a very quiet book
i decided to give lyla a book about her first year for her birthday. i spent several late hours with d picking pictures and writing rhyming captions for this little project. in the end, we wouldn’t win any literary awards for our writing. but, we came up with, what we thought, was a thoughtful and accurate summary. we decided to only include pictures of immediate family – just mom, dad and sis, oh and lyla, of course. and even those photos were to be limited. we wanted the pages to be filled with lyla. and they are, in deed.
i printed the pictures on printer fabric for an ink jet printer and sewed them on to pages using a zigzag stitch. a little batting between the pages gave them body and softness. all the fabric was pulled from my stash – blues, of course, to compliment her eyes.
i had planned to have the book ready for her big family birthday party. but, it just didn’t happen. so, i gave it to her, with her sister, one quiet morning. and, you can see the reaction.
hmm… what’s this? a book? with pictures of our family? and lyla’s not looking at it? don’t mind if i do!
that’s the ‘hahahahahaha….what dis?’ face…. ‘whatdis whatdis whatdis?’ is all i hear these days.
i must have said i can’t see. and so, oh here, i’ll show you. ‘see, see? right there. right there.’
and where is lyla? isn’t this her book?
oh, that’s right. off in a corner by herself. she was completely uninterested.
but adelaide’s having so much fun with this book. wait. if i look at this book, i get to sit in mama’s lap?
but this little book is quiet in more than one way. i do declare! i think it’s growing on them. while at first i had to coax them to look at it and understand how awesome it was, now i find it being requested at nap time. and a quiet book in bed? what could be the harm in that?
i know, some day, they’ll love it much more than they do now. and i know it will continue to grow on them. this was such a fun project. perhaps what was most enjoyable was working closely with d. we almost never craft together. but, man, if co-crafting doesn’t say ‘i love you’, then i don’t know what does. ;)
I love reading your blog and experiencing the family growth. You are very special and your girls will hopefully appreciate all that you do to make their lives very special.
How beautiful!!! and what a keepsake!!
Great idea, and looks wonderful! Truly a special gift that they’ll appreciate even more when they’re older.