Today I went to nursery...

"Today was my first day at nursery and I had lots of fun.

It was beef stew on the menu for dinner today and cheesy broccoli pasta for tea with bananas and custard for pudding, it was so yummy!

My favourite parts of today were playing with the toy cars, meeting some new friends and charming the nursery workers with my cheeky smile.

It was all so exciting that I didn't want to miss anything so I didn't even take a nap. I was super tired when I got home and had an early night.

I can't wait to go again next week"

One step, two step...

I cannot express how proud I am of my son right now. I am so excited to be able to say that we have just witnessed Dexter take his first steps all by himself!

He has been able to stand unsupported for a while now but today he attempted for the first time to make a break for it and managed several wobbly steps before he lost his balance :)

Santa, I was a very good boy all year (honest!)

Being only 6 weeks old at the time, Dexter was completely oblivious to Christmas last year. I think he slept through most of it, and it was mummy and daddy who had to open all his presents.But this year was different!

For the first time ever, this year all gifts were wrapped and left out of sight instead of going straight under the tree. The look on his little face on Christmas morning coming down to the view of presents, presents and more presents was amazing! He'd already nailed the art of ripping off wrapping paper on his birthday last month so he was totally ready for the challenge :) 

After a tiring morning being spoiled it was time for a nap. We wanted to make sure he was well rested before we all got dolled up to head out for Christmas dinner with the family. We wondered if it was brave or just stupid of us to think it would be a good idea to take a 1 year old out in public to eat a 3-course dinner. But he loved it, was soooo well behaved and probably devoured the most out of all of us haha

He slept like a log that night and caught up on all his beauty sleep ready for another busy day ahead. On Boxing day we were invited to spend the day with Dexter's favourite cousin, Chloe and the family. He enjoyed having someone to play with and as they don't get to see him very often, auntie Kelly & uncle Craig seemed to enjoy having him round for the day. He certainly made himself at home!

My first painting for mummy & daddy

My Christmas Tree

Created in Dexter's first settle session at nursery 05.12.13

The Birthday Party

Only being a year old, of course Dexter had no idea what Sunday 10th November 2013 was going to hold in store.... so much so that he decided to have a lie in! But when he did finally stir I went downstairs ahead to capture his reaction.

 Present opening took up so much of our morning. You cannot rush a one year old haha

He seemed to like what we got him...

Then after a much needed nap (present opening is tiring, you know!) we got the birthday boy dressed up in his party clothes and ready to face his public.

The day went really well and this lucky little boy received lots of fab gifts and cards!! The three of us want to say a massive thank you everyone who came and made our little man's first birthday a special day to remember xx

One Year Old!!

Well, what can I say? It doesn't seem two minutes since the day that my little man entered this world and yet so much has happened that it almost seems like a lifetime ago at the same time. But here we are, 1 year on... and what an amazing year it has been. Dexter has brought so much joy to our lives over the past 12 months and we struggle to remember what life was like before he came along!

Dexter over the the past 12 months

It's unbelievable how much he has changed, in every aspect. He has grown so big and strong, developed new skills and a fantastic personality but most of all his appearance has altered so much so that he is almost unrecognisable to the baby I brought home :) although he was totally gorgeous the day he was born and this is one thing that has never changed.

(Is it sad that it makes me cry watching this...?)

Mummy & daddy love you loads baby bear!! Happy 1st birthday xxxxxxxxxxxx

Lights! Camera! Action!

Having a portrait done has been an idea we've had for a while now, but we wanted to wait until Dexter was a little bit older and more active as we felt that we would get a better result in the end. So a couple of weeks ago we took Dexter for a photo shoot at Capture Portraits in Sowerby Bridge.

And what a lovely experience it was... it took Dexter only a few minutes to get past being shy in a strange place and in the company of a strange person and once he was off, boy was he off! Half an hour of 3 adults (the photographer, Shane and myself) crawling around a studio floor trying to keep up with 1 small boy must have been quite a sight and I think me & Shane found it more tiring than Dexter did haha

But it was lots of fun and the end result was definitely worth it....

 These are just a few of the selection, but there were so many brilliant shots to choose from on the day. We struggled to just pick one or two and ended up coming away 13!