First shoes

Hannah's first step towards freedom, at 1 and 3 months. Once she got them on she was unstoppable.

Joining the 'no pull-up club'

Lucy worked hard every night this week and she has joined the 'no pull-up club'...hoorah for my big girl. Here's her treat, ice cream with mammy in town.

The things kids say...

We rearranged the kitchen table recently and Lucy and Ronan sat at either ends. Lucy says "I'm at the head of the table." Mammy says "that's right Lucy, you are." Then she says "and Ronan is at the bum of the table." Ummm...not sure what to say to that!

Trick or treat...

I've managed to avoid it for 3 years, but there was no fooling the lads this year, so they got to do their first trick or treat. Hopefully next year we'll be living out the country in the middle of a field without another house in sight! Mwahahahaha!

And we are walking

The timing of the exact first step is up for debate with lots of reported sightings. I'm pretty sure I saw the very first ones last week but we are definitely up and not quite running now.

Hannah's birth story

Birth stories are a big deal these days, everyone has one and often includes every gorey detail that no self respecting child wants to hear about when they get older. I never wrote down the twins' birth story. Sections don't really make for great stories, but I actually have one for Hannah...or rather a story about the day before Hannah's birth, so a year later, here it is... I checked in to the maternity hospital at 2pm the day before the section was scheduled. When I arrived I was informed by the midwives that I was supposed to have shaved in advance (as in Californian or Brazillian or whichever is the most comprehensive). Due to recessionary cutbacks in the Irish healthcare service, they told me I'd have to go and buy a razor and do it myself before the operation. This was at 5pm on monday. With a 9 month bump there was no way I was going to attempt to use a razor on an area I couldn't see (I wouldn't be caught dead using a razor at any time actually). So I raced around Limerick like a heavily pregnant lunatic, looking for a beautician who could fit me in before they closed at 6pm. I found one and had to do more begging because I was a euro short of the cost of a standard bikini wax (I didn't bring much cash into the hospital as due to recessionary cutbacks, thefts were a problem). She fitted me in and I had the most painful waxing of my life. I discovered later - like a week later - that she didn't do the sides, I guess that's what I'd have gotten with the extra euro. It was almost over when the hospital phoned to ask where I was...so I raced back and got told off for leaving. And that's what started my contractions. I spent the night in early labour and the morning walking around the hospital gardens with Sean, stopping every few minutes with the pain. Sadly I hadn't progressed by the time the section was scheduled so it went ahead as planned. Lying there with no feeling in my legs, my Limerick wax exposed to all the people bustling all around me, waiting to meet my new baby girl, a thought suddently struck me...why didn't I just buy Immac?

1 today

How have I not blogged in 6 months? That's terrible. Our little banana (there was never a chance that her nickname would be anything else) is one today. She is such a pet (not just Mammy and Daddy's, she's the lads' pet too). Anyone who spends any time with her wants to take her home with them...that's not an offer we were used to getting. As Sean said this morning, there wasn't a minute in the last year where we wanted to send her back...also a new sensation in comparison to our first year of parenthood, where putting a twin up for sale on ebay was considered on more than one occasion. So at one, Hannah's personality is much as it was when she was born - placid, smiley and patient, getting a little more mischievous now that she's on the move. Her favourite activities are waving day-day at everyone, clapping handies, disassembling Ronan's lego contructions, playing with her brother and sister, having a bath, swinging, Mammy singing "Hannah in pyjamas" to her. She's a good sleeper and eats pretty much everything. She crawled at 8 months and is now standing while holding onto things. She only got her third tooth a few weeks ago, they are very slow growing. Once the lads were born, after the first hellish few months, I started to get a nagging feeling that there was a little person waiting to join our family. Over time the feeling got stronger, I knew it was a patient little soul and I even knew it would be a girl. And when Hannah came along she completed our family, and still remains a patient little soul. Its been such a lovely year for us all, thank you Hannah.

First tooth

Ah, the first tooth. Longed for, searched for, dreamed about. Those two little cutsie tootsies that appear in that cute little rosie cheeked face. As usual in all things related to pregnancy and babies, the reality is a lot less romantic. After two weeks of grumpiness, runny noses, incessant drooling, constant whining, middle of the night wake ups (what the hell?) and general reconsideration of the wisdom of going for number 3 (what was Sean thinking?), Hannah finally got her first tooth 4 days shy of her 7 month birthday. Hooray. And mammy got her first breast feeding bite...ouch. One down, 21 more to go.

It's spring, hoorah

After a long wet winter cooped up inside its finally spring. That's great, except I forgot about the whole "picking flowers for mammy" thing which goes on for the whole summer. At least last year their little goldfish memories meant I could fire whatever weed they gave me over my shoulder when their backs were turned. This time I'm not going to get away with that. Yesterday they picked these for my wedding apparently, and when I said I had enough they decided to pick more for Lucy's wedding cause she is going to marry Ronan!

6 months

At 6 months Hannah is as happy and easygoing as ever. She sat up at about 5.5 months but toppled over after a few seconds. At 6 months she seems to have had a breakthrough on the staying sitting front. No sign of teeth and she has finally this week settled into longer daytime naps. Her favourite occupation is spitting at us, like blowing raspberries.I think she's trying to communicate. It's very cute, except when she's had a big feed of purée or breast milk!

Toddler OCD

Ronan and Lucy are three and a half at this stage so we are probably (hopefully) over the worst of toddlerhood, but their OCD is as bad as ever and I've been meaning to record it for posterity. So here are the many idiosynricies that we HAVE to respect at all times if we want any peace and quiet in the house... Lucy's are fairly typical...has to eat from pink plates, drink from pink cups, wear pink clothes, will only wear dresses, for a long time wouldn't let me wash her hair except with a cloth and basin while watching tv. Ronan takes it to a whole new level...when we do drawing we have to draw him 5 things (no more, no less, or there'll be tears), has to tell me every night before he goes to bed "I will call you if I need more water" (until recently it was "I will call you if I need more water or there's a poo in my nappy")and if he forgets to tell me this he'll cry until I go upstairs whereupon he'll say the words, I'll say "ok" and then he can go to sleep happy. (I should point out that getting him more water is never a problem...and he never actually calls us for more water in any case). Makes me cut the tags off all his clothes, will only wear tops with things on them, won't wear shirts at all, must wear socks in bed. When he was about one and a half he had to have his "lads" in bed with him (Cookie, Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Grover). When he was about two he had to bring his "burger king, cookie and orange" to bed with him (all fake food, but the cookie was actually supposed to be a hamburger and the burger king was actually half a burger bun). I should point out he's only been to Burger King about twice in his life (Old MacDonalds and Teddy Rocketts are much preferred). And don't even get me started on his food fussiness...honestly, I don't know where he gets it!