Life with Saxon - month twelve

And just like that, my baby turns one.

Saxon,

As i sit down to write about your first year, i feel butterflies in my tummy and tears fill my eyes - you turned one today. A whole year of loving you and watching you grow into a beautiful, gentle soul. The past year has flown by, yet it feels like i have known you a lifetime. That is just the start of our mother-son bond, we know each other so well.

Your laugh, your chubby cheeks, the way you toddle around and cling to me like a koala, are all things i love about you. The way you adore your big brother, snuggle with our cat and constantly spit your solid food out. I also love they way you are so cheeky, and how i already know that you don't have a single mean bone in your body. You're a beautiful boy, Saxon.

Your first year has been a delight! You make us all so happy, our little family is complete with you here.

Happy birthday Saxy.

xxxxx

life with Saxon - month 11

How have you grown so much since last month? When i look at this photo of you i see Caelan all over.
Oh, how grown up you look.

On this day, i took you and Caelan to the park for a bike ride. You and I sat on the grass where i expected you to put a leaf or grass to your mouth as you usually do, but this time…. you lifted your arms right up until you were standing. In that moment i knew you were no longer a baby, despite how many times a day i say it. You are fast growing into a healthy little boy, and i am proud.

What can i say about this month? You have developed a habit of biting my shoulders when you are cranky. Your little teeth are pretty sharp! :( The gap that lives between your front chompers is the most adorable thing i have seen in a while. So perfectly imperfect.

You are a shocking sleeper Saxon! And i say that with so much love, because i think co-sleeping is beautiful with you, but waking 5 times a night is draining. You kick, you bat your little hands around all night and we often find you sleeping across the bed, your head in the crook of my shoulder and my neck, and your feet kicking daddy in the face. The beautiful thing about having you in our bed is that we snuggle all night and i can breastfeed you back to sleep when you wake. I will never tire of that.

Music makes you happy and your little dance is so joyful. You wriggle your body and your head bobs from side to side. Have i already mentioned how cute you are?

You are understanding more human talk now. Words like, "kisses", "bickie", "clap", and you can recognise our names. So clever you are Saxon.

Well, it's one month until yours and daddy's birthday's. One month until you are one, and you will most likely be walking… One… It's a scary thought.

I love you little man x

Life with Saxon - month ten

Dear Saxon,

In your earliest weeks you spent most of your life asleep on my chest. The Autumn air was cold and you lived only in wondersuits. I knew how fast that wonderful time would pass and you would quickly grown into a little boy. So i held you, i nursed you and we co-slept. When you cried i responded with open arms.

Having gone through the motherhood journey already with Caelan i knew i would be criticised. The nurses warned me about co-sleeping but you would only sleep if i were holding you. I also knew that having you in my arms all the time would bring about the "you're going to spoil him" topic. And that was ok. The house was a mess, Caelan was late to preschool everyday but the way you looked at me made me realise that that was ok. I would have time to do the dishes and fold the laundry. Caelan will miss morning tea time at school but his lunch box was filled with nutritious foods. But THAT time with you, i would never get back. Soon you would start to open your sleepy eyes and become aware of the world.

For the last 10 months i have rocked you to sleep, I haven't let you cry once, I have nursed you through your biting stages and i have spent every night since your birth waking at least 3 times to feed you. I still hold you til my arms hurt and think it is sweet that you will only let me rock you to sleep.

You have the most beautiful nature and this i love most about you. You are gentle, cuddly, happy & you sook when i leave the room (and i love that about you). You take most of the bed and you eat everything in sight. You climb the furniture and pull everything out of it's place.

No matter how destructive you are, our little family wouldn't be the same without you Saxon. Keeping you close to my heart and responding to your cues has made you into the the beautiful happy little toddler that you are now.


In two months we will celebrate your first birthday, Easter themed. Your special date will land on Good Friday, with your party being held on your dad's birthday the following day. I believe the Easter bunny will be making an appearance and there will be an Easter egg hunt. So much fun, i cannot wait.

Love you baby,

Mum x

life with Saxon - month nine

My Dearest Saxon,

Today you are 9 months old, and I say it every month how time flies! I can't even comprehend that it's your first birthday in just 3 months.

You have achieved many things this month. First of all we've reached our second goal - to breastfeed to 9 months. I have no doubts that we will have any problems now. It's all smooth sailing from here.

You are a little explorer, Saxon. Everything goes to your mouth first, and if you don't like it you will try it again anyways. You don't like the feel of grass just yet so you will walk on all fours, so that your knees won't touch the ground.

Your laugh is so joyful and a pleasure to hear. It's very rare, as you are quite content sitting and smiling at us. But when Caelan makes you laugh, oh! It is the sweetest sound on earth.

Sleeping longer then 4 hours at night hasn't been established yet, but mummy doesn't mind waking to you and nursing you back to sleep beside me. I still can't find a reason to put you in your own bed - i enjoy cuddling you too much.

I think about when you will someday read this series. I hope it will mean as much to you as it does to me. I sit here now with you, close to my heart. This is where you belong.

Mum x

life with Saxon - month eight

Dear Saxon,

This year has been overwhelming & exciting for us. Yourself and Caelan have shown us so much happiness. The way you play together, chasing each other around our home. I love the way you giggle at Caelan, when he beats you to the other side of the room.

Christmas just came & went, and although you didn’t understand a thing of it you enjoyed the company of our family. Your Grandparents visited, you have grown so much since their last stay.

Not a lot has changed this month. You are exploring your surroundings much more, we know that the beach is not for you. You don’t like the feel of the sand – unless you are eating it.

You cut your two top teeth… Your eye teeth. You will be the cutest little vampire going.

You enjoy watching our puppy at the back door. Sometimes, if you are feeling extra adventurous you will stand against the safety gate & poke your arms through. Max loves this, he goes on to cover you in kisses.

Today is the last day of 2013, the year you were born. The year that has come and gone in a blink. Tonight we will watch the fireworks from our balcony & remember the highlights of the year, looking through our photo albums. Once again, i am thankful for these photos.

I love you my beautiful boy.

Mum x

life with Saxon - month seven

Saxon,

You are now 7 months old. Gosh, that time has sped by. Each month I have documented your growth, your milestones & I have taken your portrait. I will keep doing so until you are 12 months old.

It is nearing the end of 2013, and we have already reached our 2nd goal this year – to breastfeed until you were 6 months old. I am so proud of us. Our next goal: 9 months.

This past month not only have you gained speed crawling, chasing us around our new home, but you have learned to pull yourself up on furniture. You are very clever.

You hair. Going blonder each day. You are due for your second hair cut.

Your chubby legs are still that. Gaining muscle now that you’re using them more.

The way you say ‘Mum Mum’ when you are upset melts my heart. You have me wrapped around your tiny little fingers.

You are still sleeping in mum & dad’s bed each night – you love it. You toss and turn between your father and I, soaking up as many cuddles as you can – we love it too.

Thank you for another wonderful month, Saxon.

Love Mum x

life with Saxon - month six

I guess you could say that things have been crazy busy around here, hence the very late post. Not to worry, our computer is back up and running now after moving to our new house & not to mention Caelan jamming a few of my memory cards in the CD drive…

Our biggest milestone for month six was Saxon learning to crawl. At first he was just sliding along – more like an army crawl – now he’s up on hands and knees ready to explore the world.

His features have changed, reminds me of Caelan when he was Saxon’s age – beautiful blue eyes, cheeky grin that makes my heart scream with happiness. But in saying that they are very different. They have their own unique personalities, Saxon’s isn’t much just yet but it is there. It’s kind, warm, caring & quiet. He observes everything, while keeping to himself – he is much like me.

I often try to remember what our lives were like before Saxon. It felt humble and we were happy, but now it feels complete. Caelan has a brother, a friend for life & Matthew and I get to love each of them, watch them grow together and learn from one another. What a beautiful life we lead.

life with Saxon - month five

I think it’s safe to say that our baby won’t be a baby for much longer. Geez, how quickly these last five months have gone by just blows me away. Soon enough he’ll be a walking, talking toddler getting into my tupperware cupboards.

What a personality Saxon has now. Just like his big brother Caelan, he is all smiles.

Loves his feet now that he can reach them & sometimes makes himself laugh because of how ticklish his toes are. He loves them being kissed,

I’d give it another 4 weeks and Saxon will crawling. He’s up on his hands & knees now rocking back and forth.

That. Hair! So soft & still has that ‘baby smell’, it’s getting lighter by the day.

It’s been such a busy few weeks that I haven’t been spending much time taking photos of my boys. I’m almost 2 weeks late with posting this one.. School holidays have commenced, family have visited & these beautiful warm days have been keeping us busy outside aswell. But my main goal here, through all of my rambling is to dot down all of Saxon’s milestones, his ever changing hair colour & cute little phases that i would otherwise forget later on. This blog will be a perfect place for me to look back on not just Saxon’s childhood, but Caelan’s aswell. These boy are my children, and my children are my life. They are my family, they are my best friends, they are my strength. When i look at their photos i see how much they adore not just each other, but ME. They love ME, and it fills me with warmth & comfort & everything else a mother feels when your child tells you how much they love you. And i do capture those photos. When i feel like giving up, or work gets too overwhelming I look at Caelan’s photographs and smile & that photo of him giggling at me and remember why i am a photographer. We will never get this time in their lives back, but these photographs & these stories will be forever.

life with Saxon - month four

Our little boy is getting bigger and stronger, weighing in at 7kg’s this month! He’s loving tummy time at the moment, pushing himself up so far that he rolls onto his back.

We’ve made 6 trips in total to the doctors this month – 3 of them for Saxon, the other 3 for his big brother Caelan & myself. Winter just isn’t being kind to us. Despite Saxon’s chesty cough, snotty nose & ticklish throat, we can still find a way to make him giggle  He has such a fun personality and I love watching it grow with him.

I love that Saxon is starting to get better hand-eye coordination. It’s so rewarding watching him grasp toys in his tiny little hands.

It’s still so unbelievable that it has been 4 months since  he was in my tummy, about to make an appearance. Every month he has been here has been a total blessing. I hope you will check back in next month 

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank balance smaller, home happier, clothes dirty, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.” - Anonymous

life with Saxon - month three

Another month has past. New milestones were reached, stronger bondage was made and endless amounts of laughter was shared.

What we all enjoyed the most this past month were Saxon’s giggles. This boy will laugh at anything, just because he can.

What we were working most on this month was trying to get Saxon to sleep in his bassinet during the day. Because as much as i love having him falling asleep in my arms and snuggling up on the lounge together, i’ve realised that the house work DOES need to be done (who knew?), and unfortunately it won’t do itself… bummer 

Out with the 000′s and in with the 00′s! Saxon has gone up another size yet again. My chubby little cherub!

So. Much. Goo-ing. And. Gahh-ing! I just sit and listen and admire the sweet, soft harmony that is his voice.

Caelan still calls Saxon “baby”. His baby. I have told him that they will share a room when Saxon is a bit older, that they will share toys & they will be great friends. I know that Caelan doesn’t understand what this means just yet, but the bond he and Saxon have is already something special, and it gives me a warm humbling feeling inside knowing that he will find out the feeling of what it’s like to have a brother and a best friend.

“My brother is my friend, he is my heart, he is my world. He has my heart. We run, we cry, we play, we laugh but at the end of the day he will always be my friend but mostly my big brother and is here to stay.” – Allyjah Cutts

life with Saxon - month two

I can’t believe we are almost at the end of month two. Saxon is 3 months old in just two short weeks! So many new things this month.. He has put on even more weight, and grew an extra few cm’s. He’s gone up a size in clothing which makes me sad. I think at this point you finally realise just how quick they grow up. Though it’s always exciting getting the brand news clothes out that you put away for when they are bigger. You know the ones without the spew/poo stains? They only stay that way for about a week..

What i loved this month..

The full blown gummy smiles… I melt.

His hair. The way it has started to comb over his head. And i like the colour of it now, so different to his older brother’s.

The snuggles. Still soaking up as much cuddle time as i can.

The way he is instantly happy when he’s nakey. Saxon loves nappy changes!

I love that he finds his brother Caelan so amusing. The bond between them already is special.

The goo’s and gahh’s. Seriously melts my heart.

“A mother holds her child’s hand for just a short time, but holds their heart forever.” – Krystal Nahdee

life with Saxon - month one

Before we had our little boy I said I wanted to write a blog about him each month. About his growth, his new noises, the things I loved about each month with him. I’m a little late in posting month one, time escapes you when you have two little ones!

Here is my experience with Saxon in his first month.

What i loved..

His squishy cuddles.. I can’t seem to get anything done.

His sleepiness. Means more snuggle time!

Also, the small periods throughout the day when he opens his eyes.

His brothers admiration. Caelan loves helping out anyway that he can, shushing him to sleep, getting wet wipes when Saxy gets too milk drunk, or finding his dummy when he gets upset. He’s also let Saxon have cuddle time with his favourite ducky blanky!

The sweet noises he makes. His cute little cry, his heavy breathing &  the laughs (that were from wind – still cute) when he sleeps and also the little smiles that he has been giving us.

He’s growing, eating, putting on more weight then needed, and sleeping lots. We’re so blessed to have another healthy boy in our lives. I am so madly in love with him.

“THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOTHER AND CHILD REMAINS INDELIBLE AND INDESCRIBABLE…THE STRONGEST BOND ON EARTH” – Theador Reik