Our newest food critic

Buster is five and a half months old now. He hadn't been showing any of the usual signs of being interested in food but the breastfeeds suddenly didn't seem enough. So we decided we'd introduce him to food. Being a Bartley/Hobson means he is genetically inclined to love food and lots of it. He has proven this over the past week and a bit and taken to being spoonfed with ease. So far he has discovered apples, and tonight he tried pears. Just like Henry did when he was a baby, Buster sometimes cries when the meal is over.

The first mouthful. Boring, bland rice cereal.

Mouth open, ready to receive. Mmm, apple.

Henry's birthday

Our little Mister is not so little anymore. He is now five years old. He'll start school next year but for now he is just excited to be one year older.

Let the festival of presents begin.

Thank you Aisling, Rory, Ciara, Lib and Mike.

Not everyone was happy it was Henry's birthday.

"Where's my present?" cried Milly. Umm, it was your birthday yesterday Milly.

Milly's birthday

Sometimes it was hard to believe that our little poppet was still two. Now at last, she is THREE!

Yummy! Presents for breakfast.

Thank you Aisling, Rory, Ciara, Lib and Mike.

Ready for when it rains indoors.

Buster takes control of the wrapping paper.

Birthday party

We didn't really think things through when we decided to have child no.2. Don't get me wrong, we wanted more than one child and we are very happy with the children we have, it's just the timing of their births that is the problem. Milly's birthday is 19 April and Henry's birthday is 20 April. Having their birthdays one day apart means when the "big day" comes around it is double the effort - two cakes to make (well, three cakes really if you count the extra cake I have to make for Henry to take to preschool), two loads of presents to find homes for in the house, and a week either side of the "big day" of two over-excited youngsters.



This year we held another joint birthday party. With Henry starting school next year it will most likely be the last of the joint celebrations. Some pictures of the day below.

Henry requested a T-Rex dinosaur cake ...

... and Milly requested a love heart cake.

Party time! Let's open some presents! What did you get Henry?

Party table.

Funny face biscuits.

Henry's harem - Allegra, Madeleine and Luka.

Milly also found love - chocolate crackles.

Even Buster helped out as a weight for the balloons.

When too much chocolate is never enough

Easter in Australia is a wonderful time of year when we get public holidays giving us a four day weekend and the shops are full of chocolate. The kids get excited about a visit from the Easter Bunny and the adults get excited about the extra time off work and the chance to indulge or overindulge in food, drink and chocolate. Here are some snaps from our Easter.

Easter Sunday: H&M and their booty of eggs.

Easter Sunday: a post-breakfast egg.

Easter Sunday: mmmmm, chocolate.

Easter Monday: another egg hunt with Rose Logan.

Easter Monday: not everyone was happy that the egg hunt was over.

Cousins

Some family time was spent over Easter. Corin, Yin and baby Casper came to visit and some photo opportunities were taken. Buster is 9 weeks older than Casper. It was really nice to see the four cousins all together.

Buster's Hobson head doesn't look so big next to Casper.

Sharing a joke.

Knees up Mother Brown.

They might look innocent now but just give them a few more years.