Year: 2013

Tummy time is the worst, most boring thing in the world. Gwen wasn’t really into it, and I could only put her down on her front for a few minutes before she’d become irritable. UNTIL NOW.

My friend Dena tweeted at me that she used to put her laptop on the floor for her little one to look at during tummy time to make it more fun, and while I don’t have a laptop I DO have an iPad (sort of? I mean technically it’s Taylor’s but he has an Android tablet he uses so I’ve inherited the iPad because who needs two tablets? NO ONE).

WELL LET ME TELL YOU IT WORKED A TREAT.

I actually bought a visual stimulation app for babies and she seems to really like it- she stared at it for a good long time, both during tummy time and non-tummy time. When she’s on her back she almost always lies on the left side of her head, and I was a little worried she might develop a flat spot. I’ve been trying and trying to get her to turn her head the other way when lying down but nothing has worked but this app. She’s just mesmerized by it!

Of course, the thing babies like looking at the most is their own baby face, so I also put the iPad’s camera on and let her gaze at her own beauty for a while. Obviously a mirror would also be suitable for this, but you can’t take video with a mirror.

Just a quick post to let you know that I have some new banners available in the shop: mini hearts, skulls, mini stars, Easter eggs, and the critically acclaimed pet portraits.

Now that Gwen is two months old (which I still can’t believe) I’ve started a bedtime routine with her. It’s simple- she has a bath (her favourite), a bottle and then to bed.

She seriously loves the bath!

Sometimes she might need one last diaper change or bottle or a quick snuggle before she settles down, but she’ll sleep through the night as long as I time it properly. Usually I start the routine at around 11:30 or 12 and she’ll sleep until 7:30 or 8, which is amazing.

Last night was a little different- she had her first set of vaccinations and that + the Tylenol I’d given her made for one sleepy baby! She fell asleep quite early (I wanna say 10?) so I skipped the whole routine and let her sleep in my bed with me in case she woke up fussy in the middle of the night (she didn’t).

Since she was at the doctor yesterday, I have her latest measurements, and my giant baby just keeps getting bigger! She’s now 25.5″ long and weighs 13.5lbs, no wonder she’s growing out of her 0-3 month clothes!

I was going to make a baby faces collage today but this picture was too perfect not to share full-size.

A banner of four unique dog faces, done in diamond, bronze, pink and black glitter, with highlights in florentine gold. I just finished this last night/will be shipping it today, and I hope the customer is going to be happy with it.

This red “Gwendolyn” mini-banner isn’t glittery. I know; it makes no sense! But glittery banners just didn’t seem right for the nursery. I’m also planning on making another non-glittery banner for Gwen’s room with some cute woodland shapes.

People often want banners with larger letters, but they don’t often want to pay more for them so I rarely make anything bigger than my regular 3.5″ letters. This silver “dream” banner has 6″ letters, I think the biggest I’ve ever made.

“Evelyn” in gold with orange sherbet, lemon, fuchsia, ruby and black monkeys art either end for my internet friend Gilly‘s adorable baby.

These skulls were a Christmas gift for my friend Jenn.

I made this banner quite a while ago but couldn’t post it until after the holidays as it was for a gift. I really like the colour combination- the letters are lilac to sterling ombre and the owls are mint.

Gwen’s bedroom is the smallest room in the house, and it’s a weird shape with an awkwardly placed door & window and a closet that takes up an entire wall. Setting it up has been challenging and ongoing, and today I finally got around to putting up the bookshelves.

Obviously she’s not going to get much use out of a reading nook anytime soon but I like to be prepared. Also it’s so cute!

The shelves are simple $10 Ribba picture ledges from Ikea. I got the 55cm length and they basically fit perfectly between the door frame and the corner (which isn’t where I was planning on putting them so it’s very serendipitous). books: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I used the top shelf for its intended purpose and put some pictures on it.

In the large frames: the tree picture is a placeholder I printed out myself to tide me over until I can buy an actual print (I would have already but the artist isn’t selling them in her shop yet, cry cry), the red & white dots are a scrap of wrapping paper that might be from Ikea or possibly the dollar store, and the bird picture is a postcard I’ve had forever.

In the small frames: a “G” (for Gwen of course) I painted on a piece of brown cardstock, a photograph of the baby herself, and a scrap of Ikea Vandring Igelkott fabric with a little hedgehog on it.

The little fox is from Woodland Tale.

I saw this bear chair at the drugstore in December and became OBSESSED with it, but I couldn’t justify the purchase. Happily it went on clearance after Christmas and I snapped it up for only $15.

She’s already a fan!

Kitty onesie &polka-dot leggings from H&M.

Gwen at nine weeks; so cute & happy!

Not for me, I’m officially off work from my ~real~ job until September >:)

After Gwen was born Taylor took a week off of work, and then he worked from home for six weeks, and then he got a week off at Christmas because he’s been with his company so long, and then he took another week off! And it’s been amazing having him home- during those six weeks while he was up working all night he was also looking after Gwen, so do you know what I was doing? SLEEPING. Sleeping for six, seven, eight and I think once twelve hours a night. Sure, there were some nights when he’d be really busy and I’d have to get up to feed and change and cuddle the baby, but more often than not I would get a full night’s sleep. And then I’d look after Gwen and Taylor would get a full day’s sleep.

Of course that can’t last forever so this week he is back in the office- just three nights a week, Mondays and Fridays he’s still working from home. Monday night (which is his Tuesday shift since he starts work at midnight) was my first night at home with Gwen all alone. And it was so weird! I was worried she’d keep me up and I’d get no sleep but she was a perfect angel and slept from 1:30 until 8:30. Last night was about the same (bed at 12:30, up once at 2, back to sleep until 7:30), and while it’s nice that she’s so easy to deal with I still miss having Taylor here, even when he’s working. It’s just nice to know that he’s around.

I know I said this about one month, but I CAN NOT BELIEVE it has been two months already since Gwen was born! Time really is flying, and it’s freaking me out!

Gwen is such a happy baby. Ever since she was three weeks old we’ve been rewarded with big gummy baby smiles, and as she grows and becomes more interactive and aware these have increased in both frequency and magnitude. She really rarely cries- at our prenatal class and on the maternity ward tour and in the hospital they really stressed how much babies cry, I guess to hammer home the point that it’s normal so new parents don’t freak out about it, but this baby? Not so much. I mean obviously she cries when she’s hungry or uncomfortable or overtired but she’s never inconsolable. Most of the time she’s perfectly content and when she isn’t all it takes is a quick cuddle to cheer her up again.

She’s also a big baby. It’s been almost three weeks since her last doctor visit so I’m not sure how much she weighs now but she is already growing out of her 0-3 month clothes. Today she’s wearing a 3-6 month onesie that basically fits her perfectly! I think she’s going to be tall like her daddy. And she’s so lovely! Her hair is starting to get a little curl to it and I know her eyes could still change colour to be blue like Taylor’s or green like mine but for now she has the prettiest grey eyes. I feel so lucky & blessed to have the most wonderful baby in the world.

These collages are my favourite.