Christmas

Christmas was wonderful this year. The run up seemed so much shorter than usual, with Amelia being at school. The run up felt like one week only. Before Christmas we had a few parties with the girls friends, which was lovely as Amelia does not get to see her chums much out of school anymore. The day before Christmas Eve mum and dad took the girls to the panto to see Aladdin. Amelia LOVED it ... but Lucy. .... apparantly the first thing on stage was the scary baddy and Lucy immeadiately didnt like it and dad had to take her out of the theatre .. he pretty much spent the rest of the 2.5 hour show playing outside with her!!! What a terror - she says she had fun though!!

On Christmas eve Liz & Geoff took them to buy their Christmas presents, two guinea pigs - they ahd already bought the hutch and accessories which is in the back of the garage - so they came over and completely surprised the girls asking if they want to go pick a guinea pig each! They were over the moon, especially Amelia and went to the pet shop and came home with two girl piggies, both with mad curly hair! Lucy named hers Strawberry and Amelia named hers Fluffy - we cannot believe one is not named Rosie as they seem to have an obsession woth that name! THey are very cute, but very shy and need to be handled often to get used to us - which is not a problem .. especially for Amelia who would cuddle them all day!

After that we went to the cinema and saw Chipmunks; Chipwrecked! Both girls LOVED the film, which wasnt too loud and we had a great time. Then it was home for dinner and to put out Father Christmas mince pie, whisky and carrots for the reindeer and watching their video messages from the north pole itself! They watched them open mouthed and Lucy freely admitted she had not been the goodest girl - but they seemed pretty confident they were getting presents anyway!!

Christmas day was lovely, the girls opened their stockings and then their presents from Father Christmas. There wasnt actually time to give them all the gifts from us .. they finished their presents from us on Boxing Day! Both sets of Nannys and Grandads popped over with gifts and the girls were spoilt rotten! Christmas dinner was lovely and we had an all around great time!

Lucy streetdancer

Well Amelia isnt the only street dancer in the family - Lucy is pretty good too - and she got so hot she had to strip down to her vest ... very street! She loves being videoed and always asks to see it before its finished!!!

Amelia's Christmas Play

This week we went and saw Amelia in her Christmas nativity play. She was one of the three narrators, the main parts in the play. We had helped her to learn her lines and she was so excited about it. We were asked not to bring pre-school children - but we took Lucy anyway!!

Amelia was amazing - she said all her lines perfectly ... and spent the rest of the play looking at us... putting on another show of all her silly faces...smiling, frowning, blowing kisses and mouthing 'Happy Birthday' to Duncan. She was just so cute and funny!! We had a brilliant time.

She is doing so well in school, already been put up a group in her reading books - she has taken to it so naturally - we are so so proud!!

Tiredness

The girls (mainly Amelia) could not be any more tired. After a week at school after half term .. Amelia is shattered. Tonight we have had all manner of hysterics about being unable to tie hairbands properly - apparently it is my fault she doesn't know how to tie Lucy's hair in a ponytail .. I am a 'silly pooh pooh mummy'!! Then at bedtime there were more hysterics as most pupils in the class had the special bonfire night school dinner (she had told me she didnt want to) but apparently she was 'a bit jealous and left out. I dont even know how school dinners work Mummy, I want to check it out'. Then she had all manner of worries at bedtime .. what if a dinosaur/monster comes to get me ... then I explained they dont exist ... so she asked what if a bear came to get her .. and i explained they dont live in England... and this all culminated in a meltdown because she couldnt find the note under her pillow that I had to write for her several weeks ago when she was worrying about dying and going to heaven alone. The note says 'When Amelia goes to heaven, mummy, daddy and lucy will go too'. Funny how a silly little note can soothe the worry. Of course Lucy had to have one too!! Funny little things.
Thank goodness its the weekend.... sleeeeeeeeeeeeep!!

And the video is of the girls yesterday. They were watching a bot of tv while i put on the dinner.. and Lucy walks in to the kitchen, naked except knickers, and covered in my Nivea Creme to stop herself being 'cheesey' ... so cute!

Telling the Girls

When we discovered we were having another baby, the first people we wanted to tell were of course, the girls. We told them at dinner and their reactions were 'really? really? really??' They had been saying for ages about when I have another baby in my tummy and seemed really excited. Since then Lucy asks me at least 5 times a day 'Mummy, is there REALLY a baby in your tummy?' and wants to look and see where it is!! They have been very good at keeping it a secret so far .. wonder how long that will last!!

We are very very excited, and cannot wait to get another little baby, it will be just before Amelia's 5th birthday.

A few videos

This is the new thing in the house 'Say hello to my little friend'. No - they dont watch Scarface - a small prawn says it in Shark Tale!

And this was Amelia trying to do Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes - Lucy doesnt even bother - she has been taking Street Dancing tips from her Big Sister though!!!

School

School started last week. Mornings only. I had been dreading it for such a long time. I still feel cheated out of 6 months wit hher ... but started she did! She was really quite excited about it - they had been eased in with several open afternoons and meeting the teachers.

She was very quiet on the way though - posing for a few pics with Ciaran and JAck, but clingy otherwise. She wanted me to go into the classroom with her, but started crying when I said I had to leave. It was just horrible - telling her I had to leave when I just wanted to run out with her. Luckily, the teaching assistant came over and started talking to her - and she was all smiles, happy for the attention and happy for me to leave. And then she had a great time - it took us a long time to get bits of info from her - essentially all they do is play - but she had made a few new friends and is just loving it. Its her second week now and she is still happy to go - she even walks into the classroom from the playground with her teacher - I am so so proud. Next week they will attend for full days and it will be interesting to see how that goes!

Lucy got a bit jealous for the first few days - we spent the weekend making a real fuss of her too and she is back to normal. One of my worries about Amelia starting school would be that they would not play together as much .. but I need not have worried -they still play together all the time ..

Holiday!

We had our caravan holiday to Mersey - it was utterly briiliant! Girls had a great time, sleeping in the caravan with Mummy and Daddy.

We spent time around Mersey, in the swimming pool, at the beach finding crabs and oysters, and chilling out in the caravan...the girls made friends with the children next door and had a great time. On the third day, Amelia took a dive off some monkey bars and really hurt her face. It was just horrible, her mouth was swollen up like a monkey. She was so brave, but did ask to go to hospital!!

On the last night we went up to 'the disco' and there was a little kareoke night.. Lucy was straight off on the dance floor...on the stage!! Amelia had to dance with duncan or I though! They wanted to sing some kareoke, but they were full length songs. So we asked the DJ if they could just have a little turn on the mic - they turned off all the music and Ameli sang Twinkle little Star and Lucy belted out Frere Jacqe - Horrid Henry Style ... WHere are you? Bedtime is for babies... Get up now!! and they had the biggest cheer of the night!! Very Very Proud x

Having babies

Today we had an extensive game about having babies. Both girls had various dolls and soft animals stuffed up their tops, I had to drive them to hospital, where the babies were born. It so funny to hear their ideas about having babies!
Amelia - Im just going to have a sleep and a Doctor will stitch me up.
Lucy - I want a cup of tea first.
Amelia - That pesky baby was lying on my bladder so I had to wee lots.
Lucy - I bought donups.

They then fed their babies, and had a discussion about breastfeeding tops - Amelia now wants me to make her one!! Lucy asked when I would have some more babies in my tummy!!

All in all - childbirth seemed to be pretty easy for them - if only!

Fave moment of the Day
'You asked for that'. - Amelia after knee-dropping Duncan on the chest as he was stealing Lucy's new toy dog!

A&E

Friday night, the night before her party, Amelia hurt her arm. Her and Duncan were playing on the bed 'wrestling' and Duncan was trapping her arms and tickling her. She started crying and saying her arm hurt, and for a while we thought she was exaggerating, but it became clear she really had hurt herself! We gave her some calpol and sent her to bed, hoping a good nights sleep would be all it needed. But she woke up at 9.30 screaming her head off, refusing to move the arm and generally was in a complete state. We called Liz & Geoff to come over while we took her to the hospital. She cheered up a bit on the way but refused to move the arm and didnt want us touching it. I thought she might have had the ligamenets pulled in some way, which can happen when you swing them by their arms.


We waited about and hour before seeing a nurse who tok all our details and sent us to the childrens waiting room to see a Doctor. The childrens waiting room is full of toys. Amelia immeadiately brightened up and asked us to play with her and grabbed a toy. With both hands. We immeadiately asked if her arm was ok and she confessed that it felt fine now and even leant her body weight on it to show us! Well we just started laughing - it was a complete pain to be there .. but at least she wasnt actually hurt! We actually ended up discharging her as we waited another half hour and had still not been seen. We didnt get home til 11.45!!!! Ridiculous!! The little monkey.

Amelia's Birthday

Amelia's birthday was a bit delayed this year... due to illness. Her birthday was a Saturday and on the Thursday night, Lucy threw up everywhere, she was no better the next day and I ttok her to the Doc, who said she would prob get worse before she got better but that she wasnt contagious ... so we postphoned Amelia's party for a week. She didnt mind though and had a lovely birthday - got some great presents. Emma had bought Gabriella and Madeleine down for the weekend for the party so the ycame and saw us anyway, which Amelia loved, and al the grandparents came too. However, both girls threw up their dinner, and I started being sick that night. when duncan started being sck Sunday morning, we knew the Doc's prediction of her not being contagious was a little optimistic. We spent Sunday, all four of us , on the settee, watching films and napping. It was horrible. We had to delay her little playschool chums party from the Monday to the Thursday. Amelia recovered quickly, as did I , though Lucy and Duncan suffered for longer. and Lucy did a dog pooh in the Factory Shop car park. Yellow, runny and smelt of death - not her finest moment .. yet she is very proud f it and still talking about it now!

Finally the parties got underway. Abbie, Isabel, Joe, Estelle and Laila came for her playschool friends party and they had a great time, they had some balloon models, painted faces and ate loads of cakes and generally just thundered up and down the stairs having a great time. Its so nice to see her with her own friends that she has made herself! Then on the Saturday we had her family/family friends party and had a great time. All the children had their face painted and Duncan was kept very busy doing balloon models for them all - they loved it. It was a tiny bit overwhelming for Amelia, who did once ask to come indoors with me and read a book ..... but she had great fun. So all in all it was a belated, but fun birthday and she had a great time!

The Ringer

Lucy is Amelia's ringer. She completely copies everything she does. If Amelia gets naked...Lucy does, if Amelia needs a plaster .. Lucy does! She will copy what Amelia says , especially if it has made Duncan and I laugh. We call he a ringer and her standard response is 'No, you is a ringer!'

She is so desperate to be just like her sister - I dont know what she will do when Amelia goes to school in September :(

We went to Alison's work the other day to see all the animals. It was AMAZING! Chinchillas, mice, rtas, hamsters, hedgegogs, degas, fish, turtles, snakes, lizards, geckos, chameleons, baby tortoises, a monitor lizard, a iguana, chickes, ducks, turkeys, geese, guinea pigs, wallabys and goats! The girls just loved it! They held and stroked everything they could - Amelia was just fearless so her little ringer joined in too! They held all the soft, furry animals first, then fed lots of fish and moved into the reptile room, next thing I know, Amelia is holding two baby tortoises, one for each of them!! They loved them and kept sitting with them on their laps. They held and stroked snakes and then we saw the bearded dragons, who were just fabulous. We gave them a bath (one of them pooed - Lucys fave bit of the day!!) and had them out for ages. The Alison got out her monitor Lizard, Roxy who was just beautiful. She got her lead out and we took her outside!! But she then managed to slip her lead in a pile of breeze blocks .. queue a lot of lifting and pulling before a naughty Roxy was found and put safely away! We then saw most of the outside animals, though we didnt have time to see the rabbits and chinchillas, or we would have been there for another hour!! Alison couldnt believe how fearless the girls were - they were happy to touch and hold (and sometimes kiss!) everything!! It was so fabulous for the girls as they really got to interact with and see the animals properly by touching them. Amelia cant believe that Alison works there - she wants to work there too!! It really was brilliant!

When we play, Amelia and I tend to put on little voices for things ... Lucy has started to join in .. but she has developed a strange little voice, its kind of French. I have been trying to capture this on video but she wont do it. In this clip.. I am being the baby...AGAIN and Lucy is being the Mummy, you can hear how she says 'you want a cup?'. She also has a cute little way of saying hello - gor to get it on video!
Amelia is growing and growing in confidence, we went to a party at the weekend and she kept asking to go to see the balloon lady on her own to ask for balloon animals , and yesterday she wanted to ask the librarian why we couldnt check a book out on her own. Its so cute how friendly she is becoming, saying hello t oher little playschool chums in the playground.
I had a lovely birthday too. The girls told me all the presents as soon as they got them - Lucy even showed me her card!!! But I got a few lovely surprises . Amelia gave me a card specifically so she could have a piece of pink fluff that was attched to it and they gave me a jewellery stand, I think, so they can help themselves to my necklaces with greater ease!
Amelia-ism
'Mummy can I have some of your make up on?'
'No Amelia, when you are beautiful you dont need make up'
'If I get as ugly as you I will wear your make up then.' Cheers.
Lucy-ism
'We dont like you Mummy, you're stinky!' Charming.

Catherine & Rhys Wedding

The wedding was last week. The girls were the cutest bridesmaids in the whole world! They walked in before Catherine & Dad, Amelia virtually dragging Lucy along! Then when they got to the front and sat with us, Amelia announced loudly, 'We wernt scared AT ALL!' which got a good laugh!

The ceremony was quick, and Amelia spent the whole time whispering 'Your my best friend to Scarlett'! But Catherine and Rhys looked stunning and so happy.

I took so little photos so I am hoping the professionals got LOADS of good ones - there are actually none of me!!!

The reception had a large courtyard all the children were playing it, but the floor was gravel. Most of the children were sitting in it, throwing it and pushing it about like sand - the hems of their dresses are BLACK! But they had a great time running about and playing.

After a yum dinner we tried to get Lucy asleep several times, Duncan pushed her about in the buggy... I made her lie down in a quiet room - I even took her for a drive, but she was determined to stay awake! So we gave up .. the evining started and they loved the dancing!! Then we camped out in a comfy room and they found the fruit platter on the buffet - they were eating fruit salad at 9 oclock! We stayed until 10.20, and they had really had enough - but it was brilliant to stay so late - all in all, an amazing day!!!

Sleeping on the floor and living in a box!

It was time for Lucy's nap and Amelia decided to make her a camp bed. She meant 'sleeping bag' by this and had made Lucy a bed on the floor. Lucy was utterly insistent that she would sleep in it ... and she did! She didnt move from the position she got into it! I wondered if she would want to always sleep like it ... but she was back in the bed at night - so it cant have been to comfy!

We get all sorts of shenanigans at night .. we have gone up, only to find them each in bed with a pair of my high heels on in bed, last night Lucy fell asleep in her Tinkerbelle costume! We can hear so much talking and giggling down the stairs! Amelia always falls asleep next to a big pile of books.

We got a new BBQ last week - a new toy for Duncan .. and true to a childlike stereotype, the girls loved 'the box'. They played in it all afternoon, ate their lunch in it and ate their pudding after dinner in it! After that ... it was pretty disgusting and had to be binned .. but its true what they say, the children really do love boxes!!!

Dancing and Running

A little video to add - running and dancing x

Lucy's cheekiness

Lucy is turning into a real little cheeky monkey! The other night, when they were supposed to be going to sleep, we heard Amelia crying. As i walked up to see what was going on... I could hear Lucy saying 'only joking Meme'. When I asked what had happened, Amelia said that Lucy had been horrible, so I asked Lucy what she had said, she told me 'I do a pooh in Meme's bed!' The little rat! She then also said she would 'do a windy on your face' to me when I couldn't find her dressing up shoes ... and frequently says that we shouldn't take Amelia out with us!! This is all said as a complete joke - and she knows it ... I think its very clever for 2!! Obviously Amelia does say this sort of thing back, but its little Lucy who quite often prompts it all! Am trying to teach her how to be a little more discrete though, the other day she asked loudly why the girl next to us 'always has a bogey-fied face' ... and the mum heard ... so embarrassing! In the library, a boy with lots of freckles walked past and I heard,loudly, 'that boy got chicken pox!' - from Lucy!!! The sun has been amazing the past few days and their new favourite hobby is to play football in the garden with Daddy .. this even outranks watching TV! Amelia had to come in and have her ear wax treated so I put it on .. but Lucy didn't want to watch and practiced her footy - and Amelia moaned the whole time that she wanted to play too! Lucy-ism of the Day We hear big loud fake crying from the back of the car, so ask Lucy whats wrong - 'I cant see the sky!!!!!!'

Lucy counting

The past few days, Lucy has been reciting 1 to 10. Amelia took it upon herself to teach her! She kept saying it slowly for Lucy to copy and one dinner, Lucy just counted to 10! She was very impressed with herself...and our reaction and, for once, it was easy to get her to do something for the camera! Amelia decided to be part of it too...and randomly hits the camera as it was supposedly funny! It was quite random and funny actually!

Lucy-ism of the Day (I can alternate them now as Lucy says so much!)

'No Meme . Wait me finish.' Said sternly to her sister when Amelia wantred pudding before Lucy had finished her dinner!!

Lucys Birthday

Lucy was 2 at the weekend, though it has been a very extended birthday! She has had quite a few parties. To say she has been excited is a huge understatement ... she has been fully aware that its her birthday, that she is having parties, that she is now 2 and that the presents are for her!!
The day before her birthday we had the family over and both girls were spoilt rotten with lots of pressies... Lucy sang herself to sleep at her naptime, singing 'Happy Birthday ... Meee!!'
On her actual birthday we went up to the paint & party and let them each 'build bear'. Amelia chose a rabbit and a fairy outfit, and Lucy got a dog, with dungarees, fluffy duck slippers and a raincoat and hat! Amelia already wants more outfits for her rabbit and even asked to count the money in her money box to pay for it!! She got a little toy fox and dragon, from Amelia & Duncan and it seems to have cured all fear of foxes and dragons! Cant believe it was so simple, he dinner ritual of asking where they are is now gone!

I cant believe that she is two now..and to top it off she is now out of night nappies too.Its ridiculous for such a young girl...but i am so proud.

Promises

Amelia upon being told that she was not going to read a bedtime story as she had been so naughty in the bath.
'Im so sorry! Please forgive me! I promise I'll be good! I'll tidy my bedroom! I'll tidy the lounge...on my own.I'll be nice to Lucy...Forever'
and of course this outburst cracked us up and the little rat got her bedtime story!

A Great Shiner

Amelia has a great shiner at the moment - she managed to fall in to Ciaran's settee and hit the delicate skin around her eye.It was up in seconds and went black straight away. Her face was so swollen that it looked flat down one side! She cried initially but was then very brave ... and decided it looks like make up and so was very impressed with it! its now an attractive shade of yellow ... and absolutely everyone is asking where its from - its a serious shiner!

This is us at the car at the weekend - i wanted to try to catch them singing to Liberian Girl. To be honest - they dont really sing it that well in the clip but its the best I could get - normally there is shouting and screaming! I love driving along with them singing - so funny!

Lucy is saying so much now, proper sentences. She knows how to play games and how to make us laugh .. mostly involving pretend windys ... but she gets the joke! She is also completely dry during the day now and most mornings she wakes up dry too - I cant believe how well and easily she took to knickers - but she wants to be just like her big sister!!

The other day Duncan stopped her from using her crayons in a colouring book whilst on the settee (as her aim isnt too good - she has to do her drawing on the red table) and she ran into the kitchen to me shouting 'Snatcher!! Snatcher!!' (although she pronounces it Natcher) with such a look of utter indignation and outrage that we still laugh about it. She pulls a great scowl! Oh, and the fox in the garden has been joined, on occasion, by a dragon!!

Amelia-ism of the Day

'Mummy, as the sun is out today - can we get the paddling pool out this afternoon?' Errrr NO!

Painting Mugs

We went to Paint & Party this weekend so the girls can make their own mugs for their little cups of tea. It was brilliant. They chose little mugs and literally covered them in paint - every colour imaginable...each mug has several layers of paint..on the insides...on the bottom!! They were completely engrosed ... especially Lucy who just loves the painting. My proudest moment was when the lady asked Amelia her name so she could write ot on her mug - and then asked her how to spell it. The response was 'A - Me -Lee - A' and when the lady asked how to spell her sisters name (tongue in cheek as she had now realised how yound Amelia is) she answered 'La-oo-oo-see' it was SO cute!!

Amelia-ism of the Day
'Mummy we are princesses. Her name is Scotch Banana and I am called Eye of The Tiger'.

I Whip my Hair Back and Forth!

Amelia and Lucy are loving this song - must try to get a video of them singing it. Amelia jumps around crazily singing it whilst Lucy jumps around next to her singing 'Whip...Hair...Bugger!!!'


Amelia-ism of the Day

'When i grow up I want to be a ballerina. and Lucy wants to be a dustbin man -lady!'

Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. Lots of presents - and nowhere to put them all yet! The girls really enjoyed themselves and we had a great time with family and friends!

Amelia-ism of the Day

We overheard her say... 'Lucy - I wish Father Christmas would come EVERY day!'