My dear father would like the world and the Interwaves to know that Asher also now says "grandma," which is something my long-suffering, patient, saint of a mother has waited a long time to hear, for she is too dignified to have chosen for herself an easy-for-toddlers-to-say nickname, and thus is the last grandparent Asher has called by name. Last, but not least.
Thank you, Interwaves. We now return to your regularly scheduled programs.
I have landed a new computer book publisher client. They’re big. I have accepted my first job. It looks boring as HELL, but I successfully negotiated a higher per-page rate than what they offered me. I expect it to be a struggle. Doing the job might kill me, but at least I’ll earn a chunk of money. I am happy to have one more client egg in my basket. The couple that were in there were looking mighty lonely and small.
I’ve been wanting to do a project in Asher’s bedroom for a long time now, ever since he started sleeping there. And yesterday we started and finished it in a single day!
His bed is a twin matress on the floor, with no bed frame or headboard or anything. We want it low like this so that if he rolls out of bed he won’t hurt himself.
I noticed that Asher often sleeps right up against the wall, sometimes with his head wedged into the corner where the two walls come together. The wall is cold in the night.
So, I wanted to make an upholstered headboard/bumper that would line both walls, keep him warm, be soft and cushy, and look nice all at the same time.
We went to Home Depot where they obligingly cut our plywood for us. Yay! We bought a few L-shaped metal brackets and some screws. Then we headed over to Beverly’s because they have the widest selection of batik fabrics that I know of in town. I liked picking the fabric! There were several beautiful colors in the blue-green family.
We came home, glued the thermal fabric (which is supposed to keep heat or cold on one side of the fabric and not transfer it to the other side) onto the plywood. Then we stapled on the batting. We originally intended to staple the batik fabric over the batting, but then realized if we ever need to wash it, we’d be out of luck. So, we measured and calculated and jerry-rigged a pillowcase-like sleeve to slip over the top of the headboard and bumper board. It took a little longer to sew the sleeves than it would have taken to simply staple the fabric down, but now we have a lot more flexibility. And since my kids like to barf on stuff (well, they prefer to barf on me, but sometimes stuff gets hit, too), we figure it will be nice to be able to wash it in the washing machine. And it wasn’t so hard to sew them that I can’t make a new set in another color someday!
You might wonder why on earth I’d pick such a dark green to go next to the red wall. I dunno. I just kind of like it, and I really like the way the room is full of so many bright colors, but somehow still has plenty of white. The fabric was inspired by the quilt my mother made Asher: It contains ever color of batik cottons and is beautiful. You can see DIY photos on my flickr if you want, including some BEFORE and AFTER shots.
Another thing I love about this project was that it took ONE DAY, and not many, like so many projects tend to require when you have kids helping and needing stuff like food and water and diaper changes—even though you’re BUSY!
And I SEWED!
(No, I did not run a marathon.) The boys and I spent the better part of afternoon/evening (both before and after dinner) making shamrock-shaped, green sugar cookies. It was a scream, given Asher tried so hard to help just as much as Lucas did. Asher was covered in flour from head to toe. The cookies are … a little too floury, with all the extra kneading and rolling and patting and dusting we had to do. Still, Lucas proclaimed them "Delicious!" I tried substituting coconut oil for shortening because they say coconut oil is way better for you, but it was so stiff I couldn’t mix it in well. I wonder what the trick is. Must try again. Coconut oil is funny because sometimes it’s harder than shortening and sometimes it’s completely liquid, depending on the temperature of the room. Is "food coloring" actually safe? I mean those four little tear-drop shaped bottles that come in the box one buys at the grocery store. Schilling brand, is it? The stuff that colored nearly everything I ate from age 2 to maybe age 11. Really safe? I hope so, ‘cuz we now have a lot of green cookies.
There is a sweet little book (actually a series of them) called The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly, about a tree fairy and her friends Pine Cone and Pepper Pot, Jeremy Mouse, and other forest characters. We’re donating a copy to the school fundraiser auction along with these needle-felted character dolls that I made. My donation is one day late, but they promised to take it anyway. 
Oh, and it’s worth A MILLION DOLLARS!
I'm a busy freelance editor and writer, wife to Ian, and mother to two precious boys. I am living each day to the fullest and with as much grace, creativity, and patience as I can muster.
© 2003–2012 Please do not use my photographs or text without my permission.
"Love doesn't just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new." —Ursula K. LeGuinn
The moral of this evolving story of language development is that we now have to be really careful what we say around him. Obviously, curse words are a no-no. (I still remember with chagrin the first time I heard little Lucas say "Shit!") We have to practice kindness, forgiveness, and avoid teasing or angry words so that Asher has good models for speech. Not that we have problems with using abusive language in our home, but writing this is my way of rededicating myself to this goal. Really, there is no question now that he understands most of what we say.