Is that crawling??

So Perrin and I are skyping with my mom this morning and I have the computer on the floor so grandma can watch Perrin roll/ sit/ scooch and around, straining towards crawling.  We are talking and my mom says, "I think she is crawling."  And I say, "Is that crawling?"  

It seems my standards are a bit high.  What I was looking for was a more coordinated graceful movement than that...I don't know; I guess that WAS crawling.  She was on hands and knees and was moving forward...hum.  Cool.

Perrin is now just over 9 months old and is in constant- absorb my surroundings- mode.  This is really fun to watch--to see her really see the world and to see her making something of it in her mind.  The one time this is not fun to watch is when she is supposed to be nursing.  We will be sitting on the couch, but then the cats run through, Joseph comes home from work, a pin drops...aaaand she is pulling away from me, looking all around, trying to do little baby sit-ups.  I can actually become worn out nursing her, just trying to wrangle her, move her, try different positions, different rooms. 

So this morning we go into my bedroom to nurse on the bed where there is less distraction.  Sometimes this works, but other times she just keeps rolling away, wanting to look at whatever is behind her.  Here is what this morning was like.  Nursing for a few minutes, then rolling onto her back then onto her stomach (very pleased with herself).  So I say, oh, she wants to to be turned that way, so I switch sides with her and try to nurse her that way.  then she rolls onto her back the other way, then onto her stomach (again, extremely self satisfied).  It is a silly and frustrating dance we do...darn babies.  Just eat the food!  But usually she eventually eats well; either worn down by the dance and finally submits to consuming the life giving food, or eats more later in the day.  The 3rd option is-- don't eat well all day and wake up hungry at 1am hollering from the next room, "Why won't you guys give me some food!?  All I want is to be fed, gosh!"  

(Insert sweet Perrin picture to counteract rotten baby thoughts...)

Months ago I bought material to make a celebration flag banner to hang up for birthdays or any celebration really.  Since my sewing machine was still sitting on the kitchen table from Merry's visit, and since her homemade tutus fired up my DIY spirit, I finally got my banner made!  Here is a quick rundown of how to do it.

Just get about a 1/2 yard of each of the fabrics you want to use and some ribbon that matches.  I used a thin ribbon, but after making mine, I would advise getting a wide ribbon that you could fold over the tops of the flags and sew so that the top of the flags are enclosed.  

My template for the triangle flags was two 11.5 inch sides and one 8.5 inch side.  Just trace onto your fabric and cut out. 

Now I have this banner making bug because it is so easy with such great visual payoff...I want one for every holiday!  Picking fabric for the Presidents' Day banner will be challenging, possibly rivaling finding Columbus Day banner fabric...

Puck Cat moment of zen...

 "I like tunnels."

Merry visit!!

My old friend from college, Merry, came to visit us for a few days and just went home this evening.  It was wonderful to have her meet Perrin and see my daughter with my old friend--just really heart warming for some reason.  We all went out to dinner at Watercourse Foods for Tara's birthday.  It is a vegetarian restaurant in downtown Denver with really amusing rabbit art on the walls.  They have seitan wings, that are made of mysterious non-meat meatiness, and are pretty tasty, but the best thing about them is that we decided to call them Satan wings, which gave us a chuckle every time.  We are a simple people.

 

Merry decided to make tutus for Perrin, so off to the fabric store we went to look through all colors of tulle.  She made the cutest little things--they look like a mix between magic, dessert, and an explosion. 

On Thursday we went to play disc golf on this amazing mountain course in Conifer.  At the first hole you throw straight up the mountain side...or off to the side into a bunch of snow...however you want to do it...  We carried Perrin in the backpack, and just took her off when ever we threw.  She enjoyed herself I think, chewing on a stick and watching us play.  She is a pretty good sport, where ever we drag her.  

Merry told us about internet sensation Grumpy Cat, so I just looked him up--damn, that cat is grumpy.  If you are looking for an easy laugh, check it out.  This cat looks how I imagine our Simon cat feels.  We love to give him really cranky internal dialog, as I'm pretty sure he wouldn't deign to speak even if he could.  Mr. Dignified Cat.  You can address him as Sir.

 Puck cat however...

We will end with a little sprinkle of Perrin tutu magical fluffy goodness. 

And...

Made a ring sling!

I like baby carriers.  The problem is that you can't find one that is ideal for nearly every circumstance unless you buy the Ergo, which costs over $100, which I can only surmise must be made of unicorn tears and distilled puppy breath.  We have the Moby wrap, which I love because it is very comfortable to wear and seems to be very comfortable for Perrin.

It spreads the baby's weight out over your shoulders and back really well.  But because it is just a piece of fabric, it is very long.  It's not that it takes much time to put it on, it is that you don't want to be putting it on in the parking lot or other place where the ground is dirty because the material drags all over it as you put it on.  Secondly, it takes just enough maneuvering to get the baby into it, that you don't want to be getting them in and out much. 

Because of this, I wanted a quick on and off / in and out carrier that I could use if we were just walking to the mailbox, or running a quick errand from the car.  So I got a Munchkin Jellybean Sling a while back.  It is a sling with out a tail--it's more like a tube and is not adjustable.  It was my first sling experience and I bought it before I knew ring slings existed.

 

It was alright, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless thrift is your first priority.  It doesn't cup the shoulder well, but so the weight distribution is not comfortable.  And since Joseph is much taller than me, it can't fit both of us.

I started reading about ring slings on-line and was immediately grumbling about my uninformed purchase of the Munchkin sling.  This type of sling is useful because it is of adjustable size and fit, cups the shoulder and has a tail that can be used as a nursing cover, or to shelter baby from sun or rain.  However, the ring slings cost too much for me to justify buying one (usually between $50 and $90) since I already technically had a sling.  Soooo...I made one!  (Thank you mom for buying me my sewing machine years ago!  I love it!)  

I found a tutorial on the blog, Life More Simply, for a two sided sling.  Most ring slings seem to be made of one piece of fabric, but I liked the look of two thinner pieces of material sewn together, so that the sides are different colors.   

 

For the rings, I ordered from SlingRings.com, which was cheap, and cheaper the more you buy.  So of course I start thinking, I can make slings and sell them!!  I did accidentally buy two sets of rings, because when I purchased, I entered that I wanted two rings, not thinking that they automatically come in pairs.  Now there is an extra set of bronze rings sitting sadly on the shelf, not holding a baby or doing anything useful.  Maybe I will make a one layer summer sling out of some nice linen...yeees.  

It wasn't difficult to make this sling.  I thought all the fabric would be difficult to wrangle and sew onto the rings, but it was fine.  My sling is 32.5 inches wide.  I bought 2.5 yards of each material, so the length is just a bit less than that.  It makes for a really long tail, but I wanted Joseph to be able to get his big man shoulders into it.  

To be inclusive in our baby carrier discussion I should say we also have a Baby Bjorn from the 2nd hand store and recently got a baby backpack, the Osprey Poco model.  As for the Bjorn, it is really quick and easy to put on and to get baby situated in.  Joseph really likes it for this ease of use and because Perrin can face forward to see the world better.  For me, it isn't very comfortable on my back and shoulders.  

Our Osprey backpack is awesome.  It is nice to wear and nice for her.  It is easy to put her in and take her out, and is fit adjustable, so it fits Joseph at 6ft 3in and me at 5ft 4in.  Has numerous small pockets and one really big opening in the bottom where you can fit diaper change stuff, a blanket, food...  There is a built in sunshade and a rain fly that comes separately.  Seriously, we love this thing.

 

 (Blogger has suddenly chosen to only let me write centered????)  As for my next DIY project, I have a felt flower decoration in the works.  Felt flowers are stupid easy and fun to make, a good Perrin nap time endeavor for me.  For my decoration, I found a flat wooden bird form that I want to cover in flowers to hang in the living room so I can finally take down our red Christmas berries wreath.  That poor wall just looks so sad and serious with nothing on it...

Almost forgot, our final Perrin carrying solution...

This isn't so good outside, as she feels all the bumps and going down steps gets tricky, but it works pretty well right after the laundry has been folded.  I recommend it.