Totally Tilly Tuesdays

August 31: Tilly Each Week, originally uploaded by RedRedCompletelyRed.

Here's a little mosaic of our little Bamse each week, from one week old, up until today, at nine weeks. What an expressive little person she's becoming!

Felt Felt Completely Felt

My birthday present from Justin has arrived! A book of felt, felt, reindeer, and felt. What more could a girl want?

Project number one is to make some little felty-fleecy boots for Tilly, in red, of course. Project number two will then be trying to enlarge the pattern to adult size and making a matching pair for myself!

More names...

You might remember the long list of names we'd already got for Tilly at three weeks.

Well, she's now also our Wiggily Piggily, our Wiggling Worm. She's Tilly-Two-Chins, Ten-Ton-Tilly, Tilly-Tilly-Bearkins. She's our Big Piggy, our Little Piggy, our Snorting Piggy, our Piggy McWeeWee. Sometimes, she's just Piggy, plain and simple. She's Grumpity-Grumpity-Groo and The Red Hot Tilly Pepper when things aren't going right for her. She's The Sleepiest Baby on the Block and Sleeping Beauty. She's The Littlest Dribbler. She's Burpy Pig Jack and Birdie Num Num. She's our Squidge Bear, Squidgy Pudding, The Big Squidge. And, of course, she's our Cheeky Monkey.

Most often, she's Tilly-Bear: eight-and-a-half weeks, 11 pounds 6 ounces, of smiles and wide-eyes and polka dots.

IKEA In Numbers

I've been asked to elaborate on last Saturday's IKEA trip. Here's the breakdown:

Number of hours in the car, to Houston and back: 4

Number of times Tilly had a meltdown in the car: 0

Number of hours spent in IKEA: 3

Number of times (approximately) Tilly had a meltdown in the store: 6

Number of meatballs devoured: 40

Number of minutes (approximately) taken to devour said meatballs: 3

Number of people shocked that IKEA no longer serves lingonberries: 2

Number of people we can now have over for dinner, so that everyone has a fork: 12
Number of people we could previously have over for dinner, so that everyone had a fork: 4

Number of hands needed to push a trolley, a pushchair, and hold Tilly: 6
Number of hands available: 4
Number of phones lost (or stolen) while inside IKEA: 1
Number of yellow IKEA Beetles spotted: 1

Number of hours Tilly slept once we got her to bed that night: 7
Number of people who felt that, overall, it was a very good day: 2

A New Year

Thanks to all for the lovely birthday wishes -- it was a lovely day, from my Swedish fish breakfast all the way through to our mac n' bacon dinner, and a birthday toast with champagne glasses of milk.

(Please note the IKEA plate, spoon, and serving dish... all acquired on our weekend jaunt down to Houston last Saturday. 

Yes, meatballs make people do crazy things!)

So, here's to another year of creativity and love, of red thread and white felt, of old woolly jumpers and stuffing, of photographs and laughter, and of many wonderful weeks to spend with family.

25 Wonderful Things

Today, I'm twenty-six.

And though you might like to see a list of twenty-six things

I'll be doing this year, what I'm going to show you

instead is twenty-five things that made last year wonderful.

In no particular order:

1. Tilly's arrival into the world

2. Adopting Bella, the world's most beautiful mutt

3. Working at the college Writing Centre,

and being surrounded again by people who love language and writing.

4. Monday lunch breaks

5. Learning to quilt, though this first one for my Mum got waylaid

somewhere on its way to China

6. Knitting, and the satisfaction of hand making all my Christmas presents last year (my family have all the fingerless gloves they need now...)

7. Getting to eat IKEA Meatballs. Twice!

8. Moving into our lovely home.

9. Taking photos, photos, and more photos. I'll remember this year better than any other year so far!

10. Sharing those photos every day with the amazing people in the 365 Flickr group.

11. Having my family here for a glorious two weeks.

12. Discovered the joy of stuffing rabbits.

13. Discovering the joy of UGG boots.

14. Discovering the joy of stuffing rabbits into UGG boots.

15. Sausage Saturdays, care of my Texan BBQer

16. Getting to shop at HEB, the world's finest supermarket,

(with the exception, perhaps, of Waitrose)

17. The Unraveling course, which helped me see myself (especially my feet) in a whole new way, and created a wonderful community of new friends.

18. Reading the book "Love and Respect" with a great group of friends, which helped Justin and me to understand each other a bit better!

19. Reading "The Bradley Method", which prepared me (sort of) for the type of birth I wanted Tilly to have.

20. Justin, the most wonderful husband, and now the most wonderful father, too, who makes me feel happy and loved every day.

21. Discovering new ways to connect with my Mum, and really

relishing how much we inspire each other.

22. Being reminded constantly by brilliant friends all around the world

that they continue to support me despite time and distance.

23. Chats and emails with Loreal, who keeps me sane.

24. Getting to watch Tilly grow.

25. Planning for Christmas this year, when we'll fly to England for three whole weeks, and will introduce Tilly to her great-grandparents, her great Aunt Jenni, and her Uncle Jesper and Auntie Gem.

(This one is sort of cheating, I know... but the planning is so much fun!)

It's been a wonderful day so far, and Tilly even woke me up

at exactly 12.15 am (the time I was born)

so we could spend that moment together!

Off Goes Potato

And so, here at the Slagle house, we're getting ready for the departure of our dear Potato. For his trip, I made him a little messenger bag, which he promptly filled with all of his treasures.

Yes, he's a rabbit of simple pleasures. He enjoys picking wildflowers, and collecting bright buttons, and I'm sure he'll be able to continue with both of those passions in London. He's taking with him lots of hearts to give out to all the new friends he's going to make, and a lucky penny to bring good fortune to his new family. He also insisted on writing a little note to introduce himself.

After an exchange of farewells, and a group hug, off he went across the garden and down the road, where he hitched a ride with a friendly passing postman.

Stay in touch, little fella! We hope you enjoy the Cadbury's chocolate, the fondant fancies, and the wonderful wit and charm of England.

First Words

Seven weeks old yesterday, and Tilly is already talking.

What, you don't think "ee" is a word?

Well, I know what she means: f-"ee"-d m-"ee"! (feed me)
Unless she's learnt her own name... well, half of it: Till-"ee"! (Tilly)
Or perhaps she already knows the fifth letter of the alphabet.

Or, is there just a chance, she's trying to announce who's number was picked to adopt Potato:

Jodi-"ee" Bell!

(Please have a carrot ready for his arrival...

he's a hungry little beast!)

Inspiration: Castle

I've just discovered Castle.

Felt at its very best:

Of course, immediately, I wanted to put my felt stash to good use and create my own embroidered rainbow of song lyrics. The hard bit was picking which song. Justin's vote was for "The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas," and I also considered doing a verse of the romantic "All I Want Is You" from the Juno soundtrack, but in the end, neither of those were chosen.

Here are the first few words of the lyrics I picked, from a verse of one of my favourite songs:

Any guesses? (Clue: it's going in the bedroom, to help me feel sunny each day)

Thank you all for stopping by and connecting over the past week! I'm sure Potato is going to be very happy to find a home with one of you tomorrow...

x

Creature Feature

The menagerie is growing.

Yes, it's time to stand up and admit it. I'm Astrid, and I'm addicted to making small furry creatures out of my clothes.

They always start off as intended gifts for someone. I cut, I pin, and everything's fine. But then I add the face, and it all goes out of the window, because once they have faces, I can't bear to part with them. It's the eyes. The big round stitched eyes. Begging to stay.

Anyway, today I'm about to break my hoarding tendency. I'm going to give one of you-- yes, YOU-- the latest fluffy little beastie, who was just finished up yesterday. Meet Potato:

"Potato?" you say. "That's a bloomin' rabbit."

Correct. But Potato is named after the style of skirt he was cut from.

"A Potato skirt?" you say. "I've never heard of it!"

Let me explain. While I was sewing last night, Justin was interested to see what I was making, and I told him it was a rabbit, out of an old skirt of mine.

"Which skirt was that?" he asked.

"The one that looked like a potato sack," I said.

"Oh, I liked that one!" he said.

Now, perhaps it's just me, but if you can describe a piece of your clothing as "the thing that looks like a potato sack" and people know what you're talking about, then you should not be wearing it. And perhaps, if your piece of clothing has an elasticated top and bottom, and you can wear it at five months pregnant, and it's made of wool, and you live in sweltering Texas, then maybe it's time that garment became a stuffed rabbit.

Yes, he has a big round felted red tail. You know you want him.

So, all I'm asking is that you just take a second to leave me a quick comment, a "hello" or a link to your own page, or whatever you'd like. I've been inspired by this post on connections, and would love to know who out there is connecting with me through these posts, and to connect with you back. Because I love that you're here reading. I love that my dailyness and silliness and stuffed rabbits matter to you.

I'll give it until next Thursday afternoon, a week from now... let's say 2pm... and pick a random number for who'll be getting Potato. Sound fair?

Zip It

In honour of Tilly's being six weeks old yesterday, I thought it was about time to fire up the old Mean Green Sewing Machine and make a Russian doll cushion cover for the rocking chair in Tilly's room.

Now, when I say "make", what I really mean is sew together the front and back pieces that my lovely Mum had patchworked, and add a zip. Well, and work out how to add a zip... A nice easy project to get me going again, with very fast results! Only one of the three cushions got finished yesterday, but all in the space of time between Tilly eating and Tilly taking a nap. I felt a bit like I was on a game-show, doing a speed sewing challenge!

I just love how Tilly looks like the Russian doll, with her round face, wide eyes, and pursed lips!

It turns out, though, that Tilly might have to wait a while to have the cushion in her room... as soon as it was done, Justin claimed it, and took it off to the sofa for a nap!

Mum's the Word

I've made my peace with the fact that Tilly will most likely not share my accent. She'll eat "fries" instead of "chips", "chips" instead of "crisps", and will probably learn about presidents instead of kings and queens.

But, I'm not prepared to give up on being a Mum. My heart just swelled every time I saw Tilly in this little outfit today, and even though it was one of those days where she cried and cried, this helped to remind me that there's a lot of love there, too.

Red Red Completely Red, Junior.

Though Tilly looks beautiful in pink, I have to say, I like her in little red hearts the best.

Back to Normal

Back to normal means we're cooking for ourselves. Back to normal means we're planning to leave the house, all together. Back to normal means I've no excuse not to get out of my pyjamas all day.

Back to normal also means taking down the beautiful cards for Tilly that have taken over our living room, and starting to put together a book of memories from her first month.

Back to normal means feeling creative again.

Back to normal means pulling out the piles of papers, the paper cutter, the mementoes from the hospital and from the pregnancy, and printing photo after photo. (The fact that Tilly's first two weeks were spent in the company of a whole family taking a photo a day means I've got plenty of material!)

Back to normal also means pins and fabric scraps on the couch, because, of course, one thing on the go is never enough!

Back to normal means feeling the urge to make, make, make, and though there may be less time in the day for sewing and memory-keeping, the time that I do find has become even more sacred, as if I need to condense all the joy I got from four hours of stitching into forty-five minutes.