I cannot believe that Daniella is 2 already. It’s both amazing and scary how it seems like just yesterday I brought her home from the hospital and she’s already running around and telling me what to do. I am a sentimental person. I get attached to things and memories and I have keepsakes from my childhood that I brought with me from Belarus and hopefully will be able to pass them on to my kids someday. With very few exceptions those keepsakes are not store-bought items – they are things that my mom or my grandparents made. Daniella has a ton of toys (she is obsessed with puzzles and probably owns every puzzle ever made by Melissa & Doug). However, my wife and I are huge believers in DIY gifts; for every special occasion, on top of store-bought toys and presents Daniella receives a couple of things that Irina and I make ourselves. For her first birthday, Irina made her a huge cloth book with different activities. Last Christmas, we made her a toy kitchen. About a month before Daniella’s 2nd birthday, Irina was at the library and came across an amazing book – The City ABC Book by Zoran Milich. At first, I wanted to buy that book for Daniella, but Irina suggested that I make a similar one instead.

I spent a few days wondering around downtown, Strip District and the Southside and this is what I got…