Thank you Mum! :-)

Today has not been the best day in living memory - Zoe has not been sleeping at all well this week, and last night she was awake from 3 am to 4.30 am. Not crying, just awake and chatting away. Then I got a call at 7.30 am to let me know my childminder was ill and couldn't look after Ben today, just when I was planning when I could go back to bed! And then I got dog poo on the push chair wheels. Don't get me started on that!

So my day was cheered up by the postman delivering us a little parcel from Edinburgh. Here is Ben in his spooky gloves. We haven't tested to see if they glow in the dark yet, but I'm sure we'll get them under the duvet tomorrow!

And here is Zoe in her exceedingly cute hat - it fits perfectly. So thank you very much for brightening up my day. Now I'm going to bed with a packet of Fox's Viennese Chocolate biscuits and a pint mug of tea!

Getting the high chair out again

Zoe's sitting up really well, and was making a right mess of her bouncy chair, so it seemed like a good time to get the high chair out of the loft! She seems quite happy in it, and particularly enjoys that she's at the table with everyone else.

And as you can see, we've already started weaning her on to a cup! ha ha She really likes a nice cuppa.

Zoe at 6 months

My recent posts have been a bit 'Ben-heavy' so this one is all about Zoe. She was 6 calendar months old on Monday (13th October). I did try to have her on the 12th so their birthdays would be exactly 6 months apart, (and therefore easier to remember) but she wouldn't oblige!

Here she is on Monday sitting up all by herself! I checked Ben's baby book, and he didn't sit up on his own until he was nearly 8 months old, and Zoe also rolled over a full month sooner than him. I had her weighed and measured, and she is now 15 lbs 6 oz, and 65 cm long.


Here she is when she was born (taken on my phone, hence a bit fuzzy) when she weighed 8 lbs 11 oz. I think its just amazing how much they change in only six months!

And here she is on Tuesday, also taken on my phone, in her swimming costume. Her favourite trick at the moment is sucking her toes, as you can probably tell from this picture!

Sunday 12/10/08 Ben's Fourth Birthday

I didn't know how Ben would take today, as he was a bit tired and emotional yesterday, but he slept in till gone seven this morning, and has had a marvellous day! (I wish I could say the same for Zoe - she had me up so early this morning, I could have watched the Japanese Grand Prix live!)

We started with his cards and presents from Zoe and us.

We got him a big boy's bike, which he seemed quite pleased with. He tried it outside, as it was a gorgeous day, but our drive is not exactly a great surface and we couldn't tempt him away from his new dustbin lorry to go somewhere better, so he didn't get too far.

After lunch, Stephen, Angela and Chris and Ian's Mum & Dad came over, and Ben had a fine old time opening more pressies and cards.

We were just getting organised with the candles and cake, when my Auntie Dianne & Uncle Keith arrived unexpectedly, so we had a proper houseful! I was very impressed with his candle blowing out ability - he's obviously had plenty of practice over the last few days :-)

After everyone had gone, we had a 'tea party tea' (sandwiches, crisps, cheese & onion rolls) which we all enjoyed for different reasons - Ben because it's all food he loves but doesn't eat much, me and Ian because there was hardly any washing up! Ben says he had a very nice birthday, and I hope he remembers it for a long time - it was a lovely day.

Saturday 11/12/08 Diggerland and the Chocosaurus

As part of his birthday weekend extravaganza, Ian took Ben to Diggerland near Castleford today. http://www.diggerland.com/ They had a really good time, and it looked like great fun! Maybe we'll all go next time.

I've also managed to get Ben's birthday cake finished (and turned one of my plastic mixing bowls green in the process - that'll teach me!) I am very pleased with the end result though.

Tuesday 07/10/08 Zoe's first swimming lesson

I took Zoe for her first swimming lesson on Tuesday. I've taken her swimming before, and she didn't seem to mind it, so I thought I'd take the plunge (if you'll pardon the pun!) and take her for some baby swimming lessons. I really wanted to do this with Ben, but I ran out of maternity leave. This is who runs the lessons http://www.waterbabies.co.uk/ and I am really looking forward to getting a cool underwater picture!

Zoe was very good, and didn't cry at all unlike many of the other babies. She was even laughing her head off at some points. She did look a bit shocked when she came up from going under the water, but she was fine. I couldn't really take a picture in the changing rooms (might try next week with my phone) so here she is, absolutely exhausted afterwards.

She woke up about ten minutes after I took this, and ate half a mashed banana and then had both sides as well, so it certainly gave her a good apetite!

Sunday 05/10/08 Legotastic!

I've not been able to get on the laptop all week as Ian's been hogging it, doing some evil Microsoft stuff, but since it is his laptop I can't really complain about it too much! So here comes a week's worth of stuff all in one go - I'll still put it in in order though, so as not to confuse :-D

Ben's really into his lego at the moment. He will play quite happily by himself building things for ages (when he's in the right mood!). Here he is, with a tower he built all on his own. I particularly like the polar bear on top.