My fabulous family

2009-11-12T18:50:00.002Z

It's been a while! That could have something to do with how crazily busy we are every day! I really wanted to keep this updated as I know how quickly these memories get replaced only to be forgotten - I will try harder. Max and Noah are now 7 months old tomorrow and the last few weeks have gradually been getting easier. They have been crawling for about a week, Max crawled a few steps first, then didn't really bother much, a few days later Noah cracked it and they are now crawling all around! It is so cute they like to follow me around shouting Ah AH Ah one behind the other! They are too irresistable for words. Weaning is going well and they eat pretty well most of the time. Sleep wise varies and has been very up and down but just now they feed at about 10 pm, 2 pm and then anytime between 5 and 6 we get up for the day. If I get 4 hours in one go it is a really good night! The sleep deprivation has been the hardest! They usually sleep well in the days though, although the are gradually having less. 2 or three naps a day anything from 30 mins to 3 hours!

They are pretty contended playing on the floor with their toys, each other and Jacob. They also love the Jumparoo and activity centre. Chairs of any kind are a no go and have been for a good few weeks. Once they could sit unaided (about 3 weeks ago) and then go from laying to sitting, life in the Nicol house got a lot easier and calmer. Around this time they also relaxed a bit more in the car and pushchiar which they previously hated! We have even had a couple of trips back to skeggy with no tears if we set off at bed time. They have no teeth yet but Have been showing signs forever, we hope to see some soon. Max is currently flipping over with a cheeky grin when we do his nappy, where as Noah will happily lay there and have a chat while we do his! Max loves to acost Noah while he is on the floor and suck and dribble all over his face, which makes Noah giggle and is too cute for words!

All three of our boys have the same tickly spot on their thighs and they will all laugh uncontrollably when we squeeze it. Max and Noah also giggle when I pull their trousers up - I think they have ticklish waists! There are just too many little things to not down in one go (exactly why I should update little and often!).

Jacob has beena superstar over the past few weeks. He is so chatty and funny and the things he says make us laugh all the time. When he and I were out for a walk in the dark after the babieswere in bed this week he held my hand and said "Don't worry Mummy, the monsters can't get you because the crocodiles ate them all up!". He loves to do his jigsaws over and over and he is still a book worm! He adores his brothers and is pleased to see them whenever he has been out. He is very loving most of the time, calling them sweetie pie, rushing to tell them about his day etc. I love watching him be such a great big brother.

All in all life is extremely busy and tiring but full of fun and love. We couldn't love our boys more - they are all just perfect. We are a very lucky family! Long may it last!

Jacob

2009-07-31T21:19:00.003+01:00

Jacob is a chatterbox
Jacob knows 'We're going on a bear hunt' by heart
Jacob likes to be naked even in the rain
Jacob loves to run
Jacob has a fabulous imagination
Jacob always looks for tigers hiding in gardens
Jacob has an adventurous spirit
Jacob loves Monkey and sunggly
Jacob loves to pick our fruit and veg and eat it
Jacob has the most beautiful blond hair

Max

2009-07-31T21:11:00.003+01:00

Max has violet blue eyes
Max blows bubbles
Max has a rounder shaped head
Mas loves to bosh his dangly toys
Mas giggles when Daddy bounces him on his lap
Max has wider set eyes
Max grips me when he feeds
Max has a little quiff of hair like 'Tintin'
Max always has his fists clenched
Max is a teeny bit bigger (13lb10oz)

Noah

2009-07-31T21:01:00.004+01:00

Noah has the most gorgeous dimples
Noah has slightly Jade/blue eyes
Noah has a slightly more oval shaped head
Noah loves faces
Noah is a teeny bit smaller than Max (13lb4oz)
Noah has shorter hair
Noah has a little white blib in his mouth
Noah strokes me when I feed him
Noah is super smiley
Noah doesn't dribble too much
Noah has slept for 7 hrs once

Growing fast....

2009-07-13T14:56:00.007+01:00

All 3 of my beautiful boys are growing quickly and changing daily! Jacob is still a very loving big brother - although his enthusiasm does cause problems sometimes! Noah and Max are getting so big now and are much more awake and alert. They are more settled at night and this week they have moved their bed time from 10-11pm to 8pm ish, then feeding at 10-10.30 , 1/2 am and 4/5 am so not bad compared to those nights when we saw every hour on the clock. Days are tough at the minute as they are awake but naturally wanting cuddles all day which is impossible with 2 of them and Jacob. We are getting through, with Johhny taking some leave, but we are totally exhausted most of the time! I am still breastfeeding both babies happily and enjoying the cuddle time it gives me, although a day off would be heaven! Jacob has finished playgroup for summer - and pretty much stopped his daytime naps, and is taking a lot of wearing out! He is very chatty and suddenly developed a fabulous imagination, telling us tales of dragons, dinosaurs, pirates and tigers in the garden - such a boy!

Welcome to the world......

2009-04-22T14:22:00.006+01:00

...Noah and Max!! Our beautiful baby boys arrived on Monday 13th April, at 23:21 and 23:44. They weighed 5lb5 and 5lb11. They are just so gorgeous and we are all head over heals in love with them both. Jacob is a very proud and loving big brother, kissing them and calling them 'darling' at every chance. He is also very interested in nappies and their contents!
They are both doing great at 9 days old - Noah has overcome some feeding troubles and they are feeding, sleeping and not much else at the minute. We have had 3 good nights with them...hopefully the start of many! If I didn't have such an awful, itchy rash (reaction to hormones I think) I would be doing great. The rash however is driving me insane but I feel I am coping a little better today. Blogging may take a back seat for a while, or I could be spending a lot of time sat at a computer - who knows?

Run, run, as fast as you can......

2009-04-09T21:21:00.004+01:00

After watching his daddy go out running, cheering him on in races etc, Jacob was VERY excited to be entering his first race! It was a local charity fun run - 3/4 mile - which he did with some of his friends and his daddy. He was very proud of his number, which is now up on the wall, and walked/ran almost all the time (except over the brook that had to be crossed several times). He got a goodie bag, medal and whistle for his efforts - proudly shown off here!

Spring Harvest!

2009-04-02T11:44:00.005+01:00

More outdoor play in the spring sunshine for us this week. Jacob had great fun throwing grass around which Johnny had neatly trimmed from our grass monster in the garden. I found it very amusing, Johnnhy did not!

We also got a lovely harvest from the allotment this week - the first purple sprouting broccoli of the year, lovely rainbow chard (I so love the colours!) and the last of our leeks. We enjoyed them in and with our fish pie and in a soup - Jacob particularly loved the soup and had 4 helpings! He likes the old tv classic The Clangers at the minute and thinks he is a soup dragon!

Sunny Skies

2009-03-25T20:28:00.005Z

We have been busy bees recently - well more Johnny and less me as I grow to the size of a small hippo!
Here are some updates:

We have had some fantastic weather recently and Jacob has been outside for most of it! He so loves to be outdoors. We even went to our first BBQ of the year! He has helped daddy in the garden cutting the grass, planting, sowing seeds for the allotment, building a planter and decorating his playhouse.

Bike rides are back on the menu now its warmer - much to Jacob's delight! I think he has inherited his Daddy's passion for bikes.

Jacob, Johnny and Ruby also had a lovely spring walk in Swithland woods - I so wish I could have gone but just not up to walking any distance now as the twins are growing by the minute. They had a fab time.This week Jacob has started saying 'I' instead of 'my'. This has also coincided with a very funny accent which has us in hysterics. I think he is just practising his sounds but it is so cute.

I had a fantastic Mothers Day. Jacob popped his head round the door after my lie in and shouted Happy Mothers Day (after shouting it all the way up 3 flights of stairs!). And I was treated to chocolate croissants, a homemade card, an allotment cook book and a huge box of chocs - and lots of cuddles! Perfect! - Thanks boys xxx

Where we're at!

2009-03-09T10:28:00.003Z

One of the things we want from this blog is a record of what our little munchkins are up to for us to look back on as time goes by. They change so much so often it is easy to forget all the fabulous little things they do. So where is Jacob at now?

He is a chatterbox! I love being able to chat to my little man - and he loves it to. He loves to ask 'Are you alright mummy? Your babies wiggling?' His speech is better by the day. recently he has started to use adjectives (with great expression) - everything is 'really amazing!' this month. Each night at dinner we recap our day and I love to see the bits which stick in his memory - things I had barely noticed mean so much to him. He loves to whisper and shout too. Like a parrot he repeats conversations between me and his Daddy in a big shout. As soon as he walks in the door he bellows 'Hello Mummy, you alright, we're back!'.

He is really changing how he plays now that he has language at his disposal. He likes to enter make believe worlds with his toys - farm animals and figures play, chat, fight, get told off, make up etc. It's an advantage that I am sitting around a lot, courtesy of a huge bump, that I get to sit and watch this fabulous insight into his world. I made him a felt play mat recently for his farm animals, but he uses it with all his toys - like his Happyland ELC sets. I loved watching him make the dogs go splashing through the pond and get told off the other day!

He is great at jigsaws now. He used to need a lot of input to put pieces in the right place (anywhere would do for a while). But now he looks at the bits of the picture and figures out which bits go together. He can do 6 piece ones on his own now. I was also really surprised to find he could thread buttons on a string. The first couple took a lot of concentration and attempts (grunting Nicol style!) but he picked it up so quickly and threaded a huge long string. He was very proud and pulled it around calling it his Caterpillar!

Jacob has some favourite books at the minute. He loves Jez Alborough, especially 'Where's My Teddy?'. He almost knows it off by heart and if we read one line, he says the next. He likes us to read a book to him then we hear 'My read it' and he then 'reads' it back to us. I love hearing him remember and copy our intonation and he asks us questions about the pictures 'Can you see the parrot mummy?'. He also likes to read to his frog hand puppet and tell him all about the story. So cute! He has also become DVD obsessed (when we let him!) and loves Buzz Lightyear! He would watch them all the time but we watch them instead of TV so he doesn't watch any more - its just very repetitive - which appears to be what appeals about DVDs.

In a few years time I hope these updates will bring a big reminiscent smile to our faces, and his!

More peacocks

2009-02-21T20:33:00.003Z

I decided to make a peacock with Jacob this week seeing as he loved the ones at the sanctuary so much. I cut out a body and feathers from and old cereal box and we sponge painted it all blue (Jacob loves sponging!). We then used our fingers to add some sparkly glitter paints and other colours.
The next day we glued on some sequins, stuck the feathers on the body, added an eye (Jacob's favourite bit!) and some pipe cleaner legs. Hey presto a peacock. Jacob proudly showed it off to everybody who walked through the door today.

Parents, parrots and peacocks

2009-02-21T20:00:00.004Z

We headed 'home' to Skegness to visit Granny and Grandad and Nanna and Grandad this week. We spent the day at Granny's house where Jacob got to see Grandad's huge selection of rabbits. He got to name one Sophie (his favourite name at the minute as his best friend's baby sister is called Sophie!). He was spoilt with some new Iggle Piggle pants and an ice cream and loved every messy minute.

We then went to Nanna's house for a Sunday Roast. Yummy! Jacob slept in a big double bed this time and loved it. We also were treated to a lovely lie in - thanks Mum!
We visited a Parrot Sanctury near to Mum and Dad's which was very exciting for Jacob. We saw hundreds of parrots - some of which talked to us - and Jacob enjoyed feeding them monkey nuts.

We also saw some peacocks who kindly put on a good feather display to Jacob's delight! The trip was rounded off with a walk through a free flying aviary where parrots come to land on you. Jacob found this very funny and loved having the birds sitting him! We had to buy him a parrot headdress in honour of the one that landed on his head.

A great couple of days!

BIG art! Valentines day creativity

2009-02-14T20:27:00.004Z

After seeing a cute hanging heart on another blog I began thinking about valentines day. Jacob has some lovely friends who we wanted to make them for so we set about a big painting session. We got red paints and lots of tools (cotton reels, potato printing hearts, brushes, sponges, rollers, straws) and set to work.

Jacob had such a great time and loved getting messy (unlike his daddy!). He most enjoyed using the roller (and obliterating all the loves stamping we did!) and making footprints.
One it had dried we cut out big heart shapes, added a ribon for hanging and glued them together leaving a little hole for stuffing. We stuffed them with old carrier bags and glued up the holes. Hey presto - gorgeous hanging hearts. We added a message for Jacob's 'girlfriends' and delivered them with a kiss on valentines morning. I think they liked them!
Later on Valentines day, Jacob and I baked some heart shaped cookies for his hardworking daddy. I think he liked them as he ate about 6 within 5 minutes of walking through the door!

Snow fun

2009-02-14T20:10:00.004Z

On the second of February we got snow!!! Cue one very excited little boy who was besotted with the classic 'The Snowman' film at christmas. I love the spell snow casts over children, and adults come to think of it! Jacob couldn't wait to get out in the snow and build a snowman.

Both he and his daddy enjoyed every minute and did a fine job!

Only days later, the snow fell again, and our friends came to join the fun and build a snowman friend for the original. They had great fun on make-shift plastic bag sledges.

We all warmed up with hot-chocolate and crumpets.

We love the snow!