Favourite Photo Friday 30/5/14

This week it's a few photos of the cute 7 month old munchkin enjoying some May sunshine on his Queensland getaway!  Apparently balls are tasty and that grin is still too cute........

D7000 with Nikon 85mm f1.8G

ISO 200 focal length 85mm

Exposure: 1/640 @ f2.8

D7000 with Nikon 85mm f1.8G

ISO 200 focal length 85mm

Exposure: 1/800 @ f2.8

D7000 with Nikon 85mm f1.8G

ISO 200 focal length 85mm

Exposure: 1/1600 @ f2.0

D7000 with Nikon 85mm f1.8G

ISO 200 focal length 85mm

Exposure: 1/1000 @ f2.0

This cuteness is a far cry from the current snot infested, teething grumble bum. Hopefully he will be back to normal soon.

We are a bit of a fan of babywearing in this household.......

Both Astrid and Soren have been big fans of both the sling and the ergo.  Since both were born they have probably spent more time being 'worn' than in the pram or stroller.  You can't beat a sling for a newborn as it keeps them settled and you can get stuff done around the house (and out and about) while they sleep. We went through a couple of different slings for Astrid before we discovered the Bubba Moe.  Soren was in the Bubba Moe from 1 day old and it was great when he was really little around the house to let me actually get off the couch and when we went out I could still push Astrid in the stroller or hold her hand when she was walking. From the day after Soren was born we were back to all our normal activities so he spent a lot of time in the sling!

Even at 7 months old, Soren still loves the sling when we are out and about during his nap time or to hang out in when we are shopping or during Astrid's activities.

When we have travelled we have used our ergo extensively, it's fantastic for airports and getting on and off planes hands-free (we need all those hands for the luggage) and great when travelling and you don't want to lug strollers on public transport. It packs down to pretty much nothing and has a convenient rain hood for when it's wet.

On our trip to Singapore a couple of months back we took both the ergo and the sling and alternated which one we used depending on what we were doing and how hot it was (hot or super-hot).  Astrid doesn't go in the sling any more but still fits in the ergo when we back-carry her, so often Anto would have her on his back and I would have Soren on my front.  This caused all sorts of commotion at airports when cute children were peering out of their carriers at 1am grinning! We still used the stroller a fair bit for Astrid but it was convenient to have the sling and ergo for days when the stroller was an inconvenience.  Soren was happy to nap in the sling or ergo and spent most of his day sleeps in one or the other so we could get out of the hotel room and do some sightseeing.

When we are home we use the ergo a fair bit when walking the alpacas as it's often easier than pushing the big pram when you are walking 2 large animals on your own! Soren is also a huge fan of having his late afternoon nap in the ergo so we have been doing quite a bit of walking in the cool afternoons with him all rugged up. He snuggles down and chews the ergo straps (well worn by Astrid doing the same thing) and I get some extra weight for my walks!

When we did our big Europe trip Astrid was 15-18 months old and was needing to be carried everywhere. We did take our stroller and used it a fair bit around Paris, but for all the trips to other parts of Europe we left the stroller behind in Paris and just used the ergo and a carrier we had borrowed from friends.

I tended to use the ergo for most of our transport legs and days we were doing under 10kms of walking.  On really big walking days Anto would often strap Astrid into the carrier and she could be warm and snug in the carrier during rain, hail and snow (there were plenty of all of those!) and we could pack our days supplies into the storage area. She loved being carried around and loved to give everyone cheesy grins and waves!

She was happy to sleep in both the ergo and the carrier and we walked many hundreds of kilometres over those months with an Astrid strapped to us.  There was a reason we managed to eat all the pastries and chocolate we did and still lose weight!

When I was digging out the photos of Astrid in Europe, it is obvious how much she has grown since that trip!  These days she is too big to front carry so here she is in Singapore being back-carried and loving it.

Favourite Photo Friday 23/5/14

We have just returned home from 10 days on the Sunshine Coast visiting my parents.  I'll be posting more about our time away but for today here are a few lovely photos from one of the beach visits.

Astrid is a long team beach lover and going to the beach in Autumn, when it's freezing back home, couldn't be beat! Soren wasn't quite as impressed although he started out happy enough as these photos show.

Loving the fresh air and sand....

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 200 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/5000 @ f2.2

Miss Cool....

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 125 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/6400 @ f2.8

Digging in sand with Granny....

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 100 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/1600 @ f3.5

Checking out the waves with Gramps........

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 100 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/5000 @ f3.5

Jumping for joy........

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 100 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/3200 @ f3.5

Soren's placenta tree

When both Astrid and Soren were born, we had the midwives keep their placentas for us so we could bring them home  and plant them under a special tree for them.  We planted Astrid's placenta tree (a lilac tree) in the Spring after she was born, so when she was 3 months old.  We have been a little less organised with Soren and his placenta has been sitting in our freezer for the past 6 months. In late April we finally made it to the nursery and selected a tree for him and got it planted.  We decided on a Lilac Hibiscus for Soren as it was pretty, worked in the spot we had picked out and it was a nice connection with the Lilac we planted for Astrid without being the exact same tree.

One cold Sunday afternoon we headed out to the front yard for the planting ceremony (i.e us digging a hole and planting the tree over the placenta). Astrid thought the whole process was fascinating and was really interested in the placenta and looking at her tree. Anything that involves digging in dirt is also good in her book.

In goes the placenta......

Soren checking out his tree...... and desperately trying to grab it!

In it goes....... with Astrid's expert help and Soren's astute supervision!

The finished product.......

......... and Soren posing in front of his tree  - while desperately trying to escape and therefore not cooperating for a proper photo!

 

Here is a flashback to 2011 to Astrid and the planting of her placenta tree........ both have grown a little since then!