More! More! More!

It's taken me the babies' entire nap to download and sort these photos. It feels like it must be impossible that it's been a month since I posted photos - the time is racing by, and I don't seem to be getting anything done. And now I can hear them starting to squeak - happily, so far, but who knows for how long- so no words today, just pictures. Okay, not very many words.

And this time I'm going to be disciplined and choose only ONE photo from every day. And it's going to be in order. I promise. So:

End of may - we went on another family holiday, this time with John's family. Not much time to take photos in the leadup

but it appears that baby L is still plotting world domination in the bath.


Here we are, having arrived after a VERY long drive. I think you're all clear to go back to school, daddy, I can't see a single nit.

Some quality baby-and-grandpa time.

Some quality family time. I feel like someone's missing... naaaah. I'm sure I'm just imagining it.

Lots and lots of firsts this month.
First time in swimsuits!

and first....

first crawling. Life really hasn't been the same since.

First time being synchronisedly tossed in the air with a cousin

First time that Caroline has taken a week off project 365 (pretend there are 7 blank spaces here, in honour of that fact)

First trip to a National Trust property

Okay, NOT the first time she's been excited about a pretty dress

First time realising just how HUGE the babies really are compared when with a proper baby (welcome to the world, little Isabelle!!!)

First month it's been warm enough to really start living at the park. He looks so cute until you jam your fingers in his mouth and find out what it is he's been eating.

First group photo

NOT the first time this boy has been covered in kisses. In case you couldn't tell from his face.

First time on a swing!

First time for a boy in a box

First time for a girl in a box

First appliance obsession

First time absolutely refusing to stay still for monthly photo

First time at a Roman orgy, apparently

First time putting daisies in her hair (it won't be the last)

First time in a sink (does anybody know if there is a human version of www.catsinsinks.com?)

First time working out that now he can now be upside down without the need for parental involvement

(nothing first-y about these. But they were good).

First time pulling up to standing

and first time for a boy and a girl in a box together.

And suddenly it feels like we got quite a lot done this month, after all.

Like A Photo, But It Moves

I am all about the photos - video just confuses me. But 9 months after getting the video camera, I wanted to figure out youtube and so on, and I have spent the longest - seriously, the longest - time trying to clip this video. It's 2 and a half minutes long, because the babies did something very cute and then I kept the camera running, unsure of whether they might do something else worthy of recording for posterity. They didn't. Sooooo, I wanted to trim it so it was just the first 45 seconds but there is some kind of technical conspiracy operating that means I can't do it. Obviously it's not because of any error or ignorance on MY part. Personally, I blame Windows Movie Maker.

Anyway, in the end I figured that it would be simpler to just post the whole thing and let you clip it yourself by pressing 'STOP' at about 45 seconds, after the baby boy crawls away. I don't want to spoil the ending for you, but if you do choose to keep watching, eventually baby girl's hat blows off. And really, that's it.

Get a cup of tea, this one's long...

So, I'm continuing with the 'out of order' thing, and today's offerings are again subdivided into categories. I was going to put the 'babies being cute' category first, but I've realised that if I don't want to lose you all half way through, I'm going to have to make this more like a trip to IKEA - you have no choice but to tramp through a whole acre of stuff you don't want in order to get to the good bits. So, let's start with the category that I can only honestly call:

3) Photos that I took because it was nearly bedtime and I hadn't taken a photo yet


Can you put that clicky thing away so I can go to bed?
Yes, that's an electrical cable. Can I have my mother of the year award now, please? (It was unplugged. I think).

Bottle goes in here, please.
So close to bedtime that we are actually IN our pyjamas.

There is obviously significant overlap between this category and

2) Photos that aren't of babies (gasp), aka photos I took because it was after bedtime and I hadn't taken a photo yet

Weird clicky molecule toy. They LOVE it.



Dusting off the macro lens...
Wash day.

3)Babies actually doing things, including not being cute

I've got no idea what you're talking about, I didn't go anywhere NEAR the cat.

(And speaking of cats... )
This thing is so flexible that I really have no need for opposable thumbs.

Yeah. one of those days.

Mummy... I think you need to switch your flash to manual and start again with totally different exposure settings.
Still just CRAZY about being upside down.

He didn't even twitch. Seriously, this cat deserves some kind of award.


These next three belong together. Seems like the time of them spending a whole day in their birthday outfits is well and truly over...
so much more fun to just eat the stickers.

When they're all grown up, I'm hoping this will remind me that it wasn't ALL fun.

But now finally...

4) Babies being cute
Hurrah! You made it. The Swedish Food Court of photography. Not much to say about these. Basically, I think my point is that the babies are very good looking. The miracle of adoption, huh? Here they are:


Sometimes, I look at her (and him, but mostly her) and think that I can see exactly what she's going to look like when she's all grown up. And yes! She is eating grass. I draw the line at leaves, but I can't seem to do anything about the grass. It's like having another cat.

I can't help myself; I'm a sucker for a boy in a tiger suit. It's like having Calvin AND Hobbes, all at once!



Having posted this, it now strikes me that he looks like he's about to be abducted by a UFO.

Last time you saw the babies loving up to THEIR grandparents - this time it's two of mine who came to visit for the day. (And are currently touring through Eastern Europe - hope you're having fun, Gran and Grandad!) You saw pictures of my parents last week, so which parent do you think belongs to these two? If you are related to me, you get no points - that's cheating.

Our second-favourite cat... Mr Pusskins.




THE END! I'm all up to date! (Until tomorrow, I guess...)