15/52 late again!

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

This was taken on our landing, one of the only carpeted areas in our house. We've taken to congregating out here for an early morning 'race'. At each end of the landing is a no go area (our bedroom with holes in the floorboards and the occasional sleeping daddy at one end, and the study stacked high with cardboard boxes begging to be climbed at the other) and now Elizabeth has learned to open doors (not all doors mind, just the doors that don't shut properly in our crappy rented house pfft!) I have to run around after her making sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Pretending it's a race makes it seem more fun, and she yelps with delight when I catch her which is too cute for words. This is an early morning tradition because by 9am I am generally too knackered to carry on. 

The photo below is a kinda nice version of a face she's been pulling recently. She scrunches up her nose, purses her lips and snorts menacingly. I don't know what it means but it makes me laugh so much that I have trained her to do it on demand. The face does not photograph well though, so to save her any future embarrassment I've captured a smiley version of it. Bless.

14/52 better late than never

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth and I in Hyde Park last Tuesday (The day with all the sunshine). We met my sister, cruised the park, took in some weird shit at the Serpentine Gallery and stopped for lunch at the Lido cafe. It was the perfect way to spend a rare sunny day.

So it's been a bit quiet round here. I took an impromptu break from blogging. Partly because I needed to focus my energies on making what I'll call 'the return to work decision' (I'm still no closer to reaching a conclusion btw. It seems to be a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. More on that another time), and partly to see what life would be like not blogging, not making jewellery, just being a mum and a housewife homemaker. It's been quite nice actually. My house has never been cleaner. I've finished a couple of books and nearly caught up with Girls. Matt's birthday presents were wrapped with a Martha Stewart level of fineness. I finally got round to opening an ISA (before April 5th - RESULT!). But I have missed it. I've missed writing (which, even though I am terrible at it, is therapeutic and the closest I've ever come to keeping a diary), I've missed taking and editing photos (especially the 52 project), I've missed chatting to other bloggers and having a little bit of creativity beyond artful gift wrapping. So I guess I'm not retiring my blog just yet.

Helen, in answer to your question: the blue coat is actually a quilted boys snow suit from Jasper Conran at Debenhams because why the hell not?

11/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

A close up. This is Elizabeth right now - cheeks red from teething, skin dry from winter, tongue permanently out, smiling through it all. She amazes me. 

My favourites from last week: Eve's eyes, Wilf's beautiful sleeping face, and oh Otto!

10/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth's first ever go on a swing. I was definitely more excited about this than she was. She enjoyed it for 2 or 3 minutes then got distracted by a little boy playing near by and that was that. It was great to go out doors and play, now she's old enough and the weather is perking up we will certainly be doing more of this.

Rebecca over at Pomegranate and Seeds suggested sharing your favourite 52ers from the week. I dig a bit of link love and lovely Rebecca is my first share. She has 3 beautiful boys and yet somehow manages to find the time to blog daily with thoughts on life, inspiration, motherhood and gratitude. Here is her 9/52.

9/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth on my childhood bed. We went to visit my mum and dad this week. It was so lovely. There's something about my parents house that I find very relaxing. A few days in their company was just what the doctor ordered. Plus they have a really plush living room carpet - perfect for rolling and tumbling about on. My dad spent hours on all fours trying to teach E to roll in a line. It was priceless and I wish I'd caught it on camera. Next time Dad...

When I started this project I was adamant I would use my DSLR for every portrait, but the odd iphone photo has snuck in, this is one of them. I travelled to my folks on the train and I just couldn't manage my camera on top of the rest of the baby ephemera E now requires. There's something quite spontaneous about iPhone pics though, isn't there?

8/52 (and a few more)

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth and I enjoying some alfresco cuddles. This was taken on Friday when we all headed into London for a day out. London seems to be our default location for days out at the moment. I miss it... We did a lot of walking about, a bit of shopping, a bit of coffee drinking and lunch with Auntie Katie before heading back to Waterloo and our train home. Here are some more photos:

7/52

  "A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

This was taken yesterday, the day before she moved into her own room, sitting on our bed. She's all moved now. There were tears (from both of us - I am a total wuss). I'm going to miss her. And then I'm going to pull myself together and enjoy having my own space again. Yay!

6/52

 "A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

This weekend we went up to Nuneaton, Matt's home town, to celebrate Elizabeth's Grandad's 70th. And here she is with the man himself. We had a great weekend - good food, great company and a chance to catch up on sleep - what more could you ask for. Happy birthday Grandad John!

5/52

 "A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

This was taken on the train to Oxford on Friday, right before she cuddled up to me and fell asleep. My heart melted. She seems to be growing up so fast and moments like this remind me she's still my baby.

4/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

A sleeping baby. A rare and beautiful thing. This was taken on the platform waiting for our train into London on Saturday. We met up with friends, had a walk by the Thames and then a play date. E was perfectly behaved - catnapping when she could, full of smiles and curiosity. We had a good day. 

3/52

This post is a bit late but not without good reason. Holiday! We got back from Cornwall late last night. I could do with another holiday to recover - this little baby does not like sleeping away from home. Yawn. Still, it was great to get away. This portrait is Elizabeth with my good friend Stu who she met for the first time this weekend.

2/52

Here's our portrait of the week. This was taken on our bed, where we often retreat to for a bit of soft play. Elizabeth loves it, she can roll and sit and bounce around and as long as we keep her away from the edge (all hail kingsize), she's safe. I know we won't be able to do this for long, soon a time will come when we actively discourage her from playing on our bed, so I'm happy to capture this moment. It's also reflective of the week we've had. We have ventured out; lunch with mum friends, visiting my family and a visit from my lovely friend Rekha, but much of the week has been spent inside hiding from grey skies, cuddling up, reading and working. Next week we're hoping to accompany Matt on a trip down to Cornwall (he'll be working). It might not happen as traveling with a little one is proving to be more complicated than we hoped but I'm crossing everything. It would be so good to get away.

Project 52

I read about project 52 over at My Little Acorns and now all my favourite bloggers are taking part. I want to join in too! It's a series started by Jodi at Ché and Fidel: a portrait a week of your baby, child or loved one. Obviously I'll be photographing Elizabeth (sorry Matt). I took this one on Saturday of Matt and E enjoying some skin on skin before her bath. It's pretty similar to the last picture in My week in photos. I will be more original next time I promise, and sorry for making you look at Matt's hairy chest twice in one week!