Standing

My big boy (8 months, 3 weeks & 2 days old, to be exact!) stood up on his own for the first time for longer than a couple of seconds tonight.

He was holding onto my leg with one hand, the other hand holding a toy... then let go of me to play two-handed with the toy - and stood there for at least ten seconds. I don't know if Rowan realised what he was doing, but afterwards he carefully squatted into a sitting position while still holding the toy in both hands. o_O



This Week in Scrapbooking

I've been working on more of the layouts in Rowan's Christmas album this week, Artscow (a printing website) have a 50% off sale on photobooks at the moment to be used before the 31st of December, so I'm attempting to get it all done. Besides, I don't want to be scrapping about Christmas in April, anyway! ;)

Here's a few of the layouts I've completed recently:

We Skyped on Christmas morning with my hubby's family so they could see their first grandchild open gifts. It was pretty cool connecting the laptop up to the TV so we could see their faces easily. :)

Credits
Merry & Bright Bundle - by Designs by Kat https://scraporchard.com/market/Merry-and-Bright-Digital-Scrapbook-Bundle.html
Fonts: Eight Fifteen [titlework] and Courier New [journalling]

Rowan (8 months old) has his first-ever picture with Santa. We'll ignore the fact that he cried immediately following the photo though. ;)

Credits
Kit: Christmas Blessings - by Captivated Visions & Litabells Designs https://scraporchard.com/market/Christmas-Blessings-Digital-Scrapbook-Kit.html
Template: Ianthine Templates - by Scrapping with Liz https://scraporchard.com/market/Ianthine-Digital-Scrapbook-Template.html
Scribbles Alpha - by Chelle's Creations https://scraporchard.com/market/Scribbles-Digital-Scrapbook-Alpha.html
Fonts: Howser [title] and The Great Escape [journalling]

Journalling reads: "When you started teething again during December, the race was on... what would come first: Christmas or your two top front teeth? Tooth #3 came down during early December and tooth #4 finally came in with 3 days to spare - phew!! You were so miserable cutting that fourth tooth, and are happy to see you back to your happy, smiling self!"

Credits
Kit + Alpha: Be Merry - by Secret Stash https://scraporchard.com/market/Be-Merry.html
Be Merry Overlays - by Secret Stash https://scraporchard.com/market/Be-Merry-Overlays-Digital-Scrapbook.html
Template: Chopped Paper Temps - by Scrapping with Liz https://scraporchard.com/market/Chopped-Paper-Template-Digital-Scrapbook.html
Font: CK Ali's Hand

Christmas Day itself was quite eventful, will be back shortly with a proper recap of what turned out to be a day to remember!



Christmas Eve



This time last year I sat in Hobart watching Carols by Candlelight with my prgnant, swollen feet up, nursing sunburn. And this year... I nursed my baby before watching the Carols. ;)

I've often wondered what Christmas with a child would be like. I remember it being a magical time from my own childhood, surrounded by family and doing things such as sneaking lollies and chips from the coffee table before lunch with my cousins, giggling at our secrecy (which of course, wasn't so secret!). While Rowan won't remember in future years what his first Christmas was like, we'll have plenty of pictures to show him when he's older.

For now, we'll enjoy the da-da-da-de-de's and ga-ga-ga's while our eight month old pulls up at everyone's legs and demands infinite solid foods and afterwards comes crawling back into the comfort of my arms for quiet milk feeds, before he's off again exploring the world.

To all my friends, thank you for being here and for supporting us in every facet of our lives. Merry Christmas to you all.

Wordless Wednesday

Our Christmas card for this year. Merry Christmas from Matt, Rowan and I from me to you. :)

This Week in Scrapbooking

Here are three of the pages I made this week, all credit linking is below each image (the Christmas pages are for Rowan's Getting Ready for Christmas book and the layout of the three of us is for our 2011 book.

Journalling reads: "It’s rare for the three of us to get into a photo together these days, as one of us always seems to be in front of the camera! Fortunately Auntie Marisa was over before your first Christmas Party and took a few photos of us as a family. I really like how this shot of us turned out, and how grown up you look in your “big boy” outfit!" (Dec 12th, 2011)

Credits
Kit: Crazy Little Thing - by Faith True & mLE Card [ link ]
Font: Nothing You Could Say

Journalling reads: "Growing up, the thing that got me excited about Christmas was the food - particularly mince pies and shortbreads. Every year, my Mum would make both treats and they weren’t allowed to be eaten before Christmas Eve. Somehow, waiting until then made them that much more special. Now, as an adult, I don’t wait until Christmas Eve to eat my favourite treats anymore... and neither does my Mum. In fact, it was late NOVEMBER when we were over at my Mum’s house for afternoon tea and she pulled out some mince pies from the bakery. I planned on eating mine myself, but with Rowan around there was very little chance of that happening! Mince pies in November... I guess that means that Christmas is definitely on the way!"

Kit & Alpha: Holiday Traditions - by Designs by Kat [ link ]
Fonts: Eight Fifteen [titlework] and Courier New [journalling]

Journalling reads: "Since Matt’s family lives in Hobart and mine in Melbourne, it’s difficult to get all of us in one place at any one time. On Matt’s 30th birthday, his family came to visit and although we were missing my brother & Matt’s sister Jess, this was as close to a full family portrait as we were going to get. THREE generations in one picture!"

Credits
Kit & Alpha: A Christmas Village - Designs by Kat & Ziggle Designs [ link ]
Template: Fuss Free Holiday Memories - Fiddle Dee Dee Designs [ link ]
Fonts: Guess What. [titlework], CK Jot [journalling]



Wordless Not-So-Wednesday

8 Months Old & a Video

This week Rowan turned eight months old and with it has come an explosion in the sounds that will one day become speech. For the last couple of weeks he has been making tiger-like gutteral growls which seems to attract a lot of attention when we're out and about (he does them most gleefully, of course!). Then came 'heh', and this morning begun the full-on 'dededede'. The teacher in me is so happy to hear sounds, and Rowan's little voice is so cute.

Have a listen to it here:


(8 months and 2 days old)

Other musings and favourites of Rowan at 8 months (noted down partially to remind me for his scrapbook pages) include -

• Pulling up to standing
• Sitting on the floor of the kitchen watching Matt and I cooking
• His 'First Words' books and 'Hello Little Chick' book
• Making choices (between two objects, mainly toys, books or foods; we say their name and hold the two in front of him. You see his eyes dart back and forth a few times before he erupts in a huge smile and grabs his chosen object)
• LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem (strangely...)
• Getting into my jewellery stand (now babyproofed)
• Everything and anything that Nana (my Mum) says illicits a smile or laugh
• Favourite toys are coloured stacking rings, TV remote controls; and of course...
• Soft bunny (comfort toy, already bedraggled-looking!)
• Teething was not fun this month - tooth #3 is now through with #4 not far behind, plenty of near-sleepless nights with these. :(

And a few recent photos to finish:

Standing at Nana's house

(and on me too)

This is 'soft bunny', a very common sight around here lately!

Getting into mischief with one of my necklaces...

This all seems so long ago now (Rowan was seven days old here and I can't believe how BIG that hat was on him then, it was my favourite of his newborn hats)

Blog Re-design

I've been fiddling with layotus over the last day or so, and think I've decided on this. Let me know if it displays funny on your computers and/or other devices, and if the font is readable (I think it is, but that's all subjective!).

Our Christmas Tree

Despite having a mobile baby in the house, we decided to put up our Christmas tree this year. It feels great to have such an outwardly sign of Christmas in the house, and is filling me with relaxation in the evening when the lights are on (mainly after Rowan's gone to bed, as to not be too tempting for him!).

The first day he tried everything in his power to get to the tree, since then he's been looking at it but not too focused (thankfully). That all might change soon when there's a few presents underneath, but we'll see!

Journalling reads: "Rowan has been so very interested in the changes to the loungeroom for Christmas, from helping Daddy with the lights to touching the decorations. Since he is getting so mobile now, we have had to put the coffee table in front of the tree as to form a barrier. Hopefully by another couple of years we’ll be able to move it away again!..."

Credits:
Kit & Alpha: Glad Tidings
Template: Photo Blends Templates - Scrapping with Liz
Font: Segoe Print

I'm loving the idea of celebrating Christmas with a baby for the first time. <3