photos from the past few days

Today Campbell sat up by himself! And by that I mean, he sat up straight and steady after I had placed him in a sitting position and didn't fall over for at least thirty seconds! What a clever boy. He is starting to hate lying down with a passion - he really does prefer to be sitting up. I tried so hard to get a photo of him...and in one he's starting to lean forward. You get the basic idea though. Our little boy is growing up so fast!



We have had a quiet couple of days. Lots of jumping in the Jolly Jumper, napping, playing, going to get the car registered and warranted...the usual trappings of domesticity. Loving every minute of it though!

And just so you know...pants you have outgrown are sooo much cuter worn on your head anyway - much more likely to melt hearts that way!

Everybody else was eating BBQ...

Cambo was eating his toes! LOL

solids

The week before last, Cam was definitely not ready for solids. We tried him a couple of times on Farex (baby rice cereal, for those of you who are non-parents), but he hated it - kept gagging and spitting it out. The reason we thought he might be ready was because he loves sucking on things like nectarine and apple cores, and he was very interested in watching us eat. After trying a couple of times without much success we decided to give solids a break, but last week he started trying to grab food out of our hands and cram it into his mouth - whining and crying when we wouldn't let him have a taste! So we tried him on some apples, and he loves them. Can't get enough! He isn't too sure about veges yet, but fruit is all good - he's had apples, mango, bananas, kiwifruit, pears, and blueberries so far. The kumara and sweetcorn mash is growing on him though!

Farex is still a no-go at this stage - I think it's the texture that's putting him off.

Here are a couple of photos we took of Cambo today. It's gorgeous weather up here and Carl and I took Cam for a walk along the waterfront, stopping for lunch then ice-cream as we did so. :) Can't wait until Bean is old enough to be really enjoying these outings as well. He's growing up so fast, I'm sure it won't take him long!

And this is something else Cam has been doing a lot lately (apart from drooling and sucking in his bottom lip) - poking his tongue out, all the time, especially when he smiles. Soooo cute! You can really see how blonde his hair is turning (at the sides) in this pic. Needs another cut on top though!

in just four short months

Going back and scrapbooking some of Campbell's earliest pictures has reminded me just how far he has come in four short months. He has learnt so many things and changed so drastically - his cheeky, sociable personality is really starting to shine through now and it is such a joy watching him grow and change.

This was the first ever photo we took of Campbell, moments after his birth. We couldn't believe how big he was! I thought he looked so much like Carl, but with my eyes. Looking at this photo is still emotional for me. It brings me right back to that moment I became a mum...the best feeling in the world!

This picture was taken at barely a week old. Cam's eyes were only just starting to open up really wide and they hadn't turned the really vibrant shade of gorgeous blue they are now. However, they were still beautiful. Carl and I couldn't get over how perfect and wonderful he was (and still is)!

Spending time with my boy at just over a month old. He is no longer always content to lie in my arms and sleep...he's becoming more and more independent all the time. However, I love it when he does - and I love the photos I have reminding me of this cute stage.

Carl is the best father in the world. He adores Cam and I know they will have a really wonderful relationship in the years to come. Carl can't wait until Cam is old enough to run around and be active with - Campbell all ready has his first hockey stick, and I'm sure a rugby ball and set of golf clubs will follow!

Campbell started smiling "properly" around 5-6 weeks (so many people don't believe me when I tell them that, but it's true - he was an early smiler!) but it took us forever to capture one of his cheeky grins on camera (not until he was just on three months). Here he is hanging out at Charlotte's house. The rattle he is holding is "Jack", who of course belongs to Davey, but Cam will do anything to wrangle it out of Davey's grasp if he sees him holding it!

Our little family at Christmas. I just love these two soooo much! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

layouts

Here are a few of the layouts I've done just recently for Campbell's album. Note they are all single layouts - time is of the essence with my little Bean! lol

"First Time Parenthood". The scanner cut this off at the sides - imagine a dark-blue border all the way around. A bit of a depature from my usual very simple style...I just tossed together a whole bunch of fun, colourful papers and cut stars out for my embellishments. I made three of my photos black-and-white to help them stand out, and kept the other two in colour. Cam was less than a week old when these were taken!

"Your Name". All about how we chose Cam's name, and a pic of him with his Grandad, Geoffrey, who is his namesake.

"Your Star Sign". I looked up some typical Virgo traits and wrote them down to see if Cam can relate in the future!

"Leave Your Mark on the World". I just love those teensey hand and footprints!

"Look at all that Crazy Hair!" So many people comment on it!

Speaking of comments, I've turned them on. I think all you need to leave one is an email address. Let me know if you've stopped by!

back to normal

Well, the holiday excitement is over for us and we are back to "normal" around here - Carl has returned to work and Cam and I are busy hanging out at home. Time with a little one (Campbell is seventeen weeks old this Thursday) all seems to blur together at this age - Cam is growing and changing so fast, and learning so many things, yet it seems that day after day we do the same stuff (nap, play, do housework, eat, go for walks). Sometimes I worry that he's bored, but I know he can't be, with his Mummy on tap to entertain him. Here is some of the stuff we've been doing the past couple of days.

Campbell loves hanging out with Carl and watching the TV. Sports are his favourite, but he will watch pretty much anything with lots of movement and loud excited voices.

Cam is getting more interested in "big people" food now, and he loves licking and sucking on leftover nectarine. I took this photo this morning after he had a pretty good go at demolishing my nectarine core - he had nectarine all over his forehead, chin, cheeks, hands, t-shirt and even his toes. I don't think you can make it out in this photo though.

Since we have resumed our routine, it means we are back to getting daily visits from Davey, my sister's son who is two days older than Cam. They are so cute playing together - they will always try and hold hands and suck each other's fingers. Soooo adorable!

The self-soothing at bedtime is going pretty badly. Cam is starting to teethe and Carl and I just feel it isn't the right time for him to try this - it was distastrous the three nights we tried it and everyone got very little sleep. He was straight back to some whiny, clingy behaviour he had definitely grown out of, so last night I ended up demand feeding him again until he was fully asleep and we all had a much better night with only a couple of early-morning feeds. We will give it another try when his teeth aren't making him so miserable...and when Mum and Dad get their stress levels back to normal! lol

scrapbooking fevah!

Yes, the scrapbooking bug has hit my in-laws (well, one of them anyway!). I gave Nicola (Carl's sister) a list of scrapbooking websites and online stores while we were down in Taranaki, and I was informed this evening that she has made her first purchases! Furthermore, I am slowly convincing my sister that scrapbooking Davey's pictures rather than simply backing up his photos to CDs would be a super-fun activity for us to do together. There is no escape.



Carl was kind enough to give me a whole day to myself yesterday (apart from feeding Bean) to do some scrapbooking in exchange for him going out while we were down South. I only did two layouts, but it felt good to be creative and make a tiny dent in my list of pages for Campbell's book. I'll scan the layouts and post them here over the next couple of days.



The trip home from Taranaki was entirely uneventful - we stopped in Hamilton and Auckland to feed and that's about it. Since being home Cam has been a bit of a ratbag - maybe we should move down to live with Geoff and Jenny because when he's there he's on his best behaviour!



Our main concern with Cam at the moment is that he is still waking up every 2 hours per night and wanting to feed. We took him to the doctor today (he is 7.03 kg now!) and we were basically told to get tough on him and stop letting him use me "like a dummy". Campbell goes back to sleep within five minutes on the breast, so it's definitely just a comfort thing. We are letting him cry it out right now...I know he can put himself to sleep because he did it this afternoon. Wish us luck!



All my recent photos are on my other computer, so I'll leave you with an oldie (but a goodie).

festival of lights

Wow - the weather in Taranaki at the moment truly rocks! It's so hot and sunny...really feels like summer down here. We are loving getting out and about with Campbell, taking him for walks in the park and around to different people's houses to visit. He is such a great kid...so patient and sociable, full of smiles and willing to put up with a million cuddles from a million different people. Every day Carl and I say to each other how lucky we are to have such a fantastic little man in our lives.

Pretty much everybody who reads this blog will know how much I love the Festival of Lights at Pukekura Park. It was where Carl and I had our first date, and I couldn't wait to take Campbell along for his first experience. Jenny and Geoff came as well, and between the two of us Jenny and I got some pretty great photos:












Cam during the car ride to the park. Isn't he gorgeous? Love those big blue eyes.











The fountain. I saw lots of pinks and purples this year - so pretty.












The Poet's Bridge had all these cool curly lights all over it that changed colour - so funky. My favourite part of the lights this year.












Glow-in-the-dark Bean. He was mesmerised...until about 10 p.m. when he fell asleep!












This was just a random shot I took when I was waving the camera around and pressed the shutter in mid-air. Love how it turned out though. I'm so artistic! lol












Carl, Campbell and I. Love my boys!












All tuckered out.

And so am I...so I'm off to bed!

happy new year!

Happy New Year to you all! Carl, Campbell and I have had a wonderful start to 2008. The weather in Taranaki has been perfect and we spent all day out and about with Geoff and Jenny (Carl's parents), visiting the beach and Brooklands Zoo and having a picnic lunch. We topped it off with a barbeque at our friends Craig and Kirsty's...as you can imagine, Cam is absolutely
exhausted! Here are a few photos from today:















Cam loves the water and will splash one foot up and down in the waves. I can't wait until we can take him swimming "for real" - I think he's still a bit too small for the ocean. Maybe next summer.















Our little family of three. I think it may become a New Year's Day tradition to hit the beach - weather permitting, of course!















Gorgeous Campbell. The little elephant lying next to him is "Crunchy" - his favourite toy. Crunchy goes everywhere with Cam!















Cambo with his Grandad and Nana. He has loved getting reacquainted with them during this trip - he lights up with smiles when they are around. I truly think there is a special bond between grandparents and grandchildren...even when Campbell pees down the front of Jenny's top during bath time! hee hee















This is a photo of a ring tailed lemur (I think that's what they're called) that Jenny took at Brooklands Zoo. I think it looks just like a professional wildlife photograph - and extra props to Jenny for taking it through the gaps in the wire fence. Cam was dozing off by this stage...how nice to be able to nap whenever and wherever you want!

I hope you all had a great day as well! Keep checking in for regular photos and updates on Campbell's progress. I pinky promise I will keep the site up to date this year!