Caitlyn - three years!

Am under time pressure here so won't be able to do a three year old update that does her justice! Will try and remember to come back soon and do it.
Caitlyn knew that you had to remove the candles after blowing them out and then cut the cake.

Hope discovering the joys of chocolate - sitting on a brave Grandpa's lap!

The very popular Noddy! She also got a Noddy toy for her birthday which is currently being carted around everywhere. Sucky Bunny must be feeling a bit lonely (although he is still number one at sleep time)

This is the cake I made for Caitlyn to take to her nursery - a bit of a rush to do but it was all worth it when Caitlyn got her stool and stood on it looking at her cake on the bench, then said to me "mummy, my cake is so beautiful".

Hope - eight months

Hope has had a development explosion in the last month - figuring lots of things out, like rolling, sitting (kind of - but very much improved), commando crawling backwards, clapping, waving, shaking and banging objects to get sounds (a favourite activity of hers). Her sleeping has improved - we had a whole week of sleeping through the night before her tummy bug started (grrrrrr). Now Abby has a cough and keeps waking Hope up - hopefully everyone will be healthy again soon and we can get back to long nights of sleep! At 8.5 months Hope weighed 6.89kg - however this was after her week long on-again-off-again tummy bug. She is a tiny baby anyway though - she is sleeping in newborn sleepsuits at the moment!

Abby - eight months

No giraffe photos this time - but these pictures were taken on the correct day! Abby is sitting very confidently now - she almost never falls. She prefers sitting down to lying on her tummy so her moving hasn't progressed much (still on commando crawling backwards and slowly). She loves peek-a-boo and playing games with Caitlyn. She is still quite obviously suspicious of strangers but very smiley when relaxed. She has four teeth. Her weight at 8.5 months was 8.18kg. Only in the last week has she finally decided that food is okay and has begun eating more than the one or two spoonfuls we could trick into her! Abby can clap and wave and is pretty good at greeting people with a wave. I even saw her wave at the TV yesterday when Noddy said "goodbye" to someone :)
Her good balance while sitting means she has quite a far reach, and this gives her an advantage over Hope as they have both already realised that what their sister is playing with must be more interested than what they have...

Two of Abby's four teeth

This photo makes me laugh! It reminds of a comic book face for some reason.

Two sitting up babies means a lot of learning to share!

Hope on her tummy! One day Hope started rolling and now she compulsively rolls on to her tummy just like Abby. She is able to roll tummy to back quite often too.

Morning

Finger foods

I've been trying out more of these, with some success. Hope is usually ready to give anything a go. Abby has been slower to be interested but about a week ago developed a liking for marmite on toast. Everything else offered to her gets thrown on the floor still.
Fruit is usually a bit slippery!

Abby reading to herself

Hope enjoying the exersaucer

Caitlyn

This is Caitlyn 'eating dinner', an activity she approaches with little enthusiasm and dedication! We have just started a star chart for eating dinner nicely (feeding herself and not complaining mainly!) and she got five stars this week so not doing too badly... Our little Cinderella

Technical issues again...

Well actually that is only part of my excuses... the others being the babies have stopped having their afternoon sleep which means a lot less child free time for me, and Hope has had an on again off again tummy bug last week... and I'm suffering from photo buildup where there are just so many it seems too overwhelming to actually do something with them. Anyway today I decided to make a start and corel is once again crashing every time I try to turn a photo. And since most of the photos I take need turning that is a problem. As a kind of filler here are two of the few no-turning-needed photos.
And for future reference (since I am terrible at filling out their baby books) today Abby got her fourth tooth (second top one).

Abby looking very interested in Hope's zip

Our big three year old!

Teeth

A bit of a strange expression (and a very messy face!) but this is the clearest photo I have of Abby's teeth.

Abby is not amused - but Dianne and I were :)
Hope being charming

Hope sound asleep with her eyes open. I went in and out of the room, waved my hand in front of her face and took three photos without her stirring

Moving

This photo is to show you how far Abby moved on Tuesday (12/5/09 for future reference). She started off at the blue/green play gym then made her way over to the bookshelf (just visible on the very left of the photo)(yes mum and dad I know that is your book - will return soon!). She then reversed over to where you can see her in the photo. All backwards commando crawlgin.

Bath time

More bubble shots - Daddy having fun again
He thought Hope looked like she was wearing a baker's hat :)

An excited Hope all ready for her bath

Abby - seven months

Abby is kind of 'on the move' - over the last couple of days she has been doing much more commando crawling backwards, getting around the room but also getting frustrated because the more she tries to reach something the further away it gets! She was playing with a stone yesterday that Caitlyn had left on the floor - better start keeping more of an eye on what is lying around now! Abby can now sit up for long periods and is pretty good at 'correcting' herself if she leans over to one side or something. Her eating has not been very good but seems to have improved a bit in the last couple of days. I've actually found it less discouraging than weaning Caitlyn because I've never had a time when both babies have refused to eat (whew).

Hope - seven months

Hope got her first tooth on the day she turned seven months - no teething issues except for possibly one unusual upset wake up. She is making lots of different sounds and loves people (well she is getting a bit clingy but when she is feeling secure she loves interacting with people). As I said she is getting a bit clingy, but not overwhelming slow. Her eyes certainly follow me around much more than Abby's do though. Her sitting up is improving though I wouldn't leave her yet (even with a pillow). She is a pretty good eater (well the best so far out of my limited experience of three) and has never totally refused a food.
Very easy to get a smile out of!

Caitlyn

Abby

Various

You can spot some little legs sticking out from under the blanket to the right - this was Caitlyn and Abby in their 'house)
Abby not 100% sure if this game is to her liking!

Eggs with daddy - a weekend morning tradition (he's looking forward to balancing three girls on his lap soon)

A tired Hope using her facecloth as a cuddly

Abby and wipes

Abby loves it when she comes across a wipes container (the frequency is aided by her biggest sister who is a big fan of wasting wipes or watching her sister waste wipes). She pulls them out, sucks them (yuck!) etc very contentedly.

Hope enjoying the jolly jumper

both girls love spending time in it. Hope is a big fan of standing up, but is also very good at the jumping bit.

Abby choosing to sit up straight

when she could be lying down and relaxing! (baby einstein time while the rest of the family eats dinner).

Fun with Hope

Hope was in a very good mood but with all the jumping up and down and camera setting issues I didn't manage to get the photo I wanted. You can get the idea from these though.

Sitting up!

In the last couple of days this has all come together for Abby. She is still nowhere near steady but as long as she is not distracted by something behind her or too far off to the side she can balance for quite a while. Love the toes poking out either side in this picture.

Carolyn!

is currently here on a brief (but very welcome) visit from the UK. It's so lovely to see her and am trying to not be reminded too much of how I miss London peoples.... all visitors welcome.... (not that we are the most relaxing holiday destination at the moment). Abby is very impressed by her jewellery

One of each

Caitlyn after polishing a big easter egg off in record time.
Abby enjoying the exersaucer

A beautiful but messy smile from Hope

Abby on her tummy

If you look very closely you can see her first tooth. Her second tooth arrived this morning with no teething issues whatsoever! Big relief if teething is going to be this easy (at least with one of them).

Abby had moved from on the green playmat. She does move around a bit but I don't think it is deliberate and controlled movement yet. In this photo she is trying her 'swimming to move technique' for the 1000th plus time with no more success than the other tries!

Eating

Caitlyn enjoying an Easter Egg

Abby having finished her blueberry and apple. She is a bit more of a fussy eater than Hope. When she likes something you can't get it into her quick enough but if she doesn't then nothing can get through those sealed gums.

Hope absolutely loves sucking banana through her mesh feeder.

Salt deprived?

The first morning Caitlyn woke up really better from her tummy bug she asked for marmite and ate it straight from the jar. Mmmmm

Letters

About a month ago Caitlyn got very interested in an alphabet stencil book that Gran and Pop had given her. She spent a long time making the letters (fairly successfully - see below) and asking "who's that letter?" - wanting to know names or words beginning with each. Since then she is very excited when she recognises a letter somewhere - e.g. yesterday when driving up to Pak and Save Caitlyn said excitedly "there's A for Anna and Abby!" pointing at the sign (right across the other side of the carpark). Throughout the shopping trip she pointed out letters that she knew (she's pretty confident with 6-8?). Finding a C is of course the most exciting.

Six months!

These are not quite genuine six months photos - it's a measure of how sick I was feeling on the day they turned six months that I couldn't even muster the energy to get out a camera! Anyhow, it was on Tuesday and Abby celebrated by getting her first tooth (without too much bother other than a runny nose, so whew about that). Before I forget their weights at six months were: Hope 6.2 kg and Abby 7.07 kg. I will try and take some photos with the giraffe and do a proper six month update soon...

Morning

Bubbles

Daddy having fun with the bubbles. This was about the babies last bath with just the two of them. We now try and squeeze all three into the bath and have an absolutely chaotic hour or so of bedtime routines but hopefully things will settle down soon (the plus point is we get them all in bed an hour earlier).

HIghchairs

Not really having the space for two more highchairs we bought the ones that clip on to the table. I think they will work well although the girls are still a little wobbly in them at the moment.

Hope - first taste of solids

Not overly impressed!

Actually, maybe it's alright

Abby - first taste of solids

Caitlyn

Reliving her babyhood (again)
Just to show you how long her hair is getting!

Sisters

We still don't see that much interaction between Abby and Hope but we now see a lot more between Caitlyn and the babies. They both adore her, watch her, try and get her attention and laugh at anything she does. It's very sweet. She is usually very good at responding to them and playing with them. It's lovely when they are both laughing and you can see it's two sisters playing together, not just one entertaining the other.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Hope is now a 'finger sucker'. Here she is, angelically asleep.
Abby doesn't suck her fingers but she is now able to get her toes in her mouth.

Photo shoot (well an attempt at one)

I tried taking some nice photos of the girls together and although Hope was cooperative, Abby wasn't and kept grabbing at Hope, making her smile disappear. Abby's smile never appeared - see last photo for her face!
Who's got my ear?!

Tummy time

As I think I have mentioned before Abby spends a lot of time on her tummy now as she rolls on to it and can't get back over.
A "mummy please help" look

Exersaucer

Caitlyn (as always) had to try it out first
Abby

Hope

Grandparents

Caitlyn, Abby and Hope with all four of their Grandparents

Tower building

Most evenings during their visit Caitlyn and Granddad enjoyed building duplo towers (becoming more detailed as the days progressed).

Abby

Lots of similar photos but I love them all. I was trying to get a smile on camera from Abby - she did seven during the several minutes I was taking photos but missed them all (except for the tail end of some)

Snapshots

Caitlyn hates spilling anything wettish on her clothing (even on her bibs if she is wearing one) so here I found her finished off her peaches, having removed the risk factor there.
Hope has started sucking her fingers - this has mellowed her out and makes her go to sleep much more easily (yay).

Abby trying out her new highchair (we are counting down to solids). She was a bit wobblyish but hopefully will be steadier when she needs to be in it.

Playing outside with Daddy

Granny and Grandad

came for a visit from South Africa - here they are with all three girls.

Proud Big Sister

Caitlyn loves being allowed to 'hold' Hope or Abby (under close supervision). This was about a month ago so they sit up a bit better now!
I think Hope looks like a doll in this one - not quite real.

Caitlyn loves trying out the babies things, which in same cases includes their clothing. Here I found her with two pairs of 3-6 month old trousers on, one on top of the other (actually they make fairly passable long shorts).

Apologies

I have been experiencing technical difficulties (with Corel Photo Album) which seemed to have resolved themselves (at least temporarily), so this is my third recent attempt to update. I only have 12 minutes at the moment but will do what I can and be back later!