A script following the play that is life
This month has seen many big changes! Moses is sleeping in his own room in a bigger crib and sleeping mostly through the night. He spends most of his time on his stomach (of his own accord!), and is rotating and army crawling trying to follow his toy ball or my foam roller. He was also showing so much interest in food that we decided to start feeding him solids. He makes funny faces at first but really enjoys it!
One challenge about having a baby in Congo is that there isn’t a market for used stuff. I think that if we were in Canada we would have many used baby things thrown our way as friends and relatives declutter their homes post-having children. Or else we could look for used stuff on Craigslist, Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace. When looking at new cribs we found that the options are either cheaply made or super expensive (we need a middle ground option here like IKEA!). We chose a third option of designing a wood crib to get made, but because of the pandemic we had to post-pone our plans. But we have a growing baby that we can’t hit the pause button on and so I had the idea to design a temporary cardboard crib. I thought that even after he is done with it, we can use it as a play item.
The design uses a strategy of cuts and folds so that one single piece of cardboard can form one side of the crib with very little waste. Then I added internal reinforcing with layered cardboard on the inside of all of the junction points. I used the cardboard we had leftover from our freezer purchase, but only had enough for three sides. To still make it work we have the crib pushed up against the headboard of the bed. It will serve until Moses is able to pull himself to standing. I am very happy with the results! One change I would make is to add additional layers of cardboard on the inside of the top and bottom rung for additional lateral support. It took me a few weeks to make because I had to cut and score everything by hand (and I am a busy mom with many other things to do!), but if drafted in CAD the design could be laser cut in a matter of minutes.
Final result!
Sketch of flat sheet with cuts and scores (solid vs dotted lines)
Card mock-up
This month Moses has started to grab at anything that is around him. He is also having conversations with us and making all matter of sounds! It doesn’t take much to get him smiling!
Dear Opa;
I am sad that you have left us. I really wanted you to meet Othy and your great grandchild Moses. I am sorry that we are not able to come to the funeral and to be with Oma and the family at this time. We lived far away from you and so we didn’t have the grandfather grandchild relationship that I would have hoped for, but I cherished the short moments we had together on each visit whether it was you and Oma visiting us in Canada, or the few visits I made to the Netherlands. Despite the language barrier, your love for us was expressed so fully in your gestures, humour, and big hugs. I am thankful that you had a relationship with your heavenly Father. In your old age you struggled with various physical disabilities, and so I am happy that you now have relief from those things and can now jump, hear, and see! I look forward to being reunited someday.
Opa and I when we visited Niagara falls as a family in 2012 during their last visit to Canada
I remember a dutch song about Opas called “M’n Opa” because during our second trip to the Netherlands when we were still toddlers, my parents took a video of Jen and I dancing to this song around a coffee table. Now I have created a video of me singing it to Moses. Enjoy! The english translation is below.
Every Sunday afternoon he brought toffies for me
I remember the games Opa played with me
Play a restaurant and my Opa was the cook
Playing the goat cart and my Opa was the goat
My Opa, my Opa, my Opa
There was no one like him in all of Europe
My Opa, my Opa, my Opa
And nobody was so nice to me
All over Europe, my old Opa
No one like him anywhere
All over Europe, my own Opa
Nobody is so nice to me
My old Opa
Moses is already 1 month old! At the end of one month his head, torso, hands, and feet have grown and his face has rounded out, his gaze and movements are getting steadier, and he is starting to interact by copying our facial gestures. We thank God for him, and are excited for what the next months hold! Hopefully they hold a bit more sleep for two tired parents, particularly Mom. ;)
We thank God for the arrival of Moses into our family. We are thankful for the friends and family who supported us in this journey. We are enjoying getting to know our little one who is already growing so fast.
