CAKE SMASH!!

They're here! I have the cake smash photos!

It was about a week after Adam's birthday that this went down in the little public garden round the back of our house. We had literally JUST moved into the house (about three days earlier), I threw a cake together and decorated it with things I had in the cupboard that might be suitably tempting to make Adam dig his hands into said cake (namely biscuits and raisins).

Natalie came over, and it was the first time we met. She was lovely and so friendly and she made the photo shoot comfortable, like I was hanging out with a friend. The kids also loved her, though with three of her own, she's well trained so this wasn't surprising!

We found a relatively well-shaded spot, and laid out the blanket Natalie had brought and popped on the cake. All that was left was Adam, but of course he wasn't interested. Now he will usually eat anything. Food, insects, anything. But he wouldn't touch the cake. I know he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but a cake sitting there begging to be smashed How could anyone refuse?! Even Emily was dying to have a go.

But he did poke at it eventually, he even nibbled at a small piece, and Natalie got some good photos of the process, and eventually we let Emily join in too.

It was fun, if slightly frustrating, but the photos are great, and it's a funny story to accompany some great pictures of my hard-headed little boy aged one.

(For the record, it wasn't Natalie's fault the photos took so long to get to me. She was on holiday in April, which I knew about when I booked the photo shoot and didn't mind waiting!)

Natalie's website is here: Natalie Robinson Photography

Funny Boy

Adam is almost 9 months old now. Desperately trying to crawl and finding himself hilarious. He has an incredible sense of humour, and an increasingly mischievous side. These two pictures sum him up perfectly at the moment.

His "I know I shouldn't be trying to climb out of the bath(/insert several other situations),

but I really really want to try anyway" look.

And this is his "I want that phone/remote control/fork" look/shriek.

(In fact, this Christmas list may as well be written by him.)

But then he is also incredibly snuggly and has become so very affectionate. He's even trying to blow kisses.

This little boy has added light in my life in a way I didn't know could exist.

Behind the Lens with Emily

Some more Emily classics...

Oops, busted. In fairness, I was trying to sort out one of her Christmas presents.

Yes I'm Christmas shopping in September.

(I started in June.)

"It's a REALLY tall tower!"

Behind the Lens with Emily

Over the summer, Emily learnt how to use our phone cameras. In detail. Due to this, we regularly find several dozen photos of the same thing on our camera roll. Usually something very important, like a table leg. I can see most of you nodding. She's far from the only toddler to hijack their parents' phones. 

But before I delete them all, I thought I'd share some of her little masterpieces with you all. I'm making it clear, however, that the ones of David and myself asleep or undressed or in extremely unflattering positions won't be making it onto these posts. In case you wondered.

"It's a picture of you, Mommay. It's a good one!"

(She was talking about that first one)

Yeah. He won't love me for this when he's older.

Artistic, non?

Newborn (and Big Sister) Photoshoot

My cousin, Louisa - who is also expecting - came over a few weeks ago to take Adam's Newborn pictures. While we were at it, she also took Emily's Big Sister photos. We had a laugh and enjoyed ourselves, and the result was beautiful. Here are a few of my favourites.

I am utterly in love with the pictures. Emily was 2 years and 2 months in these photos, and Adam just over 2 weeks old. He is now one month old. Not quite sure where the time's gone!

My cousin's website is here: LouisaTonna.com

All images in this post are copyright L. Tonna

Recently

My Dad introduced me to an iphone app called Qwiki this morning. I love my Daddy very much, and I love him even more now. I am so happy to have downloaded this app, there is a good chance I may overuse it. You may lodge any complaints directly with my Dad :)

Meanwhile, here is an overdue Recently post in a new form. I hope you enjoy it. Needless to say, I LOVE it. 

Ps: Download Qwiki here - free!

In other news - and this qualifies as a NEWSFLASH - the Big Boat arrives today, one whole day ahead of schedule. This amount of excitement cannot be good for a Braxton Hicky pregnant woman like me!

Recently

Part of the reason I haven't blogged much this past month is that we spent two weeks of it in Malta. While we were there, we found a place to live, bought a car, chose a school for Emily, and a gynaecologist for me (to anyone thinking about it, I do not recommend switching health providers mid-pregnancy), and opened bank accounts. I think there was more, but it's like a small whirlwind in my head at the moment. Suffice it to say, we've been busy.

But here are a few snapshots from the last few weeks.

We've had little pampering sessions. Can't get over how long her hair is. She loved swishing it around.

We did the cool sunglasses thing whilst in Malta...

...Everywhere we went!

No comment (I couldn't resist).

Her eggbox is now her "compter." She turns it around and types emails on it

and informs me she is "bizzy emails compter, Mommay" I wouldn't dare disturb.

Meanwhile, as if I didn't have enough to do already, I am also planning her 2nd birthday party!

(I'm loving it really!!)

In the Picture

That tear-jerker P&G advert still shows up on TV every now and then, and I've made a conscious effort to not to just be "air". Us Mums are often left out of photos - often too busy being behind the camera itself - but I am adamant that there will be many photos through Emily's life that I am present in. Everyone needs to remember what their Mummy looked like when she and they were young. Maureen over on Island Fairy does a regular Embrace the Camera post, which I love because it gives us an opportunity to see the person behind the blog, not just the children she writes about and so obviously loves... and if I enjoy seeing pictures of her, then they certainly will too.

But it's so easy to miss out. In our family I am the official person behind the camera. David isn't really into photography or even photo-taking so I can often be heard reminding (begging!) him to pick up the camera to ensure there are pictures of me with Emily too. Sadly this often means pictures that include me are posed and artificial. Yes, he takes plenty of them once he's at it but they are often twenty different versions of the same thing and I want life and candid moments, which I think either comes naturally to the photographer or it simply doesn't. Having said that - and he knows this because I have told him - David is getting much better at it, and although many pictures of Emily and myself are still painfully posed, there have been a few more recent ones that haven't been, and that I am in love with.

Today a friend on Facebook linked to an article called The Mom Stays in the Picture. It hit the nail on the head as to why I want to be in photos. Somehow I've never quite been able to explain it without sounding like some narcissistic prat. But this article did it for me. My husband may not be the type to pick up a camera unprompted, but he is kind and compassionate and caring and he admires the huge amount of work I do with Emily on a daily basis, and that can never be dismissed. I emailed the link to him with a note and I have been promised far more pictures in future.

"I'm everywhere in their young lives, and yet I have very few pictures of me with them. Someday I won't be here -- and I don't know if that someday is tomorrow or thirty or forty or fifty years from now -- but I want them to have pictures of me. I want them to see the way I looked at them, see how much I loved them. I am not perfect to look at and I am not perfect to love, but I am perfectly their mother."
[Allison Tate, The Mom Stays in the Picture]

Charge!

Last Saturday, I brought the gifts out of their hiding place (it wasn't much of a hiding place to begin with, they were just out of Emily's sight) and put them under the tree. Emily hadn't shown much interest in the tree so I thought it would be safe.

And I can't say I was wrong... as long as Missy E is kept an eye on. She did however try and get her dangerous little fingers on the gifts. Everyone's gifts. Here is how it happened.


Attempt Number 1 (as caught on camera)
"I've figured it out... Wait till Mummy's not looking, then ransack the pressies!"



*note the guilty facial expression*


Attempt Number 2
The next day she really lost her cool and began making mad dashes for the tree in plain sight. Sorry baby, no matter how fast you are, I'm faster.


Attempt Number 3
"If I just hang out in the vicinity of the tree, looking innocent, Mummy won't be suspicious..."




Attempt Number 4
"Maybe if I take some toys with me it will look less conspicuous?"




Attempt Number 5
"A-ha! I'll pretend it's just the ribbon I'm after..."






... later ...



Maybe it was just the ribbon she wanted (not surprising, seeing as how she has no idea what's under the wrapping!) That, or she's just given up and is making do with her spoils of war. Sunday is going to be FUN! :)


PS. My sight is back baby! :D

PSS. Emily now has a blog! Check it out!

Little Lessons

She's only gone and done it again! :-)





The amazing Nataliya (SuburbanMummy / Akira Photography)
took some "6 month" pictures of Emily a few weeks ago.
(Needless to say, they are all stunning.)
She then wrote a touching post thanking Emily for inspiring her.
To keep going, not to give up.


Claire over at BeakTweets wrote a similar post about her daughter the other day,
observing her sheer determination to learn things.


We forget, as we grow older, how easy things were when they were simple.
When there were no masks, no pride, no complications.
These little ones just get on with things, at their own individual pace.
And even when they fall, they get up and (perhaps a few tears later),
they smile a brilliant smile, light up our worlds, and carry on.

We could do worse than to learn a few things from these amazing little people!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Awakening

Taken at Howletts Wild Animal Park, 27.03.11

A Long Time Ago

I love old photographs. I've just managed to get my hands on digital versions of these two photos of my grandparents, taken about ten years after the second world war ended.

Ironically, the photos were also taken in the same place. (Wied Għomor, Malta)


Maternal Grandparents


Paternal Grandparents

Weren't they stunning? :)

I love the speed and ease of modern photography, but there was something so magical about photos taken back then. I imagine every photo to have been an event - the sort of thing you got dressed up for. I wonder what was going through their minds as they had their photos taken. I might just ask my Nannas :)

L'Anniversario #1

Today a year ago, it all happened. Everything I had ever wished for came together and came true.* It hasn't been an easy year since October 2008. If anything, more things went wrong this year than in any other year. But we are good together. We adore each other's company, never tire of it; we make each other laugh, and left alone, we're just a couple of lovestruck teenagers. We've kept each other afloat, strong, and looking forward.