Sparrow Lorelei and Robin Artemis photo gallery

Grandma and Trevor come to visit, July 2011

The kids are "helping" me get the house into people-staying-in-the-spare-room configuration. Robin's old enough now we don't need that room for him overnight, he rarely has more than one nappy change (if that) at night and he feeds strongly enough that I don't get out of bed anymore. So the spare room is back to being usable for visitors. Sparrow is that blurry bit rolling in the quilt covers in the top photo. She loves the excuse of big piles of bedding to jump on and roll in.

Grandma on the first morning, holding the little boy.

Sparrow really took a shine to Trevor this time. When they arrived in the evening she presented him with every toy she could find in the loungeroom for his assessment and comment. This is the next morning, and it's started all over again. Here is the rattle, and the love bear, and the bucket, and the "kolala"...

Trevor playing with Robin. Robin is as blank about there being new people in the house as Sparrow was as a baby.

Tacos for dinner. We're getting to try the new big table for an actual dinner with grownups sitting at the table. And Sparrow. We had several goes at this and finally decided we should always put Sparrow on the chair that has the mat under it.

One of the delights of Mum and Trevor's visit for me was getting to do a few things that I have trouble doing on my own. This is my first visit to the pool since Robin was born. Sparrow was delighted to go to the pool, she loves it. Robin tried the water briefly and was very upset by the experience - he's still a little too young. So it was nice to be able to let Grandma play with Sparrow in the water while I held the baby on the side away from all that horrible water stuff. Sparrow went running back and forth between us several times and eventually made such a wet track between the pool and my seat that she slipped over and sat down hard on the concrete. She was very unimpressed and a little sad about this. But as Mum and I both said to the lifeguard who came to check on her, it's not like she hadn't been told "no running" sixteen times in the previous four minutes.

Gloves! Nice to have something warm for her hands. Tricky to get on though - Mum said afterwards that she should have gotten mittens. Sparrow isn't quite able to get them on herself, and she's a bit too eager to have them on to let us put them on!

Grandma and Robin.

Trying out the Rocking Cow. Robin's biggest interest was in eating the mane.

Another special treat for me. Mum and Trevor had Sparrow for most of the day. So I got a morning to myself to play with Robin and to do stuff on my own (photos!) when he slept. And he slept for almost two hours, so I got lots done! Sparrow had great fun off at the playground with Trevor and walking and looking at birds with Mum. This was the day she told Mum "Jump, birds, wings" - or something like that. A very interesting sentence construction accompanied by actions.

Another special treat - that afternoon Mum stayed with Sparrow while she slept, and sent me and Robin off shopping on our own. Sparrow had been out of daycare for six weeks at this stage so not having her around felt quite strange. But it was the winter sales, and as Mum said if I needed more warm clothing this was my last chance to buy it. It was still freezing outside, but the stores were bringing in spaghetti-strap tops and other ridiculous things ready for spring. So Robin and I went shopping. I managed to cover six stores in an hour and a half, including four large department stores. He was reasonably patient, enjoyed feeling the jackets and other clothes that hung down within his reach, but did eventually give me the "All right, you can pick me up now" look.

Reading "Fidibus", one of Sparrow's current favourites. Fidibus can't remember his spell, so every time he tries to make a spell for a cat, he gets a different animal instead.

GoatBoy having a morning hug with Daddy before he goes to work.

GoatBoy having a serious conversation with Grandma over a cup of tea.

Robin loves standing. I think Mum was surprised at how much more upright he is compared to Sparrow at the same age, how much physically stronger. He was loving this game.

Trevor hanging up the nappies for me. There is chaos in the loungeroom, with many new books on the floor and various toys temporarily rearranged from the book room.

Quiet evening time - for everyone except Sparrow, who is running up and down the hall at speed. Robin is still trying to master keeping his feet in one place while he stands.

I bought a book of the paint-with-water pictures for Sparrow and Trevor to do together. It was moderately successful. Trevor was unimpressed at Sparrow's attempts to "share" doing his painting.

Playing "cricket" with a ball and a trowel. Sparrow brought Trevor the ball over and over again for him to bat across the room. He was happy to oblige!