{good morning, two-year-old}

Today, Tilly is two -- a morning celebrated with a breakfast picnic, and a first play in her newly-finished, newly-furnished house.

Inside the house, she has a little kitchen, some animals, and a lovely miniature grand piano that our neighbours passed along. So far today, Tilly has been finding new and unusual combinations of putting these three elements together -- using a spatula to play a tune on the piano, cooking up a big pot of peanut-butter-and-animal soup, and sitting her little wooden tiger on top on the piano so that she can serenade him.

Now having a little midday rest, Tilly will no doubt be all-energy again in time for the dinner party she's having tonight for her friends. Let's hope they like stewed elephant.

 

 

And, if you'd like to see a little of us all in (stop) motion, here's a video that I've made, just remembering the last few weeks of playhouse building and decorating. 

Watch out for:

• Justin recreating one of his favourite Simpson's moments.
• Tilly walking the plank.
• me proving that IKEA kitchen scissors can do anything. Yes, even cut roof shingles.
• a lot of dancing cups, and a Marmite jar that likes to twirl.

Enjoy!

{all work and no play... yet}

This is the house that Justin built.

Perhaps you remember it as the giant pile of wood that I showed you in September? (Inspired by a little playhouse we saw while on holiday in Denmark) Well, that's almost exactly what it still was until last weekend. Almost all this -- walls, studs, screws, paint -- in three days. I keep having to pop out into the garden and touch it, just to make sure it's really, really real.

There's still plenty more to do -- several more coats of paint on the inside, and a whole roof to go -- and then the proper fun can begin. Curtains! Pictures! Little window boxes full of bright little flowers! Oh, and Tilly will probably enjoy it a bit, too.

Our final deadline is the 29th of June -- Tilly's second birthday, when hopefully a little crowd of friends will help her warm her new home with apple-juice toasts and a little summer picnic!

{it's raining letters}

You might have noticed, we've gone a bit alphabet crazy around here. Two weeks ago, I was grumbling my way through Elmo's utterly incoherent volume of ABCs, when Tilly suddenly pointed to the letter A and said "A". In all the surprised cheering and dancing that following, we must have happened upon an ancient tribal rain dance, because suddenly letters started pouring from the ceiling...

... drenching Tilly's room in learning goodness, with a pop of colour.

So far, she's got "A" and "O" down, and with a bit of prompting can show you the "B" and "Q", too. What, you're meant to learn them in order? 

And by the way, this is the new paint job we finished back in the autumn that I never put up photos of.

Greyish.

That's really what it's called -- nothing about moonbeams, thunder or stone. It has the most amazing power to make the room lighter when you want it light, darker when you want a certain someone to go to sleep, and is just warm enough of a colour without having any tint of anything. So, phew, all those hours of staring mindlessly at paint samples taped to the walls weren't in vain.

And since we're doing a bit of a room tour, here are two prints I framed and hung above the changing table.



If you've ever met (and, therefore, been roared at by) Tilly, you'll know that she's all about the animals (seriously, she was making monkey noises for months before she bothered to learn to say "mama"). So, I tried to find as many animals as would fit onto two A4 pieces of paper. Would you believe, her favourite is the shark, and she sings the music from Jaws in his honour -- duh dun, duh dun...

{hello world, it's me, tilly}

Tilly's gone global. Find her sharing tips and tricks from her "Say Cheese" birthday party today over at the brilliant Ohdeedoh (the children's section of Apartment Therapy).

Or, if you've had enough cheddar, cameras and birthday party pics to last you a lifetime, why not check out these other inspired ideas:

• London-in-a-bag wooden block set
• The best apps for traveling with kids (please, remind me of this in a month, as we fly across the world with a wriggly jiggly fourteen-month-old)
• Cloudy day blackout shades
• Build your own bicycle sidecar (with two seats -- one for Tilly, one for Bella!)

{the signature tablecloth: year one}

You saw Tilly's birthday tablecloth when it was just a bit of fabric. Then you saw it getting drawn on with black Sharpie by our friends and family at Tilly's first birthday party. Now, here it is, fully decked out in many many stands of white embroidery thread. 

As I said, the idea is get everyone who celebrates Tilly's birthday with us to sign the cloth. And each year, I will embroider over the names in a different colour, creating a record of all our lovely guests for Tilly to look back on.

Yes, ALL the guests... Bella was included, even though she spent the entire party in our bedroom feeling sorry for herself. (Don't be sad for her -- she got to have Tilly's uneaten Cream Bomb cake!)



As a last touch, I drew around Tilly's hand, and added her age to the centre of it. I'm sure she'll enjoy signing in her own way in the future (I know I loved to practice my signature when I was little -- so much so that I still use the same juvenile star shape now. Yes, I've had cashiers laugh at me. No, I'm not changing it).

And, of course, her friends will start signing by themselves, too. We're not going anywhere anytime soon, so I'm hopeful that we'll see many of the same names next year, too.

I'll admit, some of our guests put my sewing skills to the test. I just hope I did their artwork justice!

Recently, someone asked me if I'm already planning next year's party, to which I replied that, no, unfortunately, every year will most probably be downhill from here. But, as I think about it, much of the work this year is going to be reused every year. Tilly's birthday crown will be worn again next year (and hopefully won't be falling down over her eyes), as will her felt envelope, and the growth chart. As for the birthday badge and party dress -- they're for the next little Slagle!

And, I think that officially marks the end of all things birthday. Hurray! (Although we seem to have bought the world's longest lasting balloons -- two weeks later, our living room is still full of them. I can't bear to pop them... perhaps there'll be here to reuse next year, too!)

{say cheese: a first birthday party}

Yesterday, we celebrated Tilly's first year with a little party. Our "Say Cheese!" theme let us indulge in Tilly's love of cheddar and our love of cameras... what a fun combination it turned out to be! We had a house full of amazing friends and family, a kitchen full of dairy, and a back garden full of smiles and grins and fake mustaches. 

Guests loaded up plates with all things cheesy (mac and cheese with chicken, spicy sausage queso and chips, brie and crackers, as well as a few fruits and veggies) and signed Tilly's birthday table runner, which was laid out on the dining table.

The signature runner turned out even better than I'd hoped! People signed in all sorts of ways -- with birthday messages, with names grouped together as families, in flowing script and in block capitals, with drawings of flowers and with stick-figure self-portraits. What a lovely way to remember all the people who joined us this year -- how funny it will be to see names reappear next year, and new names be added. I'm looking forward to embroidering over it all in the next few weeks.

Out in the garden, we had tables set up, too, covered with the easiest tablecloths in the world. (Three yards of fabric ripped in half! I'm hoping they'll turn into a dress for Tilly after I wash the cake off...) We had bubbles on one table, and the blank photo props and a pack of crayons on the other table, to entertain the bigger kids. 

The colour-your-own-props worked out really well, and the children came up with some amazing designs, which they then proudly modeled in the photo booth.

The photo booth was so much fun, and we ended up with over 400 photos to pick from! (I'm just sorry I can't show you more of them!) The little ones got the most creative, and were so sweet with each other, lining up and taking turns, and letting each other use the bows they'd decorated. There were plenty of props to go around, and they stood up surprisingly well to baby hands (yes, and mouths -- hold a mustache near a baby, and they want to taste it!)



We had cowboys and wolves, circus ringmasters and cats. There were sweet family shots, hilarious poses, and some very funny photos of little ones who didn't quite understand the messages they were holding (i.e. one shot of a little friend with a giant scowl, holding the word "Cheese!" makes us laugh until we cry every time!)

The paddling pool was nice for the little ones to cool off in. Tilly fancied her own private pool, though, and got comfy in a big red bucket.

She had the time of her life, stealing people's cups of lemonade, watching her older friends blowing bubbles for her, and running off with the photo props! Say "Cheese!" Tilly.



When it came time for cake, she loved the candle (which remained at a safe distance until I blew it out... all she wanted to do was touch the flame!) on the little smash cake I'd made her, a.k.a. The Cream Bomb -- sponge cake with a hollow centre, filled with cream and strawberries, coated with cream and strawberries. Served up on a piggy plate. My dream cake.



It turns out, Tilly just wanted the strawberries, and once they were picked off, she wasn't all that interested in it anymore. She'd been really keen on the broccoli earlier on, and had filled up on that, I think.

I think I might be the first mother ever to say "my child ate so much broccoli that she didn't want any cake!"



Tilly got her arms in the cake, though, and had a little cream beard, so we were quite happy that she was messy enough, and had a little dunk in the paddling pool to clean off.

I made her a little banner the night before, to add a little touch of fancy to a basic IKEA high-chair. A little ironic, it turns out, as I was trying to MAKE her eat cake. Tilly loved the pompoms -- I think it's safe to say she would have eaten one of them if I'd let her.

Tilly opened her presents outside, with the help of some very eager friends. A new talking teapot and talking purse seem destined to become favourites, and Tilly got some lovely dresses and her own apron and rolling pin! 

As a little party favour, we gave out miniature paper Polaroid cameras, (which you might remember me mentioning here). Justin's parents kindly dug up their beautiful old Polaroid and brought it along for me to play with decoration, so it was nice to see the little paper ones next to the real thing.

I made tiny little Polaroid photos to come out of the slots, and Tilly wrote a little message for each of our guests, thanking them for coming.

A simply amazing day, with so many wonderful people to help us celebrate, and a lively little Tilly who couldn't have been happier. Thanks for all your love! 

{zhua zhou: a new take on a Chinese tradition}

You might remember me mentioning this a while ago -- the zhua zhou tray, an old Chinese tradition of placing significant objects in front of a baby on the first birthday. Whichever object the baby picks in supposed to predict future interests, a career, or personality traits. You can read a little more about the history of the actual zhua zhou tradition here. I discovered it via Giverslog's tray on Pinterest.

We interpreted it slightly differently -- rather than simply have objects represent careers, we picked things that symbolised certain family members that Tilly might take after. But I loved the idea of collecting it all in an old Pepsi crate, and luckily I scored one from a Navasota junk antique shop a few months back for $3! (I'm aware that some people might think $3 is too much for something slightly rotten and rusty, but it's my weird idea of treasure!)

We had a little rummage around the house on Tilly's Birthday Eve, and came up with this motley collection of thingies and whatsits. Here's what they symbolise:

• Safety glasses: an engineer, like Daddy
• Pen: a writer, like Mummy
• Orange IKEA moose: a Swedish furniture aficionado, like Baba *
• Wooden spool: a world-class sewer and quilter, like Mormor *

• Red high-heeled shoe: a fashion icon like Auntie Alice
• USB charger: an Apple genius like Uncle Jesper
• Cupcake wrapper: a talented baker like Auntie Gemma
• Paper daisy: a gardener like Great Auntie Jenni
• Paint brush: a watercolour artist like Mossa *
• Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle book: a teacher like Mormormor *

• 1776 book: a history enthusiast like Grandpa
• Ball: a P.E. teacher like Grandma
• Grizzly bear: an outdoor explorer like Uncle Travis and Auntie Yvette
• Lotion: an Arbonne advocate like Great Aunt Sandy
• Golf ball: a golf enthusiast like the Mitchells and Jepsons
• Wool: a knitter like Great Grandma Thies and Nana

We placed the crate in front of Tilly and let her have at it. She grabbed the wool first, but quickly dropped it, and picked up the pen. (Yay!)

We gave her a few seconds to make sure she was happy with her choice, and then called it: future writer! To make me even happier, she got hold of the wooden spool with her free hand. A passion for sewing? Double yay!

Once the formal business of career prediction was over, we let her play with the rest of the stuff. IKEA moose got a good bit of attention (maybe she can be a part-time meatball server?)...

...and Tilly was determined to get a hole in one (with the hole being her mouth).



The safety glasses didn't quite 'fit', to Justin's dismay.



The daisy was quickly thrown aside, as were the cupcake wrapper and USB cable, and a quick flip through the history book revealed nothing of interest (i.e. no pictures of dogs). Many of the other items were tested for chewability, but found lacking.



Alas, no attention whatsoever for the ball and shoe. Auntie Alice, we're trusting that you'll be around to guide Tilly through the world of style in the next few years.

Bella even got in on the fun, and after a good sniff of everything on offer, decided that the grizzly bear was for her. We'll be enrolling her in Mountain Rescue Dog classes shortly.

(* Note: Perhaps you're wondering about our slightly off-the-wall names for grandparents and great-grandparents on my side of the family. They're not really so weird -- "Mormor" and "Morfar" are Danish for Grandma and Grandpa. When I was little, I couldn't say the letter 'f', so "Morfar" became "Mossa". As my grandma is now a great grandma, we added an extra "mor" for her -- Mormormor, i.e. mother's mother's mother, and my Mum became Mormor with just two "mor"s. Confused yet? There's more. Instead of making my Dad the new Morfar, we went with the Chinese for "father", which is "baba". This is more to do with him having had a mop of curly hair for much of my childhood than anything else, i.e. Baba Black Sheep. The Chinese just fitted well, as they were on year eight in Beijing at that time. So there it is. Danish-Chinese names for our English family. What can I say, we're a regular melting pot of culture)

{happy birthday, tilly}

What a day! Tilly woke up as a one-year-old, and we tried to give her the best day yet, with candles...

...cheesy bagels and bubbles for breakfast...

...presents in the morning before Daddy went to work...

...including a fabulous wooden Noah's ark, a beautiful hat, dress and shirt, finger puppets, a book about Owl Babies, a little Danish rabbit...

... a felt book from Mummy...

...the most amazing card from Daddy (Tilly's head on a dog's body -- she loves it!), plus a brilliant video of her first year...

...plenty of wrapping paper to chew on, and furry friends to share the fun with...

...play time with her friends in the morning, and an afternoon of cooling off in her paddling pool...



...relaxing in the back garden (more on that interesting tray of goodies tomorrow!)...

...raspberry jelly for birthday dessert...

...and a little photo shoot with the big red clock at 7:23pm, to mark exactly a year since she arrived...

...stories, a cuddle, and off to bed as a one-year-old.

An amazing day with an amazing little person. Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes, and for all your love over the past year! Here's to another that's just as full...