Thursday, August 1, 2013

Sophie's Nursery And Farewelling Babyhood



At each stage of babyhood, there have been so many 'lasts' that I've found so very sad... so many moments and memories I've found myself desperately wishing I could freeze and hold onto forever.  When Sophie moved from her bassinette in our bedroom to her own cot at six months, I was devastated.  Ten months later, I felt tears pricking my eyes as I watched her cot leave our house, the same cot that Grace slept in and whose rail she gnawed bite marks into during one particular episode of teething. The same cot I spent many a night sitting beside, patting my girls to sleep and comforting them.  The same cot which I stared at many times during my pregnancies, dreaming of the babies we were yet to meet.

Farewelling that cot seemed so final, a sign that babyhood was well and truly over... and so it was that at sixteen months, our little one began sleeping in her toddler bed.

Slowly, since that day five months ago, Sophie's nursery has been morphing into a toddler room.  The once relatively bare, simple layout and decor beginning to take shape and growing alongside our little girl, coming to life in an effort to match her little character.  One of the blessings of keeping this blog is having a record of our family and our home and so today, I want to freeze time just once and capture Sophie's nursery in its current state before it too becomes a thing of the past and is made-over into a 'big girls' room'...


Sophie's nursery back when she had a cot






I love that Sophie's room (like Grace's) is filled with touches I've crafted with my own hands such as the owl cross-stitch above (Grace has an identical one in blue), cushions, pillowcases and basket liners.  I love that it has pieces from my own childhood (such as the pale pink bed cover) as well as from our family history (the green bunny on Sophie's shelf was a gift of my own Dad's when he was born.


The empty spot on the top shelf above is where I'm hoping to put a clock from my own childhood bedroom... 
I just need to re-claim it from my Mum's house...



With only three months until our little poppet turns two, I'm almost ready to begin sewing a patchwork quilt - a bed cover of pretty fabrics in mint and aqua green, pale pink and grey with touches of red and yellow. Come summer when she moves into a 'big girl's bed', I'm hoping it will be complete.

Other 'toddler touches' are slowly creeping into Sophie's room too, the latest being an adorable wooden doll house (an early birthday present) which Sophie has been playing with every single day recently. Low shelving or a small bookcase beneath the window which I can deck out 'Montessori style' with Sophie's favourite toys and knick knacks is also on the cards and will see me farewelling another well used piece of nursery furniture... the feeding chair...

I guess that's what decorating a house is all about though... nothing will ever stay exactly the same forever as the people living within its walls grow and change... and so as sad as it has been saying goodbye to many much loved baby pieces, I know deep down that in doing so, our house is becoming more of a home and that the chapters of toddler hood and childhood ahead of us will be filled with just as many memories and moments to cherish just as precious as the baby ones we've farewelled.



20 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful post, Amanda! I love all the sentimental touches in Sophie's room. So precious! xox E

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  2. Gorgeous room. And I love the owl cross stitch you made! x

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  3. Such a gorgeous room Amanda - you really have a beautiful eye for decorating. Love the subdued pale pink and greens colours and I love that you have so many handcrafted items. I'm sure you're not surprised that the trio of ducks there takes my fancy but your Dad's green bunny takes the cake. Her "next" room will be every bit as gorgeous as this. Mel x PS And almost 2? That has gone SO fast!

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    1. Thanks so much Mel. The ducks are secondhand and were part of Sophie's 1st birthday present (I bought them off Etsy). As for this year whizzing by, 1 to 2 has gone SOOO much faster than Sophie's first year!! x

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  4. I can't believe Sophie is two! A lovely post and you have such a great record of your life with your blog too. I bawled so much when we took the cot away for our second son...knew that we had to have a third child. I didn't cry when we dismantled the cot that last time though. xx

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  5. What a lovely little room. I'm glad you took photos of it to freeze this moment in time. I've done that every time we've changed the boys' bed configurations as well. We don't want to forget, do we!?
    Ronnie xo

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  6. Oh that bunny is divine
    Her room is so girly and pretty - just divine Amanda
    My girls rooms are so far from this now...but so them :-)

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  7. oh what a beautiful and sweet room for sophie. i just LOVE the green rabbit...that's just so stunning. and i love that it was your dad's.

    i was going to ask you if sophie was in a bed yet. we still have olive in a cot (and hoping to keep her in it for a while yet...i think with finn on the scene and the changes around here she'd be in and out all the time playing us) but we have recently bought her her own pillow. she still uses a grobag.

    how did you find sophie coping with the change to sheets, etc? i guess with olive being our first child i was/am a bit hesitant of the change.

    the wooden dollhouse is beautiful!

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  8. We've just been making space for our grown up girl to come back home to study...you're right, homes keep changing and rearranging to suit whatever's happening. Just look forward!

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  9. Beautiful post Amanda, so lovely to have these memories. I love that you have your dad's rabbit too, how special. It's amazing how quickly they grow. Will look forward to seeing the changes in Sophie's room xx

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  10. The changes are bittersweet, it is so lovely to see your child growing, yet a small part of you cannot help but miss the baby that was

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  11. Wow ... so beautiful. I love the home-made crafts, they are devine. Cheers, Alison (#Maxabellaloves)

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  12. What a lovely room. Every stage is so hard to leave. My son is now 13 and has left so many stages behind. Each time I go through some grief but them I also have the new stages to embrace. So far the teenage years are something absolutely wonderful...phew! Enjoy each moment with your girls x

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  13. Such a pretty room. Love all the individual and handcrafted pieces. They will no doubt stay and be cherished by your daughter always.

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  14. Gorgeous nursery and now toddler room. When we were expecting Mr 19 we decorated it in mint green with a teddy bears theme (and border around the ceiling), in time it was also enjoyed by Miss 19. Their rooms are VERY different now - Mr 19's looks like a media room (dark, leather couch, projector TV, computer - oh there's a bed in there somewhere too!) and Miss 16 has decorated in black white and red, it looks stunning (when it's tidy anyways ...)

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  15. Such a beautiful, serene space, Amanda. My kids would have it plastered with greasy fingerprints in seconds, but lots of beautiful dreams will be made here. x

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  16. I love your style Amanda. One day, if I ever make it there, I'm going to channel you to decorate my child's room. I love how you've combined bits of your history to decorate the girls' rooms and the colour palettes are divine.

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  17. It's such a beautiful space that you have created for Sophie, with so many thoughtful bits you have chosen to include, that green bunny so beautiful to have and look at each day especially:) It is so hard to say goodbye to those stages but the new one of Sophie growing into a little girl will be equally as exciting and special. I look forward to seeing Sophie's new little girl space, love that doll house too:) xx

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  18. What a beautiful room and I loved how it has evolved too.

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  19. I loved this little peek into Sophie's room. So serene. She already has such a sweet collection of treasures. I just adore your Dad's green bunny xxx
    (love the idea of photographing the room before it changes - I was always fascinated by the pictures of my nursery)

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