Still working on catching up. This was another shirred dress I made for Isabelle while Alan was on vacation. I made it right after the blue one. They are both dress o from 4579110544 again. They were very very easy to make, just rectangles of fabric basically. It was simple cutting with a rotary cutter. No pattern at all. I think it could be done without the exact directions in the book which of course is how I made them since I can’t read Japanese.

As I said before the shirring didn’t work out exactly as I expected. I thought it would tighten right as I was sewing but it didn’t. It only tightened up a little, so little that it actually could have worked as a top for me if I had added a few more shirred lines! I ended up gathering it myself like when you gather with thread. That’s not such a bad thing because now I can make myself a top and just pull it as tight as I need.

And amazingly Isabelle didn’t complain right away when I put it on her for pictures. Oh wait. I bribed her with some food. That’s right. As soon as the last bit of food was in her mouth she started tugging at the dress.

And on a completely different subject. We tried Gymboree! We went when Alan was on vacation. I liked it, I think. I say think because maybe I liked it because Isabelle was sliding on soft matted areas and soft slides. I have this fear of her sliding. Or I should say WE have this fear. Have I mentioned that before? We worry that when she’s sliding she’ll fall back and hit her head. I think I had a post all written up before about it and just never posted it because it makes us seem totally overprotective and paranoid which we are so why hide it now? I actually called my sister asking about when Ebow started to slide and we had this whole conversation about it because, as I said, I’m paranoid. Ok we’re not really that crazy paranoid but about the slides…yeah just a little worried. I’m sure once she starts falling back she’ll just sit right back up. I mean she does know how to balance.

So anyhoo back to what I was saying before I went off on the how weird we are tangent. Gymboree. Inside play. No sun to burn our fair skin. No bugs. And when it’s warm out or I should say freaking hot out is there air conditioning? I don’t know but how cool would that be? We’re going to try it out for a month. I don’t know about the class itself. It’s something right out of a movie. So not us. But I’m willing to try it and see how it goes.

Whenever I think about how overprotective we can be, futuregirl’s comment comes to mind. Bwa ha ha ha!

And you know…now that I think about it we’re not really super overprotective. We just fixate on some silly things to worry about sometimes…like slides. Ha ha ha!

I was taking pictures of Isabelle because she had egg on her face. I love it when there is food on her face! But I’m sharing this very blurry picture because it was my favorite. Why? Because she is making the sign for more and she’s saying more!

And can you see the red on her forehead? She fell down at Gymboree today. She was all happy when we walked in and all babbling. She was with Alan and I was signing us in. She started running towards me or maybe towards the fun play area when she tripped on her own feet and BAM she fell forward and hit her head on the floor hard! I didn’t see it but it was so loud I heard her hit. She started to cry and it was the saddest thing. Even now it’s red. Hmmm, maybe you can’t tell from that picture. How about this one?

Hmmm, maybe you can’t really tell from that one either. Well back to what I was saying. At Gymboree she seemed very clingy, constantly wanting to be picked up, and didn’t participate much. But of course she didn’t join in much last time either though she did seem to play more. When we walked in today and she seemed excited (well before she fell) I thought she would join in for sure. Well maybe next week when she doesn’t have a little bashed head.

Isabelle is getting so tall. The other night she reached into her playpen and grabbed a dolly, one of the nubby dollies, Apple. She put Apple to her cheek and got the biggest smile on her face. So it was perfect when mailorder #6 came out. More sewing for me and a dolly for Isabelle.

Don’t you love how the raggedy doll looks surprised when Isabelle grabs it’s neck. Well you would be surprised too if a little girl grabbed you and then pulled your eyes off. Bwa ha ha! I knew I wouldn’t be able to use buttons so tested with some felt first. It’s funny, the eyes were the first thing she went for, first one and then as soon as it was loose, the other. Once they’re properly attached they’ll stay put, hopefully.