Sit Quietly and Listen to the Breeze

Amazingly, for the second time in as many weeks, the girls being still and cute!

Wide Awake, Sometimes Sleeping

When you are 10 months life can just be too exciting.

I Will Stare from the Window.

Don't think there was anything particular to look at but they seemed engrossed nevertheless.

No More Than a Baby Feeding Swans on the River

The other week we went along to an open day at one of our local manor houses. We all enjoyed a walk around the house and a stroll in the grounds. Olivia made a new friend...

Full of Love and Comfortable in Themselves

Here are the girls enjoying themselves in the park. They go most weekends but the novelty still has not worn off, particularly with Gracie who, danger baby that she is, loves going high.

We've Been Taken on a Very Long Ride

Here is Olivia on her bike. She is still rubbish, doesn't peddle and wants to get off after about 10 seconds but she does seem to enjoy it while she is there.

Appeal for Information on the Local News

And news just in... a little bit of Photoshop silliness from my sister.

She Comes with the Sunlight and the Perfect Summer Days

Today was such a lovely sunny day Olivia decided she wanted to 'have picnic Mummy, picnic with my friends'. So Mummy prepared a host of teeny-tiny goodies and Olivia had a lovely time.

Wrapped Up in Time

I am increasingly aware of how quickly the days turn in to weeks and how Gracie will not stay little for long and I trying to capture every moment to memory or photo. Here she is...just because she is beautiful.

Do You Remember I Thought it Was Confetti in Our Hair II

Grace and Olivia's Auntie A_ went to a fancy dress party the other day. As she works as a theatre technician she always has fun going to fancy dress parties as she has access to a huge props cupboard. Queue baby related hilarity as our girls played dress up, much to the amusement of Mummy and Daddy...

Will You Set Things Right

We recently brought a TomTom to save our marriage from the strain of a forthcoming driving holiday to Centreparcs in the Netherlands. F_ has messed about with it a few times but I hadn't used it so we switched it on while driving to see his parents, despite knowing the way perfectly well. A few minutes in to the journey the nice lady we chose to give us our directions (there are a choice of voices, including a very scary sounding man!) seemed to have developed an echo as there was another voice issuing directional commands from the back seat... Every couple of minutes Olivia would pipe up with 'turn right' and me and F_ would howl with laughter. Unfortunately she only wants Daddy to turn right so if we listen to her directions we may spend the rest of our lives driving in circles :)

A Hair Falls Out of Place

At music group on Friday all the children were given a balloon to take home. Olivia has had hours of fun with this and by letting it go and getting Mummy, Daddy or Grandma to get it down and then letting it go again. She has also discovered the multitude joys of static...

Patience My Tinsel Angel

Olivia goes to a toddler music group on Friday mornings and this week as it was the last session before the break for Christmas all the children came dressed up. I may well be charged under the Trades Descriptions Act but I dressed her as an angel. She looked very cute but got bored after about 15 minutes and wanted her normal clothes back on. It has to be said that she did behave like an angel but it only lasted as long as the costume and then she went back to her normal exuberant self.

Here is the little cutie...

Trap the Spark

Lest we forget the little moments, here's what's new in the land of Grace...

Grace is a tall baby and has already grown out of the newborn clothes which Olivia wore for about 3 months! She is now in 'big girl' clothes. She's a lot more alert, awake a lot of the time and has just started smiling (which we hope to catch on camera soon) in the last few days.

Dance For Me Rose

Olivia loves to 'dance'. The inverted commas are because it is dancing, Jim, but not as we know it. It seems to mainly involve jumping up and down and spinning around till she fall down. She seems to have fun though...

The Man from the Planet Marzipan

After a few weeks of drilling Olivia has got over the whole calling Father Christmas 'dirty' thing and she now calls him 'anta' as she seems to have a thing about the letter S, or lack there of, at the moment.

She is still loving being a big sister and calls the baby Gracie (although this is pronounced Grashie). She tries to share her toys and show her things in books and keeps calling to her until Mummy answers on Grace's behalf.

Dirty Water

Olivia has a book called 'Bath Time for Father Christmas' which is currently flavour of the month and we read it repeatedly. The basic story is that Father Christmas has been up and down loads of chimneys and gets very grubby and has to have a bath. Whenever we read the book Olivia always point to Father Christmas and says 'dirty' and we say' yes, he needs a bath'.

We didn't think too much of this until this weekend when we went to a local department store where there was a Christmas section. Olivia kept pointing to all the Santa's, saying 'dirty', much the the general bemusement of those around her. Turns out that rather than commenting on his grubby state, Olivia thinks his name is 'Dirty'. Suddenly I am not looking forward to taking her to Santa's Grotto in a few weeks...

Paper Lies

As she is richer than Mummy and Daddy, Olivia is making sure she keeps up to date on the global economic crisis.

The Ensuing, All Consuming, Mess

Olivia has discovered the delight of organic yogurt that you suck out of tubes. If only she would learn that you are only supposed to squeeze them when they are in your mouth!

And Shoes You Would Hardly Believe

Grandma rudely think she deserves a holiday - I don't know, the liberties some people take :)

We have worked out a child care rota for the 2 and a half weeks Grandmas is away. So Olivia was looked after by Daddy on Wednesday and by Auntie Clare on Thursday and Friday. The other kids finished school on Thursday and so on Friday Olivia had someone to play with.

Olivia had lots of fun playing in Auntie Clare's garden but insisted in wearing some boots which her cousin has long since grown out of but which are 4 sizes too big for Olivia, even though it was about 25 degrees outside and dry as a bone. She was quite taken with the wellies and as you can see she insisted on wearing them for the rest of the day.