Emma and Alexander's Christening

It was my niece and nephew's Christening last weekend. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, Gareth wasn't able to attend so Rowan and I went up to my sister's with my parents on Saturday.  Rowan was excited about visiting his cousins, and recited their names to us on the journey.  Tom, Lily and Emma are all very good with Rowan, and they had great fun playing together. We were able to stay for a few days and it was nice being able to spend a decent chunk of time with my family.

 I love this photo of my Dad with 2 of

his grandsons. It was taken with my 

mobile so it isn't the best quality. Sometimes

capturing a moment is more important

than the final aesthetic

On Sunday, we all got ready for the Christening and drove the hour to the church (Rowan took a quick catnap and woke up on hearing the word 'cake.' Uncanny).
It was a friendly service, and the vicar was very relaxed.  He involved the children in the service wherever possible, and was quite happy for them to run around the church - if you've ever tried to keep a young child sat still when there's an array of tempting (and fragile) decorations around, you'll appreciate how thankful the parents were to hear this!

I was one of the godparents so didn't get an opportunity to take any photos of the service itself. Emma was also a little shy and didn't want her photo taken so there are no pictures of her here. It's a shame as she was very enchanting in her dress. However, Alex was unable to voice any such protest...

Paula and baby Alex

Mark, Paula and Alex

The friendly vicar. This picture makes him

a little imposing, but he was very relaxed

After the Christening, we went to a local carvery for lunch.  Rowan was somewhat tired at this point (he never sleeps that well when away from home unless I'm in the room with him - thank goodness for the Kindle paperwhite, or those early nights would have felt very long!) and I struggled to cajole good behaviour from him. In these situations you do tend to reach a point of 'bugger it' and just let things slide. As long as he wasn't hitting etc., I admit I wasn't exactly trying to establish good table manners.
We survived lunch, and then traveled to Paula's in-laws for the evening. They are a very welcoming family, and I felt relaxed with them. Rowan was happily zooming around their house (with permission, I should add), and was delighted when he located the mop (for some reason Rowan loves anything related to cleaning).  Along with a sit-on car, this became his toy of choice till we returned to Paula's house.

Alex car jacking in his finery

Christening cake

More cake. Because... cake

Paula and Alex

Cheeky face!

Keeping an eye on his mum's whereabouts

We spent all of Monday and Tuesday morning catching up, and then my parents drove us home. It takes 3 hours to drive to my sister's, and they went back the same day - 6 hours of driving just to take me home; crazy (but kind) people!  I had an excellent few days spending time with family. Rowan was generally well behaved. I think sometimes I forget he is only 2 years old, and expect too much from him.

Driving home

Rowan catching up on his reading

Project #4

I made a long bib for Rowan completely upcycled from items languishing in my remnants pile. It might not be the most coordinated accessory, but it's perfectly functional!

Pleased with his new bib

I cut an old hand towel in half and trimmed off the patterned ends. Using one half of the towel, I double-folded the raw edges and sewed them closed. 
For the ribbed collar, I cut the collar out from an old T-shirt of Gareth's.  I then used it as a template to mark the neck hole in the towel and cut out a circle.  I pinned the collar to the towel and sewed it to the towel and finished it with a zigzag stitch along the raw edge (if I knew how to use my overlocker I could have omitted the zigzag step).

Super simple towel-bib

This was a really easy project that took less than half an hour to throw together.  You could easily make a couple of these during nap times (if your children still nap).
I still need to trim the seams around the collar, but Rowan was so thrilled with his new bib he refused to take it off when I tried it on him to test for fit. He wore it like a superhero cape!

I like the length of this towel-bib. I find a lot of the commercially bought bibs are just too short for a 2 year old.  I'm looking forward to making a second bib with the remaining half of the towel once I have access to another collar - Gareth may need to keep an eye on his T-shirts...

Project #3

My third project of the year was a peg bag made for my Mother-in-law.  I had some remnants from a blue flowery skirt I made last year.  I thought the fabric lent itself well to a summery peg bag, with the addition of some yellow bias binding and buttons.
Overall, it's functional but a bit tight around the coat hanger - I miscalculated and didn't allow enough seam allowance.  If I was keeping it myself I'd just live with it, but as it is a gift I want to make another one to replace it eventually.  My bias binding stitching is also a bit laughable, but you learn with every project. The tutorial I followed said to stitch the bias binding in place once the bag was complete.  This was incredibly fiddly in such a confined space so next time I will stitch it in place before sewing the front and back together.  Luckily a couple of decorative buttons concealed a few shabby ends!

Pancake day

I think Rowan likes the idea of pancakes more than the taste.  He gets excited about making them, and choosing the fillings but he usually ends up dissecting them to access the filling, abandoning the actual pancake.  For Rowan, pancakes are a warm, floppy plate for holding the tasty main event.

This year, we made savoury cheese pancakes followed by lemon and sugar pancakes (Rowan has a surprising fondness for the tart taste of lemon).

I should probably point out the cut on Rowan's lip in the photos.  He fell face-first off his bike at nursery a couple of days earlier and is now sporting an impressive cut and swelling.

Ready to make some pancakes

The serious business of dissecting pancakes

Because one plate of pancakes is 

never enough 

Coated in refined sugar - I can already hear the

self-righteous netmum zealots!

Fiscal responsibility

Rowan has started saving early.  One day he'll be able to emulate Scrooge Mcduck's money dive (as long as the coins are really, really soft, otherwise he'll just have concussion).

Aunty Nat

I met my best friend, Nat, whilst studying zoology at the University of Aberdeen. After graduating, I headed South and she further North.  Throw in work commitments for us both, and one of us starting a family, and we rarely get to catch up in person.  Nat visited us when Rowan was 8 weeks old, and again when he was 6 months old (yes, Nat has made all the effort in visiting - guilty much?)
This month, Nat had a course to attend down South, so she took the opportunity to drop in for a couple of nights.  I was surprised when I realised it's been 18 months since we last met up, so I was happy that we could catch up.  Despite the irregularity of our meetings, it's never weird or awkward. Somehow, Nat always manages to visit when I need a reality check, or general kick up the arse!  She's such a positive and genuine person you can't help but be at ease in her company.

Being a trio of scientists (well, one active and two relapsed) we decided to take Rowan to At-Bristol on the Sunday.  There was a lot to see there and fortunately lots of interactive exhibitions for Rowan to explore.  I do think he was a tad on the young side to fully appreciate all that was presented to him, but he had fun throwing the plastic femers, ribs and ulnas for the other children to fetch.
He was over-tired, over-excited and coming down with a cold so it proved a challenge in herding him through the displays.

Rowan thought this was a giant hairdryer.

The globe next to Gareth's head is being kept

aloft by the 'hairdryer' 

This is an aeroplane wheel. Huge!

More exhibitions

Rowan's favourite was the large water tank with dams

(and rubber ducks). Lucky he didn't dive right in.

In the afternoon Rowan's let us play with his train set till he went to bed.  Surprisingly, he even let Nat attend his bath, and asked her to read him a bedtime story.  This is highly unusual as he gets upset even if his own dad tries to do this at times.

Aunty Nat!

Partaking in Etch-a-sketch with friends

A tussle over the elephant doodle pen

Rowan enjoyed watching us build the tracks. Then he would sit on

them and laugh when the train crashed into him 

Aunty Nat was clearly a hit.  After I picked Rowan up from nursery the next day he asked for Nat. I told him she had gone back home to Scotland. He paused for a moment, then without any prompting said "move there."
It was great to see Nat again, and I'm hoping not to leave it so long next time.  It's definitely my turn to make the effort.

And Tangent? He liked having the toddler's attention diverted

away from him for a few hours.