Baby Swim II

We just finished up the second and final week of baby swim, and I'm really going to miss it, now that it's over. It was a really good experience for both of us. Freyja was able to learn a couple of skills and become comfortable with the pool, and it was great bonding time for the two of us. She really did seem to enjoy the water, and as the sessions progressed, she would actually cry when it was time to get out of the pool! I guess I have a little water baby on my hands!

At the end of each session, a lifegaurd blows a whistle to signify when all the different classes are supposed to exit the pool, and then shortly after, a second whistle to let the next classes know that they need to get in. On the last day after the first whistle, we all lingered in the pool, and tried to stay in the water as long as possible! I don't think any of us wanted baby swim to be over! Ha!

So, here are some photos from the last week. At the bottom, you can see Freyja's "pass card", which lists the skills she was able to learn over the course of the class. I think we'll sign up for baby swim again in the fall. Until then, we'll be swimming in the blow-up pool in the backyard, or at the YMCA, where I just recently got a free two-week trial membership. Yay!

Furry Friends

Today we went to the Jubilee College Olde English Faire, which is held in a small town about an hour away from here. It was your typical renaissance fair type of event, with roaming actors in glitzy versions of the costume of the day, musical performers, jousting, fencing, archery, and sword fighting shows, theater, artisans, merchants, food, etc. They also had some hilarious stuff for kids...a puppet show, a wooden catapult that threw candy, pony rides, and a petting zoo, just to name a few.

Freyja is too little to really understand and enjoy a lot of those things, but she really seemed amused and content most of the day just to take everything in roam around in the sunshine. She liked watching all the weird people walking around (and trust me there were a lot of those types!) and checking out all of the little children, which she has a new interest in all of a sudden.

Freyja was also extremely excited about the petting zoo. She squealed and shook her hands all over the place (her signal for way exciting stuff), and I think I had to literally pry her away from the wire fencing that was around each of the animals. She had a chance to pet a couple of lambs, two goats, and an emu...but the highlight was the rabbit area, where the children could each hold a baby rabbit of their own, pet it, and let it jump all over them for a few minutes. Mom has taken her to the local zoo in the past, but she hasn't actually touched any other animals besides our cat and a few random dogs, so this must have been super cool to her. She was loving it! I really enjoy watching her experience new things, and she was so amazed by the different creatures she was able to see and touch.

Since Freyja has always liked music, she also seemed happy about the different performers throughout the day. There was a small group that played drums and a dulcimer type instrument, and while we were listening to them, she was bopping around in her stroller, waving her arms, and even trying to snap her fingers. Hilarious. The same goes for the drum and bagpipes group which we saw later in the day...which she giggled and danced around to also. I love the fact that she's starting to "dance". It's the cutest.

Baby Swim

We just finished up the first week of a two week session of baby swim. It's been a totally fantastic experience! It's been nice to get into the pool on hot days, have some bonding time with Freyja in the water, and see her interact with other babies and try something new. On the first day, there wasn't really any instruction, just open swim time so parents could get their babies comfortable with the water. The next three days involved simple games in the water and practicing front and back floating, kicking legs, and towing (being pulled along in the water on their belly). We also submerged our babies at various times, to get them used to holding their breath under water. I have to admit, I was a bit scared to do it at first, but after thinking it over and determining that such a thing would have to be a natural human instinct, at least as an infant...we took the plunge too and tried some quick swoops under the water. Overall, it was a great first week, and there were only a couple of tears! It was so fun to see Freyja get excited and giggle in the pool...

A New Birthday Tradition

In my last post, I mentioned that I made a felt crown and wreath for Freyja's birthday, but I didn't really go into any details about it. I thought I would do that here! Plus, since my last post, I've had a chance to take a much better photo of both, which I wanted to include for everybody to see!

The concept of the birthday crown and wreath are, from my research, both European traditions, and they are often used by children of families who raise their children using the Waldorf method, but lately (as I describe below) it's become a popular trend, and many people are now making them, regardless of their particular method of parenting or seasonal/yearly traditions.

The first time I saw the birthday crown being used, it was on a blog which I absolutely love and read daily, Soule Mama. The author, Amanda Soule, has several blog entries where it's discussed, including here and here. She also describes the whole process in her book The Creative Family, which I don't have and haven't read yet...but because of it, a simple google search for "birthday crown" will generate a ton of other blog entries whose writers have posted images of birthday crowns they've also recently made. I swear, these things have become so popular overnight. I began sewing Freyja's crown before all of this creative insanity began and took my inspiration for the project from the Soule Mama blog, as well as from another blog I love and also read daily, Uncommon Grace. The author describes her birthday crowns and wreath, as well as their family birthday traditions, here and here, and lists her inspiration for the first birthday crown she ever made as being from The Birthday Book (which I also haven't read).

The crown I made was loosely based on a pdf pattern I was able to find on Jelly Baby Blog (also a nice blog!), but for some reason (although I did save the pdf to my computer months ago, thankfully), I can't seem to find it online now! I'd be glad to send you the pattern and tutorial she posted if you're interested. I also noticed today (while gathering up my links for this post!) that there is another good tutorial here at the blog Balancing Everything. I'm sure, if you do some research of your own, you'll find all sorts of other great information on the whole birthday crown phenomenon too...

The crown I made is constructed of two layers of felt and a layer of low-loft cotton quilt batting in between. You can achieve a similar affect by using two layers of plant-dyed felt (which is thicker), or instead of quilt batting, using interfacing in between the two layers of felt to add stiffness. I sewed the three layers together by machine on the edges of the top, bottom, and sides with a 1/4" seam allowance, and inserted an elastic band in the back (also covered in felt) to allow the crown to be adjustable, so Freyja could wear it for several years. After I was done with the machine sewing, I blanket-stitched the crown by hand on the top and bottom in a contrasting wool thread.

I decided to decorate the crown with felt flowers, which I designed and cut out by hand. The flowers have three felt layers each, and are machine sewn vertically through the petals with contrasting thread.

The wreath was made in a similar way. The base was wrapped in a long chain of felt, and then decorated with felt flowers of various shapes of the same thickness as above, which were machine sewn as above. Pastel buttons were sewn to the centers of the flowers, and then they were all sewn individually to the wreath base.

Well, I think that's about it!

I hope Freyja's birthday crown and wreath become a favorite part of her birthday every year...

One

Today was Freyja's 1st birthday!

It seems like the time passed by so fast...and it was not too long ago that she was just a little baby, snuggled in my arms. But...looking back, I'm very grateful that I've had the unique opportunity to stay at home with her this year and watch her grow and change, and see for myself all the wonderful things she's learned and experience the little person she's already become.

Freyja's birthday was pretty simple this year. I had originally planned a small backyard party and had intended on inviting all of my friends who have small children, but decided a couple of weeks beforehand that I'd rather just have a little party, with just myself, grandma and grandpa. I also spent a lot of time making her a beautiful felt birthday crown and wreath, but I'll discuss that more in a future posting.

Freyja wore a pretty dress and a cute feather party hat, and we all went out for dinner as a family. To my amusement, Freyja appeared to enjoy garlic breadsticks, which, although pretty hysterical, was also a bit disturbing! After dinner, we came back home and she and I went out for a nice walk together in the stroller. It was a nice, sunny evening. When we got back to the house, she put on her new crown and opened a couple of presents and played with her new toys. She ended up getting some toys, a rocking chair, and an outfit from grandma and grandpa and I, and new doll from grandma Szilvi. We also blew some bubbles and tossed around some balloons, and she crawled after them and giggled...which she seemed to enjoy more than the toys! We had some cake later on, and I also took her hand and footprints in clay at some point, to save for posterity. After all the action, she ended up going to sleep a bit early. Even though she had no idea what all the fuss was about, she seemed to have fun!

Here are some photos of the highlights:

Decorations for the party...

Freyja's party hat and other birthday regalia...

Dinner at the Olive Garden with mommy, grandma, and grandpa...

Taking an after dinner walk in the park with mommy...

Trying out her new birthday crown...

Opening her presents...

A new doll from Grandma Szilvi...

(you can see a better picture of it here!)

Freyja's pretty cake...
Blowing out the candles...Eating a little bit of cake... Playing with bubbles... Hanging out with Grandma...

The Super Freak-Out Meltdown

Today I had what I think would qualify as a first-time mom, super freak-out meltdown.

Each morning when Freyja wakes up for the day, I also wake up. I get up, put a long pillow between her and the side of the bed which isn’t against the wall so she doesn’t roll out while I’m gone, and go into the bathroom to prepare her morning milk. I can see her from the bathroom, so I watch her play and listen to her babble from the doorway. When I come back into the room, I hand her the cup, she starts drinking it, and while she gradually wakes up and drinks, I slowly let light into the room, ending with the window next to the bed. By this time she’s done drinking, and I take the cup out of her hand, replacing it with her pacifier, and then I change her diaper. We do the same thing each morning. It's our little routine, at least for now....

Well, this morning…I opened the curtains, and then I reached over to take the cup…and when I do, I look down to see the most enormous, liquid-filled blister on Freyja’s middle finger on her right hand that I have ever seen! I am not exaggerating. This thing was huge. It was easily the size of her thumb, and as long as the space between the base her finger and the second joint. Huge.

I immediately scooped her up, went downstairs, and grandma was on the phone to Freyja’s pediatrician in a nanosecond. It was literally minutes before we were all dressed and in the car, on the way to the doctor. Here I am, crying in the backseat, trying to figure out for the life of me what could have caused this insanely huge blister. She was completely normal when she went to bed! She hadn’t eaten or touched anything new the day or night before! She hadn’t touched anything hot which could have pinched, burned and/or blistered her. Even though she has been sick, she never had a fever. I just couldn’t figure it out. I just kept going through the day and hours before, thinking that something should be coming to me, but nothing made sense.

When we got to the doctor’s office, her pediatrician was clueless. He said he’d seen nothing like it. He called in one of his partners, an allergist who’d been a physician for 20 years. He said he’d also never seen anything like that on an infant. They both agreed it didn’t look like a burn or a contact allergy, and sent us to a dermatologist. While they were examining her, the blister finally broke from the immense amount of pressure, which of course made me freak. It looked so bad…

The dermatologist’s diagnosis? It was an insect bite. I said that this had been discussed at the pediatrician’s office, but that the area lacked puncture marks, which led them to believe that it couldn’t be an insect bite. The dermatologist said that certain mites and spiders leave what are called “blistering bites” which have no punctures. He said that a blister this large was unusual and probably just a one-time, strange reaction. He assured me that it would be fine, would heal normally, and probably never happen again.

Then it hit me. Yesterday we brought in some wood and used the fireplace because the furnace was on the fritz, and Freyja was playing in the same room. Is it possible that a bug was hanging out in a piece of the wood, and it somehow made its way over to her?

Regardless, I freaked, at least on the inside. Although I did cry, I somehow managed not to have a complete breakdown in front of her. She’s always been very aware of my emotions, and she can sense when I’m upset or nervous, which leads to her being upset or nervous, even if it's really no big deal to her. Since she seemed pretty calm and cool and in no pain over the whole thing, I wanted to try and keep her in a good mood.

I realize that this whole freaking out thing when your child is sick, in pain, sad, you name it...is normal. I mean, what kind of parent with any heart doesn't feel like that? For me, one of the worst experiences is taking Freyja to the health department for her vaccinations, because I know her little giggly demeanor and goofy smile will soon turn into crying, tears of pain, and a look of distrust, aimed at me, because I'm the horrible, mean mommy who took her there and let those awful people touch her. I can only imagine how I'll feel when she falls and skins her knees, has to have stitches, or has her heart broken by some evil boyfriend. But, somewhere along the line I'm going to have to perfect my talents at holding in some of my own emotions so I can help her to be brave and strong.

Still, I feel like I did okay, at least on the outside…which is what really matters...at least for now.

A Thousand Words

I love these images. To me, they represent so many different things.

For instance, they say something about the weather. We haven't had much of a Spring in the way of warm weather for outside play. Although the trees and flowers seem to be blooming, the air is quite cool and the sun only comes out here and there. There's also been a lot of rain. We haven't been spending a whole lot of time outdoors, and we've been doing a lot of looking out the window. Shouldn't we be laying on blankets at the park in sundresses, sipping lemonade? I think so.

The other thing I love about these images is that the cat is in them, in her ever-increasing capacity as Freyja's sidekick. I've never seen a cat be so loyal and patient. In the third photo, you can even see that Freyja is holding onto her tail...something that cats aren't usually too fond of...and she doesn't even seem to mind. It's pretty neat, really.

Another aspect I love? Freyja's hair. It's so wild and fuzzy. When I look back on her at this age, I won't ever forget that downy, soft, crazy hair. It's part of what makes her so cute and quirky.

And something else these photos capture...this window. It's the one next to the bed that Freyja and I sleep in, and the view we see from it each morning when we look out. It's also the window where sunlight comes in as she naps, and where the moonlight comes in while she dreams. As she gets older, she becomes more and more interested in what goes on outside of it. Freyja's little world just keeps getting larger, and this window has become a symbol of that. She looks so contemplative in the first picture. I wonder what she's thinking about?

The last photo also shows the dress Freyja's wearing from the front, which I made especially for her. I designed and made the dress with no pattern, with just an idea in my mind and the fabrics I had chosen to work with. I hand-stitched the flowered trim on, all the way around the bottom, and also embroidered around the front pocket to match. It's really special to me because it took a long time, was made with a lot of love, and was the first article of clothing I ever made for her.

Lastly, they show that Freyja is becoming more independent. She's been pretty serious about perfecting her standing, and she just keeps getting better and better at it. Before I know it, she'll be walking!

Where Have You Been?

I've been MIA on the blog front for a while now. What can I say? At first, things just became busy. I started listing a lot of Freyja's clothes and other items which she no longer fits in, uses, or that I'm not keeping for posterity on Ebay...which has taken up a lot of time...and is still pretty time consuming. We've also been sick for about the last week. When I say "we", I mean grandma, Adrienne, and Freyja...and when I say "sick", I mean with the most evil of all flu-like sicknesses with all of the colorful symptoms one can imagine. So, we've all been trying to get better, but it's been slow-going. Otherwise, there's one other thing which has been keeping me a little bit more busy than usual, but I'll go into that a bit more in a future blog posting.

Freyja's New Throne

As you can see, Freyja is totally amped about her new Euro II highchair. Grandma and I had to order it online, because this is a relatively small and not-so-progressive town, and therefore, no one sells anything which is not primarily made of plastic around here. Can you believe that it's so hard to find a wood highchair? You should check out the linked website and see how absolutely cool and versatile this chair is...

Photo Update

It's been suggested that I haven't been posting enough photos of Freyja lately, so today I put together a little collection of images I really like to show everyone what she's been up to!

I totally love this one.

There's something about a baby holding a baby that just cracks me up, and that expression is really funny...

After an afternoon nap...

She's so cheery!

Hanging out after a bath...

Checking out her reflection...

Getting her feet kissed, which she loves!

Relaxing on mommy's chest...

Looking silly on St. Patrick's Day!

She fell asleep later while the Irish musicians were playing!

I made that Shamrock pin.

The crocheted sweater and both blankets were mine when I was a little baby.

Maybe Grandpa Theo remembers them?

Playing with the wooden stacking toy, which is a big favorite!

You can see her two little lower teeth!

At the park with mommy!

That yellow crocheted bonnet was mine too! Chewing on Grandma's bracelets...