Playing Catch-Up.. and Progressing Nicely

Christmas. Seems like a lifetime ago, especially now all the decorations are gone, the tree is smouldering in the fireplace, and we still havent found a home for all the presents. I didnt eat my bodyweight in mince pies, which considering I have a wedding to go to in June is probably a good thing. 'The Santa Clause' trilogy was viewed numerous times over the festive season and has now been put away, albeit reluctantly. 'Get to the important details' I hear you cry! It was, of course, Edward and Harriet's first Christmas, and it passed in a blaze of fairy lights, sparkly tinsel and mounds of screwed up paper. Oh and there may have been a few presents too. Nothing could have prepared us for the piles of gifts they received, we were still opening things 3 days later! I think they enjoyed themselves, they didnt really know what was going on but they got loads of new things to play with and keep them entertained. I would love to say they enjoyed watching Daddy on the telly on Christmas morning but they were otherwise occupied using Mummy as a climbing frame.

We thought Christmas 2011 would be the best one, the first as a family, and I'm sure we will always remember it fondly as the first, but we are definitely (already) looking forward to Christmas 2012!

Aside from Christmas, december was exciting in other ways. Edward decided that, having mastered crawling a few weeks previously, it was time to try something new..

Dec 4th 2011:  Edward pulled himself up to standing for the first time, and after that there was no stopping him. A week later he was confidently cruising up and down the length of the settee but not so confidently landing on his bum when he wanted to get down and chase the cat. A few tumbles later however and he had figured out how to climb down as well as stand up. Clever boy! Harriet discovered she could sit up quite happily without the safety net of the V pillow behind her, although she does still like to fling herself backwards without warning. By the middle of january Edward was trying to stand on his own (he's growing up far too fast). We had come to the conclusion that Harriet wasnt going to crawl, she has always hated being on her tummy, even for a few minutes. New Year saw a new form of locomotion (Little Eva would be proud) as we discovered we had a bum shuffler on our hands (she takes after Mummy). Just when we thought we had her sussed she's apparently decided that crawling isnt so bad after all; for the last 2 days she has put herself on her tummy and happily stayed there for about 20mins at a time, and has even scooted forwards. She's also trying tp pull herself up to standing but once she is standing she can cruise a little along the settee :-) Clever girl! But, as with Edward, she's growing up too fast.

On the 19th Jan Edward and Harriet had their 9-12 month development check, which if I'm honest I was a little worried about. As ever though I needn't have worried as they passed with flying colours. The health visitor couldn't believe that Edward is cruising and trying to stand, or that Harriet stands too, as they are still considered premature; their actual age is almost 10 months, but corrected they are just over 8.5 months old. We dont think of them as prem babies though :-) They are doing well weight-wise too, Edward is now 21lb 9oz and Harriet is 17lb 10oz.

The next milestone is approaching rather too quickly for my liking, 9 weeks and counting..