Little Red turns one.

So the wee monster turned one on Monday and we celebrated in style the day before. A great day was had by all, even Redford who took it all in his stride (and thoroughly enjoyed his piece of cake). The highlight? Putting him in the sailor suit that his Daddy wore 31 years ago when he turned one!


The feast! And all homemade! We had lamingtons, cheese straws, rice paper rolls, animal biscuits, pikelets...

and then there were pepperdews stuffed with brie, egg, ham and salmon sammies, mint truffles and lime and white chocolate rocky road. Yum!

We even had goody bags! No party is complete without goody bags.

But who could forget the most important part? The cake! Vanilla butter cake with vanilla buttercream icing. Mmmm!

There was plenty of bubbles for the adults....

Me and the birthday boy (who's not all too happy about wearing such a silly hat) x

Family photo! Daddy's not too happy about the hat either - "But I look simple!"

Opening presents, what a lucky wee boy our Redford was!

Cake time! A big happy birthday followed by the clap game.... which was pretty short seeing as though there was only one clap....

Redford wasted no time in munching down his piece of cake (we may have created a monster) with Daddy.

The infamous sailor suit!

Cuddles with Daddy - recreating the 1980 photo with the next generation.

Redford's actual birthday - his first fluffy (which went down a treat, particularly the marshmallows!)

Eyeing up the $350 wagon that he'd quite like for his next birthday. Dream on, buddy!

Holy heck! I'm IN the mirror! Admiring himself at Te Papa.

And to top off a lovely day, naked fun times with the balloons. Red thought all his birthday's had come at once.

Now it's Mummy and Daddy's time to celebrate! We crack open our bottle of 2008 Alana Estate Reisling Aperitif, bought waaaay back on our first trip away together. Bliss!

And thus concludes Redford's lovely birthday! Bring on number two, I say! I'm planning it already....


x

Bad Bonnie!

Holy guacamole! As my dear friend and TMD cohort Nikki pointed out, I haven't written a BB post in over five weeks! Tsk tsk. My blog has suffered immense negligence. I have returned to find it cowering in the corner with tears in it's eyes. If it was a Tamagotchi, if would be floating around on the screen with wings right now. Lucky I don't own any house plants. Or fish. Now I see why my basil didn't survive.....


In fact, I'm surprised I still have any followers!


Well, well. What's been happening? Or, should I say, what hasn't been happening?! Little Red is *tear* the big O-N-E in just under two weeks. I'm finding it rather hard to comprehend that my wee man is going to be all grown up. Hell, he'll be lolling around in bed til noon soon telling me to F Off. Sometimes I can't bear the thought of him not wanting my cuddles and kisses one day.... well, better get them all in while I can!

What else? Redford is crawling like a rocket (he quite enjoys taking Heinz the Reindeer for a walk). 

He's been pulling himself up everywhere. Walking round things. Enjoying a cuppa with Daddy.

Mainly he's just been catching up on some reading and getting into as much trouble as possible in the short space of time it takes me to have a wee or put the washing on.

 Or.... trying to change his nappy, ahem....

So! That's what's been going on here. Oh, and he has six teeth!


I promise promise promise to never stray for so long again and keep your eyes open for lots more Baby Bump posts from now on!!


B x

Where's Redford?

The new fave game - peepo with hats!

Happy days x

Help please! The big O-N-E....

Little Red isn't one for a few months yet but I'm already thinking about his bash and I need your help. What to do? Do we have a big party with family, our friends and all his little buddies or do we just keep it small with family and close friends?

On one hand I think it should be big - Red's important to us and a lot of other people and it's such a milestone (having said that though, we'd do a 'no presents' policy so he doesn't end up with mountains of stuff) and on the other hand, I think maybe it should just be small as he has no idea what's going on and it's more of a milestone for us as parents, right?

So I want to know what you guys did for you littlies first birthdays. Comment below or email me at bonniesaysyes@gmail.com. 

Thanks ladies x

The day I fought a losing battle

Lunchtime. Mess. Brainstew. Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

 The culprit - couscous, sweet corn, pumpkin & banana.

 A deft ninja whack of the spoon while I had

my head turned sent lunch running down the

cupboards - woe is me!

The floorboards are enjoying their meal. Thankfully we

have the neighbour's cat to clean up the scraps. Although

she does seem to be getting increasingly fat....

The face of a boy who is getting bathed VERY soon.

Aaaand it ends up on the legs too. 

Everywhere but in his tummy it seems.

 

 Hey Mum, do you like seafood?

Not particularly.

SEE FOOD!!! And lots of it.

 

I'm reminded somewhat of a muddy dog

restrained on a towel until the bath is run.

Clean and mess free. Now to tackle the kitchen

floor. And the cupboards. And the bath. And the

clothes. And the....

Ahem. Just for good measure, this was after-dinner pudding. 

Plum, banana and avocado. This time I fed him in the 

nuddy and pre-ran the bath. Such is life with a piglet!

 

Beanwear - uber cool threads for uber cool kids

Sometimes I get a little sick of the enormous price tags attached to the more unique and funky clothes out there for kiddies. I'm all for supporting NZ stores (and I do when I can) but sometimes, when you're on one income, it can get a bit pricey!

That's where Beanwear comes in. George (a friend of a friend who was a tad fed up with the big prices) traveled to India recently and got a whole bunch of super cute threads made for babies and toddlers - mainly girls but there's quite a few things that could double as unisex. 

There's everything from gorgeous singlets to harem pants (think MC Hammer with an eastern feel) and all pieces are cotton/lycra in the most stunning earth colours. The best bit? They start from only $5.50!

So whether you're looking for something a little different, durable and super comfy for your wee one or as a gift, get Beanwearing now! 

Find Beanwear on Trade Me here.

Little Red gets a bit cute

I just had to post this photo that I took of Redford this morning - it just melts my heart!

The boy loves his toys!

The food conosseur - solids take 2

After a rather rocky start on the solids train a couple of weeks ago I made the executive decision to halt proceedings for a wee while. Not only was I getting frustrated, Little Red seemed to be going backwards rather than forwards and we were smack bam in the middle of moving house. I figured hey, it ain't going to hurt either of us if we take a step back and go back to solely boobie feeding - once we were settled in at the new place and all was peace, love and harmony again we'd have another shot.

The final box was unpacked last Thursday and the finishing touches put into Redford's bedroom (yes that's right! He now sleeps in his own room like a real big boy) so on Friday morning I thought OK, it feels good, let's do it. And away we went! A few days shy of hitting the 6 month mark (it's his half year birthday tomorrow - eek, my little man's growing up!) we hit solids with a vengeance. 

Day One started with mashed banana (unfortunately no photos, the camera was M.I.A) and then we moved onto a slice of apple later in the day....

 It ended up in the nose...

  then in the mouth "Hrm, I guess this is OK...."

 

  but in the end it was a lot more fun to play with.

Day Two was pureed pumpkin and kumara. Not as popular as the banana but it still went down alright. Most importantly though, this was the beginning of the spoon love affair.

Day Three was Only Organics Fruit Muesli which was by far the favourite. The spoon relationship is now in full swing. The Stars & Stripes look was unintentional but oh so patriotic.
 

  "It's OK for you to feed me with a spoon, Mum. As long as I get my own too."

 

  "Oh spoonie, I love you so!"

"We shall never be apart again."

So the solids have been a success thank goodness! As long as the button gets his special spoon - it must be this spoon, none other will suffice - everything is rainbows and lollipops. It's pretty cute really. Very cute, in fact. All these new tastes and textures to explore and what can I say? This time he's really taken it in his spoon obsessed stride.

Post Script: The Fruit Muesli which was the firm favourite has unfortunately been banished to the back of the cupboard for a while - gluten on a sensitive wee tum only two days into the journey made for many tears, a rock hard torso and a very red-faced attempt at pooping to no avail. My poor wee bean! So we'll be laying off wheat and gluten for a bit, fingers crossed I don't have an intolerant baby though, I myself have a very strong love affair with carbs!

From squishy newborn to cheeky monkey

Once a little bean that simply ate, slept and pooped, over the past couple of months Little Red has really started to boost his character. Of course he always had some semblance of a personality - he began life with quite a penchant for art, spending most of his "awake" time gawking at the paintings and prints that adorn our walls (I've since bought him his first piece of art, none other than Mickey to Tiki Tu Meke by the brilliant Dick Frizzell - but don't get too excited, it's not a limited edition). He was also born with a strong appreciation for good music (Duran Duran and NOFX if you ask Nick, The National and Wilco if you ask me) - flailing his arms and bopping around whenever a song came on. Although having said all this, I'll put down my pretentious stick now and admit that he probably just liked the colours and the noise. It's probably a breath of fresh air seeing and hearing things other than the inside of my belly and the muffled sound of my horrendous rendition of All That Jazz in the shower each night.

The first time he smiled was amazing - from that one simple, cheeky grin oozed as much charm and charisma as a baby can have and I knew then that I had a wee monkey on my hands. Since that day he's begun to laugh and giggle - at Nick's new found "Dad Dance" (which consists of a few knee bobs and far too much pointing), our never ending game of Peepo or, most of the time, nothing at all. He also turns on the pizazz like nobody's business. Recently we've been house hunting and he never fails to render the real estate agents gooey putty in his tiny wee hands. Funny how he screams his head off in the car on the way over (not such a fan of the car seat) only to flutter those big blue eyes and grin from ear to ear as soon as we've reached said house.

His most recent tricks are by far the cutest things I've ever seen. I now have no doubt that by four months old a baby knows a little about how to get what he/she wants. Well, this one does at least. Little Red's first gag is to grab your attention and grab your attention he does! Leave him for a bit on his play gym or in his baby bouncer and once he's gotten a tad bored he'll start with the chatting which then turns into a bit of a growl and then moves onto a barrage of shouting at the poor unsuspecting caterpillar hanging from the play gym. This continues until you look over at him and suddenly he stops only to put on the sweetest, warmest smile you've ever seen and then follows that up with a satisfied sigh and a gentle coo. And as soon as I see this smile, well, I'm all his. 

His other favourite game is the boo-boobie game. This generally only takes place when there's another person present and he doesn't have my 100% attention. Once he's had just enough to satiate himself (but not quite enough to keep him full and happy for the next three hours) he begins the break-up-the-conversation battle. It goes a little something like this.... 

*Feed, feed, feed. Oh no! Mummy's not watching me! Pull off and stare at her until she realises I'm not latched. Ah yes, she's looking now. Big grin, big giggle, big nuzzle and then back to feed, feed, feed. Oh no! She's stopped watching again! Right, I'm pulling back off and staring again. Haha! Look at me, Mum! Grin, giggle, nuzzle, feed feed feed*

And so on. This continues until I apologise to whoever else is in the room, put the conversation on hold and keep my eyes glued to the boy (no tricking, Mummy. I can see you out of the corner of my eye) until I'm satisfied that he's so stuffed he's now grinning in all his milk-drunk glory.

Maybe he knows he's doing it, although it's probable that he doesn't - he's simply being the darling wee bairn he was put on this earth to be. I love the fact that my boy's a little monkey, that he's got personality plus and the only thing he needs to do is flash me a grin or bat his eyes and I turn to mush. The giggles, the coos, the squeals and the cheekiness - it gets me every time!

A most surreal afternoon walk with Little Red

What a beautiful spring Wellington morning it was today.... until mother nature packed a sad and sent the rain in. But then it was sunny again. Kind of. Looks like good ol' Welly is taking a leaf out of the Auckland weather book, eh? 

Anywho, completely muffing up my schedule (i.e. canceling a Plunket course and forfeiting coffee group for a journey up the way that turned out not to be today after all - that's baby brain for you, I guess), the wee pickle and I were at a loss for activities. About to set out on a delicious, sun filled meander down to Island Bay, we quickly halted our plans when the rain set in. What better to do than snuggle in bed on a rainy day? So we did just that. However, both of us suffer from incredibly short attention spans so as soon as the pitter patter of raindrops ceased, Little Red was in his buggy and we were out the door before you could say "walkies!"

Thankfully, the weather held out for most of our journey down to the beach. I was very much enjoying using the Mountain Buggy carrycot that a friend so kindly lent to us - for once it was lovely to watch Redford rocking around and drifting off to sleep. 

On the way back home the sun began to get unbearably hot, yet I could see storm clouds chasing us from the south and all of a sudden it began raining from the warm, sunny skies. It was so surreal, I haven't seen a sun shower in yonks and TV on the Radio was blaring away on my iPod which is always going to crazy things up a bit. The feeling was incredible - the ice cold raindrops pattering onto my hot cheeks and the smell was heavenly - you know that smell when rain hits warm asphalt and freshly cut grass? Yum! The only problem was, while I was thoroughly enjoying myself, I had no rain cover for Little Red.... oops. 

I pulled the hood up but the raindrops were still sneaking in and kissing bubs lightly on his cheeks, forehead, mouth and eyelids. The look on his face was one of pure shock, quite similar to the first time we put him in the bath and he looked at us like we'd just committed some unspeakable crime. Just as I was thinking oh heck, I'm about to have a screeching baby on my hands and scrabbling for my cardigan to put over the gap to fend of the incoming drops, he licked the rainwater off his lips, smacked them around a bit and then began to laugh! And this wasn't some sissy boy baby giggle, this was a full blown, over excited, guffawing laugh. I stopped and stared at him, thinking perhaps it was just a fluke but no, as I pushed the hood of the carrycot back and gave the rain more room to work with Little Red began to laugh more and more with every drop. It was incredible. In fact, by the time we got home I hurried him quickly inside for fear he would start hyperventilating from all the chuckling!

So, it turns out my little man loves the rain. What a surreal experience. Never in his life so far have I seen him so happy, it was the most glorious thing.