Newborn photos with 4-week-old Otis

I first met this lovely family at their newborn shoot with Thea. Thea was born four weeks prematurely, and was a teeny tiny bundle of snoozing joy (see the photos from that session here).

She’s now a walking, talking 20-month-old toddler who is very happy with her recent promotion to Big Sister. Even before her sibling arrived, Thea would say ‘bubba’ when touching her mum’s baby bump. The family read a book with her that was all about being a big sister, and afterwards she would get her dolly out and pretend to change its nappy.

Finally little Otis arrived just a couple of days before his due date, with a sturdy birth weight of 7 pounds 7 ounces (compared to Thea’s 4 pounds 11 ounces at birth!). Thea was super excited to meet him, fetching and showing him all of her favourite toys when she saw him for the first time. Now, every morning, as soon as she wakes up, the first thing she wants to do is to see him and kiss him.

Thea has been really good with him: curious but gentle, and always willing to help fetch wet wipes and other essentials from the changing bag!

Lisa tells me that Thea is a chatty, independent toddler who knows what she wants (qualities she’s inherited from her mum!). She loves singing, dancing and being active. She’s recently started showing an interest in books, puzzles and colouring, which are some of the few things that get her to stay still (for a few minutes, at least!).

It’s also clear that she’s got lots of great qualities from her dad, too, including his confidence and chilled-out nature. Thea very quickly settled into being around a new face in a new place at my Bicester studio, and was soon pointing and naming things, as well as curiously watching everything I did.

Despite having a little less sleep than they’d like right now, Tai and Lisa are still super patient and attentive with Thea, giving her the space and support to become her own person.

Indeed, the family’s patient perseverance was demonstrated when Lisa and Tai first took Thea to the swimming pool. Thea cried and screamed, and her parents worried whether they were upsetting her and other swimmers. They managed to calm her down a little bit, staying for about half an hour in total before heading home.

Instead of giving up, they tried again the following week. And the one after that. Now they go every Sunday morning and she loves it. As soon as Thea knows it’s time to go to the pool she shouts ‘splash, splash, splash!’ happily, and leads the family through the leisure centre to the changing cubicles.

Thea gets just as excited about going to the park, adventuring through a soft play centre and visiting family. Lisa’s mum and dad look after her on a Thursday, which is one of Thea’s favourite days – possibly because she gets spoilt rotten 🙂

She also loves being the centre of attention, so naturally her mum and dad were curious to see how she’d respond to her new brother. Now, as Lisa and Tai’s minds turn to what to buy Thea for Christmas, I think they’re going to be hard-pressed to beat little Otis’ arrival, which is by far the best gift of the year. 🙂

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If you’re interested in newborn portraits or family photography in and around Bicester, Oxfordshire, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).