Crafty Bug - Cloth nappies re-born

Occassionally I will get an urge to get crafty and generally a succession of craft projects (all with varying degrees of sucess) will ensue. When we were first pregnant I bought and was given quite a large number of cloth nappies. At the time I had intentions of using them as nappies but we have converted to the cult of the disposal diaper. Instead they are used variously as spit-up cloths, breast-feeding privacy screens, washers for feeding time, change mats and so on. But we still have a number that don't get used so I made a change table cover and some bibs out of the neglected.

We generally put something over our plastic change table mat as it's slippery and cold and unpleasant for a little bottom. However, if you put a blanket over the mat it tends to just slip around. I sewed two nappies together and the folded over the ends at the short sides and sewed them down. This then slipped over the change table and hey presto! a cover that stays put. I still put another nappy over this so that it can be cleaned quickly and easily if we have any accidents.

To make the bibs, I found a bib that I liked and used it as a template. You should get two good sized bibs out of a cloth nappy if you are okay with a one-layer bib. If you prefer a thicker bib, sew the two together. Put velcro at the joining ends.

On one bib I appliqued a tie and the other I fronted with some fabric we had left over from Isaac's nursery - inspiration for the tie bib came from http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2009/05/tie-bib.html. Then I used bias binding around the bibs to finish them off. Whilst we can have too many cloth nappies, it seems we can never have enough bibs!

Bubs & Beans - going out for coffee with littlies

I read a blog on news.com.au the other day discussing taking babies out to cafes - naughty corner blog . Whilst the gist of the blog was discussing cafes with good facilities for children, the comments turned into a debate as to whether babies and small children should be welcomed at cafes at all. I understand that people don't want a side order of screaming child with their latte but some of the comments were surprisingly bitter. From the innocently naive "when I have children I won't be going to cafes with them at all", to the tongue in cheek peppered with a grain of salt "people with children should be locked up at home and not be allowed to come out into general society". However, the comments I found most obnoxious was the suggestion that McCafe was the appropriate place to take children if you want a coffee. Sorry, but drinking sub-standard coffee in an artificially lit, sterile environment, more often than not situated on a main road whilst my child is indoctrinated into the religion of the golden arches is not something I am interested in.

I would never take Isaac to a fancy restaurant but I have taken him to cafes and he has been well behaved. There is obviously a difference between a 7 month old happily playing or dozing in his pram and a two year throwing a tantrum and when we get that far we may need to revise our cafe policy. A number of things need to be given consideration - the comfort and happiness of the child, the need for social interaction (and caffeine!) on the part of the mother, the comfort of other patrons and also the business interests of the owners of the cafe (something not discussed in the article or the comments). Like most things in life tolerance and understanding is needed on all sides. Those that sneer at the approach of a pram and bluster and swear about it's presence meaning they have to take a detour to their table need to show a little more of that tolerance. Parents who let their children run riot and expect the wait staff to act as child minders need to show some respect. One aspect of this discussion that I only realised after taking to a colleague who owns a restaurant is the impact of mothers groups coffees on cafes. The inevitable re-arranging of furniture, the purchase of only a few coffees and then the hours spent sitting in the cafe discussing motherly issues doesn't make for a particularly profitable transaction and other patrons do feel put out. I didn't really see it from this side before but he makes a good point. A good mothers group option is finding a park with a cafe nearby that does take-aways.

Photographing Baby

One of the things we joke about in our house is just how many photos I take of Isaac. When he was very little, each new outfit or expression was worthy of taking a picture. Eventually I realised that it didn't matter what he was wearing or how he looked I'd think he was the cutest tot out and want to capture every moment. So I have held back a little - perhaps 2 or 3 photos a day rather than 10! I am no fantastic photographer, but I have found that the following tips make for great pictures:

1. Natural light makes for the best photos - I find that the photos I take in the park are always the nicest
2. Fill the frame with baby's face - close ups are always gorgeous
3. If baby is not in a great mood, you can always take very cute photos of feet and hands. I have a series of these hanging in our hallway
4. To get baby's attention, rattle or toy or some keys near her eye line and then gradually move the key/toys away
5. Get other people into the pictures (Dad, Mum, Grandparents etc.) I have found that people have naturally lovely expressions when they play with babies.
6. Convert some photos to black and white or sepia - they instantly look professional!
7. Get down low when taking photos so that they are not all from above

It's also way too easy to leave 100s of lovely photos on the digital camera and never print them out. The fact is you are more likely to look over an album than photos on your PC, so make sure that you do get them printed out.

I also found this article - http://digital-photography-school.com/mono-with-a-dash-of-colour-photoshop-cs2-tutorial - not so long ago on how to bring colour into photos converted to black and white. I think it's a cute effect.

Normally the person behind the camera is mum - a friend of mine commented "my son is going to look at his baby photos and think his Dad looked after him all the time!" So make sure that you enlist the help of someone else to take some family shots every now and then and occasionally hand the camera over to Dad.

Happy Snapping!

Comparisons

Mothers groups are wonderful. It's such a pleasure to catch up with other mums who know exactly what you are going through. However there is always the temptation to compare bubs. Isaac is at least a month younger than most of the babies we know, so he is and always will be a little behind in achieving milestones. Adding to that the fact that he was born a month early, I know I have to give him time to get there. However, when everyone pops their baby on their tummy and the other babies raise their heads high on strong arms, Isaac gently lays his cheek against the floor and decides it's as good a time as any for a nap. I start to feel that twinge of mother guilt - what I am doing wrong? Until another mother looks wistfully at Isaac and says "I wish my baby could put himself to sleep like that." At the same time I am thinking "I need to give him more tummy time - he is so behind the other babies". Yet, just shy of 6 months, he decided the other day to roll over. I watched him roll, very precisely, from his back onto his tummy. He played there for a while and then rolled from his tummy to his back. I had been worrying for weeks that he hadn't rolled yet and was very behind on basic milestones.

Isaac has excelled at two things since birth - eating and sleeping (ah he is his father's son). We have had 10 hour stretches of sleep at night since he was around 9 weeks old, for which I am incredibly grateful. I am sure that this was no magic on my part and just an incredible stroke of luck. We have recently started solids and we can't shovel the carrot in fast enough for our little man. One mothers group I was feeding Isaac his favourite carrot when another mother asked "how is doing that? I must be doing something wrong." Mother's groups are wonderful but we need to make sure that we don't assume we are doing something wrong when the babies around us appear to be doing things differently. As I keep reminding myself - by the time they are 3 years old, they will have all caught up to one another. In the meantime I am enjoying my little baby whilst I can.

The great motherhood debate

A little while ago I picked up a copy of my Child magazine and on the whole considered it a good read. However, I took issue with one of the articles, and it appears quite a few other people did to. Here is the link to the article and to the responses (including mine).

Going Solo

These past few days have given me a new-found respect for single mums ( & those mums whose partners don't contribute to the household).  At touch last week Nathan hurt his ankle.  I was busy chatting to Isaac on the sidelines when I heard someone say "I think Nathan's hurt - he's limping." Now, Nathan has a habit of limping after playing most sports so I said "Oh, that's just how he is after a bit of a run."  I looked up briefly to see Nathan collapse on the ground, rolling and clinging to his foot.   So after gaining a reputation as an uncaring wife, I dutifully found some ice and took Nathan home at half time.  A trip to the physio later and we establish that whilst his Achilles tendon is intact, it's undergone a fair bit of trauma and Nathan needs to stay off it as much as possible.   These past few days, he has taken residence on the couch, with his ankle iced and elevated.  Unfortunately, Isaac has chosen this exact time to go through a clingy "only- mummy-will-do" phase.  Balancing a crying baby, whilst making dinner and cleaning with no help has given me a new perspective on both how much Nathan does do around the house as well a small insight into single mum's lives.  Nathan is of course terribly frustrated that he cannot settle Isaac at the moment.  The other day he was determined to hold him.  Isaac cried and looked at me beseechingly through the tears, his chubby little hands reaching out.  I looked beseechingly at Nathan to hand him over.  "No, he needs to learn that he can't always go to you."  Eventually the tears stopped but it does make me wonder how we will manage when I go back to work.

Exercise & Body Stuff

I always hoped to be one of those women who slip back into their pre-baby jeans a few weeks after birth.  Unfortunately, this is not to be - I am stuck somewhere between a size 12 & 14 and nothing fits quite right.  My size 10 jeans are currently sitting in the closet mocking me.  The baby belly belt still comes out occasionally to make pants fit.  I can forget about any of my tighter fitting pre-baby tops as my previously modest breasts have taken on Pammy proportions.   However, as much as I want to lose those kgs, exercise and eating well seem a bit like hard work.  Particularly as breast feeding has turned me back into a teenager, appetite-wise.  As some one who has always been fairly slim for my height without having to do too much about it, I range from total apathy about the situation to feeling a little depressed.  But not really depressed enough to do much about it.  During pregnancy I religiously did a pilates DVD each and every morning.  Now, Isaac's feeding time pretty much coincides with when I used to do that exercise.   I know that I shouldn't whinge about it and I should just do something about it, but it's so much easier said than done.   I really prefer team sports and to do that we need to organise a baby sitter.

The other night my best friend minded Zac and I played touch football after about a year being away from it.  I play with my husband's work team.  Apart from clearly demonstrating how unfit I have become (and to be honest I wasn't that fit to start with!), I had a great time.  I love and adore being a mother but there are moments when you wish you could capture parts of your life pre-baby.  Being back out on the touch field felt a bit like that.  So perhaps exercise is not only an option to bring back the pre-baby girlish body, but also an opportunity to touch base with that pre-baby girl.