January 2009

After the Christmas festivities, the month of January was fairly quiet in our household.

However, 2 momentous events occurred on the 20th..... Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the USA (which we were all pleased about). More importantly, however, on that day Oscar had his first solid meal which he thoroughly enjoyed.

For further fun footage of this, click here.

February 2009

In February we suffered one of the worst snowfalls I can remember and we could not get the cars out of the driveway for 2 days. (Little T admits that she had been praying hard that Daddy would not be able to get to work).

Plenty of time to mess around in the snow. Little O a bit unsure of it all.....

Mrs K/C/KC and I also celebrated commiserated over becoming another year older.

March 2009

Early on in the month, Little O was baptised at our church. Grandma and Grandpa and all our friends locally were present to help celebrate this happy time. He was marginally better behaved during the ceremony than his sister had been (but not by much). Mind you, in his case we subsequently found out why he was so upset as he displayed a nice crop of chickenpox the next day !!!

Later in March we had a family trip up to Edinburgh to help celebrate the marriage of good friends Liz & Mike. A wonderful time we had (albeit chilly). We were very pleased with the apartment we rented and the dynamic duo (T and O) were well behaved.

Congratulations !

April 2009

Another Easter, another Easter egg hunt ! Little T excelled at detecting hidden chocolate as usual :)

Oscar babbled his first recognisable word.... 'dad'. He also became much more interactive with his big sister, who finally realised there was more to him than just eating, sleeping, pooping & crying....





(click on the play symbol to watch video)

May 2009

May brought some nice weather, which was a good thing as we made the most of it in the garden. I had even jet-washed the patio in preparation for the summer.

For the first time ever, I have gone over to the dark side and swapped from my usual charcoal BBQ (which was infrequently used) to a new Weber gas grill. Wonderful piece of kit and much used in 2009.

After several yrs of refusal, we also managed to get Little T to agree to her first haircut. Naturally, once she was there she loved it and behaved as if this was a weekly event for her (no doubt facilitated by the free drink and biscuits on offer !!).

We also had the pleasure of the Annual Allnutt BBQ spectacular in Reading which is a yearly event when Mrs K/C/KC and I get to meet up with all our friends from uni (although now with children in tow) and chat about old times. None of us has really changed a bit ! Thanks again go to our wonderful hosts for putting up with us year in, year out.

June 2009

Early in June, we were all there to cheer on Mrs K/C/KC whilst running the Race For Life. She and a friend did very well and finishing much faster than expected (no pubs en route, eh ?). She managed to raise over £200 for the charity.

Little O also got his first tooth. No more gummy smiles from now on !!! Crawling was also a new skill he developed, which kept us on our toes.

At the end of the month we all headed back to Manistee, Michigan to see the family and enjoy the 4th July festivities (and fitting in a quick wine tasting trip). As well as enjoying spending time with our cousins in Muskegon, we were very excited to be able to see one of our favourite bands also - The Barenaked Ladies. For video footage click here.

Liz & Ben had their 2nd baby (Gemma) at the end of the month - congratulations !!!!

July 2009

After enjoying another 4th July in Manistee, we were all saddened to have to return home to the UK. However, the blow was softened somewhat when Little T managed to win herself a bike donated by Harrods at a local school summer fete !

Oscar clearly said the word 'mama', much to Mrs K/C/KC's delight (especially as it was 3 months ago that he said 'dad').

Our very good friends - the Callaghans came over to visit from California. We quickly caught up and it felt like only yesterday when they left the UK (it doesn't seem long ago that I had deep and meaningful conversations about the use of lettuce leaves and breast feeding !!!).

The children all got on well too.

Mrs K/C/KC sadly had to return to work after her maternity leave, at the end of the month. Partly sad, partly euphoric !

August 2009

Summer was here !
Weather was fairly good (although Mrs K/C/KC will always deny this fact and tell me that it was so much better back in Manistee when she grew up - not corroborated by our trips there, however).

Little T was helpful in the gardening department with eagerness to keep watering everything in sight...

Our friends Mary & Jim had their 2nd baby (Adam) - congratulations.

Mrs K/C/KC and I went to see U2 play at Wembley Stadium, with our good friends, the Bad Kamas. All was fantastic (especially the late night samosas) other than the overweight drunk fool falling on top of us from the row behind !!

Little T and her friends all met up for a summer lunch out a local pub (parents were allowed too!). After being pestered relentlessly by wasps, the only actual incident was when Little O developed a taste for dirt after falling face first off the end of a slide. All caught on camera too !

Being summer, Little T rediscovered her taste for iced coffees from various purveyors of fine beverages !

At the end of the month, we were delighted to welcome James and Mariana to our house to stay for a few days during their round-the-world adventures. It was great to meet Mariana and we hope to see them both again soon.

September 2009

The main event in September was Little O's 1st birthday. Who thought time would fly so quickly. There was an impromptu party for him (originally just a 'few' people) with a good turn out of friends / relatives / godparents.

The birthday boy seemed to enjoy himself immensely...

Grandma and Grandpa also came down to join in the fun and games !

October 2009

Little T reached the grand old age of 4 at the start of the month. As per her request, we went into London for the day and revisited the London Aquarium. Naturally, we then had to have sushi for lunch (again by her request) and introduced her best friend Little R to this delicacy !!! Also tasted some of the best ice cream ever. Still got home in time for cake, though....

Later on in the month, we all ventured over to the Isle Of Man to see Auntie Y and Uncle R, with cousins A & Z. What a blast ! There was plenty of fun, laughter, food, funny faces and karaoke (who can possibly forget that ? If you have, click here).

At the end of the month was the Halloween party at Sarah & Tony's house. Again many thanks must go to our hosts for putting on such a good night and putting up with us all. Little T won 'Best Pumpkin' prize and Little O 'Best Skeleton'.

November 2009

Early on in the month, Little T braved the local (quite impressively loud) firework display. She was a lot more comfortable with a sparkler outside the kitchen door, however.

We also welcomed Little R for a sleepover which was great fun and the two of them were surprisingly well behaved (both asleep by 8.30pm, can you believe !!).

Of course, the main highlight of November was Little O finding his footing and learning to walk. It was finally time to get him his own pair of shoes (having worn Little T's old ones initially). Of course, walking means more falling which consequently means more bruises, but that's a small price to pay.

At the end of the month, several members of the family were struck with a vomiting bug (luckily the medically qualified amongst us escaped and were able to nurse the rest). Carpet cleaner at the ready !

December 2009

After recovering from the vomiting bug, we managed to feel well enough to have a last minute trip to London to see the London Eye lit up and the festivities along the South Bank. Little T was very excited to have a go on the carousel (which I and Mrs K/C/KC can attest was rather fast)...

To celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary, I took Mrs K/C/KC to Dublin for a weekend of luxury and good food / wine. We managed to stay in a fantastic hotel and took in the sights (including Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse etc).

Unfortunately prior to the trip, we all fell to yet another bug (coughing, spluttering etc). This sadly worsened whilst we were in Dublin and Mrs K/C/KC was so ill she had to refuse a celebratory glass of 10 year old bubbly !!! (must be bad).

We are hoping that she will make a full recovery in time for Christmas.