When I Grow Up

This picture was only taken a month ago.

She no longer fits the vest, the dress or the tights.
The raccoon has been lost
The coffee table is no longer that tidy
I've forgotten the carpet is that colour

But:
The cushions are not needed anymore
The smiles are bigger
The giggles are louder

Dream A Little Dream

I've been meaning to do this post since August, ie since I was 8 months pregnant. Unfortunately (or fortunately) a little thing got in the way and as that little thing gets bigger it seems to get harder to find the time. However, I'm back at work and have a whole 45 minutes at lunch to fill with all the various internet based tasks I can think of (like buying a dishwasher, woo hoo).

The other night we heard noises in the nursery and went to investigate. We discovered Naomi asleep on the floor, next to her bed. Mum and Dad will probably be thinking that she's definitely my daughter and she's showing enough obsessive behaviour to leave me in no doubt of that (as well as the fact that I definitely gave birth to her) So, this reminded me of photo fest I had planned of Naomi mainly from August 2007 when I think she could tell something big was about to happen.



It all started quite normally with a quick sleep on Daddy's back






But then in June she discovered Daddy's hands made a good pillow





And by July Mummy's tummy was big enough to win over everything else





But by August Mummy's tummy kept kicking back (oh how I don't miss those early days of Naomi and Chloe fighting, when I was literally stuck in the middle)



So much so that the kitchen floor was comfier






And so was being folded in half






And no she does not have tonsilitis, she's just either too lazy to make it down the stairs or too lazy to make it to bed.



And before you think we only have one child, here are a couple of Chloe:


The lovely days when I could do my puzzles without being headbutted on the nose. Was she really ever this small?



Catching a quick kip in her big sister's cot (now Chloe's cot)



Eating is such hard work. Here's a general tip, if they fall asleep in the highchair, leave them in the highchair. May sound like common sense but obviously isn't to an overtired mum!

Holiday

How did the holiday go I hear you ask. Well it was great if you ignore the sleepless nights, explosive nappies and endless rounds of washing.

For those of you who don't know we visited Andrew and Louise in Carrickfergus for a week.

Highlights were definitely:
the kids first trip on a boat
fresh, warm bread every day
pancakes for breakfast
outdoor climbing
the coastal road
visiting the farms
Russell getting to process photos
Louise taking the kids out for walks

Amusing/entertaining, for some of us, moments were:
Jennie trying to climb onto the harbour wall
Naomi falling out of bed and trying to climb back in before we noticed
Russell losing grip and swinging across the rock face
Andrew clashing with the pram in his orange jacket
Naomi's attempt at an Irish accent
Jennie forgetting to take the change bag out of the car on the ferry home.

A word of warning though, something strange seemed to happen to Chloe in this family photo!








Maybe it was because they didn't seem to appreciate the fine waterfront at Carrickfergus or maybe it was to teach us not to leave Chloe on random green boxes.

Pineapple Head

Well, more like Carrot Head but Crowded House let me down on that one.

5 months have passed and hardly any posting has been done, in my defence our downstairs windows are shiny and clean for the first time in 3 years....

So to update any of you who haven't given up looking at this site, we started the weaning process again. Funny how with Naomi I couldn't wait to start solids but this time I was putting it off, the thought of all the puréeing etc. However, I finally read the instructions to my blender and woo hoo, it actually did its job!

Chloe's looking to follow in Naomi's footsteps and is being taught very well (that's Naomi's hand you can see attempting to fight for the spoon). So far it sounds like her little tricks are not going to be followed by an 'uh oh' but a very dirty chuckle.

Here's the smile that goes with the chuckle. If you've been a recipient of Chloe's horrendous screaming fits you'll be pleased to hear there seem to have been less of them in the last few days and more of the chuckle (long may it continue)

Congratulations, and Jubilations...

Andrew has been over from NI with his wife, Louise. He, Adrian and me, with our respective wives (and children) were all at Dad's on Friday evening, when the doorbell rang. Dad went to answer, and came back saying, "Boys, I'd like you to meet somebody very important; this is my fiancee, Susan."

Needless to say we were stunned, we didn't even know he had somebody special around. Many congratulations to you both. We're really looking forward to getting to know Susan better.

Bicycle Race

Oops, just found this unpublished post from August!

Although Naomi can't ride a bike yet she is quite addicted to them. She gets quite impatient if Russell is riding his bike without her on it and whenever Russell, Sophie & Callum cycled off the field without her she burst into tears. After 2 weeks of eyeing up Anna's bike she finally got on it on the last day.




To top it off she got to have a go on Tim's moped.



Hot off the press, well hot compared to August but probably more luke warm. Naomi fits her own bike at last, though she has to ride it Steve Peat style.

What's New Pussycat

Debbie took us to Sophie & Callum's school's christmas fare on Saturday. While I vanished to feed Chloe she swapped Naomi for this:


It made strange noises whilst pointing at its nose. Mainly these sounded like neeme meow or neemeeow.

But don't worry, it vanished overnight and Naomi returned so panic over.