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.

Still living in the 80s

It was during the wedding reception at Kangaroo Valley two weeks ago that my friends and I were dancing and singing our hearts out to songs from our youth. And not just having a little dance, no, we were reenacting dance moves from the era as well. Each of us was trying to out do the other, and with each drink we had we thought we were hysterial. Sadly, one of us decided to point out that we had now become the adults we used to laugh at when attending weddings or parties with our parents. In retelling this story to another friend, he correctly pointed out that we had always behaved like this, so nothing had changed.

And to confirm I'm not ready to leave the 80s behind me, I saw Duran Duran at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Friday. I danced and sang, had a great time and they were unreal.

Kangaroo Valley

We've just returned from a fantastic four day holiday in Kangaroo Valley. We were there to attend the wedding of our friends Emma and Dave, and as the majority of our friends were also going to be there for the Easter weekend, we decided to make a real holiday out of it. We rented a house with Johnny, Meg, their baby Rose, and another friend Michaela. Being out of the city and in the country with fresh air and room to run around was revitalising. Add to the mix, great friends, plenty of wine, a wedding to celebrate, and more fun times with friends and wine - everyone came home happy.

Wedding - Michael and Milly.



Wedding - Henry and Allegra.

Wedding - Henry blowing bubbles.

Wedding - Family photo.

Wedding - Milly enjoyed her first party.


Holiday house - Milly, Henry, and Rose share some bath bubbles.

Holiday house - Milly enjoying a good dribble on Michael.

Holiday house - No, he's not weeing in the pool. He just can't keep his hands off it!

Holiday house - Look who's standing.

Access all areas

Since ditching the nappies, Henry now has easy access to his body and has developed a fascination with certain body parts. His first discovery was what all males discover about themselves and develop a life long obsession with. Just recently he has found his nipples and likes to lift up his t-shirt and twiddle them for a while. Milly, on the other hand, has discovered her nose and that her fingers fit up it just nicely.

After an afternoon tea of peaches, Henry takes Milly on a joy ride.

Milly squealing with delight during a game of peek-a-boo (check out her teeth).

Henry, Milly and Corey enjoying some grapes.

Firsts

At 10 months of age, Milly finally has her first tooth. It arrived with the usual drama whenever Milly is uncomfortable or not getting her way, so yes there were some tears. She has also just started crawling on her hands and knees, and pulling herself up to her knees. It won’t be long and she’ll be standing.

She is a typical Bartley/Hobson, ie she loves to eat. In fact she is the happiest when she has something in her hand she can munch on. She can also be a stubborn little girl when it comes to dinner time. She isn’t interested in baby food anymore. When she sits in her high chair at the dining table with the rest of us, she won’t eat unless it is exactly the same food we are eating.

Henry is enjoying his little sister. He is a great big brother to her. They have their bath together, splashing and squealing at each other. Henry takes her down the slide at the playground sitting on his lap. Milly likes to play with whatever Henry is playing with and Henry is already clued in to distracting her with other toys when he sees her crawling towards something he doesn’t want to share.

From the mouths of babes...

On the weekend, during a game of hunting for monsters the following conversation took place:

"Get your knockers out Mum Mum," said Henry.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Get your big one out," he countered.

"What!" I answer.

"Get your knocks Mum Mum," Henry says again and points to the top of the bookcase.

It is then I realise that Henry is not asking me to flash him. He wants me to get the binoculars down from the bookshelf to assist us in the monster hunt.