There’s a couple of wee moments with the kids recently that I want to write down so that we can remember them in the future. That’s what blogs are for, after all…

Rachel was recently sharing some chips with Jake one evening. As they emptied the plate, one chip remained which Rachel zoomed in on. She recoiled in horror when she discovered it was covered with ketchup. Ever helpful, Jake picked up the chip, licked the sauce off, and passed it back to Rachel. There was only a flicker of hesitation and you could see her thinking ‘What the hell‘ before wolfing it down. Yuck. I’ll be reminding them of that when they’re teenagers!

Sometimes, as a parent, you wonder if the kids are really aware of what’s going on in your life. I recently got a bit of good news, and sat Rachel down to relay it to her. To my surprise, she gave me a big hug and a kiss and congratulated me. I was gobsmacked. Even more so when she talked Lisa into having a secret party for me to celebrate. Apparently she damned near invited half her class.

The sceptic in me thought it might be an opportunity for her to get a big wedge of chocolate cake, but she seemed to love the attention for doing something so nice.

Now Daniel. Wee Dan. Not so wee any more. That’s right, he’s at the charming age when he can climb out of his cot! Cue a stair gate on his bedroom door, and a swift move to a bed - no point in keeping the cot around. Since we’re making big changes, it’s time to take away the dummies as well I think. The bedtime routine has changed as a result - Dan goes to bed first, and when he’s settled Jake follows.

He’s waking quite early in the mornings at the moment, too. Before we go to bed, we swap the stair gate across to the top of the stairs. So when he wakes in the morning, he comes in and visits us. Hooray! 5:30am starts return!