Felt Food 2

Here is evidence that making felt food is addictive:

Eggs

 Doughnut

Alright, I haven't done as much as you would think, but I have a mountain of felt after TWO trips to the craft shop (on consecutive days), and I was working on handsewing the doughnut until midnight last night.  I did most of the work on my sewing machine - which means that I have now learnt to change the thread!  It sounds so simple but when it comes to following instructions it seems that I try to make them more complicated then they actually are.

The strange thing is that I might not have put as much effort in if these had been for me, but because they are for my DD I wanted them to look good.  The irony is that she won't care if they are rubbish or not.  I put this down to parents wanting to provide things for their kids that they didn't have...I think I must have wanted some pretend food, but never had any.  Certainly I remember doing role-play type cooking, but I didn;t have any cooker or food or anything.  In fact I recall having nothing but a few cardboard boxes, paper, crayons and my imagination.  I hope that I can foster an imagination in DD too and these creations don't prescribe anything.  You see, I am a worrying new mum aren't I?

Felt Food

It has been a few days since my last blog as we have been away on holiday.  Driving anywhere with a baby takes much longer than without as you need to stop for changing and feeding but we are getting more used to going at a slower pace.  I only recently stopped breast-feeding (a different blog) so we have to get used to the idea of taking food provisions and hot water with us in the car.  It was so much more convenient when the milk was on tap.

I have been keeping myself busy on the journey making felt strawberries.  If you haven't been introduced to Felt Food yet then you need to decide whether you have the time to fall in love with it - as once you see it, I am sure you will instantly want to create some.  There is a whole lot of websites and blogs on the suject - just google 'Felt Food' and you will see the amazing creations that exist out there.  I decided to make strawberries because I have a heap of green and red felt left over from Christmas.

I have no sewing experience so I am delighted with the result.  I had to google how to make a french knot (for the seeds) so I am especially pleased that I learnt how to stitch them.  I didn't use a pattern so it took me a few goes to get the size and shape I wanted, but that just means that there is a bit of variation in the berries.  I made 10 for a punnet and one little one that I plan to put on top of a cake slice which can be a future project.   It was a fun way to pass the time travelling.

In fact I even managed to create some simple Broccoli with the left over green felt. 

Now I am keen to get home so that I can create something else.  DD is only 7 months but if I make something on each long car journey I might have a whole kitchen set by the time she is ready to use it.  I will keep you posted!

Differences

How amazing it is that babies are so different.  Before I had DD I thought all babies looked the same.  How wrong am I?  Now I spend more time with them I cam see that their personalities are evident from day 1 and how different they are.

Yesterday my mother and baby group met at a local cafe.  The cafe had an outside area so we had covered seating and a place to park the prams, but given that it was 39 degrees C (102 F) DD was not particularly happy in the heat.  After 60 mins of grizzling she went to sleep and slept the whole time (a few hours), so this meant that I was free of DD and other mums were asking me to mind their bub whilst they went to get coffee/cake etc.

What I discovered was holding the other bubs emphasised their differences, some fat, some thin, some heavy, light, long, short, quiet, squirmy etc etc. and it was funny but when I held DD again it was as though only this baby "fit".  Although I was reminded that she is very long (6.5 months old and 71 cm).

It also felt very strange not having a little person attached to me.  I am not sure how I will ever manage a whole day without her!

Dangerous Bananas

I'm serious!  When you go to maternity classes there should be a leaflet on Bananas.  Who knew that they were so unpredictable.  Nevermind whether they cause constipation or diarrhoea.  No one tells you that if your child eats fresh banana when you come to change them after a number two you are likely to see little black worms in the hundreds!  Actually, they are not worms at all, they are the fibres of undigested, not quite ripe banana, but if you are not prepared for this it can be quite scary!  Just google black worms and bananas and you will find I am not the only new mum to experience this phenomena.

So that is not the only thing I have against bananas (which by the way is my DD's favourite food right now).  They get mushed into everything and if you leave a trace of them in a fabric (bib/highchair etc) then you get a black stain and no matter how many times you wash a black banana stain it seems not to disappear.  The trick I know is to wash things immediately, but if my child has a poo explosion or I get distracted by a giggling session then I have to suffer the black banana stains and it is enough to drive you, well, bananas!

So do I have 'at home' and 'going out' bibs - so I don't have to worry about horrible stains and be a lazy mum? or do I diligently pre-soak in napisan and clean them 10 times?  

If you are a new mum too and your DS/DD has yet to try banana, consider yourself warned!

Pay it Forward

Today I went to the Library and signed up for a Library Card.  I was pleasantly suprised by how great it was.  You see, I live way out in the country, Australians call it Woop-Woop.  It is the kind of place where the roads are not paved and we have to walk 10 mins up the road to our mail box.  So the library was a small place, compact, neat, yet friendly and full of nearly new books and DVDs.  I guess they don't get many visitors.  Even more suprising than that is that you can loan an unlimited number of books for 4 weeks at a time...unlimited - I imagine people turning up in vans and loading up!

Local Library (c) Wendy Hastrich Architect Pty Ltd

Anyway, after that I was feeling bouyant and went to the local bakery to get a sausage roll.  There was a massive queue - out of the door it was that big.  In front of me was a handsome young man and a lady with a push chair and two small children.  I waited patiently and saw that the lady was served and the young man was served so I was next in line.  The lady ordered pies and cakes (possibly, I wasn't paying much attention) then there was pandemonium as she realised she had forgotten her purse.  She told the kids they would have to go home and come back again.  So I offered to pay for their lunch ($12), it seemed mean not to don't you think?  She asked me twice for my phone number so she could pay me back, so sceptics out there need not think it was a scam.  It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling to help someone out with no conditions attached doesn't it?  Only the other week a young man saw me and DD walking (she was in the Baby Bjorn) back to our car in the pouring rain and he offered to give me his umbrella.  As it happened I was right at my car so his kind offer was not needed, but I think I have paid it forward.

(and yes, I do love the movie)

Mother's group

My mother's group consists of 14 Mums and Bubs so it is quite a big group.  We have met every week since October 2010 and the people in the group are very nice.  So why do I find it so hard to go each week?  I think that there is so much competitiveness, and when I say this, I think it is all unconscious.  What worries me though, is whether I have become one of those competitive Mums.  I don't mean to, but when people talk about what their baby can do, I find myself saying things like "yes, DD can do that too".  I am going to have to monitor myself this week and make sure I am not talking about my child all the time.  I just can't help myself.  Everything she does is a miracle in my eyes even though I know that everything is perfectly normal, I think she is just perfect.

The catering shows how competitive it all is.  Each week we have met at someone's house and brought a plate.  You should see how much food there is - it is like each person has to prove how good a Mum they are - maybe that is it - maybe I have hit the nail on the head, it is not so much competitiveness but our insecurities about being a Mother mean that we are searching for affirmation that our child is doing well by proving we can bake the best treats there are.

There is one Mum who wants to buy every toy that exists for her child so if a new toy appears she wants to know where it was purchased so she can go right about and buy it straight away.  There is another that is very "green" and sends lots of emails about where to buy your organic veg or eco-friendly sunscreen (and calls her baby boy Wiggles).  The oldest is 42 and the youngest is 26.  One lady is from Laos and one from the UK (other than me) and the rest are true blue Aussies.  There are a range of occupations and properties.  I wonder how it will all work out, will I still be in touch with these people a year from now.  What will I learn?  Tomorrow is our first outing to a local park, but already there is a smaller group who meet on another day.

It is interesting to think that here we have a group of 14 Mums who are only meeting because we happen to have given birth within 2 months of each other and we live in the same area.  Will this be enough to sustain the group?

Edit: Actually the day went pretty well and I plan to meet one of the mums for coffee next week.

First Post

This is my first post on my first blog, so be kind!  I haven't read many blogs either, I guess the whole blogging thing just past me by.  The Facebook phenomena also went flying past me at great speed.  So it is strange that now I am a new mum I have set up a FB account and I am starting this blog (although Twitter is still a mystery to me).  Maybe it is because I am currently on maternity leave and I need to feel 'connected' to a bigger world, or maybe it is because I want to share the wonderful experience of being a Mum with the world.  I guess it doesn't matter, here is my blog and right now I am full of apprehension as to what this will become.  Will this be read by anyone else besides me?

I started this days ago, but I have been too nervous to click the publish button - how mad is that?  No one knows this blog exists except me...what am I worried about?  Having thought about this for the last few days, I think it is a fear of failure.  Being afraid that I will keep this up for a week and lose interest.  I am the kind of person who commits 100% when I start something, so I am asking myself if I am ready for the commitment.  And do I have anything of interest to say? In conclusion, I figure that I will not know unless I try.