Little Roman & A Viking: An Activity Book Crafting Affair

Just in case he loses it.

It's been a while, I know.  My blog is halfway between neglected, forgotten and haunting me.  I actually have so much to post (my picture file is overstuffed with yummy things) but I just don't have the time - and when I do have the time, the last thing I want to do is sit at my barely-surviving laptop so it can die on me halfway through a post.  You know how it goes.

Anyway, I have been busy crafting since we moved to Maine, mainly because I finally bought myself a sewing machine!  This craft actually started before the arrival of the Viking, so it is mostly hand-sewn (read: pain in the...) which gives it all the more value to me.  I did, however, finish the heftier parts (sewing pages together etc.) with my new thread-stitching companion.

I got the idea for this book from MADE - an amazing blog full of all sorts of very cool DIY projects - everything from making kids' clothes to building and stylishly painting your own backyard sandbox (this project is in the works, assuming Matt doesn't bail, which he has threatened to do more than once lately).  Check out her tutorials and you will never be bored again.

Ok, sorry, no....no, no, no, I got the idea for the activity book from At Second Street another very cool "mom who makes amazing stuff" blog.  The tutorial for the activity book is here in case you get inspired by my clearly gifted-crafting and decide to make it yourself.  Not kidding - Roman absolutely loves it.  We took it on the plane ride to Texas a couple of weeks ago and Roman was magically transformed into an angelic little darling, coloring and dressing-up the ride away!  I "manned" the design up a little as well as 2-year-old-izing it; he just doesn't quite get tic-tac-toe yet :)

Anyway, here are some pics of the final outcome.  I am super proud despite the obviously wonky seams and generally embarrassing sewing job.  It gives it character dammit.

This is Little Roman and his limited but stylish wardrobe.  He was a huge hit with Big Roman from the start.  Boys like dolls too!  That's a baseball cap on the top left in case you couldn't tell.  I felt it was wrong not to put the undies on him.

And my computer is being evil again so the remaining two photos are, of course, upside down!  Just use your imagination or turn the screen upside down.  It's super worth it, I promise. :)

This was the tic-tac-toe page in the original book but I made it a number page.  Roman is learning his numbers so this comes in handy and can be made into tic-tac-toe at a later date.

The last page is the easiest one to do and probably the most versatile.  He loves coloring in the little pad and sometimes I carry a couple of sheets of stickers in here too so he can further embellish.

Happy 1st Birthday Roman!

making a silent, slightly confused, but very "1"ish wish.

Happy 1st Birthday Roman!

At 5:20pm on May 1st last year, Matt and I were finally breathing the huge sigh of relief we'd been waiting to let out for almost a month (mine slightly more woozy and drugged-out than his): Roman Lawrence was safely, healthily, and massively (!) born; perfect, breathing, 10-fingers-10-toes-1-head-and-no-tail, and in our arms at long last!

To say it was slightly surreal but wonderful is only an approximation because becoming a parent is an experience that completely catches you off-guard. It both frightens and thrills in equal parts. And until you've done it, you have no idea what it will be like (and for the record, even after you have, you make it up entirely as you go along :) ).

Today, May 1st 2010, exactly one year later, we are once again breathing a huge sigh of relief - probably one of thousands we've breathed since that first day. Literally. Just yesterday Roman fell down a seemingly endless flight of stairs (he was perfectly fine) and tried to eat a giant wolf spider. (As if I needed heart attack issues this early in life! The nerve.)

But this time around we are breathing the sight of relief from the comfort of our home: Roman has made it through his first year in one piece!

And miraculously, so have we. All largely unscathed, better for the wear, and happy to boot.

We've laughed, we've cried, we've done it all.

Happy Birthday INDEED.

* * *

Here are some choice shots from Roman's 1st Birthday Party today.

Little Lovely #1: Hallelujah Already - He's 9 Months Old!

It doesn't take much for lovely to happen.

In the words of a wise man (aka Tom Jones), "Love is in the air!" And like last year, it is time for me to pay homage to Valentine's Day by providing the blogosphere with a brief and random list of things I consider rather lovely.

This year's theme is "little lovelies" as I have a far less expansive amount of time to consider and deal with these posts. But the quality won't suffer - after all, good things come in small packages. Like me. :)

* * *

Little Lovely #1: Roman, the 9-month Old

I love the first day of the month. It starts off a new and clean slate, full of possibilities and potential happiness and excitement. It is also now a harbinger of Roman's next coming-of-age. He turns another month old on the first of each month, which makes it both convenient and pleasant for us.

Nine months, apart from sounding really old in baby-terms, has really done it for me for a couple of reasons, all of which you will find - no doubt - as significant and thrilling as I did. :)

* * *

Top 5 Reasons "9 Months" is Lovely.
little as it may be

5. Little Green Giant...or should I say Hulk?
Roman is freaking strong. But never has it been more apparent than in the last week or so, with his abilities to cruise, move things, and lift himself in surprising ways. His crawling has really blossomed into a full-on method of transportation now. It takes far less than a remote control to motivate him to sprint across the room and fling himself at whatever piques his interest. And once he has it in is kung-fu grip, good luck getting whatever it is away, especially if it's a blackberry, which he is particularly fond of chewing and sucking.

Yesterday morning he impressed his dad by doing a near pull-up on the bathroom counter. He can JUST reach it while on tippy-toes, and I just know he'll end up falling and hitting his head if he continues down this route, but he's determined to reach the mouthwash, and who am I to take that away from my little muscle-midge? :)


4. Time for REAL Food.
Apart from the fact that special baby food items are ridiculously expensive, and generally not that delicious, with Roman they were actually somewhat unnecessary from the start. Given the way he liked to eat, he was probably babbling "where's my damn roast dinner?" in baby talk when he was 3 months old for all I know. Yes, he did indeed love to eat from day one, and in fact the only times he's ever refused food are when he's been obviously teething or really sick. He's not finicky about texture, quantity, sweet or savoury. He rocks out on the broccoli as much as his fromage frais or beef stew.

I started giving him table food a little before Christmas. In that time he ate ham sandwiches, tried menudo, had cake, brownies, mole de olla, shrimp and even the tiniest sip of champers. :) Now that he's 9 months old, I see no point in holding back anymore. He's on full oatmeal, toast and fruit for breakfast (with the odd scrambled egg thrown in), he eats pb&j with Matt and me on the weekends for lunch, and the other night even indulged in the wok-fried bok choy with garlic and Matt's chicken Lo Mein at our local Chinese takeout. (That's ma' boy!) Let the games begin.


3. "I Don't Know Why You Say Goodbye. I Say Hello."
In the words of The Beatles, Roman has learned to wave. And it's a silly, lovely fat-baby-handed wave that I could never get sick of. He did it, really did it (there had been some questionable halfish attempts for the past month) this morning as Daaaa (as he calls Matt) was saying goodbye before leaving for work.

It's amazing when babies do something for the first time because it's like a magical tinkerbell goes off somewhere unidentifiable in the universe (a kitten is born, an angel gets its wings, someone eats an excellent brownie, etc. etc.). You think, "wait? did he--?" and then you realize that every time you ask yourself that question the answer is yes. Yes, he did wave! Yes, our baby can "say" hello and goodbye now!


2. Hemingway, here we come!
I think it'll still be a while before I'm reading Hemingway to Roman, or he's reading it on his own, but I have been reading to him a lot lately. And whereas before he would just look around or stare blankly at the pages, now, he turns the pages, touches the pictures, plays with the flaps or textures or whatever doodad is in the book, and actually gets excited.

I'd found his books scattered around his toy area a couple of times over the past weeks but thought nothing of it until yesterday I caught Roman flipping through his Pat the Bunny book. Pat the Bunny is a book that involves texture, smelling, mirrors, peek-a-boo and holes. He was going through each page and doing the activities, one after the other, with a focus on the peek-a-boo. It is his favorite, after all. I couldn't help but stop, hold my breath and think: When did that happen? Where did the time go?


1. Was it Ferber? Or was it just ABOUT FREAKIN' TIME?
Four days ago I embarked on what I considered to be the most epic of epics: the attempt to get Roman to sleep through the night, without feeds, without rocking and soothing, without my bed. The psychological toll it was having on me just knowing that I had literally not slept an ENTIRE night without waking in almost 9 months was more than I could bear any longer.

A friend recommended "ferberizing" - that sounds a lot more clinical than it actually is. It simply involves putting the baby down for bed and letting him cry for small periods of time with you checking in on him (but not picking him up) at regular intervals until he falls asleep on his own.
I was dead-set against this for the first nine months of his life. And then fatigue REALLY hit. Crazy-this-is-no-longer-doable-cuz-I'm-turning-into-a-monster kind of fatigue. The kind I can only imagine a Mom feels. And so Matt and I tried it out.

Only four days later, on his 9-month birthday Roman slept through the night in his own crib, not waking up once, and crying a total of 20 seconds, for the first time in his life. Seriously, I could kill myself wondering how much sooner I could have done this and how much sleep deprivation I would have saved myself, but the truth is, I just wasn't ready until now...and apparently neither was he.

So, was it Ferber or was it just about freakin' time? I don't care.

All I can say is: HALLELUJAH ALREADY!

* * *


Stealing Hopi's Bed.

Mama and her guard dog: little, lovely and ferocious.

This little lovely was brought to you today by one of my favorite songs to kitchen-sing-and-dance to with Roman: Michael Jackson's (RIP) unforgettable, eternally danceable P.Y.T.

Manitas Calientitas: Homemade Felt Mittens

Hand-made mittens = straight shot of Christmas Spirit

Happy December!

Month of my birth and all-things much-anticipated :) It's officially the holidays now! Thanksgiving is over, and it's time to pull out the Christmas tree and get to real-deal Christmas present hunting.

I spent the better half of my weekend browing etsy.com and cursing strangers who out-bid me for an embossing gun on ebay (I am already in elf-mode when it comes to our Christmas cards, as you can see). I can hardly contain the excitement! And even the inevitable last-minute stuff that will stress me out in a couple of weeks sounds funny right now. :)

I always have ambitious plans to create all sorts of personalized Christmas gifts and favors, and while I usually only get 3/4 of what I want to do done, it's a pursuit I usually love, but this year I saw it as daunting for the first time with the prospect of crafting while having Roman to watch as well.

That's right, I think everyone, including myself, thought (and Matt hoped) I'd given up on my random crafty pursuits of the knitting / haberdashery persuasion once Roman appeared. Happily for most, including me, and sadly for Matt and his fervent desire that I get rid of my piles of yarn and fabric, everyone was wrong.

* * *

The Incredible Shrinking Sweater

After I shrank one of my favorite (and only) wool sweaters last year by putting it in a warm washer cycle, I decided I should do something crafty and wonderful with the resulting midget-felt-sweater. (So yes, apparently wool turns to felt when it is heated and washed.) I only wish I had known sooner all the fun crafty things there are out there to do with these spoils of bad washing! I would have kept the many pieces of wool apparel I've ruined over the years. I mean, yes, you can probably use them as doll clothing, but I like to think there are things that involve a lot more buying of cool gadgets or crafting items, experimenting, procrastinating, and off-the-cuff embroidering, which is basically what almost every single craft project I undertake involves. :D

* * *

Manitas Calientitas: The Gift of Warmth

**SPOILER ALERT: Ava-luna, my newly 1-year-old neice, if you're reading this, you'd better stop before you ruin one of your birthday presents.**

In a vain attempt to distract me in the last 3 weeks of my extended pregnancy my mother brought a fun article she clipped from a magazine on the subject of felt sewing projects. And it included a section on how to make your own felt mittens (along with other interesting items such as a hot water bag cover, an iPod case, and a remove control cosy).

In my world, that is the perfect reason to take those magazine pages, keep them laying around in a pile for approximately 7 months until I had almost driven Matt insane and, coincidentally, the time was exactly right for making some felt mittens for my two favorite midgets: Roman and Ava.

What better to give at the holidays than a gift of warmth? Living in a cold-ish place, I am always reminded how wonderful warm gifts are: warm cookies, hand warmers, muffs, turtleneck neck muffs, scarves, hot sauce, you name it. These mittens will hopefully keep those pretty miniature hands and fingers of my niece and offspring warm all winter long. :)

the magazine cut-outs that started it all

* * *

Handmade Felt Oven Mi--err, Mittens

It took me a while to draw the pattern exactly as I wanted it, and the result looks a little more like an oven-mit than I realized at first. Maybe it's because I made the mittens longer, but since they have no elastic around the wrist, I didn't want to risk unpleasant drafts getting in when worn outside.

personalized warmth....oooh....aaaahhh.....

To personalize the matching mitten sets for Roman and Ava I also embroidered their names and some whimsical girl / boy symbols. Ava got a pretty flower. Roman got a shooting star, and, the one I'm most proud of but probably doesn't show up well on these pictures: a puppy!

I have never really embroidered much by hand, so the names and symbols have a silly, awkward, hand-made quality to them. Here's to hoping Roman and Ava grow to one day see that as infinitely charming.

the adorable finished products, sure to keep all mini-hands extra warm

Wild Thing.

Max, like Roman and me, is always up for a good bit of 'rumpus-ing."

We are far overdue for a cuteness interlude. Halloween this year also conveniently coincides with Roman turning 6 months old and is therefore the perfect opportunity for his proud and puffy mama-beast to fluff up her feathers and show him off a little more. :)

* * *

One of our all-time favorite children's books (and no, not just because the totally awesome movie is coming out soon!) is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It's one of the only books that I made absolutely sure to buy a hardback in, and since Roman was born we've probably read it more times than any other.

This books is near and dear to our hearts not only because it's been around since we were kids, but because Matt has jokingly called me one of Max's "Wild Things" since the first time he visited my house while we were dating and my mom showed him some of my baby pictures (see below). He even sent my mom a "Where the Wild Things Are" thank you note after that. :)

In the words of Max: "I'll Eat You Up!"

Where the Wild Things Are is a celebration of fiendishly childish imagination, wildly innocent caprice, and simple, unconditional love. It always makes me laugh and by the end it always makes me want to cry. It involves dressing up, wild jungles and voyages, wild rumpus-ing, much gnashing of teeth and mischief galore. All that in what amounts to about four sentences of text and simple, yet ingeniously evocative illustrations.

It is a great book because it does what all great literature should do: it makes you imagine. Right now Roman just tries to eat the pages when I read it to him, but I can't wait for the day that he starts to wonder about Max, tells me which Wild Thing is his favorite of all, and maybe even runs around the house in his very own wolf suit making mischief of one kind...or another. :)

* * *

Naturally, my first impulse was to dress Roman as something of a Wild Thing for his first Halloween. The closest thing I could find was a little red devil outfit complete with black cape and pointy tail. I then took it upon myself to further humiliate my child by hand-drawing a curly mustache and goatee on him. (I figure I have to get the harassment in now while he still can't talk.) To virtually commemorate this occasion, here are some pictures of Roman's first Halloween as well as other favorites from my Wild Thing's first six months of life.

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

* * *



Mi Diablito



First Halloween - 6 Months



Sitting up so well - 5 months



The Roman Doll hits Texas Stores - 4 months



Going to a part-ay! - 3 months



Really smiling (and charming us to bits)! - 2 months



Already an enfant terrible at less than 1 month.

In the Summertime when the weather is high...

my London mini-shrimp shrimp-boil;

still scoring rather high on the yummers-scale.

...I've got shrimp boils, I've got shrimp boils on my mind!

**Apologies to Mungo Jerry for bastardizing his classic song, but it's just so apropos. For the record, though, I don't know how the song is any more "bastardly" by substituting "shrimp boils" for the word "women." Yeesh Mungo, you sure got a way with a hell of a lot. For starters, your name, the boots, your moustache-toting-mulleted band members, mesogonistic songs about getting laid...but really your unbelievable luck at not being run out of town can all be summed up with two words: mutton chops.

For the past, oh, lifetime, I've been telling every single person that will listen and is likely to buy me a present that the only thing I ever wanted for my birthday was shrimp. Big, juicy, delicious, gigantic shrimp.

I think I've mentioned before that I had a small obsession with everyone's favorite seafood chain (besides Long John Silver's, of course - because who can get enough of those crunch extra bits that come with the fish and fried clams?!) Red Lobster (please, enjoy that commercial just one more time!) as a child. That, coupled with my lack of proximity to the seaside, my mom's claim and directly correlated unwillingness to cook shrimp because "cooking seafood stinks up the house," ensured that by the time I was 18, I had a full-blown obsession with eating shrimp. And once I was old enough to have my own income, I felt no guilt whatsoever going to my favorite fish monger Kenny at the awesome Agata & Valentina in the Upper East Side for the extra jumbo shrimp that cost $30.00 a pound.

After the first time I ate those shrimp I told Matt that my new birthday wish was no longer going to Red Lobster, but getting a gigantic bucket full of those extra jumbo shrimp, boiled and ready to peel given to me. And then eating them all in one sitting and not sharing a single one with anybody else. (Yes, I do know I'm a brat.) This has still not happened (ahem).

I find summer in London a time of particular difficulty in the shrimp department for a couple of reasons all leading to the ultimate conclusion that summertime is the perfect time to break out the spices and make a damn good shrimp boil, or else life is just not worth living.

* * *

Top 3 Reasons Why Summertime in London is Difficult in

the Proverbial "Shrimp Department"

because I apparently have a shrimp department in my head

3. Where the hell's the seafood?!

For an island, there's a surprising lack of good seafood here (maybe because they ship it all to France?!). Unless by "good seafood" you mean battered and deep fried cod or tiny "prawns" slathered in mayo. *gag* As far as shrimp, er, prawns, they are small. Small, small,small. I don't care how you change the name - king prawns, tiger prawns, jumbo prawns, they all boil down to one thing: crappy quality and inferior size. And they cost an arm and a leg.

2. Where the hell's the fishmonger?!

Unlike in New York, London seems to have a sad lack of fishmongers. Yes, you can find the odd fishmarket here and there - either in ethnic parts of the city or in extremely high end ones - places where there's a real fishmonger who knows what's what and is willing to explain it to you. But in general the fish departments at supermarkets offer old, pre-frozen glazy-eyed fish. Or worse yet, they don't sell raw shrimp! Yep, almost everything is pre-cooked. What's with that?!

1. Where the hell are the shrimp boils?!
Ok, so I'm not that shocked that they don't exist here, but I still have to complain. Given that most people in the UK think food with a dash of paprika is "spicy," I'm not surprised the Louisiana-spicy-as-all-hell-yumminess hasn't caught on in this neck of the woods. Nevertheless, I have made it my business to take advantage of the summer deals on raw prawns at Tesco by declaring Fridays Shrimp Boil Day. Hey, I'm a good Catholic girl. And besides, what's a little more heat in a heat wave? :)

* * *

Shrimp Boil Yumminess

pronounced "Shrimp Bowl" if you're from Texas

Serves 2

photo credit

Ingredients:

8 tbsps (or to taste) of Louisiana Crawfish, Crab and Shrimp Boil Spices

*you cannot buy this in the UK!

1 to 1 1/2 lbs jumbo shrimp (peeled or unpeeled)

2 ears of fresh corn, halved into 4 cobbettes

1lb baby new potatoes, washed

4-6 cloves garlic, whole unpeeled

2 medium yellow onions, quartered

4 tbsps butter

Tabasco sauce, to taste

2 lemons, halved

Procedure:

1. Place the garlic, onions, potatoes, butter and spice mix into a large pot and fill with water until all ingredients are covered with extra broth on top. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and mix until the spices are dissolved.

2. When the potatoes are almost tender, add the corn and leave to boil for another five minutes.

3. Just before you are ready to eat, add the shrimp to the pot. Allow to cook for five to eight minutes (don't overcook the shrimp!) and then immediately remove from heat.

4. Using a collander, drain the ingredients. Roll out some newspaper, get a roll of paper towels and pour that spicey goodness out straight on the table!

Serve with lemon wedges, tabasco sauce, some crusty bread and a nice cold beer.

Best eaten with greedy, grubby little hands and followed by a nice big slice of fresh watermelon or some scooped out cantelope, in the true spirit of summer.

L'Enfant-Terrible does Flashdance.

Time again to join the living. However briefly. :)

Believe it or not, yes, I am still alive and well. I have survived the first three weeks of Romanorum The Master of the Forum, and am much better for it. Incidentally, he's thriving. The little guy gained 10oz in his first two weeks of life, rather than losing weight after leaving the hospital. (Something tells me he got mom and dad's "eating gene.")

Part of the fun of parenting is getting to dress the little creation in all sorts of miniature outfits that I find incredibly a) hilarious b) cute c) adult-like and therefore cute.

To this tune, my friend Krista got Roman a ridiculously awesome onesie that says "Enfant-Terrible" on the front. I thought it fitting to pair this with some mini-midge leg warmers my sister got him.

Eat your heart out Jennifer Beals.

Here is the enfant-terrible inspired list for today.

* * *

Top 5 Hilarious / Cool / Ridiculous Man-Child Outfits Roman Now Owns
courtesy of thoughtful friends and family

5. A hunter green long-sleeved, lomg-legged corduroy onesie that looks weirdly like something santa's elves might have worn.

4. A fully accessorized Ralph Lauren summer lounging outfit from Harrods including navy blue chinos with a red belt, and a long-sleeved striped button-up and matching socks, all for a 3-month-old.

3. A black and white striped onesie (a la prison uniform) with matching hat that reads "Been Inside for 9 Months." It should say 10.

2. An old-fashioned linen sailor outfit bought in Connecticut by his grandmother - he'll be ready to set sail next time we're visiting!

1. A bonafide suit including slacks, a tie, vest and a dress shirt. I plan on finding a jacket or blazer for this ASAP.

* * *

He's a maniac, maniac on the floor.

My Heart Belongs to Mimsy. For Now.

newborn mim with her rat-ified aunt

Another unexpected but welcomed change that came along while newly pregnant, was finding out that I was also about to be an aunt. This piece of news was a surprise, but filled with plenty of happiness and excitement for my quickly-growing kid sister. If only I lived a little closer to her, the two babies would have ready-made playmates and cousins all rolled into one!

I remember the thrill of seeing the ultrasounds, and generally hearing about all the things I'd shortly be going through ahead of time. When I first arrived in Texas, a few days before Thanksgiving, I even got to feel the little brat squirming around in Carla's belly. That was pretty neat, but nothing prepared me for the utter excitement of finding out Carla was expecting a girl!

Caaa & Mom at her baby shower last September

Our family is full of girls, which guaranteed that everyone would not only fawn over the little-she, but get to feel the matriarchy was once again being passed on. Plus, if you know Carla and her husband, the speculation as to the baby's physical appearance was something approaching that of Suri Cruise or Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.

the celebrities


the real star

Lucky for Caaa, Ava Sophia (who I like to call Mim, Mimsy or Mimsica, depending on my mood) came nowhere near disappointing, and actually beat the competition out if you ask me. My mom and sister joke that I held her more than Carla at times during the first weeks of her life. If you had a niece as cute and happy as her, you'd want to as well.

Mother's say nothing prepares you for the overwhelming, all-encompassing love you feel the first time you see your child. If that's true, then it's also true that nobody ever even talks about the love you feel as a first-time aunt. As soon as I walked into that hospital room last November and saw her, I knew: My Heart Belonged to Mimsy. In a way it had never belonged to anyone before.

Once he got to meet her, I think Uncle Matt felt the same way.

At that point, Ludovictus was still relatively unwilling to make his presence known in terms of uteran kicking power, so it was a little hard to feel as strong of a connection with him as I did with the fiendishly cute, squirming and breathing, little Mim. (I have to admit, I wondered at my own maternal instinct!) But actually, seeing Caaa go through the first couple of months of life with Mimsy and getting to share in the diapers, the picking of clothes, the dancing and dallying with the midget, made me even more excited and desperate for April to come around. In the meantime, I also got to use the new creation as a guinea pig for my new baby gear.

Baby Bjorn, how I love thee...

The only thing in the world that can even approach the beauty and excitement that comes with waiting for your own progeny to arrive into the world is seeing someone you love have a baby too. And then spoiling the heck out of that baby until yours comes along (and probably thereafter anyway). :)

crashing my baby shower in style at 2 weeks old

she's a charmer

cracking up

quite the little person

Happy Chinese Year of the Ox!

the lovely little family

So yes, my heart belongs to Mimsy. Definitely. But just until this little guy comes along:

Happy 34 weeks! :)