A bag for Henry

Henry is still quite into dressing up. So I made him this little bag a few weeks ago. Super simple, open top so he can get in and out of it easily. The best part was that I got to dive into my collection of kids' fabric.

Here he is opening his little present, not too impressed.

So it took me a couple weeks to finally get a couple good pictures of him using it. On this day he decided he wanted to play with it all on his own, went and got it, needed a bit of help putting it on, and then started putting his toys in all on his own. Made me so happy seeing him enjoy it like that. And he's used it a few other times as well.

Here he is showing me that he's happy.

He's such a sweet little boy these days, I love seeing these pictures of him "playing" - so intent, knowing just what he wants to do next. (Yes we've been having some lovely tantrum free days recently and I am feeling extra in love with my "perfect" kid.)

Valentine's 2012

Just a quick record of our 2012 Valentine's celebrations. I already went over the top with the decorations but for celebrating we just did a few special things. I bought some chocolate croissants for breakfast but poor Henry missed out because he just refused to try any of the pieces with the chocolate on.

For dinner I made our favourite cheeseless pizza. Henry only ate the crust but I can't blame him as I accidentally made the sauce hurt-your-mouth garlicky. Kevin and I still managed to enjoy it despite the garlic overload.

And for dessert we did chocolate fondu. This part I really thought Henry would love and he enjoyed it but he refused to do any proper dipping. He just liked to dip his fork into the chocolate and paint his plate with it. But he let me put a little bit of chocolate in his mouth and he ate a bunch of strawberries later on.

And Daddy pulled some silly faces while we took these sweet pictures.

After Henry went to bed Kevin and I watched Midnight in Paris (which we both thought was just ok) while eating some more chocolate. It was a pretty perfect Valentine's Day.

For Baby

I knit up some baby booties for the new baby recently. None of the booties I knit for Henry before he was born ended up fitting - he had long skinny feet at birth. But I think this is a better pattern. It is Bernat's free pattern for baby booties and the same one that Soulemama uses - so it must be good.

I used cotton yarn since the baby is not due till May 11 when it could be quite warm already. And the yellow pair should be a tad smaller than the green since I went down a needle size but I can't see a difference.

Something about these little booties was so fun to knit that once the yellow ones were done I immediately started the green. But now I've moved on to a little sweater - so fun to knit for the little baby inside my tummy.

I showed Henry the little boots and told them they were for the baby in Mommy's tummy. But he disagreed and said they were his. And then tried unsuccessfully to put them on. I've bought the baby a few clothes with cars or animals and even Sesame Street characters on them thinking Henry will love to point at the baby's fun clothes but now I see that it could turn out a different way.

Maternity Dress

I made myself a maternity dress. I didn't use a pattern but just kept it super simple - just 2 pieces really, not even separate sleeves. And I added a bit of elastic to make it empire waist so it's less like a giant T-shirt. I turned out pretty well, the first time I've done a knit neckline without it getting stretched out. But I didn't really enjoy working with knits, I just had to be so careful and the bottom hem did end up a bit stretched out.

Here I am in the dress with my 27 week belly.

Adventures in Raw Food

So looking up vitamix recipes had me coming across several raw food recipes as well. And it got me interested. It's obvious to me that there are lots of benefits to eating more raw food and I also thought it would be fun to try brand new foods.

Here's some raw food snacks I tried: kale chips and sweet potato chips from recipes on this blog. Both done in the dehydrator on a low temperature so still considered raw, the enzymes should all still be intact I believe. The kale chips were really good, they have a very flavourful tahini dressing on them so they tasted just like a Caesar salad. The sweet potato chips were just ok.

I also tried a raw hummus recipe from Carol Alt's Raw 50 where the chickpeas are soaked overnight instead of being cooked. Apparently cooking legumes changes a lot of the protein to carbohydrates which I don't want. The raw hummus wasn't gross or anything but I didn't like it and it's still sitting in the fridge. Too bad because I eat a lot of hummus.

And I got really adventurous and made this recipe for raw sushi. The funnest part is that instead of rice you use raw parsnips put through the blender until it is the consistency of rice. This was good but it was quite a bit of work so don't think I'll be making it again anytime soon.

And tonight I made this raw pad thai using kelp noodles. It was really good and really easy, I will definitely be making it again. And the kelp noodles are so cool! Once we get basil growing in the garden I could even have all the ingredients in the house for a quick unplanned lunch.

I think it would be really cool to make a big switch to eating mostly raw foods and maybe one day I'll do it for a month or something. In the books I've been reading the authors always talkabout how they feel so much better on a raw diet and all their chronic health problems improve. Yes, I'll definitely try to make a big switch one day when I'm not pregnant, I'm dying to see if I would feel any different. I still have lots of raw food recipes bookmarked to try - zucchini pasta for sure and I still have to delve into the world of raw desserts!

Henry, of course, has not been even trying many of these fun new foods. Actually he did try a few sweet potato chips but eventually decided he did not like them. He's sticking to the old favourites like french fries and chocolate granola (a new granola recipe that I've invented recently, just need to perfect it and I'll post it for sure).

A Warm Sunday

We had a lovely warm day today. And we managed to spend most of it outside. Just the three of us spending the day together doing fun family activities - it was very nice.

In the morning we went on a walk by the Grand River in RIM Park. It was fun but Henry was being naughty in a brand new way - running away! He's been so good about that up to now, he usually just moans and cries about not being allowed to go the way he wants and we have to go pick him up but he has never just started running away from us. He's changing! But he was still a sweetie pie for most of the walk and we had all enjoyed it.

The picture below is Henry playing "Watch out, plants everywhere!"

We came home from our walk, had lunch and then headed out to play in the front yard. Henry played on the driveway while Kevin and I had some drinks and chocolate on the front porch and I even did some knitting outside!

Then Henry suggested we go on a walk so we did. Henry rode along on his lion car for most of the walk. That second picture is just what it looks like - Henry hugging a fire hydrant that he took a liking to.

After an early dinner, we all headed to the big indoor swimming pool that has an awesome section for toddlers. It is currently Henry's favourite thing so that was fun for all of us. Henry fell asleep on the drive home after his busy day and now Kevin and I have the evening just the two of us. All we have planned is chocolate chip cookies.

Chia Seed Chocolate Pudding

This recipe for chocolate pudding is so easy and tasty and good for you it's crazy. The taste and texture is just exactly like a really good chocolate pudding. I haven't tried it in a regular old blender, even with my vitamix there is a slight gritty texture that you only notice when you think about it so not sure how well a regular blender would do.

Chocolate Pudding

1 cup almond milk (or any milk)

1/3 cup chia seeds

1 ripe banana

2 TBSP agave nectar or other sweetener

2 TBSP cocoa powder (or cacao to make it a raw food)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend! (Soaking the chia seeds in the milk beforehand might help with blending.) Might be a little warm after blending so place in refrigerator for an hour or so.

Makes 2 servings.

And here are some pictures of Henry feeding the ducks yesterday. We had a crazy warm day (up to 9C!) and spent all afternoon outside.

Knit Toddler Vest

I finished this vest for Henry yesterday. I used this pattern from Vanessa at A Little Original but I got a bit mixed up at the top so mine doesn't sit quite as nicely. And I used some super bulky thick and thin yarn I got from the thrift store in the fall.

I forgot how sweet he looks in a vest and collared shirt, I used to dress him like that a lot last winter. I couldn't get a really good picture of him so instead I am putting up 5 not so good pictures.

Top

I made myself another top last week. This one is from the translated Japanese sewing book Simple Modern Sewing. I think it is a good book so far, I want to make a bunch more of the things in there but I think they will wait for post pregnancy.

I bought the material for this top new. I was looking for something solid but instead found this navy and white check which is still pretty plain I think. And it is a nice loose weave so drapes nicely.

I do really like this top even though it is not very flattering and makes me look humongous. It looked much nicer on the very thin and small busted Japanese woman in the pattern book. I will definitely wear it while I'm pregnant at least as it's long and comfy. Here's my 25 week belly. This pregnancy is coming along nicely and my back is no longer bothering me now that I am being more careful about carrying Henry too much.

And in Henry news, here he is out at a restaurant in Elora for breakfast yesterday. I thought this would be a really fun treat since Henry loves pancakes so much these days. And he was excited about pancakes as soon as he heard us order it from the waitress but he lost interest after a few bites and went to play on the floor of the restaurant with his toys. Oh well it was still a nice outing.