Play Time

The hot spot lately, and definitely this weekend, is Luka’s sea playmat! It’s the ultimate spot for endless smiles, wild little wiggles, and the sweetest baby sounds. It’s even more fun when mum or dad joins in the action.

We waited for a rare sunny moment this week to capture the best playmat memories. For Chiara, these moments easily topped everything else—better than swimming lessons, family visits, chilly outings, or even the White Horse Sunday roast (though, to be fair, she missed out on the beer and pork!).

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Chiara on her playmat – talking to “pulpo” the smiling Octopus (picture from Daniele). DMC-GF1, 1/125 sec at f/1.7

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Sunday morning play time with mummy. DMC-GF1, 1/125 sec at f/1.7

There’s definitely something magical about these toys—maybe it’s the colors, the shapes, or the design? Who knows! Some get huge smiles, while others get no reaction at all. We’ll keep playing detective to crack the mystery of the smile code!

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Chiara in her “new” McLaren which is brown and pink but very cool. Bought on ebay to a couple who just had a second child and did not find the colours were appropriate for a baby boy.

Macro Baby

Taking sharp baby pictures is no easy task—babies are constantly in motion, with tiny, unpredictable movements that make photography a real challenge. And let’s be honest, they’re not exactly trying to help the photographer either!

We learned a few things this weekend while attempting macro photography with Chiara, which was very much hit or miss (mostly miss). Here’s what worked for us:

  • Photograph while baby sleeps: For things like hands or feet, it’s much easier when they’re still.
  • Fast shutter speed (Tv Priority): Anything faster than 1/300s helped freeze movement. We used a 100mm macro lens for close-ups.
  • Patience, like birdwatching: Pick your spot, wait, and hope the baby moves into the perfect position.
  • Capturing smiles: Tricky! Smiles fade fast—by the time I grabbed the camera, her mouth was already closing.

Despite the challenges, here are a few shots we managed to capture this weekend!

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Macro Chiara – EOS 5DmkII – EF 100mm f2.8 + Holga effect in Lightroom (except top left)

On Saturday, we visited Laetitia, Gabriele, Carla, and Bruno in Wimbledon. Carla and Bruno were completely fascinated by Chiara, asking endless questions and taking such good care of her. We hardly had to touch the pram during our park outing—Carla took charge and pushed it the whole way! She even helped with changing and feeding Chiara beforehand. A true little helper!

Here are two portraits of our future babysitters !

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Carla and Chiara (left) – Bruno posing outside (right). EOS 5DmkII – EF 24-70mm f2.8

Sweet Dreams

Today marks the completion of Chiara’s room – the sofa was sold and the remaining furniture was moved into the right place, so it seems a good time to check how it looks like.

20100214_LON_263 We started design early, two months before birth, as this was a major stress point for the mother to-be.

The room is small, 2.50m x 2.50m – and the size was perfect for a home office, but less so for an infant room.

We spent one WE repainting the whole, in white for 3 walls and pale yellow (citrus yellow) for the last one.

The furniture was bought from BabyStyle (http://www.babystyle.co.uk/) – and after a long debate the Calgary – dark wood – nursery. Price is acceptable, quality alright and the cot-bed can be transformed into a junior bed in the future.

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The blinds were made to measure and ordered from www.kidscurtaincompany.co.uk – very pleased with the fabric and fitting (it takes literally 5 minutes to install).

The door sign designed and handcrafted by Chiara’s godmother’s mother, Marie – is shown in the picture right and fit perfectly.

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To bring more colours we hesitated a long time between a custom made coloured touch of paints and a decal. Given our crafting abilities we went for the safe option and bought a dark red “Au clair de la lune” from a French company (http://www.decoration-stickers.com) as we couldn’t find nice designs from UK websites.

Chiara seems to like it – although she can’t read yet, probably because of the contrast …

Then we started populating the room with Chiara’s gifts – they are all over the room now, mixed with toys lent from her little friends.

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Those four are watching over the room making sure everything is in order and Chiara is sleeping well – obviously it’s quite high so a precarious position to be in. We make sure to rotate who is on night-watch regularly !

She has been sleeping through the night for more than a week now – so all of those efforts paid off quicker than expected !