Annick 28 weeks, Luca 30 months

Pineapple!

Annick:
- sitting up on her own - in the space of a day went from floppy ragdoll who had to be lashed to her high chair to muscular self-sitting dynamo!
- EATING LIKE A RAVENOUS WILDEBEEST.  Has taken to finger food like a champion.
- sleeping better both during the day and sometimes even at night
- just one adorable bundle of giggly delightfulness

Luca:
- singing!  Mostly nursery rhymes interspersed with Phil Collins and Cohen's Hallelujah.
- building!  with blocks and duplo.
- favourite words at the moment: 'look!', 'Luca's', 'oiseau', 'fire engine', 'house'
- everything belongs to him - "look!  it's my dog!  he is sleeping in my doghouse.  that's my tree."  ALL LIES.
- whingy whingy mcwhingy
- but still a squishy little poppet of sweetness

Awesome sitting skills.

Patiently awaiting her turn with the Tintin.

Building a dining chair fort!

That's her thumb.

Such a ray of sunshine!

Enjoying the bucolic view from our rural balcony.

Luca helps mama with the laundry.  It only takes about one hour to load the machine, by the time he has put in the clothes one by one, identifying each piece's owner, taking everything out halfway through, then putting everything back.

Super tummy time skills!

Luca is all about the vehicles.

Luca, Celine and Robert discuss current affairs.

And now a montage of Annick doing what she does best.

Rusk

Carrots.

More carrots (Annick's patented eating style - *open mouth* *food goes here*)

Yoghurt and banana.

Just banana.

Peach.

Cherry.

Pasta.

Miam!

Some things we have been eating.

Spring vegetable pasta, erm... some sort of white wine.

Seared tuna, Romesco.

Salmon, cucumber salsa, beans.

Waffles made with BIRTHDAY WAFFLE MAKER.

Short mac, South of Johnston.

Conversations

Sorry, photos soon, but here are Luca and Annick having a sibling discourse.

Luca's music

This is why you shouldn't leave your children's music education to your mother and your husband, because this is the mixtape I have had to make for my mother containing all of Luca's favourite songs.  So far it contains:

- C Moon by Paul McCartney
- La Bamba by Trini Lopez
- Jolene by Dolly Parton
- One More Night by Phil Collins
- Orinoco Flow by Enya
- Islands in the Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
- Je Reve a Rio by Robert Charlebois
- Party for Everybody by those Russian nanas at this year's Eurovision



You've not heard that Phil Collins classic till you've heard it sung by a squeaky 2.5 year old with limited language skills while you're driving down the Eastern Freeway.

Annick 26 weeks (6 months!), Luca nearly 30 months (2 and a half!)

Sibling dependence.

Annick:
- endless, endless raspberries
- chatting away, mostly with 'yayayayaya' but also sometimes 'da' and 'ga'
- another cold boo hoo
- drinking from a sippy cup and still eating like a champion
- haircut #2 - FINALLY

Luca:
- non-stop language development!
- speaks mostly in English but understands both
- all about Maisy
- gets naughty in the afternoons
- favourite words: 'Luca', 'share!' (as a command, not an offer), 'regarder mama' (a request to sit at the bench and watch the cooking), 'cooking', 'stir stir stir'/'brasse brasse brasse', 'it's a house'

Photo evidence of the teeth.

SUCH A DOLL.

Luca and Ah Kong do some drawing!

Disposables are great but much harder to colour coordinate with pretty dresses.

Arg!  Beetroot!

Arg!  Ice cream!!

Luca and his balloon friend Cookie Monster.

Annick protests bitterly about regressive gender stereotyping.

Annick gets to grips with a strawberry.

Luca has a cake pop thanks to Aunty Audrey!

Annick has a visit from Aunty Yupin!

Still enjoying the exersaucer.

Pre.

Post.

Looking good.

Neatly coiffed, just like papa.