A little bit of trick and a whole lot of treat!

Happy Halloween! We have had a busy day making and creating. It's now seven in the evening and everybody is too knackered to enjoy it all. Halloween will have to continue into tomorrow. We made witches cat cakes, scary jelly and I have carved a pumpkin (too embarrassed to show the picture) that looks like zippy from Rainbow! Anna's god mother Shannon took Lucy out trick or treating and they came back with much swag. Lucy has just crashed and has all the e-numbers and sweeties to look forward to in the morning. Anna sadly has no need for a costume as she sports the scary scars from the other day's fall. Fingers crossed they may not be permanent. I do hope so. Anna has been falling over left, right and centre recently. She is fearless and will have a go at anything and sadly there are consequences. I think she might be learning that slowly! New shoes maybe? I want her to be independent and a free spirit, but I hate seeing her hurt..

They are bright and high maintenance!

People keeping saying to me 'you must be so proud, so good to see two children with free will and some spirit'. That may be the case but you try living with them! Both girls have been nothing short of a nightmare of strops, tantrums and simply not doing as they are told for the past few days. Pictured is Lucy eating a forty minute bowl of risotto rice as she had to be encouraged with every painful and very slow mouthful. She had, by that point been on one for about two hours! Anna, has been in a 'if you leave me alone, I will scream the house down' kind of mood. Oh joy! I have never felt so relaxed, calm and at peace before?!? NOOOOOOTTTTT! Despite this we did spend a cracking afternoon at the beach with Granny and Grandpa today in beautiful autumn sunshine watching the seals and para gliders whilst having an impromptu paddle. Not bad for nearly November. Anna sadly had a nasty fall and gave herself a nasty cut and first potential scar right across her forehead. Bless her, she was really brave, that must come from her free spirit! Both now in bed, quietly sleeping and recharging their batteries ready for the battle in the morning when they begin phase two. I am ready too girls, bring it on.....

Catch up after birthday week...

Once again the computer failed me and for the past week or so I have not been able to blog about the events in the Hammond household. What a week it has been: - Lucy had her fourth birthday, Amy reached the dizzy heights of thirty three, Buzz Lightyear found himself a couple of girlfriends (brave man - I can only just about cope with one woman), Lucy now uses the word 'willy' in day-to-day conversation, Amy got a new job (parental worry about loosing the house over for the time being!), Anna is learning the noble art of the strop (she is very good) and Lucy threw up in the car today. Life is never dull with my girls. Best one liner from Lucy this week as she ate a jelly baby 'please don't bite my head off, but I want toooooo!' Lucy I have to say did not have the best of birthdays. Surprisingly she does not like being in the limelight. She will happily hijack another person's birthday or special day, but when her cake arrived she simply burst into tears. All three of my girls are very tired and are now on half term for a well earned rest and hopefully a refreshing of good moods and less tempers. I don't mean Amy...

Poorly Anna..

Wiggle (seen fulfilling her sponsorship deal with Capri sun at lunch last week) had a horrific night last night. She was so sick. By the time she settled down at around 2am there were seven large bags of washing piled up so high they were higher than the machine itself! Ahh, the joys of parenthood. I spent the day at home with her today and despite her being off colour we had a lovely day together. We chilled and played all day. She is becoming very chatty of late, which is just as well as she is contractually obliged to endorse said mentioned popular drink by actually saying something! I must say though that not much she says makes sense, but it will come. Anna is normally a mummy's girl in times of crisis, however today she sought comfort with me and many a cuddle, which was lovely. Little do you know girls, adults have children to make them feel better about themselves...

A day of rest for my tired girls...

I know how they feel. I could have done with a day of rest too. Didn't quite happen though. We have all had a really long week at nursery and work this week. The best way to put it is that the girls have been less than active today, coupled with some severe levels of crying and much grumpiness and emotion. Lucy needed much telly watching and chilling on the sofa. Lucy 'I can't keep a secret' Hammond has sat on the sofa and demanded that drinks, grapes and cheese be brought at regular intervals. Lady muck indeed! The secret I was referring to was the secret birthday card making for Mummy that Lucy blurted out today. Damn, blast and piddle! I am really glad that it will soon be half term, so my girls can have a rest. As for a rest for me, I may have to wait a few years at least....

The case of little Miss Lucky and the naughty pixies!

Lucy is learning so quickly. Her speech and understanding are, to my mind, amazing. Not so by the fact I believe her to be a genius, more for the reason that the conversations and debate we have are expanding and at times hilarious. It is a joy to watch her grow and I love our conversations fuelled by her imagination. Tonight the discussion ensued about the book we read. Lucy was attempting to make the argument that only boy Pixies could be naughty and the girl Pixies were good. We must have been reading a different book! Lucy was definitely prepared to take her argument and opinion to its limits. Interesting how she is already developing stereotypes and assumptions about roles between the sexes. Will have to address that quickly me thinks! She is very opinionated like her father and I would not have it any other way. Back to the Pixies - a gripping and yet slightly strange story that had me on the edge of my seat. I was interviewed for a local newspaper recently about life and work and they asked me what I was reading at the moment. I am sure I would be taken very seriously in the world of social care if I had said 'Little Miss Lucky and the naughty pixies!' Story time with Lucy is always a pleasure and I find it helps form the basis for our relationship. Healthy and intelligent debate, backed by a mutual love and respect, with a cuddle as a lovely extra. Anna - I do wonder where our future story time will take our relationship?

Water baby!

Wiggle simply loves the water, as you can see. Bath time is a source of much giggling and hilarity. She loves drawing with her bath crayons and loves the cleaning up to singing even more! She is developing lovely routines such as peek-a-boo behind towels and loves to be swung in her towel after she finishes. As we are seeing less of the girls when they are at nursery, this time with them seems to take on more significance and it is great fun. She has such an expressive face when indicating delight and so funny when she says 'Ooh' and raises her eyebrows and hands. She truly has a real bath time wiggle going on. She is even starting to learn how to wash herself, by rubbing her tummy and griping when she does not get any shower gel to take part. Lucy is fantastic and helps with her baby sister. The days of bad bath time with daughter number one seem to have gone for now. At the moment it's twenty minutes of daily family fun. It's the simple things that stay with you...