Posts in category: Personal

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t really taken any photos of the children this week, other than their headshots that I try and take every day.

So, knowing that I had a living arrows post to put together for today I grabbed Nerys for a quick photo session on Sunday.

She had been at a birthday party and was all dressed up in her pretty navy party dress.  But she was also tired, and a bit run down, and not really in the mood for having her photo taken.

I tried to get a few photos in the garden, but she wanted to stand it the bright, bright sun.  I tried to get a few photos in the house, but she kept pulling her ‘photo’ face.

So we went back out in the garden, and she blew some bubbles.

Then she went round the corner, stood in a spot of gorgeous light, and looked right at the camera as a gentle breeze blew.

Sometimes you can create a moment for a photo.

Other times you have to just bide your time, and wait for the magic!

Nerys only turned 3 back in February, but in so many ways she seems much older.

She’s pretty big for her age which is definitely a factor in that.  Rhys was in his group 1 car seat until he was nearly 4 I think, but Nerys has already outgrown hers.  It made me a little sad to be honest, when we had to take her gorgeous Kiddy UK seat out of the car, when we realised she was very nearly at the upper weight limit for it.

She, however, was so excited when her brand new seat arrived!  We’re reviewing a group 2/3 seat from Diono, and it’s been a big hit so far

I think Nerys likes feeling like a ‘big girl’, sitting in her new seat.

She likes being the same as her big brother, and actually was really excited the other day when I let her sit in his seat on the way home from the supermarket.

It’s the little things that make you happy when you’re 3!

After my jubilation last month at having taken a ‘me and mine’ photo with plenty of time to spare, I’m thrilled to announce that we did it again this month!

I’m trying very hard not to feel smug about it, because I worry that this might still be a bit of a fluke and it could all still go to pot next month.

For now though, I am happy.

This was taken just in front of Oystermouth castle.

We had been for a good look around the castle, exploring pretty much every corner and climbing to the very top to enjoy the views across Swansea bay.

Then we went and sat outside and had a little picnic.  I was really quite proud of Rhys during this picnic actually.  After years of being really picky with the foods he’ll eat he’s recently started asking to try different things.  So during this picnic he tried some chicken tikka sandwich filler, although I’m not too sure how much he liked it.  He also tried some nice and spicy nik naks which he loved!

The thing that really makes me smile is that he still pulls the same ‘new food’ face that he used to do when he was a baby.  He always looks slightly disgusted by what he’s tasting, so you have to wait a minute before you know if he actually likes something or not.

In this case though, the nik naks definitely got a big thumbs up!

Anyone else find their children do that in photos?  I really have no idea where it came from, it’s not something I ever do when I’m having my picture taken, and I’ve definitely never said to Rhys ‘give me a thumbs up’ when I take his photo!

I do love this month’s picture though.  I’m really pleased that it looks like a Springtime photo, with the blossom on the trees and the distinct lack of big winter coats.

More than anything though, I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve managed to get a family photo every month so far this year!

I blinked.  I turned around for just a second.  And this little boy of mine is suddenly 6 years old!

We spent a lovely morning in Clyne woods over the Easter holidays, and I took the chance to get a few photos of him.  To try and get a bit of a record of the child that he is right now.

Rhys at 6 is quite hard to describe, because he’s so many things.

He is extremely sensitive, and can get really emotional about things.  Yet he is also so full of energy, so excitable, so enthusiastic about things.  He will talk for hours about the things he’s interested in.  At the moment his chat is mainly about Minecraft and Pokemon.  Although now and then he’ll tell you an interesting fact about the Romans, or the planets.

See, he is getting pretty good at reading now, and seems to be like his dad in that he is more interested in reading non-fiction books than fiction.  So we’re slowly building up his collection of reference books, so he can learn and read about the things he’s really interested in.

He is growing into a really lovely big brother.  He has a lot of patience with his sister, and honestly puts up with a lot from her!

He is quite serious at times, and really takes things to heart.  I think he’s still trying to find his place amongst his friends at school, and is very sensitive to feeling left out or made fun of.  He so badly wants to be part of things, and to be included, but then you can see it all gets a bit too much for him and he needs to retreat for a while.  He’s always seemed to need a bit of time now and then to just be by himself, or more recently, to just be in the safety of home.

He seems to be realising more about the world around him, and life in general, and I think a lot of it scares him.  He worries a lot.  And I’m not sure how to help at times.  So for now, we’re just trying to reassure him that we’re here and that he’s safe.  He said today that when he’s 18 he doesn’t want to go and live in his own house, he wants to stay with us.  I would imagine he’ll feel differently by the time he actually turns 18, but for now we’ve told him that is absolutely fine, he doesn’t have to go anywhere!

On the flip side of this though, is the wild, fun-loving part of his nature.  He really gets the giggles at times, and it’s brilliant to see and hear.  He loves going to swimming lessons every week, and really enjoys going out with hunting pokemon in the park with his daddy.

This just feels like a bit of a transistional time for him.  He’s working on figuring out a lot of different things.  I suppose all we can do is be here, and try our best to help him navigate his way through it all.

I wrote a while ago about how I don’t feel like I have a lot of the answers.

But there is one thing I do know without a shadow of a doubt.

I love my son.

This summer, when we go out and watch for the shooting stars around the time of my birthday, I’ll remember the one I saw 7 years ago.  The one I wished on.  And I will most likely cry a little bit when I think about the fact that I was lucky enough to get my wish, to get my son.