One from the vault

I was strolling down the virtual vault this weekend and had to share this much loved gem of my first attempt at (being an adult) and drinking coffee

http://thealuminiumfoiledmyplans.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/caffeine-catnip.html

Messy times ahead!

Zarek has got his hat on, hip-hip-hip-hooray. Zarek has got a hat he tipped his food out on his tray.

I'm a working mama!! Cripes!

One afternoon back at work and I feel very cheerful! I may have dragged my feet through the first half-hour but I then worked right up to 10pm! (Breaking to do storytime, put the kids to bed and cook and eat tea) It's been so nice getting back into the business after nearly a year and as much as I adore my trio it's also been very relaxing having some time to work, organise, sell, plan and manage things without needing to spout lots of nursery rhymes at the same time. Or trying to bounce a baby whose only intent is to delete all the things on my laptop.

I hope I'm so positive a week from now! I now do mon, tue, thurs, fri & Sunday afternoons 3:00-5:45 while dada does the childcare, yippee!!!!

First tooth!

After all the whining of the last week the first tooth has come from the one who was least fussy! Can you guess who it belongs to?

May you always have in your arms those who are in your heart

Days are so fleeting now, each bottle fed and each outfit outgrown reminds me that time is slipping away.

Life is such a whirlwind of things that need doing, saying, cleaning, holding and working that it isn't often I get to just sit and think, and when I do it always feels bitter sweet.

 I look at how they have grown, how strong, how clever and how brilliant they are. But then I look again at how they have grown! How many more days will it be before they walk, and talk and tell us actually, they don't want any help doing this, that they can do it for themselves thank you very much.

I look forward to seeing them become independent, strong and confident people. But a small part of me realises and regrets that with each strong step forward, with each moment of growing pride in them, we close a door behind us.

There is no going back. There is no time to return later for snuggles on the sofa, for tickles on the play mat, for laying on the floor examining a new toy together.

One day they won't sit on the bed amazed by the lampshade, one day they will jump on the bed in their eagerness to see us and then just as quickly, they won't bother coming into our room to see us any more.

It's a difficult thing watching your children grow, wanting to live to see everything they will ever do (yet knowing you won't) to know you need to be strong enough to let them experience life for themselves, while wanting to be right their holding their hand sharing every moment with them.

I watch from a doorway as they discover a new toy they never noticed before. I watch them mesmerised by what it can do, before raising their heads looking for me, catching my eye and grinning while holding it and making noises to show me what they've found. And I know, they won't always do this.

I love the today's, the age they're at, the fun we have. It's as I always imagined it would and so, so much more wonderful and joyful than I could have ever comprehended.

I feel that every moment looking back is wasted, that it means missing out on something happening right now. It's only in the quiet moments of nap time or when feeding them that I permit myself to think back over what was. 

Life before them, life with them in my tummy, as babies, our life with them now as they become children.

And I know, we are not really missing anything that we are living all of it now and we have been there from the very start of their lives and will be there hopefully, until ours end.

 I know I can't be expected to remember every second, of everyday. I hope though I'll recall enough of the good and the bad  to remember before they grow too fast, too soon, but then I think;

They are young yet, we still have time. 

Nine Months on (Six corrected)

I know, I've been tardy, but it is so difficult to share what's new when everything that happens feels new, or on a less cheerful side, as if it's been happening forever. 

My life has never been so structured, which is both a comfort, knowing what is happening all the time, but during bad weather the repetitiveness of doing the same things over and over can drive one a tad....insane.

Thankfully we've had some sunny days recently and finally plonked the kids in the garden for some summer fun, which turned into summer colds (and that was absolutely, definitely not dada's fault for deciding to crack out the paddling pool on what was in fact a decidedly breezy day).

Nine Months On

Jumperoo's are the best thing every invented, ever. In fact, I want one.
Nothing is so bad, or so sad that a quick bounce in a jumperoo cannot right it, and they are now at the age that when you push two jumperoo's together they can bounce and laugh at each other (while mama sneaks into the kitchen to wash up).

Sitting in high chairs has become easy, as has reaching for finger food on the trays,  I can already see the glimmer of a future where I no longer sit and spoon feed and can, perhaps, sit and join in a meal with them. 

Ayla and Zarek can roll over. Ayla is now a pro at rolling back to front and vice versa to reach anything her little heart desires. Zarek has mastered rolling to grab something and then instantly springing back over so it's a real struggle to try convince him to have a little tummy time. 

Gaius....Gaius will not roll, he just shows no interest at all. If a toy is slightly out of reach he'll just lay there quietly and wait for it to maybe be thrown to him by Ayla. He is, however very keen to sit unaided and nearly has mastered it and keen to be bouncing, toddling, rocking but not rolling.

I have no idea if it is corrected but he was always a kicker in my tum and from 14 weeks never rolled from his engaged position whereas the other two wouldn't quit jiving.
I don't think he will roll until he can crawl which, given how well he can weight bear, shouldn't be too much longer.

Gaius has become dubbed as my little Orca baby, he sounds like a baby whale making all kinds of adorable noises. 

Zarek and Ayla sound very similar in their voices and with the ranges of noises they can make, but Zarek is currently enjoying squealing, growling and blowing bubbles where Ayla has moved onto making quiet chattering noises.

They are all getting big, strong, confident and more and more intelligent.

Imagine;

Gaius is playing with a wooden toy, Ayla is playing with a ladybird. Ayla let's go of her ladybird and grabs Gaius' toy out of his hands.

Gaius whimpers, picks up Ayla's ladybird and does his level best to try to give it back to her with one hand, while trying take his toy back with the other hand (plus accompanying whale noises) - smart kid!

Zarek is also obsessed with cloth and nappies, he can even take his own trousers off to shake in the air like a flag before sucking and flailing around with them like he's wrestling a crocodile. He's getting a flag for his birthday.

Yes I have already begun sorting out their birthday gifts, I've bought their big things, much to D's horror as we still have three months yet to go, but I have also begun sewing and building their other gifts!  

Where did April go!

The sun came out, we went out, we came down with colds and then more colds. We sang songs, grew out of old clothes, sported some fetching new ones, played with toys, got given new toys, tried new foods, got co-ordinated, started rolling around and made lots and lots of noise. Not to mention having a party and starting the joys of teething!