Month 6

wow 6 months can fly by when you're having fun can't it? this month bought my official return to full time work, Declan's first round of gastro and the worst nappy rash ever, more teeth, 6 mth needles and a whole lot of love and fun in between!

my return to work went better than expected, but it was just a whole new level of tired and exhausted to get used to! Declan was settling well at day care, and after catching a bit of everything (the flu, a cough, gastro, conjunctivitis) we managed to settle into a pretty good routine. the gastro was horrible. but it wasnt anywhere near as bad as the nappy rash that followed. my poor baby. he was hating everything at that point, even sitting up for too long hurt his little bottom, and after several trips to the doctors, plus asking multiple chemists for advice, we finally found a cream that worked and cleared everything up pretty quickly! he grew another 2 teeth pretty quickly and with not much fuss, and even handled his 6 mth needles better than I'd been told he would. just a quick cry and then all better after cuddles. and no reactions or side effects, so happy with that.

best part about this month though? he said his first word! and it was "MUMMA" yay! honestly, it wouldnt have mattered if he'd said mumma or dadda first, we were just so excited to hear him say an actual word! of course "Dadda" quickly followed and now we can't get him to shut up about it! hahaha. its the sweetest noise in the world listenning to him call out to me through the monitor in the mornings. or, on the mornings when hes woken up in our bed with me, his little eyes blink open, he looks straight at me with a tiny smile and whispers "mum" at me. its just the best feeling ever.

he's finally in his own cot most nights (he always starts in there, but on the odd occasion, specially when sick, he still ends up in our bed) and surprisingly, hes even sleeping through, probably 4 nights out of 7, so not bad baby boy! keep it up! he still isnt a fan of tummy time, but is happier to play alone, and is loving his walk-around table so much! I'm always so torn between being so excited about how big he is and all the new things hes learning, to being sad that its all going so quickly and hes changing so much every day. luckily, we've been taking a million pictures constantly, so we'll have a pretty good record to look back on!

Everyone loves new pjs! and Elmo!

Declan was shocked when we discovered his secret identity! hehe

Thanks for the new toy dad! when my feet touch the ground, I'm sure I'll enjoy it even more! (never mind the mess in the background :/)

With new teeth comes a new love of rusks!

Still not keen on any sort of pureed food though!

Our beautiful baby boy on his 6 month birthday. We'd thought we'd celebrate by taking him on the swing at the park for the first time. He loved it!

Declan scored some hand me down toys from his cousin Jasper. He loved them both! They remain at my parents house so he has different things to play with when we're there. Saves having to bring everything every time!

My sweet cousin N came round to do a 6mth photo shoot for us, these are a couple of my test shots (taken on my iphone) he looks so sweet and grown up in his sneakers!

Not every photo was a success though, and most of the day was a disaster. Declan was in no mood to have his picture taken! we were lucky N managed to get a few really great ones in between all the tears!

She did such a great job with such a grumpy baby! Hoping he behaves better for pics around his 1st birthday!

Month 5!

Ok, so I never did get around to writing about our family tragedy back in May. And I'm still not sure how to go about it, so for now, even though I said I wouldn't, I am going to continue on with Declan's monthly updates instead, because, well its DECEMBER already (what what?!) and hes about to be ONE!

So Month 5, in terms of Declan-ness was pretty good. Thank goodness we have an easy baby that's so adaptable and cooperative (I may eat those words one day!) that no matter what we were all going through, or expecting him to deal with (any sort of routine had gone straight out the window this month!) he dealt with it all like a champ. And is still constantly smiling. He makes everyone smile, such a blessing to have in our lives.

This month though, was particularly hard for me, as it marked my return to work. And full time work at that! I always knew I'd be returning to work, at some point, but it wasnt supposed to be this quickly. But we need the money, and there wasn't a way I could swing being part time at the job I already had, so after a few half weeks (thank goodness my replacement agreed to my part time arrangement for as long as she could) I returned to full time. 8-4, 5 days a week. That meant finding a day care for Declan. Which felt like such a daunting task. There are plenty around our area, and near my work place, and I hadn't heard a bad word about any of them, and that somehow made the decision harder. I checked out a couple I had had good recommendations to, but they just didnt feel "right". The last place I looked at, thank fully, was the best. I just had such a good feeling about it. As soon as Declan and I walked in there, we knew it was the place for us! It was such a big decision, and despite all my good feelings about the place, I still didnt sleep very well before and after making the final decision, I'm always such a nervous wreck about big life decisions. We worked out that Declan would go to day care full time 4 days a week, and my sister would have him on Tuesday mornings (Dan only works til 12pm on Tuesdays). Ami was just so danged excited to start her new weekly babysitting duties, and Declan still to this day just adores her and their special time together. I'm so grateful that she was able to do this, and its so special that theyre so close.

Declan took to daycare like a champ. Apparently only cried a little bit when I left the first 2 days, then he was fine. All the girls that look after him in his baby room are so sweet and attentive to him, I felt really comfortable leaving him in their care. Of course, I still got quite teary every morning when I drove away, but that soon faded once I saw how much fun he was having. We get a write down of everything hes done/eaten/drank/slept every day, and hes always in such a good mood in the afternoon, he must really being enjoying it.

Of course, with full time work, comes so much busy-ness that some days I felt really stressed and exhausted, I wasnt sure how I was going to be able to do this long term! And occasionally, I do still feel like I have no time to do anything, and nothing in the house will ever be completely done, but I am getting more used to it, and Declan has sorted himself out a great routine, he's even started sleeping through the night! Hallelujah!!

He's so good at rolling now, except he really doesnt enjoy being on his stomach much! Cant see him crawling anytime soon thats for sure! He's grown himself some teeth, and managed to handle teething really well, and even started to make more and more noises (I hear him say "mumma" every day in my head, though he hasnt quite got it out just yet! haha). He's an amazing baby, and we are so so lucky to have him. He certainly came at the right time for my whole family, and they all needed him this month to help lift their spirits and make them smile. He's definitely good at that!!

Photo time!

The one photo of him not screaming on his stomach! he really does look close to crawling, but it seriously isnt going to happen any time soon!

Apparently mummy's glasses are hilarious! Oh baby boy, you do look hilarious in them!

Such a little baby in a big bed! I put him in there straight, but somehow he always ends up diagonal!

First encounter with a rubber duckie! Haha his face!

Gotta rug up in these cold months! This set was the best thing I've bought for him, he wears his mittens in bed to stop him pulling out his dummy and waking himself up, and the hat is great coz his little ears are always cold! Plus, LOOK AT THE CUTE!

"Helping" poppy with the puzzles!

Fun times in the daycare swing. Apparently hes a big swing hog and has a bit of a cry every time they take him out. This was his first day, man did I feel better when I saw how happy he looks!

We also tried to start giving him some food. Rice cereal at first, as he hasn't had anything else but breastmilk or formula. He wasnt a fan. But we'll keep trying!

xx

you got some explainin' to do!

ok, so obviously I'm terribly sorry for my absence. I have been attempting to write about Month 5, 6, 7, 8 AND 9 (wow is that how far behind I am?!) for a while now, however, right after Month 5 started, life threw a curve ball that bought my entire family to breaking point. Nothing happened to Declan, he is fine, has been fine, and continues to be perfect (thankfully!), but I still find it terribly difficult to talk about what did happen, and have no idea how I would write about it, so I've been avoiding doing any such thing. Most days I try to not even think about it, let alone talk or write about it either. For a while there, I considered blanking that time completely from the blog and not writing anything about it at all, and continuing on the Declan Monthly updates like it never happened. But thats not very honest, or productive, and probably not the best thing to do, so I am determined to update and write about it soon. And I will. And then we can all move on, and get back to cute pictures of darling Declan (coz boy is he beautiful!)

Here's a reminder:

Month 4!

Jeepers, how is it that I have a 4 month old already? I thought time moved pretty fast before, but after Declan, everything is moving at lightning speed! It's so hard to relax and focus and enjoy every little moment, when there just isnt enough time in the day, week, month to do so!

So here we are at month 4, April, and what a month it was! Easter, Wedding, Anniversary, friends leaving, friends visiting, everything all at once, and all ending with the heart-wrenching realisation that I have to return to work sooner then we both wanted.

Easter went as usual, we spent most of the long weekend down in Collie with my family after spending Good Friday with Daniel's extended family (that we havent seen since last easter!). It was a great long weekend, and just what we needed to relax. Declan didnt mind being dressed up as a bunny, and although he missed out on eggs this year, we did give him his first tiny little taste of chocolate icing, just so he wasnt missing out on the chocolate fun!

We were back in Collie again the next weekend, to drop off Declan on our way through to Dunsborough (beautiful seaside town about 3hrs south of Perth)  for H & M's wedding! Our first night away from Dec! I thought I'd be more of a wreck then I was actually. I mean, I missed him so much, and felt quite sad, but I left him in the safe hands of my parents, and was really looking forward to the wedding, so I tried not to let it distract me.

The wedding was simply amazing. I have only been to a few weddings in the past, and this was only the third friends wedding I'd been to, but it was the best. Everything was planned to perfection, and looked beautiful. The bride and groom were incredible and it was just the most lovely weekend. We all had an absolute ball and everyone I've spoken to that was there since has declared it the BEST wedding we've ever been to. Just Magical.

Declan behaved for my parents, and they all had a pretty good weekend too. Mum was just so excited to have him all to herself, she shipped my little brother away for the weekend, so she could focus, and constantly had a stream of visitors over so she could show him off to everyone!

Our 3 year anniversary came and went, without too much celebration on the day, however i did get a great digital photo frame from Daniel, which I LOVE. We took ourselves out to dinner (at Rockpool, oooooo fancy!) a few weeks later and it was amazing.

Declan had his 4mth needles, which went well, again no reaction at all to them, so thats a relief for me. Although there was drama on the day he got them. Because, my friends, I did the worst thing ever. The thing that all parents fear they'll eventually do. I LOCKED DECLAN IN THE CAR! all by himself! with my phone and purse and everything, so I couldn't even call someone immediately!!! I think I almost fainted! Luckily, I was still in the medical centre parking lot when it happened, so I ran inside, and through my hyperventilating, I managed to beg to borrow their phone. I dont think I would have had to beg though, they practically threw the phone at me once they heard what I had said. Daniel's store is on the same street as the medical centre, and he was almost due for his lunch break anyways, so one panicked call later, I saw him fly past in the traffic on the way to our place to get my spare key. It was very emotional and dramatic, but seriously over in less than half an hour. Declan, of course, was fine. It wasnt until the last couple of minutes that he started getting upset, until then he just thought it was funny that mummy was making faces at him through the window. Thank god for spare keys, and partners that work close to home!!

All in all, again, it was a great month. Declan was sleeping through the night, in his cot in his own room (most nights) and with each and every day I could see him growing up just a little bit more. Just tiny things, like loving his own feet, blowing raspberries at me, becoming a champ at Peek-a-boo and watching his face light up every morning when I'd go in to get him out of bed. I sure am loving this mummy thing right now, and I'm pretty sure its gonna stay that way!

Now pictures!

More easter fun! He knows he's cute!

Dressed in his best grown up clothes for Good Friday! So beautiful.

Just when I thought I left him in safe hands, I get sent this pic!! Good one dad!

Best onesie from the Best Friend (Jade, ie WA Mumma)

Also an awesome onesie. From an awesome Aunty!

Road side stops to change nappies sure do cheer this guy up!

When your xmas baby is born much smaller then you were expecting, his santa costume doesn't fit til he's almost 4mths old!!

Such a happy, cheeky, amazing little boy xxxx

Fancy dress for the wedding

Beautiful bride & her maids! Congrats H & M!!



Month 5 coming soon! As I mentioned above, we came to the realisation that I would be returnning to work pretty soon. Which made me pretty darn sad most days, but with a great day care all sorted, my sister volunteering to baby sit, and only returning part time at first, I was semi-looking forward to it! More on that soon :)



Month 3

Wow those 3 months flew by! Everything really started to settle into place after such a rocky end of Month 2 and start of Month 3. What with sorting out his belly issues, sorting out my breast feeding issues, getting a good sleep routine, and moving house, we sure had our hands full! The new month started with Daniel and I getting out of the house for a full day without Declan! man was that weird. but fun! we got him babysat (by Daniel's parents) and went to a music festival (soundwave) to dance around, sing and act like teenagers all over again. It was fun, but extra exhausting! we felt very old by the end of the night and couldn't wait to pick up our baby and head home.

Almost mid month, Declan decided he could sit up! all by himself!! We had him sitting on the couch with us (protected by my breastfeeding pillow to prop him up a little) and Daniel looked down just to check on him, and there he was, sitting up straight unaided and all balanced all by himself! it was such a proud moment. both of us cried!

The rest of the month was just as much of an emotional rollercoaster as the rest. I'm starting to realise that I'm probably going to be an emotional mess for quite a while, and am learning to just roll with it. Went through a pity patch where I felt lonely and like I had no life anymore, but that feeling didn't last. Looking at that beautiful boy everyday sure does help to cheer me up! My dear friend R visited from London and came and met Dec for the first time, and they fell in love with each other! it was magical! Also got to have some time out with just my girlfriends a few times too, that was such a nice break! went to a spectacular hens day for my amazing friend H (one of the friends who organised my incredible 2nd baby shower) and had an absolute blast!

I can't get over how much Declan has changed from when we bought him home from hospital. Sitting up already! He also started to enjoy tummy time a little more, and got alot better at being on his own to play while I got house work sorted (finally!). We started a great (but lazy) routine of when he woke up early morning, he gets into bed with me and we both snooze and play and laugh and feed and smile together for hours and hours (sometimes not getting out of bed until Daniel was home for lunch! whoops) I loved loved that time together and still try to have at least one day a week like that!

Photo time!!

Greatest hand-me-down ever!

Not sure he enjoyed trying on silly hats as much as I did!

So excited and cute!

and SUPER cheeky!

Growing up too quick! hahahaha

Such a big boy sitting up! (but looks so tiny on the chair!)

Well at least uncle Taylor looks happy to have cuddles!

Selfies with Mumma

Bumbo Time!!

Great new bib (via Etsy!) to match his mischevious face

Just chillin in the bath :p

Happy Easter! (another contender for my favorite photo ever!) so happy this boy doesn't mind being dressed up!

my fav ladies at H's hens party! (H is in pink, the rest of us wore white or black) such a fun, hilarious and lovely day & night!

hahaha. after our cocktail course! (which involved drinking a few! look at my face!)

Month 2

Finally I am getting around to writing these posts! We've had a bit of a hard run of things lately, family wise (more on that at a later date) so I haven't really felt like writing any posts, but I am determined to get back to it!

So month 2 was wonderful (as I'm sure I'll say about every month!). It started a little rocky with Dec having some stomach issues and breast feeding issues, but a change in his backup formula (I say backup as I was still determined to breastfeed even though it was very tough and heartbreaking at this point, so enter formula as a substitue for the times when I could just not feed him no matter what we tried!)

I got more and more used to leaving the house with Dec in tow, and actually started to enjoy it too. Daniel headed back to work after a glorious 6 weeks at home with us, and that was a bit of a struggle to get used to. Eventually things got better and we started to get a real good routine going. Of course, nothing stays stable for long, and by the end of the month we had moved house! Our rental was up for sale, and we are still not in a position to buy (even though I would have LOVED to) so we moved into Daniel's parents "spare" house (they had just moved to a new place and have not sold this one yet). We're renting from them, but at a cheapish rate and hopefully we can sort ourselves into a better buying position soon so we dont have to mooch off them for too long!

Once Decs belly got sorted out, he was like a whole new baby. Much happier and sleeping alot better. He had his 6 week needles and check ups with no hiccups and we were all starting to relax a little and enjoy our new little family.

Dec started smiling! like proper smiling, not just from gas. It is mainly after a feed though, when hes  all milk drunk, but its so so beautiful. He isnt much of a fan of tummy time, but hopefully that will get better with more practise!

We got his hands and feet molded and I cannot wait to pick up the frame when its all ready! It's going to be so great to have that precious memory of how tiny your hands and feet were at this age.

By the end of the month, we were getting 6,7 and sometimes 9 hour stints of sleep over night! yay for my sanity! although, with that, he started to not nap during the day. and had taken to screaming in my face alot during the day. Cue the stress and anxiety all over again! I was a bit of a mess a few days here and there, but I knew deep down it would pass, and Daniel was always there to calm things down and make sure we were both ok.

All in all, it was a better month than month 1, as I felt I had more control and more of a routine. Declan is a wonderful baby and I am really really lucky that I scored such a happy and easy bub!

Ok, so enough of the long recap, I know that really we're only here for an update in photos - so here goes!

First Australia Day in his Bonds singlet!

 

 

Went through a few very sooky days where he would only sleep on me!

 

 

Beautiful baby blues (except they look sooo dark in this pic!) and such pretty pouty lips!

 

 

Day out in his "big boy pram" (ie - not his bassinet) still looks so tiny though!

 

 

I just love love love this photo

 

 

Cheeky smile!! Love this little grin. He looks like he's up to something!

 

 

Still so tiny x

 

 

Recovering from his needles. Was a little grumpy bum that afternoon, but had no reactions or sickness from them.

 

Oh he's definetly up to something in this photo! and boy was it smelly!!

 

Sometimes shopping with mumma isn't very interesting :p

 

 

Possibly the greatest photo ever! (well this month anyways!) such a beautiful smiley boy

 

Fun times with Dad :) 

 

Cheeky monkey!

 

 

Sweet naps in the car. Love those pouty lips!

 

Spent a good 30 mins trying to capture the "perfect" photo to use with his hand and feet moldings, and this is the look I get! Thanks Dec!

 

 

 

Well that concludes Month 2! Sorry it took so long, hopefully Month 3 won't take as long to post!!