My lucky number's two

Joe reached the ripe old age of two yesterday. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and presents. He had so many over two days that we're worried he's going to turn into a monster and expect them every day. Luckily the weather was lovely and after exhausting himself at nursery he was able to play in his tent in the garden for the rest of the day. He had been practicing blowing out candles for the last couple of days and the staff at nursery were still laughing when I cam to collect him - not sure what his final technique had been, I was scared to ask! Today we started our new term at Singing Hands and Joe seemed to have aged more than a year, he sang all the songs did the actions and even tidied up. Had the bodysnatchers been in the night? Tomorrow we are having a picnic with the other NCT 2 year olds after our Crafty Tales session so he should sleep well tomorrow! Wish we could do the same with Sylvie!
Simon and I had a quick trip to Wimbledon on Sunday when we visited Matches to buy outfits for Claire and Keith's wedding in June. I remortgaged the house to buy a dress while Simon was schmoozed by Birmingham's Asian answer to Russell Brand! Whatever he said it worked as he sold Joe and Sylvie to buy a jacket and trousers! I think we must have been feeling left out on the present front!

And don't you come back no more....

Sylvie was discharged by her consultant, Dr Beaton, yesterday. So no more trips to Kingston Hospital for her for the near future - fingers crossed. We were relieved and just hope the audiology consultant will give the same verdict in July - then we'll be free from the consultants! Sylvie is now using Joe's old walker from Amsterdam, she seems to really enjoy standing up, it means she's at the same height as Joe and gets a good view of all the goings on. Simon and I are going to see Bjork at Hammersmith Apollo tomorrow night, she's had really good reviews and we're looking forward to a proper night out.
Joe had his first trip to the dentist on Friday. He'd spent all week saying "Hello Dentist" and had been practising opening his mouth wide. When we arrived he said "Hello Dentist" to everyone he saw, held the dentist's hand when she came to collect us, hopped up on to the chair and then refused to open his mouth. He didn't get upset, just wouldn't open his mouth at all except to say "Hello Dentist".

One o' clock rock

Another week in Teddington Mum-land. The one o' clock club reopened at Marble Hill park last week, so Joe had his first trip there last Thursday. It's an indication of how much he's grown, last year he had to be helped in and out of the sand pit, this year he was jumping in and climbing out by himself, doing daredevil moves on the slides and chasing his friend Iris. Last year he had to be helped in and out of everything and was one of the smallest ones.
Sylvie's weaning is still going slowly. She's become a big fan of rice cakes but not much else so far!
I had a nice night out with some of the other Teddington mum's. We went to a local wine bar which has been refurbished and some food and a couple of bottles of wine. The place is called Shambles and I'm pleased to say we weren't too much of a shambles when we left.
We went for dim sum with the Hodsons on Sunday. We persuaded them to try the restaurant near us and our blushes were spared when Mark gave it a big thumbs up so I think it might become our new venue for dim sum. Joe (quite rightly) decided he wasn't up for the tripe or chicken claw but the turnip cake and spare ribs were the new big hit. We came back to ours for Pimms afterwards while the sun shined, you've got to make the most of the sun while you can in this weather.

Congratulations

Over in sunny Oz, Esther and Todd have just had a lovely baby boy, Elliott. Well done all of you, but especially Esther!

Everybody jump, jump, jump...

Joe's social life continues apace. He went to a party at a local soft play centre yesterday. They had huge inflatables and tumble mats. There were two instructors desperately trying to maintain order over 15 two year olds but my overiding memory will be them trying to get them to queue to jump along the big inflatable, as soon as the first kiddie got on, 14 other toddlers bundled on and began throwing themselves around in a spectacular fashion! I can't believe none of them were sick after the combination of laughing and jumping, rounded off by cake!
Sylvie had to have her hair cut on Saturday, her hair was half way down her back in a German mullet stylie, not the best look. The front we can cope with, using clips but the back was getting ridiculous. She was Nathalie's youngest ever client!
Mum arrived on Thursday and it's been a relief to have an extra pair of hands and she and Joe get on so well, I can actually get things done. I bought a season ticket for the local outside playgroup which runs every day until mid September. We went there a lot last year and Joe will enjoy himself there even more this year I think.