Christmas

From the top:

1. Very funny - Annabelle looking like a 60 year old man with a pipe. Its one of those annoying whistle things. Luckily, the girls could blow it hard enough to make it unwind, but not hard enough to make the whistle work.

2. Matilda, a little slower to warm up on Christmas morning

3. The girls opening up a present - their stockings for Santa

4. One of the presents Dam and I gave the girls - little ride on bikes - a big hit - they push them around the deck, then sit on them waiting for me to push!

We all had a lovely Christmas with the girls getting the hang of presents by the end. They are running around now and becoming even more cheeky. They love to be outside and playing in the garden which is lots of fun even if a little nerve racking with the retainer wall we have.

From the top

1. Christmas!!! The girls heading for the pressies.

2. Matilda and lots of giggles in the tunnel
3. Annabelle reading (and not eating for once) her book

4. Matilda not too sure about the photo being taken

Fun times

Sorry about the delay in photos!! Life has just been extremely busy and getting computer time has been near impossible. Anyway..... the girls are both really really well, both walking very confidently now and are just learning that if I ask them to come to me that they can actually go in the other direction and that this is very funny. To them at least. Hmmmm.

They are both blowing big raspberries on everything, my legs, their legs and each others legs. Again, very funny.

Their comprehension level spins me out daily. I can now ask them to go and get me something from the other side of the room and they can go and pick it up for me and bring it back. They definitely understand the meaning of 'no' and will shake their head if they dont want something being offered, dont want to be put down or are frustrated with something.

Teeth - there are lots of them now, including some back molars.

Cant think of any other specific things, but both girls are just delightful at the moment and provide hours of entertainment.

From the top:

From the top
1. Matilda clutching at a little handbag she was given for her birthday

2. Matilda having just eaten a chocolate freckle

3. Annabelle.... hmmm.. fathers child

4. A very funny day for me - Annabelle went into the corner to explore and then Matilda followed her. Annabelle then decided she wanted to come out, but as Matilda was in the way couldnt go anywhere. I had been in the kitchen and came outside in response to crying. I looked all around the deck but couldnt see either - got just a little frightened, but checked that I had locked the gate to the stairs three times - and then finally found them both tucked in behind the gas light with Matilda looking oh so innocent and not sure what all the noise was about.

5. The girls were given the pool for their birthday and absolutely love it. Since this photo have taken the pool outside and filled it and the girls just go crazy, splashing and falling over and giggling.

Birthday Girls!

Annabelle and Matilda are One!!!!

They had a lovely birthday party on the weekend. They were Baptised (but I dont have many good photos yet) in the morning and then we had a BBQ lunch at our place that afternoon. They were so good all day long, ate lots of cake and loved opening presents.

Photos from the top:

1. The girls on their new pull out couch. They both absolutely love it (thanks Daddy!), and will crawl over to it, climb up and sprawl themselves across it. (Annabelle in the blue pants)

2. Matilda having fun making a bell they were given ring

3. Annabelle LOVING her birthday cake

4. Both girls couldnt wait to get their fingers into the cakes

5. Both sitting calmly while everyone sang happy birthday

6. Annabelle playing on the block cart.

They have both started taking steps with Matilda taking four or five steps between objects by herself all the time. Annabelle is not quite as confident yet. Their first steps were taken in the week before their birthday.

1. Annabelle feeding herself custard
2. .... and the results. Not sure how much actually made it into her mouth vs how much was spread on her cheeks. They have both decided that they want to feed themselves which is a very big juggling act as I used to use one bowl and spoon into each girls mouths alternatively. Now I have to try and make sure two bowls dont get thrown over the side of two high chairs whilst trying to put food on the spoons so they actually get some food whilst trying not to help too much 'cos that results in tantrums and tears. Gotta be quick!
3. Matilda getting stuck into a banana
4. Went down to the Manly waterfront and play park yesterday and the girls had a great time. Cant believe how grown up Matilda looks in this photo - she is in the pink top looking at the camera.

Nearly walking

From the top:

A night out eating fish and chips. Matilda absolutely loves fish and was grabbing great big fistfuls faster than we could cool it down for her. The girls studying their new bookcase (made by Grandad (Laurie)). I think I only had to set it up three times to get the photo.

And the two videos.... was a very very cute afternoon with both girls giggling so much. You can only just hear the start of the giggles at the end of the video where Annabelle is pushing Matilda (Annabelle in blue pants), but they were giggling most of the time -thought it was so funny to be pushing their sister! Matilda has been walking behind the little cart for two weeks or so and did so quiet confidently first time around. Annabelle took a little more coaxing as every time it moved she got a little scared and sat down. Neither of them are walking without holding on to anything, but they are quite quick around the couch, chairs and the objects on the deck. They also hold onto the back of my legs when I am preparing food and then come walking with me when I need to move.

10-11 months

Its been a very busy few weeks as we have moved upstairs!!! So the girls now have their own room (just havent taken a photo yet) and it is so lovely to put them to bed and not have to worry about disturbing their sleep when cooking, watching tv or cleaning up. It is so lovely to be living upstairs and the space is wonderful. The girls love playing on the back deck, especially when Oscar is on the other side of the baby gate and runs up and down the stairs to them - they think it is very funny.

Top picture is of Matilda, the next one down Matilda is on the right. They are standing up very confidently now and have even started to let go of things and balance for a few moments. Everyone says that they will be walking before their birthday (very scarey!). Sometimes when they are feeling very clever, they let go of something and then clap before grabbing it again. They also walk along the couch and walls quite comfortably too.

The last picture is of Annabelle playing with her stockings. It was a great game of 'where's Annabelle' - lots of giggles.

Will try and take some more photos of the house for the next entry.

Standing up

Matilda caught in the act of standing up. They are both very competent at this now and are quite confident in sitting down from the standing up position too.

Both girls are getting their four front top teeth which has made for some very sleepless nights. But they are nearly all through now so hopefully it will settle down very soon! Havent weighed them in ages but they certainly feel like they are getting heavier. And, as you can hear from the video of Matilda, they are both getting much more vocal. I am pretty sure they are both saying 'dadadada' and 'mumumumu', but am also pretty sure they are just playing with sounds and havent realised what it means yet or that Damian and I respond to it. Clapping and dancing to music is fun, and the crawling is slowly speeding up. Matilda is definitely the little explorer and I often find her with something in her mouth (mostly a leaf when we are outside), while Annabelle sits back and watches and decides if she has found something worthwhile checking out.

Two beautiful girls and the house

From the top:

1. The kitchen with the floors done

2. The lounge room with the floors done (the skirtings have since been attached and painted too)

3. Big baths upstairs!!! Even though the rest of the plumbing is yet to be connected we thought it would be fun to put the girls in the big bath. Annabelle is closest to me.

4. Devouring an orange. Matilda on the right.

5. Both girls standing up at the coffee table. They think that this is the greatest achievement and that they are soooo clever so spend half their waking hours standing up at it and pulling everything off. Matilda on the right, Annabelle on the left.

Crawlers

Not sure if this will work, but have attempted to upload a video of Annabelle crawling. This all started on about 29th July (last week). Matilda is also crawling I just havent caught it on camera yet. If this works I will try and snap her in the next couple of days.

House Update

Yay!!! Very close to being finished. From the top - two photos of the kitchen. The rangehood still needs to have the flu attached and has a protective coat on it - its stainless steel underneath. (the flu is what is sitting on the bench top). The next picture down is the bathroom - cant wait for the girls to have a big bath!!!! as they are still being bathed in a baby bath. And the final photo is of the floors in the process of being sanded. The colour in them is amazing. Looking forward to seeing the finish go on them in the next couple of days. Then it is just skirting boards, a very big clean up and we can move upstairs!

Hmmmm

Hmmmm, clever little Matilda! Turned around the other day to find her pulling herself up in the cot. Needless to say the sides are now always up and as soon as we move upstairs we will dismantle the cot and put the matress down lower. So far they havent quite figured out that they could be doing this on all the furniture but I am sure it wont be long. They know that if a person is sitting near by they can climb up on the person.

And the other two photos...... yes, we decided we needed the second cot as I was getting up several times in the night to crying as one girl had rolled over onto the other girl. They were also taking forever to settle as they would practise their rolling and attempted crawling instead of going to sleep and of course would crash into each other all the time. So, we now have a very crowded little living room. Hopefully we will be moving upstairs shortly!!!

Trip to Canberra - June/July 08

I took the girls down to visit their Grandma and Grandpa (and lots of friends and family) in Canberra two weeks ago. We had lots of fun and suprisingly the weather was quite mild - I did however, have fun dressing the girls up in lots of layers!!

From the top:
1. Matilda on the slide
2. Annabelle in the swing - the girls loved this, especially when the other one was in the stroller infront of the swing. They loved the sensation of the swing and finding their sister suddenly in their view and then disappearing as they swung backwards. Made for lots of giggles.
3. Funny faces in the stroller. Matilda with her tongue out.
4. The three of us. Annabelle in the overalls
5. Annabelle practising her push ups! Both are very very close to crawling, but they get to this point and then go back onto their tummies and push themselves backwards.

8 months

Sorry about the time since the last update - we had our computer being serviced and life has just been busy. The girls are growing up so quickly. Last weigh in had Annabelle at 8.4kgs and Matilda at 8kgs (about two weeks ago). They are now just past eight months old, both sitting up confidently and getting very close to crawling. They will go from a sitting up position to their tummies and then Annabelle starts pushing herself backwards and Matilda tries so hard to go forwards but hasnt quite got it yet. Not that I mind too much - Im happy if the crawling stage doesnt come too soon!

The photos from the top:
1. Brushing teeth - Matilda with the pink toothbrush
2. Matilda
3. In the new bath upstairs- Annabelle on the left
4. Matilda hugging Annabelle
5. Spikes!!! - Annabelle on the left.