Ecstacy...

comes in the form of many things. For me it is waking this morning and realising Audrey slept through the night...for the VERY first time!

Maybe it was all those long talks with her, telling her to feel free to sleep right through, and that Mama might throw herself under a bus if she didn't consider it soon. But really, I think it has something to do with the new routine I put her on some two weeks ago. Whatever did the trick, I am ecstatic.

For the first time in a long time, I feel chirpy on rising and I didn't even yell at Lucy down the hall to not call out for me incessantly before 6am. I think Lucy will quickly come to love this new routine too!

Christmas Closing

My shop is now closing for the year this Tuesday 24th November EST / Wednesday 25th November GMT.

Lucy chose the prettiest piece of the palest pink pure silk waiting to be sewn into a dress (she really is a girly girl, who would have thought?!). I have found a vintage pattern (I rarely sew from bought patterns as I just understand my own ones better, plus drafting your own gives you more freedom) but this is such a cute dress and quite possibly full and girly enough for Lucy. I'm thinking the red or the blue style (though it's almost a case of 'spot the difference').

Notice the name of this pattern? The 7 day wardrobe. Too much!

So this is why I want to close my shop sooner rather than later - to sew Lucy's Christmas party dress (among other things). Hopefully it all turns out okay (this silk is as slippery as a slippery thing), and is worthy of a blog post.

Audrey: On crawling, routines

The day after my post on Audrey’s crawling progress, she started crawling – go Audrey! It was all very staccato at first, but day by day she gets quicker with more fluid movements.

Currently, her crawl goes something like this:

Short robotic crawl, bunny hop (both knees together), roll, short robotic crawl, yoga plank position, into the downward dog, roll, and then back to the robotic crawl.

It’s as complex as a Michael Jackson dance routine.

Despite the above description, Audrey crawls conventionally whereas Lucy crawled with one leg sticking out the side. Always the same leg, with the other leg moving under the body in a circular movement. Oh boy, the looks and comments we got from strangers when we were out. One woman jumped on me in a café saying that because of the manner in which Lucy crawled she would be dyslexic, and how I should go and see a specialist to have her crawling properly. I restrained myself, offering a weak smile, but inside was thinking ‘f-off!’. And another time a man at a local beach just stopped and laughed, saying he wish he had his video to record it! Oh my goodness, we’re not the circus, people! I got a little reminder of Lucy’s crawl the other day when dressing Audrey in a pair of Lucy’s cast-off baby pants, noticing only one knee was worn.

As for Audrey’s new feed/sleep routine, everything is so much better. She had one night where she woke frequently but two prior meals of mine consisted of the magical fruit - beans. As it turns out, beans + Audrey = nightmarish sleep, and now I steer well clear of them. Also, I’ve been so determined to have her drinking good milk feeds that I overlooked the fact that as babies get older they drink less milk and eat more solid foods. Theoretically, the more solid foods she eats the more likely she is to sleep longer stretches at night. So starting today, I have adjusted her routine once again. Honestly, one almost needs a degree to be a mother. Lucy slept through the night from 10 weeks, so even though Audrey is my second child, it’s almost as if I am learning the sleep/feed routine the first time.

Okay, that is most certainly enough baby waffle for one day...

Simple Strutters

There's two more pairs in the shop, and that'll be it for the year (what's left of 2009....!).

wedding dress progress

I started off obsessing over the Oscar de la Renta dress, then chanced upon the John Galliano creation for the Miss Dior Cherié commercial and really fell in love. What I love about the Oscar de la Renta dress is the colour and the patent leather belt, and the version in white (which is what a wedding dress would look like) doesn't excite me nearly as much.

So far, the dress is a combination of the two, as I'd drafted a bodice based on the Oscar dress already. I do love the bodice piece on the Miss Dior Cherié dress though so will definitely be trying that next.

Here is my work in progress, in a very work-in-progress state. Rough bow pinned to front for me to better see what the dress will look like. The finished dress will be a touch longer.