My Precious Carter- 2 Months

My precious Carter,

Today, you are 2 months old.

It amazes me just how much you've developed in one month. You're starting to lose that 'newborn' look, and are beginning to look like a real little boy. I love that you look so much like I did when I was your age.

You're talking to us quite a bit now. The little coos and babbles are so endearing, and it melts my heart when I can hear you and daddy talking to each other constantly every morning. You're trying different sounds and attempting to formulate words. I believe that your first word will be 'hello' as we say it to you so much!

You have a very cheeky smile. When I'm tired and trying to get you to go to sleep at 4 in the morning, all of a sudden you'll flash me a big gummy grin and I can't help but smile back. I wonder when you'll start to giggle?

You've found your hands now. If they're not waving around madly, you're trying to shove them into your mouth. You still love bath time. You interact with us a lot more now though than you did last month, and will kick your little legs madly to create big splashes. It's still your favourite part of the day!

Sleeping is a lot better at night now. You've dropped a feed (which pleases mummy to no end!) and will sleep around eight hours straight. You're also doing quite well at tummy time, and can lift and turn your head.

I can't wait to see what the next month brings us. You delight and surprise us every single moment of every single day.

My little bunny, I love you past the stars xx

Nursery Part 2.

Ok.. a few more sneaky peeks!


Here's the other corner of the nursery. Although I originally wanted white, we chose a Boori cot in walnut, simply because there was so much white in the room already. Carter's quilt still isn't finished yet, so at the moment I'm using a gorgeous soft chocolate and white polka dot blanket.

This corner is still being developed (still waiting for that damn mirror to be moved, grr!). I covered some numbers from Spotlight and stuck them on the walls using 3M removable hooks. The metal and glass gumball machine I've had since I was a kid, and I just love it, and I thought it would look really cute in Carter's room. My next idea is to cover the letters of the alphabet to place on another wall.

The paintings of the little safari animals I created are placed just above his cot. I'm so glad I put the red and white stripey socks on them, as it ties in the red from other objects in the room! He's starting to take a lot more notice of his mobile now too, and will stare up and babble at it if it's going.

And lastly, his shelves full of precious things he received as presents after he was born. We've started his book collection, and one of the baskets is full of Little Golden Books his grandfather had when he was a boy. Other baskets hold his wraps and beautiful knitted blankets. As you can see, Deon has placed more of his model cars on top. I've happy happy about that, as it gets them out of the lounge room!

More to come soon...

Banishing the Baby Bulge.

Silly me.

For some reason I was under the impression that a few days after I'd had Carter I'd be able to zip back into my pre pregnancy jeans and fitted T-Shirts without much effort.

Ah... nope. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

9 months of limited exercise and eating all things sugary and not-so-good for you (cravings = BAD.. why couldn't I have craved the healthy stuff?!) have definitely taken it's toll. All up I put on around 20 kilos. Eek.

So, I got a nasty surprise when the warmer weather arrived and I couldn't fit into anything. I'm now on a mission to exercise and eat well so I don't have to buy a whole new wardrobe! I'm being realistic though, I know it won't happen quickly so I'll just have to be patient.

So, my goals are-

• Walk with the pram for 45 mins to an hour 5 days a week
• 20- 30 mins of cardio 5 days a week (if my poor joints can handle it.. I might have to build this one up!)
• At least 8 glasses of water a day
• No chocolate or ice-cream during the week

I think this is doable. I'll re-asses this in a couple of weeks.

Thankful.

I was worried that after having Carter, I would be quite lonely and isolated. A new baby often means changing relationships with people, especially friends. And, I have found this to be true, as some of my friends have dropped off the radar.

However, I've had a very pleasant surprise. I've discovered that I'm actually busier now than what I was pre-Carter. I have something on nearly every day of the week, and have not only reconnected with people, but made new friends along the way.

I LOVE that so many of my workmates have also had baby boys all within a year of each other.

I LOVE that we all frequently catch up for coffee, and that Carter has so many little friends that he can grow up with.

I LOVE that I can see mum whenever I like, and that my little sister is coming home soon for a week to spend time with Carter.

I LOVE that Deon, Carter and I have lots of wonderful family time on the weekend. It's so special when we bring Carter in our bed to snuggle on Saturday and Sunday mornings. His little coos and smiles are the best thing to wake up too.

Life is good.

8 Weeks.

Little Bunny has been absolutely fantastic this week. Every night (except Tuesday) he's slept for 8 hours straight. Last night he slept from 8pm to 4am, then back awake at 6:30am which made for one happy mum.

We decided to head out to school today, as it was the last day of term and Spring carnival. What a lovely day it was too.. gorgeous sunny weather and catching up with friends and workmates while he sat contentedly in my arms and took everything in. I couldn't believe how well behaved he was, considering we were there for two hours!

The little bunny is 8 weeks old today. He's so alert and attentive, wanting to discover new things, sights and sounds. He's discovered his hands, and is constantly shoving them in his mouth! His eyes are wide, bright, and a deep steely grey/blue. I wonder what colour they'll eventually turn.. green like his mums, or brown like his dads?

One More for Aunty Pan.

Counting Down.

Aunty Pan, I can't wait for you to come home and see me again! It's been way too long, and I want to show you all the clever things I can do now! I reeeally want to give you a big hug and kiss, and show you my gorgeous big gummy smiles. We can talk and snuggle and go for long walks, and you can read me the animal book you bought me.

I love you very much Aunty Pan... only 11 days to go!

Carter's Conversations.

We've discovered that in the past couple of days Carter has been mimicking us, and holding little 'conversations'. He's growing up so fast!

A Letter.

My gorgeous little bunny,

Mummy was EXTREMELY impressed that you slept for a whole 8 hours last night. If fact, she couldn't believe it. She is SUPER proud of you, and is excited about the possibility that if you could do it once, you may be able to do it again.

If it's OK with you though, can we just work on one tiny thing? We may need to adjust the timing just a little bit. Instead of from 5pm to 1am, could you do from say, 8pm to 4am, or even 9pm to 5am? Even 10pm to 6am would be super! That way mum would only have to get up once, and not twice.

Thank you sweetheart. Love you past the stars xxoo

7 Weeks Today.

My little bunny, I love you past the stars.

Nursery Part 1.

While my little bunny is sleeping in his swing, I thought I'd take a sneak peek photo of his nursery. I've been promising to do this for a long time (especially to you, Danielle!) However, it's still not finished, and me, being the perfectionist I am, am not going to show it in its completion until it is!

So.. here's the change table area:

As soon as I saw the dandelion decal on Etsy, I just loved it and had to have it.

Lan, the best little sister in the world, painted these elephants just for Carter's room. Isn't she amazing?

So there you go, a little taste of his room. As soon as I get the gigantic mirror out and his quilt is finished, I can show the rest of it. As you can see, the safari animals theme has deviated slightly. As soon as we found out it was a boy, Deon had to move his model cars and trucks in!

Sleep? What Sleep?

This is Carter's sixth week, and he's turned into the incredible sleepless baby during the day!

He was never really fond of sleeping during the day to begin with, but at least I'd get about an hour to an hour and a half at a time out of him. Now, I get about 45 minutes... twice a day. That's it. After a feed, I play with him, sing to him and read him stories until his eyes begin to slowly close and the yawning starts. I then wrap him, place him in his cot and shut the door quietly.. only to hear the crying start 5 minutes later!

When I check on him, his eyes are wide open and he's giving me a look as if to say, 'Mum, what are you doing? I'm not tired, I want to play!! Bring me back out!!'

So, we've spent a lot of time together this week. The plus side is that my little bunny is still sleeping beautifully at night. I can't ask for more than that, can I?



Plus, who wouldn't want to spend lots of time with this little angel?

A First for Deon.

Deon's first Fathers Day.. such a special moment.

Deon was wonderful, and took over the early morning feed for me so I actually slept from 11:30pm to 7am, which was AMAZING. I feel so much better today, and revived.

Carter gave his daddy his card and Fathers Day present this morning (with help from mummy) and had lots of hugs and kisses. He then spent the morning with four generations of the Blaby clan, including himself, his daddy, his Poppy and Great Poppy.

This evening will be spent with the other side of the family, so he can see his Grandad. Family is so important to me, and I love that he can spend lots of time with both sides of the family. I just wish his Aunty Lan lived here too.

Happy Fathers Day Dad! xx

A Photo for Thursday.

My little bunny..5 weeks and 5 days old.

Sunny Smiles.

I bought my little angel a present yesterday.

I just can't help myself, I just love spoiling him!

He was given the Fisher-Price Rainforest playmat as a gift by my wonderful Koops relatives, so I decided to get the swing to match. I've found mum's swing to be a huge help to me, as I can just sit him in there while I potter around the house if he isn't quite ready to go to bed yet. He swings contentedly, sucking on his dummy and gazing around taking everything in.

All snug as a bug, ready to swing.

I think he loves it, as he rewarded me with some huge sunny smiles! It always makes me laugh when I see them, as they're exactly the same as Lan's smiles when she was little. He's got the one eye crinkle happening!


I was also extremely happy to see my Gymboree parcel had arrived! How cute are the overalls and the romper? I picked out clothes from the Monster Truck and Aloha series. The overalls second from the right have tiny embroidered turtles on them. Just adorable. I can't wait until he can wear them.. bring on Summer!