday 2010



We had family over for Good Friday. I made hot cross buns and fish and dairy-free parsley sauce. The temperature was very nice and we sat outside for a lot of the day.

02 April 2010

Spring

We have been getting some lovely spring weather this week and we have been doing lots of spring activities.

Hanging clothes on the line
Eating salad from the garden (This is some of the mache that I planted in the fall)
Watching ducks on the lawn

Doing taxes

Cooking hamburgers on the fire pit

Going on lovely walks

Snuggling outside