Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Monday: Louis has given up on the rolling gig. His tummy trick now...

Tuesday: Love feet. Eat feet, grab feet. Love feet.

Wednesday: Nodding Off

Weekend Away

We went to a wedding in Balclutha this weekend, so here's the catch up post...

Friday: drove to Oamaru for the night (good half way point, btw, if you're headed from chch to the deep south) and stayed at a motel there. Had a lovely spa bath with Louis then went to bed...

Saturday: breakfasted at our favourite Dunedin Cafe (Tangente) then continued on to Balclutha for the wedding...

Sunday: we were all exhausted after a busy Saturday and an average night's sleep. After a leisurely brunch at the parents of the groom's house, we began our journey north, stopping at our favourite Dunedin cafe on the way...

Also stopped at fantastic restaurant north of Oamaru (Riverstone) where we enjoyed a reviving meal while Louis had some much needed play time OUT of his car seat.

Glad to be home, safe and sound, after a long trip back in truly crappy weather.

Rolling with the homies

Yesterday Louis began rolling on purpose. Today he went both ways - that is from stomach to back, to the left and to the right. Not from back to stomach yet... thank God. The house is not secure.

Piano Prodigy anyone?

Louis' first music lesson with Uncle Ian.

An Ode to Feet

This is yesterday's image... posting late.

Bouncing Boy!

Louis loves to jump in his aptly named 'Jolly Jumper'.

Thanks to Lovely Luuk for helping me get this edited/formatted and online. xx

Lessons from Grandad

Today my parents came around for afternoon tea before my father goes overseas for a work trip. Had to have his final cuddle with his grandson for a whole week... and pass on some invaluable wisdom: this, wee man, is how you put your finger in your nose.

Day behind

This belongs to yesterday:

Memorial Day service at Hagley Park

Prince William was there, and a bunch of other people, and it was great. Kia Kaha Christchurch.

4 months today!

This is BANANAS

Louis' first solid (really? barely) food: mashed bananas with breastmilk. Mmm-mmm. Went down a treat.

Today's Events

Things Louis did today:
Attempted to eat inedible things; attempted to move from A to B; farewelled my friend Ray.

Profile

Louis' first profile.

What's good for you...

Louis was awake a lot today. Some of it was because we didn't put him to bed. But then we put him to bed. He stayed awake for a long long time for a little man. Not good.

The thing with babies and sleep is that it's hard to get out of a bad cycle but easy to get out of a good one. Good sleep = good feed = happy play time = good sleep...

But if the happy play time goes on too long...
overtired baby = won't sleep = cries = short feed = short sleep = clingy baby...

Tomorrow we will do better.

smiley guy

I'm learning how to use gimp. This was easier than that pop-art monstrosity!

Still a bit of a parasite, technically.

This is how I see him... a lot of my day, and sometimes my night.

Louis and the Ladies

Maria, Louis and Claire, at our first coffee group since the earthquake.

Pop goes my heart

Sketchy, but better.

Louis, in acrylics on cartridge paper.

I finally did a painting. Based on this photo:

One day I'll do it in full technicolor.

Sunday Best

One of my favourite parenting perks is playing dress-ups. And he grows so fast he's always got new clothes... mostly thanks to other peoples' generosity. Cheers, contributors!

He sleeps!

Till 5.30 am. Small victories.

I am trying. I am trying.

Louis held his leg up like this all the way around the supermarket... strange child. I believe this is thinking pose. There is so much to see and think about at the supermarket, of course. In this scene I believe he is thinking about how to get to the big blue ball.

He is often trying to get to something - that interesting patterned pillow, that shiny bit on the exercycle, that monkey I painted on his bedroom wall. Speaking of monkeys. Hm.

This photo is from a couple of days ago. In it he is trying to get to the camera. My husband thought it more accurately captured him than either of the other pictures I put up that day. Entirely possible.

Lovely. But also so very trying.

Eye Issues

Today I have sketched from a photo I took yesterday. I'm having issues with eyes - My eyes are seeing Louis' eyes wrong. I think that's what the matter is, anyway.

The other issue we're having at the moment is with sleep. Louis has decided it's not really necessary to sleep through the night, or much at all during the day. When he's meant to be sleeping he cries and wriggles and un-swaddles himself, until...

So I'm trying to stop swaddling him. Then I don't have to worry he's strangling himself with his swaddle. Then I don't have to check on him... and risk getting him up when he's just crying himself to sleep. Undoubtedly this subject will come up again in the next 97 days. Sigh.

Studying Louis

I took photos today. I've edited them to black and white so that I can work from them over the next few days, practicing sketches/paintings. My goal is to capture him - to create an image that is recognisably Louis.

100 days - day 1

I have undertaken 100 days - a venture where those onboard repeat the same design/creative task everyday for 100 days. I am creating images of my 3 month old son, Louis.

Today I had lots of ideas, beginner's enthusiasm is a wonderful thing. I took a couple of photos of cute moments and decided to also undertake a sketch...

Louis cannot yet roll over (except once, by accident) but he can rotate on the spot. When he's unfettered by a bulky nappy, he is very agile and moves a lot. The towel was supposed to protect the carpet from any accidents. Fortunately there were none.

We usually take Louis in the shower with us, but we're in water-conservation mode post last Tuesday's Earthquake and the water is not safe to drink. What that means is that we are showering less regularly and Louis probably shouldn't be in with us as he tends to drink a little bit while he's in there. Bath time on the lawn was a fun alternative.

This does not capture him, but I'm sure I'll get better at that. And at drawing a moving object. 1 down. 99 to go.