Callaloo Soup

I recaught the photography bug

We were away on a long and lovely weekend, and perhaps it was the change pf scene but I am once again snap happy with my camera. The Week in the Life project had the sad effect of making me a bit burnt out, but it seems that my creative batteries have been recharged. I spent a happy afternoon on Sunday taking these shots.

Pretty Flowers

 
 

 

A Pretty Kitty called Luna

 

Happy Flea Market Finds

 
 

Of course I also took a wack load of photos of Kieran on the weekend, but I'll save those for another day!

Week in the Life: Monday

I started a second attempt at  the Week in the Life Project yesterday. Here are a few photos from the day

   

Morning online check-in

 

Playtime for Kieran - reading two books at once!

 

Playtime for me :)

 

Snack time - yoghurt and pears

 

A fuzzy friend hanging out in the scrapbook area

 

Play time with papa just before the bath

 

Dinner for the grown-ups.

I'm looking forward to pulling this all together in one album sometime this month. I must admit I'm having a hard time remembering to take photos, but I'm determined to see it through this time. Has anyone finished their album? Let me see!

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

I could blog about all the new layouts I've done recently.

I would blog about Kieran's latest milestone, except I haven't even written up the list yet.

I should blog about my goals and plans for April seeing that it is past the middle of the month.

Instead I will blog about our first picnic of the year on Sunday! It was gorgeous out so we headed to the park.

Kieran went there by tricycle of course

 

Pushed by Mummy this time

 

He really enjoyed the sandwiches

 

Like really!

  

He was totally entranced by a couple of kids climbing a tree nearby

 

Don't worry sweetie, your day will come!

And very excited to find Mummy again, even though she kept pointing that black thing in his face

 

No, this way Papa! Mummy's over there!

 

We had a lovely afternoon. It's awesome that the hugest park in Lyon is just a 15 minute walk away!

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday Kieran did or experienced a few things for the first time!

For his snack yesterday he had strawberries for the first time! As you can see he devoured them with gusto. He loves fruits, and I am anxiously awaiting berry season as I think he will really enjoy them all.

I've also been trying to teach him to clap, and finally it happened yesterday. For some reason though he only does it while lying on the changing table.

Finally, as he was playing and I was scrapping yesterday I kept hearing a "clink clink" noise coming from his direction. When I looked up I realised that he was sitting on the floor with his stacking ring toy (thanks Steph for the name!) and studiously putting one wooden ring on and off again several times in a row. 

Who knows what could be next? Maybe he will walk by Sunday?

Easter Weekend

We had a lovely Easter weekend (Paques, as it is known in France) with some of my mother-in-law's extended family.

There was an Easter egg hunt of course

 
The trees were in bloom and the sun was out

Balloons were blown up

Kieran had fun riding the bus

  

There was cake

Towers were constructed (and destroyed)

Kieran tried the slide at the playground for the first time

and practised his walking

It was a wonderful, but tiring weekend! Today we are trying to get back to our regular routine. How did you spend your Easter?

Welcome to a Month of Kieran

 

This photo is part of my Project 365 in 2010. To see all my photos from this project click here

It's Kieran's birthday month! To help celebrate I'll be taking a photo of him every day this month. I know what you're thinking.....

1. "Doesn't she already take a photo of him every day?" Amazingly I don't! There are actually some days when I am too tired/busy/unmotivated to even pick up the camera (hence the lack of 365 photos in March)

2. "Another daily photo project to suck at?" Yeah, I know, but I am really gonna pull out all the stops this month. I'm hoping this plus the Picture Spring class will really get me back on the wagon with Project 365

But don't worry. I won't be posting them here every day. If you'd like to see the photos check out my photostream at Flickr, specifically the April photoset.

That's about all from me today. I'll be back (hopefully) tomorrow with my monthly goals and plans post. For today I need to finalise the monthly budget. And that's no April Fool's joke!

New Favourite Photo

Sigh. Baby boy at the supermarket on Saturday. Wearing his papa's cap. And check out the new shoes compliments his grandmère. I can't believe he is almost one year old already!

Kieran: 11 Months Old

• Lots of cruising going on still, everything is used as a way to pull up and walk around.
• He can now stand without support for several seconds. It mostly happens without him realising it though, like when when he's really focused on something. 
• He's eating more and more solids, and so far seems to enjoy everything we offer him
• Because of this he doesn't need to nurse as often as before, so he had his first outing with just Papa last Sunday! He spent a good part of the afternoon with family and friends, and didn't miss me it seems (sniff, sniff)
• Also no more nursing during the night! He mostly slept through three nights within one week, so we decided to stop the night nursing. He still wakes up and fusses though. We're working on getting him through that now
• Still no sign of the pre-molars, although a month ago the pediatrician confirmed that they were coming through.
• His favourite thing to do when we are in his room is pull all the books of the shelf (see Exhibit A above). He's also learned that a pile of books gives him the extra height he needs to get into the little cubbies to play with things he shouldn't be touching!
• He got his first pair of real shoes!
• He's been to the zoo and the pet store, and enjoyed looking at the animals (we think)
• He moves so fast that there have been a couple of boo-boos involving our bed and a small bench. Ouch!
• He's experimenting with more and more sounds, but still no real words yet.
• As much as he enjoys his toys some of his favourite things to play with are empty boxes, empty water bottles and anything that spins like a top
• He's discovered how much fun it is to continuously open and close his dresser drawer. We've also had to tie the desk drawers and small cabinet doors closed
• He loves to dance. I just have to say "Dance, Kieran dance" and he starts bouncing and grinning
• He seems to be getting closer to Sleepty-time Bear, his lovey. He smiles when he sees him now and gives him kisses
• He's so curious, he's always trying to figure out how things work, like how to hang Mélusine, his changing table fairy, back on the hook. Yesterday he finally got her to stay hooked on by her skirt!
• He doesn't like us to sit and watch him eat. We either need to be eating too, or doing something else in the kitchen.
• When I'm reading to him he now turns the pages of his books.

I'm sure there is so much more, as he is constantly changing. I really need to make a note of all the new stuff as soon as it happens!

February in Photos: Project 365

1. Feb 1st - in the studio, 2. Feb 4 - screams of glee, 3. Feb 3 - laundry organisation, 4. Feb 5 - cruising, 5. Feb 6 - cheescake fixings, 6. Feb 7 - colourful, 7. Feb11, 8. Feb12, 9. Feb13, 10. Feb14, 11. Feb16, 12. Feb18, 13. Feb 20, 14. Feb 22, 15. Feb 22a, 16. feb 19, 17. Feb 17, 18. Feb 15, 19. Feb 23, 20. Feb 24, 21. Feb 25, 22. Feb 26, 23. Feb 27, 24. Feb 28

These are my Project 365 photos for February. Yes, there are only 24 of them, and two of them are from the same day. This time around I am not sweating it. I realised that the reason I always stopped this project was that I'd a miss a day or two, freak out about having to get caught up, and before I knew it two weeks had passed and I was even more behind. So my approach this year is to just keep on going. It's my no-stress approach to Project 365!

You can see the individual images by clicking on the links above. Or follow this link to see all my photos from February. Click here to see all my photos so far this year.

January in Photos: Project 365

1. Jan 1 - Pop, pop, pop, goes the popcorn in the pan, 2. Jan 2 - Riding along in my automobile, 3. Jan 3 - Towers and Trains, 4. Jan 4 - Don't Fence Me In, 5. Jan 5 - Last Look, 6. Jan 6 - Christmas in January, 7. Jan 7 - An apple a day, 8. Jan 8 - Me, 9. Jan 9 - Toy swath, 10. Jan 10 - Study in Contrast, 11. Jan 11 - Nine months old, 12. Jan 12 - Bedtime story, 13. Jan 13 - Standing Tall, 14. Jan 14 - Velov', 15. Jan 15 - Eat Sushi, 16. Jan 16 - My boy in babylegs, 17. Jan 17 - Guacamole, 18. Jan 18 - New scanner accessory, 19. Jan 19 - At the library, 20. Jan 20 - I can feed myself!, 21. Jan 21 - Mummy, we going out again?, 22. Jan 22 - Self portraits, 23. Jan 23 - Out for lunch, 24. Jan 24 - getting fit, 25. JAN 25 - new hat, 26. Jan 26 - in progress, 27. Jan 27 - Papaaaaaaaaaaa!!, 28. Jan 28 - zzzzzzzzzz, 29. Jan 29 - comfy, 30. Jan 30 - tea time, 31. Jan 31 - in a row

Here's a look back at all my photos for January. I used the Mosaic Maker on Big Huge Labs to create this collage from the photo set on Flickr. Brushes by Karla Dudley.  Clicking on the links above will take you directly to a full size image of each photo.