Bump, beast and yogurt

I can't believe I may still have another 2 months to go. This bump is huge. I'm much bigger this time round than I was with the boy (not surprising as I had stomach muscles before I had the boy). I feel a lot healthier in this pregnancy though - I still have the usual tiredness, heartburn, cramps etc that come with this stage of pregnancy but I feel well in myself. It's hard work having a toddler and being pregnant though. I love attachment parenting but having a small body pressed up against you for the main part of the day and night whilst also cooking another inside gets to be draining sometimes especially the day after a bad night.

Ages and ages ago my mum (Danna) made some cushion covers that have travelled with me through numerous houses. Most have been lost along the way or just got worn out but I love this one and saved the cover meaning to frame it one day. That day has finally arrived. It's hard to get a good shot of it with all the reflections on the glass and we never really did agree on what the animal was but so far it's been an antelope and a cow according to the boy.

He's not showing any interest in sleeping in his room but he's liking it that he's got a new bed to bounce on and that he has access to the shelves in what was the cupboard. He took himself off up there the other day to do his jigsaw at the desk. The other half of the room is still taken up with laundry and my sewing table (and stacks of fabric) but I'm hoping it's a room we'll use more fully now.

It's lovely seeing the changes in the boy. He's always loved his yogurt and mostly has it on a pre-loaded spoon or spooned in (one of the few foods he's ever been offered on a spoon as we did baby led weaning) but yesterday he took his yogurt to the table and instead of handing it to one of us he sat himself on the floor and spooned it in himself.

A bed for the room and some air guitar

The back bedroom will be Isaac's one day, if he ever moves out of the big bed (there's no rush and I actually don't expect it for a while yet but it's nice for him to have the option). There is now a bed in there should he decide to use it. And because of the shape of the room it's had to go along a different wall than planned so the doors of the 'chuck everything in' cupboard have had to come off. This meant a very quick sort out was needed and new hiding places found for things that are either too old or young for small boys. He insisted on putting his old wellies on despite them being too small for him but even he couldn't get his first proper pair of shoes on and so gave up.

We need to get things like a light in there and sort out pictures for the very bare walls but it's looking a bigger room than it did and having storage under the bed (already full) is fantastic for tidying things away.

There was a bit of a problem with the commuter train last night...

We made scones this morning. As with all baking where there's a toddler and a dog on hand to help flour tends to get everywhere. The dog was looking decidedly grey...

And the boy somehow got a wodge of dough in his hair. This is why it's good to bake in the period between breakfast and a shower!

There are only 3 left now! In my defence we have had a lot of friends over today and I haven't eaten all of them.

You're never too young to learn air guitar!

Down on the farm

I'm not sure the boy would win many prizes for animal husbandry, many an animal gets wedged into the tube (the pig will go through if forced but the rest just hang there).

Boy needs a hug from his mummy though and gets one (boy is what he calls most of the Duplo figures even the ones with grey hair).

This brought back memories of foot and mouth for me...

Bobo wanted a Hug.

The dog is ready to fight his corner if he needs to...

A snowman with a difference

The boy announced yesterday that he wanted to build another snowman. We've not had snow for over a week now but this didn't deter him. So a pretend snowman was suggested and a ball of wool deemed a suitable substitute for snow.

He didn't forget and this morning announced again his desire to build a snowman from a ball of wool. Daddy was left with creative duties and this is what they came up with...

Underneath is one small maraca for the head and the pot of stacking cups for the body with a playsilk stuffed into the cups to hold the handle of the maraca.

A quick quilt

I've had a part set of Anna Marie Horner fabric for a while but I never quite know what to do with it - I love the patterns but the colours aren't quite 'me'. Whilst basting the quilt for Megan though I realised that I need a lot of practice before I attempt a full size quilt and so I figured I'd do a doll quilt/lap quilt for the baby. And so a quick quilt was done. It's far from perfect but it's a good size to practice on (45/60cm) and I've worked out the things that I need to read up on before I attempt the big quilt.

The photo's not great as it's with flash but I'll take a better one tomorrow.

Photos in daylight which show the fabric off better.

Bear in a tunnel and a penguin that came to stay.

The boy likes to help chopping and he especially loves the rocking blade - here he is chopping parsley (not much chopping happens but it keep him occupied while I cook).

The pop up tunnel was out last night and whilst Isaac likes playing with it he soon gets bored. The dog however thinks it's great fun to run through it and as he gets a treat for doing it he'll keep doing it (labradors are like that!). Everyone had moved onto doing other things though when the bear suddenly ran into the tunnel and lay down with his head out one end looking at me and his tail out the other end wagging furiously. He was making a very obvious bid for more treats but was also just having fun. He stayed in the tunnel for a good 20 minutes or so.

Today a penguin came in the post (thanks Danna). The boy put it on and declared he was going to play rugby. Now part of me is very proud of this as yes it does look like a scrum cap and he's not seen that much rugby so I'm amazed he made the connection. However another part of me thinks that no boy of mine is going to play in the scrum (where a scrum cap is a legitimate item of apparel) and if he's going to be a back then he's not whilst I have breath in my body going to wear a scrum cap to do it! Those of you who love your rugby will understand...

Green and pink

I've been feeling really wiped out for the last week or so. Some of it is recovering from being on my own for 10 days with no break (thanks snow!) and some of it is because of disturbed sleep from being pregnant (31 weeks, how did that happen?). I've read various things about raw food and green smoothies but it all looks like hard work and frankly most of the time I'd rather eat chocolate and junk food but as I'm suffering from reflux at the moment (ah the joys of being pregnant) and find that just plain water makes it worse I need something else to drink. Annette has a great website on raw food and has some green smoothie recipes. I was skeptical I have to admit and as someone who thinks that lettuce barely belongs in a salad the thought of whizzing it up and drinking it was a little odd let alone something that's related to algae but I figured there's nothing to lose and so gave the sweet fruit lettuce smoothie a try. It's not easy to get apricots at the moment so I've substituted apple and thankfully Ocado sell spirulina so I didn't have to go to too much effort to get the bits together.

It's erm very green with the spirulina in it and I thought it was going to be a hold the nose and drink it down job but actually it's very sweet and tasty and I have no problems drinking it or getting Isaac to try it. And I feel better for drinking it.

Just a practical tip - if you give a toddler an open cup and a straw and something green try to keep them on a hard floor as blowing bubbles creates a bit of a mess.... The dog does not recognise the mess as edible and so it needs to be on a wipe clean surface. You have been warned.

And following on from my post the other day I have started on the trousers - pair one has been made using Anna Marie Horner fabric and the organic flannel. It's so much easier doing lined trousers than reversible ones as you can just seam on the outside. The method is based on inspiration from Kat at Slugs and a mixture of the 10 minute trousers tute and some trial and error. I'm not sure that they'll be baggy enough for a clothbum but we'll wait and see...

Diggers & a giraffe

Everything in the house is moving upwards again as Isaac has realised that he can move the box that's on the stool in the dining room and then climb on the stool and help himself. The upside is that he can now get his 'big snail' down but it also means he's found the other things that I'd stashed on the sideboard for safety.

The snail was quickly taken apart and the digger employed.

After looking at this pattern for months I finally printed it off and cut it out and sewed it up today. I think I'll play around with it as bit as it's not very big and I want to be able to make a few versions of it. I love giraffes though so I suspect this will appear in various incarnations.

The digger acquired a driver this afternoon...

And the boy is showing a fascination with taking things apart and seeing how they work...

Snowwoman

Matthew and the boy have been busy again - well I suspect it was more Matthew...

Skating and a snowman

But first a lovely parcel! I ordered some organic flannel so that I can make some baby clothes with soft snuggly linings (as inspired by Kat) and despite all the snow and no post for a week this parcel made its way to me. It's the softest snuggliest flannel I've ever felt and I can't wait to get started on some sewing.

The boy announced he wanted to go skating and brought some boxes for me to help put his skates on. Who am I to argue?

And with Matthew home there was a snowman built on Monday. He's now covered in a new dusting of snow and may acquire a friend later today.

He has very fetching lavender eyebrows.

The dog has his own way of having fun in the snow....