10 whole months

Evelynn turned 10 months old on Thursday. I've been busy helping raise nearly $25000 for St. Jude for the past few days though so this is a little late. 

10 months! I feel like I just got used to saying she was 8 months old. And now she's 10!? So let's see, what has happened since February...

Evie is just a babbling fool.  All day long... "mamamamamama da da ba pfffffftttt!"  And she will come to me and say "Ma Ma" but I'm not totally convinced she knows what she's talking about yet so we don't consider it her actual first word. 

She now has 6 teeth and two more top ones causing trouble on the way in. Those top teeth really seem to be killer for her.  Fortunately I can now see the little white dots so hopefully they'll be in soon and we can have happy baby back. 

At the end of February we traveled to Tulsa to visit Grammy and Grandpa Jay.  Evie's Great Nana and Great Grandpa joined us as well to celebrate birthdays. We had a fun time and Evie was pretty good during the day, but at night she was such a terror we vowed never to travel with her again until she's 9.  But, of course that didn't happen.  On March 12th my Grandmother passed away.  We drove to Texarkana to be with the family and attend the visitation and funeral.  Evie was again, an angel during the day, but a terror at night. In fact, at the hotel in Texarkana she woke up twice in the middle of the night and screamed so loudly we heard doors slamming closed as our neighbors changed rooms to escape the screaming demon child. It was an exhausting and emotional trip and we were all glad to be home. It's taken Evelynn about a week to recuperate and get back on our normal routine.  While we were down there Evie played with her cousins a LOT and unfortunately I think she may have picked up a slight cold. I have it too so I'm not surprised and it really is mild so I'm not concerned. But it is Evie's first cold. Little more than a stuffy/runny nose, no fever or cough, maybe an occasional sneeze. Nothing to be worried about. And it really doesn't seem to be bothering her at all except when I try to wipe her nose (and don't even come near her with that suction thingy!).  She's a bit clingy to me but I think that has more to do with her teeth than the sniffles. 

The big news..... She took her first steps!  On March 15th while we were at Nana and Grandpa's she sort of fell forwards to me and moved her feet to catch up with her head as she fell. By today she could actually take a string of 4-6 steps without falling over. Slowly and balanced and she even walked to Daddy too!  OMG are we ever in trouble now!  10 months and 3 days old and she's walking. Here I was considering dressing her in dresses every day (to slow down the speed of crawling) and that little stinker out smarted me again! My baby is becoming a toddler much too quickly. 

I keep forgetting to weigh her and measure her so I don't have a report on that but she's wearing size 4 shoes and 6-12 month size clothes.  She can even still fit in some of her 3-6 month dresses! Weird, huh?  We are looking forward to spring and playing outside. Evelynn loves spending time at the park. 

Sliding is particularly fun.  Toddler time is over for the month but will start back up again in April so we are excited about that too.  Easter is right around the corner and there is a city Easter Egg hunt this coming weekend.  We plan to take Evelynn.  I didn't think she'd be walking, but by the end of the week she may be running!  I still haven't found her an Easter dress. I've been holding off, not wanting to spend the money.

Evelynn's Daddy still hasn't found work. But he has had LOTS of interviews.  He's had 4 interviews already with a close to local (IE it's a long commute but we wouldn't have to move, at least not right away) company. Only one more interview in the process so....fingers crossed!  I'm hoping we hear something this week and if it's good news I'll buy her the little dress from Gymboree to celebrate.

Evelynn is trying all kinds of new foods. In general she seems to like what Mommy and Daddy are having better than what she is having so we're trying to make recipes that are baby friendly.  She tried Tilapia this week and really liked it. She's also enjoying plain yogurt and cottage cheese on a fairly regular basis. 

Her sleep schedule has been thrown off by all the traveling and the teeth but she usually gets ready for bed at 7:00 and falls asleep by 8:15. She still will not go to sleep on her own and must be rocked.  She sleeps through the night most nights.  But occasionally she wakes up and stands up in bed. At those times one of us has to get up and get her back to sleep either by rocking her or laying her back down in her bed and rubbing her tummy until she falls back to sleep.  Just ignoring it, appearing at the door, patting her head, or all those other things the Baby Whisperer suggests just result in full on rage screaming and prolonged sleeplessness for the whole family. 

Favorite toys this month are BOOKS! YES!!  Her favorites are her Baby Einstein musical book (Thanks Melanie!) and her "Little Hands Love" book (Thanks Kristin!) "Little Hands Love" is almost always one of her bedtime stories and she has her favorite pages that she turns to over and over again and kisses. She also likes books with photographs of babies in them. She kisses the babies too. And the Kitties... not kitties in books, the actual cats. She's constantly trying to give them big, wet, drool covered, open mouthed kisses. They do not like this. Neither do I as pulling cat hair out of my infant's mouth is not one of the most enjoyable experiences for either of us. 

She gives "Eskimo" kisses (rubs her nose with yours) and has invented a little bit of her own sign language. In addition to clapping when she's proud of herself she now tells us she's "All Done" by brushing her hands together in a vertical way.  She will also shake her head "no".  She thinks that is pretty fun. If you nod your head "yes" in response she thinks that is HILARIOUS and will giggle loudly.  It seems I also make some pretty funny faces too, even when I'm not trying, as she often just looks at me and explodes with laughter. I have a very happy baby most of the time. 

Better Out Than In...

9 whole months!  Evelynn has now been outside longer than she was in and just keeps on growing even though we keep telling her to stop or at least slow down a little. She doesn't have to go to the doctor for a well exam until her first birthday so all our measurements are purely unscientific. But according to our scale she weighs in at 20 pounds and is 28.5 inches tall.  That's the 75th and 87th percentiles respectively.  She now has 5 teeth, two on the top and 3 on the bottom. She can crawl with the best of them; she cruises around holding on to the furniture with ease and can even stand unsupported for as long as she wants. She can walk holding on to your fingers. She can even do it one handed, although she usually fusses and prefers two hands. She can clap, usually discriminately and she can understand a few things we say.

She knows "No" and the different tones of voice it comes in. If you use the very serious tone she usually stops immediately and looks at you. Then she does it again. And, while everyone tells me she's too young for time out, I believe she's not too young to start learning boundaries. We've had an issue lately when she decided that my mohogany end tables were chew toys. Despite being told no, moved away and prevented from biting them she repeatedly did it anyway. So, I decided she needed a baby sized time out. I told her "No", moved her away from the table and then held her in the corner facing the wall and counted to 10.  Then I hugged her, explained that she had to go to time out because she chewed the table when I told her not to, told her I still loved her and took her to her toys to play. We had to do it several times and occasionally she was enjoying herself after 10 seconds so we stayed 20.  And, you know what?  She hasn't done it for the past few days! Is it because of the time outs? Is it because the 5th tooth came in? We don't know, but I still contend 10-20 seconds of time out won't hurt her and maybe, just maybe, she's catching on. She's a smart cookie after all.

Speaking of cookies, Evie loves them.  We try really hard not to give her anything with added sugar, high fructose corn syrup or salt but on rare occasions she's had a taste or two. Her diet currently is: Fruit, Cereal and plain yogurt mixed together for breakfast, Meat and veggies for lunch with fruit if she is still hungry, Meat and veggies for dinner with fruit if she's still hungry and if she finishes all that she can have one organic cinnamon graham cookie to chew on.  Evelynn enjoys snacks of rice puffies, Cheerios and because I was hoping to get her to feed herself a little more baby Cheetos.  The rice puffies are so small that she can pick them up but then doesn't realize she has to let go when she puts them in her mouth. The Cheetos are big enough that she can hold on to them and still chew on them. She still refuses most things I cook for her, preferring jars of yuck. But she will eat rice, roasted veggies, edamame, spinach/potato soup, yogurt and cottage cheese. I've heard so many people with babies that can't have dairy I was a bit scared to give it to her. But all my reading said at 9 months she could start to have some cheese and yogurt, so we started small. She loved the yogurt and I think the probiotics in it really helped her. Since she started eating it most days we've had a significant reduction in spit up. Score!  In addition to her solid (ish) meals, Evelynn also has breastmilk and formula about 4 times per day.

Evelynn is generally a very happy baby but she does get separation anxiety, although that is getting better. It usually flares up when she's tired. She also has a little bit of stranger anxiety, so visitors shouldn't take it personally. It usually takes her about 30 minutes to an hour to really warm up to someone new or that she hasn't seen in a while.

She's very independent and we can sit her in the floor with her toys and she will play with them for a long time by herself whether you are sitting there or not. Of course she LOVES to play with Mommy and Daddy. Physical games like "riding the horsey" (bouncing on your foot or knee), jumping on the bed, "flying", peek-a-boo and tickles are her favorites.  She's very curious and loves to explore the house. The kitchen and laundry rooms are now gated off and the doors to the bedrooms and guest bathroom stay closed almost all the time now. She is particularly enchanted with the fireplace. It's a good thing it doesn't open because she loves to stand by it and bang on the glass with her hand or a toy. Her favorite toys right now are her ball popper, silly town and her laugh and learn house. But she still plays with her Exersaucer (we've converted it into a play table) and stuffed animals of all kinds, though Christmas Dolly remains a favorite. While she's never been big on pacifiers she does enjoy chewing on them so they are scattered around the house.  Since she is the only child in the family we've started taking her to Toddler Time at least once a week. There she gets to play with other children around her age and older. She has a couple little friends and they share toys nicely.  But it usually takes some time for Evelynn to get accustomed to her surroundings and interact with others. She is still pretty independent and is fine playing by herself if none of the other kids come up to her. She seems to look at them with the same curiosity she shows the cats. She even tried to pet one little boy's hair.

Speaking of the cats, She LOVES them.  When she catches sight of one of the kitties she lets out a squeal of delight (to the kitties I think it evokes terror).  Trevi usually just runs away but Anna seems to enjoy the attention to a point. Evelynn will start out patting Anna but invariably starts to hit and pull out fistfuls of fur. Anna meows and turns but rarely runs away, not that she could get very far with Evie holding her tail. She has nipped at Evelynn once or twice and scared her but didn't break the skin and Evelynn didn't learn her lesson and went right back to pulling fur so we figure, she wasn't hurt and she'll learn eventually.

In addition to the teething challenges, lately the kid who HATED to be on her tummy for her first 5 months of life, now HATES to be on her back.  Changing a diaper on a kid who's only goal is to roll over and stand up is not easy and has taken both of us on more than on occasion. We were having trouble getting her to bed at night but we seem to have mitigated that by changing our routine. I dropped her evening nap and started keeping her up 3-4 hours between naps a few weeks ago. That helped considerably. Then we started watching the clock and making sure dinner and bedtime were at the same time every night. Dinner at 5:30 then at 7:00 Bath, Jammies, Story, Milk and she's been in bed asleep by 8:00 almost every night - even when my mom came to visit and put her to bed while we went to the movies. She seems to have gotten over the waking up and standing up in bed in the middle of the night thing and is back to sleeping through the night almost every night. Asleep by 8:00PM usually means awake around 7:00AM and that's fine by me.

We still don't have any real words. She babbles a lot but usually the same sounds over and over. We hear a lot of "Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah" and "EEEEEEEEE!!".  We are still working on sign language but Evelynn has yet to do a sign beyond clapping.

The next milestones we are on the lookout for are: Waving Bye-bye, Walking, and her first word.

We had Evelynn's 9 month portraits taken last week and they are WONDERFUL as usual. Hopefully the studio will have a slideshow up some time in the next week so I can share those pictures too.

Recipies I love: Turkey Meatloaf

It all started with Giada De Laurentiis.  Let me be clear. I HATE meatloaf. Ick. That yucky brown sugar/ketchup topping makes me gag. But one day, a few months ago, I was watching Giada make a turkey meatloaf that actually looked appetizing. Find it here.  I made it and Low and Behold- Yummy!  But, sun dried tomatoes are expensive, it contained too many ingredients that I always forget to buy and I felt it was missing something, so I tweaked and tweaked and finally came up with something we think is pretty darn good.  And it's all things I almost always have on hand.

Amy's Turkey Meatloaf (Copywrite 2010. Please don't duplicate, copy or publish without my consent.)

• Olive Oil cooking spray
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 package Frozen Spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 large sweet white onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 package crumbled feta cheese or substitute 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesean
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Dash poultry seasoning
• 1 pound ground turkey

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Spray a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  I use this one. Place on an old cookie sheet to catch any overflow.

In a large bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, onion, spinach, eggs, milk, cheese, salt, and spices. Add the turkey and gently stir to combine, being careful not to overwork the meat.

Carefully pack the meat mixture into the prepared pan and bake until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.  It is supposed to take about 45 minutes but mine almost always takes an hour or more. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. 

We like it served with roasted veggies and rice pilaf in the winter. Caprese Salad (Tomato, Fresh Mozz. and Fresh Basil with olive oil, salt and pepper) in the summer.

8 Months Old

Evelynn is 8 months old today.  What a silly little girl she is.  When she's not hungry or sleepy she is constantly smiling and exploring. Which, of course, is keeping us on our toes now that she has this crawling thing figured out. We took her to Toddler Time, a free gathering at the community center for kids birth-4 years put on by the city Parks and Recreation. We went on Thursday and, although she didn't seem to notice the other kids much, she certainly mastered crawling after watching a 9 month old there pretty much do laps around the room.  When she realized she could crawl out of the living room and down the hall Hubs and I exchanged worried looks and I frantically ran around putting plugs in all our wall outlets. I'm sensing baby gates in our future as I'm sure the cat food is getting more and more interesting.

We took Little Miss to the doctor today for shots and check up.  She got her polio vaccine and that was the only time she cried. She weighed in at 19lbs 4 oz.  That's less than last month if you're keeping track but she was weighed fully clothed last month and nekkid this month so nothing to worry about. According to the doc, this is the only one that counts anyway, last month was unofficial. That's the 76th percentile.  She was 28 inches long which is the 90th percentile.

The doctor was pleased with her crawling and pulling up and impressed by her walking holding my hands-a milestone she's not due to reach until she's 1 year old.  He said she looked very healthy and well adjusted and he even complimented us on how clean her ears were. I know you were wondering. No sign of any ear infections at all. 

She is about to cut her first top tooth. I say it could be any day now. Mike thinks it will be on Friday because that's when Grammy is coming to visit.

We talked about the foods Evelynn eats and the doctor commended us on the good nutrition she is receiving. We didn't tell him how much she likes ice cream... :) He did say she should start eating meats and veggies twice a day and cereal and fruit once a day. That's just an extra serving of veggies and meat each day from what she gets now. And she is still getting both breast milk and formula for most of her nutrients.  She'll continue having breast milk as long as I can provide at least a little bit and formula until she's 1 year.

She's not due to see the doctor again until May unless she gets sick. It kind of makes me sad. I love the piece of mind of seeing the Doc each month and getting her weighed on a scale her size (and one that I don't have to get on with her! There's a scary thought.)

As I type she's waking up from her nap. "Ooo Ooooo! Ooooo! Ooooo! Ahhh! " is coming from her bedroom. If I open the door I'm pretty sure I will find her standing up in bed and bouncing with a grin. 

Evie's Christmas/New Years Adventures and Milestones

Evie is nearly 8 months old now and time is going by way too fast for her Mommy and Daddy.  The past month has just been a whirlwind of travel, events and milestones.

On her 7 month birthday we took her to visit Santa Claus.  As you can see, she wasn't all that thrilled with him. But she didn't cry and I think she may have whispered her Christmas wishes to him while she tried to remove his beard.  She was much happier a little while later after a snack and much adoration down at the Mall Deli.

On Christmas Eve we traveled to Tulsa to visit Grammy. We made it there just as the rain was starting to freeze.  And a giant snow storm followed. Not only did we have a white Christmas, but Evie got to see her first snow as well.

Christmas Eve with Mommy and Daddy and her favorite Dolly.

 

Christmas Morning, playing with Dolly and showing off my two front teeth... it's all I wanted for Christmas. :)

 

Checking out this snow stuff with Mommy... Meh. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

 

Playing with my new toys.

After Christmas we came home for a few days. Evie got her second tooth just a few days before Christmas so we had a blissfully, teething free holiday. It was grand. She's growing like crazy and I spent much of the time we were home cleaning out her closet and sorting through the too small clothes.  The rest of my time was spent making hats.

 

My camera broke on Christmas day so I have been using our camcorder for stills... As you can see, the quality is not great. But Cozy Baby is going really well. I have yet to have a lull in orders so I can't complain. I really enjoy making the hats and it helps me feel like I'm doing something about our current situation.

Anyway, we spent New Years Eve at home with Evie. She must have known it was a special night because we couldn't get her to fall asleep until 11:55PM.  Then we cracked open a bottle of wine and watched the ball drop.  New Years Day we had our annual blackeyed peas and boardgames tradition with the Fosters. This year it was Scattergories and it fortunately it was uneventful.  No one passed out or did any risque charades this year! :) But as always we had a great time with our dear friends. Evie even behaved herself and joined in the fun, helping her God Father, Rick, as much as she could.

A few days after New Years it was time to pack up the whole house again and hit the road. We went to Little Rock this time for 2 more Christmases and a visit with some wonderful friends.

By her 3rd Christmas she'd finally gotten the hang of this tearing paper thing.

 

Modeling yet another hat for me.

 

Hanging out with Aunt Shelley and her friend Jon

We were busy bees in Little Rock. We spent Thursday shopping with my Nana, Aunt and cousins. We shopped 'till we dropped and had to spend Friday getting back on Schedule. But Mike and I were able to meet up with friends for dinner that night. I think that makes 5 date nights in nearly 8 months.  Saturday we met up with my dad and had Christmas, lunch and then went to the car show.  Our friends from Kansas City built an awesome car that was being shown.

'69 Dodge Charger built by Jason Rock of Rock's Rod and Customs

We were really excited to see the Charger in person after hearing about it for so many months. It's won awards all over the country and is one of the top 5 cars this year.  Mike spent Thursday helping set up the display. While the boys enjoyed the car show the girls went up to the hotel room to hang out for a little while and eventually do some shopping. Later that night we said good-bye to our friends and went over to Dad's to relax and watch movies.  And on Sunday we were on the go again. 

Dad picked us up around Noon Sunday and we went to visit my Grandmother in Texarkana. Then we stopped to visit with my Aunt and Uncle and Dad's cousins. It was really great to see them all again and introduce Evie to Dad's cousins.  We had dinner with Aunt Jean and Uncle Buddy but then had to head back.  Evie was just wonderful the whole time even though she spent over 4 hours in the car that day.

Sadly on Monday it was time to pack up and drive home.  We called the Rock's and even though they'd left much earlier than we had, we managed to catch up with them in Fayetteville, and we all stopped for lunch together. Evie slept almost the whole way home but when we got here she was so glad to be back.

Over our trip we had a rollercoaster of a time with Mike's job situation. We found out he did not get the job we were really holding out hope for. But the very next day two different recruiters called and one of them had set up an interview.  Fingers crossed! This one would mean we wouldn't have to move! So after we got home he had much preparing to do and I had much to do around the house.

We got the tree down yesterday out of pure necessity. See, Evie had been perfecting this whole crawling thing over our trip and when we got home she really started to boogie.

 

Are we in for it, or WHAT?!

She must have just been itching to get home so she could concentrate on growing up too fast.  This child has always liked to be on her feet and has been able to pull up for months now IF you put her in a seated position near something she could get her hands around. We preemptively lowered her crib mattress a few weeks ago just to be safe. And it's a good thing we did!  The day before we left she discovered that by getting up on all 4s she could sort of fall on to her bottom and sit up by herself. We knew this would not be good for us. If she could get herself in a seated position she can pull herself up.  So the day I knew was coming finally came yesterday.  When I went in after her morning nap I found her like this: 

She was so proud of herself. 

Of course she would start pulling up on the end of the bed, not where I placed the rail cover.  Wiley little thing!  We got home Monday evening.  It's now Wednesday morning. Since we've been home she has perfected crawling, sitting, pulling up on her own and has started cruising!  Can she please just slow down a little bit?!  Now you know why we had to get the tree down ASAP.  And we're frantically trying to remember where we put those cabinet locks we pulled off when we moved in to our house 2.5 years ago. And where, oh WHERE did I put those outlet covers?  And if anyone needs an idea for a Valentine's present, baby gates would be fantastic.  

 

Can you believe this was less than 8 months ago? 

 

Owl hat Pattern

I created this pattern myself and have never written it down so hopefully this will make sense.  I'm providing it Free of charge, sort of as a Christmas present to you! :) Please use this only for personal use as hat sales are currently my family's only source of income. If you are interested in purchasing a hat you can leave a comment here with your e-mail, contact me through Cozy Baby on Facebook or visit my Etsy Store.

Yarns:  Bernat Satin Solids- Mocha; Bernat Softee Baby- Whtie; Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny- Sage; Naturally Merino wool Blend- Rose

Needles: US size 10, US size 3,  size D crochet hook

Tapestry Needle

Stitches: Stockingette, Seed, Single Crochet, Chain

Abbreviations: K= Knit, P=Purl, K2tog= Knit 2 together, P2tog= Purl 2 together

Hat :

Using size 10 needles and Bernat Satin Solids- Mocha, cast on 72 stitches using long tail cast on.  Leave long enough tail to stitch up seam.

Row 1: K

Row 2: K

Row 3: P

Rows 4-27: Continue stockingette stitch evenly

Row 28: *K10, K2tog repeat from*

Row 29: *P2tog, P9 repeat from *

Row 30: *K8, K2tog repeat from *

Continue decreasing in the above manner reducing the number of stitches between the 2tog with each row until you have 3 stitches remaining.  Cut yarn and thread through loops.

Place right sides together and use small crochet hook to stitch up the seam with slip stitches.  This ensures a strong covered seam with even stitches.

Ears:  (make 2)

Using size 3 needles and Bernat Satin Solids- Mocha cast on 12 stitches using long tail cast on. Leave enough tail to sew ears to hat.

Row 1: seed stitch (K1, P1) evenly

Row 2: seed stitch evenly

Row 3: K1, K2tog, seed stitch 6, k2tog, k1

row 4: P10

row 5: k1, k2tog, seed stitch 4, k2tog, k1

row 6: p8

row 7: k1, k2tog, seed stitch 2, k2tog, k1

row 8: p 6

row 9: k1, k2tog, k2tog, k1

row 10: k1, k2tog, k1

row 11: k1, k2tog

row 12: k2tog

cut thread and pull through remaining loop. Weave in end.

Wings:  (make 2)

Using size 10 needles and Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny- Sage cast on 24 stitches using long tail cast on. Leave tail long enough to sew wings to hat.

Row 1: K evenly

Row 2: P evenly

Row 3: K1, K2tog, K18, K2tog, K1

Row 3: P 22

Row 4: K1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 5: p 20

row 6: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 7: p18

row 8: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 9: p16

row 10: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 11: p 14

row 12: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 13: p12

row 14: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 15: p 10

row 16: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 17: p 8

row 18: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 19: p 6

row 20: K1, k2tog, k2tog, k1

row 21: k1, k2tog, k1

row 22: k1, k2tog

row 23; k2tog

Cut yarn and pull through remaining loop. Weave in end.

Earflaps: make 2

Follow directions for Wings up through Row 20

Row 21: p even

Row 22: k1, k2tog, k1

row 23: p even

row 24: k1 k2tog

row 25: p even

row 26: k2tog

Cut yarn and pull through remaining loop. Make sure to cut it about 6 inches long to use to make ties.

Eyes Make 2

Using small crochet hook and Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny- sage

Chain 2

6 SC in second chain from the hook do not join rounds

row 2: 2 SC in each stitch (12 stitches)

row 3: 2 SC in each stitch (24 stitches)

row 4: 2 SC in each stitch (48 stitches)

Join with slip stitch and cut yarn leaving tail long enough to stitch eye to hat.

Using small crochet hook and Bernat Softee Baby - White

Chain 2

6 SC in second chain from the hook do not join rounds

row 2: 2 SC in each stitch (12 stitches)

row 3: 2 SC in each stitch (24 stitches)

Using small crochet hook and Bernat Satin solids- Mocha

make slip knot remove from hook and hold on wrong side of the white circle you just created.

Insert hook through holes created between rows 2 and 3 of white circle and pick up slip knot, draw through.

Insert hook in center of white circle and draw up a loop.

Slip stitch into slip knot.

*slip stitch into next space between rows 2 and 3

Insert hook in center of white circle and draw up a loop, slip stitch

Repeat from * You should have 12 loops total

Slip stitch in first slip knot when you have gone all the way around.  Cut yarn and pull through.  Then Pull back to wrong side to secure final stitch.

Using tail from white circle, pull up a small loop through the brown layer to create the twinkle.  Insert hook back through brown and white layers to pull up another loop. Slip stitch. Pull yarn through and then back to wrong side to secure.

Center white/brown circle with right side up on right side of sage circle. Use white tail to slip stitch between outer stitches of white circle and space between rows 3 and 4 of sage circle (24 stitches)

Join with slip stitch and pull yarn through to wrong side of sage circle to secure.

Assembly:

Fold hat in half with seam on the side.  Center earflap.  Use cast on tail to slip stitch earflap to bottom row of hat on the inside. Weave in ends. Repeat on other side making sure to align earflaps.

Place wing atop ear flap with right sides facing. Using cast on tail attach bottom of wing with slip stitches to bottom of hat. Fold wing up and slip stitch to right side of hat. Repeat for second wing.

Center eyes on front of hat.  Using cast on tail from sage circle slip stitch to hat.

Using cast on tail and tapestry needle sew ears to top.

Nose:

Using size 3 needles and Rose Merino wool, pick up 4 stitches in center of hat.

Row 1: K

row 2: P

Row 3: K1, k2tog, K1

Row 4: K1, k2tog,

Row 5: K2 tog

Pull Yarn through remaining loop and weave in ends.

Ties:

Cut a piece of sage yarn approximately 12 inches long. Thread half way through last loop of ear flap so you have 3 pieces of yarn to work with.  Braid yarn. Tie off at end leaving strings no longer than 6 inches. Repeat for second side.

Evelynn's 6 month portraits!

Bishop's Studio does an AMAZING job. Call 800-842-1155 to book a session with them.  I'm so thrilled to share these beautiful pictures with you.