this little house

a week in this little house

this little guy has been...

tearing the house apart. cupboards emptied, bell jar smashed, rummaging through the bin. you name it he's doing it. to all the people who said to enjoy him not moving for as long as you can...i totally get it now. though i'd be lying if i didn't admit i'm secretly thrilled he's up and about. i love watching your face as you ponder and discover this new found freedom, just ease up on mama's pretty stuff okay?!
following me around the house wherever i go, and for the first time ever has been a bit clingy with me. to the point where if you're playing you'd prefer me on the floor rather than the couch, even though you have no interest in playing with me at that moment. so like a sucker i do it :)
from day one a static sleeper. we'd put you down and find you in the exact same position. well that ship has sailed too. we go in, you're diagonal, or switched ends, or on your hands and knees, or sat upright. what a fright i got when i went in to find you sat up, you've never been able to sit up on your own before!
to the football with daddy. loved your shot on the pitch. boy time at its best.
on his very first easter egg hunt, with lots of help from his cousins, it would appear you like your chocolate with the wrapper on ;)
celebrating his best pal's birthday today. the pair of you were so sweet playing together but not forgetting to go in for the occasional head love every so often. thank you for such a good day carly and iain. that's all your buddies turned one now, just you left in the group to go.

as you reach your first big milestone i feel as though you've had a mental check list this week of all the things you want to do before you're one. you still catch me by surprise by how quickly you pick up something, what one day was a struggle is mastered the next. you my boy, rock.

Sunday, 31 March 2013 Comments: 2

woo hoo to an easter weekend packed with family and friends!

we kicked off good friday with a soft play date, caleb was nearly lost to the deepest ball pit he's been in yet (why oh why do i always miss the best photo ops!) we then went to meet mikey and his family for drinks at the newly refurbished and oh so swanky caledonian hotel, at the caley bar. we enjoyed a glass of fizz while caleb lapped up the attention from the family and anyone else for that matter. we had a little peek into peacock alley at the hotel too, the space is so beautiful and the perfect setting for afternoon tea with the girls, need a date in the diary for that one. the day was finished off with dinner at kyloe, where we had the most amazing steaks (oops to the no meat on good friday). the top picture was the view we had from our table, not too shabby hey! it was so nice to catch up with everyone, especially in such nice places. my first thought would be that these places would not be very baby-friendly and we'd be greeted with lots of 'shut that baby up' faces. but it couldn't have been further from the truth, all the staff were so helpful and caleb was making lots of new friends with passer-by's. it reminds us to take advantage of this stage while he's still happy to sit and not plan a escape route, we've approximately got about a week left i think ;)

i'll leave you with a few pictures of caleb's new place to chill and catch up on his correspondence...

happy easter everyone, enjoy the long weekend :)

Saturday, 30 March 2013 Comments: 0

shoes are like buses

shoes are like buses. you wait ages for one and then two come along at once. well that is the case for me here. let's just say these days my retail therapy has pretty much consisted of baby wipes, nappies and the great hunt for ashton and parson's teething powders. gone are the day of frivolous buying and now i only buy what i truly love (and what my bank allows ;)

so i'm going to introduce you to the two new loves in my life...

i've been pining for a pair of swedish hasbeen's for some time now. i'd had my eyes on these beauties last year, i waited for them to go into the sale as this mama doesn't have shoe funds like that anymore (or ever for that matter!) but alas it wasn't to be and i couldn't get them in my size. so when i saw these red stunners, and lets be honest more practical ones heel wise, it was love at first sight, confirmed more so with a 20% off and free delivery from office. just as those stylish swedes proclaim, these really are ridiculously comfortable. they are going to be my summer staples. please scotland can we have a summer this year, pretty please.

and then last but by no means least...

i love the whole studded look, but like with any trend it's EVERYWHERE. complete overkill. but these, i'll make an exception. the nude studs had me at hello. they're not crazy high which is a winner with me and i felt they were a total steal at under £40. zara, you never let me down.

so there they are, my two new loves. oh and i think this is a new favourite quote...

Wednesday, 27 March 2013 Comments: 8

my blue-eyed boy is just a little over a week away from turning one. one...i mean could someone please tell me where that last year has gone? i'm thrilled and excited by this milestone, and yet i feel overwhelmed by the feeling that it is a year i will never get back. gone is my little baby and in his place this little person, who wants to sit, stand, eat, drink all on his own. i feel like i'm going to be hauled into his office any day now and handed my redundancy papers ;) everyone told me to enjoy these years as they go by in a flash, they really weren't kidding. so i'm going to enjoy this last week of you being not yet one, but i hope you understand dear boy, even when you're all grown, you will always be my baby.

oh and i'll leave you with some pictures of this little house....as you can see someone is certainly enjoying his new found crawling freedom!

Tuesday, 26 March 2013 Comments: 4

this little guy has been...

saying 'mama' and 'dada', and actually meaning us!! he's been saying it for some time now but never actually using it in the right context. heart melting moment ♥
baby-led weaned from 6 months but suddenly has decided he wants his mummy to feed him his yoghurt. daddy kicked to the curb on this one and still licking his wounds about it.
picking up speed with the crawling. it's so good to see you gain the independence you've been longing for. now for us to rethink everything that's within arms reach!!
loving his time with grandma and grandad while...

this little mr and mrs...

got a night away to celebrate one of our closest friend's wedding. it was wedding perfection, beautiful bride, dapper groom, amazing friends, yummy food and laughing so much it hurts.

not to mention it was a chance for this mama and dada to get some time together. date nights have been slim on the ground of late but at least when we do it now, we do it in style. if only all date nights could end with an overnight stay at one devonshire :)

hope you all had a lovely weekend, oh and does anyone know what the hell has happened to spring?!

Sunday, 24 March 2013 Comments: 8

i love white paper lanterns, they always reflect so much light in a room. i wanted to make an eye-catching feature for caleb in his room and thought these would be perfect. we've always spent lots of time in his nursery but now it's more fun than ever as he really pays attention to everything around him. watching his eyes light up has to be the biggest reward i will ever get for decorating a room. so if you're a fan like caleb, and a sucker for a bargain (the lanterns and materials cost under £10) here is a little step by step in pictures....

Wednesday, 20 March 2013 Comments: 8

i'm no photographer. i'm a point, shoot and pray kinda gal. trying to capture caleb can be so hard and frustrating at times. click and the moments gone before the shutter even goes, and if the camera is not handy...forget about it. so my solution, click away like a maniac and pray for one decent shot, and when i say decent, i mean claire decent not photographer decent. you guys will always be in a different league.

so as caleb napped and i caught up on my blogs, (yes housework i know you're still waiting for me) i came across this post. shaneen is one half of the lovely blog, breathe happiness, and the talented lady behind the pictures in her post. see what i mean about professional photographers?! different. league.

if you're after tips on how to photograph little ones, she's your lady.

so shaneen after your great advice, with my trusty little camera in hand, i took to the floor and let caleb do his thang. you know what i found...the boy who usually turns away from the camera (hard to believe i know, but true) all of a sudden was intrigued and couldn't get enough of sneaking up on me when i was meant to be sneaking up on him!! caleb reminded me today why i've always enjoyed taking pictures, because it's FUN.

so thank you shaneen for the tips, and thank you caleb for reminding me to have fun with photography and stop taking it so seriously. for me there's never going be the perfect shot, perfect moment however, different story.

Tuesday, 19 March 2013 Comments: 1

rain, snow, sleet, hailstone, more rain, more snow...well you get the general idea. not exactly baby friendly weather. so with a quick pop to the shops, where i may or may not have purchased donuts :p it was a day confined to indoors. here's a few of my favourite moments in this little house today.

honestly the positions i kept finding this boy in today. this had to be my favourite. do you think he learnt from the first, the second, or the umpteenth time?? of course you guessed right. that would be a NO.

oh and the donut. that be so nice :)

Monday, 18 March 2013 Comments: 6

this little guy has been...

crawling, dragging, climbing, kneeling. we literally can't keep you still. movement central over here!
getting his first knock back from a girl. it was at soft play. caleb non-plussed. me...who the hell do you think you are missy?! seriously it took all my strength not to say that, err protective mother alert.
talking non-stop. we have whole conversations with you, and i'm starting to think you're the one talking more sense.
to the museum. well the outside of the museum to be more precise, we arrived to find they'd had a power cut. next time buddy.
loving quesadilla's. one of daddy's favourites too.
napping A LOT. definitely another growth spurt we think. we can't keep up with you tall boy.
highlighting that we need to keep on top of the hoovering. you will eat the tiniest speck on the floor. maybe we don't need to hoover after all ;)

i feel like you've been doing a lot of changing of late my little man. you are so aware of everything around you. you sit taking it all in. i sometimes wonder what you think of this world you've been brought into. you're fascinated by everything which in turn i find so inspiring, you continually give me fresh eyes to the simplest of things. for someone who is not yet one, you have taught us so much caleb ♥

Sunday, 17 March 2013 Comments: 6

yay it's friday!! i have to say being a stay at home mum does kill the friday buzz a little at times, but with a free weekend ahead of us, i've got it. since christmas we have had a jam packed calendar. that's how we like it but i've also been craving some long overdue, 'just the three of us' time. i'm thinking lazy morning, poached eggs and well whatever we fancy doing.

have a lovely weekend everyone, whether it be jam packed or chilling :)

oh and i was totally chuffed when i rediscovered these leopard print boots collecting dust in my wardrobe. i had totally forgot about them with them not being the most mamma friendly boots. ever do that? think i might keep some time aside this weekend to have a little root to see what other treasures i've forgotten about in there. if i'm posted missing you'll know where i'll be ;)

Friday, 15 March 2013 Comments: 8

bye bye sunny days, hello snow! scotland never fails to surprise me with its 'all seasons in one week' weather. so out came the snowboots, mikey's ridiculously warm north face jacket, and caleb's uggs for some good ole snow fun.

the last and only time it snowed this winter caleb had croup, so we were so excited to see his little face! unfortunately teething had other ideas. gone was our happy, giggly boy and in his place a complete mess. it's crazy how quick it can come on, as soon as the cheeks go scarlet, you know you're all in a whole lot of trouble. it turned out no amount of snow was going to distract this little guy from his pain. teething you are officially our nemesis.