Someone has been busy making new friends, from the comfort of his crib. Sam was given this amazing crochet mobile by my friend Kalen of Minibytes. She’s been mentioned on this blog lots, seeing as she has been my oh-so-wonderful boothmate at some monumental craft shows (aka Make It). I was delighted to see this special mobile get hung in the nursery (my apologies on the dark photos these days… every time I get a chance to drag the camera out, it’s overcast & gloomy).
Sam talking to his new friends
The mobile is all done in crochet. Kalen used her Minibytes critters (owl, bunny, mouse, and fox) and added some clouds & stars. The critters just Velcro onto the strands, so we can remove them for some supervised play time or even change them out with different animals. Sam has really been enjoying it! He can entertain himself in his crib for little stretches of time while mama does things around the house. The giggles and talking he does in there is just adorable. I’m so glad he likes his new friends! And who wouldn’t love those cute critters?! Thanks again, Kalen! If you’re interested in your own crochet mobile, she has a couple versions for sale in her Etsy shop.
Crochet mobile made by Kalen of Minibytes
Today’s button post is a little different. It’s not so much about stitching as it is about some permanent ink. I’ve been enjoying how much others like love buttons. How’s this for loving buttons? A tattoo. Yep, I’ve been daydreaming of another tattoo for many years now and I think I finally have some ideas for the next design. Just have to find the time to start doodling. There’s a very good chance that it will incorporate buttons, thread, yarn balls & crochet hooks.
… by the letter “S” and all things cute & circular. Here they are, finally, the bit of crafting I managed to do (as mentioned before). I had these all prepped & ready to go before Sam was even born. Bit by bit, stitch by stitch they came together. Then they sat for a couple weeks waiting to be hung in the nursery and then its taken me a couple more weeks to remember to photograph them. Le sigh. Oh well. You know how things go sometime.
The inspiration for these came from various examples on Pinterest on ways to decorate baby nurseries. I took my own spin on the embroidery hoop decor, adding the little felt critters. The snail design and the small birdies were just free PDF downloads. The letter “S” was made with buttons (of course!). That was actually the project I worked on at the last Pinterest party (I promised pics of it, didn’t I?). Most of the fabric is 1930’s reproduction prints, except for the one used for the “S”.
I’d love to make up some more to hang with these. The cluster of them on the wall is so pleasing to my crafty eyes. And I think Sam likes them too (or at least we’ll let this mama go on believing that for now). Yay for no more bare walls in the nursery!
Okay. Here’s a goodie combining two things I love, buttons & books. It’s an itty bitty button book! I’ve had the urge to get back into doing some more artwork lately and I just think these would be adorable little doodle books! I also see them as like little charms to keep in your pocket (which would make a good Mother’s Day gift). Easy to make, small enough to carry around and enjoy.
The button book below was made by Designer and Illustrator Stephanie Davidson and was featured on a neat blog called Bonkers About Buttons (sounds like my kind of blog).
I really do need to wear more buttons these days. I mean, seriously, I used to accessorize with buttons back in high school (necklaces & bracelets, even button friendship bracelets for my gal pals). Guess I was ahead of my time because lately I’ve been seeing more and more button jewelry for sale on Etsy, which leads to lots of tutorials floating around out there. The button bracelet below is a perfectly simple project from lillyella. Just stitch some buttons onto woven elastic. The fun part would be determining the colour palette. Think of all the options! And you could quickly have a whole rainbow of bracelets!
Egads! Three months old! My little baby boy is just changing so much! It definitely doesn’t feel like three months have past, but on the flipside, some days, it can be hard to remember what life was like before Sam came into this world.
Sam now weighs somewhere around 13.5 lbs (again, measured on the Wii, so only approximate, but about a 1 kg weight gain). He definitely has some good weight to him now. My arms and wrists can get sore hefting him around. No more lightness of a newborn baby. Oh, and the chubby rolls on his legs, arms and neck are so kissable! He’s still eating lots (exclusively breastfed) and we’re certainly satisfied with his continued growth.
His voice and “vocabulary” have been changing lots these days. He’s quite the chatter-box (I wonder who he gets that from?). He smiles a lot too, and his giggles & squeals of delight are so incredibly contagious. How can you not laugh along?! Sam loves when you repeat some of his baby talk back to him, that will earn you a big grin. Happiness is not the only that he expresses. His cries have quite a large range, from loud wails, pained almost voiceless screeches, to short, simple calls for attention. His exasperated sighs always make me smile, much to his dismay. I can’t wait to see how his “voice” will develop in coming months!
One of the biggest developments this past month involved transitioning Sam from sleeping in his bassinet in our bedroom to sleeping in his crib in the nursery. He was simply outgrowing the bassinet and hubby & I had reached the point where we were ready to reclaim our bedroom as our own space.
For a few nights, I started placing Sam’s bassinet inside his crib after his middle of the night feedings. He’s usually quite tired then, and I thought he might notice the change less. Placing the bassinet in the crib meant that he could get used to being on his own in a different room, but surrounded by the familiarity of the bassinet. That went very smoothly, so I moved on to placing Sam directly into his crib, without the bassinet. I started doing this while hubby was away on a business trip, in case Sam woke up crying more frequently. The first night I did this, Sam slept 6.5 hours straight, more than double his usual time! The following night he slept 7.5 hours! And so, as long as he doesn’t break free of his swaddle, he’ll sleep from about 9pm to 4 or 5am, feed & get a diaper change, then back to sleep until 7 or 8am. Once he finally wakes up for the day, he’s often so happy, not waking with a whole lot of crying, just a couple of cries to let you know he’s up. Then once he sees your face he starts smiling away! A much nicer way to start he day! Who wouldn’t be smiling after a good sleep like that, instead of waking every 2.5 or 3 hours?! So now our big boy, sleeps in his crib each night, the bassinet tucked away into storage.
One thing that has changed since he started sleeping more at night, is that Sam no longer takes long naps during the day. If you’re really lucky he might nap for an hour, but that has become quite rare. Typical nap times are 20-30 minutes. Which makes sense if he’s getting better rest at night. The exception to all of this is when he is in his stroller. If we go out and put Sam in his stroller, and keep moving, then he will generally sleep for the whole outing.
Cute crochet hat made by Ellen of Craft InterruptedWhich leads us to another change to our routine. Sam and I have started getting out of the house a lot more these days. If we can, I try to go on one outing a day, usually in the morning. I started doing this, not because Sam is likely to sleep during that time, but because we both seemed to be a lot happier with not spending the whole day in the house. Sometimes, the occasional full day at home is nice, but two days in a row of that, and I start to get into a bad mood (which of course, in turn, makes for a grumpy baby). So off we go for a walk down to Bowness Park, or a wander through the mall, or a trip to the zoo. I bought an annual zoo pass, and it is quickly becoming one of our fav destinations.
Another activity we’ve started adding to the mix is story time. Sam has a growing pile of colourful books that I read to him while we both lay on the floor together. It’s so much fun watching the expressions on his face as I read & turn each page that story time is just as much fun for me, as it is for Sam.
Sam is discovering that it can be fun to have solo time too. I regularly put him on a blanket on the kitchen floor while I make meals or pop him in his crib while I do some laundry. Recently, I started putting him on the guest bed in the sewing room while I attempt to do a little crafting. If you catch him in a good mood, freshly fed, he is content to entertain himself for about 20 minutes. Sam lays there talking to himself, taking in the world around him.
What new things will he discover this month, I wonder?
I have had a printout of this button embroidery project sitting in my sewing room for quite some time now. I keep eying it, wondering just when I’ll have a chance to stitch it up. It will continue to remain in the “one day” pile of projects, but here’s hoping that “one day” will come soon.
This particular pattern was done by doe-c-doe and is available for free download.
