Halloween

You might be forgiven for thinking that we have been looking after an alien at home. However I can assure you that this is not ET leaving our house on Halloween - but Rosie in her outfit. She would just not keep her hat on ... still she enjoyed running around with other children all dressed in black. She has another party tonight so I wonder if we'll be more successful in getting her hat straight!

Princess Welly

Rosie has to have wellies for the nursery but she is so small that the only ones we could get are just a little bit to big for her. But we are now bringing them home from the nursery each week to get her used to walking in them and she is doing very well. I tried to get her to walk through puddles but she wasn't going to have any of that. Mind you I am quite sure she would have been very happy to sit in one!

Is she having a laugh?

Emily is turning in to a proper little Charlie. I love the way she is always looking around - she follows people around the room, and everything she sees she takes it all in. She's been examining her hands and has just started doing "Rosie" leg exercises - moving them up and down. I can hear her now as I write rubbing her feet up and down her chair like a cricket! It's like having a perpetual motion machine in the house.

The green sward is laid!

Here it is at last. Grass in the garden. No more bloody gravel - with builders rubble constantly coming through. We have somewhere that the girls can run around in, have the paddling pool in and play ball in. Of course it isn't finshed yet. We need to let the lawn settle down over the winter and in the spring we can decide where to put some trellis, flowers and furniture. When Mike comes back from Oklahoma in the summer it will be looking brilliant. Mind you would gravel be more practical?

Me and my girls

I love this picture. Helen managed to get a snap in while Rosie was happy to be still-ish for a moment on the sofa. Just look at Emily - she stares right at you and follows you round the room. Today I heard her do a baby "giggle" for the first time. She has also started to sudy her hands and the look in her eyes while she does it suggests that she is trying to work out if the hand is hers and she is moving it! As for Rosie ... she is just running all the time so it's time to buy some reins for when she is in the street.

First house for Ben

Ben has bought himself a house! It's a three bedroom semi with a garage and garden and he is doing really well in kitting it all out. He seems ever so proud - and so he should be. At 23 years old he's a graduate running his own business and now with a big mortgage to pay off! Here he is proudly showing off his kitchen. Looking forward to a meal there soon.

Spinning in the rain

What do you do when you get the chance to hold an umbrella for the first time? You spin it around. You walk with it in front of you so you can't see where you are going. You bump into things - and generally have a brilliant time. Here is Rosie after getting back from the nursery today.
She was busy running after the "mowes" as she calls the cats in the streets until she spotted Helen's umbrella .... and away she went. Isn't life a joy when you are constantly discovering new things? Rosie is learning all sorts of new words ... like Bed, Cat, Bear, Door and whatsat. In addition she can say mummmiee and itsada. Loveit

Guess where I am?

Another day and another away day. This time in ????? can you guess the city from this photograph of one of the iconic new images of this regenerating city? A clue ... it isn't Middlesbrough! The thing about going off for the day is how difficult it is to go out of the front door if Rosie is up. She is starting to look really sad when I go out (or Helen does) and it makes it very hard. Still I am reassured that as soon as the door closes she happily gets on with what she is doing. I think I'll be twisted round that little finger ... bring it on!

The laughing baby!

Helen says she heard Emily giggle yesterday. I know she smiles - as you can see in this photo - but I have never heard her giggle as yet. Still I am sure Helen was right, she tells me she usually is! Poor Emily was asleep in her pram yesterday and had a rude awakening when Rosie started bashing her with a doll. Sisters eh.

Dancing the night away

Great day yesterday at Laura (my niece) and Dave's wedding. Rosie loves seeing her cousins and enjoyed the biggest bowl of ice cream I think she has seen in her life. She'd have also had some chocolate drops - but Helen ate them! Ben did the disco and Rosie was so taken with it. She spent an hour on the danceflorr chasing the lights and looking up at her brother and pointing to him behind his mixing desk - "It's a Ba" as she calls him! She was so tired when she got home and into bed at 9.30 that she slept through until 8.15 this morning. Not complaining though. Emily just took it all in and also managed to sleep through till 8 this morning! It's Ben's 23rd birthday today so we are all off out for tea and to look at his new house ... photos tomorrow.

Away day in London

Up at 5.30 and on the 6.30 train to London this morning. Not the best way to start a Friday! Still back home at 4 just in time to see Rosie back from the nursery - and in a surprisingly good mood! Lovely autumn day in London and I took a short time out in-between meetings to grab a cold drink and sit in the gardens at St. Pauls Caathedral. Wonderful.

Hats off to Helen

A week now and both Rosie and Emily are still sleeping through the night. I am not sure how Helen has done this - obviously lots of hard work - but I guess there is still and element of luck in there somewhere. Still its "hats off" to Helen - even though she is wearing her new birthday hat from her mum and dad!

My first smile on camera!

Emily has woken up very, very happy and content. So I thought I would try and capture her smile on camera. This is a little one. As always the smiles are huge but when you put the camera on they gtend to fade away as the camera is more interesting. Rosie has woken up very tired and emtional. We went to Liverpool yesterday and she saw her cousins - but she didn't get a proper sleep in the day - and didn't go to bed till 8 last night ... a long sleep today at lunchtime I think!

Sleeping Beauty

What a great little girl Emily is and she richly deserved this kiss for her sleeping prowess. This is her ninth week and she is already sleeping through. She goes to bed at the same time as Rosie between 6.00 and 7.00 - Helen then wakes her at 10ish and feeds and changes her, she then sleeps through till around 6.45 - 7.00, when Rosie also wakes up. Unbelievable. Brilliant. I have to say I am in awe at what Helen has done, this house is just so peaceful in the evenings, a little haven. Theres time to do the blog, watch TV, read the paper .... all the things I thought I'd have to give up when we had babies. Phew. ..... and yes I know just how lucky I am.

A walk in the park

Rosie is doing so well with her walking. She really loves running round the grass on the park chasing a ball. Here she is in the middle of Victoria Park, round the corner from home, and overlooking the University of Leicester. It's really autumnal today, the heating is on, the bath is run and I'm wondering if I need to take a big coat with me to Manchester in the morning? Can't wait for Rosie to see some snow - she is going to love the park then - leaving tiny footsteps!

The Girls

Thinking back all those years ago ... around 20 ... it used to be "how are the boys?" with Ben and Michael ... now its "How are the girls?". I still can't believe I'm starting down this road again. But at least they both sleep through the night - even Emily did 7-7 last night. Rosie is starting to take a real interest in her sister now. At first it was just poking her in the eye ... but now kissing is the thing - as well as poking her in the eye of course!

Helen reaches middle age (35)

At last I can relax as my wife reaches middle age. Here is Helen waiting to blow out the candles on her birthday cake - with the help of the Whitmans. Rosie pottered around all evening and really enjoyed the birthday tea, Emily was a darling - as always - and I felt knackered, running round with a cold. Still it's not every day your wife says goodbye to her youth!