Baby's 1st Christmas

So everyone kept asking me, "What are you getting Stephen for Christmas"? and I thought I was a bad parent if I didn't get him something spectacular for his his 1st Christmas. But then realization set in and I knew that he would not ever remember what he got that day or probably for the next 5 years and knowing the rest of Joe's and my family I knew he would be rather spoiled so we decide practicality was the way to go. So he got socks, clothes and a xylophone. We had a lovely day with family and having the extra kids here Jonah & Tayha made it so much more enjoyable. Stephen opened a mountain of gifts from all of his relatives and when all was said and done and the toys were all laid out for him to play with he rolled his way over to the plastic bag full of all the wrapping paper and played with that. So I think we ca safely say although he loves all his gifts I was safe in my assumption that buying him something spectacular would have been wasted I should have just given him a large box and drawn some wheels and headlights on it and called it a fire engine.

Haloween

I had grand ideas of what to put Stephen in for his first Halloween, you know I wanted him to be perfect and look the part for his pictures. Then time got away from me and I didn't get the order in on time so I went to the mall and found a costume and you know what, I really don't think it would have mattered what he was in, he would have been damn cute in anything. So next year when he can walk I will get him the costume I wanted this year and it will be fantastic, but for now you will just have to enjoy this outrageously adorable 3 eyed monster. Happy Halloween Everyone!

Teeth

Just before we left for Australia in September Stephen received his 4 month shots, which he did very well with. That very same week gnawing on my finger and wouldn't you know it his first tooth appeared on the bottom. He never really complained much and so when we got to Australia and his second tooth appeared just days later I was even more surprised at how well he was doing. Well since then he has 6 teeth, He had 4 though by the time he was 6 months and the last two came in his 8th month. So he has 3 on top and 3 on the bottom and it makes it so much easier for him to eat his solid foods. But still you would not think that he was teething because apart from a bit of grumbling he really does not complain, actually I think our cats complain more about not getting fed on time than he does about his teeth ache.

Australia here we come

After all the visitors left, Stephen and I took a trip home to Australia to see the rest of the family and introduce them to the newest member of the clan. After a long flight of 24 hours, you would think that I would be exhausted, not with my son though. He played, ate and slept and when we were getting off the plane in Brisbane, one guy waked past me and said lady you must have the best babies I have ever seen travel, he never made a peep, unless he was laughing.

He continues every day to surprise us with his ability to adjust to things changing around him constantly. All of his cousins and Aunts & Uncles swooned over him for 3 long week in Australia and it was nice to enjoy the sun. We went to the beach, hiked through a rain forest and laid out and talked to the magpies. It was a great holiday.

Camping

July 4th came and went and after Aunt Vanessa left to go back to Australia we decided that a camping trip to the Vineyard would be in order. So we packed up our tent and off we went, Mum, Dad, Joe, Stephen & I. After the fun of setting up we sat out in the sun and relaxed. It was nice for Joe to get back to where his family camped when they were younger and see all his old family friends. Stephen slept through a bad thunder storm and the tent leaking, at 8 weeks of age sleeping 12 hour nights we thought we had to be the luckiest parents around. He enjoyed going fishing with the Christies and Zalkins and pottering around Oak Bluffs meeting all the strangers that stopped and greeted him and said what a cute baby he was, smiling on cue just to make the awww factor even better. We will be back next year hopefully with the Williams/Gendron family with us.

My Grandparents

I was named after two very important people, my Poppy John (mums dad) and my Grandpa Stephen (dads dad). My grandpa was a hero not only in the eyes of the public but to his family and friends. He was a kind, loving man who had too many friends to count and he gave his all in everything he did at work at home and at play. I hope to grow up to respect everything he was and aim to be as decent a human being as he was.

My poppy is the greatest that you could ever ask for. The day I was born he didn't want to put me down, and the tears in his eyes said it all. He has helped my mum and dad heaps around the house and he is a continuous mountain of support even from over 17,000 miles away.

My Nanny & Grandma are both ridiculously in love with me and say I could do no wrong. I know all I have to do is bat my eyelids and pout my lips and I will get whatever I want from both of them. As they saying goes " What happens at Nanny's/Grandma's house, stays at grandmas house.

Baby Jitters

The day we found out I was pregnant was an amazing day. I was at work on a break and I had a voice-mail from the fertility office saying I would need to come in for an appointment as my blood work had come back and I was definitely pregnant. I think I left my lunch in the microwave jumped in the car and sped to the firehouse to tell Joe. And then the planning began. It all seems like so long ago now but here is a picture of our boy right at the very beginning.