More birthday party photos

A special thanks to sister-in-law Yin for taking these photos.

I've pinched them from her Facebook page.

Milly's piggy tights.

Henry and his Uncle Monsieur (aka Tiff's brother Corin).

The Bartley boys.

Tiff's family: Corin (brother), Bryan (Dad) and Jackie (Mum).

Tiff's family again: Nikki (step sister), Tracey (step Mum), and the rest.

Nanoo and Peter.

"Wow. I can't believe I've got a helicopter."

The helicopter didn't leave Henry's side all party - Yin was lucky to get this close.

Getting help opening presents from Henry's friend Emily.

Happy Birthday

It was a weekend of birthdays. Milly turned one and Henry turned three. We celebrated it with family and friends, champagne, plenty of wine and beer, and of course birthday cake.

Henry's rocket cake.

Milly's flower cake.

She might not have liked the taste of her cake, but she certainly loved the icing.

A quiet moment with Grandad.

Meet the Hobsons

Michael's sister, Libby and her family came down to Sydney from Toowoomba to visit last weekend. It was the first time we had all seen each other since Christmas 2006. At that time Ciara was only two months old, and Milly had not yet been born. So to celebrate this great and rare Hobson get together we invited Michael and Libby's cousin, Steve Hobson and his wife Anna over for lunch. The kids especially had a great time. At times Henry was a bit overwhelmed by the attention and affection he was getting from Aisling and Rory, but it was wonderful to see the kids interacting and playing together.

From left to right: Ciara, Michael T, Rory, Michael H, Henry, Libby, Aisling, Steve H, Milly, Tiffany.

A happy Henry sandwich: Aisling, Henry and Rory.

Henry a little uncomfortable that everyone wanted to sit next to him.

Ciara giving Milly a hug.

No Dadda, I don't have stubble yet.

Rory, Henry, Milly and Aisling.

The cousins: Henry (almost 3), Rory (almost 4), Ciara (17 mths), Milly (11 mths) and Aisling (5 1/2).

Anna Hobson and Milly.

Rory, Michael, Henry, Aisling, Tiffany and Milly.

Lamby

In my last week at work before leaving to have Milly, one of my work buddies gave me a beautiful stuffed toy – a soft, white lamb with long floppy ears. We call him “Lamby” and he is Milly’s favourite cuddly toy.

Lamby lives in Milly’s cot and has come to our rescue plenty of times. Up until the last three months Milly could be quite the cranky pants. She would be happily playing one minute and would then unexplainably burst into tears and be inconsolable the next. When hunger, a dirty nappy and the rest have all been ruled out and she’s still screaming and we need a break, we would just put her in her cot and she would grasp Lamby, bury her face in him and within a minute or two she would calm and be ready to face the world again.

Lamby is also Milly’s bedtime toy and when checking on her while she is asleep we are every so often amazed at the positions we find Lamby in. Sometimes Lamby is standing on top of her as if he has pinned her down. Other times he is perched on her head like a hat. We’ve even been dumbfounded to find Milly sleeping on her tummy with Lamby straddling her back. But Lamby isn’t always the dominate one, Milly gets her own back by occasionally using Lamby as a pillow.