PHB: Day 81-84 (24 - 27 February)

 24 February.  It got to 6pm... almost the end of the day.  The new kid had been wearing a nappy and a onesie all day (it was pretty warm!) and I NEARLY forgot... I nearly dropped the PHB ball!!  Gaah!!  Luckily I remembered in the nick of time, and I got him in a lovely knitted vest (my mum-in-law knitted it for the wee guy and I somehow lost my marbles temporarily and shrunk it in the wash.  Not my finest moment...) and swaddled him in the green goshorty swaddle.  Phew!!

 25 February: I squeeeeezed him into the blue lacey knit cardigan and it lasted a couple of hours before it was too hot to wear it and I had to squeeeeeeeeeeze him out of it.  Sob, sigh, another tiny item of clothing he's grown out of already!

 26 February: Quite an exciting day!  A friend over from the UK coming to visit, and an excited Mummy who gets to go shopping at Mary's Markets!  Seconds, end of lines, etc etc ... more on that in another wee post.  The Nature Baby all-in-one is almost history, so much so that in his white PUL and red suedecloth me-made nappy with red snaps... you can't actually dome the whole crotch.  Oh well.

 26 February still: Most unimpressed with having to be photographed again, I just took off the cardy and took a happy snappy...

 ... and took another happy snappy of the next nappy about to be put on.  I love this pale soft greeny colour, and this was a custom-fit jobbie for the wee guy when he was realllly wee: I took a few centimetres out of the middle section and it was a much better fit on his skinny legs (or "lucky legs" as Grandad once called the wee guy).

27 February: Sans chocolate brown Nature Baby pants, this is what the wee guy wore to his little buddy's 1st birthday party.  The sage green handknit kimono sweater, with the matching booties my aunty knit with leftover wool from the kimono.  Lovin' it!

Perspective

Monarch butterflies.  They really are a thing of beauty.
The gold on the chrysalis is simply magic.

Mum turned up with a swan plant with some teeny little caterpillars crawling over it a few weeks back.  The wee guy comes into the garage with me now when I do loads of washing, and chats to the caterpillars and we talk about how they eat lots and lots, turn into a chrysalis, then emerge as a beautiful butterfly.  The way he talks about them just warms my heart!!  "Wwwooooowwww.  Datter-piyyar.  Butterfy.  Beeuuutiful."

Last week the first of our butterflies emerged.  I thought the wee guy would be over the moon when he saw them, but he lost the plot and reacted with his whole body when the beauty and grandeur of the monarch butterfly stretching its wings happened before him.  I realised then that to him, a butterfly is a whole lot larger than it is to me.  But it was unexpected, unknown, new and frightening, and he just needed to shed a few tears until the shock passed.

Two days ago a 6.3 magnitude earthquake roared through Christchurch, half the country away from me.  It was so huge I felt it here.  After 5 months of significant earthquakes after the initial 7.1 in September last year, the city truly was a dog kicked while it was down.  Buildings fell, lives were lost, people were broken.  I watched the news coverage of the tragedy as it unfolded.  Unexpected, unknown, frightening.  I just needed to shed some tears until the shock passed.

All of a sudden my own problems were put in perspective. 

Christchurch.  Our thoughts are with you.  I'm praying for a miracle... and if not a miracle then comfort for all.  My friends in the Garden City are all accounted for but many are not so lucky.

PHB Days 73 - 80 (16-23 February)

 Eek!  Another week rushing by... and up to Day 80 without missing one day - my little boy is still wearing at least one handmade item every single day.

One thing I haven't covered sufficiently is his BIB collection... he has handmade bibs from the goshorty range, imba design, and a few others gifted to him when he was born.  It's on the list of things to do: to photograph him wearing some bibs or even just to get some snaps of the collection.

So here goes, another week in the Project Handmade Baby house!

16 February: I was going in to my alma mater to teach a class, so decided to pop on these darling bright yellow booties which were a gift from a peer of mine.  We met at that school in 1994 (argh!!) and are still regularly in touch so many years later.  So it was a little symbolic for me.

17 February: the sideways knitted singlet from the wee guy's NICU days is really starting to fall apart so I really should pack it away or give it to Mum for some TLC and repair...

18 February: ...but maybe just one more day's wear out of it??

19-20 February: this photo taken in the wee small hours of the morning of 20 February.  The onesie was a hand-me-down from a friend whose daughter (3 months younger than the wee guy) grew out of it so the wee guy, being wee for his age, wore it.  I suppose it could be called a hand-me-up??  Anyway it's a great match with the imba pants which I am putting on the new kid as often as I can before he grows out of them.

21 February: Excited about heading over to visit a very dear friend who works from home as an interior designer.  Or should I say an interiweir designer??  My aunty knitted the kimono cardy with the pattern I provided her care of Ravelry, and she knitted some matching booties.  Aren't they just darling!  And the smile... so sweet!

22 February: Expecting to see the giver of these fluffy booties at our Tuesday morning music thingie, I put them on with his matching Nature Baby pants.  She didn't show.  Boo.  BUT I did see in my email yesterday that Nature Baby are having a sale!!  BE STILL MY BEATING CREDIT CARD!!!

23 February: Having a laugh with Nanna, the new kid is sporting the imba pants (again), and kicked off in the distance are some little blue booties that match in colour quite well.  It's a shame my kids are true kiwi kids, and shun all things footwear!

PHB Days 66 - 72 (9-15 February)

Wow, 72 days and I haven't dropped the baton yet.  Yay!
Another 'digest' version as I've been busy trying to get my wee baby well established with breastfeeding... between reflux, mechanical problems and a very tired mummy I have a growing to-do list (rather than fluctuating as it usually is!).
 
9-10 February:  All dressed up to go to Mummy's first class of the year, and definitely ready for a nap in the car on the way there!  Garter stitch newborn sized cardy from my mum, and the crochet sheepskin booties.  Toasty pie!


 
11 February: The lovely handknit vest I scored for a few dollars from a 2nd hand sale. 





12 February: "Yes, I'd like to say something!"  I must upload a pic of this cardy on to Ravelry where I got the pattern from.  It is just so delicious, and the cotton meant it was perfect for the warm weather without baking the baby.
 
13 February: The handknit vest again ... plenty more wear in this one!



14 February: Supurlative booties - I think they're probably a leeettle bit too small but hey, as long as they stay on, they're goin' on!  It is SUCH a delicious colour.
15 February: Awwww streeeetch!  Must be time for a growth spurt again - the new kid did a lot of feeding and a lot of sleeping, so the handmade item he 'wore' for most of the day was the giant muslin swaddling wrap.

PHB: Day 65

All dressed up and ready to go to our favourite music activity!  Tuesday mornings full of singing, dancing, socialising, morning tea, fluffies for kids and real coffees for the parents... soumds like too much fun!  Almost like a Saturday night.  Without beer.  Or cocktails.  Or a sober driver.  Who am I kidding, that is my Saturday night reality now!
The new kid even had his first date - there was a little one week old baby girl there, so we sat their capsules side-by-side so they could get to know each other better while us bigger people went nuts.  Cuuuute!!

Nature Baby organic cotton red&white stripes, Mum's garter stitch cardy, and some darrrrling little crochet boots with super duper soft sheepskin soles from my Magpie friend.  Well... actually this was outfit #2 after the big red&white striped all-in-one suit got very wet. 

And those of you in the know, yes I was a dreadful mother keeping him up just so I could get a quick pic of his outfit.  Those little fists spell T-I-R-E-D!!

PHB: Day 64 (7 February)

Today was another pocket nappy day, and seen tucked up inside a sling that my friend made for me to wear my baby in, check out these darling little fuzzy booties!!  They are soooo soft.  My friend/colleague/co-volunteer gave them to me last week and told me the lady who makes them calls them "Fluffy Fings" ... us being ex-teachers had a wee cringe at the 'fings' but it was soon forgotten looking at them in all their softy goodness. 
The same friend gave me a plate of baking (yo-yos or melting moments??) that I thoroughly enjoyed... so much so that my skinny jeans that I was 'back into' are no longer doing up so well.  But it was soooo worth it.  Rom nom nom nom.

PHB: Day 63

Getting ready to go out to church is the wee guy wearing a Ricochet Baby bamboo long-sleeve onesie, his imba blue waffley cotton pants, and a beautiful new hand knitted beanie from my lovely friend (and ex-neighbour) whose mother cleverly crafted it.  My friend isn't a knitter, but you should check out her special talent here.  Hopefully the new kid's head won't get too much bigger before winter time arrives as I just love the pattern on the beanie and would love to get plenty of wear out of it. 

PHB: Day 61 & 62

Two days in a row - getting maximum usage before he grows out of them - the new kid proudly wore his Supurlative booties.  I loved them so much that I put in a custom order for some more in a larger size... and in RED!

PHB: Day 60

All snuggled up in his bed after a big day (arrrgh I hate reflux) is my zonked little man.  A little lime green Bonds singlet, pocket nappies and the giant green goshorty swaddling wrap kept the new kid cool on a hot day. 

PHB: 1-2 February (Days 58 & 59)

 What a thoughtful look on the new kid's little face!
1 February was a bit of a crazy day - I was so tired in the morning after being up every other hour that clothes were kinda grabbed for and thrown on even during the day.  Here we have hand-me-down Pumpkin Patch socks and dome-front cotton cardy, with three handmade items: the little green slippers that are almost too little, a pocket nappy made by yours truly (white PUL with a red suedecloth lining and matching red resin snaps), and a lovely cotton bib which was a gift from my team leader for my casual job. 

 Oh big smiles!  For our morning outing on 2 February, the new kid wore another homemade pocket nappy (soft green PUL with a white microfleece lining), a Nature Baby onesie, Bobux boots and the square-necked sideways-knitted vest that was never really finished off.

 After outfit one was promptly peed on, we had a quick change into another version of the sideways-knitted vest, worn over a Naturally BabyKids all-in-one.  I added some bark brown sleeves to it, and attempted to knit the crocheted neckline ... it didn't turn out so well.  But this year I'm determined to learn the art of crochet!

Hmm.  Looks like he'll take after his big bro in terrorising Conan (the most annoying Tonkinese cat around).  Tummy time has never been so much fun!