42/52

a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2016

Jimmy: Stomping in a creek, in the wrong boots, his PJ's, an awesome jumper, Granny's badge, and a bandaid covering some self-inflicted carpet burn.

And if you ask, he'll demonstrate how he had his hands on the carpet and how he was dragging his face on the carpet. We hardly noticed it until about 30 minutes after he had done it, even though we had seen him in action, and by the time this photo was taken the scab was starting to come off, so the bandaid was there to stop the scab coming off before it was all healed. Michael took these lovely photo - thanks!

41/52

a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2016

Jimmy: This is the best thing ever!

This is happening! I spent some time laying out the cut pieces of fabric, with a little help from Michael and Jimmy, and it's wonderful chaos and Jimmy loves it - as he said, it's the best thing ever, even in this unfinished form. Love that boy.

No! Don't take a photo of me!

And the inevitable has happened. Actually it happened a little over a month ago - Jimmy got upset when I pointed my camera in his face and he said "No! Don't take a photo!". It's not the first time he's told me not to take his photo, but it's becoming firmer and firmer and the response to a lack of respect of his wishes results in a rather upset, agitated, and no-longer-focused-on-the-task Jimmy.

So, we now have to ask him for permission to take his photo. He knows what happens to them, he knows we put photos up on the internet for our friends to see. He knows we do it because we think he's awesome and want to share his awesomeness as well as we can, but I think he's had enough of the near constant photos.

We have been taking a lot of photos of him since he was born, so I think it's fair enough that he wants some control over this situation. It's cool. He's exerting control where he can, and being photographed (or not) is one thing he can control. It's also not worth the effort to press him for a photo when he says "no".

It's a matter of respect and trust, and we get much nicer photos when we ask him if we can take his photo than when we try to sneakily take his photo. It's just not worth it.

This is not the reason why I've been erratic with the 52 Project posts, but it is in part the reason why I wont be continuing with it next year. There are other reasons why Jimmy will be here less and less, that have nothing to do with his interest in being photographed (or lack thereof), but I will save those reasons for another post.

40/52

a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2016

Jimmy: Feeding the chooks!

There is an art to it. There really is. It's about getting the cous cous or rice or whatever chicken appropriate leftovers out of the tub and onto the ground without getting it on the chickens themselves. Jimmy has been getting plenty of practice - it's basically his job, along with carrying the eggs home (and yes, he has broken some but only two in three months).

On the needles: EVERYTHING!

 

And by that I mean both knitting needles AND the sewing machine AND possible hand sewing of a hem...

Currently I am knitting a little baby cardigan out of handspun wool, using a pattern from What to Knit When You're Expecting (I bought it while expecting Jimmy), but it's proving to be a bit of a challenge because the amount of yarn was unknown and the weight of the yarn varies not just with a ball but between the different balls (of the same colour). The amount of yarn that is relatively close in thickness was (and still is) unknown and I've had to redo the sleeves and am working my way to the collar but am not sure how it's all going to end. I may have to undo some of the yoke and use a slightly thicker ball of yarn to finish the cardigan off. And no, it's not for any baby #2, it's for a cousin and his wife who have recently become parents to a little girl.

Then there's a quilt for Jimmy. As the seasons change from winter to spring proper and the night are no longer cold enough for heavy doonas but still cool enough for a wool blanket or two and a light quilt, I have realised that Jimmy needs a such a quilt. It was always on the cards - before having him, we bought fabric that we intended to use in a quilt and that's just what I'm doing.

I'm using a combination of leftovers from clothes we've made for ourselves, quilting flats bought at various times, and fabric bought with Jimmy in mind. I've been cutting and sewing and cutting some more, and after sewing some more fabric together (not shown), I've decided I need a little more fabric before I can sew all the pieces together. And yes, I'm using my Mum's sewing machine - I cannot hand sew quickly enough to race the coming summer and nights when sheets are not really needed.

The hand sewing is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for me to have the time and energy to address it, because hems and mending merino wool tops requires more of both than I can manage right now, between applying for jobs and the cardigan and the quilt.

39/52

a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2016

Jimmy: Yeah... I think you do have the wrong lense on your camera, Daddy.

From the mouth of babes? Except that he's taken something Daddy said and turned it around correctly. Michael captured the moment beautifully (wrong lense and all), as we made our way up to the magical place to show it to Pop and enjoy the sunset. Oh and Jimmy spotted an echidna while riding Pop's shoulders.

And now for something completely different: Frogs!

This is a scarlet-sided pobblebonk. A native Australian frog, which Michael found in our backyard when he was doing some digging. We've all been busy gardening in the front- and backyards, getting gardens ready for spring (which is truly here) and summer, and it's wonderful to be able to find these frogs around the house. The sounds of the pobblebonks is something from my childhood, when frogs around here start up their chorus after periods of rain. Based on the noise, there are a lot of frogs around here.

We've also been finding these burrowing frogs, which are most likely ornate burrowing frogs, which are also native to Australia. As children, my friends and I would find in the local sandpit when we would dig up the sand and make trenches deep enough to go almost over our heads if we were sitting down. Michael and I were playing in my childhood sandpit and we dug up this little one.

Jimmy was keen to hold it and very gentle but firm, once he got over the initial shock of it jumping away on a few occasions. We found another one this morning, buried in pile of sand at a friends place where he, Michael, and Pop are building a pizza oven (!!).

Once I had taken photos of this frog at the sandpit, Jimmy let it go and it started burying itself in the sand. I'm glad that the burrowing frogs are still in the old sandpit. And it will be safe in the sandpit, safe from predators and dehydration, but we will have to remember to be careful when digging up the garden - so we don't hurt members of either frog species.