Anya and I play “Who has more teeth?” I think I win. Imagine the even greater degree of victory I’d have had if I hadn’t had a dental altercation with the metal bar of a seesaw as a kid.

I remember going over the handle, I remember my friend being worried I’d broken my glasses and I remember returning home and not giving Dad any clue as to what had happened before grinning wildly at him with my front teeth now missing two big half moons.

Good times.

Anya and Lily sort of standing up, with minimal leaning on the sofa and a lot of applause – from both themselves and their audience.

The girls have always had very strong legs and love to stand – which is great when you’re putting frilly-bottomed tights on them, but not so good when you’re trying to get them to bend their legs so you can sit them down. Propped up on the sofa, Anya had a wonderful time standing up, trying to catch Daddy’s tickly hand.

Anything close enough to be grabbed – which is a lot of stuff, as they have a surprising reach – still goes into the mouth for detailed inspection. Toys, paper, Mummy’s new apron, Aunty Doow’s hair, it all needs to be chewed.

The babies will fix you with a somewhat disconcerting stare from time to time if you’re doing something particularly interesting, such as … holding a mug, or sitting on the floor. It takes them a few minutes to get used to being in a new place, so when they arrived, they sat for a while on their parents’ knees and stared expressionlessly at those gathered before them who were trying to make them smile – and who eventually won.

Anya’s tongue spent a lot of time being poked out at people that afternoon.

The babies are getting a bit grabby now and sometimes this is a hilarious game of tug of war with gift ribbon and sometimes it’s a matter of just swiping whatever your sister is holding from her hands and chewing on it yourself.

As if to continue the twin theme, the girls seem to need something in each hand; one thing is rarely enough. So Lily made a racket with her new jingle sticks and Anya joined the percussion with the two maracas, occasionally getting a bit over-enthusiastic and nearly bopping Nanna on the head with them.

Last day, folks! It’s been another great week and thank you all for playing along. My Day 7 contribution is a joint John/Sarah effort, as John’s is today. John’s holding the camera and you’ll see me with its remote, which is many times the size of the one for my D80, crouching by the girls’ high chairs after dinner, talking to my nieces. Meanwhile Anya bites me with her two very sharp teeth and her sister and father do nothing to help me.

Today was day 3 of Christmas for us, with a visit from John, Sam and the babies. We all had a lot of fun and we’ve sent them home again with a variety of new noisy, shiny toys. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to doing very little and not wearing any degree of posh clothes. I might still wear my dangly snowman earrings though.

We are at my aunt and uncle’s today for Boxing Day … and of course, being my cousin, Russ is here too. The outside tree is beautifully covered in lights and so I went out to admire them and take my picture. Not long after I returned indoors, Dad noticed that a swathe of lights in the middle had gone out, but I was able to prove with my photos that they’d been fine when I’d left them! Uncle Terry soon fixed them though (and trod on the cat, but that wasn’t planned), so all is right with the world again. Phew. Even if Russ is currently heckling me for writing such a long description. But he’s wearing silly Homer Simpson slippers, so his words don’t hold much authority right now. If ever. Damn boy.

Today is not only birthday time for Ray and Nina, but also birthday part deux for me with a visit to John, Sam and the little bundles of squidge – who are really not so little any more, but are still very squidgy.

After a morning spent in my dressing gown (which I never do), I grabbed my things for us all to go and meet John and Sam at a pub for lunch. The shoulder bag I bought for the Salzburg trip has really proved useful, as now I can carry laptop and/or camera wherever I want without needing a rucksack. There’s just an image difference between a bag and a sack that pleases me.

In the month since I’d seen Lily (above) and Anya (below) in person they’ve both grown two bottom teeth each, which they might show you with a smile, but if you try and show someone else by pulling down their bottom lip they will simply cover their teeth with a poked-out tongue instead.

I had a bacon cheeseburger at the pub, with nice chips and coleslaw, Sam had turkey from the carvery, John a blue cheese burger, Dad gammon and eggs and Mum had salmon. While we ate, Anya and Lily variously chewed their plastic rings, rattly zebra and fabric books. Then when they were home again, the girls had the somewhat more calorific option of mashed up potato, sweet potato and broccoli – with broccoli florets as finger food to follow. I admired the gusto with which they chewed the heads off the broccoli (or just went the whole hog and swallowed the stalk too) and it turns out that the tiny flower heads that make up the florets are great for spreading around the fancy new high chairs as well as of course your own face, much to the amusement of your audience.

I don’t know about you, but I was mouthing eating just looking at this photo.

This is the thing though, audiences are a distraction. As exciting as Mummy offering dinner, or the TV playing “Sing and Sign” can be (so far I’ve picked up the signs for “lighthouse” and “rainbow”, which is a very practical start to my vocabulary), if you sit next to the girls you will get stared at. Big blues eyes will gaze intently at you, but if you smile or are sufficiently entertaining in another way, you will be rewarded with a big gummy smile.

And if you’re wondering why I called this post with such delicate little munchkins eating their dinner “Feeding time at the zoo”, have a listen to the standard soundtrack of their mealtime, as recorded by John on a different day. It’s roughly what our Come Dine With Me meals sound like.

Dear Anya, we promise not to all crowd round and watch every time you have a bath … but at the minute it’s too fun to miss. Love, Everyone.

The Rainforest Jumperoos have proven to be a big hit with Lily and Anya, with Lily above busting her moves for the camera – and having a lot to say for herself. Meanwhile at the other end of the sitting room, Anya was lounging quietly in her Jumperoo while Grandad amused himself with the various rattles and flashing lights. I’m thinking of replacing my office chair with one of these things.

As mentioned in my 7 Days post we spent a nice family day on Sunday with the bubbas, John, Sam and Aunty Ann and Uncle Terry.

Lily and Anya are still fabulous and are chewing and dribbling on everything they get their hands on, be it toys, muslins, their hands, your hands, or their Mummy’s chin. It’s so fun seeing little bits of progress in their development – things that you don’t give a moment’s consideration as an adult. They can now deliberately grab what they want and – perhaps most importantly of all – get it to their open mouths.

As well as being able to insert everything they find into their mouths, they can also sort of sit up, propped up between your legs. The best sight is the girls in their Bumbos, with the little tables in place so that they can get their paperwork done.

These days are just nice for the little random memories they create: Lily’s huge smile when I appeared beside her, Anya sticking her soggy hand into Uncle Terry’s ear, watching John and Sam doing exercises with the girls to nursery rhymes playing on the stereo, seeing Anya’s delighted attempts to try and empty her bath of all its water…

More photos of grownup family members and smushy-faced dribble monkeys in the
set on Flickr.