13 months

These past few days, Toby has started walking. Oh me oh my! It has been really brilliant seeing him take one step. Then two steps the next day. Then a couple more the next.

I don't know when you classify a child as 'walking' but I'm quite sure he has started. And so he is thirteen months. Thought I should write it down somewhere- here is a good place!

We had a great time away in Canada and the US. We were in three cities and stayed in four houses over about 3+ weeks. Toby was a trooper and survived it all. We did get sick at one point and that was a big bummer but you can't prepare or prevent that so we just had to roll with it.

He got to celebrate his birthday three times! The first was pre-birthday, with extended Canadian family and sort of also a great reason for a get-together. The second was on his actual birthday just with the husband's immediate family, which was a small celebration, special and cosy. The third was post-birthday and post-trip, here in NZ, where we did more of a 'party' with little kids- invited some friends and family.

I know he will remember none of it but it was awesome getting to celebrate and know how loved we are and he is.

I have sooooo many photos to organise. Here are a few of the various 'cakes' we got to have!

Thank you grandma for this cake #1!

Healthy muffins with a creamy frosting for cake #2...

And thank you our awesome friend Ch for teaching me how to ice this sock monkey cake. woopwoop!

Toby is starting to say some words too like:

- Dad

- Ball

- Spoon

- Stick

- Bath

- Door

Some sound the same though... 

He can also do a couple hand-signs like 'please' and 'more' and 'all done' if you convince him to do it... haha.

It has been fascinating to see him learn and watch his brain 'click' when you tell him stuff. It has also been hard knowing what to do about bad behaviour, etc. I do get a bit concious that I'm saying NO a lot! 

He's pretty chatty and becoming very busy. He isn't too much of a speed demon though, which is nice as it gives me time to get to him if something needs diversion. He takes a while to warm up in new places and with new people, but he seems quite chilled overall. We'll see what he continues to grow up to be like.

It is hard to get a good photo of him these days! Here's one with a semi-smile.

I'm wondering a lot about how you pass on your faith to your child, I mean how to live and everyday life that includes communicating your walk with Jesus Christ. I'm sure it comes out of your own... which maybe says something about me because I'm struggling to know how to do this in parenting terms. Do I make sense? Anyway. Maybe a good topic for another post. 

As usual, so many thoughts to convey, so few brain cells left working. Are you watching the Olympics? I'm going to go do that for a little bit right now! 

Stuff and Things and Misc.

Just for a bit of fun, and non-seriousness... Here are some random everyday things about me/us/going-ons. 

Toby is now more established on solids. He isn't a massive eater, but here are some things he's tried:

carrots, pumpkin, kumara (sweet potato), avocado, peas, corn, chicken, beef, pork, apple, pear, nectarine, peach, banana, prune, apricot, pasta, rice, oats, egg, custard, zuchinni (or courgettes), capsicum, spinach, broccoli, etc... sounds like a lot when I list it out... 

Toby has a sock monkey that he has to have to go to bed, along with his thumb. It is super cute but also means we have to make sure Socks is around. Now we have two. Thankfully Socks is a Beanie Baby and we found another him on ebay- yay for mass produced toys! 

I got a new USB drive for our photos the other day. Okay for Toby's photos really. I'm paranoid that our computer will crash and we'll lose them. Especially after losing our Christmas photos as I left my camera at the beach when we were on holiday- painful. I started loading them yesterday but I realised that just from 2011 (he was born in July), we already have 6GB of photos! Ridiculous. I mean, given I haven't really gone through properly and deleted the crappy ones... that's still a lot of photos. And I only got a 16GB thingy. 

Camera suggesions anyone? Just a basic easy-peasy kinda one. 

(This is Toby as a 'baa-baa black sheep' but it didn't really turn out great as he kept moving. Fair enough. I'm still proud of my other work where I made him look like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!)

Tomorrow I'm going to get a manicure with my friend C. The husband got me a voucher for Christmas and I'm excited to be using it. Plus I haven't hung out with her for ages and it is much needed. (Only bummer is on Monday I couldn't remember why I had such long nails, as I usually keep them short, so I snipped them all off. Then right after that I realised I was keeping them long for the manicure appointment so they could trim them nicely and so maybe I could maybe get French-tipped ones... OH WELL.)

You know how I like to shop? Well since becoming a mom I've lost all ability to think when I'm in a mall. I think I have so much pent-up shoppingness that when I get to do it, I just don't know where to start. Probably a good thing for everybody. 

The other morning I used my husband's toothbrush by accident. How? I don't know- it was a totally different colour to mine. He's got a new toothbrush now. 

I'm in dire need for a blog design lesson. I did some html stuff at university but that was like seven whole years ago! Ugh. Any tips on where to start? 

Last night I lay in bed thinking about this post, like what to write (yes I do that a lot), but I don't remember what I was wanting to say (do have a writing pad beside my bed for those brilliant moments but didn't use it of course) so that's me for today. 

Have a great weekend!  

Toby - almost 5 months

Toby is 5 months in about a week! Here is an assortment of photos from the past few weeks.

The husband is doing Movember (Yes. Like for real.) so we thought we'd have some fun getting mo's for Toby too. Why not make use of some cuteness to raise money for a good cause (Men's prostate cancer and also mental health awareness)?

This is what happens when you have a mother who loves random ideas and sometimes actually carries them out. (They don't sell Reese's Peanut Butter Cups here in NZ, but we like it when we get it brought over- my sis-in-law gave the husband a t-shirt and  I gathered the rest...)

'She said to keep still.'

We always have smiles for daddy!

We have matching work t-shirts.

Thanks Michelle for my baby toy tool set!

Drying off after a bath... He loves being in the bathroom. (We use the big bath now but I haven't figured out the best way to hold him him slipping and without getting an aching back! He's got a bath seat but is getting too big for it... just gotta hold on til he sits up.)

Pics!

(A couple weeks ago I tried to go for a walk around the block with him in the baby bjorn... but he fell asleep!)

(This was me trying to take a passport photo of him. But he was a little too excited so I kept getting these funny expressions. We went to the store to do it haha.)

(This was a recent family pic. Look at his rosy cheeks!)

(So I often find him all over the place in his cot. Here's one...)

(You almost always will find him like this for his afternoon nap.)

(This was us at the Rugby World Cup Final party at my friend C's.)

(Just showin' off my All Black cupcakes. They won they won they won!)

3 months

Toby is 12 weeks this week! (Not sure whether to count the weeks or months. If we follow the date, he's 3 months next week.) ANYWAY. He totally rocks the party that rocks the party. Even if I'm sooooo wanting a nice sit down on the couch with a cup of tea. I love him.

Here are pics from the past month...

(She made me wear this!)

(What I look at for a large part of the day...)

(Smiley kiddo!)

(Rugby FEVER!)

(LOVE staring at his little feet...)

(Sometimes we get propped up on the couch haha...)

(Oops supposed to rotate this but oh well... sweet close up.)

(First nail cutting accident. DAD did it.)

(On tummy. He's not a fan... BUT so cute.)

Two Digits!

 Toby is ten whole weeks today. We are doing well. Here are some achievements:
1. Survived 6-week shots- vaccinations. The husband held him, not me- I couldn't watch!

2. We have officially graduated out of newborn clothes and diapers and are ploughing through the 3-mth outfits. Thankful we got given so many clothes as gifts.

3. Toby smiles a lot and "chats", which is really lovely because other than that they don't do much at this age!

4. With some perseverance we've managed to sleep through the night a few times. Praying we can continue! The difference it makes between waking at 4am and waking at 7am is amazing- definitely a nicer mom haha.

5. We've breastfed for 10 weeks! That's like 7 x 7 x 10 = 490 feeds roughly. RIDICULOUS. Though I've had a few rounds of clogged ducts (PAIN) and I really don't like expressing (super frustrating)... Thankful no major issues for now.

Yes it is still surreal that we have a son. And that he's super cute.

/

 (Fell asleep in my car seat waiting for disorganised mom and dad to leave- probably packing my diaper bag.)

 (Big chats with dad while propped up on the couch.)

 (bib-tastic.)

(I don't really like hats...)

(...but mom makes me pose in them anyway!)

Fog

How are you doing out there?

We've made it to 6 weeks. They say you feel like you're stuck in a cloud for about 6 to 8 weeks after having a baby. SO RIGHT.

My main thoughts through the day are:
1. Get out of PJS/When will I have a shower?
2. Which side (boob) did I feed on last?
3. What laundry do we need done next?
4. What time is it?
5. What day is it?
6. Lord, is am I doing this right?
7. Sleep baby, please sleep.

We're doing good overall. I have my days. I've been a bit nervous about 'the blues' and post-natal depression but as far as I know, I'm in the normal realm of mom-hood and I'm thankful for that. (Hopefully will have time to say more another day.)

The little man has already grown to 5.2kgs! He was 3.6kg when he came out. So fast. He's already popping out of newborn stuff, like nappies (diapers) and we're on to the next!

He's also smiling and making some coo-ing sounds, which is very sweet.

(my fave pic at the mo!)

(us, out and about!)

I think about this blog a lot and have so many little things saved up to say. But this will have to be me for now!

Toby- 3 weeks

Toby will be 3 weeks tomorrow! I have so many things to say but I am having trouble getting to the computer! We are doing well but also have been fighting a cold- yes both of us, ugh.

He's been a fab little guy- eating and sleeping well. I'm the one still adjusting and may be for a while haha. Here are a bunch of photos for now...

traffic jam camo!

we don't like being changed...

oops. spit-up. (if you're wondering about the off-shoulder top, it is because that shirt is too small for him and uh yes that is a sock we are using as a mitten haha...)

trying out some tummy-time!

i want food!

this was his first bath at home...

He's Here He's Here He's Here!!!

My son Toby was born on the 28th of June, Tuesday at 1:23pm NZ time. He weighed 8 lb and is doing so well.

Labour was not good but we survived and we got our baby here.

We are constantly fascinated by this little life that has landed in our laps (quite literally really). We are doing okay but it is definitely a mixture of mad excitement and overwhelming responsibility.

We have a baby son in our house! Ahh!

Anyway. Here are some pics. Talk more soon!

(few hours old!)

(a day old)

(3 days old- first time at home!)

Photosphotos

Hay... so here are some photos from my past few weeks. Not a grrrrrreat selection but it'll have to do for now!

**Lots of baby-ish stuff. Look away if not ready for it.**

(my friend J is due a month ahead of me. here's a diaper cake i made for her baby shower! very proud of myself. oh and yes crazy straws can come in handy if you're a slight hoarder like me!)

(we also did these super cute cut-outs for her shower deco. L did a lot of work cutting them out- go you! if you want to make them, find them here. )

(the husband and i attended a wedding a couple weekends ago. here we are in the church waiting for the bride, who was very gorgeous!)

(here's us outside the church. we don't normally looks so tidy/fancy i promise.)

(my mom recently went to the states to visit my bro. she brought back some goodies for the baby. here are some baby socks i need to wash... and uh there were a set of bibs that include obvious pink ones, to the right, haha... he won't know...)

(she also brought back his first little toy, a monkey. yes, which is funny cos' the first thing i got him was a monkey-theme thing too. probably will be a bit of a monkey. help. )

(some clothes he's already accumulated- little pile of laundry i need to get done at some point...)

(random blow up green cow we got for him. apparently good for agility hahha. and just fun in general. yeah maybe a bit early for this kinda thing...)

(did white laundry the other day- check out the baby's newborn undershirt vs. the dad's shirt...)

(i seem to have lost a belly-pic that we recently took! so... this one has a part of me in it plus sammy.)

34 weeks! Going well. Saw the mid-wife yesterday. Things still all seem fine and he's actually in a good foetal position which is nice too. (Stay there!) Except it makes me pee a lot and gives me backpains here and there haha but overall is a good thing.

Ok. That's me for today. Talk more soon! Happy Friday!