Rain Stops Play...

It's been a bit of a rainy day here in Miami. So there's only been on thing for it....... Shopping!

Charlie the Dolphin

Continuing our series of baby transportation devices, here's a picture of Charlie going for a ride in a plastic dolphin. The reason why it's a dolphin? Well, we took a trip to the Miami Seaquarium this afternoon.

I'm sure this place was wonderful in the sixties or seventies, but now, it's looking a bit tired and run down - and certainly not worth the $38 (£21) per adult entrance fee. We only spent an hour there. Still, Charlie enjoyed his dolphin!

SoBe Babies

We went on a trip to South Beach, Miami today. Well, if we're honest, we were actually on our way to Parrot Jungle Island but got lost so ended up stopping on South Beach for lunch. Here's some pics of the boys tucking in to some Macaroni Cheese - or as they refer to it here, Mac 'n' Cheese.

Theo the friendly Ghost

We're obviously making sure that the guys are fully covered in sun cream (factor 50!) and have a morning routine which involves nappy change, top and tail wash, full sun cream coverage, then clothes.

Here's Theo post sun cream stage. You may also notice the piece of cotton wool on his chin, a left-over from the previous 'top and tail' wash phase... :-)

Stand up if your name is Theo!

Yesterday, the boys were in the Prison.. er, sorry Playpen (!) down by the pool, when we noticed that Theo was standing up without holding onto the side! He hasn't repeated the feat again but it's a good start!

Dinner at Tony's

We had dinner with the boys at Tony Roma's this evening. Ribs all round! (well, for Clair and I - the boys had macaroni cheese!)

A couple more from the pool...

Not Just in Cartoons!

I never believed hats like these actually existed until I saw this. It was even spinning round in the wind!

Team Burchell at the Zoo

We went on a trip to the Miami Metro Zoo today. Here are a few pics from the day out...

Charlie at 10½ Months

A couple of pictures of Charlie taken whilst Theo was still asleep one lunchtime...

Garlic Breath

One of the things we've enjoyed most on this holiday is having the boys eating with us at dinner time. Something we haven't done yet on a regular basis at home.

Up until today, we'd always taken jars of food out with us to feed them before ordering our food from the menu. This evening though, was the first time we actually ordered something for them from the menu!

We ordered spaghetti in a tomato sauce (unseasoned of course), chopped the spaghetti up nice and small and they absolutely loved it!

One thing we didn't enjoy though was their subsequent garlic breath. Not something we've previously experienced!

Playground Fun

Here's the boys and us on a ride at a playground just along the boardwalk from our apartment.

Cooling Off in the Pool

It's about 90 degress out here at the moment. So a dip in the pool is very welcome...

Florida Penitentiary

The one thing we really miss from home is the playpen - somewhere we can put the boys for five minutes where we know they'll be safe and can't crawl everywhere. Our own home has, understandably been made baby friendly however, with tiled floors out here, we needed something. So, a quick visit to Toys R Us, and problem solved. In fact, this playpen has been so useful, we're probably going to bring it back with us for the garden!

Here's Theo showing us exactly what he thinks of the playpen...



....and here they are waiting patiently for breakfast this morning...



...and another serious face from Theo...

Ooooh Look Twins!

When we're at home, we get a lot of comments from people when we're out and about. Things like 'Oh twins! How lovely!' or 'Blimey, you've got your hands full' or 'Double trouble!' or 'two for the price of one!' or 'get it over a done with in one go!' - the list goes on and on but they're the most common.

Over here in the US, we're getting ten times the comments. Everyone wants to stop us and say hello to the boys - which is really nice. We wouldn't want it any other way.

Lunch in the Rainforest

We took a trip to Rainforest Cafe for lunch today. American portion sizes meant that we ordered one starter and one main course to share. MORE than enough to fill our delicate English tummies!

Strollin' Round The Mall

Too much shopping would take its toll on any 10½ month old baby. With two, it's obviously double the trouble. So, we now understand why most malls have these cool baby carts! Here's a selection of pictures of the boys in these wonderful devices.

They keep them quiet long enough for us to snap up a few more bargains!

Here's Mummy with Theo...


After a swap over, here's Daddy with Charlie....


Make Way! Make Way! Team Burchell coming through!


Theo on his own - you might need a push there, mate...


A rather obvious warning methinks...

Holiday High Chair High Jinx

Here are the boys enjoying themselves in their fancy ($20 each) high chairs from Ikea. Yes, that Scandinavian retailer of cut price homewares has even taken over the good old U. S. of A!

We looked into hiring two high chairs for the holiday but it would have cost TWICE as much as these did. Looking at their smiles, I think we made the right choice. We just won't be bringing them home on the plane!

The Family and the Dodge

Outside Aventura Mall (yes, more shopping). Although, had we not been in holiday mode and forgotten what day it was, we probably wouldn't have chosen to go on a Saturday. :-(

Ham and Eggs?

Any idea what they sell here? I hope they also sell chips and beans, then you'd have all you need for a well balanced meal...

Cheesecake Factory for Lunch

We went to The Cheesecake Factory at Sawgrass Mills for lunch today.

As you can see the boys enjoyed a nice healthy plate of steamed broccoli, whilst we munched on burgers and fries. Oh well, they'll be able to make their own dietary choices when they grow up!

The Dodge

Here's our rental car for the trip. It's HUGE!

Immigration Concentration!

US Authorities are notorious for their attention to detail when reviewing your immigration forms. Get any part of them wrong and they'll send you to the back of the (inevitably long) queue to fill in the forms again.

Here's me deep in concentration trying to ensure that all of our forms were accurate.

Fast Asleep at 35,000 Feet

Here's Theo grabbing some shut eye about 6 hours into the flight. How cute is this!

Hold My Hand!

Who's that walking there? Why, it's Theo!

Admittedly, we've got a firm grip on each of his hands but he's definitely learnt to put one foot in front of the other and walk along.

Judging by the smile on his face, he's absolutely loving the freedom!

04:30

Not a time of the day that we particularly enjoy seeing (unless it happens to be after an all night party - and those day are LONG gone!) however, Theo and Charlie do seem quite keen on saying 'good morning' to us around this time.

Now, if they had woken early like this a few months ago, we would have been able to get them back off to sleep fairly easily and their crying wouldn't have disturbed the other. Different story now though. Not sure whether it's an increasingly active brain, teething, the ability to move around more or what, but there have been several occassions in the last two weeks that 04:30 has been our wake up call!

By the time you get to 7am, having been awake for 2½ hours, the day ahead all of a sudden seems very long....

The Toothy Peg League Table... Charlie 5 - Theo 4

Charlie has overtaken Theo (we must stop comparing them!) in the teeth stakes.

Not only have they both got their middle two top and bottom teeth but Charlie is sprouting one of the top ones alongside!

Clap Clap Clap!

No longer content with just waving, Theo has now decided to get all clever and has learnt to clap his hands together. He even partakes in the odd 'High Five!' or two!

Lunch with the Burchells

A quick pic of us on a coffee shop stop-off to feed the boys last Sunday lunchtime. Note the double buggy, change bag, high chairs and associated essential paraphernalia. What you can't see is the table full pots of baby food but completely devoid of anything bought from this café! It's much easier to feed the boys first, then order for us once their satisfied. Saves our coffee from going cold...

Hello! Bye Bye!

Over the last few weeks both Theo and Charlie have started to wave at us.

Charlie was first with a 'open and close' of the fingers type wave and then a week or so later, Theo started to carry out a very regal looking wave from the wrist!

Now, we can't stop them waving - whether laughing, crying, feeding, falling off to sleep - whatever the activity, they'll be waving!

Beep Beep! Out The Way!!!

How much fun does this look!

You're meant to be in it, not under it!

Theo's new hiding place...

Stand Up Charlie!

Although Theo has been standing aided for a few weeks now, Charlie is now on his way too. He's able to get himself up onto his knees, but unless you give him a helping pull, full verticalness is still outside of his grasp.

Not long now though boy!

Ironing Theo

We intend to start them doing chores from an early age. Here's Theo earning this weeks pocket money by ironing the erm... floor?

Reading With Auntie

Follow Me!

It's great seeing the boys grow and change - we see new things in them almost daily.

One of the funniest things we've noticed recently is Theo trying to get Charlie to chase him around the living room. Theo sets off, gets a few paces ahead and then turns to look over his shoulder to see if Charlie is chasing him. Now, Charlie is nowhere near as fast at crawling as Theo is, but he takes the bait and sets off after him - at which point Theo laughs his head off and moves on another few crawl lengths. The cycle then repeats.

It's absolutely hilarious to watch. I'll see if I can capture some video of it....

Portly Panda Cupcakes

The boys are members of the Portly Panda Club - a kids club set up by the Portland Hospital. You get birthday cards, newsletters etc. (but in all honesty though, it's just a load of marketing nonsense to keep you hooked in long after you've been discharged from the hospital!). The boys had their latest magazine in this morning's post and this was in it.

Remember when you were young and you used to sit with your Mum and make Butterfly cakes? Well, it seems that actually making the cakes is FAR too much effort these days....



READY MADE Cupcakes....! Surely making them is half the fun! Licking the remains of the mixture from the bowl, waiting for them to cool down etc...

What is the world coming too.....