Growing Pains

Campbell is growing. Like, a lot. And not just in size. In some ways, the last 10 months seems like it has lasted a lifetime, but now, we celebrate new milestones seemingly every day. The next big one is walking, which I guaran-damn-tee will happen in the next month. You start to put away summer clothes to prep for the fall and have to take a minute to digest the notion that she will never be this small again - just like the day before and the day before that. It's equal parts exciting and heartbreaking.

Sometimes it is hard to put into context exactly how much she has grown until you do a little before/after photo comparison. I present to you: Exhibit A. On the left, we have a little alien baby, and her sidekick, Knox (or, Satan, as I like to call him). On the right, Campbell as we know her today. I think it's safe to say she grew into those gigantic mutant feet.

"Whatcha doing Campbell?"

"Aww, nothin'...just playing with a prescription pill bottle and thinking about going for a drive."

(Special Editor's Note/Knowledge Bomb #439: The bottle did not have pills in it. They were replaced with oyster crackers to create a homemade shaker toy. Gotta give Court credit on that one. Genius!)

So I decided to work on a project to document her progress, where practical meets stylish. A growth chart.

I have to give credit to my mother-in-law for forwarding me the idea from Pinterest. But as is the case with most things on Pinterest, the photo is provided but getting from "Point A" to "wow that looks great" is a mystery.

Luckily, this one was pretty easy, and since I had everything besides the board, it only cost me $7.88 (plus tax). Here is the finished product, installed and ready for Campbell.

BONUS USE: If anyone ever robs our house and walks through this doorway whilst fleeing from the scene, we will be able to tell the cops exactly how tall the suspect was.

Pay no attention to the construction zone in the background. Still remodeling the den.

Now offering free tattoos

To do the numbers and measurement markings, I actually used a woodburning kit. Why would you think I would do anything the easy way (paint pen, for example)?

If you want to take a shot at making one yourself (without the woodburning kit), all you need is:

whitewood board from Lowe's, 1" x 8" x 6ft
Tape measure
Pencil
Paint pen
Speed square
Stain (I used Minwax Special Walnut)
Brush

Super-easy, idiot-proof instructions:

1) Using your tape measure and a pencil, make a mark every inch until you get to the end of the board.
2) Using your speed square, make each mark an inch long starting at the edge of the board
3) Make the 6th line from the bottom two inches long then do the same for every 12th line thereafter. These will be your feet markings.
4) (OPTIONAL) Make it look more like a ruler by using different lengths for the three-inch marks. I made my three-inch lines 1.5" long.
5) Use a stencil to trace your numbers with a pencil. You can make your own by printing your font-of-choice from Microsoft Word in the size you want it (I used 210, I think) then cut out the numbers with scissors.
6) Using a paint pen, trace all pencil lines and color in the numbers.
7) Brush on stain, the lightly wipe off the excess with a rag.