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!

Don't Forget the Rinse Aid

Turn your back for two seconds and look what happens...I was happily pottering about in the kitchen on Saturday morning with Coby safely penned in the lounge playing with his toys....or so I thought. Upon discovering that mummy had not locked the gate, Coby climbed through, crawled down the hallway, into the kitchen, into the utility room and into the dishwasher!

It was one of those classic moments, a second of dismay followed by a flicker of a smile, followed by a burst of laughter. Coby enjoys making us laugh and once he had realised that he wasn't in any kind of trouble, he joined in with the giggles.

Crash, Boom, Bang!

On Saturday evening we took Coby along to a firework display at Mill Hill County High School in Barnet. It was great fun despite being quite freezing cold. There was a coconut shy (which daddy failed at miserably), bouncy castles, spinning tea cups, stilt walkers juggling with fire, food tents and a stage with live bands. It was fantastic and Coby managed to stay awake for the duration. The fireworks were amazing and we had a lovely evening.

And I thought Coby was a happy baby...

Following on from my previous attempt to bring you a funny baby clip...here is another and I think this one will take the crown for a long time to come...




Too funny...

Coby's birthday coming up soon and we will be producing a small video clip of him and his pals at his 1st birthday party for your pleasure...keep checking back.

Cheers

Al

Louis' 1st Birthday Party

No day was more significant this week then Louis' 1st birthday. With a two week head start on the rest of the babies, Louis was the first of the gang to be born on Tuesday 1st November, just before 5pm. Maddy's hazy memory of the occasion involves humming along to Green Day's 'When September Ends' as she entered the operating theatre where Louis was born...

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear Louis, happy birthday to you!"

Left to right: Angela & Alicia, Justin & Louis,
Michaela & Lola and Paula & Jasmine

Coby slept the entire time, so I cuddled
up to the birthday boy instead

SEE MORE PICTURES ON LOUIS' BLOG

Christmas is coming...

At Coby's Sing & Sign class today we were handed leaflets for Operation Christmas Child, an annual project organised by Samaritan's Purse who help meet the needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease and natural disaster. The idea is to fill a shoe box with lots of goodies such as cuddly toys, picture books, puzzles, sweets, crayons and colouring books. These are then sent, with the help of churches and charities, to children in hospitals, orphanages, refugee camps and impoverished neighbourhoods. Some children have NEVER received a christmas present in their lives so imagine the smiles on their faces when they receive these parcels!

We'll be filling our shoe box over the next week and passing on some of Coby's old toys to another child. If you would like to know more about this project, click on this link and discover how you can help a child experience the magic of Christmas.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUIS!

LOUIS IS 1 YEAR OLD TODAY! HOORAH!