20/52

"A portrait of my baby, once a week, every week, in 2013."

For this week's photo, it had to be a birthday shot. My one year old girl. I didn't take many photos on her birthday morning - we were too busy breakfasting, hearing our birthday shout out on BBC 6Music (thanks Shaun Keaveny!), unwrapping presents and playing in the birthday tent. This colourful shot is a favourite though.

As ever, joining in with Jodi.

My other 52 project photos are here.

This Week - May#3

1. Good morning sunshine.
2. I was a woman armed with a power tool this week. It felt good! I was on a mission to get the birthday tent finished...
3. ...and I managed it! A sneak peek...I'll share more soon.
4. Teddy tags along wherever we go.
5. A new pose.
6. The sunshine we had last week gave way to lots of rain. It's not all bad though. Raindrops on these leaves are so beautiful.
7. Daddy's working away this weekend. This is her 'waiting for Skype to connect' face so she could see 'daddy-in-a-box'.

A busy birthdayish week. After a week of drilling, chopping, sanding, sewing, baking and wrapping, me and my one year old (feels very odd to say that!) are having a quiet weekend at home. Fingers crossed the sun makes an appearance so that we can get out into the garden or down to the swings. Enjoy your weekend, however you spend it!

12 months

Dear Baby,

Today you turned one. 12 months old. 365 days. 4 seasons. Those newborn days still seem just moments away, yet are so far back in your history. You've changed so much, learnt so much, grown so much. Much more of a little girl than a baby. 

You have been thoroughly spoilt by all those that love you. So many thoughtful cards, messages and presents. A day out to the local animal park, time to play with new toys, and then meatballs and carrot cake for tea. Happy birthday sweet one! 

At 12 months you are:

...Trying to get EVERYWHERE! You are now a super-speedy crawler and cruiser with no fear. You love to walk up and down the length of the sofa - one hand holding the cushions, and the other clutching whichever toy has taken your fancy that day (normally a ball from elefun or the teaball from the treasure basket!) You love to crawl through the living room doorway, with a backwards glance just to check if I've seen you. You're desperate to be able to climb up onto the sofa (especially if you've spotted a remote control) and took great delight in using daddy as a step-up as he lay by the sofa this afternoon. Steady there mountain goat!
...reorganising our shelves/bags/boxes. With all these new found crawling and cruising skills, comes the chance to discover new things. Some of your favourite activities at the moment are pulling all the books out of the shelves, unloading all the nappies from their box, or sifting through the nappy bag in search of treasures.

...chatting all the time. We walk round the supermarket to a narration of 'mamamama / rararara / dadadada / tschtschtsch'. You seem to have whole conversations with yourself now, complete with arm waving gestures. It's SO sweet!

...so in love with teddy. You are always happy to see him and grab him, with a big grin on your face, for a cuddle at every available opportunity. You've even started sharing him - offering teddy to me for a cuddle, but swiftly reaching for him again if I cuddle him for too long!

...starting a new pre-nap game. After much eye rubbing and thumb sucking, I put you down for a sleep. All goes quiet for a few moments, then I hear some excited squeaks over the monitor, and the sound of toys hitting the floor. Then the tears start. I go back up to find you stood up in the cot, pointing at the toys on the floor, saying "daa" (down?). I pick up the teddies and lie you back down. Then you sleep...  

...Loving: tiptoes, drinking the bath water, playing with mummy's watch, keys to jingle, watching the neighbourhood cats in the garden, peekaboo (still!), round-and-round-the-haystack, pears, watching the bunnies at the local pet shop, fiddling with our eyelashes (funny girl!).

...Not liking: wearing sunhats, brushing sore gums (fair enough!), being moved away from something fun (aka dirty/dangerous/both!)

I was going to stop writing these monthly updates when we reached a year, but I so love having them to look back on, to see how she's changed and grown, so I'm going to continue :)

Pink hearts: Nature in the home

As soon as I saw the pink theme of this week's Nature in the Home, I knew exactly which plant from the garden I wanted to bring indoors. Beautiful pink hearts.

Tomorrow, my not-so-tiny baby girl turns one. So these pink hearts are on her mantelpiece to greet her on her birthday morning.

Joining in with Lou's Nature in the Home.

Woodland wanderings

On Sunday, we took a gap in the rain showers as our cue to head to the local woods. We'd heard that the bluebells were out in force, so armed with the camera, our wellies, and a pocketful of raisins and breadsticks to keep a certain little girl happy, we set off.

Our bluebell-information-sources weren't wrong - the woods were carpeted with them. And the smell that perfumed the air. Beautiful! (Although it did make R start sneezing. Darn hayfever!)

Then, as the heavens opened once more, we quickened our pace and made a hasty retreat to the pub!

19/52

"A portrait of my baby, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Washing up bowl + plastic tubs + water = a happy (and very soggy) baby.

As ever, joining in with Jodi.

My other 52 project photos are here.

This Week - May#2

1. Camellias in shadow and sunlight. While I am inclined to think the previous owner of our house went a little overboard with camellias (there are 5 bushes!), I do love this one with the rippled petals. 

2. Tired baby, blue skies. I'm sure there is a photo of me as a baby wearing a similar colour against a similar sky. I'll have to dig it out next time I'm home.

3&4&5. Handmade presents for baby pals. The beanbags proved very popular...

6. A Bank Holiday picnic in the garden. 

7&8. Mastering crawling over the step that has foxed her for a few weeks. (I also love the khaki/coral colour).