Mama's Soft Baby Book: Embroidered Animals

Happy birthday to SourPatch! He's the mighty age of one, officially. It's actually kind of emotional, so let's not talk about it too much. I do want to thank everyone for being so generous! He has been showered with clothes, toys, and books galore, and I understand more of them are on his way.

It can't help but remind me of the presents he received for his real birthday. I had three amazing showers; one in Texas, one in Utah, and one in California. How lucky can a girl get?? The Texas bash was thrown by none other than the marvelous Melanie, and it was pretty much a perfect affair.

I admit that in the midst of the beautiful decor, delicious food, and delightful games, the presents all blurred together in a marvelous whir, in particular those from my mother, I'm sad to say. She gave me so many, and I didn't have time to really parse through and appreciate each item.

Flash forward several months, and SourPatch is now a crawling ball of energy. I had a few friends (and their own babies) over, when one of them noticed a beautiful soft book that he loved to play with. They ooh'd and ah'd over this hand-stitched, felt-and-floss wonder and asked where I had gotten it.

Oh dear. To my shame, I couldn't recall for certain where it had come from, but a little voice in the back of my mind spoke the truth: this bore the mark of my mother.

Which, if you know her at all (or even quickly browse the posts under her "Marilyn" label), means that it's beautifully sewn and well put together. I quickly called her up to both verify that this was in fact her handiwork and to thank her profusely for such a personal gift. This present took time and talent, and SourPatch loves it.

Which is impressive, because he has pretty much loved it for a year now and not outgrown it. It is just the right size, it's colorful, and it has great textures. But a picture is worth a thousand words:

Here's the cover! I simply call this "The Penguin Book" when talking to SourPatch. It's about a 7 inch square, and has been through the wash a few times by now and held up marvelously (I believe all baby items should be easily washable? Agreed?). He loves touching the buttons and little penguin feet (which aren't sewn down and flap freely).

Inside are eight pages of animal joy. Mum embroidered each animal and its name onto the page in happy colors.

The monkey is his favorite page; he stops each time to touch its face. Even at a just few months old, Patches loved to flip though the book and feel the textures of the animals and the words. Now, when we read it, we talk about the sounds the animals make or the colors on the page.

So, mum, this is a year late, but thank you again for the book! It's one of the most well-used toys of the past 365 days, and we will continue to love it in the days to come. And for all ye similarly talented sewers and embroiderers, this makes an excellent gift.