jun, 2nd - 22/52......

the 52 project: a portrait of the girls once a week, every week, in 2013

1200 / 299:

Claya: she adores her big sister but also has a feisty side that will be interesting when she gains the same level of mobility and strength. hopefully they will still find each other as hilarious as they do now. i had put some music on and she was doing her own dance moves

Limi: twirling to make her baby sister laugh. the plaster is for aesthetic reasons.....she Loves plasters and generally has one or two on at any given time

i also included the outtakes below. they make me smile whenever i look at them. now that Claya is slightly older, it's almost tangible how their relationship is changing and they are becoming this little clique of their own......i love it.

p.s. you can click here to read more about the 52 project.

may, 24th - wisdom of a three year old....

day 1191 / 290:

A. said that instead of 'conversations with a two year old' these days, these post should be called 'wisdom of a three year old' as Limi comes out with her own logic on the world every day......

some recent ones are:

'you can't put your shoes on the wrong feet as then they make your shoes walk funny'

'mama, i can't cross the road by myself now because i'm too small but when i'm twenty then i can maybe cross the road by myself' (twenty is the age that Limi is also going to go on holiday with just Claya and also when she'll do the big, twisty slide at the park)

'you can eat pea skin, strawberry skin, blueberry skin and cheese skin but you can't eat banana skin or egg skin'

'maybe when i'm twenty i'll like tomatoes'

'Spring is lovely because it gets warmer,

Summer is good because you don't have to wear warm clothes,

Autumn is when the air is fresh,

and Winter is good because you can build snowmans.'

apr, 17th - the chat.....

day 1155 / 254:

Limi asked me the 'how do babies get inside your tummy, mama?' question today. i was so tempted to use some sort of stork option.....but instead,  i completely mixed up my biology and talked about eggs and pollen....oh dear. she didn't seem convinced.

i need time to prep for these difficult questions. any ideas on what she will ask me next?

in other news, my main lens broke and the above, is the result.....i love it.

mar, 1st - a london bash....{the after pics}

day 1109 / 208:

by the end middle of Limi's party, everyone and everything looked alot less like this. 

i had also run out of steam on producing the amazing birthday cake that had been floating around in my head for weeks and opted instead for a decidedly underwhelming, store-bought, victoria sponge (that gave us a chance to sing happy birthday and limi and friends a chance to blow out some candles). 

dress-up costumes had been discarded.....

and almost everyone was wearing some sort of crown (and in Limi's case a bodyful of gold stars)......

a bit of general chaos = a good party in my experience.....

feb, 26th - a london bash....{the before pics}

day 1106 / 205:

we had a great time planning Limi's party this year. i saved some of the decorations from the jubilee decorations last year and we had a London theme....or more accurately, since we're basing her birthday parties on nursery rhymes...the theme was:

'Limi-cat, Limi-cat, where have you been?

I've been up to London to visit the Queen.

Limi-cat, Limi-cat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under the chair.'

London is her city after all.

she didn't want to go as a cat though and chose a 'Buckingham Palace soldier' instead......Claya went as the-little-mouse-who-was-frightened-under-the-chair. there were plenty of queens and princesses, a London fox, a Carnaby St local and an Olympic athlete.

for activities, i built a cardboard 'house-palace' based on last year's success of the house of sweets {see day 736}, made some cardboard crowns for the kids to decorate and also some gingerbread soldiers and crowns for them to ice and decorate......the palace was destroyed (and they had a ball doing it), the crowns were very sweet and the biscuits and decorations were both eaten with glee....

tomorrow....the after pics.......

or in other words, what it really looked like after about ten minutes!

feb, 17th - and then she was three....

day 1097 / 196:

sorry about the deep silence around here this week......we've been gearing up for Limi's party which happened today......she proclaimed that it was her BEST party ever (which is sweet since she's only had three and one of those she would definitely not remember)......anyway, pics to follow or you can find a preview here.

hope your weekend was just as full of fun. x

feb, 6th - 3 today....

day 1086 / 185:

Limi loves yellow.....it's her favourite colour. so we decided to have an all Yellow Day on her birthday. her party is later in the month so this was for her actual day. she was a bit overwhelmed when she walked through in the morning but loved dancing around in the balloons and using her giant three like a seesaw. Claya on the other hand, acted like her living room is always filled with yellow balloons.......

so, three.......i suspect it will be an interesting age: mostly fantastic with spells of high drama.....two was! more and more Limi mimics so much of what we do....and reflects both the good and the bad. this age certainly acts as a bit of a mirror on all your failings....but hey, i guess we have some time to fix them before these memories stick too hard....

anyway, what I love the most are all the funny conversations that we have.....here are some of the recent ones:

Limi (after seeing a flock of birds in the sky): Mama, why are the birds swimming in the sky?

*

Limi: Dada, when i turn my head, i can't see my back just other people. Do you think that pigeons can see their backs?

*

Me: Limi, do you only have Why in your head today?

Limi: Yes Mama but it's better than having elephant.

*

Limi: Mama, does the moon have a Mama and a Dada?

Me: I'm sure he does sweets.

Limi: So, where do they live

Me: Well the moon doesn't live with his Mama and Dada because he's big enough to live by himself now. 

Limi: Well if the sun gets up early then he can look after the moon.

*

Limi (whilst listening to A. play guitar): Dada, stop! I need to load another song.

A: Limi, you don't load songs onto a guitar, you just ask me.

Limi: Do you know 'you better done done this' (Jason Mraz - I'm yours)

A: Yes

Limi: Ah, so it's already loaded?

nov, 10th - and 100 days....

day 1001 / 100:

hot on her sister's heels, Clémence reached her own milestone of 100 days....and here are the pics of her in these vintage bonnets.....

i found out before i had Claya, that our friends were hoping that we would be more challenged this time around as they felt that Limi had been far too gentle on us. Claya has disappointed them by being a fairly chilled baby....(for now! if there's one thing that i've learnt it's not to be a smug parent as it soon comes back to bite you).

in 100 days, she has changed our family and all of us. Limi has become a big sister and learnt to be fun yet gentle (mostly) with her baby sister. she is kind and says things like: 'don't worry little one, i'm here and your mama is coming now' and already Claya looks at her with a sweet smile and blossoming adoration....and yes, also sometimes pure terror when Limi is giving her an especially enthusiastic squeeze. 

i three months, she has developed an infectious giggle (with a snort that she will hopefully outgrow....although Claya, if you're reading this one day and haven't lost your snort-laugh then we love it honey!). but there is no laughing at bath-time because she is too busy focusing on her kicking. it seems that she takes her splashing very seriously and we both end up getting soaked. sleeping is still hit and miss although, it hasn't been helped by her sister bringing home plenty of winter bugs from pre-school. her co-ordination skills are galloping along.....hands and feet have been discovered and she hates it when we hide her hands during dressing. hair tugging is now getting ferocious with a iron grip and rattles are becoming favoured toys. car journeys seem to be less tedious and are helped by Limi providing us with a running commentary: Claya is looking out the window/ closing her eyes/ keeping her eyes wide open etc.....

but finally, what she is best at is chatting.....constantly.....with plenty of different sounds and what appears to be complete conviction that we understand what she is saying.....

she is an utter honey and besides stealing my beauty sleep has not been too tough on us at all....so far....*holding BOTH thumbs*....let's chat again in another 100 days.

p.s. i still love these bonnets....and the stories they could tell....

nov, 9th - a thousand days....

day 1000 / 99:

Limi is a thousand days old. back in the Summer before Claya was born, i asked her a few questions about her favourite things.....we were thinking of doing this every now and then so that one day she can look back and see how her tastes and world changed....(long may yellow last as her favourite colour!)

my movie skills need a bit of work but here's an extract from her answers......those text questions hide at least a little of my sing-song voice......

oct, 16th - jabs....

day 976 / 75:

Claya had her first set of jabs at the end of last week. after my tough approach with Limi that completely disintegrated when they shoved that gigantic (okay, normal sized) needle into her thigh....on both sides {see day 65}, i wasn't looking forward to these jabs a second time around. 

out came the huge (okay, still normal sized) needle and i had to hold her while the nurse punctured each thigh. she handled it like a champ.....she screamed both times, like someone had just shoved a very sharp object into her thigh; huge, proper teardrops tumbled down her cheeks but then she smiled at me through the tears and all that was left were two round plasters and some hiccups.

of course, Limi was quick to offer to 'yank' off the plasters but i convinced her that the nurse had said that the plasters have to fall off naturally.....i wasn't sure that Claya needed any more rough treatment for one day.

sep, 10th - first day....

day 945 / 44:

i had great visions of doing a million pics of Limi on her first day of school (how did our parents always manage to wrangle us together for the obligatory pic in the front garden?).....instead, her first day felt like it went by in a blur.......with me reminding her on the way to school, at least five times okay, probably only twice (although it felt like twenty times), to ask a teacher if she needed to wee.....am i the only one who worries that they will sit there all afternoon not asking for a drink or to wee?

anyway, she came home with a sticker that said, 'i went to the toilet today' so obviously my pep-talk worked.....other highlights were:

• bathing the babies (dolls)
• being a crocodile and snapping each other
• sitting down for a drink and raisins
• reading a book about a dog

so, first day of school....and it seems to have gone by in a happy blur......

sep, 5th - a,b,c,d....

day 939 / 38:

these two start school on Monday......preschool.....part-time. they have known each other all their lives {see day 159, day 790} and it's super-sweet that they will make this big step together. 

i'm so excited for Limi.....i think that she's so ready to start this next stage. i have to admit that i'm also a little excited for me......i can give some attention to Claya and myself three afternoons a week without feeling like i'm abandoning either of them.