Tricks

All of a sudden the Little One is pulling out all kinds of tricks..seemingly out of nowhere. But I guess she's been watching and waiting for her time. A little like the first crawl.

Up until now the Fun Factory (above - I am just calling it as it is folks, it's written there on the wood) was purely for chewing on and pushing over. Just the other day I watched her pull it from the bottom of the tea trolley, inspect and chew the rings (as usual), and then, full of purpose, place a ring over the spoke. I watched her do it again. And again. Wanting K to see her new skills, I grabbed the camera, but by then she was ready to move on. Fun Factory was old news. Next trick.

We've been reading books almost everyday. Her choice. She'll pull them from the trolley and pass them up to me. She sits (still - the only time she does) on my lap and I read into her ear. We read the same handful of books. One of her favourites is Goodnight Moon, which was my favourite as a little girl. The other day she handed me the book and I read into her ear, Goodnight clocks, and goodnight socks. Goodnight little house, and goodnight mouse. She pointed to her mouth.

I'll count that as a trick. Then I asked her, Where is your nose, Saskia, and she pointed that chubby little finger slowly up to her nose. Beaming. Both Little One and mama.

Sew, Craft

A while back I won an online sewing course on Cintia's fun little blog, and started Sew School last week. Jodie uploads weekly notes, videos and projects, and is around on the school's website or facebook page to answer any questions. It's such a great idea. We made nifty little drawstring bags (shoe bags for travel?) for our first project. I was a wee bit proud. (Baby steps, folks, baby steps).

I think I've been stuck on cushions for way too long, so it'll be a good chance to learn some new tricks. I have a stack of sweet books with lovely projects (this one was a present for my birthday and this one I've just borrowed from the library) - and a growing stash of new and vintage fabric.

Now that I've finished hand sewing the Little One's quilt (hours of love in that thing, I tell you), I'm working on a few other little crafty projects before I begin the next (and final!) stage, the binding process...

Magic Basket - Number 2

The original Magic Basket had begun to lose a bit of its appeal after a few weeks. I think she had inspected every inch of most of the items and honestly, seemed a little bored. We had even swapped baskets with Saskia's little friend Tilly for a few weeks, which was an easy way to present a whole lot of new treasures (even though the hunt can be the fun part). After our trip up north and the recent bout of sickness, I realised I still hadn't had the chance to put together a new basket. A bit of digging around, some help from JanMa and a few trips to garage sales later, we now have Magic Basket number 2.

Number 2 didn't have quite the same impact at first. This time she only pulled out a handful of objects and then crawled away, not showing much interest in going back. After a few days of similar sessions, I added some of her treasures from the original basket and this seemed to reel her back in. There's a small glass milk bottle that she can't get enough of. She blows and talks into the small opening and laughs. And she's quite into a little ceramic egg cup and a shell I bought on our holiday. She plays peekaboo with the ribbon and is fascinated by a little bobble of wood on the top of the honey dipper (don't know why, maybe I just love the shape, but this is my favourite item and I always get a kick out of her using it - funny!).

I'm glad we're using the Magic Basket again. It's such a lovely ritual, and such a good way to slow down and be in your baby's world.

*I love how each time I take photos of her using the basket, I get that dreamy golden ray effect. We try to get out the basket at the same time each day, and that spot in the house catches the most beautiful afternoon light.

Pause

It's a little crazy to admit that last Sunday was the first time I left the house to have a little coffee date with Just Me.

I've been lucky that K has always been confident in caring for Sassy. And I've never had to knock back dinners with friends. But I just haven't used my 'free' time to be by myself.

In the end it was only about 45 minutes that I spent sitting down, flipping through a magazine and enjoying every sip of a creamy flat white. But it was enough. After a long week with a Little One who is still trying to shake a pesky cough, it felt like a big deep sigh to just sit down, knowing I had time ahead of me to be quiet, watch, read, indulge...

I tell you, though, at the same time, I missed those two terribly.

9 months

9 months and the Little One...
...is a crawler and a climber
...plays with the mantra: dissemble, destruct, and destroy
...has a thing for sweet potato, doesn't mind a bit of yogurt, and will always eat avocado (but not much else)
...spent a sad night in Emergency with a bad case of croup (etched in my mind is the image of a little girl on a big big hospital bed)
...stops what's she's doing, freezes, and her eyes glaze over with pleasure whenever you lightly stroke the back of her neck
...has mastered not only the asylum rock, but now pulls out the old jailbird rock when Papa comes home at night (pulling herself up on the gate near the stairs and rocking from side to side, with a bit of crazy head)
...hides and plays peekaboo (this never gets tiring and is one of those things that is just as adorable every time, right?)
...is fascinated by the fridge and magnets (I really must get onto making some of these)
...makes her mama and papa smile more than they ever have before (more than they could have imagined)

*Photos taken at JanMa's and Grandfather's house where all the plastic Fisher Price garage sale toys live. Still, it was the play mirror that was the biggest hit. Little madam.

Winter holiday - Part II

Cairns in Winter + esplanade with water playgrounds and shady parks is a baby and toddler holiday heaven.

Aside from a little trip to Palm Cove, we spent most of our week on the Esplanade. We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle who lived at one end of the stretch, and each day we'd stroll up to Muddy's (children's water play area and park) and watch the Little One delight in splashing about. After the second day it didn't seem necessary to break habit and we settled into a happy little pattern. Is that how holidays with wee ones become relaxing?

Lovely memories: Saskia's infatuation with the neighbours' silky grey cats and 7 year old Jeff (when we told K he was genuinely envious), early evening walk through the Cairns Botanic Gardens (always beautiful and so much pattern inspiration), solo bike ride up to the pier to people watch (lovely hour of me time), the fullest of passionfruits, fresh rice paper rolls and local yogurt at Rusty's, giggle fits in the stroller, floating leaf boats down the stream at Muddy's...

But, oh, we missed K. Although the Little One's reaction when she caught sight of her Papa at the airport made it worth being apart for a week....almost.

Winter holiday - Part I

A change of scenery, some sunshine and a little adventure. That was what the holiday was all about.

Grandfather was looking after a friend's secondhand bookshop and house on the Gold Coast, and we flew up to keep him company and swan about in a waterfront villa. Was fun to play pretend for a week. K and I enjoyed sleep ins while JanMa and Grandfather entertained the Little One in bed and fed her spoonfuls of yogurt (every mouthful is a victory so this must be recorded!). We ventured out to hill top villages (where we live in our dreams) and hunted down wallpapered coffee stores and little treasuries.

We spent a day in Brisbane, looking up at buildings new and old, finding patterns in the cityscape, getting caught in flash sun showers and exploring South Bank. After a lot of 'looking' at GOMA, the Little One seemed desperate to be 'doing'. Fortunately we stumbled across the children's room at the State Library of Queensland, with games and puzzles, and blankets on the floor covered in secret pouches with tucked away toys. Gold mine for a curious babe. There's my hot tip there.

I remember both K and I commenting on how Saskia was changing daily up there. It was hard to pinpoint. Is her hair getting longer? Is she moving more easily? The shape of her face is changing, don't you think? She watches us like she's about to join in the conversation, right? 

In so many (wonderful) ways, that week away felt like much longer.