trucks, balls, boys

We’ve made an effort to keep Felix’ toys and clothing as gender neutral as possible. (It’s a harder task than I expected.) We’d like for him to be able to choose what he wants to play with. It is so funny to see that many times the things he ends up seeking out are more “boyish”.

The other night we happened to be at the park while there was some sort of Drug Free Community event. They had Police cars and motorcycles, an ambulance, fire truck, maintenance truck, and McGruff! (Not to mention, free ice cream!)

He really had a blast climbing in all of the trucks. He kept wanting to do it again!

He was not as sure, however, about McGruff.

Yup, the boy loves trucks and balls (as well as dirt, rocks, sticks…).

creative play at work

I was able to fill in for a couple extra hours yesterday at the Boutique, which meant bringing Felix. I know I have mentioned before that it can be challenging bringing a baby to work. This time I really put my mind to making games Felix and I could play but that still had an end product/finished task for me.

The most successful of these attempts was reorganizing the hanger rack.

He loves playing with hangers. I get freaked out when he tries to walk with them, but as long as he’s sitting we’re both happy.

He enjoyed discovering that the card rack spins.

Climbing into empty spaces is fun too.

I tried peaking his interest in playing with some silky scarves and a basket to no avail. Hangers are much cooler.

There are still frantic moments here and there, but Felix and I are learning how to make work days run smoothly and dare I say, enjoyable.

Lastly, have I mentioned how awesome my boss is? It’s such a relief to be able to bring Felix with me when I need to. Shop local! In doing so, your supporting wonderful businesses run by brilliant people, like Sandhya.

Perfect Party Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend for Felix’ 1st Birthday Party! The weather was perfect, the company was outstanding and love was definitely surrounding us. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to celebrate and all those who sent well wishes our way.

Making an announcement with Papa.

Papa made this puppet theater. We had a few marionettes out for kids to put on their own puppet shows.

Papa also put together this awesome toss game. There were only a few who mastered all levels.

We had the bean bag toss and Papa’s Tic Tac Toe game too.

My sister baked the cakes from scratch, of course! (They were absolutely delicious by the way, and yes, she takes special orders.)

Singing Happy Birthday:

The main event: smashing the cake!

The aftermath:

Kissing a handmade sock frog from Anne, who also made the stellar mix playing during the party.

(We’ve been preparing for a while. click to see more about the invite, party flags, bean bag toss and party hats.)

Party Prep III- party hats and bean bag toss

The Birthday fun continues.

Tomorrow is the party day! We still have tons to do to prepare. Some cooking, cleaning and of course setting everything up outside. Remember when I mentioned being knee deep in fabric last week? I’ve been working day and night on these two projects for Felix 1st Birthday Party.

For the party hats, I wanted something fabric that we could re-use. I came across this tutorial which gave me a great start. In fact I followed most of it. I decided not to use glue, I don’t have pinking shears (they’re on my list though!) and I added an elastic strap to the hat so that it would stay on people’s heads better.

They’re made of 4 circles each.

These were not finished when I photographed them. (and to be honest, I’ll be staying up late to finish a few tonight. eeek.)

I had so much fun with the fabric combinations!

Happy hat model.

My second big project was to make a bean bag toss. Now, I know a lot of people are creeped out by clowns, so sorry if this bothers anyone. But we have a bit of a carnival theme going here, and I just couldn’t resist.

I started with a big moving box and two bags of pearl barley.

sketching it out.

We put the barley in plastic bags first, just to make them a little safer if they do rip open.

Ta-daaaaa. Finished product:

I’m sure I’ll have an update Monday with shots of this stuff in action. Have a great weekend, we sure will!

Evening Sprinkler Play

Last night was Felix’ first encounter with the sprinkler.

He loved it!

Elmer did, too.

How We Stroll

Lately in any given outing, we end up doing a mix of Felix riding in his stroller, being carried in the ergo, being held and walking on his own. He is an independent guy these days and knows exactly what he wants! We just need to be prepared.

Here are a few shots while we were out the other day taking a stroll:

I so love that he rides up high in this stroller and even more that he can be facing us. However, lately with his increased independence, Felix has been wanting to face outward at times.

And a few photos from a stop in the park. I love these sandy fingers

and sandy curls.

Shop Baby (a day in the life)

A couple of days a week I work a few hours at a local Boutique. The set up is incredibly perfect for me. When I work on the weekends Felix gets time with Papa. For weekday hours, Felix comes with me and Papa picks him up on his way home from work.

Having a baby at work can be stressful at times: there are so many things that just aren’t safe (or cost effective) for a baby to play with. But, there are so many other things that keep him busy. He loves to see all of the different people that make their way in. He likes playing with paczi, the sweet shop kitty. There is hide and seek – the dressing rooms are perfect for this), watching the trains go by (right out our back window), walking the sidewalk out front, and once in a while we check out the back garden. Of course, we try to squeeze some nursing and nap time in but these can be a true challenge with so many other things to do!

All of this adds up to a full and rewarding day for a working baby.

Enojoying THIS Moment

There are so many things to be done on any given day. The sink is full of dirty dishes, there are toys covering the floors, a basket of laundry needs to be put away, I have five t-shirts to finish, haven’t made any new artmail and have a project that’s been sitting unfinished in the studio for far too long. But sometimes, like right now on this cool rainy day, all I can get myself to do is cuddle my little F in a soft green blanket in the red recliner. (Yes, he is in my lap snoozing as I type this- that is multi-tasking, right?!).  I frequently argue with myself about setting him down and getting to “things”, but sometimes I think it is more pertinent to just relish the moment, to look and love. To feel the warmth of his body, listen to each breath and kiss his sweet little head. He will never be THIS way again. His plump little fingers, sandy curls, the roundness of his cheeks. As this 1 year milestone gets closer, I find it ever so important to take in, enjoy, and remember these sweet baby moments.

(bottom two are a little blown out by the flash, but you get the picture.)

Revelation in the Sand: 11 months and counting.

Yesterday Felix turned 11 months. It hit me as he was *walking* through the *sandbox* at the park. I knew these things were coming, but so soon? It is hard to grasp the idea that in just 1 month he will be a year. A whole, single year. 365 days since I labored for hours and pushed my purple tiny baby out into this world. A year since he first latched onto my breast. A year.