Happening these days in and around the purple house

(Thanks for the good gear, Tim and Eric!)

(look familiar, Jules?)

(Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem doing songs from "Ranky Tanky"--a current fave)

(Julie, once we'd talked about it, it had to be done immediately!)

Bird cat toy: Lucy's project

Lucy (observing our cat, Eliot, at the window, birdwatching): "Cats like watching birds, just like I do! We should make a toy bird for the cats. And put that stuff that cats like in it."
me: "Catnip?"
Lucy: "Yes!"
me (rummaging around in the cabinet): "It looks like we don't have any catnip right now. I can put it on the grocery list."
Lucy: (going into the studio, and finding some colored cellophane): "We can use this."
me: "That would make a good sound inside the bird. I think the cats would like that."
me: "Can you draw what you want your bird to look like?"
Lucy:

(the drawing picked up a few stray squished water beads along the way)
I lay Lucy's drawing on the light box, with fabric on top, and traced her design. With her permission, I added a line to the beak (the line on the far right), to make it more triangular, explaining that it needed to be wider for us to be able to cut it out and sew it. I cut out two bird shapes, pinned them together, and showed her how to sew the edges together. She sewed some, I sewed some, and we passed it back and forth until it was mostly sewn together. We were careful not to sew the beak shut, as she wanted it to be able to open. A friend helped her cut the cellophane and stuff it in.

The finished bird (now with an eye she added after watching me trace her drawing:

Proud of her finished toy, Lucy offered it to Austen:

He showed his approval by rubbing it with his head.

Afterward, Lucy had second thoughts. She didn't want the cats to tear her bird, so she decided that instead, it could be a "band for cats" (as in, it makes music, so we can play it for them like a band). She offered me pots to clang together and paraded me through the house, crinkling the bird, a band for cats.

Lucy's alphabet

In the past few months, Lucy's begun noticing letters everywhere we go. Crossing a parking lot with freshly-painted lines, she excitedly calls out "there's an A for Mommy!" (Mommy's name is Andi), "an L for Lucy and Mama!" (Mama is me, Lise), "a T for Tim!", etc.

We began photographing her letters, thinking some day we'd make them into an alphabet book for her. Because we're keeping it completely Lucy-led (in other words, we don't go out on a letter-hunting walk, but just wait for her to show us another one), it might have been a very long time before all the photos were ready for the book.

But I've begun to learn a good trick of making things, especially handy for busy moms. Don't wait until you're ready. Do it now, or you may never do it. So last week, I grabbed a little photo album (not the perfect one for the project, just the one I had on hand), and put in the four photos we'd taken so far. On the other pages, I put in index cards, on which I'd written the letters for which we don't yet have photos. Now her book is ready to read now, when she's most excited about the project. Quick, easy, not as beautiful as the "perfect" book I might have imagined, but here and in use, unlike those "someday" perfect projects.

In (and out of) the studio: cutting practice

There's been a lot of cutting around here lately. (By all the kids, but let's dote on Lucy for a while, shall we?) Lucy, of course, has had scissors in her hand since she was able to reach them on the table, since there are big kids here leaving them about all the time. I learned a while ago to just go ahead and give the youngest toddlers scissor-safety lessons, which is much easier than trying to keep them away from them. But this week has seen a giant leap in scissor skills. Two days ago, Lucy fringed a piece of paper that she was holding herself (scissors in one hand, paper in the other, cutting little cuts into the paper all around all the sides)--so far, she'd asked for me to hold the paper while she did it. Then, yesterday, all of a sudden, she figured out how to turn her fringed paper a bit, make another cut, and make a snippet of paper fall off! What a thrill. She moved from there to cutting a piece of yarn into little snippets. A few minutes later, she'd opened-shut-opened-shut the scissors to cut a few inches across a page.

I am in awe of her persistence and focus and skill. I find myself with my jaw on the floor daily. Wow.

In the studio: beautiful stuff

Reading this post today inspired me to share some of our collection of "beautiful stuff" (known to some as junk; so called since reading the book of the same name).

(A closer look at some of the jars.)

Lucy, at work with some beautiful stuff.

Her finished "red monster."

Gifts, revealed: homemade books

In the wee hours of the night on Christmas Eve, I finally got to a present I'd been meaning to make Lucy for months now:

Remember her love for carousels? It has carried on for months, as she asks for the story of the carousel rides over and over, and often retells the story herself in her journal (more on that later).

So I finally used one of my favorite blank books to put together a simple book about her three first carousel rides. (No affiliation, just a fan.)

Handwritten and quickly assembled, it's not particularly beautiful. But it's definitely one of the most-requested books around here lately.

It's not the only handmade book she received this Christmas. We got a package of gifts from our dear friends in Boston, and one of them was an amazing little book from the 9-year-old in the family:

It's personalized in such a thoughtful way. From the bird characters, reflecting their shared passion, to the little white bonnet worn by the Lucy bird, to the names of the characters (Lucy's cats, her cousins...),

to the hammock Lucy bird sleeps in,

and the stuffed seagull toy--every detail is special to Lucy.

We were in awe of Sarah's creation, and took it to our extended family Christmas celebration to share with everyone.

(Gotta love the back cover! Sarah's written many books, and has her own imprint.)

Shadow dancing

With the changing light, the children have been noticing, exploring, and talking about shadows. Yesterday, Lucy danced with her shadow outside.

Forward.

Backward.

Forward.

With a friend.

Like an airplane.

With another friend.

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Changing station to bird-watching station

I've been wanting to set up a bird-watching station for Lucy ever since reading this post, but I didn't have the right spot. But when I dismantled the changing station we've had on our office window seat for the past year and a half, we suddenly had a perfect spot. As soon as we thought of it, we had to do it (excuse the horrible evening photos!). We made some pinecone birdfeeders and hung them in the bush right outside the window:

Come and get it, birds!

We gathered some bird books, and watched and waited for the birds to arrive.

They didn't come right away, so we contented ourselves with reading bird books. As Lucy looked at this book, she recognized something, and asked me to find it in this book:

Sure enough, two almost-identical pictures of a cedar waxwing.

And then, of course, we had to play around with the binoculars, just in case:

(Oh, and the hat? Andi made it; details here. Isn't it the cutest thing?)

Books for my bird-loving babe

Writing about books yesterday reminded me that I never gave you a closer peek into my recently-found treasures, as promised. Here's a start.

I have a bird-lover in the house. Lucy and I have spent tons of time watching our chickens, the turkeys at the farm, the sparrows outside the window by her potty, the crows in the compost bin. She can identify a "dee dee" (chickadee) by its song. She nightly asks for "story: birds" as I put her to sleep. So when I spotted this book at the book sale, naturally, I snatched it right up.

It wasn't until I brought it home and took a closer look that I recognized it. A few years back, I'd had it out of the library at the school where I then taught, renewed and renewed and renewed for a group of children who were interested in learning how to paint birds. We'd used its large, simple illustrations as models for many of our own paintings.

Lucy loves them, too. Most of the birds are ones we've seen, and it's become routine for us to discuss on each page "Mama know? Me know?" (In other words, do you know that bird, mama? Do I?) At the moment, we just look at the pictures, name the birds, and talk about our personal connections to each one. Later, we'll enjoy reading the text.

And then, I spotted this one. Oh, was I excited! Pretty much, if it's by Brian Wildsmith, it's going into my bag. But this had the added bonus of being about birds...

...and fascinating vocabulary. (It gives the language for groups of various birds, as in "A wedge of swans. A sedge of herons.") We love looking at the gorgeous illustrations, and repeating the intriguing words.

Lucy particularly enjoys this illustration of turkeys, which reminds her of those at "our" farm.


One of the things I love so much about vintage books is their beautiful, artistic illustrations. So many of today's books are super-realistic (photos) or condescendingly cutesy-cartoonish. Books like these respect children's intelligence while offering up artistic inspiration. Lucy and I can't get enough!

Let me know if you enjoy these reviews. If so, I'd love to share more of my finds with you.