“They” sure lied about the terrible twos- Gabe was a breeze through most of his third year on the planet. Three is something else, though. Challenging- yes. But, it’s truly amazing to watch his mind work- he is proving to really be his parents’ child, that’s for sure. We can only blame ourselves. 
Punish yourself. Make a pettiskirt.
That’s roughly 75 yards/225 feet/2700 inches of ruffle along the bottom here. Ruffler foot, I love you. So, so much. And I love my newest buddy, too- I was able to pick up this Janome/Kenmore machine for $20.95 shipped last week! Crazy. It’s been a nice basic machine so far- definitely not my Brother, but, it works the ruffler fine. For that ridiculous price, I’m just going to leave it set up for ruffling or shirring- I haven’t decided which I use more yet- but, then I don’t have to mess with my main sewing machine when I need to do that.
I wish the pink satin I had was closer to the bubblegum pink of the chiffon, but, it looked awful- so I just used white for the waist. I think her top will cover that most of the time, anyway, so no biggie.
These instructions are really great- you know, if you want an alternative to pulling your toenails off with pliers. I kind of winged it, though (she doesn’t use a ruffler foot- crazy woman!)- I’ve had chiffon sitting around forever, been meaning to get around to this. And I have more chiffon in other colors, so I’ll be testing my ruffler again soon. I think I’ve worked out the kinks and know what I’m doing now, so it should be a lot less painful!
Really, it’s a very simple project- just very, very time consuming. I really just can’t convey HOW MUCH GATHERING this project involves!
Gwen took her first steps today, all on her own. And then again. And again. And again.
What does a mom do when they run opposite directions?
::::freak out::::
She learned that windows make a great racket when you smack them repeatedly with baby palms. She obviously hated that.
I really just posted this picture here, though, because it was a better photograph than the ones that follow. They’re pretty bad- busy background, flashy. But, they’re amazing, nonetheless.
I finally remembered to pick up tiny little hair-bands at Target. And then forgot. I remembered them shortly before bedtime- I just HAD to play. And because I had to have photographic evidence of that, I decided that it was also a good time to see if I could grab a photo of Gwen doing her newest trick!
So, this- THIS- is the first picture ever, of Gwen standing up.
Fabulous, right? Ha! Yes, that’s the kid who used to run FROM the camera.
Um… so, this is the second photo of Gwen standing up- and it just so happens to feature her first whale spout, too.
Then after changing her for bed, I decided to go for the gold- pigtails. And I may have had to distract her with a Target bag (which was clearly marked to keep away from Children, at least 7 times) to get a picture of them- but, I’ll be…
We have achieved pigtails. PIGTAILS!!
Okay, so maybe it’s more like a double whale spout…
Well, I first “met” this guy in early June. He’s a blue dasher (or Pachydiplax longipennis [please tell me I'm not the only immature one who snickered at that]) dragonfly. There are bugs that I hate- cockroaches, mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, giant tarantulas (IN this house- if they’re outside spiders don’t bother me) and lubbers.
Dragonflies are not among them. They’re the best weapon against mosquitoes, for one. They’re colorful and friendly- so pretty easy to photograph. The real reason I’m so fond of them, though? They look like they’re smiling! I honestly think they’re downright cute!
Anyway, this guy’s been around for a while- I’m fond of him. While taking these pictures, though, I noticed something- he had a BUG attached to him! Gross! Ugh! I wanted to flick that little dragonfly bloodsucker off, but, there’s no way I’m fast enough! I hope it doesn’t hurt him.
I mean, look at this face! I would miss him!
Be thankful that I didn’t post the close-ups of his hitchhiker (I think it’s a water mite). Blech.
Of photographing this child. They’re so over. Our little girl will not sit still! It was a tough age with Gabe, too- I remember taking hundreds of photos and only having a few of his face. And smiles? Ha. I’m lucky to get a glance at the camera. She knows all my tricks now. I’m going to have to come up with some new ones!
Well, as you can see, her latest dress is too big right now- maybe for quite some time. I’ve learned that the sizing information isn’t always accurate on some patterns. I was actually worried when I realized I’d grabbed the smaller size range of this pattern, as Gwen’s stats put her at the top of this, the largest, size. When I make another, I’ll go down a size- and narrow the chest a bit, too. It is fun, anyway, though- I love the fabric covered buttons! It’s so cool how easy they are to make with the little kit. Layer, pop! Cute matching button!
Her eyes are so funny right now- pretty, but, funny. They started to change to brown months ago- and stalled. The inner ring around her pupil is golden brown- while the rest of her iris is a cool gray-blue. It’s so hard to see unless she’s in bright light and her pupils are tiny. I did an extreme crop here to try to make it easier to see. It’s not often she’s sitting still long enough to look.
I wonder how long it will take for her eyes to settle?
Yep, our THREE YEAR OLD (Happy birthday, Gabe!) starts preschool next month! We found an absolutely amazing school for him, and we’re all so excited about it. I decided to try to make him a little backpack to celebrate the occasion- and WOW! It worked! I made one!
I’ll be honest- this was a challenging project for me- my first zipper, my first quilting (on the bottom panel), my first time sewing with interfacing, my first time sewing piping- a lot of firsts! I used a tutorial/pattern from Made By Rae- it made it all possible. There were still parts that were over my head for a minute, and I had a few panic attacks during the process, but, I can definitely recommend it if you are an intermediate or even advanced beginner with a sewing machine.
And I’m pretty sure he likes it- that’s the important part! He’s had a lot of fun zipping it up and stuffing it with toys and books. And he was a willing model- that, alone, speaks volumes!
This is such a fun style- so quick to put together, too. I used Butterick 5439. It was an okay pattern. I was a little annoyed that it took three pieces for this view- it could’ve been done in one (and avoided the pattern matching issues) with the yardage it recommended. I didn’t think of that until too late- but, I’ll definitely remember for next time (and I will do this one again). It also didn’t include top stitching in the directions, which seemed pretty important- it would have been so floppy without it! Other than that, though- it was okay! It’s on sale at Joann’s this week for 99c- and includes some other cute views- so, not a bad deal at all. It DOES seem to run really big, though- Gwen is at the upper weight and over the height range for this size, but, it is pretty giant on her right now. Not horrible, but, it will definitely fit for awhile.
The back is sweet- it’s cut just high enough that you can get a view of the bloomers.
This is one of the daisies Gabe helped me pot up for the porch this summer. It had a sad bloom when we bought it, and absolutely nothing since. Until this guy (and two BUDdies- har-har) popped up this past week. It sure is a fancy daisy!
Dad’s been working on a wink with Gabe as long as I can remember- he’s had blink down since he was tiny, but, wink was apparently a challenge. This was pretty close, though, I think! And that’s “broken hair”, by the way. He doesn’t tolerate “broken hair” for long. Tousling his hair gets me an “Oh, Mo-om!” now.
This, on the other hand, is crazy hair. And a really funny wink.
And our little girl’s hair is getting longer- I love every last wisp, every last strand.