wip - skirt for a mermaid doll

:: this was an impromptu project my little one thought of, an hour before she was off to a sleepover with her grandparents. she has been engaged in play with her mermaid after our seasonal nature table changed to incorporated treasures from the sea shore. after fiddling around with her tail, she discovered the doll has legs underneath and her play has taken a new journey, full of adventure and new lands to explore.

:: my daughter drew a sketch and instructions were given in detail. the little guy was napping, we had the supplies and i could not honestly give my daughter a reason not to make a skirt for her mermaid. 

:: an hour or so went by, my little one had already left for her grandparents' house, and i was cutting out the finishing touches on the double-tiered wave pattern. and this little project taught me a valuable lesson that i needed to relearn. to take a chance. 


for years, i have wanted to make my little one a doll. and one day make clothing for my children and knit them sweaters to keep them warm. and to one day make a quilt like my grandmother used to make. i have long searched the internet for doll making kits, supplies and books, only to find a reason not to proceed forward with making a doll. afraid of failing or even worse, making a mistake and picking out the wrong yarn for hair (that darn perfectionism coming into play) and i have searched flickr for quilt patterns and inspiration, only to feel like the task was too big to take on. and i guess at times, we can put up road blocks or little speed bumps in our own path. but life, of course, is about learning to overcoming them.

:: and my first attempt at the mermaid's skirt did not work. i learned from it, adjusted the pattern and made another one. and here's the beginning of taking more chances.

last night, my little guy needed his mama's comfort. i am still in my jams (pajamas) i have not looked in the mirror nor brushed my hair back, my body is achier than usually. my thoughts drifting and i gave myself TWO tasks today. to find and make a delicious new meal for this evening and tomorrow evening with my 2 beautiful eggplants. and my second task is to have a calm, peaceful ending to my day. giving myself time to savor some tea, mediate, think about what tomorrow may bring and curl up with a book this evening. 

so, i went searching for some recipes and here's what i came up with, some will be modified to be dairy free:

grilled eggplant topped with goat cheese and tomato

rainy day rigatoni here

vegan muffuletta

stuffed foccacia with roasted eggplant and oregano

trenette with eggplant and basil pesto

15 dips and spreads for summer parties

10 vegan lunch ideas

10 vegan breakfast ideas

 

i decided to grill the eggplant because no matter which recipe i decide upon, the grill brings out an amazing flavor. and i remember how much i enjoy this part of the season when we have delicious eggplant to nourish ourselves with. i decided on the rainy day rigatoni for tonight and vegan muffuletta for tomorrow. and i look forward to the trenette with eggplant and basil pesto next. what is your favorite eggplant recipe?

a new plan

our new journey is re-establishing our family rhythm and learning to nurture oneself. part of our plan is being helped through new services my son is receiving. the wonderful part of the program is that the occupational therapist comes out to your home, observes and offers suggestions. there was high hopes that after we determined his intolerance to milk protein and eliminated milk protein from his diet that he would start eating in a healthy manner and his poor feeding would discontinue. everyone also hoped that my son would outgrown his milk protein intolerance after his first birthday. so we have kind of been in limbo, until recently.

after introducing milk to my son's diet, very slowly, for the past six weeks, we determined that he can not tolerate milk protein. he also has tracked consistently at the 5% for weight on the growth chart, so we still are working with his poor feeding.

our new plan includes:

1. helping establish a healthy eating and sleeping pattern for my little guy. we have adjusted his eating routine where he will eat 5 times a day, instead of every hour and a half. (he needed meals every hour and a half back before. he was so small and constantly active. he now will take some time to sit and read a book and he also takes some time to cuddle so we felt we were able to work with changing his eating routine) now that we are establishing a consistent eating routine, with meals spaced out more so he could experience a feeling of hunger and the ability to feel fulfilled with food, it has already greatly helped his napping routine. he now sharing a bedroom with his sister, which brings us to

2. getting mama a healthy block of sleep. transiting my son out of our bed and into his crib was a very hard decision. i had too many people that love the both of us urging me to do this and ultimately i decided that this was the best decision for our family. i slept on the floor many nights and watched the sun rise, but this is getting better

3. cooking without milk protein and eggs. (eggs is something that we will try in his diet in the future. my daughter was allergic to egg until she outgrew it at 3 years of age, so this is why he has been egg free)