A sister.

A mobile sister. Poor Gabe.

Round two

This time, I made the size small (pattern sizing is crazy sometimes- Gwen is so far out of the weight and height ranges for that size) and combined it into a single cut of each fabric, instead of treating the fronts and backs of each separately.

And it fits MUCH better than the size M does (though I’m sure she’ll grow into the first one). She is absolutely fascinated by the big buttons, though- so, if I make this again, I might just stitch the shoulders together- it slips over her head, anyway. Those are the bloomers included in the pattern, by the way- I like the pattern for them a lot.

Bubblegum pink floof in action.

Making a break for the closet- probably hoping for a shirt. This thing is so full that she can actually crawl in it without it tripping her up- and you can’t even see her bootie, there’s so many ruffles.

Now there’s need for a shirt AND some pants! Good thing her brother knows how to open closet doors.

Uh- oh. Shirts and shorts are in the dressers, not Gwen’s closet! (Note the THREE GARBAGE BAGS FULL of outgrown clothes from Aunt Kelly and Sophie- and there’s more!!!) And yes, Gabe has been in underpants for several months now- I haven’t bragged about that yet!

And here’s a little peasant dress I made from Portabello Pixie’s Claire pattern a while back. Finally got around to photographing it! The pettiskirt actually looks really fun under it- it makes it poof out and the pink ruffles peak out of the bottom! I’ll have to get a shot of that one day!

Watch out world.

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::::

Gwen’s been busy.

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…

The easy days.

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?

Apron Dress

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.

A new outfit for Gwen

She is so much fun to sew for! I hope she never outgrows it. Here’s a top I put together- I used a tank top that fits her to whip together the pattern for it. Bias tape is cool stuff.

I made a diaper cover to go under it- Prudent Baby’s tutorial- and added some ruffles.

And a little flower clip to go in her hair.

First she blew me some raspberries…

Then, she gave me a thumbs up.

I think it will be perfect for crawling through a HOT summer.

This one just made me laugh! She can look so serious.

But, yeah. She’s not.

Day 99

Woooooosh. There it went! The time between Gwen having enough hair to justify hair accessories (okay, barely)… and between her figuring out how to take them off. Darnit.

On another note, doesn’t she look smashing in her new polka-dotted bow-tie?

Day 98

More baby bloomers- these came out pretty huge. Seam allowances still get me sometimes.