A Pint-Sized DIY.

If you read my last post, you know that we've taken a few weeks off from traveling in prep for some fun family trips in September. So what in the world did I do to fill my time (aside from binge watching the last 2 seasons of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team)? I crafted. I had a few projects on my mind and loved having the time to get them done.

LATT Table, IKEA HACK, DIY, Baby developmental milestones, Ever Wilde Blog

But because I'm still in the heart on my sleeve mood, I'm going to give you a little more inside info into what inspired this particular project... Asher just turned 15 months. And, he's not cruising or walking just yet. He has mastered the art of - what we like to call - the "boot scoot." He scoots around on his cute little booty & gets going pretty freaking fast, actually! He gets from point A to point B (and then some), so, ya know... if it ain't broke... Anyway, I asked our ped about it & when we were last in KS we saw a PT for a couple of sessions. She said that nothing is physically wrong (YAY!) but that he's just a little bit lazy & a lot a bit afraid. She gave us lots of exercises and games to play with him to encourage standing & walking. He's actually made quite a bit of progress in the last couple of months, quicker progress with standing & core strength than the PT expected. But we, of course, still worry. He's in the 80th percentile for height, so he's tall & LOOKS like he should be walking. So when people ask if he is, I'm like "umm no, not yet, we're working on it" and feel like I need to go into an hour long explanation of all the things we're doing to help him get there - ya know so people know I am, like, a really good mom. 🙄 AGH!! I know mommy-shaming is an annoyingly REAL THING, but, in this case I've been totally mommy-shaming myself. And why? Just because my sweet-little-man is just a wee bit behind. Not even like crazy behind. Still in the normal range behind, but, yet, I am still beating myself up.

He's a total smarty pants when it comes to language & fine motor skills. The kid blows me away on a daily basis. For example, the other day, he saw a fish on TV & he pointed to it and said "fish" - like, WHAT? When did he learn that. I honestly think someone else must have taught him that one... But, you just always want your kid to be reaching milestones. And walking is kind of a B-I-G one. So, yep, we're working on it. I am trying to give us both some grace and hope that we have found a good balance when it comes to "working on it." I'm trying to find my inner patient self and know that when he is ready, when the time is right and when there is a reason SUPER AWESOME enough, he'll do it.

But we may as well give him some additional motivation to stand. So, this brings me to my latest IKEA HACK/ DIY. I thought a kid-sized table & chairs would provide Asher some fun incentive for doing something other than the boot scoot & boogie. From previous posts, you know that we purchased most of our German home furniture from IKEA and that I've already hacked a few of our pieces.

So, when I found this basic table at IKEA I did some Pinteresting & found a ton of IKEA HACK ideas.

I hopped on over to the hardware store and then got painting. I had Jason help out by putting the table & chairs together without the seat/table tops. Please Note: I could have easily done this part myself, but where's the fun in that? 😜

Aside from his bedroom, we don't have an official "playroom." So since this table is going to live in our main living room & we'll be looking at it alongside our actual furniture, I wanted it to match. But because it's a tiny-cute-little-kid's-table I also wanted it to be playful. I chose a sort of slate-grey paint that looks great with our existing furniture (which you can see in this post) and then picked a bright orange for the dip-dyed chair legs. For that finishing touch, I just used a ruler, taped off the bottom portion of the chair and then painted away. Easy peasy.

The seat cushions were a TOTAL fail-proof, no-sew, DIY. Made using a shower curtain that I also found at IKEA and stuffed with squares I cut from a fleece blanket! And bonus, because the covers are made from a shower curtain, they're wipeable & waterproof. I also used the extra shower curtain as a drop cloth for my paint station.

Asher sat there playing forEVER...he seemed to love having a new little play space just for him.

... and of, course, he kept all of his crayons & building blocks neatly on the table. (HA. HA. HA).

Here he is just making a happy (easily cleanable, so far) mess. Play away, little man. You can see that his legs are far from touching the ground, but I love that this is a table he can grow into. Plus, check out those kicks. The dude has some serious shoe game. This particular pair is courtesy of his fav dallas girls, Brooklyn & Blaire Bailey :)

So as you can see, we have a happy, healthy, playful, sweet as a muffin, 15 month on our hands. I do hope to be able to bring lots more standing, walking updates to the blog soon. But in the meantime, we'll be working and playing and laughing along the way.