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!

Baking Christmas goodies

Isla and I have been baking some gingerbread biscuits and mince pies this weekend. We used a Mary Berry gingerbread recipe pimped with some treacle as we had no brown sugar. They were yummy. Isla is brilliant at rolling out dough with her little pink rolling pin and then cutting out shapes. All that play dough mucking about must have been handy!

Evie has been enjoying lots of cuddles from everyone. She has made friends with her toy octopus and been practising grabbing the fur of Isla's toy cat.... watch out Pob! She was cooed over in our local shop by all the shop staff yesterday, who appreciated her smiling at them. Isla had her first tube of smarties and was intrigued that the orange ones actually taste of orange. She has been helping with present wrapping up and today we got out a special Christmas magazine for her to look at and put stickers on. She really liked a page about the Octonauts cartoon (you'd have to see the cartoon to find out about Captain Barnacles and the GUPs!!). She liked pretending our hands were sea anemones. Evie was asleep on my lap while we were playing, and everytime Isla giggled, Evie did a cute little laugh in her sleep! I wonder if she used to do this when I was pregnant with her. 

We ventured out between hailstorms for a walk in the sunshine to see the ponies eating sweet-smelling hay. Isla was desperate to ride on Andrew's shoulders and eventually got her wish so was very happy! I remember doing that too when I was little.