BELATED CHRISTENING MONTAGE...

Finally my montage software is working again, so here is the very belated set of photos from Kaitlyn’s Christening…

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FOUR MONTHS TODAY

Isn’t it amazing how often parents are heard to say – “they just grow up so quickly”… I must be honest it sounded a bit strange to me, after all its not like babies grow overnight.. Or so I thought…

As Kaitlyn turns four months old today, I can certainly understand the feeling. It wasn’t so long ago she was a tiny bundle in my arms who could barely keep her eyes open, now she prefers to stand on two feet rather than be nursed, she squeals rather than sleeps and has grown a little mind of her own, and a stubborn one at that.

I watch as her personality begins to shine, and can see that she will become a little girl intent on figuring things out – watching everything and everyone very closely, she will be difficult to reason with (perhaps a little “my way or the highway”) but will also be quick to smile and laugh, having lots of love to share and bringing out the best in others. And I look forward to seeing those traits grow as she does.

It’s the little things that tell me she is outgrowing her status as a baby, even if I have trouble seeing it sometimes.

For one, she has now moved out of her bassinet and into the main frame of her pram. This has delighted to her to no end as she can now see everything around her, ensuring her nosy nature is abated and she can come home and squeal about it for the rest of the day.

Still, sometimes it can all be too much and its time to stretch out for a nap.

Next, she is growing out of everything so quickly. It breaks my heart to pack away all the lovely outfits she can no longer fit into (well at least I have an excuse to shop!) And she is starting to outgrow her car seat too, but can somehow still get comfortable enough for a snooze.

She is also getting better at coordinating her little limbs – I love this shot, here she sits having her bottle of expressed milk with Dad after her bath, getting ready for bed. She is showing off by holding her own bottle, a feat which lasts about 1 minute, at which point she drops off to sleep and isn’t seen again till morning.

And the one thing that cannot be ignored is the squealing – captured here on home video. You will have to excuse the rather annoying voice heard over the squealing, that’s mine, but it’s worth sitting through to get an idea of what we now hear day and night.

Thought it might be nice to finish with some snaps of the little one growing over the last four months..

Kaitlyn at one month:

Kaitlyn at two months:

Kaitlyn at three months:

Kaitlyn at four months:

And always beautiful...

We head into next week with Kaitlyn’s next round of immunisations… Ahhhhhhh!!!!

SIXTEEN WEEKS

With the christening now behind us, we can relax a little and enjoy Kaitlyn at this wonderful age. (Yes I couldn’t resist taking more photos in this beautiful dress)…

At sixteen weeks, Kaitlyn is simply a joy (well most of the time!) She is so aware of everything around her, and is keen to be a part of as much as she can. She enjoys a good babble, or in the last two weeks, squeal, either to herself, or to anyone who will listen. She is definitely a vocal little creature, so I have no doubt that she will be a chatterbox once words come to her.

Special photo just for Kym... Kaitlyn’s t-shirt reads – “If you think I’m cute, you should see my Aunty!”

This week Ash and I were sitting on the couch having a chat and play with her, and the next thing we knew she let out a tiny little chuckle. To date her laughs have been quite short little bursts, however this time she made a hearty laughing sound which was just about the most exciting thing in our household in years! We are now trying like mad to get her to repeat it, and it seems as though she knows that and so is holding them in.

Her smiles are coming thick and fast these days and she sometimes smiles so hard it looks like a grimace. Her smiles are now given away to strangers, so it is often that I find myself receiving compliments on how beautiful she is.

She has always enjoyed her sleep and so is now sleeping through the night. We still have some trouble getting her down most nights (she is determined to stay awake as long as she can, even if she is screaming the whole time), but once she is down, she doesn’t come up for air. Most nights she is down by half eight and we don’t see her again until about 6 or so. And as we stopped wrapping her little arms up some time ago, she has now find ways to make herself quite comfortable in bed.

And on occasion, in the car..


With the weather being absolutely horrid lately (well most people probably think I am mad for saying so, but anything over 30 degrees is just TOOOOO HOT for me), Grandma and I though Kaitlyn might appreciate a trip to the pools. So in her swimsuit she got, we lathered her up with sunscreen, and popped on her hat and into the little swimming pool we went.

Before the screaming…

During the screaming…

As you can see from the pics she wasn’t too impressed at all. The pool wasn’t heated so it was a little too cool on her feet – perhaps next time we will try out the heated version.

Never having been a fan much of tummy time, it seems as though Kaitlyn will be slow to crawl, or perhaps will skip the idea altogether as she much prefers to be standing up (with her toes curled under). Still an over enthusiastic Dad is doing his best to encourage her – perhaps the lure of playing on the lap top will one day prove an incentive.

With the countdown on to our trip to the UK, the only wish I have now is that Grandma was coming with us – it would have been lovely to have the three generations there together. Love you Mum, and don’t worry the time will fly by…

CONGRATULATIONS ELYSIA!

Congratulations to my beautiful friend Elysia and her husband Craig, who welcomed Olivia Kate into their family in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Elysia is a fellow blogger (there is a link to her site below), so I look forward to watching Olivia grow and change over time.

I am sure she will soon become great friends with Kaitlyn...

KAITLYN'S CHRISTENING

I must start by apologising for the delay in my entry… I had hoped to do one of my montages to music in order to celebrate the big day, however the website I use is playing up, so I am doing a plain old boring one instead…

After some very last minute planning and organising, Kaitlyn’s christening day was absolutely wonderful – such a lovely day for the whole family.

We started the day at Mum’s with both myself and Grandma dressing our little girl for her big day (ok so she doesn't look to impressed at this point).

She was so very beautiful in her gown - I think at one point Ash said she looked just like a little doll and that was about right – she was simply perfect. So much so that I wanted to dress her in the gown the next day for my Mother’s Group meeting – and almost did!

It wouldn’t be a special event without having a touch of Kaitlyn’s Great Grandma D involved, and this time it came in the form a beautiful medallion which Great Grandma D had blessed before sending over to us. It was pinned to Kaitlyn’s dress along with a stunning broach from her Grandma. Such a nice way to have Kaitlyn’s extended family with us on the day.

Although we forgot to bring the matching booties with us on the day, we did bring the bonnet, which Ash disturbingly described as making Kaitlyn look Amish. I’m not sure about that one; I just think she looks gorgeous in everything.

On arrival to the church, we soon discovered she was the youngest baby out of four (by about 10 months) being baptised that day. I must admit it looked a little funny being the only one there walking her baby into the church in a pram.

Not only was she the youngest baby, but she was also the most well behaved one there too. She sat in her pram taking it all in, and then was quite content to be lifted out and poked and prodded by the priest at the appropriate times.

And here comes the biggest brag of all, she was the only one not to cry when she had her head wet – I was so proud, what a little trooper (she gets her bravery from her Mum).

Her godparents (Jai, Tim and Kym) did an excellent job during the mass, well apart from Tim nearly knocking over the candle stand. Although not to be outdone by his brother, Ash proceeded to blow the candle out just before the priest arrived to do the final blessing.

Afterwards we headed off to lunch with a small group of family and friends, sharing in Italian gourmet of the finest kind, pasta and pizza.

Thankfully Kaitlyn was tired out from the mornings events so had a little snooze while her Dad and I tucked in to some lunch.

Kaitlyn appears to prefer Dad's fingers over pizza at this stage.

However you can’t keep a social butterfly like Ms Parmenter down for long, so she was up soon enough to enjoy her own party.

She made her way up and down the table for various group shots, all the while maintaining her composure, (for the most part anyway). And I was determined to keep her in her gown the entire time, despite the fact she was a little difficult to hold onto with all that dress!

(Kaitlyn takes a trip to "over it" town)

As usual she was smitten with her handsome cousin Dylan, who once again entertained anyone who would watch – his new trick, pointing at people, having us in stiches.

Towards the end of the day, there was time for a little speech and the cutting of the very fancy cake. It might be a little difficult to make out in the photo, but the cake was a nappy stack, with a sleeping baby on top. Chosen (and purchased) by Grandma, the cake was quite a hit, and the delicious hazelnut flavour forcing a total of four slices down my throat (so much for the diet!)

I couldn’t ask for a better way to celebrate such a special day in Kaitlyn’s life. We were surrounded by those we love, and are loved by. And we enjoyed a good meal and lot’s of laughter.

Thankyou to all our family and friends for your support, kind wishes and love.

DRESSES AND SMILES

With Kaitlyn’s christening this weekend, and still a few little odds and ends to prepare, I am cheating and doing a couple of short entries rather than one long one this week .

Yesterday I put Kaitlyn in the most gorgeous little dress, which I had been waiting for the temperature to drop in order for her to wear.

Her Dad is certain she doesn’t like wearing dresses, but I think you can tell from the look on her face, she is going to be one stylish little lady.