Babies: the joy, heartbreak and cuteness of a baby's first year

LAST year we introduced you to Generation Alpha, 100 beautiful babies born in 100 days. Now our cheeky little boys and girls are celebrating their first birthdays.

Clark Cura Mother Marris Cura: He’s a very happy kid and very active, way too active actu

LAST year we introduced you to Generation Alpha, 100 beautiful babies born in 100 days. Now our cheeky little boys and girls are celebrating their first birthdays, and we’re thrilled to bring you this collection of photographs and interviews with their exhausted parents about everything from teething to tantrums.

Finn and Lucy Doolan

Finn and Lucy Doolan

Mother Sally Doolan: Finn is the cuddly one, he is quite independent and adventurous, but he needs to come back for a cuddle for reassurance. He is also a chatterbox, even though he has no words yet, he tells everyone what he thinks. Lucy is amazing and I know I’ll say that about her all her life, but she is so different from the boys (two big brothers plus twin brother) and she uses her hands to communicate. She has Italian in her blood, so she talks with her hands. No more babies, my husband has had a vasectomy.

29 April 2013

Oliver Demirbag

Oliver Demirbag

Mother Mandy Safi: Oliver is the most delightful, warm, happy little kid I have ever met, he’s just beautiful. Watching him develop a beautiful relationship with his sister is wonderful, she just adores him. The worst part has been the sleep deprivation, that has been the hardest but I have good family support. Our relationship is fine because we were used to it from the first child and we expected worse actually. My advice: expect parenting to be difficult and then you’ll enjoy all the wonderful parts more.

28 April 2013

Abbey Nobile

Abbey Nobile

Mother Nicole Nobile: Abbey is very determined and stubborn and if she wants something you can’t take it away from her. Watching her grow just amazes me and how quickly she reaches her milestones. I went back to work in January, but I bring her with me because I’m a childcare worker, but she cries her head off if I have to tend to others, or go into the kitchen and it’s heartbreaking. My advice: Take your cues from baby and what’s best for them as they are all different.

30 April 13

Olivia O’Connor

Olivia O’Connor

Mother Melina O’Connor: Olivia knows what she wants. She is quite assertive with her brother who is two and she is very smart. I love seeing how different they are as individuals. I got the baby blues with my first son, I mourned my previous life, but this time round I was good with Olivia. My advice is don’t be too hard on yourself, some days you’ll be a good mum and other days not.

29 April 2013

Joshua Jamieson

Joshua Jamieson

Mother Bassema Jamieson: Joshua is very inquisitive, he watches everything his brothers do, he is very observant and active and cheeky. They are 4, 3 and 1, so close in age. The sleepless nights have been a challenge. That’s the big one, he is still getting up. I’m getting through only because I know it’s not forever and I have to have my nanna nap in the afternoon. We try not to feel guilty about not having dinner with the kids one night a week, so we put them to bed and light a candle and have dinner after they are asleep.

29 April 2013

Archie Smith

Archie Smith

Mother Vraja Henderson: He’s a very loving little boy, but he has a strong will. The worst part of the year was when he got a really bad cough. We feared whooping cough, but thankfully it wasn’t, but it was hard seeing your baby that distressed. The best part was when he took his first steps at 11 months. He was so proud of himself and I was proud too. My advice to new parents is look after yourself, you spend a lot of energy making the baby, delivering the baby and feeding the baby (so) you can get quite run down.

7 May 2013

Ashley Lin

Ashley Lin

Mother Cen Chen: Ashley is such a happy girl; she’s so cute, she likes to say hello to everyone. She can say ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’. My mother-in-law’s here and she can’t speak English so we’ve started Chinese first — but when we talk with her we’ll say the words in Mandarin and English together. Next year we plan to send her to childcare so we are making sure she knows enough English to tell the teachers what she needs.

6 May 2013

Clementine Lunn

Clementine Lunn

Mother Rachel Lunn: Clementine is adventurous, but very calm — which she was the day she was born. I had post natal depression with my first daughter so I worked with a psychiatrist during my pregnancy and up until Clementine was six months old and I have managed fine this time. It helps that she is a cruisy baby. She is still not sleeping more than four hours at a time, so lack of sleep has been the worst bit. My advice: Talk to other mums and connect, and ask for help if you need it.

13 May 2013

Clark Cura

Clark Cura

Mother Marris Cura: He’s a very happy kid and very active, way too active actually: he walked at 11 months. He likes to bite so we all have bruises at the moment. I was at work when Clark walked for the first time and Mum rang and told me and I was so excited. I had problems breast feeding early on and we found out he was tongue tied so they snipped that when he was only 10 days old and it was heartbreaking. My advice: I read a lot of advice and it all contradicted itself, so do whatever works for you.

13 May 2013

Heba Abdalla

Heba Abdalla

Father Abdulla Oubid: Heba is always laughing and is a very happy girl. The best part has been when starts to know her mum and dad and smiling at us, that has been the best part. She has been in Sudan with her mother visiting family for the last two months. It is very sad for me but good for them, I’m happy for the family but I miss her very much. My advice is to be patient, your life has changed and you need to be patient and be helpful to the mum, she needs support.

13 May 2013