bed

about a month ago I put together a little toddler bed for mischaela.

transitioning her to a toddler bed was mostly motivated by the fact that she's older. and also that the crib will need to be used for the impending baby. our intention was to transition her with a vague fairly soon so she would have ample time to get accustomed to her big girl bed before the huge transition of meeting a sibling. and we opted for toddler bed instead of a single bed simply because her room is not that large and when the baby has settled into a good night sleeping rhythm, we intend to stick them together in the same room, and that room needs to hold two beds. so toddler size it would need to be. and since a toddler bed will be outgrown sooner than later, and because I like to shine my pennies, I searched for a DIY solution.

I followed this person's creation fairly closely and created a padded platform toddler bed for mischaela. I used patio furniture fabric as it was easily found in my local fabric store, is waterproof, and durable; the fabric cost me ~$30. I went to my local hardware store to purchase the plywood and kindly, the salesguy made all my cuts for free; the plywood cost $20. and finally, the batting came from walmart for $15. I ended up with leftover fabric, plywood, and batting... which then turned into a entryway bench, more on that later.

so for $65 I made a toddler bed platform and entryway bench, with still some plywood left to innovate.

oh yeah, I got a second crib-sized mattress off of kijiji for $25. and then purchased some simple fabric to sew some more fitted sheets and pillowcases. $8 of fabric made 2 fitted sheets and 2 pillowcases. this is where I went to learn how to sew fitted sheets.

after this was all said and done, we moved the new bed up to mischaela's room and left it there but kept her sleeping in her crib so she could get familiar with the idea. I thought it would take a week before we'd put her in her bed, but one afternoon a day after we had moved her bed up, my husband asked mischaela if she wanted to sleep in her own big girl bed that night and she enthusiastically said yes.

this is the showcase version of her bed. matching sheets, coordinating toys, cute quilt-like bed spread.


that afternoon, we piled her bed with her stuffed toys and got her to help us set up her pillow and sheets. the first night she fell off her bed at around 12:30am and cried in confusion. after that, she fell out once more during her naptime the next afternoon. to prevent her from rolling off, my husband placed her decorative pillow beside her and encouraged her to try not to fall off anymore. then somehow a quilt got added at the foot of her bed, then another blanket got squished beside her, until her sleeping space was no more than 1' x 1.5'.

the reality: all her stuffed animals lined up around her, a pillow beside her, the yellow lion blanket bunched up on her other side, and a small quilt folded at her feet. and don't think the yellow lion blanket can be folded up or put on top of the animals above her head, no, no, it needs to be bunched up next to her. and the quilt? it needs to be folded in half, with the bear, heart, and star facing her. heaven forbid either one of the blankets be used to COVER ONESELF, nope, no blanket mommy.


and that's the way she likes it.

so far, she hasn't gotten out of the bed before we walk into her room. and subsequently, she hasn't tried to open the door. so we're still sleeping peacefully. except when she sneaks a toy into her bed and we hear her clopping the toy early in the morning on the wall that is shared between her room and ours. and also except when she knocks over her pink pillow or a stuffed animal, which signals the apocalypse for her, and we are jolted out of our sleep with a mommy! daddy! pillow fall down! help! pillow fall down! bear bear fall down! mommmyyyy! in the midst of piercing cries and screams.

we're currently teaching her how to reach for her dropped items without getting out of, or falling out of her bed. oh, the complexities of parenthood.

rules

I recently asked my aunt, who lives with us and watches us interact as a family constantly, how she thought we were doing and whether she had any helpful suggestions for our parenting choices with mischaela. she was incredibly gracious and I'm positive she didn't say everything she wanted to say, but the few things she did stuck in my mind.

mischaela is a really smart girl. she's a very happy girl. and again she repeated, she's really smart. be careful to teach her well.

my husband and I reflected that night on those few sentences, and I realized something important.

see, mischaela was never a fussy eater when she was little. she nursed enthusiastically and frequently, started solids eating pretty much everything I gave her, but something happened a little before we went to south asia. she started having strong opinions about how much she ate and what she ate. we didn't really make eating an issue for a while because I wasn't sure she was being picky, and she was still eating lots from a good variety of foods. then south asia came and with the limitations of what was clean and allergen-free drove us to a very limited diet consisting mostly in noodles and soup. we fed her whatever she would take and cared little about finding the healthiest option simply because the healthiest option required a real kitchen and clean groceries. days would consist of hard boiled eggs, cornflakes, fruit, granola bars, raisins, chips, and noodles.

since coming back we were faced with re-acclimatizing mischaela to a normal healthy diet, but we realized she had formed a fair amount of resolve in regards to foods she didn't want to eat, or even try. that mixed with general toddler pickiness, and dinners became a bit of a struggle. we were determined to not turn every meal into a battle, opting instead to let her go hungry if she refused the main portion of the meal - fruit she would always ask for, but we withheld fruit as a consequence of refusing dinner. she didn't refuse every meal, but her list of preferred foods was quickly becoming shorter and shorter. it tested my husband's patience, frustrated my dinner prep, and worried my aunt a lot. I think my aunt preferred us forcing or bribing, but she bit her tongue.

after my latest conversation with my aunt, I realized a huge part of the problem was in how my husband and I were leading out on this issue. we had a philosophy, but we lacked a plan. we had a goal, but no guiding rules. we knew we didn't want food to become a negative issue for mischaela by fighting, forcing or bribing over mealtimes, but we had no clear if this happens, we will react this way policies.

instead we were making it up along the way, and naturally, contradicting each other and ourselves depending on the situation. not only has that been frustrating for us as parents, I'm certain it has been confusing to mischaela, leaving her lots of room to test and challenge simply so she could figure out what the heck we were doing, and subsequently what she could get away with.

after a late night discussion, we decided to immediately enforce some mealtime rules, applied mostly to dinner because thankfully, breakfast and lunch are still peaceful and relatively struggle free.

the next dinner time, my husband and I started the meal informing mischaela that all of us, my husband, my aunt and myself, had decided that she had to eat the portion of rice that was in her bowl, plus 2 items of her choice, we maintained the importance of allowing her to choose something, from each plate of food in the center, totaling 4 items. if she wanted more of anything else, all her rice and the chosen 4 items needed to be consumed first. we reminded her throughout the meal of what she needed to do and made sure to keep our tone calm but firm.

since that meal last week, and to my pleasant surprise, she quickly adapted and started to follow those rules carefully and dinner time has become a much more pleasant experience for all.

boundaries. I know she needs them, but I realized how important it is for us to communicate clear and consistent guidelines. for her and for us.

nesting

luckily for my household, I think I'm done with the nausea and slowly climbing out of the beginning of pregnancy exhaustion. unluckily for my husband, this means the strange pregnancy nesting phenomenon is starting to kick in. for some people nesting means wanting to clean and do some home organization. for me, it means I'm researching kitchen flooring and washroom counters.

me: I had a crazy dream last night.
husband: oh yeah? what was it about?
me: oh, we remodeled the entire kitchen and made it an open concept kitchen.
husband: what? how?
me: well, we knocked down that wall, built some extra cabinets over there and opened the whole thing up.
husband: and where did the fridge go?
me: in the corner, by the window.
husband: was that it?
me: well, I think we repainted the whole kitchen and re-did the flooring.
husband: to what?
me: black and white, and hardwood. it looked really nice.
husband: so we got rid of the island?
me: nope, we just moved it over a little and it amazingly created a lot of space.
husband: I see.
[pause]
husband: this stays in your dream, right?
me: ... mostly... I think.

to cure my need to home improve, I've already made mischaela a toddler bed, complete with matching throw pillow, fitted sheets and pillow cases, oh yeah, and a colour coordinated stuffed turtle; a padded bench for our entryway, which is in the middle of an overhaul; and my camera purse. I've got my head entertaining ideas of changing out our bathroom counter and updating our kitchen flooring - both things we've been looking to work on in the future, but suddenly has grown into replacing the bathroom sink and maybe faucet, and repainting the entire kitchen BEFORE THE BABY IS BORN.

thankfully, my growing size has discouraged me from going all out and getting a circular saw.

my husband unfortunately has the task of filtering through my ambition, extending compassion on my physical state, and graciously helping out when I reduce to beyond pathetic.

maybe I should just get new glasses. or wear yellow nail polish.

painting

introduced mischaela to painting last week. it started with her choosing blue and holding onto a paintbrush, careful to keep her fingers clean.





I painted alongside her with my fingers, dipping into whatever one colour she wanted open, because there's a process, mommy, and we need to close something before we open something else.

but before long, it turned into this...



... fun.

camera purse

remember this? yeah, about a year and a half ago, I was inspired to make a camera purse, something functional yet fashionable. I purchased a purse about a month after I wrote that post with all the accompanying materials, but for whatever reason, oh yeah, baby mischaela, I didn't get around to actually executing the project.

until last night.

I actually spent about half an hour trying to find the purse again. it was at the bottom of a box from when I needed to clear my hobby table.

for anyone out there who wants to tackle a diy camera purse, here's how I made mine.

step 1: get a purse, re-use one, get a second hand one, find a reasonably priced one, whatever works for you. the tips I have in searching for a good purse for this project regard to size and strength. for size, find something that will hold at least a camera body, and a lens or two, and find a bag that has one main large compartment. for strength, make sure this bag will be able to carry the weight of camera gear, I'd stay away from canvas and pushed toward imitation leather or the real deal, leather if the option is there to take.

here is my purse. it's a darker purple than is photographed in this photo. I wanted something with a little spunk. and for $20, it is definitely NOT leather.


step 2: measure the inside compartment and figure out the dimensions required for the foam and fabric. my dimensions were 13" x 5.5" for the 3 long pieces, and 5.5" x 6" for the end pieces (see below). which then meant I needed 4.5 ft of fabric (fabric width of 44").

step 3: purchase foam and fabric from local fabric store or somewhere like walmart.

here's my poly-fil nu foam cut up next to the fabric I chose to make the inner compartments with. the foam I chose is about 1/2" thick - I wanted something thicker than quilting batting to properly protect my camera gear.


step 4: fold fabric in half, lengthwise. lay 3 long pieces and 2 end pieces of foam down, with top most piece directly next to the top fold in the fabric.


step 5: pin foam to fabric - I'm lazy overly efficient, so I didn't do this. you'll notice, I didn't pin once for the duration of this project. if you're more precise than me, feel free to pin where you think you need to. cut fabric around foam pieces leaving seam allowance of about 2".


step 6: tuck top piece of long foam inside folded fabric.


step 7: sew foam casing for first long foam with a straight stitch parallel to the folded edge.


step 8: repeat step 6 and 7 for middle piece of long foam.

step 9: after tucking in last piece of long foam, fold edges of fabric in to create a clean edge.


step 10: top stitch last piece of long foam.


step 11: do the same for the 2 end pieces, tuck into fabric, sew casing, top stitch the casing closed.

step 12: fold up 4 edge pieces of finished foam to create a rectangular box. sew the edges together. I have illustrated a few finishing methods.

option a) fold in fabric and top stitch - fastest option if you have enough seam allowance.




option b) sew raw edges together, then fold and zig-zag to finish.




option c) sew raw edges together, then use seam binding to finish.




here is the main padded compartment almost complete.


tucked nicely into the purse.


step 13: sew on two strips of velcro (soft side of velcro, as opposed to teethy, sticky side of velcro - I'm sure there are technical terms the lovely velcro people would correct me to use) on the two long edges. my velcro dimensions were 8.5" x 1", times 2.

step 14: lay dividing foam pieces onto fabric, foam right next to top folded edge, and cut leaving 2" seam allowance.


step 15: flip fabric inside out, tuck foam in, sew casing along the edge opposite to the fold.


step 16: after flipping fabric right-side out and re-tucking the foam in, close the 2 side edges with 2 seams: one to close foam casing, another to top stitch the edge, creating an 1" wide flap.


step 17: sew on teethy, sticky side of velcro, 2 per divider, one on each flap.


and the camera purse is completed!






happy sewing for all those photo enthusiasts out there. stay classy.

and leave me a comment if I haven't been clear on a step or if you have any questions.
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safe

early this morning, I got a phone call from the allergy clinic telling me another patient's cancellation has opened up a spot for mischaela to receive a challenge for her wheat allergy. in my half-awake state, I eagerly accepted the appointment for later in the day and thanked God for the winter storm predicted to cripple our city - the cancellation came on account of someone else not wanting to travel into the city for the appointment, but since we live in town, it wouldn't be as much of a risk. plus, my husband doesn't back down from a winter storm easily.

with the appointment scheduled for 12:30pm, I packed mischaela's lunch in front of her, highlighting her slice of whole wheat bread, slathered with peanut butter and honey, and decided to wait until our appointment to feed her.

starve and tempt. I did my best to give her the most motivation to eat that slice of bread.

as usual, the appointment was delayed and mischaela really disliked being poked and prodded by the nurses and doctors. oh, nothing painful like needles, just the usual gathering measurements of weight, height, temperature, blood pressure and taking note of existing marks or rashes on her torso, but it might has well have been open surgery to her. kleenex!

we finally started the challenge and slowly, over the span of an hour, mischaela ate the slice of whole wheat bread, eagerly, might I add. and in between each feeding, she happily played and entertained herself in the hospital room, occasionally asking me for more food. there were no hives appearing, no irritation apparent, no trouble breathing, etc. it was amazing.

by 2:45pm, she had finished the eating part of her challenge, completely missed her afternoon nap, and proceeded to play for the next hour of observation. with 22 seconds left on the timer, our allergist doctor came by one last time and deemed her capable of tolerating and ingesting wheat.

YAY!

with the instructions to feed her wheat at least once a week for the next month, keeping a close eye on her tolerance level, we were sent home with the gleaming hope that mischaela will no longer be allergic to wheat at the close of a reaction-free month.

we bought some french fries for her to indulge in on the way home.

and I'm dusting off my old recipes in gratitude and excitement.

older

while mischaela and I are playing in the living room, I get up to pour myself a glass of water.
mischaela: where you going?
me: just going to the kitchen to get some water.
mischaela: no! come back! sit down here! [points to spot on the floor next to her]
me: mommy will be right back, I just need to get some water. you go ahead and play, I'll be right back, okay?
mischaela: okay.

while eating cherries, mischaela offers one to my aunt.
mischaela: shay shay share cherry with mm ye po (grand aunt in chinese).
aunt: oh, thank you shay shay.
mischaela: [watches my aunt pop in the whole cherry with concern] seed. no eat seed!
aunt: oh yes, I will not eat the seed.
mischaela: [pushing her seed plate over] put seed here.
aunt: [still not producing seed out of her mouth] okay, I will put it there.
mischaela: [still concerned] put seed here! no eat seed!
aunt: [takes seed from mouth and places it on the seed plate] okay, put seed here.
mischaela: yeah.

on a particularly windy day, I carry mischaela into our local library after putting her jacket hood on.
mischaela: windy!
me: yeah, it's very windy today. are you cold?
mischaela: yeah, cold! [with her little hand gripping onto her hood fringe] shay shay hold hood.
me: good job, keep your hood on.
mischaela: mommy, no hood.
me: yeah, mommy's jacket doesn't have a hood.
mischaela: mommy, wear hat!
me: oh yeah, mommy should wear a hat, eh?
mischaela: yeah, mommy cold, no hat.
me: I know, mommy's cold because she has no hat. next time I will remember to wear a hat.

shaping up to be a shining older sibling.