Let the preparations begin...

The eggs are cracking, the ingredients are being putting together in a skilled fashion (please see picture) - Lucy and Amy are making Wiggle a birthday cake. I have to confess to being very impressed with Lucy's egg cracking skills and she makes an excellent dog's body to the Nigella Lawson that is my wife. My wife is far more voluptuous and can do better things with a spoon! The cake smells fantastic. The presents are wrapped, the paddling pool is in place (or paddling poludla as Lucy calls it!) and the guests are poised to arrive. Very excited about Anna's birthday tomorrow. Think I have failed in my prediction that she would walk before her birthday though, despite this set back and I will continue to predict developmental stages within my daughter's lives and continue to get it very wrong! Sleep well Wiggle for tomorrow you are one!!!

Don't you let me down Wiggle!

Two days to go to her birthday and Wiggle is still not walking. Come on young lady, don't let your father down. Please see pictorial evidence attached that she is standing (I do accept she is using her mother for balance, but you can't have everything), all she needs to do is take that one tiny weeny little step. Please let your father has some luck in his parental predictions for once. I put the time in, I reflect on my parenting skills, I encourage your independence and I still can't get a bloody prediction right! Maybe I must simply come to the realisation that neither of my daughters will ever do things to order - they are too stubborn and a chip off the old block!

Some weeks there aint much joy....

Some weeks in the life of being a parent are just about putting the graft in and getting through it. The latter end of this week can definitely put on record as one of those - we have had tantrums, teething, snot and more snot, more tantrums, crying and more crying, a clingy baby, lots of dribble and no personal space. You know what despite all of the above I have loved every minute of it. Lucy on the other hand has decided the only way to cope with poor Wiggle's teething and all the noise is to hide under cushions. Sorry Lucy I tried that in the middle of the night when you were a baby and it didn't work then! The one highlight was Lucy's and my conversation using lots of silly voices this morning. She has a mean comedy German accent!

Little miss sunshine and her four teeth..

Anna is finally starting to feel better and this latest period of teething and pain has subsided, until the next one. Everybody in the Hammond house is day by day breathing a sigh of relief as she has regained her humour and love of life. She has had highs and lows this week. She is now able to stand for about thirty seconds as the race to walk before her first birthday next week is on! A less than dignified mishap in her cot a couple of nights ago was not quite as much fun, as Amy found her screaming, arse in the air, having got out of her cot, stuck between the side and the window sill. To say she was not amused was an understatement. The adult section of the family Hammond then had the interesting task of lowering Anna's cot with two small helpers armed with screw drivers, alum keys, disappearing bolts, a confined space and the wish to hinder every step of the way! I am not that practical as it is without all of the above. I'm amazed that the cot has not fallen apart since and Anna has not had another mishap. This issue was discussed several weeks ago. Parental note: when we discuss an issue such as 'do we think it is time to lower Anna's cot as she can nearly climb over the side?' - PUT IT INTO ACTION RIGHT AWAY!! I guess we are not quite the proactive parents we thought we were.

It's 7.40pm, the girls are asleep (don't want to tempt fate), Amy is at the gym and I am blogging in perfect silence. I have plans to have half an hour parental wind down in front of the television with a magnum. Slight problem - just checked the freezer and I must have eaten all the magnum's weeks ago...Oh well I will settle for the silence.

Quite simply a joy being a dad...

Today was Father's day and it was a cracker. The girls bought me a fantastic gift of a Hammock. Due to my practical ineptness, I am yet to put it up. Ironic that they gave me a present that gives me somewhere to relax away from the noise they generate! Lucy has been in fine form today - referring to her mummy as a silly muppet in the car was her peak! She has delighted us with some excellent one-liners today that also included (in a whisper) - 'daddy don't you think party bags are really good'?? At the time we were talking about staying quiet as not to wake Anna, certainly not parties. A lovely Father's day lunch was followed by a strawberry picking session on the coast. Anna delighted us with yet another public exploding nappy whilst eating cake and drinking tea, after a hilarious game of hunt the pine cone in which she giggled and giggled. She is still teething. I have never got the connection between teething and getting a sore bottom, but it happens and I cannot for the life of me think of a satisfactory explanation. Answers on a postcard to 'confused parent' please. Anyway - a really special day. So thank you to all my girls (including the delectable and edible Mrs H) for a lovely day. Lucy - mental note please - if you truly love your father, please do not kick him in the testicles again, it kind of hurts a little!!

All bets are on....

She wiggles, she crawls, she speeds around the house and always goes where we don't want her too! But I am sure that Anna is not far off walking. You heard it here first - but I predict that she will take her first steps before the end of June. It's a speculative guess, but I am sure that daughter number two will not let her daddy down. Sorry Anna, my predictions never come right, I have doomed your future success. You better get used to your daddy embarrassing you. Not long to go - the birthday presents have been bought, the day is set, the invites will be sent out on gilded notepaper, prepare yourself for the birthday event of the century. In a couple of weeks Anna will be one!

I have struggled to update the reader on the antics of the Hammond family in recent weeks, it is not that life is short of events, I never seem to have time to write it down. We have had some lovely family time of late - capped off this Sunday by a picnic in the Abbey grounds at Walsingham. Lucy had her first paddle in the river and whilst a little anxious, overcame her fear of the water. Wiggle now has three teeth to show for her efforts. I have come to the conclusion that 'teething' is quite simply cruel. Hours and days of pain, for one solitary result at a time! Sounds like supporting Norwich!

A mish mash of general catch up with the Hammonds!

My friend Kate may not forgive me for immortalising her picture with a huge bump on my blog, oh well bite me. She is in that most amazing and exciting period in her life that I remember well and fondly. She is about to become a parent and god help her! The picture is also there because it will be the first time she has ever has ever had a bigger belly than me. Every man has his cross to bear. Kate will be Lucy's god mother in the girl's up and coming christening, that in typical Hammond fashion is being organised at the last minute. Wiggle is so close to walking and has her first pair of shoes (mental note - impending first birthday party to organise too!) Lucy has started her swimming lessons and is also going great guns. She is desperately afraid of the water and Amy said she was brilliant. Lucy quote of the week: 'How did you and Mummy make me?' AHHHHHHHHHHH! Really not ready for the sex conversation just yet.........