Tag: mothering

Velcro Baby and Love Letters with a 4-year-old

A love letter “posted” in a bike basket full of flowers. All photos in this post by Lindsay Zier-Vogel, the Love Letterer herself!

 

 

I haven’t written specifically about the kids or the mothering in a while. We are truckin’ along and I am riding the ever shifting balance of being home with two energetic, gorgeous boys. Gene is now 9-months-old and he is suddenly Captain Velcro, meaning he’s stuck to me like glue every waking moment. He’s utterly content if he’s on me, but the minute I try to leave — and by leave, I mean to go, say, get the mail or make some lunch, something innocent and necessary like that — he’s panicing, weeping, wailing piercingly, heartrendingly. He falls asleep clutching a handful of my breast in case the food source should try and sneak off whilst he’s at rest! He’s realized in earnest that I can disappear and that he doesn’t know when I’ll be back. And this consciousness has led to paranoia on a grand scale! Of course it’s normal and good and I’m so glad to see him evolve, even if sometimes I find myself trying to go pee with an infant stuck to me, which is no easy feat. I surrender a lot these days and just lie on the floor or in bed and let him satellite around me, maybe fold laundry or read but often just be there (at the cost of cleanliness or order in the house, but this too shall pass!) We have lots of giggles and gazing sessions together and he continues to charm me silly.

Then there’s Rudi, now 4 years old. He’s suddenly so grown up! He’s still got his powerful will Will WILL intact but I am finding that the near constant butting of heads that we’ve been playing at for the past few months is easing up. He is more independent than ever, he makes his own toast now and is so proud to “make breakfast!” He is a little more logical, a little more worldly. He can wait when I ask him too, knowing that it won’t be interminable. And we are starting to have little moments of, for lack of a better way to put it, hanging out. As mom and son rather than mom and toddler. I take him out once in a while without Gene because even though I’m with both boys all day, my attention is divided and Gene usually gets more of me. So I jumped at the opportunity to take Rudi to go Love Lettering last week with my friend, the indomitable artist Lindsay Zier-Vogel.

Choosing his Love Lettering materials carefully.

The Love Lettering Project is a community arts project bringing love letters to strangers. Lindsay’s been at it for eight years now and gained all sorts of local and national attention last year. The project grows by leaps and bounds each year and I “love” it (a-ha-ha). This year, she’s setting up at various community events, inviting people to write a love letter to something they love about their city and then leave it anonymously for someone to find — which will surly brighten the days of all involved! Rudi and I went to The Avro in Toronto’s East end for PAL-SAC‘s (Post A Letter Social Activity Club) night hosting The Love Lettering Project. We chatted, he had water in a pint glass, worked diligently on a love letter to The Secret Park (which is near our house, but I can’t say where exactly, what with it being Secret and all) and chatted up the locals. Then we went for burnt-marshmallow ice cream at Ed’s. It was a good night!

Working oh-so carefully on his Love Letter to The Secret Park in Toronto. I love the white finger tips on his left hand!

I loved being able to chat with Rudi without the divided attention necessary when I’m  solo with the two boys. We are so much calmer together when we’re alone together. I think there’s a lesson in there for me somewhere! I’m sure it has a lot to do with my tension level. I am constantly amazed by what mirrors we are as parents. Rudi so often reflects how I am, and he’s got keen senses, because I can’t be faking calm, he’ll still pick up on the turmoil underneath if it’s there. So cheers to one-on-one dates with 4-year-olds, with sons, and cheers to love letters. And to velcro, can’t forget the velcro …

Love Letter accomplished and sealed. Now time for delivery …

Aflutter Over the New Quilt

I finally finished the bird-patterned quilt I’ve been planning and working on over the past few months. This was the project that kept getting bumped aside for other more pressing matters and crafts. But its time has come! I present the Birdie Quilt and Burping Pad Combo.

I plan to carry this set on my Etsy store when I’m up and running in the summer, so the next step is to make some more sets. I am so happy with how this design came out. I like the big, chunky blocks and have always been attracted to baby stuff made with strong colours and a pattern that’s not so common.

Unfortunately in my photos you can’t really see the leaves sewn into the black blocks on the quilt, but they’re there! I am slowly increasing my photographic skills because of this blog, but the black fabric stole the light and I couldn’t find it. Will experiment more, am open to suggestions …

On the simple, flannel side of the burp pad and the blocked side of the quilt I used green thread so that the quilted leaf design would stand out. It’s fun to quilt this pattern free-hand on the machine, reminds me of painting or sculpting. Probably my favourite of the process!

The busy side of both pieces is stitched with white thread. The leaf quilting almost needs to be felt to be seen amidst the birds and foliage. I hope the detailing invites fingers to touch and baby cheeks to rest peacefully.

I’ve been reading and thinking about pricing and perceived value. Burping pads, my speciality, are just not that cost effective. The ones I make are relatively labour intensive but there’s a limit to what people will pay for such things and it’s not a lot more than a super fancy latte! I see a lot of sewers undervaluing their work on Etsy, burping pads for as low as $2.50 with a median of about $8 per pad, which I find totally ridiculous and frustrating. I think it may be one of the great failings of such a platform, that value gets diluted with uneducated or timid artisans not really understanding how to value their work. Because mass-produced brand names versions often go for close to $20 per pad! Anyways, I’m slowly working on the math to find the sweet spots for pricing my work.

The idea to pair a pad with a quilt is something I’m going to try since consumers seem to be willing to pay more for a quilt; perhaps the overall square footage of the item persuades them?! And I like the idea of these 2 items together, perfect for a new baby gift. My slow advance on cottage industry continues …

PS: I wrote this entry with a sleeping 8-month-old draped across my arm and lap. My wrists have been performing acts contortion in order to type! Insane perhaps, but I find that getting my blog post ready the night before is more enjoyable and practical for the most part. It’s just too hard to get a long chunk of time at the computer amidst the littles and isn’t fair to them. And I really am enjoying blogging, it’s helping me keep on some kind of task creatively I am surprised by how much I enjoy the act of writing and sharing here. Over and out.

Sewing for Girl Birthdays

My 4-year-old son has 2 very excellent friends who happen to be girls. Their moms and I have become bosom-buddies through our kids and all 3 of the widgets take creative dance together at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre’s Young Dancers’ Program. I adore having 2 boys and no girls, absolutely no regrets. But I myself am a girl, and I really do love me some cute little skirts and dresses now and again.  So I just have to buy or make them for Rudi’s friends when the spirit moves me (he’s long-since informed me that girls wear skirts and dresses, the gender-differentiation train has left the station). And girl birthdays create opportunities to make delicate, girlie things that I cannot resist!

Above is a little fairy-princess dancing skirt to flit through imagination-land in. I used a section off an extra set of $6 Ikea net curtains I have lying around and raided my extensive ribbon collection. And ric rac. I do so love ric rac, I aspire to expand my on-hand collection. I love making something that’s princessy but not Disney-princessy (shudder). Just generally wafty and floufy (technical terms, I’m all about them), cause really, it’s all about how that fabric feels when it grazes your legs, that’s what makes me feel the most magical or royal anyways.

Then of course one needs a general sceptre or wand at hand. This one I made for the princess and pink loving friend of Rudi’s — error, I had no pink felt so I went with purple. This was not the best choice but I think she may accept it eventually! I had to add the orange star ribbon for a bit of sass. Reports are that her 3-month-old sister is mesmerized by the ribbon movement, unexpected bonus!

And lastly, for Rudi’s friend who loves purple and dolls (she’s always got one in tow and cares for them like her own kids), I made a little sleeping bag and pillow set. It was so much fun and took me back to the days when I’d envision, concoct, create and finish a project over the course of a lazy weekend day as a kid. Back when a day 0ff seemed endless and rolled past slowly and deliciously, ripe with possibility.

I guess that’s what it comes down to when I sew for girls specifically, it’s a little trip down memory lane, close to my heart and my own experience.

Cars party doodads

We made it through the friend-birthday-party with flying colours, though now I am ex-haus-ted! Rudi asked for “a Cars 2 party” and planned it together. I adore making his birthday parties personal, having a hand in loot bags and/or cake. It’s really rewarding to pour myself into something just for him, even if the cake is gone in the blink of an eye! And the crafting and baking makes the experience more tangible and exciting for him, and for me.

I think I’ve said here before that I am not really a baker, but I try now and again. And I love watching the magical baking shows where they make amazing cakes that defy the apparent laws of gravity that my cakes adhere to. So I thought I’d challenge myself and try fondant, and it wasn’t so bad! I kept the cake simple, flat, and used sugar decorations that Rudi chose/adored — who knew they still made these?! They remind me of 1980s birthday cakes. Here’s the result:

The cacti marzipan dyed with gel dye that my friend lent me — another baking revelation — and I even made my own glorious buttercream to dirty-ice the cake under the black fondant. To really go for the win, I decided to try making the inside a checkerboard flag. This was the best part for Rudi as he helped me slice thin slabs of the chocolate and white cake and place them alternately on the cake board. It worked! We were so excited! Susan Kendal, FTW!!! Check it:

And then Skor bits for dirt of course. Does it get any better? The kids blasted through our Cars cake in record time, leaving huge blobs of black fondant all over the table. Another birthday cake, sorted.

As I mentioned in a recent Rearview Fridays post about some past birthday craftinesses, above all I adore making loot bags. Or in the case of this Cars 2 party, loot CANS! If you haven’t seen Cars 2 then you might not know about Allinol, a fictional fuel that is key to the plot. I thought it’d be funny to make little oil cans for the loot bag/cans, so we started with the purchase of an obscene amount of apple juice and a no-water-apple-juice-only week in the household (it’s in the name of awesomeness kids, chug, chug, chug).

After emptying the cans and soaking off the labels, I pulled a jpeg of the Allinol logo off the web and printed it out on label paper, et voila:

And of course we needed labels so that the cans could be claimed by the 4-year-old guests. Those had to be traffic cones, naturally! I made a wee template and cut ’em out of bright orange felt with a paper one for the name:

I just love how the finished Loot Can came out. And aside from the forced apple juice drinking, it was pretty easy, and makes a great marker/scissor/etc holder!

A rewarding party it was. As I lay on the couch in the post-party haze, drinking an Allinol can of wine a glass of wine, Adam (the patient, amused, house cleaning husband in the midst of all this madness) asked me what next year’s party was going to be. I snorted and told him I needed a bit o’ time before I start thinking about the next extravaganza. Then he joked/seriously suggested that a 5-Alive party would be great for a 5-year-old, good colour scheme, automatic juice element … and the wheels started to turn …

Sharpie tie dye & quilt progress

Anutie Maria, my lovely sis, came over today and brought Beyblades as a birthday gift for Rudi. I only know about these toys because I have a 7-year-old nephew. If you don’t know and you want to know, check ’em out. I have learned that they are insanely popular among the cool kids these days and Rudi is beside himself to now be counted among the owners of these battling tops.

We decided to try a Martha Stewart craft with Auntie M and in honour of spinning tops and battling Beys, we used spiral designs of course! Who knew you could tie-dye with Sharpies?! And I do love Sharpies, so much so that I have a huge multi-colour set. You just draw with Sharpie and then drop Isopropyl alcohol on it and heat-set the colour. For the full instructions go check out Martha and her minions.

They came out beautifully and are far more hip than I anticipated. I love the intense colours! It was a great craft to do with a 4-year-old, he was able to draw on the shirts with ease and worked the dropper like a charm. At about 15 minutes total, it was good for a shortish attention span. Then Rudi was back to lettin’ ‘er rip. That’s right, that was a Beyblade reference. Boom, dropped it in just like that.

—

For myself, I went back to a project I’d set aside a while ago but which calls to me every day, ‘fiiiiinnish me, I’m so looooovely, you waaaaaant to” and so on. It’s a quilt I’m developing for my Etsy shop. Here it is with it’s seams showing!

I’m still building up product stores and not ready for the opening part of the Etsy shop, but I’m getting closer and getting excited to wade in. This lovely piece should be done by the end of the week, along with it’s matching burp pad.

Rearview Fridays: birthday loot bags!

I’m in birthday mode since I have a 4th birthday happening in my household tomorrow. So I thought it’d be apropos to dig up some crafty goodies from the last couple of birthdays I’m put together for my boy for today’s Rearview Friday.

— — —

Rudi’s 2nd birthday party was lovely, the kids painted with water colours outside in the crisp spring air. Then we used the paintings to make frames for photos of his guests that we took throughout the party and printed up on the spot. I made loot bags out of some awesome hot pepper fabric I had lying around, waiting for just such a  moment. I adore little bags and containers, I am a squirrel after all! So I take loot bags seriously. Full Stop. No plastic junky ones for this lady, no sir. I make reusable ones that come in handy later on for, say, taking a few Hotwheels to Nana’s house!

I’m not much of a baker. But I aspire. And sometimes I reach too far. But I was pretty darn happy with these nuggets of awesome — cupcakes in cones. They were  great for newly-2-year-old hands to handle:

— — —

Last year, for the 3rd birthday, it was cowboy time. Toy Story 3 and the ever-charming Woody were a big hit with Rudi at the time, but I tried valiantly to tip-toe around the Disney versions and keep things a bit more general cowboy-ee (thank you Waldorf for my auto “cringe at commercial” reflex!). I made “party hats” that looked like little cowboy hats (attached around with elastic):

And the reusable loot bags were small canvas feed bags. I stamped the little guests’ names on them and actually carved stamps — a cowboy boot and a horseshoe — from erasers after being inspired by the lovely Japanese blogger Mairuru. I loved carving them and remember spending one late, quiet night working on them while Rudi slept inexplicably long on the couch beside me, as happens with kids once in a blue moon.

Super Birthday Cape!

There is a birthday in the wings at my house. On Saturday Rudi turns 4!

I rarely get to my sewing machine to make 1-off projects for my own kids anymore. But I really wanted to make him something by hand from me for this birthday and a cape seemed the obvious route to go since he’s super-duper into being SUPER these days. So I burned some midnight oil and made a pattern, and it’s on it’s way to being done:

A slippery sport-jersey side with a giant, super R-for-Rudi “R”:

And a navy cotton side with an outer space patch for my “planek” loving laddie. I hope he never learns to say planet. Planek is so very cute.

Give me a half hour with this baby tonight and I’ll have the hem done and a collar with fastener made. Then the wrapping begins. And the excitement mounts!

—

A few weeks ago, Rudi was wondering how to write his name, so I showed him. And he worked so hard to do it, I had to take a picture! What a wonderful revelation to find the letters that make your name and to be able to make them with your own hand. He’s so proud. Shoot, I’m so proud! Here it is:

And then my clever, amazing, ultra-productive friend Lindsay Zier-Vogel took that first scribing-of-the-name and …

… wait for it …

… embroidered it for his birthday! Rudi is delighted, I’m verklempt. What a profoundly simple, special gift  idea, thank you Linds. And here it is, being shown off by the just-about-4-year-old hands:

Springing and travelling and gathering myself

Folks, it’s spring, I smell it. I saw a Robin. I heard a Robin. I saw heaps of Crocuses. Rudi picked one, stopped the stroller of his own volition and worked it into Gene’s sleeping hand today. Is there anything better than dimpled fingers on the first crocus of spring?

My blog was quieter than usual last week because I was away from my desk and my everyday life. I took a trip across the country to Victoria with my wee-man Gene to stay with one of my best friends in the world, commencing a 3-day “vagilogue” as my husband so tactfully put it. My heart and mind got filled up with the true solid, friendship, the kind you can slip into easily, years folding up on one another, marrying now and “the last time.” I feel super buoyed up even if I’m physically exhausted from solo travel with a baby and too many time zones!

At 6-months Gene was a spectacular traveller. He happily boarded 4 planes in 5 days, did a lot of sleeping, nursing, watching airport lights, and peek-a-booing with friendly dudes behind us. He even met his uncle Dave for the first time on a strategically planned layover and he snuggled his Alberta Gran-E (obviously that’s her rapper name. She’s a granny + her name’s Elaine … you see where I’m going with this, my mom is so cool!). I also ran into 3 friends from my teenage life in Alberta 17 years ago — how nice for that to happen in real-alive-life rather than on social media, as much as I truly do love the book of faces and the twits.

And now I’m excited to be getting back into the groove of my life, surrendering happily to this utterly moment-to-moment existence as a full-time mom on maternity leave with 2 wee ones who’s also trying to get ready to hit the ground running with her own work — sewing, editing, choreographing — when the formal mat leave is up. I am working hard and gaining at my practice of simplicity in a moment, being present right where I am, which, to be totally honest, is usually: feeding, doing dishes, thinking about sweeping up the dust bunnies, reading (to clarify: not my own popular novel or work of complex theory but more of a librarian-reading-to-the-poo-joke-loving-masses), cooking, thinking that 5 months is too long to wait for a hair cut, walking to the park, colouring, thinking about blogging, playing, getting vomited and/or pooed on, thinking how long is it since I washed my hair, huh, and so on, you get the picture.

But I’m also keenly aware of the things I want and need to do to keep my adult self and creativity sharp. I keep them tucked in a brain-drawer during most of this extravaganza that is the current norm and at the end of the day, I take time to weigh what’s really necessary for the coming one, and to be reasonable with myself in order to have the personal wherewithal to meet the necessary and leave a little for the desired. Thus not a lot of action on my sewing-work front, but good plans for when the time arrives to make it all happen for reals. I live in hope good people, keep the faith!

Adventures in …

… BABY FOOD!

My little Gene-bean is now 6 1/2 months old. He’s been gnawing on veggies, toast crusts, fruit, hunks of meat, generally taste-testing anything we’re eating for the past few weeks. With his big brother Rudi, I did the widely perscribed and accepted intro to eating through a series of different cereal, but I found it oh so bland, boring, messy and altogther uninspired. So with Gene, we’re trying something different — he’s eating what we’re eating (within reason!).

I was making soup last week so I separated out some yams and turnips before fancying up my seasoning and blended them on their own. And then I borrowed a technique from my dear friend Angela: once blended, take a spoon and throw down “splats” (splat being the technical term in this highly technical and specific process, ahem) of blended veggies on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Then freeze said splats, remove them from the sheet and have baby-sized splats stored in tupperware or freezer bags, ready to pop into a pot for a 2 minute warming and presto! Super gorgeous baby food. And I only have to make a batch every couple of weeks. Awesome. Here’s Gene’s first ever round of yams and turnips:

… TRAVELLING WITH A SOOTHER!

I was very judgemental about soothers/pacifiers/dummies before I had Rudi. Then I had Rudi. And he was a sucker. And anything that soothed my baby made sense, so I gave and a soother family we became. I feel just fine about it! To each his/her (pronouns just for you Angela, bloody capital-F Feminist!) own I truly feel. But I digress, this adventure is not about to soother or not to soother, it’s about how to hang onto the dang things if you use ’em.

Gene and I got on a plane 3 days ago. The day before, as I watched the soother fall out of his mouth and roll around and around my (obviously sparklingly clean, ahem ahem) dining room floor I remembered: I needed a soother holder, I had no time, I didn’t want to spend $9 on some ribbon and a clip, I sew. I added it up, looked around, saw my beloved sheep-and-black-sheep ribbon roll, some twill tape from a 4-pack of Beau’s beer and a sports lanyard of my husband’s.

I knew what I had to do.

The clip from the lanyard was quickly cut off, the ribbon sized up against Gene’s (unaturally, hilariously long) torso, the twill tape turned inside-out so as to appear plain and un-beer-related. I sewed, I came up with this:

It works like a charm and I got compliments all over the airport. Notes to future travelling self: 1. shoulda brought an order form, 2. need to take business cards.

… BEING QUIETLY AWESOME FOR YOURSELF!

Sometimes you need to add a little personal-awesome to your ensemble for yourself. A private joke for you. I like love adore Harry Potter.  I must not tell lies. So when I got an awesome faux patent diaper bag just before Gene was born, I knew I had to jazz the lameish logo up a bit. So naturally I sourced a Gryffindor patch and sewed that sucker right over the offending label.

And now I am infinitely cooler as I walk along with my bulging bag. Almost no one has noticed, but I love it. It’s like wearing leopard underwear, privately knowing that you’ve spiced, jazzed, expelliarmused it up a notch!

An Earthy Day

I am starting today with 2 things I love: soup making and contemporary dance. Food from the ground and feet on the ground — with consciousness and artistic purpose. A lovely way to enter the week.

I’ve got a pile of beautiful organic root veg (here they are enjoying the March sunshine!) begging to be made into soup. I shall oblige …

… and a deadline to have a wee solo completed for a performance this weekend. I’m working on a dance for Megumi Kokuba, a graduating student from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre‘s Professional Training Program. We’re collaborating on this solo for her, using both English and Japanese Flag Semaphore as a starting point for choreography. A dress is in the making and there are 3 huge paper airplanes as the set. I hope to share some video of the work later this week. In the meantime, feet-at-the-ready for final choreographic touches, which may or may not get settled on in the kitchen while soup making, just sayin’:

As per my post last Monday, I’ve spent the past week working on being conscious and present in the task at hand. Embracing or finding the simplicity of a job, a moment in time. And while soup-making and dance-making may seem disparate partners and dividers of attention, I think the cooking will provide some contemplation space for choreographic editing since the dance really is done, I just need to consider finishing touches, the editing of the movement and structure. And I think it’s working, this being present business; I seem to be a happier, more satisfied, less yell-y/cranky, exhausted and sad version of myself both as a momma and simply(!) as a being human. Happy week to all!