Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Soft Blocks: Complete!


The idea for these blocks came from this post over at How We Montessori (I didn't realize that I photographed mine the same way until just now!). I'd been wanting to make these for a while, because E's wooden blocks were a bit too big for his hands, although now his hands are just about big enough. I actually bought the fabric that I used in the puzzle ball for this project originally.

The blocks are about 1 1/2" on each side. They're not exactly cubes, but my technique for the corners improved as I went along.

Here we are getting ready for a walk. So cute in the hood!

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Also unrelated, I woke up with a headache the other day, and I made some fresh lemon ginger tea. It's a great way to use up lemons that I don't know what to do with. I just squeeze about 1/3 of a lemon (if you don't over squeeze it you can use it for more than one cup of tea) into a mug, put the lemon itself in, add a little honey, then put about 1/2 to 1 inch of sliced ginger (skin removed) into a tea strainer, and pour boiling water over the whole thing, letting it steep about 3 minutes. I also used the ginger for a second cup. Yum!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Tulips

Tulips are our favorite flower, and we're lucky enough to have some in the garden here. With the warm weather we had last week (back to 40's today), some of the tulip blossoms opened really crazy wide yesterday:

Click to embiggen

The others weren't quite so wide, but they're a great color:
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Here's Miss E in the hat I made for her, link!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Tidbits

In the unseasonably warm weather this week, little E and I have been spending some time trying to tame the garden in the back yard (the former owners were retired and loved to garden).

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Super cute bucket hat from Target, it's reversible - yellow on one side, green on the other!

E has also just started to see his reflection in things other than a mirror, like the oven. He loves it! He's also really into rolling on to his side and patting and/or talking to his reflection in the mirror while getting he's diaper changed.

Speaking of rolling, he has a stunt that we do all the time now. I (or Hubbo) hold Mr. Muffin by the hands while he's standing, and then he leans down into my lap so he's on his belly, and then he rolls over on to his back. Tada!

Friday, March 23, 2012

{this moment}

Amanda's idea...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Six month facts and figures

We had our 6-month visit with the pediatrician on Friday, and the highlight was little E weighing an even 20 pounds! He also measured 27 1/2" long. So big!

Here's a picture of him helping fold some diaper laundry.

This one I took last week of a tree (maple?) in the back yard. I really like the colors - the red and brown of the tree with the peachy bricks and white trim of the house. Not my usual palette, but I could see using these colors as inspiration for some Fair Isle knitting...
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Sunday, March 18, 2012

This week's firsts

Mr. Muffin had several firsts this week!

  • First ride sitting up in the front of the cart at the grocery store (only from the car to the cart return after we were done shopping). It seemed pretty fun, but a little scary, not quite ready to spend the whole shopping trip in the cart yet!
  • First time playing in the grass outside. We had unusually warm weather this week, and little E spent a while sitting on a blanket in the shade pulling up some grass.
  • First time rolling over from tummy to back. "Ha ha! No more tummy time for me!" he says.
Since the camera wasn't handy for any of that, here are some unrelated pictures. I wanted to get some more good ones of the little guy sitting up while sitting is still new and fun, and of him smiling while he still doesn't have any teeth.

Cheese!

What's up?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Mini Book Review: The Digital Photography Book, Volume I




Since we bought our camera (*cough* 3 years ago *cough*), Hubbo and I having been saying that we should learn more about its features. To that end, I checked out The Digital Photography Book, Volume I, by Scott Kelby, from the library. The premise of this book is that on each page he gives you a tip, but he doesn't generally explain why the tip works.

This book seems aimed toward people looking to make some money from photography, but there were still a bunch of tips that I found useful (also despite entire chapters I wasn't really interested in, like How to Shoot a Wedding and How to Shoot Sports). I don't want to give away too much of the book, so I won't say what those tips were!

There was also a short list of other books Kelby recommends, and I'm definitely going to check some of those out - stay tuned for future reviews.



Spring has started to peep its head out around here - buds on trees and shoots in the ground!





Mr. Muffin managed to bring his feet all the way up to his mouth yesterday for the first time!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Six Months!

Happy six months, little E! Today was a beautiful day, about 60 degrees and sunny (but awfully windy).

Profile view, Daddy's favorite
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At six months, you...
  • weigh about 20 pounds
  • are about 28 inches long
  • still have grey in your eyes
  • are outgrowing your 6-9 month clothes
  • can sit up well on your own
  • can roll over from your back to your tummy
  • still don't like tummy time very much
  • love it when we help you stand, so you can practice walking
  • put everything in your mouth, including some fruits and veggies

Monday, March 5, 2012

Toe Touches

A picture of the elusive toe touches has been captured:

 

This picture was from a few days ago, now E can get those toes almost all of the way to his mouth even with his diaper on. And he's started pulling off his socks like a big kid!

I also finished another wool diaper cover the other day.

 
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This pattern is called Vanilla and I love it! It was $5 I think, worth every penny! This is the fourth one I've made, and I've already started a 5th since the little guy has been such a speedy grower. I only had one of them made before he was born, but one of his great-aunts made him a couple more covers, and they got us through until I found time to knit again - thanks Aunt Linda :)

I've been trying to keep the colors gender neutral (not too tricky since I have a pretty broad definition of gender neutral). This one makes me feel like I was channeling my inner Amanda when I picked the colors. It's also great for early March in Chicago - sort of like dirty snow and mud!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Milestone: Rolling

This just in! Yesterday, Mr. Muffin completed his first ever, unassisted, 180 degree roll from back to tummy!

 
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Sadly, no action shots were taken, but there he is on his tum! He had been getting close for the past couple of days, and then he did it. No additional rolls have been completed at this time, but I'm sure there are many more to come!

Friday, March 2, 2012

{this moment}

Amanda's idea...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 
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