There's no arguing with them

A couple of days ago, the sun was beaming down outside and it looked like the start of a gorgeous day as the Hurley family wandered around the house getting things ready for breakfast. Until Hannah looked out of the window and earnestly said "It's a foggy day today". We knew where this had come from, as she is a big fan of the Winnie The Pooh video, where a foggy day leads to lots of adventure for Pooh and his friends. "It's not foggy! Look the sun is shining - it's a lovely day outside," we argued. Hannah nodded thoughtfully, and then replied "But it is a little bit foggy!" We'll cross 'weathergirl' off her list of possible careers when she's older.

Zzzzzz!

It seems like Thomas is really getting the hang of this sleeping thing. For a few nights this week he's managed to keep his eyes closed for 8 or 9 hours, which is fine with us. He usually goes to bed at about 8pm, so he's waking up for an early morning snack at about 4 or 5 o'clock. If he can just hold out for two hours more, then it would be almost human (and so would we in the morning!) And, not sure whether it's related or not, but he's started getting a lot more smiley now. For the last few weeks Ruth has been adamant that he's been smiling at her, but we all put it down to over-active imagination or lack of sleep. But, there have now been at least two other eyewitnesses, so it seems that Thomas is also getting the hang of cheeky grins.

We're going potty

Even though this will cause Hannah plenty of embarrassment in the future when she reads this entry, we've had huge excitement this last weekend when Hannah has successfully used her potty twice! Huge celebrations followed, and Hannah looked pretty pleased with herself. Her dolly is also spending a lot of time sitting on the potty now, but the dolly hasn't had any notable success yet! We're already planning a new extension to the house based on the money that we'll save from not having to buy so many nappies in the future!

RIP Charlie

After a long, and fun filled 13 years of life, our friend Charlie the cat is no more. He'd been doddery on his legs for a couple of weeks, but it got to the stage in the last few days where he could barely walk or eat. His brother Ebby is still going strong, and seems to be missing him - even if it's just because he can't eat Charlie's leftovers anymore! Our laps are a lot colder now.

Baby Snap

Don't worry, this blog entry is nothing to do with accidentally dropping children, but more to do with how much Thomas looks like his cousin James (which is the name of Janet and Mike's new baby). We went around to Nanny and Grumpy's house for dinner today (which is our usual Sunday feeding post!) and Janet and Mike took James along for his first ever roast dinner. It was all a bit of a squeeze with the one big family there, so Nanny and Grumpy are going to have to get working on building an extension now. Anyway, Thomas and James (whose names I keep mixing up, much to the despair of everyone else) both spent most of the time asleep and looking cute, and you can certainly see some similarities between the two. The photo below is of Thomas in Grumpy's arms and James in Auntie Ruth's arms. Aaahhh!

The Terrible Twosome

While all of the excitement with the new cousin was going on, Hannah was busy having lots of fun with her first ever cousin, Chloe! Tim, Abby, Chloe and Anya were down in Cardiff for the weekend, so Hannah and Chloe spent a lot of time together getting into mischief! It's impossible to say who the ringleader is, as they're both as crazy (and cute) as each other! I guess that it won't be long before Thomas and Anya are joining in the fun, too! And we'll invite the new "Cousin Thomas" (still no name, yet) along as well, just so that Thomas doesn't feel outnumbered by all the girls. I think I'll make sure that I'm out that day...

It's another baby!

Not ours this time, though! Congratulations to Janet & Mike on the excellent production of a brand new cousin for Thomas and Hannah. Master Thomas (that's his surname, not his first name!) arrived on the 28th June, weighing in at 6lbs 9 oz - so Thomas has got a friend to play with, and Hannah has got another person to boss around! Mike - make sure that you get lots of sleep tonight, because it'll be your last chance for a while!

Two is tiring

It's been two weeks and two days since Thomas arrived on the scene, and Ruth and I are just about getting into some kind of routine now. It basically involves sleeping as much as we can during the night, and then simply not stopping for a moment during the day! It's not out of choice, but it's all that Hannah and Thomas are letting us do! To be fair to both of them, they're being really good, and things could certainly be a lot worse(!), but juggling two young children is going to be a skill that we'll need to get the hang of fairly quickly! It seems that they've synchronised their 'attention needed' times, so that always one of them is in need of Mummy or Daddy at any one time. And there is often a fun couple of moments each day when they both want both of us at the same time! Life would be very dull without them!

Spot the difference

One of the biggest things we've noticed since Thomas arrived on the scene is how grown up Hannah is when compared to him. It's amazing how quickly children can change in just 2 years. Thomas is almost the splitting image of Hannah when she was his age (apart from some very obvious differences!), and yet it's hard to believe that Hannah used to be like that just 26 months ago!.

One thing that they both still have in common, though, is that they both have very ticklish feet!

Thomas Matthew

After what seems like months of deliberation, with comittee meeting after comittee meeting, and shortlist after shortlist, we've finally settled on a name for the 'Boy with no name'. Thomas Matthew Hurley is going to be the name that he's stuck with for the rest of his life - or at least until he's 18 and can choose a name for himself. He doesn't seem to mind it yet, and Hannah likes it, so that's half of the battle over! We're very impressed with Thomas' sleeping ability so far. Last night he was put into his Moses basket to sleep after a feed at about 11:30. He then slept solidly through until 4:30 in the morning, when he had another feed. He then slept solidly through until 8:30 when we all got up. If he keeps that up, then that promised rise in his pocket money will be his! It's not just nights that he's sleeping though - the weather has been so warm here in Cardiff today that he pretty much spent the whole of the day asleep, only waking up for food. That sounds like my kind of day...