Friday, December 28, 2012

Hey Ma, hear me roar!

Children have their own unique ways of commanding or getting their parents' attention (I'm speaking from my own experience raising a lil' diva at home) but surprisingly some don't. I observed this when I attended my girl friend's son's 1st Safari inspired birthday party. I absolutely L.O.V.E that safari concept...yeay, roar! party, party! Hehe.

Check out the cute invite..Now isn't this adorable?
OK, I intentionally added the cheetah-frame just to be in the mood. Hehe.

So this time round I'm not gonna speak about my lil' diva but about the birthday boy himself. He is a handsome young man, who doesn't fret much, very easy-going with anyone and does not complain a wince even when covered with a thick costume in our hot-and-humid-equatorial-weather. And when he smiles, them ladies (usually mommies because children they are more engrossed with many other things) will usually be the ones going all "awwwwww......look at his smile!!" (I am one living example. I'm sucha sucker for sweet and innocent smiling kids. They melt you right away I tell ya. Hehe). 

Anyway, he is affectionately called Achad and on his birthday he decided to be a tiger..And of course I was humbled when I received the honour to sew the tiger-costume for his birthday. I was all sweaty and nervous and anxious for a 1st time request like this...well I've never thought I'd be sewing a tiger costume...EVER! But his mommy assured me, "don't worry this, don't worry that.."..how can I NOT be worried, this is like a first for me..and it's for a birthday party, of course I wanted everything to be perfect for him. No one can deny the fact that there is a first to everything, but hey if we don't try we won't know, right... :)

Right, so let's get started...First and foremost is this..getting the exact and most comfy measurements...

Achad's own clothing in order for me to obtain his exact measurements..
A pair of jeans and hoodie

Next step is, picking the suitable colours...

A piece of colour sample to show to Achad's mommy..
Orange for the body and black for the stripes..CHECK!

Then, the tiger shall be skinned alive...hehe kidding! Getting the body patterns ready...

Let's see...a cute pair of ears, hoodie, arms sleeves, bodice and also the tail..
(I was imagining Tigger all the while with the bouncy tail...)


And then...

Oh look, the tiger has now earned its' stripes
Individually sewn black stripes and white patches for the tummy and ears area..


Now look, the end product...I'm proud to introduce my 1st custom made children's costume..

The Tiger Costume! 


It might not be the most perfect costume (I apologized a gazillion times to Achad's mommy for such an amateurish result... nonetheless I am so proud of my hard work :) )


Proud parents of Achad on his 1st Safari themed birthday..
See, even mommy was in the mood to be wild with the cheetah-printed top and pointy cat ears! 
And dad seemed to look like a safari-adventurer complete with the knee-grazing khakis..
I should give credit to these people for being almost the best-dressed besides their cutie-pie son..ehem..hahahahah...


Finally, even tigers need help lighting up the candles...
Why not, it's his birthday after all :) 


GO TIGER!
:)


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Toy story

Alveena has been really subtle these days. Really subtle. Perhaps she's trying to tell me that she's already bored with her already-massive collection of toys. But just look at their pathetic condition. I guess I should ask her to watch all the Toy Story movies just to let her know how they all really feel.(OK don't tell a soul that I'm sucha sissy coz I actually shed so many tears watching those movies..heheheh) I'm not sure if she's trying to tell me to get new toys for her, but then again whenever I turn around, I see her toy(s) everywhere!

 The displacement of the playpen already says it all


The baby cot now serves as a different purpose

Even during my heydays (suddenly I feel so ancient...sigh) we didn't have remote-controlled cars and motorcycles to drive us around in the living hall. (OK I don't think I was so deprived during my childhood days but don't you think this is getting a bit out of hand...?)

I truly feel like being in a garage

Of course the remote-controlled toys were bought by her grandparents - being the 1st born grandchild really has its perks I suppose, but she has to learn to play with the bugs and butterflies and dirt and sand and...(OK she should play with dolls actually...) as these build character. And perhaps I should smack myself in the forehead (or any other place) when I thought to myself, "OK let's get her something engaging and educational to play with" (as if she haven't had enough toys rite??)......

Anyway, check out what arrived in the post recently....

Looks intimidating at first..

...and when the packaged was unveiled....introducing multi-coloured building blocks made out of foam!

Yes, even this toy gave us a pageant look...side, top and front view respectively..

I got it from  my friend actually, who sells different kinds of educational toys for children. Being a mom herself, I guess she understood where I was coming from. (Phew, I'm glad I got an excuse to get Alveena another toy!) So as soon as I opened the package, she came running and begging me to take it all out.

The building blocks were singing "Build me up Buttercup" (err...geddit?)

Oh, glad u noticed that huge band pasted across her forehead, which was among the many reasons why my blogging was so so slow. Her fever was intermittently coming and going away as often as it liked so yeah, when in mommy-mode on, nothing else mattered of course. You actually get a whole lot sicker than your kid when they actually are. When in doubt, always, always, always go back to "Keep Calm for Mums"
(my saviour, anti-frantic-fretting-frenzy-insane-mommy-mode)..

OK, looks like a really good read..


Some of my favourites...Rule # 1!


Of course, who would deny this fact..


And the ultimate truth of all :)

Oh well, let's just go with the flow. Actually, I want so much to blame her teething but then again I was wrong when the doctor diagnosed her with bronchitis. OK, you know what, I don't wanna dwell too much about her sickly days, my point is I'm glad she is happy-go-lucky again now, even more so when she is happily building and bulldozing away those coloured blocks.

And you thought I didn't think my itchy hands wouldn't wanna make her something "in conjunction" with her officiating of a new toy? Anddddd of course I just couldn't let go (yet) the idea of my old scrap t-shirts lying around in my closet waiting to be disposed off..

Red, white and blue 
(Correct me if I'm wrong but somehow my 1st thought is Captain America's theme song during the 80's)

Hehehe....and presenting the end result.....the Multi-Colour Block Play Dress for a playdate with the colour-block toys..(I can't seem to let go the colour block idea can I? *with a smirk on my face*)

A fusion of the top part and bottom half..
Mini Muse : Alveena
Age : 1++ years old
Hairband : Mommy's elastic band
Highcut Shoes : All the way from the Union Jack birthplace
Pose: See mom, I'm getting better at my poses!


Hip, hip Hooray!

So finally, all my worries went away when I saw the smile on her face playing her toy(s).
And the smile on my face when I finished that dress. Hehehe.

Oh well, looks like another thing on my to-do list: The hunt for Toy Story Blue-Ray disc series. :)