Christmas Time!

Just before Christmas day, we made a chocolate yule log with Nigella's recipe to take for our Christmas day meal. Isla enjoyed making fingerprints in the icing sugar snow and checking it tasted ok.

On Christmas morning, Isla woke up at 6ish and came to ask us about some things she had been thinking about. She asked about when we could go for bike rides together and also about what tigers eat. Then we thought we should remind her it was a special day and that maybe we should go and see if Father Christmas had been to visit us. He had!

Pob and Monty really enjoyed their gifts! and became kittens again for the morning.

I woke Evie up so she didn't miss out on too much of her first Christmas. She seemed to like her new colourful rings!

Isla quickly got her new train set opened up and put a railway track together.

A little bit later on, Isla served Daddy at her post office, where he needed a new tax disc.

Evie had a relaxing snooze before we headed over to Granny Margaret and Grandad David's for the rest of our Christmas Day.

Everyone enjoyed their Christmas lunch:

Back home, we enjoyed the rest of Andrew's time off.

Granny Ilene and Grandpa Alan came to stay for New Year. Here is Isla helping open Evie's Christmas present from Uncle Peter:

Isla loves serving everybody in her post office shop. Evie needed some stamps and popped to the shop for them, which is handily in our living room.

Constructing an amazing gingerbread house that Granny Ilene baked: 

Isla sprouts a puff pastry moustache while eating Rudolph pie:

Back to normal after Christmas, Evie tried out the door bouncer and enjoyed it lots! She generally spins around in it at the moment.

Evie has started sitting in the high chair for the first time this week, while Isla has moved onto an adult low chair. Evie likes sitting and examining her toys, as well as learning to drop them on the floor with a loud bang, whilst we are eating.

We've been going for walks between rain storms. The muddy puddles produced by the storms have been great fun.

Evie has started sitting in a proper buggy rather than the pram, and much prefers being able to see everything around her on our walks and whilst going to toddler group and pre-school.

We visited the park today as it was a sunny morning. Isla really enjoyed it, especially the swings, roundabout and see-saw. Evie had a snooze in the buggy after a while.

Evie enjoyed sitting in the buggy while we had a meal out. Isla was very lucky to have ice cream and also a bambinocino after her pizza!

Cuddles and cake

Isla and Evie had their last cuddles with granny Ilene and grandpa beard for a little while at the beginning of this week. We enjoyed some summery weather and so were out in the garden quite a bit. We visited the library and park for the first time as just a mum and two little girls on Monday, and then braved Morrisons today. This felt like a big scary trip out, but was actually fine! 

Isla has been enjoying playing with her happyland toys, with random creatures driving random vehicles. We were both very excited to find Applejack's friend, a small purple snail who had been lost for ages, as well as Applejack herself. Today we have been mastering dominoes and are getting the hang of playing the Peppa Pig version. This morning we made a car out of cushions, and Isla drove Violet and baby to the doctors, where the doctor (me) had to give Violet a check up. Then Isla brought puppy to the vet (me again) to be weighed and have some flea medicine put on. We are preparing ourselves for Pob's big annual weigh-in next week! I then became the shopkeeper, selling Isla many lovely items of food, and finally pre-school lady looking after Violet for a bit.

We ran out of greedy snacks this week, and so made a chocolate victoria sponge cake on Tuesday with buttercream icing and crushed flake on top. Then that evening, they were doing the same on the Great British Bake off!! But a bit more elaborately, and without toddlers to assist them. And I managed to avoid cutting either of my thumbs whilst baking a cake...

Evie has had a growth spurt this week, with a non-stop feeding frenzy on Wednesday (a very tiring day, and Isla was so patient with us both) followed by lots of sleeping today. The lovely health visitor paid us our final visit today, measuring a new weight of 10 lb 3 oz and she is certainly getting chubby cheeks (Evie, not the health visitor).