master of disaster

At eight months, this is Campbell's official nickname. He is into EVERYTHING, especially since he mastered the art of crawling/sitting by himself, and now pulling himself up on things (first onto his knees, and in the past couple of days onto his feet). Although, there are those rare few moments when he is quiet and daydream-y and oh so cute instead of trying to eat leaves or rubbing his eczema cream into the carpet. Like these photos below - I caught him staring out the window, having a think:

Such a little guy still. Yet getting more independent every day. Time is flying, and although I'm glad to see the back of seven months (extreme non-sleeping issues surfaced for some reason - surviving on three hours a night is not fun) I want him to stay this small and cute and cuddly forever.

first mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there. Today was my very first - and I was thoroughly spoilt by my two boys. Breakfast on the couch while lazing in the sun and watching a DVD of my choice, an uninterrupted by the demands of a seven month old shower, chores I particularly detest (ie. the dishes) done for me, and best of all, oodles of time to scrapbook. Thank you Carl and Campbell for making the day special for me! Here are a few pics we took this afternoon to mark the occasion (please excuse my scary afro hair...man I need a straightener!):

And here are a few from the past week. One day Cam will probably claim he needs counselling because I posted these pics of his bare bum on the net, but how could I resist? He has the cutest tush around!

catch up post

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately - we don't have a landline or Internet at our new place, so I'm typing this up at Jenny's (Carl's mum's) place. Hope you guys haven't been missing this gorgeous smile too much!





Isn't he magnificent?! My cousin Steph sent me an email recently that said he was going to be a heartbreaker when he got older...I must say I agree! =) Campbell has been really thriving lately, despite the fact that he still has no teeth and we've been having some teething drama (back to multiple feeds a night - bummer! He was doing so well). He is babbling up a storm and can now say mumma, dadda, nan-nan and bum-bum. It's so cute! He pretty much talks constantly and enjoys having "conversations" with people. I've included a video below, and in it Cambo says a word not included in the list above...see if you can pick it up! It's a word he's been practising a lot - he's nearly got it.

He is also commando crawling. He's actually really fast and has figured out that he doesn't need me to shift him from room to room before he starts exploring - he can get there himself. In the morning he loves to crawl over to our TV cabinet, turn on the xbox (yes, he knows exactly what to do - it's scary!), pull all the games off the shelf and then get himself a controller. Just like Daddy! He can also wave and clap. The Plunket nurse said he was very advanced for his age (said in my best proud mummy voice)!

moving

Hi!

We have spent the past weekend moving into our new place in New Plymouth. As much as we have enjoyed living with both sets of parents, it's great to be our own little family in our own environment. And our place is super-cute, cozy and sunny, with a huge fenced backyard. Perfect for when Campbell starts crawling/walking/exploring.

Here are a few pics for my sister:

The entrance way/hall, with our bookcase full of my scrapbooking stuff

The bathroom

The laundry room and back door

The dining room

The kitchen. I LOVE this kitchen. I love the fact that it's open plan and I can see into the lounge while I'm cooking dinner. And this is the corner of the bench where Cambo sits while I'm busy doing dishes/baking etc. (yes Charlotte, I have been baking!)

The lounge. Nice and sunny.

There is a great gas heater behind this clothes rack.

We still haven't managed to fit the doors on the cabinet. Now that Cam is mobile (rolling around), he loves to unload all the DVD and XBox stuff and chew on it. LOL

And a few photos from the other day. Carl was watching Campbell while I did something - and when I came back he had found this ingenious method of keeping Cam in one place! So cute.

And to finish, this smile. Isn't it the greatest smile in the world?!

long time, no blog

So, Charlotte sent me an email that said something along the lines of "you suck, update your blog"...so here I am. Alive and well. As are my two boys. Campbell is getting ready to teethe (for real this time, I hope!) - flushed cheeks, copious drooling, a bit of a temperature and, oh yes, the dreaded whining! We're back to marathon hour-and-a-half feeds and screaming whenever I put him down, which is why we had a crazy but successful looong car ride into town and back today, so Cam would nap (pity I chose to go during insane school hour traffic - didn't really think it through!).

Apart from the teething issue, we've been having loads of fun with Campbell this past weekend. He's truly a delight. He went for his very first swim on Sunday morning at the Todd Energy Aquatic Centre in New Plymouth. Here are some pics from the day:

Don't drop me, Dad!

WOW!! A giant bath! Cam had a great time splashing and waving his arms around in the water. Any excuse to make lots of noise!

OMG - is that a floatie? lol

Going down the slide (Carl started him off at the top and I caught him and guided him down half-way).

Carl and Campbell. We had so much fun swimming together - playing tag, floating Cambo on his back and tummy, and even dunking him under a couple of times. He doesn't mind being dunked/having water on his face at all, which probably comes from the few months when he was very young and we showered him (he hated the bath for a long time). I'm glad he's turning into a water baby and enjoyed his first trip to the pools. We'll probably be going back again this coming weekend and spending longer there, getting him used to it all. Such a fun family activity!

In other news, we are moving into New Plymouth this weekend - YAY! We have our very own two-bedroom house very close to the city, complete with a fully fenced yard. It will be great to be just the three of us for the first time - and I'm sure Geoff will be pleased to get his games room back! A big shout out to our parents at this point, for all your support in letting us live with you. We have appreciated it so much!

I told Dad I would load a video up tonight of Campbell being cute, playing in the sunshine this afternoon, but unfortunately Blogger is throwing its toys and won't let me. I'll try again tomorrow. And Charlotte - there's something for you in Mum's courier package. I love you Silly!

motherhood: a slippery slope into madness

This morning I was on the computer, successfully procrastinating from typing up my CV, and Campbell was in his Jolly Jumper jumping merrily in the doorway. Now, for this story to make sense, I must say at this point that usually, I hate pictures of kids with food all over their faces. It makes my skin crawl. I think to myself, OMG, that is disgusting. Wipe your child's face immediately. Who on earth would take a photograph of their baby looking so gross?

Anyway, I heard Campbell start to make his "mum-mum-mum" noise, which means something is up. I turned to look at him. He had started to hiccup. And with each hiccup, a glob of regurgitated creamy banana oatmeal and congealed milk was falling to the floor. It was all over his chin and his top and even the big grin he was giving me, as if to say, look Mum! Look what I can do!

And then it happened. I looked at my little boy covered in his own vomit and thought, awwww....he's sooooo CUTE! I should get the camera!

Madness. I stopped myself, but only just. And that is how pictures like the one below, of Cambo eating solids for the first time and absolutely covered in icky sticky fruit, get on the internet. Because mothers think every single thing their child does is SO DAMN ADORABLE! Even when really, it's not.

Word.

i miss these faces

Especially the cute little brown-eyed one with the sticky-out ears. I can't believe he's crawling and I've missed it. My sweet Daveykins...I love you so much!

I was really tempted to try and bring Davey with us to Taranaki. Really tempted. Damn the fact that Charlotte and Steve love him as much as I do! They wouldn't let him go! lol

We had a quiet Easter settling into Nana and Grandad's place in Waitara. Poor Campbell has been sick with a cold (never ever travel with a sick child by yourself for six hours. Ever. That's all I have to say about that!) but he had a wonderful time at Great Grandad Ivan's birthday barbeque last Sunday. Apparently, trying to attach blocks to your cousin's face is a great bonding experience!

The kids were so great with Cambo, especially Tyler and Blair. And when I went to empty out the container we keep Campbell's blocks in, Kyla had posted two of her pink Easter lollies in there for him to enjoy later! lol Maybe next year, Kyla!