KissKus

True friendship & a softy doctor

Simon loves his tractor. He calls it "John Deere". J.D. seems to be becoming more lifelike everyday. Today Simon told me:"Mum! John Deere and I are hungry; we would like some grapes!"

I was a little startled when I walked into the kitchen...he really does look hungry, doesn't he?

Thankfully, he's a vegetarian... no Linuses were hurt taking this photo!

I went to the doctor with Linus today. He didn't think much of the crying and advised me to wear him in a sling at all times to keep him satisfied. Yeah, ok, that's a very sweet idea, doctor...
Straight out of the doctor's office I went to the library where I got a stack of baby books. I suppose I'll figure it out myself. I just started reading this book and I love it so far. In fact, I browsed through it after Simon's birth and it really appealed to me then. I'm so glad I found it again.

Actually, the doctor did advice us to go see a paediatrician. Not for the crying, but for the uncontrollable shaking that Linus occasionally does when he's drinking (I didn't mention that in my previous post). He didn't have an explanation for that, so we'd better get it checked.

I'm tired. I'm going to a fabric market tomorrow in a couple of hours time, so I'd better get some sleep! I hope you'll all have a wonderful weekend!

Sand & water

Thank you all so much for thinking along with me about what might be going on with Linus! We have an appointment at the doctor's on Friday.

We went to the beach today.
The weather wasn't very beachy, but when you live in Holland you'll get nowhere if you have to wait for the right kind of weather... So we embraced the elements and had fun nonetheless.

Amber and Simon had a wonderful time chasing the (HUGE) seagulls and digging holes. Linus was happily being rocked in his pram by the strong winds. I collected shells and enjoyed the feeling of sand between my toes. Michel was the odd one out (he's more of a forest person) until the children persuaded him to build sandcastles with them.

Did you ever look closely at sand?! It's made up of all kinds of colours... beautiful! And shells? Aren't they amazing? One square meter of beach is enough to keep me entertained all day :)

Simon's sun bleached hair against the sand. Mmmm, sweet boy, kiss on that lovely head of yours!

I would really love to go to the beach more often. I always feel that it's a long drive, but really it's less than an hour. When we were in France we had to drive 30 minutes to the supermarket, so what are we talking about?! We should just do it! Yeah!

Unhappy baby

Linus hasn't been himself lately.
He's been grumpy and unhappy. He cries so much. He refuses to go to sleep and will not be left alone. He cries hysterically, but stops when we pick him up. He is not all the child that he was up until a few weeks ago. Quite frankly, we're starting to get a little desperate about it. He's exhausting himself and us. We're worried.
I want to do anything I can to make him happy, but my feeling tells me that soothing him constantly by holding him or nursing him isn't the right way. I feel so helpless and even though this is my third child I'm simply at a loss what to do.
As far as we can tell he's not in pain. He doesn't seem to be teething yet. He doesn't have cramps. He's not hungry. However, he's been a sensitive boy from birth. He's startled easily. He's never enjoyed being put down after being held, but it's totally out of control now. Still, he's developing completely normally. He's smiling, talking, grabbing things, putting everything to his mouth. He likes to sit up straight, he even tries to stand. We have no idea what's making him behave like this and more frustratingly, we have no idea how to make him feel better.

Does any recognise this kind of behaviour? It all started when he was around four months old. Any tips, any clues? I would also be very grateful to hear of any good books on the subject!

By the way, we will go and see our doctor about it just to be certain that there really isn't anything physically wrong with him.

Vive la France & vive our own home!

Hello, we're back from (mostly) sunny France!

We had a great holiday, but we're all enjoying our own home very much again too. Don't you love coming home again after a holiday too? Everything looks so fresh and comfy... it's the best way to appreciate your home I think!

Now what did we do in France?

We read...

We played...

We ate...

... and we enjoyed the kiddies very much!

All the ingredients for a good holiday :)

Do you know something else I enjoy? Washing about 20 loads of dirty holiday clothes. Seriously... I do!

Oui, oui...

... tomorrow we're off to France!

Michel is running errands with Amber and Simon, so I've got a little time to start packing (start yes, in this household everything is done at the last minute). Our goal for today is to be completely finished with the packing and cleaning by 5 pm, because we have a party to go to tonight. Our ambitious plan is to achieve this without stress, which is quite a challenge considering the things we still need to do in those few hours. Nothing is impossible though ;)

We're all so looking forward to this holiday! It's our first proper holiday in three years! I can't wait to get there and just rest and relax... it will be heavenly, I'm sure.
What we're taking with us: a stack of books, paper and pen & some crafty supplies. What we won't be taking with us are a computer and internet connection. Strangely enough, I'm only slightly nervous about this. Secretly, I'm looking forward to the quietness. But don't worry, I'll be back in full strength in a couple of weeks :)

So I'd better get to work! I hope you all have a lovely relaxing time... enjoy summer!

Oh by the way, I wanted to make a skirt for myself today... but I won't, it would certainly stress me out. I do want to sew a quick picnic-blanket though :)

Baby entertainment

I made Linus a taggy-cuddle today, which hopefully will keep him entertained for a bit of our journey to France. I'd been wanting to make one for sometime. I quite like how this turned out, but we'll just have to see whether Linus will enjoy it.

When Simon was a baby he absolutely LOVED tags. He loved fidgeting about with them, rubbing them between his fingers. His favourite cuddly toy was worthless without its tag. I made him a couple of toys/cloths to play with then. See these photos if you want to see some of my old skool crafting :)
Linus hasn't shown much interest in tags yet. He does like grabbing stuff and putting them to his face. He likes to cuddle and that's why I made a little pillow for him.

I added the bright spots for a bit of interest, like any baby he likes colours and contrasts. Except for the nursery's curtains, I've used the tree fabric before to make pouches. I still love it. The fairytale ribbons are from Retrosaria. Love them too.

Here is the little man testing out his new toy... yum!

Something else that's yum...

Simon's                     Mine                         Amber's

The children and I had fun decorating our vla today... I suppose we'll have to excerice a bit more tomorrow! Did you have anything nice for dessert today?

4 months

Today you are four months old, Linus.
Time is flying by and at the same time it seems as if you've always been part of our lives. Strange how that happens, I had the same with Amber and Simon.

You're becoming quite a big boy already. On the one hand, I'm sorry that the "new-born" aura has gone, on the other I'm happy that you're stronger now, more able to tell us what you need. You can hold up your head really well and you just don't want to take a break from it. You love it when we pull you up by your hands, so that you can look around and see what the world looks like from that point of view.

It's so lovely to talk to you. We both giggle when we make funny sounds at each other. When you're by yourself you try out all the different sounds that you can think of. You recognise us by our voices and our faces. Last week when I was at work, I phoned home while I was expressing milk. Incidentally, you were quite upset and I heard you crying in the background. Michel put me on speaker phone, so that I could talk to you and hearing my voice silenced you immediately. It was quite a magical moment.

You managed to roll over from your back to your stomach! It happened twice and I missed it both times. The first time was when we dozed off after morning feeding. I woke up because you were making noises and when I looked at you you were lying on your tummy! Your arm was awkwardly stuck underneath you. (I love that in babies; they constantly get themselves into trouble when they learn new tricks :)) The second time I was upstairs brushing my teeth. I'm sure I will witness it happening soon though!

Our routine hasn't changed much from last month's. We've just grown more comfortable with it. You drink five times a day now, rarely more. You take a very long nap in the morning, but I won't let you sleep for more than four hours as I've found out that that makes you cranky later in the day. At night you go to sleep around 8-9 p.m. and you usually sleep until 6-7 a.m.! You still sleep in your cot in our room. I'm thinking of letting you sleep in your own room sometimes, but really I don't want you so far from me.

Next week we'll go on holiday to France. I'm curious how you'll experience the long journey there and the warm weather. It'll be your first trip out of the country!

Ahh, that smile.... :D

Some more about my summer sewing

I enjoyed my Summer Sewing Challenge tremendously and it left me with a great feeling of accomplishment.
The whole process made me very happy and I was pleased with the pieces I made.

Here are just a few things that I've learned this week:

• I liked getting everything ready before I start working, so that I didn't have to pause once I'd started
• Having a clutter free, organised space for sewing makes things go more smoothly (I didn't have this... one day I will!)
• I preferred making all my patterns on the first day so that I didn't have to do it at the start of aeach new project (not my favourite part)
• Having all children around decreased my productivity with about 60% (Amber and Simon were away for most of the week)
• When it's hot sewing is not the best way to spend your day
• Reading the pattern descriptions is VERY important. However, if you make a mistake, there's always some way to make it alright again
• I've been sewing clothes for almost seven years, but always with great intervals. Concentrating on it like in this week has really helped me to understand more of the process and technique
• I had enough inspiration for at least another week

Some more facts:

• All fabrics that I used came from my stash, as did the notions. All I bought was some thread and a packet of elastic, because I ran out.
• I estimate that each garment cost me about 3 euros, everything included. So that's 21 euros for seven unique items... quite a good deal, I'd say!
• Ottobre is a great sewing magazine. I was given my copy as a birthday present (great present!). I will have to find out where I can be buy it, as I've never seen it in the regular shops.

Review of the clothes:

• # 1 -- Great pair of trousers; I'll probably be making more of them this Fall.
• # 2 -- These shorts are very practical for Linus. The fact that they're completely stretchy makes them lovely to wear for him. I just don't like the dark fabric so much on him.
• # 3 -- The twirly skirt is a surprisingly big hit with Amber. I had half expected that she would dismiss it due to the subdued colours of the fabric, but as you can see from the photos above she loves it.
• # 4 -- Still unworn! I think there's something about it that Amber doesn't like, but she won't say what. I reckon it's her way of being diplomatic about it :)
• # 5 -- Simon's shorts are no more than ok, I think. They're too baggy, but they will do for playing
• # 6 -- I didn't expect these shorts to be so nice, since I whipped them up so quickly, but these are perfect for the warm weather. Cool and comfortable.
• # 7 -- Amber laughed a bit nervously when I showed her this dress, as in "you don't really expect me to wear this, do you?!" I don't understand... it's girly and it has pink flowers; what more could she want! Apparently, she will wear it if I make her trousers to go with it.

Conclusion: it's easier to sew for the boys since Amber already has a very fixed idea about what she does or doesn't like.

I would love to do another Challenge again in Fall. Or I would love to spend a week sewing clothes for myself. One way or the other I think I'll come back to this idea, since I found it very motivating.

And just look what I found on my doormat today!

Definitely more to come!