leon's room

it only took 13 months, but leon's nursery is basically as done as it will ever be. there's nothing like selling your place to get you motivated, i suppose!

sleep...on letting go

top by atsuyo et akiko
wool pants by lucysplace

we've been sleeping on the floor for nearly two months now. my back is killing me, but this is nothing new. leon still wakes up every 1-2 hours to nurse. he still hogs half of the mattress. i don't have it in me to do things differently. three weeks ago he slept a 4 hour stretch. i suspect it had something to do with being ill with the swine flu. rats.

but, he's actually turning out to be a happy happy baby. he chuckles and snorfles and tosses his head back laughing. his daytime naps are starting to settle into a pattern. usually 2 hours in the morning, 1-2 hours in the afternoon. he loves eating his jar food, and his crying jags are less frequent. he doesn't mind the car seat, in fact he falls asleep without too much of a peep. this is a huge change from early october. he is also getting better at being with the cats. he rakes their fur gently and only pulls once in awhile. he also yelps whenever he sees them. i wish i could record all these sounds and movements but whenever i turn on the camera, he stops what he's doing to crawl over and pull up on my leg.

it's taken me a long time, nearly 9 months, but i can now honestly say that i enjoy his company.

sweater, my brother's from 1977
padded overalls, jacadi
knee socks by nix (the only ones that stay up)

baby proofing

snuggle wool blanket (not a sheepskin!)

thank you. we're doing better, although leon had a meltdown on the way home from a very early dinner (5.30-6.30). i had to skip his bedtime routine (solid food, book, bath, music) because he was losing it. i'm pretty sure he didn't mind skipping right to the main event, though.


so now that he's mobile and on the verge of crawling properly--i give him two weeks--we've started clearing out the living room so it's leon-friendly. last weekend i packed up 6 boxes of books and matthew put three bookcases along with our coffee table in storage. we have two bookshelves that we lined along one wall to partially block the radiator. i've been looking at montessori-inspired blogs for ideas, and the main thing i decided to do was create interesting spaces for leon to play. these cubbyholes are perfect for storing toys in baskets or displaying his favorite picture cards (the eames' house of cards). right now he loves visiting each 'station' and pulling out the toys. sometimes we sit together and he goes through a basket, which i find to be inexplicably charming.

i'm going to order a few wooden toys to place on top of the cubbyholes to entice leon to pull himself up. these by little sapling toys would be perfect.




i'm trying hard to resist buying too many toys, but sometimes i just can't say no. for instance, these wooden puzzles with peg handles would be perfect for leon to practice his pincer grasp.

the living room transformation

before


during


after



many more books to pack before we move next year. not to mention the few hundred novels that are at my parents' place. someday when we're settled i'd like to be reunited with them. thank goodness for the postal service's media mail rate.