baby : 1 month

dear baby,
today you are one month old. you are a little snugglebug, a wee guppy mouthed feeder.

at night you sleep and sleep, usually waking only once or twice to be fed before going straight back to sleep. feel free to keep this up lovely lady.

we're breastfeeding and you're an efficient little feeder. 5 - 15 minutes and you seem to have a full belly. it's wonderful.

just in case you ever wonder what you looked like at one month I'll tell you: you have the finest brown hair that turns wispy and damp in the summer heat. you have blushed white skin that is still a little peely and spotty from being so new.

your eyes are of indeterminate colour but if pressed I would say they are a thunderstorm blue. I'm guessing they will turn hazel like mine. you have tiny feet and long elegant fingers. you don't get either of these things from me.

you seem to have the sweetest nature. while you sleep the most at night you quietly fuss and feed, fuss and feed during the day, especially in the morning. this means I get to spend most of my days feeding and cuddling you. I am not complaining about this at all.

even though you grew inside me for nine months, it's only now that it seems you're starting to know me. in the last few days when I scoop you up your eyes fix steadily on mine and the edges of your mouth look tentative, like the beginnings of a smile; you seem to look right into me and I fall in love with you even more.

I'm not going to lie, it's with barely suppressed delight that I organise your new wardrobe of tiny dresses and pretty shoes. I clothe you in light suits and sleeveless cotton dresses with puffy bloomers.

and so we watch you grow.

your dad waggles his fingers in the air above your head and you follow the pattern he traces in the air. and from the first day I brought you home your brother has pulled his blue painted chair, the one that used to be mine as a child, up to your hammock to read his books to you when I'm not looking. I only know he does this because when I come into your room the chair is placed by your bed and the books are scattered all over the floor.

baby : 4 weeks

Four years ago the preschooler was born. And from the moment he was born he has taken centre stage in the baby space place.

In part it's because he's the youngest by 10 years and in part it's his personality; he is exuberant. He is enthusiastic. He's charming, communicative, engaging and not one to be ignored.

But he's not the youngest any more.

When I went to take the four week photos of this little lady, the preschooler turned into a Wild Thing. He's been a wild thing a lot lately.

Fortunately he is never a wild thing to her, only to us: his loving and wee bit exasperated parents. Towards her he is the most loving. The sweetest. The most kind.

He let her be a wild thing too.

Happy 4 weeks little lady.

When you and your brother get back your supper will be waiting for you. And it will still be hot.

guest post : lil magoolie : top five shared bedrooms

"Bron kindly asked me to write a little something while she's away having the latest little addition to the baby space team. Since I'm better with pictures than words, I thought I'd share my top five shared kids' bedrooms. These days with space at a premium, it's great to get some ideas about using one space for more than one child. I don't know if these rooms guarantee fight-free co-existence, but they sure look great!" Maddie (lilmagoolie.com) Click on the links to see more of the rooms.

top space :ohdeedoh

ohdeedoh

hop skip jump

armelle jewelry

real living magazine via keltainentalorannalla

baby : 3 weeks

I was sure I was having a boy. I also thought the baby space baby would arrive late like my other two boys. I was all ready to still be pregnant at 41 weeks and then to give birth to a boy. And we'd picked out a name for our third and final boy: Luka.

But as we hadn't found out for sure what sex the baby was, we'd also picked out a couple of girls names just in case (the man was sure she would be a 'she'). We narrowed it down to two: Chloe and Asher. But when she was born she didn't look at all like a Chloe or an Asher. She looked like a Rose, which wasn't even on our long list.

A girl called Rose. Born one day early. A sweet bundle of surprises right from the beginning.

How about you? If you're a mama did you name your wee one's before they were born (we did with the preschooler) or wait for their arrival? And what do you think you'll do with future bambinos? I'd love to hear.

baby : 2 weeks

Having a cuddle at two weeks tiny (last week).

Right now I'm just riding with the flow of this new little lady's needs : feed, change, cuddle, feed, cuddle, sleep, sleep, feed, change, cuddle...you get the picture. All of this cuddling is keeping me away from posting (sad) but it does give me time to read quite a bit over her chubby little shoulder (sooo cute).

Eventually I'd like to share our birth story with you but in the meantime I'd also love to share her growth here on baby space if you'd like to see?

3 week pictures and a bit about her name coming next...

p.s I did an interview about being a mama for with two cats a little while ago. You can read it here if you'd like.

guest post : my poppet : blythe doll love

Hello lovely baby space readers, Miss Cinti here, mum to 2 year-old Emma, you may know me from such places as the My Poppet Blog and Poppet in the Post.

Whilst Bron is off having a well earned rest I thought I'd introduce some of you to the wonderful world of Blythe dolls.

Blythe are no ordinary doll, they seem to have an amazing personality about them that many find hard to resist, and a fascinating history.

Manufactured by Kenner in 1972, the original Blythe was produced for only one year and then was retired because of poor sales, then 28 years later after appearing in a Japanese television commercial, she became an overnight sensation in Asia. To meet the demand of fans and collectors the Neo Blythe was released in 2001. They are made only in limited editions which adds to their desirability.

Last year I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo for the 10 year anniversary exhibition of every Blythe doll released in Japan. You can read about it here.

I was lucky enough to be lent a doll by a friend who is a collector, and both Emma and I were quite smitten. So whilst in Japan I decided to buy us a Blythe doll of our very own.

Meet Perty (Emma calls every Blythe, Perty).

We have lots of fun together changing Perty's eye colour (she has four), dressing her up for tea parties, and of course I love making clothes for her.

You can read more about our Blythe adventures here.

Thanks Bron for letting me take over your blog for a day. Good luck with the baby.
x Cinti

guest post : tales of me and the husband : new dad tips

Please welcome Bridget from tales of me and the husband. You may remember her tips for visiting new mums from here. I asked her if she had any more tips and this is what she had to say. (This lady makes me laugh!)

{my husband, my babe, and myself}

I had this little guy a mere five months ago. It feels like ages ago and just yesterday all at the same time. When he reaches a new milestone I'm both happy and sad. "He rolled over! Hurrah Parker! Go Parker! Wait, no! Stop! Be still! Like the sleepy little slug you were when you were a few hours old! Stop growing!"

Happy, sad, up, down... such is the mind of a new Mom. I mean, post-birth, you've got hormones raging through you like a bulldozer, a potentially throbbing vagina tear, and two or more hemorrhoids from the whole pushing-a-babe-from-your-womb deal. Thus, the ups and downs are the least of it. But, nevertheless, a new Mom's mind is a crazy place.

So this is just one tip I have and it really goes out to the dads (who perhaps aren't really checking into blogs, so moms-to-be... show them this one!).

guest post : buy modern baby : sleep, sit, suck

While I'm away loving up the new baby space baby (yay!) we have some lovely bloggers from the most fabulous baby, craft and design sites dropping by to guest post. The first is Esther from the comprehensive site for beautifully designed products for wee ones, Buy Modern Baby Blog.

My philosophy when it comes to newborns is to keep it as SIMPLE as possible. The stage is so wonderful but so brief, so it's really not worth getting more geared up for it than you need to.

That being said, I reflect back on my months with newborns and have come up with my top basic picks. These are what I'd love to get if I had to do it all again.

First, newborns need a place to SLEEP. There are lots of different possible sleeping arrangements but I liked keeping my babies in their own little bed next to mine for the first few months. These three bassinets would be beautiful, cozy places for snoozing.

Anticlockwise from top right: BABYBJÖRN Bassinet Harmony, so-ro cradle, Stokke Bounce 'n' Sleep.

Second, newborns need a place to SIT. You can't hold them all day. At some point you need to eat or make a telephone call or... gasp! have a shower!

Clockwise from top right: 4moms mamaroo, bombol bamboo, Nuna Leaf, Combi Pod Bouncer.

Finally, they are going to SUCK. Your #1 job as a newborn parent is to be sure your child eats and grows. This takes quite a bit of time throughout the day so you want to be comfortable.

Clockwise from top right: My Brest Friend, milkbar nursing pillow, babybaby Feeding Pillow.

So keep it simple. Have a place for your baby to sleep, sit and suck and you'll be all set!

the bump : 40 weeks

The baby space baby is here!

At the moment the baby space place is a cocoon of newborn bliss. The man is on leave taking care of us and I'm spending most of my time off the computer loving up the baby. But I had to pop in to let you know the wee one had arrived.

As you know we chose not to find out the sex of the baby and we also waited until the baby space kiddos came to the hospital to meet their sibling before telling them if they had a new brother or a sister.

What do you think?

It's a girl. A very blue one. We are so in love.

More details to come :)