We are walking... almost

Zac is now taking his first steps! At 13 months old he is quite confidently taking a few steps here and there, although crawling is still obviously his prefered and more trusted mode of transport.  Every day though he seems to take a few more steps than the day before and I'm sure in the next few weeks we will have a confident little walking toddler!

Zac is also sporting the cutest little smile at the moment with one extra large front tooth while its partner is still in hiding. It looks oddly strange with one tooth so large and prominent while the other one isn't anywhere near showing itself yet.  I can see it swelling behind the gum, but there are absolutely no protrusions yet.  In the mean time I will enjoy the cuteness of his lobsided smile :)

My little boy is still having his two day naps and due to Mother's Amnesia, I had to refer back to this blog to read when Lily started to drop her morning nap and funnily enough, it was at 13 months (Zac's age now) that she started going down a little later and having one nap over lunch time.  Zac still seems quite tired in the mornings and needs his 9am sleep as he goes down without fuss and usually surfaces around 11am, sometimes even 11:30am like today.  Then twice in the last few days he has fought his afternoon sleep a little and that's what got me wondering... So I suppose it's best to bare in mind that it is around this age that sleep patterns may begin to change.

Otherwise my little boy is getting cuter and cuter if that's even possible!  He is still very much a mommy's boy and loves to be with me.  He also loves giving me kisses and will often just bend over, look me in the eyes and come in for a big kiss - my best!  He also loves climbing all over me - kind of like I'm a lionness and he is a cub clambering all over the place.  Zac is also starting to communicate nicely now and says "Dudu", "Duck", makes sucking/smacking lip sounds when asked what noise a fish makes, "Daddy", "Mamma" and "Ta".  But even without words, he definitely communicates well and makes it known quite clearly what he wants... Very determined little guy, just like his sister!

I'm truly so in love with my two little babies and couldn't be a happier mom.  I've even started contemplating what it would be like to have a third little addition to our family.  I know hubby is set against it and is quite happy with our little brood, but I'm definitely broody for another.  I have had a serious chat with him to at least consider the option in a few months down the line.  Obviously not right now as Zac is still a bit young, but potentially in the future.  He didn't resist me - he nodded and essentially in his silence, agreed to at least consider the idea without immediate resistance.  So we shall see... Who knows, I may change my mind as well, but for now a third child seems perfect.  I'd love to add another precious little Lily or Zac to our gorgeous little family :)

Peppa Pig Party

Our little Lily is obsessed with the children's programme "Peppa Pig" so I decided that the theme for her 3rd birthday party would be just that AND an added detail is that Peppa Pig has a little brother George which was perfect for my combined birthday party idea.  Poor little Zac doesn't have a group of baby friends his age so if we were to throw 2 parties, I'd merely be inviting the same people over to the house twice.  So why not kill two birds with one stone and throw one memorable party for them both?

The entertainment for the day was a mobile petting zoo called Zoo To You. They specialise in little baby animals so we had little chicks, piglets, a lamb, goat, small sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs and even a small little rat!  They arrived early in the morning to set up and were more than ready for the onslaught of kids that were to arrive at 10h00.  Lily got to play with the little animals before everyone arrived while I set up all the eats and decor...

 

Everyone seemed to have loads of fun with all the animals - some kids didn't even exit the little temporary animals' home structure at all! We managed to get quite a few lovely photographs of our precious Lily and Zac which I am thrilled about!  See below...

 All in all, Lily loved her party and had loads of fun touching the animals, jumping on her jumping castle, playing with her friends, blowing out her candles and opening up presents. Zac slept a little into the party but once I'd woken him up he had a lovely time too, also touching the animals and generally crawling about and keeping himself entertained.

As per usual, preparing a little party and tidying up afterwards takes its toll so I was more than happy to put my feet up once both children were in bed and everyone had left.  It was a wonderful morning and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the enjoyment on my little babies' faces. Until next year again...

Lily is 3!

Our gorgeous, infectiously funny, kind and loving little girl is 3 years old! This post is a little late as the special day was on the 28th of April, but as a mommy of 2 busy little bodies, it isn't always easy to get to write my updates these days.

So we decided to buy our little angel a beautiful doll's house for her third birthday. Grannies and Grandpas put their money towards buying the furniture for the house so Lily had plenty of unwrapping to do. She was also spoilt with plenty of Peppa Pig attire and a baking set as well. And of course everything had to be opened and used immediately - we even had to do some baking with her new set!

A little later in the morning, Granny Gail, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Rollie, Aunt Lou and Cousin Noa all came around to bring presents and to sing happy birthday to the excited birthday girl. Lily insisted on wearing her "fairy princess" dress and crown for her special day - see pic below:

We then headed off to the Spur for a celebratory lunch where Lily excitedly spent almost the entire time in the play area with either mom or dad having to watch or supervise - quite exhausting but worth it as she had such a fun time running about and playing. We then got the staff to bring Lily a birthday ice cream with sparkler and everyone sang a special song for her.  She wasn't quite sure of the whole sing-song by strangers, but she enjoyed the sparkler and the ice cream.

Lily was also spoilt 2 days before her birthday when they did a birthday ring for her at her little school.  Hubby, myself, Zac, Granny Gail, Grandpa Dave and Ritah all went to school half an hour before the end of the day. As we walked in Lily was so excited that her eyes filled with tears and a contagious giggle ensued. You could tell she was so surprised and excited that she didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry! Bless her, it was so special.

The class sang songs and did a little dance, they then all sat on the floor and sang happy birthday to her in both English and Hebrew. She then blew out her candles and along with all her little class mates, they happily ate the birthday cupcakes.  Such a very special day at school for both Lily and her very proud parents!

I can't believe our little angel pie is 3 years old. Such a happy, confident, delightful little person she has grown into. Her mommy and daddy couldn't be MORE proud. We love you to absolute bits our little Lily Pie xxx