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we have officially moved to www.holdenonbaby.com.  
please come visit our new site.  
all of our old posts are on the new site so you won't miss a thing.  

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

father: billabong banded fedora; leather vans; lira mayor striped blue tank; 

asos bright blue shorts // son: kidscase infant striped blue tank; imps & elfs blue infant shorts; serena & lily menagerie bookend; tip toey joey surfy baby sneakers

i love when a father and son dress similarly (see here, here, & here), so i'm always trying to find combinations that work for dustin and holden.  i'm obsessing over infant boy tanks at the moment so although they currently aren't a staple in dustin's closet, we might be adding a few here and there.  

WHAT'S IN MY DIAPER BAG.

gucci diaper bag (my last big purchase for myself before the little man arrived) // 
1.  fuzzibunz cloth diapers // 2.  gucci changing pad // 3.  sakura bloom sling for when i'm tired of carrying him // 
4. chewbeads necklace fashion for mama, teether for baby// 
5. squirt water bottle that i was given at the hospital to use with wipes// 

6. grovia cloth wipes // 7. an extra change of clothes // 8.  tommee tippee sippee cup with easy flow  // 

9.  bulb syringe for emergencies  // 10. aden and anais blanket for coverage during breastfeeding // 
11. indestructibles book for entertainment // 12. plum organics baby food for on the go // 
13.  attachable boon spoons for plum organics packets // 14. hevea panda teether // 15.  b. toys car keys // 
16. wooden sun // 17. babylegs leggings for protecting knees when crawling // 18. hand sanitizer // 
19. make-up for mama // 20. bobby pins to throw my hair up when needed 

FAMILY STYLE.

mama wore: the hatter company fedora, f21 skirt, steve madden sandals; dada wore: rvca shirt, vans jeans, rainbow sandals; little man wore: zara hat, zara shirt, h&m jeans, saltwater sandals.

what an amazing feeling to celebrate mother's day as an actual mother.  my first mother's day was a fabulous one that included a little extra sleep (every mother's dream), a homemade breakfast, some flowers, a few gifts (including an amazing water bottle with holden's face on it!), a trip to a museum, swinging at the park, a manicure, a pedicure, and lots of laughs and love.  i feel like such a lucky lady to have these two boys in my life. 

HUCK FINN SUMMER.

i think it's going to be a huck-finn-feet-freckled-nose-browned-shoulders-evening-outings-late-night-giggles-carefree type of summer.

NAVY & GOLD.

mama wore: love aubrey dress, steve madden sandals; 

baby wore: target sunhat, baby gap onesie, old navy shorts

as a new mum (we use mama and mum interchangeably in our household), i don't get many opportunities to wear my party dresses anymore.  our nights of holding hands, stumbling home in the early morning hours, bursting in the door in a fitful of giggles to raid the kitchen before crashing into drunken, fitful sleeps.  but regardless of the lack of crazy nights out and appropriate spaces in which to debut gold polka dots, i couldn't resist purchasing it.  so i relied on flat sandals to make it relevant for a summer day, a walk in the park, and running through sprinklers.

A LITTLE BUG.

 

on monday, i was struck down with the stomach flu or possibly food poisoning.  we attended a cinco de mayo party hosted by one of the mama's in holden's playgroup and it seems that half of the people at the party were afflicted by the same thing.

i woke up feeling nauseas and of course my first thought was omg, i'm a pregnant.  i started counting the months to see how far apart holden and the new baby would be, figured the baby must be a girl because i never experienced morning sickness with holden, and started worrying that i was going to experience horrible nausea throughout this entire pregnancy...and then i started feeling worse and worse and realized it was not pregnancy, but a stomach virus.  can't really tell you if i was disappointed or relieved.  dustin left work early and came to my rescue, scooping up the little man and taking over for the entire day.  i got into bed at 2:00 pm and didn't emerge until 6:30 pm and you know what, i think that was the single longest period of time that the boys have spent together alone.  which is odd since holden is now eight months old and the fact that he hasn't spent four and half hours alone with his father is kind of absurd.  if you can't tell, i have the teeny tiniest problem with letting go.  

since i still hadn't fully recovered yesterday, dustin stayed home from work again and took care of holden.  he did all of the heavy lifting, diaper changes, feedings (of solids), playing, etc., and i could tell that these two days made them closer, made for a stronger bond between father and son, and is something that needs to happen a lot more often than it has been.  while i selfishly want to spend every minute with dustin out of the two days that he is home for the week, i think that i need to start letting go and letting holden and him have some alone time.

MINI MUNSTER.

mini munster tops and shorts // red slip-ons // vans shark slip-ons // reef surfer slip-ons 

we are kind of obsessed with the mini munster clothing line.  maybe it's because i have an obsession with all australian clothing lines or maybe it's the whole deviance of it all, but there's a sort of effortlessly cool vibe to each piece of clothing, instantly making an infant that too-cool-bad-boy that melts all the girls hearts.

HERS & HIS.

bobo choses bicycle shirt // fifi baby boy bloomer shorts // 

freshly picked moccassins //jellycat chequer lion

(hers photo from here)

mama and son coordinating outfits, in a way reminiscent of childhood and siblings wearing an identical wardrobe.  don't mind if i do.

BABYLEGS TO THE RESCUE.

after a few days of constant movement on hands and knees across every rug and carpet in the house, holden's little knees were raw and red with rug burn.  after a day or two he seemed to be somewhat tentative about crawling, attempting a frog-like leap versus the traditional crawl in an effort to salvage his knees.  i remembered the pair of babylegs leggings that holden wore often during the winter as an extra layer and realized they would be a perfect solution to this crawling dilemma.

HAPPY 8 MONTHS.

hello little (slightly big) boy,

you are eight months old.  um, how did that happen?  how is it possible that we are now closer to your one year old birthday than your birth.  i have already scheduled the date for your first birthday party.  not sure if i can really wrap my head around that.


while i often lament about the speed in which your life is passing me by, i must admit that life with you just keeps getting better and better. i love you more every day, every hour, every minute, every second and you have become my little buddy, no longer the baby i took care of and entertained, now the best friend i spend my days with. you have quickly become the company i enjoy being in the most.  you are such a loving, affectionate, golden hearted, smiley, happy-go-lucky child.

we spend our time rough housing around the living room, snuggling up to good stories on the couch, climbing over blanket and pillow mountains on the bed, peek-a-booing, playing at the park, getting our hands dirty in the sand and the grass, meeting other kids at gymboree and playgroup, running errands and doing chores, and as long as we are together we are happy.  you are definitely a mama's boy and in the past couple of weeks you have become even more attached to me (which i wasn't sure was possible), often crying to get back into my arms when someone else is holding you and although i hope you will be an outgoing child, i love how much you need me.  it makes my heart swell to proportions i didn't know were possible.  you wrap your arms around my neck, plant giant kisses on my cheeks, run your hands through my hair, and reach out for me.  you truly love daddy with all your heart, lighting up when he walks in the door, we facetime with him, or you hear him on speaker phone.  when the three of us are together, you are at your happiest.

you are developing at lightening speed, each day bringing something new learned: giving kisses, waving bye-bye, blowing spit bubbles and raspberries, crawling, pulling up on everything, trying out new sounds, and eating adult foods, to name a few.  you are very in tune with your surroundings and you love imitating the people around you.  if we laugh, you laugh.  if we smile, you smile.  if we hum or sing a tune, you try doing the exact same tune.  with how aware you are, i think we need to start being on our best behavior around you.

you have always been a busy boy, our little wild child, and even before you were crawling, you were all over the place.  now that you are mobile, there is no stopping you.  your current infatuation with cords, power strips, opening cupboards, and everything else that is off-limits really means that i should begin baby proofing, but i've been neglecting that motherly duty and realized today as you stood up on the entertainment center and pulled a few heavy things off of a shelf that i really need to take care of that.  your mobility is allowing you to experience a little independence and you love exploring and investigating.  when we are out of the house, you are very inquisitive and take everything in. when you look at new things your mouth drops open in amazement and i can almost see your mind working as you decipher exactly what everything is and how it works. grandma calls you a little engineer.

your favorite thing of the moment is animals, especially tobi even though tobi isn't your biggest fan (you haven't figured out the concept of gentle yet).  i sing old mcdonald probably fifty times a day with every animal noise imaginable and you could read books about animals infinitely over and over.  you are completely enchanted when we go to the zoo or the animal farm.

you are such a sweet and caring little boy and it is amazing to see your personality come out.  your daddy and i love you so incredibly much.  these really feel like the best days of our lives because of you.

love,
mummy and daddy

you love:

water

fruits
giving kisses
walking everywhere
jumping
crawling
clasping your hands together (something you have done since birth)
clapping by swishing your hands up and down
blowing rasberries
spitting
saying dada and ah da
spending time outdoors
playing in sand, dirt, and grass
pulling hair and grabbing faces

you hate:

getting your diaper changed

having things taken off of you
missing naps (in the sense that you are then overtired)
taking naps
the car seat