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!

Owls eat bagels

Doesn't time fly. Since my last blog, our days have been filled with Evie blowing raspberries constantly and chatting goo goo gah gahs at us, and with Isla bouncing about like a tigger.

Isla has been painting with autumn leaves, and making butterfly paintings:

 and washing up the paint pots:

We've been going for lots of autumnal walks:

and doing gluey craftiness:

Evie sometimes wears proper tops and bottoms during the day instead of just sleepsuits:

Isla chose a princess sticker after having her teeth checked at the dentists, and we had a yummy lunch out to celebrate no fillings:

Evie at tummy time:

Evie has a quick go in the door bouncer for the first time:

We made some 'snow dough' (4 cups flour mixed with 1/2 cup oil) which amused Isla for ages. It is like wet sand and was good for making castles and scooping up

Pirate Isla entertaining Evie with Jess the cat:

Isla and Andrew's den:

Evie's curl:

On Halloween, Isla and I pretended to be owls flying round the garden. Apparently owls eat bagels so we had to pretend we were catching and eating those. She enjoyed watching Spooky Buddies, a film about puppies dressing up for Halloween.

We had a mini firework display in our garden in two instalments. Isla wasn't sure about them. We moved inside to watch from the dining room with Isla on my lap. In the second instalment, Isla's face lit up when we watched the catherine wheel from the living room. We also saw our local firework display from our house, it was quite impressive with big bangs. When we go to Tumble Tots we all sit in a circle to talk about what we've been doing at the weekend at the beginning of the session. Isla explained to everyone how we had watched the fireworks 'with help from mummy to see them from inside' and how they went 'boom'. Everyone thought her description was very funny! I was very proud of her speaking out in front of the whole group. She also was brilliant at climbing a very high 'pirate ladder' and going on the rest of the equipment.

We had a trip to the park this week to go on the swings. We met a friend with lovely dogs which Isla stroked and played ball with. We saw a little boy dressed as a bat. We joined a Rugby Tots session at the pre-school. On the way home, Evie was famished and the only place to stop was the local church for a feed and an apple. Isla liked the 'echo' in the church.

We had a long-awaited trip to the library this week and chose some new books. So far we have read 'The Highway Rat' but have several more to look at. I found a 'Make with Maisy' craft book with ideas in it. Isla helped Andrew make some bread rolls and we also made some krispie marshmallow bars too! We had a visit from Isla's friend D one afternoon. The two girls played with Happyland, play dough, drawings, aqua doodle and started playing 'shopping list' in the two hours together, interspersed with checking us all (mums, toddlers, babies and snugglers) at the doctors with a stethoscope, and racing up and down the hall with the buggy!

Today it has been rainy again and Isla and Andrew went swimming together. This was VERY exciting for Isla and she was zooming around the pool with her arm bands like a little speedy duckling.