Baby's First blue jeans

February art

We have a great view out our front window of the sun setting behind the hills over the Hudson River. In February the sunsets are particularly glorious (I'm not sure why exactly). One day will be deep turquoise and viridian green, and the next an unbelievable rainbow- violet, indigo, blue, green, then fiery yellow, orange, red, and magenta. 

Millie and I have been eating dinner early then setting up our watercolors on the table in anticipation of this nightly show. The thing is, you can't tell if it's going to be hidden by clouds or rain until the last minutes when the colors shoot up into the sky, so we have to move fast! When it starts we run to the window to watch, then back to the table to paint (we leave the curtain open and can see it from our chairs). Sometimes it's only 60 seconds before the colors shift and blend into new combinations, so we have to paint fast! It's a lot of excitement and SO much fun. Millie really looks up from her painting to keep checking the sunset, then continues to paint saying "wow... WOW". 

Here are some of our paintings:

Millie

Mama

Millie's Art Studio

Dear Friends and Family,

Millie and I are collecting interesting open-ended materials for our art projects, and we need your help!  We are looking for what we in the biz call “found objects”. These are items that might otherwise be recycled or discarded such as colorful bottle caps, textured packing material, broken jewelry, etc. In other words, things that you either already have around the house or are able to start collecting- we are not asking you to buy anything new from a store.

Here is a list I compiled to get your wheels turning about the possibilities:

1. Found Objects:

-interesting paper scraps: envelopes, junk mail, nature photos, cut up shopping bags, sandpaper, cardboard

- fabric scraps: wool, felt, corduroy, lace, velvet, leather, burlap, cotton (we already cleaned out Nana’s quilting supply!)

- wine corks

- yarn

- beads; jewelry that can be taken apart

- small wood scraps

- mosaic tiles

- buttons

- bottle caps, lids

- ribbon

- plexiglass

- Styrofoam trays

- small mirrors

- leftover/extra craft supplies (that you don’t plan to use again): colored tape, shaped paper-punchers, stickers, stamps, watercolor or other painting paper

2. Natural Objects:

- seed pods,

- dried/pressed leaves and flowers

- tree bark

- seashells

- smooth beach glass

- real feathers

- pebbles/stones

- pine cones

- roots; vines; twigs

- dried fruit peels

- pure beeswax (pellets, blocks, crayons)

Keep in mind that this will be process based art, so you don’t need to have any idea of what the end product will become (we won’t!).  Just think #1. Is it clean and safe? (No sharp edges, food stuck on etc), and #2. What interesting properties does it hold? Think: texture, color, shape and form, pattern.

Here are a few other things we are looking for that you may have lying around. And yes, you get Bonus Points for donating these to toddler land!

-       -small containers or dishes to store supplies (baskets, ceramic, wood, enamel, glass, stainless steel) - divided containers are a double bonus

-      - sponges

-       -nature/science tools: magnifying glasses, field guides, eye-droppers, small flashlight, binoculars, white or clear trays

Any amount of stuff you can collect, big or small, will be greatly appreciated. This is just the beginning of an ongoing adventure, so please feel free to send us stuff whenever you can! If you need our address just email me (helenjsansone@gmail.com).

We have some very exciting projects in the works, both for Millie and for the Mama-Teacher, so stay tuned!

Thank you in advance,

Millie, Helen, and Brady

xoxo

And now without further ado here is a tour of Millie's Art Studio... or as they say in Reggio Emilia: Mini Atelier :)
The layout:

 Left wall = easel with paints and block crayons (she's kneeling in the picture, we got the easel at a consignment sale for $7.50 and cut down the legs). On the top shelf are markers, colored pencils, tempera paint sticks, and oil pastels. Right wall = table and chairs:

Windowsill and shelf, top to bottom = paint brushes, glass jars for liquid watercolors, wooden caddy with various drawing materials, paper, homemade playdough (dyed with blueberry!) and tools, pan watercolors, paint/clean-up rags, various trays. The blue boxes to the left of the shelf hold jars of finger paints and tools for print-making:

Above: a couple of special decorations include the 3-d paper shapes rainbow mobile I made while pregnant (originally hung above her baby changing table), and the ceramic mouse that is part of a Beatrix Potter collection (a gift from Nana).

We hope you enjoyed the tour! Come back soon to see some of the artwork Millie has been creating, and our Big Plans for future projects.

Growing like a weed

A double ponytail and some new Tea Collection digs from Nana and Gaga. Just in time too- thank you! We are officially sizing up to 2Ts now after an entire YEAR in 18-24month clothing. Goodbye (adorable) chubby baby, hello beautiful girl :)

New phone!

Yo! Brady got me a fancy new iPhone 5S! Here is proof. I am posting this FROM THE PHONE. Can you believe that? I thought maybe now I'll just turn the blog into selfies and rambling. Is that cool?

ps: the baby refused to have her picture taken for this post because she's too busy putting a tiny blue dog to bed.

I've fallen and I can't get up

... and it's really funny!

So Many Mamas

This Millie Bea is a girl of few words. She has a good amount, but not nearly as many as her girlfriends do. Throughout the day she talks a lot in just "Mama"s, and let me tell you something... this girl has So Many Mamas! Here are a few of the major ones:

The first thing I hear when she wakes up is the "come get me" or the "I'm ready" Mama. It's a loud and drawn out call, but not urgent or anything. Just how I taught her to do it when she needs help. "Mamaaaa!"

Of course there's the whiney "Ma-ha-ma", most often heard when food is not happening fast enough. For example, immediately following first breakfasts, which is to tide her over while I'm preparing actual breakfast. This "Mama" is usually accompanied by a tugging at my leg, a pout of the lip, a stumbling backwards as if one is about to faint from upset-ness, or all of the above.

There's a particular "Mama" she uses to alert me to silliness. This "Mama" is said in a chuckling voice, with eyebrows raised. Like when her pretend animals have gotten themselves into a situation of humor- they've all piled into the wagon for a ride, one of them has been placed with the sleeping (real) cat, or perhaps Peter Rabbit has been drinking my tea again. She also uses this "Mama" when she sees a picture of a baby or animal, and when the pets are doing something cute.

Then there's the tattle "Mama", said in a high-pitched voice and accompanied by pointing- "Mama! Mama! Mama!" Mostly this is reserved for Sneaky Pete, when he's barking out the window or scratching the wall next to the door. This happens multiple times a day.

Her questioning "Mama?" is mostly used during play, meaning "Mama do you want to do this with me?", "... read this book", "... drink this pretend soup", etc. Also when she's telling me to do something, like take a sip of water, she'll do the questioning "Mama?" and a smile.

A slight variation on the "questioning Mama" is the proud "do you want to come see what I did?" Mama. This one happens a lot while I'm cooking dinner or doing anything in a separate room from her. It goes a little something like this:

Millie: (comes walking into the room with her hands folded on her belly) "Mama?"

Me: "Yes Millie?"

Millie: "Mama?" (smiling now, perhaps nodding her head yes)

Me: "Yes baby, what is it?"

Millie: "Mama?" (extending a hand towards whatever it is she wants to show me, like when a waiter seats you at a restaurant)

Of course I know what she's doing, but I can't resist having her go through the whole routine. Usually she's been organizing her belongings or putting blankets on her animals. Pending a positive reaction from the Mama, this scenario can go on repeating itself for quite a while and turns into a game of it's own.

At bedtime tonight I heard my favorite "Mama". One that doesn't happen every day like the others. It's a rare one, reserved for very intimate moments. Similar though to the other "Mama"s she uses, this one cannot be explained in a one-word translation. This is a magical one that is loaded with emotion- contentment, fulfillment, peacefulness, extreme joy... and then beyond that there is no word that exists to describe the feeling. We had such a wonderful day today, my girl and I. When it was time to snuggle down for sleep, I lied down facing her and placed my hand on her back. We wiggled towards each other until we were face-to-face. Then the sweet lamb put her hands on my cheeks and rubbed her nose and forehead against mine. She pulled back a little to see my eyes, but kept her hands on my cheeks. Then she sighed the coveted "Mama...", meaning "Here we are together, Mama. Don't we just love each other so much."

My baby. So many things I want to remember.