Last month, I styled this craft story in the April issue of Parent & Child magazine. It was strange to style the story but have someone else work on the crafts. Of course I had to come home and make some of the ideas myself. Inspired by this mobile, I made a little banner for r's room, and have tucked a few of the felt feathers around the house. 

Idlewild just opened a store in our neighborhood selling the most amazing selection of foreign language books. E is dedicated to teaching r Spanish, so we've bought a few things for her there, but on our last visit, I just had to buy this one for myself. I love the colors and illustrations. I used to speak a little bit of French, but most of the names of these fruits and vegetables are lost on me, though I have to admit that they probably would be in English too. But, that doesn't stop us from enjoying it. 

Finally finished the body of the little spring sweater. Now on to the double pointeds for the sleeves. It still seems really big, but then again, so does little r.

 Busy. Playing with eggs. Making a mess.

Growing up, we had a Happy Birthday banner that my mom made for us out of construction paper, each letter cut out of a different color. On birthday mornings, we would come downstairs to find it hanging in the dining room. It was such a simple thing, but I realized how important it was to me when E suggested that we buy r a generic birthday banner for her party. No way! I had to make her one myself - it was family tradition. So, this is the banner that we will store away in a secret spot and pull out once a year on her special day from now until 2029 (what!?) Being the way I am, I decided to make it all a bit more complicated than the simple construction paper letters my mom made, but I think it's still in touch with it's humble roots.

Happy birthday little r. xoxo

All progress on the sweater (that postponed the needlepoint) was postponed this weekend in honor of little r's first birthday. We had a small party with a handful of friends. We had a great time, but only realized after that we hardly took any pictures at all. I guess that's the problem with hosting a party - you end up being very busy, hosting: pouring drinks, chatting, chasing after the babies. 

Little r got these new/used sneakers this week and I love to see them on her. They are her first pair of real shoes and I am amazed by how grown up she looks when she wears them. Somehow, real shoes take her out of babyhood and make her a real little person. She is turning one year old this weekend and I am really looking forward to it. I thought this milestone was going to bring on nostalgia and longing for the little baby I once had who has now grown so big (she wears shoes!), but really, I'm relieved. I loved caring for a little, little baby, but truthfully I found months 7-11 pretty hard. I'm glad to be out of them and excited for what's to come. Though - if my sister's experience can be any insight - I hear months 12-24 are no walk in the park either. . .

My mom makes the best banana bread. I think it's from her old Betty Crocker cookbook. It's moist and sweet. Really sweet. Whenever I make it, E insists on calling it banana cake instead of bread and will take his for dessert rather than breakfast. I decided to try a sugar free version to suite his palette and to make it baby friendly for little r. It could probably use a few minor tweaks, but mostly I think it's a pretty delicious alternative. 

Preheat the oven to 350.

Starting with soft butter, beat until creamy. Add the eggs and beat until mixed. Then add the banana and applesauce (you may want to add a little water here too). Add remaining ingredients. Beat until combined.

Cook in a small bread pan for 1 hour. 

Easy as cake.

 I tried to get a picture of little r eating her piece, but by the time I came back with the camera, this was all that was left. 

I stopped by my favorite local italian sweet shop yesterday. I'm not usually crazy about italian cookies - usually too dry for my taste, but they somehow do them right at Monteleone's. They also have a nice selection of marzipan fruits & vegetables, including corn on the cob. They just set up their huge selection of Easter cakes in the front of the store. I love the way these lambs look, but I wouldn't want to eat one. 

We've decided to take a spring trip to Puerto Rico! We haven't gotten very far in planning except that we know we want to go, and go soon. Neither E nor I have ever taken a full-on beach vacation and we're really looking forward to it. We think we'll spend a little bit of time in San Juan, but want to do most of the trip on the quieter island of Culebra.  The only prep I have really been able to accomplish so far is getting R a suit for the trip. Can you believe I found this at Old Navy on sale for $12.00!? Seriously people.

Have you ever been to Puerto Rico? Do you have any tips or recommendations?

The sweater for r is coming along. I had a minor set-back this weekend when I realized I had flubbed my seed stitch pattern about 6 rows too late, but still making good progress. I'm worried it might be a little big for her to wear this spring, but she'll grow into it eventually. Does that give me permission to further procrastinate my needlepoint with another sweater project for this year?

The pattern is modified from this one in Lovable Hand Knits, another used bookstore find. I love that big yellow duck. The styling in this book is really great. It's worthy of a post all it's own.

It could have been the gorgeous weather we had yesterday, but something has ignited a serious spring cleaning bug in me. Fabrics: folded, color coded and stored. Cabinet: filled to the brim but (mostly) organized. As you can see, I'm kind of obsessed with these plastic bins from Muji. I also love the wooden boxes from Ikea, but sadly I don't think they make them anymore. Good thing I got about 20 of them while they were around. 

Have you been hit with the spring cleaning bug?