The Chicken Swing

A few weeks ago, our local farm posted an amazon wishlist of items they were hoping to have donated. I burst out laughing when I saw The Chicken Swing and ordered one straight away.

It arrived earlier this week - classed as a "Dog Toy" - and the kids and I have been so excited. It was a beautiful, sunny day today so we brought it to the farm.

I had been preparing the kids for a minor degree of disappointment: "they probably won't be able to hang it up for a while, so we'll have to visit again another day..." but the farm staff was wonderful. They gratefully accepted it and Tom took us to the chicken coops so that the children could choose where to hang it.

"Chickens, brought you swing!"

Tom even let K go inside with him. He was terrific - so calm and comfortable with the chickens.

And the chickens now have a swing!

We'll be sure to go back often and visit. Hopefully we can get a video next time.

Juniorette at 10 Months

Our smiley girl is now ten months old and is >this< close to walking. So we went to Clarks for her first shoes.





And started brushing her teeth with her first toothbrush.





We have been spending cold winter days visiting London's museums. Junior and Juniorette enjoyed learning about hexagons at the Science Museum.





We also saw the walrus at the Horniman in Dulwich.



Photo by S


Juniorette is not afraid to assert herself with the bigger girls:



"Yeah, I'm the Captain of the ship. No big deal."



"Ummm, Captain, I don't think you should push that button..."



"Ack! Mayday! SOS! Bail out!"


And she is teaching herself the colours in Japanese.





But one of the funniest things is watching her do things that Junior did at the same age.



Same basket, many of the same toys, same self-satisfied smile.


And waking up to snow was a thrill for all of us. She's too small to play in the snow this year, but it won't be long before she follows in her brother's footsteps. He's her favourite role model.

Happy holidays

Juniorette's ninth month was mostly spent celebrating: Junior's birthday, S's birthday, xmas, New Year's. Junior was old enough to get excited about presents, and also old enough to get presents with small parts.





He was elated with his LEGO Juniors construction set. As was Juniorette. So we spent much of xmas day trying to keep Junior engaged with his gifts, while stopping Juniorette from eating bits of plastic and chewing on wrapping paper.





Fortunately she was happy to help fix the broken dishwasher - did I mention she started pulling up on furniture almost as soon as she figured out how to crawl?


We spent much of the time over xmas and New Year's with local friends. It was so nice to have playdates and good company.



South Bank Jubilee Playground









Wandle Park



Riding bicycles in Colliers Wood Rec Grounds






Museum of London, Docklands



Teaming up at softplay





We had a lovely, mellow, family-oriented holiday season. 2014 was a great year. 2015 is shaping up to be memorable and fun as well.

Juniorette's 1st month

Juniorette was one month old on 6 May. The first few weeks are always a blur, and this was no different. We had all the usual newborn developments: feeding, sleeping, changing nappies, repeat. But also did our best to maintain a routine for Junior. It helped that my parents were here to entertain him and feed us.



Junior and Juniorette, each at 4 days old


Junior has been wonderful with Juniorette, and I am enjoying my time with both of them.





While Junior was a Christmas baby, Juniorette was born just before Easter. This year, we joined friends for an Easter Egg Hunt at nearby Morden Hall Park. Junior ran around the course twice as fast as the rest of the group, and earned the Cadbury's chocolate egg waiting for him at the end. Juniorette spent the morning sleeping in the shade under the watchful eye of her grandpa.



Not quite understanding how to play Pooh sticks yet



Holding hands


Meanwhile, I did my best to establish a breastfeeding routine with Juniorette. She is either a very lazy eater, or incredibly efficient: generally 10 minutes on a side, compared to Junior's hour-long marathons.





I also started taking her out in the Ergobaby carrier at the tender age of 18 days. Such a lightweight!





She enjoyed her first bath, and seems to be a water baby. I need to find a way to take her swimming...





One advantage of having a boy first, then a girl, is that the younger daughter can wear her older brother's hand-me-downs. Until she is able to state a preference, I am indulging in dressing her in both girly and not-so-girly clothes.





We also spent a day at the Olympic Village in Stratford. Junior had a great time riding his scooter - kudos to S for chasing after him! I imagine we'll spend more time there when the kids are bigger.



Juniorette in the buggy





More adventures ahead, no doubt...

News

On the 16th of September, nine years and three days after I first moved to London, we got the keys to our new house!





Buying a house in England has been a learning experience for me. (Actually, buying a house at all has been a new experience for me...) Offers are not legally binding until exchange of contracts, and in our case, that took six months. We were relatively certain throughout the process that the sellers would not back out, but it still took much longer than we had hoped it would. We hit a few bumps along the road - negotiations on repairs and price, delays while the tenants moved out - but we are very pleased with the result.


And in the same week, we got to see Junior 2!





It feels different being pregnant the second time around. I have better knowledge of what to expect, which has been alternately helpful (I feel better prepared and relaxed) and scary (I know what I'm getting into this time!) It has been harder chasing after an energetic toddler while battling the ups and downs of the first trimester. But ultimately I am relieved that the pregnancy is going well so far and I'm looking forward to watching my growing bump.


The big question is: will be it Junior 2 or Juniorette? We'll find out in November...

Junior's first haircut

We had hoped to wait until Junior turned two to get his hair cut, but at twenty months he was starting to look like a mad scientist. When he started pushing his hair out of his eyes the other day, I decided it was time to book at appointment. So we took him to Shiny Stars in Wimbledon this morning.





He chose the seat shaped like a Hummer (as opposed to the Mini Cooper, which was occupied, or the airplane) and held onto the gingerbread biscuit they gave him.








He was remarkably patient and cooperative, with only minor wiggling.





His only protest was due to the blow dryer.





But he seemed pleased with the product they put in at the end.














And he was very pleased with the plastic giraffe in the gift bag when we left.








His curls aren't gone completely, but he looks like a big boy now. I wonder if people will keep calling him a girl...