Newborn Photoshoot with two-week-old Cody

It’s always such a lovely feeling when a family comes back to the studio, especially when I’ve photographed their growing family before.

I first met Helen and her family when Mila was a baby, creating wall art of her on her own. Next came photographs of Mila with her little sister Emmie, and now there’s another member of the family to add to the collection – baby Cody.

The girls were very excited to meet their new baby brother when he arrived, rushing over to see him and, of course, offering lots (and lots!) of help with looking after him.

There’s already a lovely bond between the three of them. Mila and Cody are remarkably similar as babies, while the girls themselves are very much their own little people. Helen loves how grown-up Mila sounds when she talks, while Emmie is full of character, knows exactly what she wants and is apparently always surrounded by friends at school who love being around her.

The girls are like magnets – they might fall out one minute, but they’re straight back together again the next. I suspect Cody will soon be joining in with all of that chaos too!

One of their favourite things to do together is play Lego, particularly the 3-in-1 Creator sets where the same bricks can be turned into three completely different creations.

It feels very fitting, then, that this family is constantly creating and changing too – growing from three to four, and making their home work beautifully for their expanding family.

Grant’s DIY skills have played a big part in that. He has transformed their home so that what was once a front door opening directly into the main living space is now a separate entrance with its own boot room. It’s one of those practical changes that makes such a difference to everyday family life.

And then there’s Bleecker the dog, who has found herself pushed a little further down the pecking order with each new arrival.

Although, as Grant pointed out, the dog is apparently “not as far down the pecking order as me.” 🤣

Helen loves the newborn stage – those tiny fingers and toes, sleepy cuddles and all the little details that disappear far too quickly. But she also loves watching each of her children grow and seeing their individual personalities emerge.

In fact, one of the reasons she wanted to update the wall art was because, although she takes hundreds of photographs herself, they rarely make it any further than her phone.

And that’s something I hear so often.

We take so many photographs of our children, but the ones that actually get printed and displayed are the ones we get to enjoy every single day. This session was about creating the next piece of that story – photographs of Mila, Emmie and Cody together, ready to join the photographs already hanging on their walls.

There was also a lovely little piece of family history hidden in Cody’s arrival.

When he was born, Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles happened to be playing just as he arrived. And it turns out each of the children has their own song from around the time they were born – songs that have become their very own family theme tunes.

I love the idea that, years from now, hearing those songs will instantly take Helen and Grant back to those first moments with each of their children.

And now Cody has his own song, his own photographs and his own place on the wall. 🥰

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

Sarah Plater AMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

She is the Master Photographers Association Young Families Portrait Photographer of the Year and Newborn Photographer of the Year for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).