Coby Schumacher

Coby received some fabulous presents for Christmas, the majority of which have turned our lounge into a car park. This amazing quad bike moves when Coby activates a button and it didn't take him long to figure it out either.

It's Chrissssssssssmassssssssss!

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL

WITH LOVE FROM COBY

Coby of Sherwood

We went to visit friends up in Nottingham yesterday for the night and had a superb time. Coby came with us and made some new friends. Here he is hanging out with Jasmine (the second one he knows but this one is Jazzy P) - they are discussing who should have the yellow block.


That pic is a blurry action shot so here is one of Jazzy P showing her cheeky little chops in all their glory


And here is Coby with the wonderful Alfie...Alfie is about 2 and a hint at what lies ahead for us in about a year with the Cobester...Mission 1: Lose the dummy he he he.


We went for a stroll today and visited the river...the ducks and the swans went nuts for the bread we took...Jasmine and her dad, Gil, are sat dispensing bread, bloody brave if you ask me...


Then we visited a playground and here is Coby having fun on the swings...


And here he is on the roundabout holding onto Mum for dear life...


Well Crimbo is nearly here and Coby is well up for it...ripping paper is his fave hobby at the mo.

Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Tree Festival

On Sunday afternoon we decided to check out the Christmas Tree Festival near to where we live. You may recall Coby did some hand prints at Sing & Sign a couple of weeks ago. Well Caroline, who runs the class, cut them all out and entered a tree into the festival with the tiny hands hanging on each branch...

Coby's handprint adorns the tree in the church

The tree in its full glory includes
handprints by Coby and Lola and all
of their Sing & Sign friends

There were around 50 trees all decorated by locals with the opportunity to vote for your favourite tree - guess which one mummy voted for? Here are a few others with the names as entered by their creators...

Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh AND...

Pink - our favourite colour

Baby's 1st Christmas

Tree of Toys

Mrs Tiggy Winkles Christmas Tree

Christmas Feast for all Gods Beasts

The Fellowship of the Doughnut Ring

Frodo, Merry & Pippin, sorry Coby, Louis and Lola tuck in - again

A day in the life of Coby, and most of his friends too I dare say, consists mainly of food. His diet is not dissimilar to that of a hobbit - breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, supper and finally - food induced sleep.

The Little Norfolk Explorer

We've just returned from a chilly, but sunny holiday in Cromer, Norfolk with Coby and his grandparents. We explored as much as we could and introduced Coby to lots of exciting new things - reptiles, sharks, cockroaches and fossils! The best thing about Norfolk in December, is that everyone else is sensible enough to stay in the warm, so the sea front at Great Yarmouth was ours and ours alone. On Tuesday we visited a beautiful, picturesque town in the Glaven Valley called Holt. With its quaint little shops lit up for Christmas, it was like something from a Dickens novel. We found a fabulous delicatessen who were offering a free mince pie and a cup of hot mulled wine - so tasty, we purchased a bottle along with some boozy mincemeat and a christmas pud.

In Yarmouth we had an amazing time at the Sea Life Centre and watched the sharks and rays being fed, we had a close inspection of a rock pool with its anemones, starfish and crabs, saw teenie tiny sea horses and an octopus that likes to play with lego blocks! We also went on an adventure to Amazonia - World of Reptiles. We saw Goliath, a 13ft American alligator, although he was fast asleep under the water, languishing in the mud. We also got quite close to caimen, snakes, gheckos and turtles and a rather large cockroach roaming outside the glass - yikes! It didn't put us off our appetites though and we rounded up the day with fish and chips at the great Harry Ramsdens. Daddy and grandad decided to take Harry's Challenge - a whole giant prime of cod with tons of chips and not one, but TWO pots of mushy peas. Daddy condeded half way through, but grandad battled on. He didin't quite finish, but both of them suffered for it the next day - silly boys.

What's lurking around the corner?

Goliath, the alligator from Florida was fast asleep
"Thank Goodness" thinks Coby

Just watching the world go by

"Hey, pop a 20p in and make it snappy"

You can't come to the seaside
without having fish and chips!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Mummy and daddy are celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary today!

Bah Humbug!

Coby's nursery had a Xmas Open Day on Saturday, so the three of us went along for some festive fun. We guessed the weight of the Christmas Cake, ranging from 2lbs to 7lbs, we went for the top answer based on Coby's weight at birth. Then we entered the messy room and painted some tree decorations, a star and a reindeer with a red nose. Finally, we made our way upstairs to Santa's grotto, however, Coby wasn't happy to see Father Christmas and shed quite a few tears. As we left, he did manage a small wave goodbye and than promptly fell asleep in the car. Over-tired!

Coby and mummy get messy

Coby was sensible enough to wear an apron

Bah humbug! Coby wasn't impressed with Santa Claus

A Curly Souvenir

Notice Coby's curl in this picture? Well, it's gone!
Snipped off, tied with ribbon and saved in a special
time capsule for posperity!

What?

Pasta with mascarpone cheese and tomato sauce -
Coby tipped it out onto his lap, threw the bowl on the floor
and flicked it everywhere!

Friday Fun

At Sing & Sign this morning, Coby did a hand print painting to enter into the local Christmas Tree Festival. We used yellow paint and blue and gold sparkles to brighten it up. Coby and I were covered in glitter afterwards - it's so much fun getting messy.

And then at nursery, Coby sponge painted a bell, finger painted a reindeer and brush painted a snowman. When I collected him, they were proudly displayed on the wall with all the others.

Coby chooses some glitter

The finished masterpiece!

Munchie

My nickname for Coby is Munchie, mainly because he is a little munchkin, but he is beginning to live up to the name in more ways then one...

A sneaky cheese twist under the table at Lola's party

Coby gets his five-a-day fruit fix

Greek yogurt with honey - also a very good moisturiser

Party Pics

Better late than never! Here are some pictures from Coby's 1st birthday party...

Coby is overwhelmed by the number of birthday cards

Uncle Mark teaches Coby how to make noise

I was very proud of my iced fairy cakes

Coby's cake with a hint of lemon

All for me??

Happy 1st Birthday Lola!

And finally - little Lola is 1 year old today!

So now all six babies have reached a major milestone and are on their
way to toddlerhood - what does the next year have in store for them?

Who will be the first to walk?
Who will be the cheekiest?
Stay tuned everyone...it's going to be a lot of fun!

Caught You!

Coby loves exploring his toy box and chucking things out onto the floor for mummy to tidy. Even in the bathroom, there's no escape from the rubber ducks and squirty toys. At nursery this afternoon, Coby enjoyed playing with pots and pans and was covered in food when we collected him, so it was straight into the bath and straight to bed, where Coby fell straight to sleep!

WORN OUT!

Well, we've had an absolute whirlwind of a week. 1st birthdays here, there and everywhere!
We had an unfortunate start to the week when Al and I came down with food poisoning. Grandma Wendy had to swing into action and come over to take care of Coby because we were so poorly. On Monday evening, we started to feel a little better, but then Coby was sick and, just as a precaution, we took him to A&E to be checked over. The triage nurse offered him one of those cardboard bowls for...erh hmm...I declined for Coby but accepted for myself. Fortunately, he did not have a temperature and his heart rate was fine, so after waiting two hours, we decided to take him home to bed. We arrived home around midnight, exhausted and clawed our way into bed. I am happy to report that we are all on the mend now.

So, catching up, Coby is now 23lbs, 15oz and 73.8cm long. His hair is blond and curly at the sides. His eyes are chocolate brown. His first tooth is still peeping through on the bottom row, but has yet to make a full appearance. He can walk with his toddler truck, but not yet independently. He babbles quite a bit, mainly mamma, and he can switch the TV on and off. Amazing to watch your child grow from a tiny baby to a toddler and even more amazing that it happens so quickly. Thank heavens for Teplet - blogging about it certainly helps us keep track.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY OLIVER!

And Olly makes five!
Five one year old babies to boast about now
Lola up next...

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY JASMINE

One year old today - congratulations Jasmine!

The Birthday Party

Can you believe that my duties as mum and hostess for the afternoon kept me so busy? No time to even delegate someone as official photographer? Fortunately there were others capturing Coby's special occasion...phew! Until my saviours come up with the evidence, I thought this picture summed up the day....


Thank you to Mark and Teresa for Coby's fabulous Spurs home kit, bought to him straight from the store in Tottenham. Coby was joined at his party by his close friends, Alicia, Jasmine, Lola, Louis and Oliver. We feasted on mini sandwiches, sausage rolls (thanks Maddy), cheese twists and cup cakes. I even made two jellys, but forgot all about them in the fridge!

Coby received some wonderful gifts and over 30 birthday cards - thank you one and all

Coby & Time magazine

I just submitted Coby for this year's Time: Person of the Year. Well, not really, just to appear, with thousands of others I imagine, on the huge billboards in NY, NY and in Toronto. Here is the picture and if they put it up then they will email to let me know. Hee hee...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BOY, COBY!

THE LOVE OF OUR LIVES!


Thank you all so much for your kind wishes, cards and presents. I was inundated with text messages and phone calls wishing Coby a happy birthday. For those of you that did send texts or e-mails, I'm sorry that I didn't reply to you personally. As you can imagine it was a hectic day including our usual trip to Music Train where everyone sang Happy Birthday and Coby received a card and a play dough cake with a candle to blow out.

We are having severe problems accessing images on our computer at the moment to the point where we're going to have to get Mr IT Man in to sort it out, hence the lack of pictures of Coby on his birthday. We are having a tea party tomorrow with Coby's pals, Louis, Lola etc so as soon as the problem is resolved, we'll spoil you rotten with pics of the little one year old!

Let the Celebrations Begin

All eyes on Coby as his birthday is announced

On the eve of his first birthday, Coby has already been receiving lots of best wishes from his chums at Gymbabes. At the session this morning, Coby received a card and a sticker from Gemma and the whole group sang Happy Birthday. Mummy had a tear in her eye, but managed to disguise it while taking the photos.

Gemma and the group sing Happy Birthday

It's Not Too Late

On Monday we visited baby Anya and her mummy Debra. Anya is now 8 weeks old and weighs just over 8lbs, teenie tiny compared to Coby. As you can see from Anya's photo, her choice of football team leaves a lot to be desired and Coby will need to be a big influence over the coming years if we're to switch her allegiance....tsk tsk Anya...

Another First for Coby

WE HAVE OUR FIRST TOOTH! Just in time for Coby's 1st birthday. I can't say the teething experience has been easy, poor Coby is suffering terribly and we're off to the GP in the morning just to be sure that he is simply teething and there are no other underlying problems. We hope he'll be back to his usual self in time for his birthday. This brings me to my apology for the lack of pictures recently. Coby is not in a smiley mood at all - sorry folks. However, all pics from now on will have an extra feature in the form of Coby's new tooth/teeth.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ALICIA...

..who was born on Monday 14th November last year at around 7.30pm.
She'll be joined in May next year by a new little brother or sister too!

Have a lovely day Alicia!

Beautiful Birthday Babies

At last! After months of planning, all twelve mummies and daddies got together for a joint celebration of the babies 1st birthdays. We had an extra long table at the Angel's Reply in Hitchin and all the mummies fulfilled their designated roles to perfection - Paula had booked the venue, Vicki arrived with the balloons, Michaela with the cake, Angela with the badges and I, well I almost didn't make it. We were about to head out from home when Al spotted the flat tyre! After discovering that the spare tyre was stuck fast beneath the car, we abandoned it on the drive and called for a taxi. Baby car seats were not designed to be moved easily from one vehicle to another and this proved to be the most troublesome part of the afternoon, however, after being chauffered by a very nice taxi driver, we still arrived in good time, goody bags in hand and not a single hair out of place.

Check out the cake - expertly made by The Cake Hole in Hitchin

Coby waits patiently for his spaghetti bolognese,
ordered like a grown up from the main menu

Coby's 'Secret Santa' present (ssshh - its from Alicia)

Alicia & Lola get stuck into their goody bags which contained:
Winnie the Pooh stickers, DVD, Mr Men/Little Miss book,
Organix Fruit Bar, Box of raisins and a bubble bath
(Little Miss for the girls, Thomas the Tank Engine for the boys)

Coby & Louis wrestle - again!

Once the fun and frolics were over and the waitresses had breathed a sigh of relief, everyone headed back to our house for tea and cake and fireworks! Maddy rustled up some sausage rolls and we all sang Happy Birthday to the babies. We even saved a piece of cake for the AA man who came to fix the tyre on our car!

Happy 1st Birthday Babes - we love you!