2012 (so far) In a Nutshell

At some point in late January I seem to have blinked and found myself teleported to mid October. Where have the last 9 months gone? I would love to say that we were having so much fun enjoying a very long and lazy summer that I simply didnt get the chance to post here, but as I now seem to be hallucinating about this fabled 'summer' we are apparently meant to have between June and September every year I must admit that blogging just didnt factor into our daily mayhem-packed lives.

Edward and Harriet are now, quite unbelievably, 4 days away from being 19 months old, so the countdown is well and truly on until they turn 2. They have changed so much in just 9 short months; when I left you all last Edward was cruising around the furniture and Harriet was just starting to wriggle around in a sort of crawl. Now they run everywhere, unless its the direction they dont want to go in. Their first steps came just after their birthday, and surprisingly it was Harriet who decided to stand on her own two feet first. Edward, not to be outdone by his younger sister, followed suit a week or so later.

We've had the excitement (and the financial horror) of buying their first shoes, the joy of their first seaside holiday and the first feel of sand (they didnt like it), we shall gloss over the first long distance car journey as it wasnt a pleasant event.. We've had first words (Im rather ashamed to say I cant remember what they were, their vocabulary has come on so quickly) and also sentences from Harriet who is proving to be a proper little chatterbox, as well as a sponge! Anything we say at the moment is repeated almost instantly, which is fun, but also makes you very aware of what you are saying. Im quite certain we will be having proper conversations very soon.

Those who know us, and see us regularly will probably be tired of hearing us saying how fast Edward and Harriet are growing, how quickly they are changing and developing etc but I cant believe how quickly things are happening. A few short months ago they were babies, who stayed where you put them, and now they are rampaging little people (theres a very good reason why they are known to us as the Mini Marauders) who are eager to get into everything.

I am fairly certain in my January post I said we were already looking forward to Christmas 2012, which considering we were only a month post-Christmas 2011 may have been a little premature. But now we are only 2 months away from said festive holiday I can safely say I am getting more excited every day. Last year was their first Christmas so it will always be special for that reason but this year they will be able to take part in it more, or should that say be able to take it apart..?