Christmas Concert and Party No.1

As promised, here is what we've been up to this week. On Wednesday it was Ben's Nursery Christmas concert. He's been singing the songs for weeks now, and yes, I know I'm his mother and therefore very biased, but he is a beautiful singer.

Here he is at the start, looking rather cheeky as usual. Having said he sings beautifully, he hardly sang at all during the concert - maybe he doesn't like all the other children drowning him out ;-)

On Thursday, we went over to Morley for our Mums & Tots Christmas party. Here's Zoe trying to eat her present! No doubt she'll be doing this alot.

Here's Zoe with Sam's daughter, Rheya.

And I think this is a first - a picture of me! Please excuse the baby dribble all down my arm.

November's edited highlights

I have been completely hopeless at keeping this up to date in November - I blame colds that went on and on and a lack of sleep! Here are a few of my favourite pictures from November, then I'll get on with December :-P

Here are some firework pictures from our impromptou Bonfire party. I used the 'firework' setting on the camera and I'm really impressed with how they came out.

We went for a walk round Pudsey Park and got a picture of them together on the 16th of November...

Ben is rather fond of Hula Hoops at the moment - here's a trick Ian showed him with the 'finger crisps' as he calls them :-D

That's all for tonight - I'll be back to start December tomorrow!

Snug as a Bug!

My new cosy toes arrived today. Well, I say 'mine' really its for Zoe, but how I wish they made them in adult sizes! I ordered it back in September from this lady who makes them to order for you - http://www.snunkie.co.uk/ - recommended to me by Sam - thanks Sam!I am so pleased with it - it is even lovelier than it looks in the picture, and Zoe seems very happy in it. Naturally we took it for an outing. We went to Bramley Morrisons, where the beautiful hang out ;-)

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.