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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 9406 |
| Visitors Out: 314 |
| Total Visitors Out: 314 |
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| Toddler Destruction |
| 2008-04-23 02:06:29 |
Most of us know that if a toddler get hold of something they shouldn’t they will undoubtedly destroy it given enough time to do so. The concept of a pop up book to a two year old is not wow, look how the pages of this book come to life in a 3D style. It’s I wonder if the book will look better with all the pop up parts scattered throughout the lounge. I have given up the amount of times I have put the pink plastic door back on the pink plastic school bus.The story that follows sums up the abi...
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| Toddler Mess |
| 2008-04-21 02:42:03 |
BeforeIf I had a pound or even a dollar for every piece of plastic block, small figure or cute stuffed animal that I pick up in a day, I would have a few thousand. If my wife was also given the same amount of money, I could retire right now. A bold fact I here you say. One thought that is probably ringing true for every parent of a small child reading this right now.I shouldn’t be surprised that my lovely children have inherited the messy gene. I myself had it for a long time. The only way I w...
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| Favouritism |
| 2008-04-16 01:26:39 |
I love my children equally as every good dad should (even if one has been a total nightmare and made your day a living hell). One would think that if you love your children the same way, your child would love both parents the same. But this is grownup logic and not toddler logic.For the last few months I have had a fan and that is Amy. She would greet me with a smile when ever she saw me and generally hang around like a groupie. Now Lilly would do the same but she didn’t care if mummy woul...
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| The Art Of Bribery |
| 2008-04-11 01:50:51 |
My wife Emma gave the idea for this one. She tells me all of the little things that the girls throughout the day. What they did to make her laugh, small accomplishments and of course the terrible two’s driven tantrums. When I said that I was stuck for something to write as my poor brain is all clogged up with work type things and an unhealthy dose of the man flu. She said why don’t you talk about me bribing them to get them to do stuff? Excellent idea!As Lilly and Amy are becoming more a...
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| Me Me Me |
| 2008-04-09 01:49:04 |
So what’s this post about I hear you cry. Well I'm bored, no wonderful ideas leap into my head at this point so I will take a quick break away from my wife (who is in the bath) and children (who I can here snoring on the monitor as I type) to give you 10 things you never really wanted to know about ME.1. I am about 60% Geek. Emma would say more 80% but I know my place in the geek world. Computers and me seemed to fit at an early age. On a daily basis, I hear words like stored procedures, b...
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| Two Contrasting Days – Part Two |
| 2008-04-07 03:14:48 |
Tuesday – One Of The Best Days EverI woke up, had a shower and made my way down stairs. Emma has done the milk this morning so that was a bonus. Amy and Lilly were just finishing off their breakfast. Coco pops. As I came down to the bottom of the stairs I could hear them both saying “daddy’s coming”. Things like that give me a happy glow. As they both saw me, I was presented with a pair of chocolate smiles. I helped them finish of the rest of their cereal. They both ate the lot and they ...
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| Two Contrasting Days – Part One |
| 2008-04-04 03:10:19 |
Monday – One Of The Worst Days EverI had 2 days off this week. The day started out okay as the routine goes. We got the girls dressed without much drama and went down stairs. Emma had a bath while we all had cheerios for breakfast. This is where things went down hill a bit.The introduction of cereal and milk was a good idea at the time but now Lilly refused to eat many of the rings and just wants the sweet milk but she can’t quite get the hang of the getting the milk to the mouth with her sp...
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| Lilly & Amy’s Second Birthday In Pictures |
| 2008-04-02 03:23:57 |
In The Morning - Behold the pink plastic. I set out the outside play stuff ready for them to play - It was all a big hit.Back inside and we opened and tried out all the presents. I, I mean we built a tower out of all the blocks. It was taller than Amy. They had their card read out on CBEEBIES that Emma sent in The Cakes - Emma slaved over a hot stove to cook these birthday creations The Party (I only had a couple of beers) – They Got Lots Of CardsThere was face Painting – Thanks Tara Amy Lil...
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| Your One Sentence Answers |
| 2008-03-28 04:50:17 |
As part of the pre birthday run up, I asked you to email me an answer to this question.“If you had to summarise your experience of being a parent so far into one sentence, what would it be”Thanks to everyone that emailed me and commented with your answers. There are some funny, sensible and inspiring ones.Everyone who answered my call have great blogs themselves so please take time to visit them as well.So here you are I started :)Name: MichaelBlog Name: My Wife And Twins "It’s been emotio...
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| The Ingredients To A Successful Birthday Party |
| 2008-03-26 07:10:33 |
Preparations have been going on for a couple of months in the form of lists. But with less than a week to go until Lilly and Amy’s second birthday, nearly everything is in place for a memorable party. As always, Emma is the project manager in these affairs. I take the orders and get the jobs done that need to be completed. This is how it should be, I find that things go a lot smoother and I get a lot less stressed.So, we are going for the birthday and party on the same day, as their birthday i...
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| Just A Reminder |
| 2008-03-25 16:05:58 |
This is the last couple of days for you to email me on the Calling All Parents thing that I have been running. I have got some good quotes from you out there but more will be welcomed. I will post the results on Friday. Thanks....
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| Our Easter In Pictures |
| 2008-03-24 05:32:33 |
We took them out in the garden for their first adventure in the snow There was a snowman, it was very small They both sampled the local delicacyThey had their first Easter eggsSurprise, Surprise, they both liked the chocolate!And as always, there was much playing! But they slept well in the end (Thank goodness)!...
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| Having Teeth Sucks! |
| 2008-03-21 06:48:05 |
Three weeks, that’s right, three weeks of peaceful nights of unbroken sleep. We had just started to forget about all of the sleepless nights that we had prior to these wondrous weeks. As I sit here typing this with only a few hours sleep to my name from the previous night. All of those nights come flooding back.Why are human beings not born with all their teeth? Now I'm sure that there is a scientific explanation for it but I don’t care. It’s a rubbish design floor. We come into this worl...
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| 6 Items That Contribute To A Smooth Routine |
| 2008-03-19 14:57:07 |
The needs and the demands of the little ones are varied from day to day but there are some things in our household that are needed as part of the every day routine. As I am sure I’ve mentioned it before (and will again), I am all for the path of least resistance and although I can’t always go down that path, certain items in our possession at certain times of the day eases the bumpy ride.The Pacifier / Dummy I have dedicated a whole post to this here. Enough said on that one I think.Batterie...
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| Calling All Parents |
| 2008-03-18 18:10:39 |
Lilly and Amy will be coming up to two years old in a couple of weeks and because of that, I am feeling quite philosophical about my time as a dad.Next week I will be doing pre birthday countdown to their birthday and as part of that I am asking you the parents out there for a few minutes of thought and an answer to this question.If you had to summarise your experience of being a parent so far into one sentence, what would it be?I am looking for a diverse bunch of answers so give me your best sh...
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| Dear Diary - An Afternoon In The Life Of Miss Lilly |
| 2008-03-14 06:30:49 |
12:00pm to 4:00pmI woke up from my nap and had some juice that mummy brought up. I had my nappy changed. While Amy was getting changed, I swaggered around in my jeans with pink stitching on. I don’t really mind what jeans I wear to be honest but as Amy made a big thing about it this morning I may as well play on it a bit.We went down stairs for dinner. I sat in my chair. I hoped that we would have cake today. Mummy’s cakes are the best but I will attempt to eat at least something else as wel...
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| Dear Diary – A Morning In The Life Of Miss Amy |
| 2008-03-12 04:57:41 |
6:30 to 10:45 amI almost couldn’t find my dummy this morning but I found it under my arm. Phew! I cried for a couple of minutes just to let mummy and daddy know that it was quite an emotional few seconds there.I talked to myself for a while going through all of the words I know. I used the word pink a lot this morning, as I do every day. I like pink. I wonder if I will get to wear a pink top today. I hope so. I'm sure mummy will come to my way of thinking in the end. I have purple slippers. I...
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| It's MY Pacifier |
| 2008-03-10 05:20:10 |
The dummy, the pacifier, the soother or what I like to call the mute button. Whatever you call it in your home, I'm sure that there will be or has been a constant battle with this little thing. My twin girls, Amy and Lilly, sleep with theirs at night and sometimes create havoc if they drop it overboard through the slats of their cots if they realise that they don’t have it. During the day is when the battle rages. When it is time for breakfast they take them out and head to the kitchen read...
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| The Personality War |
| 2008-03-07 03:29:41 |
When Lilly & Amy were born, they were the same. Completely helpless and well didn’t really do a lot but as they started to take note of the world around them, they quickly each formed a personality.To start off Amy was very chilled out; she played and did the baby thing. Lilly on the other hand was quite angry and cried quite a lot of the time. Then one day out of the blue they completely switched personalities and they took on the others traits. That was weird.Today they do have very diff...
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| Potty, First Contact |
| 2008-03-05 03:25:02 |
We have been thinking about potty training for a while (well since birth) and we decided to purchase one to put in the bathroom so we could talk about it when the girls had a bath just to ease them into it. We are in no rush for them to start but it's there if they want to use it. After all as soon as they are out of nappies we will be having the words “I need a wee” every 15 minutes when we are on a car journey or at some inappropriate time. I am also sure that they will always ask at diffe...
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| Top 3 Strangest TV Programs For Pre Schoolers |
| 2008-03-03 04:07:58 |
Everyone has an opinion about little ones watching TV. In our house the TV goes on when the adults want some peace and quiet. My girls will watch TV and other times it is just there as a background when they are playing. I have to sit down and watch this stuff from time to time and at times I find myself scratching my head wondering what's going on.The TV channel of choice in our house is CBEEBIES. For those of you who don’t know this channel, it’s supplied by the BBC and is a range of progr...
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| Time To Lock Away Every Curse Word |
| 2008-02-29 01:40:22 |
Well the day came. We were in a rush to get out the door to visit the grand parents. The girls had just finished dinner and we put the coats on and after about a 10 minute decision from both of them on what shoes to wear (not even 2 yet and they have a thing about shoes and clothes, I feel a constant battle of fashion looming leaving me with a lighter wallet), Emma checked the girls nappies as there was a familiar smell of ripeness in the air.It slipped out from nowhere, fuelled from trying to g...
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| Earthquake But Not Awake |
| 2008-02-27 16:04:33 |
We had an earthquake last night. It lasted around 10 to 15 seconds. I must admit I was still asleep half way through it and thought that I was having a weird rocking dream. Anyway, once I woke up a bit and sussed out that it was in fact an earthquake and not our boiler exploding, we waited for the cries from the baby monitor. Not a peep. Emma went into their room and they were fast asleep in their cots. This leaves me with one annoying question.Why can my girls sleep through a 5.0 earthquak...
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| The Twenty Minute Temper Tantrum |
| 2008-02-27 01:41:31 |
The other day, I witnessed Lilly’s first full on strop. We had just given Amy and Lilly a bath and it was time to put on their pyjamas. It has only been a few weeks since we have gone from all in one sleep suits to pyjamas and already they both have their favourites.This night, it was time for a new pair that they hadn’t worn before. Amy was first and given the choice of what set to ware (we take it in turns and to be as diplomatic as we can). She was happy and one changed went off to play. ...
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| Let The Daddy Years Begin - Back Story - Part 14 |
| 2008-02-27 01:37:01 |
Now I liked my sleep. I would stay up long into the early hours of the morning at the weekends and go to bed and have a long, uninterrupted sleep until the early afternoon. Emma and I had lazy Sundays where we would sit in front of the TV all day with the only worry of what we would be having for tea.Cut to the morning after our first night of two in the special care baby unit. It was about 8am on a Saturday, I had just had a night of about 3 hours sleep. We had been up every two and a half to t...
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| The Final Hurdles - Back Story - Part 13 |
| 2008-02-24 17:15:05 |
After our little scare with Amy, I was convinced that we would be spending at least another couple of weeks in the special care unit but we started hearing rumours that we could be going into one of the apartments towards the end of the week. This was good news but there were a few things that the girls had to achieve to get there. In my man way, I just saw this as just an elimination of tasks I could mentally tick off. If I didn’t feel so geeky about it, I would have a laptop with some sort o...
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| Back to the Beginning - Back Story - Part 12 |
| 2008-02-21 13:52:36 |
It was the beginning of week 4 and in the morning Emma called me at work to say that Amy had quite a bad night, she has been sick a few times and she was quite dehydrated and the doctors had decided to put her back in intensive care for the time being. Emma was told that it was just a precaution and that I shouldn’t worry too much.After about half an hour of it weighing on my mind I left work and went straight to the hospital. At this point all of the negative emotions that I had about the who...
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| Our Routine - Back Story - Part 11 |
| 2008-02-19 01:40:39 |
For the next couple of weeks, we got into a routine. Emma would come and see them twice a day and I would come to the hospital straight from work and spend an hour or so with them. While we were there, the nurses would encourage us to do everything like feed them (which was through a tube in the nose) and change their nappies etc. The feeding was alright I guess but the changing nappies for me was hard.Now yes I am a man and changing nappies when we first have to is like solving some hard puz...
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| The Uber Breast Pump - Back Story - Part 10 |
| 2008-02-17 16:15:03 |
Okay, so I thought I would have a little post on this subject. I know it’s quite a personal thing for mums and all but I promise I will be tactful.So while we were at the hospital, Emma would go off into a comfortable room and pump out some good wholesome milk. As the girls were still feeding through a tube at this time it was good to stock up on the stuff as much as possible. The hospital had a machine that Emma borrowed to do the deed.When I have been shopping for baby things in the past I h...
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| Their First Few Days - Back Story - Part 9 |
| 2008-02-15 17:17:40 |
Things were moving well. In the first few days there were little accomplishments. Lilly lead the way with Amy very close behind her. They came off CPAP and their jaundice was improving enough that they didn’t need any more tanning sessions. A few days into April and I came to the hospital to find my girls had been moved into the communal area. They had about 30 layers of baby clothing on and they were down 2 wires and 1 tube. One in their nose for feeding, on their skin to monitor their body t...
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| The Reality - Back Story - Part 8 |
| 2008-02-13 16:45:56 |
April 2006 and Emma was discharged a few days after popping the girls out and I was already back at work. I planned to take two weeks off when the girls came home.The Special Care Baby Unit, for me took a while to get used to. It was full of very small, mostly premature babies that needed all the help that they could get in the first few weeks of their lives. There were machines everywhere, to help them breath to monitor them and to feed them. At the start Lilly and Amy were attached to everythi...
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| The Birth - Back Story - Part 7 |
| 2008-02-12 11:55:35 |
I had a seat next to Emma and I held her hand all of the time and quite far enough away from the business end. I don’t think I was the cliché man, I sat there giving her encouraging smiles and not shouting out and breathing with her and actually pretending that I had any idea what she must have been going through.What followed was about an hour or so of contractions and pushing. I had the machine near me and could see the babies heart beats and the contractions. I figured out when the contrac...
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