Thursday 23 June 2016

'Hello', little dear!







This week's Sepia Saturday prompt shows a mother calmly reading while her baby sleeps peacefully in its bassinet. The photo comes from an advertising agency, which is not surprising, because that is the only way such a photo is likely to have been taken! How I coped with bringing up four babies is all a bit of a blur these days, but I'm sure that whenever they went to sleep I was busy getting everything else done that I couldn't do when they were awake. I certainly wasn't sitting down relaxing with a book.  I was too busy in the daytime and too exhausted at night to read very much at all for quite a few years!  I have a few photographs of our babies asleep in the pram, probably because taking them out for walks was a good way to get them to fall asleep, but no photos of them asleep in bassinets.

 Below is a card that my mother received from her friend Elaine when I was born. Elaine is the lady who coincidentally appeared in my blog last week holding a koala. Although I don't have a photo of us together, I imagine she also enjoyed holding me as a cuddly baby when she came to visit.







Here is the 'little dear'  referred to above, aged about 6 months, in a bassinet, not asleep but propped up with a pillow and taking notice .



Here I am again, outside enjoying the sunshine. Then in the photograph below I'm in the washing basket!



Below is our first daughter out for a walk in the very basic pram that we used for all four children, also not asleep. 



These days putting babies to sleep on their tummies is frowned upon, and the use of sheepskins, pillows, toys, cot liners and other baby bedding and frills is also strongly discouraged, but somehow our babies survived.



 A blanket and basket lining are used in these two photos of our English granddaughter as a newborn.


Our second daughter and granddaughter are currently living with us, and to conclude, here are a couple of  photos of them, showing Laura managing to read while breastfeeding, although from the mischievous look of baby Lucy in the second photo, that reading was about to come to an end. 

    


Now for more blogs about mothers and babies, books,bassinets, bedding or soft toys, politically correct or otherwise, tiptoe quietly over to Sepia Saturday #336.

14 comments:

La Nightingail said...

A fun nostalgic trip through your baby land post, and I love the way you end it with pictures of your daughter and granddaughter both sitting in the same chair doing the same thing, both trying to read while doing it. :)

Jofeath said...

Actually both pictures are very recent, and are of the same two people, ie. our daughter Laura and her 5 month old baby Lucy :-)

Mike Brubaker said...

All very fitting photos for this weekend. The other night we were at a small restaurant and a new mother came in with a three wheel baby transport that looked like something NASA would send to Mars! Besides the baby it carried enough gear for a camping trip. I think it even had a trailer hitch.

Kerryn Taylor said...

really lovely photos Jo

Alan Burnett said...

All the babies share a similar look, a "hello world what have you got lined up for me" look. Lovely

Unknown said...

Love the photo of you in the washing basket.

Boobook said...

So true Mike. I dread having to fold up my grandson's pusher when I'm babysitting. It's well nigh impossible but my daughter seems to have the knack and gets the job done in about two seconds! In fact the other day I couldn't get my grandson out of the pusher for a while because the seat belt had some child-safe gadget on it that was nana-safe as well!!

Boobook said...

A lovely collection of photos Jo. My babies slept on their tummies too, and survived (I think. Like you that time is all a bit of a blur for me as well)

Helen Killeen Bauch McHargue said...

I love you in the laundry basket.

Little Nell said...

Well, why wouldn't you put a baby in a wash basket after all? Lovely photos and I think the one of you 'taking notice' should be your new profile picture.

diane b said...

A great find for the theme.

Barbara Rogers said...

Don't you wonder if our kids who slept on their tummies have some kind of inner strength the newbies will lack from not having to turn their heads to breathe! Just kidding.

Cassmob (Pauleen) said...

Four together would have kept you busy, I still made some time for reading..it was my sanity saver.

Tattered and Lost said...

That is a lovely card. I love the elephant because it reminds me of my favorite stuffed elephant that I slept with for years. I still have it, but it's trunk is bent. Okay, it's trunk is basically flat against its face after so many years of me hugging it. Each night when my dad would finish reading to me he'd wind up the music box in my elephant and I'd go to sleep holding it. I hope these little ones have fond memories of sleep.