Our Weekend

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  Ginger and I were DH-less as he has yet another exercise.

Saturday was dark and rainy but, Sunday was oh so beautiful and sunny.  

Spring had arrived a couple of days early.

We ate blueberry and banana bread.

We revisited my childhood searching through a jar of my Nanna's buttons for the perfect one for a project.

We spent time outside in the sunshine and got our tights very dirty!

Because, we discovered falling down a hill is actually quite fun; and worth repeating.

Some work was done on a new quilt.

After a coffee and playdate a friend passed on some magazines.  I enjoyed spending Ginger's nap perusing them.

More time outside; I was sewing ends in, while Ginger honed her bower bird instinct.

A simple fresh pasta meal to end the day, prepared with considerable help from my little offsider.

And, honestly the best news to cap it all off.  The festival that I was really upset about missing because DH was away and Brisbane is too far to drive there and back with Ginger by myself in one day was postponed because of Saturday's weather.  I was, oh, so happy.  I feel God's hand in it because I was devastated when DH was unexpectedly asked to go field over this weekend - the festival had been on our calender for 12 months.  

God really does care for us in all things great and small, doesn't he?  As the children's song goes "take it to the Lord in prayer"; his response is always perfect, just not always expected.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter in this weekly link-up.

{Pretty}

My Mum has had this plate for years sitting in her china cabinet.  I'm pretty sure it was a gift from her Dad and step-Mum.  I have always admired it and recently she passed it on to me.  I have finally found somewhere to hang it.   Wall space is at a premium in our house - we have too many wall hangings:)  Defence policy states you can install a "reasonable number of picture hooks".  I wonder if anyone has actually taken stock of how many hooks we put up!

I would tell you who the painting is by, but the back of the plate is all in German - and my German is not that good:)

Just had to show off my cute little alarm clock find - $1 at a recent jumble sale.

{Happy}

I have been working on my photography skills using this tutorial.  Ginger and I had a bit of a photo session in the front yard on Tuesday.  I got some reasonable shots.  That made me happy.

She looks pensive, but actually she is just eating rockmelon.

Ah, squeezing our food - our new favourite thing to do at mealtimes.

{Funny}

Ginger likes to go through my wallet and take all the cards out of it.  Given that she can now put them back in again it can keep her occupied for quite some time.    I don't really mind as it is pretty harmless fun for her and it is easy to clean up.

But, last Friday as I was packing them back up I noticed my medicare card (in Australia all citizens are entitled to public health care - to access it you have to carry your medicare card) was missing.  Ginger had been playing with my purse right next to the sideboard - oh, no it had gone underneath.  So, everything had to come out, and then since I still couldn't lift the cabinet empty I had to call DH and ask him to pop home (there are some advantages to living 5 minutes walk from the office) and lift it up.

Ginger thought all those breakables and cabinets to explore were great fun.

{Real}

Given his proximity, DH often pops home for lunch.  We usually have leftovers.  However, yesterday's lunch took leftovers to a new level - there are 5 separate leftover dishes on that table!  

Service with style it was not:)

I know they say you should sing to children but....

This morning Ginger was playing with her merry-go round rabbit toy.  We had this out in the main living area for months and she showed no interest in it.  Then I put it back in the spare room; and suddenly its her favourite toy!

Sorry about the light here, but it was super early.

Anyway, as it was spinning it struck me that I should sing her a rabbit song.  So I launched into the WWII classic "Run, Rabbit" only to realise that the entire song is about rabbit hunting.  Hardly apropriate for a 15 month old. I sort of stopped singing after the first two lines.


Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, goes the farmer’s gun
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.
Don’t give the farmer his fun, fun, fun.
He’ll get by without his rabbit pie,
So run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.


I really need to think about some more appropriate song choices.  I should have stuck with Little Peter Rabbit. 

The plus side of a 5am baby call is to see all God's glory in a beautiful sunrise like this.

Have a lovely Sunday.

A Tour of Ginger's Nursery

Yesterday as I was cleaning Ginger's room I realised that, despite intentions to do so over a long period, I have never posted pictures of Ginger's nursery.  Actually, I haven't posted much recently at all - no single reason for that; but Ginger's walking is certainly making things lively around here.


Ginger's room is a mish-mash of newly purchased items, items sourced from other parts of the house, gifts and op-shop (thrift shop) buys.  The small chair by the cot was my father's when he was a small boy - it was built by Ginger's Great-great Grandfather.  Love having some family history in the room.

 
I love pictures for children's rooms.

These are Belle & Boo prints (from Etsy) that I bought a few years ago. They used to hang in my sewing room. But, I don't have a sewing room now that we have a nursery!

 
These were specially purchase from Sarah Jane on Etsy. I had been eyeing them off for a couple of years waiting for our baby! I love the 'read with me' print which you customise hair and dress colour for. I am, however, slightly dubious about whether I should have purchased the blonde haired girl. I thought it was a safe assumption to make, that two blonde headed individuals would produce a blonde headed child. However, Ginger is showing signs of having auburny hair.  The frames are from Ikea and the mats are just scrapbooking card cut to size.

The bookshelf used to be at my Nanna's. We painted it white. The lamp is from Ikea and used to sit on my desk.  I love the lampshade (also Ikea!). The change-table we found for $15 at St Vincents. We (read DH) just gave it a fresh coat of paint. We picked up the change table mat secondhand at Greensborough Market in Melbourne last year.

This poster I picked up down in Melbourne. From the wonderful stationer, Zetta Florence. I had it laminated and block mounted.  My MIL made the emroidered wall hanging.  So sweet.


The cot my in-laws bought us. The mobile above the cot I finished on Sunday - I may do a tutorial sometime soon.  It replaces one that Ginger broke by pulling on it.  We switched the others around the room.  The flutter-by I made at a church craft group, it is painted silk.  The viking ship mobile was sent over by my inlaws - they bought it in Denmark.

This Ikea bookshelf also used to sit in my sewing room!  The sacrifices we make for our Children :)  Ginger has many books - many are mine from Childhood, some come from my Mother's 35 years of teaching lower primary and we added a whole lot the other weekend at the local Lifeline bookfair.  Some time soon, I must do a post on children's books we are enjoying.

I made the quilt for Ginger in the weeks leading up to her birth. The elephants and birds are hand appliqued on. The pattern is from Cath Kidston's Sew book.

I finished the curtains (sorry about the light in the photo) the day Ginger was born, they were hung the morning I went into hospital. For other would-be mothers, a note of advice: I don't recommend clambouring around the floor, cutting and pinning curtains at 9 months pregnant, you will do bad things to your lower back.  We hung them just before I went to the hospital. The fabric I picked from samples my MIL sent over from the UK.

If you have any questions just include them in the comments and I will respond.

{This Moment}

{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. Inspired by Soule Mama

Walking*.....

*The towel is wrapped around a heavy book (a military history I think) to keep the cart sufficiently weighted for safety reasons.

Establishing Rhythm: Wake Up

To be honest, for the first 6 months of Ginger' life I struggled to find any sort of rhythm in our day.  I was deceived by a popular parenting book into thinking I could set a feeding and sleeping schedule for my baby.  Not so, I was the one with a baby who wasn't very interested in feeding - so that all important, start the day with a feed at 7am clause, caused me untold stress because Ginger never wanted to eat then.  But then, around 9 am she might take a small feed, which of course threw us out for the next scheduled feed at 11 am!  I felt like I was playing constant catch up with feeds and was trapped in the house because of her 'scheduled sleeps'.

Then, late last year, I read You are Your Child's First Teacher by Rhima Baldwin Dancy.  I had a light bulb moment; Ginger and I could find a rhythm for our days without needing to have a schedule.  A rhythm would give her a clue as to what the usual order of things were and would allow me to get the chores done as I needed (without always waiting for her naps!).

Dancy suggests using songs to ease transitions and clue your child as to what is happening.  I have two I am using for Ginger's wake-up - Lyn's Clapping Song and Merrily, Merrily.

Lyn's Clapping Song by June Epstein
Every day is a happy day as soon as Lyn's awake,
She claps her hands and she nod her head and gives it a little shake.
She looks at us with her twinkling eyes and in a little while,
Everybody who looks at her begins to sing and smile.
With a tra-la-la .......... (repeat with tra-la-la)

Merrily, Merrily
Merrily, merrily greet the morn,
Cherrily, cherrily sound the horn,
Hark! the echo, hear it play, O'er hill and dale and far away.

The words and music are from Merrily, Merrily: A Book of Song and Rhymes by the Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia.  I am pretty sure it is out of print now, as my copy was my mother's when I was a young child.  Besides which, there is no longer a Nursing Mothers' Association in Australia, only the Breastfeeding Association.  I have also heard good things too about The Singing Day and hope to get a copy of that later in the year so Ginger and I can work on incorporating more songs into our day.

On My Mind: Homemade birthday

Joining in with Rhonda's 'on my mind' blog link-up today.

Making Ginger's homemade birthday presents is on my mind today; we a trying to ensure most of what she will receive from us is homemade.  I want the day to be special, to say "we are so glad you came to join us".  Less than two months to go - I can't believe she is has been with us for ten and half months!

With DH out field this week I have made quite a lot of progress.....most of the bunting is cut out (if not sewn), her doll's quilt is made and so is a steiner baby doll (following instructions from this book).  I have tried to use stash materials as much as possible, but had to buy fabric for her bunting - fortunately Lincraft is having a 50% off fabric sale.  The wool stuffing for the doll I was given by the owner of our local sheepskin product shop.  He gave me offcuts from his chair covers - so kind and I had just enough to fill the doll.

Still in the works are a birthday crown, some hanging decorations, the sheets and pillowcase for her (yet to be) restored $9 thrifted doll's cot - her Daddy is in charge of the cot itself and a Daddy-made play kitchen.

Water play

Ginger has an obsession with the dogs water bowl at present.  We spend lots of the day relocating it from place to place in the hope of leaving them with access to it but having it out of the hands of a inquisitive 10 month old.  Then, in struck me on Saturday (after reading this blog over the last few weeks I am full of inspiration) why not get out a bowl for Ginger to do some water play.

That large, inverted object is Mummy's childhood rubber turtle.

2 minutes later Mummy's laundry-powder-dissolving-bowl was commandered, Ginger was stripped down to the essentials and rubber toys were put in the bowl.  She loved it and it was amazing to see the concentration on her face.  She spent a good half hour putting the toys in and out (toys 'in' is a relatively new development) and getting thoroughly soaked.  So, the floor got wet - but it needed a mop anyway!
 

She had a ball.  Now, I am thinking up variations.  I think a bowl of water with her measuring cups would be another good activity.  Any other suggestions?  [Feel a disclaimer is needed here - Ginger is a very mouthy child so we can only give her large objects:) ]

On a hobby horse

I went down to Big W (a Walmart equivalent) to pick up photos yesterday and was given the Autumn baby and toddler catalogue on my way out.  When I got home I dug out Ginger's size 1 chest of clothes.  Size 1 being the size I presume she will hit for most of our winter - I may yet be proved wrong, as I have been for summer:) 

I put all the clothes we have collected in that size on our bed, sorted according to type. Some are clothes we have been given, some we have thrifted and some I just bought when they were marked down at the end of last season.  I identified the gaps and started to go through the catalogue to see if there was anything in it that would help fill them.  For instance, she has 8 summer dresses in size 1 (the things that happen if you don't check your box regularly enough), but only 1 winter dress. 

I found a few things in the young baby section which I think look good (in particular, the pointelle tees and floral corduroy dress on p. 24), but then I turned to the baby boys (p. 26-27)  and toddler pages (p. 28-31) and I was horrified.  The clothing there, both for boys and girls, is simply not age appropriate.  Since when have short skirts and hip hugging jumpers been decreed acceptable for an infant or toddler.  Since when, have baby boys needed an ACDC t-shirt.  To my mind, it is just wrong.  A child is a child and should be dressed like one.

So, that is the explanation behind the new button that has appeared on my sidebar.

I will step off my soap-box now:)

9 months

Today marks 9 months of having Ginger in our lives!  I can't believe how much she has grown and changed over that time.

At 9 months:

• She is 7.55 kilograms and 70 cm long.  That puts her at the 15th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.  Pretty much where she has tracked all her life.  I think her percentile for weight would be a bit higher on the breastfed chart, the Child Health Nurse thought around the 25th percentile.
• She is wearing a mixture of 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothing; gradually transitioning to the latter.
• She is crawling everywhere and is into everything.  Pulling books off shelves is a favourite pastime, as is going for the rubbish bin and the dogs water bowl.  She is driving the dogs up the wall by chasing them all day.
• She can pull her self up and coast along the furniture.
• She has 6 teeth.
• She is not sleeping well.  We still have several wake-ups a night, and rise for the day at 4:30-5am!  Sometimes she will have an hour to 2 hour nap in the day.  Other times she ready to keep rolling on (even if Mummy is ready to fall over).
• She is doing much better with solids than at 8 months.  Her favourites are apples, apricots, peaches, cucumber,crackers and roast meat.  But all of the above - ONLY IF SHE CAN FEED HERSELF!
• She likes to share everything - one bite/suck for her, one for you or the dogs.
• She loves music and bounces along when I sing or play the piano for her (nice to have an appreciative audience).  Music also works wonders as a calmer - if she is grisly in the car, the instant her music goes on she is quiet.

She is such fun!  I couldn't imagine my life without her.

Ginger's New Doll

Ginger’s custom doll from Little Jenny Wren arrived in the lead up to Christmas.

A present from her Gran.

The doll
is just beautiful. 

Ginger thought so too.

Her shoe is worthy of further inspection!

Now living on a  high shelf until her best friend learns not to eat her. 

And, perhaps, thinks of a name!

Ginger Makes Her Stand

Well, since I last posted a {This Moment} photo Ginger’s development has taken off. 

In the space of 4 weeks she did her first rolling (7 months), crawling (7 ½ months) and pulling up (8 months). 

Her pulling up has progressed rapidly to the stage where she can crab walk along and between furniture.  No coffee cup is safe and, oh, the poor dogs!

Here she is last week. It is actually cold enough in our corner of Queensland for her to need all those clothes, despite it being the middle of Summer!