nov, 10th - and 100 days....

day 1001 / 100:

hot on her sister's heels, Clémence reached her own milestone of 100 days....and here are the pics of her in these vintage bonnets.....

i found out before i had Claya, that our friends were hoping that we would be more challenged this time around as they felt that Limi had been far too gentle on us. Claya has disappointed them by being a fairly chilled baby....(for now! if there's one thing that i've learnt it's not to be a smug parent as it soon comes back to bite you).

in 100 days, she has changed our family and all of us. Limi has become a big sister and learnt to be fun yet gentle (mostly) with her baby sister. she is kind and says things like: 'don't worry little one, i'm here and your mama is coming now' and already Claya looks at her with a sweet smile and blossoming adoration....and yes, also sometimes pure terror when Limi is giving her an especially enthusiastic squeeze. 

i three months, she has developed an infectious giggle (with a snort that she will hopefully outgrow....although Claya, if you're reading this one day and haven't lost your snort-laugh then we love it honey!). but there is no laughing at bath-time because she is too busy focusing on her kicking. it seems that she takes her splashing very seriously and we both end up getting soaked. sleeping is still hit and miss although, it hasn't been helped by her sister bringing home plenty of winter bugs from pre-school. her co-ordination skills are galloping along.....hands and feet have been discovered and she hates it when we hide her hands during dressing. hair tugging is now getting ferocious with a iron grip and rattles are becoming favoured toys. car journeys seem to be less tedious and are helped by Limi providing us with a running commentary: Claya is looking out the window/ closing her eyes/ keeping her eyes wide open etc.....

but finally, what she is best at is chatting.....constantly.....with plenty of different sounds and what appears to be complete conviction that we understand what she is saying.....

she is an utter honey and besides stealing my beauty sleep has not been too tough on us at all....so far....*holding BOTH thumbs*....let's chat again in another 100 days.

p.s. i still love these bonnets....and the stories they could tell....

nov, 6th - conversations with a two year old....

day 997 / 96:

Limi: 'Claya is so cute, she's like......a lollipop.'

and Claya adores her sister too, Limi can make her giggle uncontrollably.

aug, 29th - one month....

day 932 / 31:

one month already. and every time i look at her i'm amazed that just a short time ago she would wake me up with hiccups inside my bump. now those hiccups are accompanied by the sweetest frown that must have been there all along. we're also starting to get smiles and the bird sounds that i remember so well with Limi....as much as i want her to grow, i also so want to slow down this stage......

aug, 24th - big sister in training....

day 927 / 26:

while we are busy soaking up some British sun down at the coast......i just wanted to slip this post in as there have been a number of questions about how Limi is coping with her new sibling.......

our answer is that it is more a case of over-love at this stage. Limi has been in training for this moment for months and months.....even though we never actively encouraged it and tried to steer her away from dolls,  she is obsessed with 'babies' and has been since she was about fourteen months old. i think the main issue is that she wonders why she can't take more of an active role in looking after Thunderhoovsie, wanting to change nappies, bath her, pick her up, feed her (which is an interesting one), violently rock her in the bouncy chair and Claya's least favourite, force her eyes open to play.  after all.....she is an expert when it comes to her own babies: Noah and Panda (Noah is the one being carried in the kitten-drape-pose over her arm, above)......they get dressed and undressed, bathed, changed and put to sleep over and over again during the day.

it's tough on us to keep discouraging her when she's just trying to help and be involved. but as Claya adjusts to the tough love by her sister and we adjust to spending individual time with each of them and time together....it's getting easier to balance. hey, by no means have we figured it all out yet....but we're having fun trying.


p.s. Limi's obsession with babies is at least balanced by her love of Spiderman and doing face-planting dives off the back of the couch. 

aug, 10th - introducing....

day 913 / 12:

well, it took awhile but we got there in the end......so here she is our:

Clémence Ever 

aka Claya / Clé

aka thunderhooves, mini hooves or as Limi refers to her....thunderhoovsie

have a wonderful weekend....hopefully back to some regular posting next week.

xx

aug, 7th - freeze the frame....

day 910 / 9:

we are enjoying every moment of the newborn stage (well maybe not the nightly playtime) but mini hooves is being pretty gentle with us......

this pic was just after her heel prick test......she was very brave.

p.s. we have a name.......just trying it out for a few days. naming somebody is hard.

aug, 6th - kidivist....

day 909 / 8:

i've had my eye on a Kidivist mobile for ages.....these origami, animal mobiles have a beautifully, whimsical yet graphic quality. each mobile is handcrafted by the lovely Anne in Berlin: from the paper animals to the bending of the delicate aluminium hangers to the packaging.....Anne puts each creation together in her studio (see some pics that she sent, below).

i ordered the black and white Japanese paper mobile to go with 'thunderhooves' crib {see day 888}. Anne and i exchanged a couple of emails and i can honestly say that she's one of the nicest people that i've bought something from. my order was in the mail after two days in a bid to beat thunderhooves.

the parcel was something to get excited about....gorgeous packaging and lots of sweet detail. and the mobile itself completely exceeded expectation. beautifully balanced, it gently rocks at the slightest breeze.

i can't wait to show you it installed above the crib.....just perfect.

aug, 1st - mini hooves....

day 904 / 3:

it's been a week of getting to know our 'mini hooves'......she's been a real honey so far and already a vital part of our household.

thank you for all the congrats messages. we are so over the moon.

hmmm....so a name for our thunderhooves......we're still trying to agree on one in our house. it took us six days to name Limi, so we have until Sunday....

as for Limi at the same age.....these two look uncannily the same {see day 14}

p.s. love the violin-playing-pose in the last two.

jul, 29th - it's a girl....

day 901 / 0:

i was meant to post about the beautiful babyshower that my girlfriends threw for me over the weekend but instead an hour after i got home on Saturday, i went into labour.....very good timing 'thunderhooves'......

we had a baby girl early on Sunday morning.....we are still to name her but i'll share some pics this week....

she is the sweetest thing and Limi is just beside herself with excitement....we all are.