12 months old - HAPPY BIRTHDAY US!

Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday to uuuuuuuuuuusssssssssss
Happy Birthday to us

Yes - regular readers will realise that this month marks an historic occasion - we have graced you with our presence (not presents - see later) for a whole year, and man have we changed.

Only a year ago, Joe was the image of innocence, barely moving, barely speaking, in fact it was difficult not to smile and "coo-coo" him for just about anything...

A year on, M+D have calculated that they say "Joe, NO!" on average 4.3 times per day - which rises to 10.7 when he's in the lounge anywhere near Dad's Panasonic flatscreen (well the finger prints are a NIGHTMARE to get off).

Evie on the other hand, has [literally and metaphorically] been a handful all year!

Sigh - M+D remember fondly the first week of her life - she was sooo tiny, and it was difficult to get her to take a few ounces of milk, she was in an incubator the whole week - sleeping, quietly, motionless...



These days it's fair to say that you don't use the words quiet, sleeping or motionless - ever, really. M+D aren't sure where she gets her energy from, but it's not from Dad...

Aannnyway - we had an ACE birthday party at our local hall.

Mum's first invitation list was nearly 200 people (inc. offspring), but when she saw the look on Dad's face she immediately dropped it to 100 (Dad: which is clearly a much more reasonable number.......?)



There were balloons, toys, cake, music, speed dating and vodka jellies.

Best of all there was a 'tunnel'. Tunnels are great, you can hide in them for ages and watch Dad panic about where you are. Then you can look all cute for a photo, like these:

Oh, and did we mention cake? Here it is proudly made by the Mum of one of Mum's friends husband's (or something). One half was Victoria Sponge, the other CHOCOLATE!



Now, because we're twins, we decided to have 2 parties.

So on our actual birthday Great Nana Trudy had everyone (well immediate family actually, not the 100 that came to the hall - she hasn't got that many chairs. (but she has got that many fish balls.)) round to hers for tea and cake.

We LOVE tea. Especially when it's served out of one of Great Nana Trudy's best china cups.

(and before you ask, it's very very very weak, and very very very milky - but it's still WAY better than aptimil!).





And finally our presents:

We got a ridiculous amount of presents, even though M+D specifically asked everyone not to buy them (are they MAD?!).

What they did do was set up a charity page for Evie with CLAPA (Cleft Lip And Palate Association) and suggest that if people wanted to buy something, a donation to the charity that is helping Evie would be the best present she could get (except diamonds, naturally).

https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/eviejackson

We are still amazed at everyone's generosity. So far we have raised over £440 - THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

However, much as we are altruistic philanthropists, the actual presents were way better, of which special thanks go to Great Nana Trudy, who bought us these amazing 'Cars':



Undoubtedly the finest feature of which is their ability to leave pink and blue marks all over the walls, to remind us where we've been.

Marvellous, says Dad.

And in the best spirit of predictable childishness, Evie quite rightly spent most of the day in the box:



ROLL ON YEAR 2!