Toddler culture

Yesterday not only did we throw coins into the fountain at the Metro Nashville library, Bitty also chose to watch Thomas the Train in French. I've now learned "whistle" in two languages. 

http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/whistle

If that's not cultured, I don't know what is. 

Despite his enthusiasm for throwing things into water - my wallet almost went in, too - it was hardest to tear Bitty away from a piece by Red Grooms in the children's department of the exhibit. The cityscape was very impressive.  

http://www.sculpture.org/documents/webspec/redgrooms/redgroom.shtml 

I've also gotten some headway on finishing my clay beads. 

My favorite treatment has been to coat them with acrylic paints in metallic white with raw umber. It's an earthy tone that still has a lot of shine, and I think it works well in the rough surfaces of the beads. They should look great in the midst of more structured elements. 

Spider Sense

Bitty's grown a little big for his Little Tykes slide in the backyard, so I'm glad it's getting good use.

Quick Change

Yesterday was wild.

About a month ago, Bitty had an asthma attack, and the eczema accompanying it signaled that he was allergic to something. We immediately followed up and got a referral to an allergist, and yesterday I happily drove Bitty to his appointment. He was in high spirits, too, after we saw the construction site on Charlotte. A huge piece of equipment was pulling pieces off the building. He declared that it was "Rocky," the rescue crane on Thomas.

We had an interesting visit. The tests administered on his back drove him crazy, and we ended up singing Veggie Tales tunes as he tried to climb my torso, after Dinosaur Train on the phone lost its shine. The doctor performed a few of the tests twice to confirm the results, which impressed me. Then, after getting a lollypop, we stood at the edge of the parking garage and watched the cars go by. "Hey guy, where are you going?" he asked a jogger below.

He's been so itchy and wheezy, and finding the trigger was so wonderful.

But he was allergic to dogs.

So my husband and I had to worry about what to do about our sweet dog, Friday. We'd had her for four years, and she is a wonderful dog. She loves Bitty, too, and not only because he is constantly dropping food at dinner/leaving his snacks unattended/keeping his graham crackers within swiping distance.

Luckily, she's found a good home with Bitty's aunt, uncle, and cousin! They will be an amazing family for her- we know! We took her yesterday evening, and her new Golden Retriever sister was so excited. Bitty was so happy to see them, too. When I explained the situation to him as I drove him home from the sitter, he focused on the fact that he'd get to eat cake with my niece.

Today, I'm cleaning the house to get rid of the dander. The cats are edgy and follow me from room to room. I keep thinking I need to let Friday out to play in the backyard, but I know she's having an absolute blast where she is. Bitty's toys are, too, as they relax on a blanket after a soak in the washer.

Most fun picnic ever!

Kneads a little something

When I'm in a group that mentions "beads," my brain interprets it as, "BEADS!" So when I had a moment this weekend, after poor Bitty had gotten over the worst of his hand, foot, and mouth disease and was playing with my family, I began working.

I found an online recipe for clay beads; it required no cooking and was similar to several that I'd found.

http://www.essortment.com/yourself-make-clay-52678.html

After my preliminary batch entered the oven, I found that the mixture got crumbly fast. I added oil to my hands as I kneaded the dough on the beads to follow. It didn't affect the cooking time, and it helped the beads develop a smoother texture. I still liked the first beads, however, for their craggy look.

 
The first several beads I've painted today have looked very neat.

And of course, I couldn't stick to beads, so Bitty will be getting some new friends.

As if he needed any more.

Like Scrooge McDuck in a toy box.

Another Rocking Week

Why do I paint on rocks? See exhibit one, from Bitty's week at Grammy Camp. He picked out which rock to give to each of us when we came to get him. Mine is the smaller one.

During arts and crafts time, my mom made salt dough to press his handprint into, as well. He likes the feel of clay no more than he did when he was an infant, but I'm hoping to get some sculptures for around the house eventually. Those things are expensive!  

Even Pa got involved, with an abstract portrait.

A Special Day

Bitty and I spent the morning on Sunday in the church nursery, and he was everywhere, from rolling down the ramp to reenacting "Paw Patrol" to working waffle blocks into train tracks. He gave hugs to all comers, especially his sitter, who was back from the beach. 

Then, after lunch and a nap, we went to the playground. It was crowded, and Bitty found a couple of little boys his age to wander around with for awhile. Then it was time to go, and my husband told him that we were having spaghetti for dinner as he was climbing up the twisted slide. Upon hearing that his favorite dish was forthcoming, Bitty declared that it was "a special day." 

That was neat. 

Cracked up

Bitty is very much into "Green Eggs and Ham" currently. If you ask him if he'd like some, he'll respond, "I do NOT, Sam I Am!" in an angry country drawl, balling his fists and shaking them to make the point.

The moral of the story has done nothing for his palate, however. Last Friday, I got him all excited to eat an egg after reading the book and gathering eggs from the chickens in his Fisher Price barn. He was still ready to eat as we got him in his chair. But when presented with a scrambled egg, with melted cheddar cheese swirled through the fluffy pieces (I make a good scrambled egg), he politely said, "No, thank you" and munched his toast. I make average toast.

Same story on Sunday, when my mother made him green eggs. He didn't even trust Grammy not to give him something "yuck." I don't have the energy to chase him to the sea, not from here, anyway. And I have about every animal except a mouse, a fox, and a goat. He'll just have to discover the wonders of the scrambled egg on his own.
 

My Design Collection

Yesterday I was drinking coffee and glancing over the beautiful interiors in a West Elm catalog. Then I looked up and started laughing, because this is what I saw:

A. Painted, Solid-Wood Cabinet. Yarn accents keep contents from two-year-old marauders.

B. Multi-Toned Foot Stool. Plastic, weathered finish.

C. Cat Seating. In white.

D. Three sizes of Thomas. Whimsical accent also available in seasonal varieties.

Conquering the tower

We had a great weekend with my parents and left Bitty behind for "Grammy Camp," since our babysitter is taking a well-deserved break in Panama City this week. My parents restored a playground for Little Bit over the past several weeks. The work paid off. 

He loved playing in the tower, equipped with, among other things, a steering wheel, telephone, and binoculars to help him watch the woods. The only thing that coaxed him inside for a nap is "Paw Patrol," a Nickelodeon show with puppies that drive trucks. (Why didn't I think of that?? Genius.)

I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up camping in that tower before the week ends.  

Beary ... something

I've been working for several days on a knitting loom teddy bear, using some of the instructions for the little bee I'd tried before.

http://voices.yahoo.com/mr-bee-happy-knifty-knitter-flower-loom-pattern-4743258.html

Using my denim baby yarn, I constructed the body, stuffed it, then stitched on the limbs I'd made on my french knitter. Each leg is 15 rows of stitching. About halfway through stitching on the arms, I still wasn't convinced this was going to be a worthwhile effort. After one ear, that hadn't changed.

Please love me!

But I was excited to learn how to make bear ears from this online video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaqQsnzQiWc

The video is very easy to follow, even when making a tiny ear on the french knitter. After securing the second ear and adding a face, the little guy started to grow on me. 

So I made him a tiny hat.

I should clean more often!

Today is a cleanup day. I've had lots of outdoors cleaning on my to-do list for awhile, and now my patio furniture is covered in spiderwebs and mildew. Or algae; it may have been wet enough this summer to sustain algae.

I also decided to take the tops of my tables out and scrub the crayon off of them, since Bitty seems to be out of his "art is everywhere" phase. I got the tables in college at the Knoxville Area Rescue Mission thrift store, They were beaten up and scratched, and I enjoyed refinishing them. My husband researched their markings and found they were probably built in the 1930's. Here's one, with some of Bitty's work:

http://maternalcraftiness.blogspot.com/2012/11/scribbling-away.html

The tops are heavy stone and marked "Peruvian Marble" on the bottom. They are beige, and I thought it was a boring marble but never questioned it. While oxycleaning the crayon off, I started taking off paint!

It's unbelievable that someone painted the stone, and I might never have seen it without Bitty taking his crayon to it. Now I can't decide what to scrub next. I'm feeling lucky!