Measuring Tape Growth Chart

Tape Measure Growth Chart.

This Tape Measure Growth Chart is available as a free download from Just Something I Made.

I found it last week and downloaded it. I am so excited about the fun things that people are doing with tape measures!! Cathie, the smart cookie at JSIM first did one in inches, and then later added a metric measure for the rest of the world, and I'm so glad that she did.

There were a few small challenges that I encountered. The first was that the PDF is made to be printed on foolscap sized paper, so the printer was scaling the image to fit on an A4. This made the measurements wrong. While it still would have been ok as a record of growth, I wasn't happy enough, so I opened the files in Gimp, and cropped and printed my heart out, until I had everything printing the correct size.

My second 'problem' is that have no coloured ink in my printer. The colour cartridge ran dry about 1.5 years ago, and I suspect that re-filling is not an option anymore. So, unless I spend frivolous amounts of cash on a new cartridge, I'm a grayscale default, kind of girl. Back in the day, when I was growing up, we didn't have computers to play on, the internet was unheard of, printers were dot matrix and we used these things called pencils. I still have some.

My poo-coloured* Faber-Castell, which when used over the metal clip part gives it a nice brassy look.

The third thing that I had to troubleshoot, was just how to give it some longevity. I ended up just covering it with clear contact. The contact that I have is very low adhesive, and thus does not 'contact' very well. To fix this, after I had contacted it [one long 190cm piece of contact!] I ironed it on a low heat, to hopefully give it a bit of extra stick. I seriously contemplated putting it through my laminator [with the contact] but I'm sure that would have ended in tears!

Isn't it lovely? It now lives on our bedroom door, and I'm hoping that it stays in our house a very long time, and becomes absolutely covered in names and dates!

*I'm quite sure that Faber-Castell have not officially given this colour the label "poo", but it does look much like the colour of Addie's pre-solids nappies.

Strong Little Shoots

The past two weeks have brought some heavy rain, as well as great sunshine, and as a result the dirt patch that is our backyard has transformed into a green weedy jungle. I'm completely amazed as I watch these shoots spring up.

The dirt is lifted in big clumps to make way for what seem to be fragile shoots. The ground is covered by these clods being pushed aside to make way for the green.

Its more impressive in real life, but it looks like these lovely greens should be squashed, but strength is n numbers and a large patch of dirt is being fractured and displaced here. 

Just pictures

Inside our water cooler

The joy of renting! I love our house, it is light, open and the rooms are comfortable sizes for us AND we have an indoor toilet. Our house's fault comes clear when it rains. As you can see from the picture, our air cooler fills with water - and not where it is supposed to!! If it rains too much, or the cooler is up too high after rain whoosh! The water runs down through the vents and floods the kitchen. Nothing a beach towel and vigilance can't fix, but it made for a great photo.

Happy little caterpillar.

Addie is just cuter by the day! Here she is, in a sleep-suit I made her. I thought she might find it too restrictive, but unless I'm no judge of body language, she liked it well enough.

Addie hanging out with her Dad. Awww!

Addie and Andrew like hanging out together, especially if it means their dinner is ready earlier, or it will help me be a happy person to live with. They love to put on iTunes and listen to Peter Combe or Colin Buchanan, or Andrew just sings his own versions of songs.

I love to see them enjoying each other's company, and it gives me a chance to be unencumbered for a short while at least.

Today I have been sorting through Addie's clothes, putting away the ones that are too small or unseasonable, and trying to find sensible places to put them all. Many of the clothes she has never even worn, because they're long sleeved and warm, which we haven't needed here for many months, and she's gone right past them. Its amazing how much she has grown! I know that its usual for babies to grow, and its a good thing, but it is a very tangible proof that our little girl is growing up far too fast and is a far cry from the tiny [8 pound] baby that we brought home only 5 months ago.

Clothes Peg Apron

An apron called Peg

Presenting my latest apron. Ta Da!

I needed something to hold my pegs in to protect them from the weather, so I made myself this little apron. Its full of pegs, and its test run went well. This apron is made with an inner liner of calico, and the print is a strong heavy weight cotton. I expect it will last some time!

I have toyed with a few different ways of making this, as an over the shoulder bag, a full apron, or a pouch that hangs off the line. The waist apron made the most sense to me, I can use it even if I"m carrying the baby in her wrap or sling, and I don't have to move it while I'm pegging out or bringing in the washing because it moves with me! This style is also very cute, and could be embellished with lace, appliqué, piping or bias binding to make it even more impressive. This was a quick knock-up while Andrew spent time with the baby, so no room for extras.

A google search brings up a few aprons like these. I like this style with two big openings to the pocket, because it keeps the pegs relatively secure, but it's still really easy to get them in and out. I have since found instructions for one just like mine and a few variations in an old fashioned book called School Sewing Based On Home Problems. The design similar to mine is called "Sunny Mundy", with the main difference being that I lined my apron and allowed more give in the front making the pockets more accessible I think.

Pretty bow at the back.

Watch out or Addie will shoot some water at you!

Sleeping Like a Baby.

I went to the local library this week, hoping to borrow a DVD on Pilates, and came away with this book instead.

I wish I had read Sleeping Like a Baby by Pinky McKay before Addie was born! If not then, then soon after as I was torn between doing what it appeared my baby wanted, and what I was told I should do.

This blurb comes from the author's website.

Babies need their sleep, but sometimes it seems like the hardest thing in the world to get them to drift off. Parenting expert Pinky McKay argues that controlled crying and other current trends are restrictive and can add to the stress faced by parents.

A more natural, intuitive approach to settling your child, Sleeping Like a Baby will help you understand normal infant sleep at each stage of development, from birth to three years. Pinky will teach you to:

• Create a safe sleeping environment;

• Help your baby sleep naturally, without resorting to ‘cry it out’ regimes;

• Read your baby’s body language so that learning to sleep becomes a stress-free process for parent and child;

• Feed infants to encourage sleep;

• Assist your baby’s sleep with natural aids such as massage and music, and meditation for toddlers;

• Gently change any ‘habit’ gradually, with love, when you and your baby are ready and;

• Ignore the pressure to implement ‘one size fits all’ baby management routines and feel confident that YOU are the expert about YOUR baby’s sleep needs.

Sleeping Like a Baby is a must-read for stress-free, guilt-free parenting and offers down-to-earth and heartening advice on helping babies (and their parents) to sleep better.

Now I don't feel like I need to "make" her sleep, feed, wean or any of those things - which to be honest I wasn't really trying to do, but felt like 'good' parents manage to get done. It sounds silly to me to have a book give you permission to be a certain way, but I supose what it has done is reassured me and validated my parenting 'style' with Addie.

One of my favourite things about this book is that instead of advocating routine for an infant, it speaks of learning your baby's rhythym. This is something that having done it with Addie so far [and feeling angst because it seemed I should have been doing things differently] and will certainly do with our next children, whatever their personality and needs may be. No two babies can fit a one-size-fits-all approach. I doubt that even identical twins would! A rhythym makes sense.

I fully recommend this book to all new parents and parents to be - even if you feel that you would like to follow a routine, this book teaches a lot about communicating with your baby, and will not be wasted time.

Happy Houses.

Happy Little Houses

In an effort to achieve my goals in a day and to also do things that I enjoy, I'm trying to implement a few things. One of the tools I'm making myself is this set of houses. They're laminated paper, with an adhesive magnet on the back. On the front are chores that I may need to do, and some blank ones that I can write one-off tasks on. I've stuck the ones that I want to do tomorrow on the front of the fridge, and as I do the task, I can take the house magnet off and put it on the side thus clearing the front of the fridge. 

I'm hoping that the magnets will help remind me of what I'm supposed to be doing that day [helping me to return to the task even if I get distracted] and motivate me to clear the fridge every day - a visual reminder of the big picture.

And in unrelated news...

Addie loves her swing