My Little Baby Doll

I love making baby clothes! Granted I haven't made that many yet, but they are relatively easy to do and I have so much fun with the fabrics and with making little alterations as I see fit. This dress here I made with curtain fabric from our old apartment and a vintage tablecloth that had been all cut up. The little buttons up top are from my Grandma's collection that I inherited--she passed away about 10 years ago and must love seeing her great grand-daughter Greta get use out of these buttons! I really love this dress and would definitely wear it if I was able to make it my own size (actually, I can safely say that about all the clothes I've made Greta so far). She wore this to the shower the church threw for her a few weeks ago.





This dress also has curtain fabric from our old apartment, as well as my Grandma's buttons. And Grandma Judy, you will notice the bottom portion of the dress is the same fabric as the lining of the bag I made you for Christmas! Anyway, this is the first thing I made for Greta. She wore it to the shower my mom threw for her when she was 6 weeks old, and here she is wearing it at a little over 3 months. I think she looks especially beautiful in this dress as the color really brings out her eyes.









You may have noticed all these pieces of clothing are relatively similar...I basically used the same pattern with slight alterations each time. This is a little top I made her from the dress pattern. It too has my Grandma's old buttons and curtain fabric, as well as fabric from Grandma Kathy's Christmas bag! Greta is getting a little big for this top, so she's going to wear it a LOT in the next short while! It really brings out her eyes as well.










Some may gasp to see a baby in black, but I couldn't help myself! I saw a really cute black baby outfit at a great kids store awhile back and thought "Hmmm...a baby in black? Unusual...I like it!" Besides, every girl needs a little black dress. This one I've paired with a pink onesie underneath, to take the edge off. The stitching on the dress is bright pink, and I also stitched some diamonds on along the lower left side of the dress to give it some extra pizzaazz. I think Greta's skin really stands out in this dress.








I always loved dressing up my dolls when I was a kid, and now I have a real live doll all of my own to pretty up all the time (until she doesn't let me anymore!) Every time I make something new for Greta it's almost like she delights in trying it on for me. She never ever fusses when it's time to get dressed or undressed--in fact I think she enjoys it--either that or she just senses how much I enjoy it and oblidges happily. What fun it is to be a mom! I love it all.

Happy 3 Month Birthday!

Today Greta and Mama finally had their first photo shoot--and here is one of the photos from it. As you can see, she is holding her head up and standing really well. She is full of smiles, and this morning even laughed a few times!! Her laugh sounds kind of like a little cough...but once I got this reaction out of her I kept trying (successfully!) again and again to hear it. How great! After this photo shoot today she did some spitting up, had a mini crying fit--which is rare--and then crashed for a nap IN HER CRIB. Yes, I think she's finally made daytime peace with her crib. On her 3 month birthday yesterday she actually took two naps in it! I darken the room completely, turn on the fan for some white noise, and for the finishing touch that works like magic: turn on soothing nap music! Yipee!

Here is Greta on her birthday having some tummy time and pushing herself up with her arms. She absolutely loves to roll herself over onto her tummy but unfortunately has a little trouble rolling back onto her back. She CAN do it, but it's a lot of work and so she often tires out and gets stuck. Poor thing! But she simply cannot resist the urge to roll herself over anyway, over and over--she loves it.





One of her other best favorite places to be now that she holds her head up so well is face out in the Baby Bjorn carrier. Here she is on her birthday with Papa. The two of them went for a walk while I had a jog. Greta loves to go around like this and doesn't fuss at all while in it! Take note how you cannot see her mouth in this photo--that is because the loves to suck on the Baby Bjorn!
Happy Birthday Greta!

Happy Canada Day!

Here is our little Canadian resting up the night before the big day. She has certainly gotten herself comfortable!!
We can often get her to sleep in her crib when it is night-time bedtime...but during the day it's still another story indeed. She seems to need to sleep in the sling during the day, otherwise she only takes half hour naps, which leave her a Grumpy Greta.











After an early morning feed Greta joined us in our bed. Matthew snapped this picture when he got up--he always gets up before us girls!

Even though she's still purely Canadian at this point she still bears a strong resemblance to her American Mama :-)







Having a jolly jumping time in her new rig! Greta received this as a gift from the church, which threw us a baby shower over the weekend. She doesn't do big jumps in her Jolly Jumper yet, but she seems to love hobbling and twirling around in it. Shortly after this picture was taken Greta made a serious mess in her Canada Day themed bloomers, which Mama promptly washed so she could still wear them to our festive BBQ later in the day.










And one final salute to Canada before bed. Greta spent a lot of time awake today. At the BBQ she was very observant and quiet--she barely made a peep--but stayed quite awake (she only slept for about an hour and a half today!) By the evening she was very tired and ready to retire in her crib. Night Night Greta.