Distinguished Company

Emma + chocolate yoghurt = ..........

Michael colouring in

Emma with Sarah (Charlie's mum) on the bouncy castle at the Alloa Ward Fete

Charlie and Michael on the bouncy castle

Kathryn and Lili at loch lomond

Emma turning on the charm

Michael and I playing mariokart. When I saw the photo, I said to Sarah I looked particularly tired that day. She reassured me that that's how I look all the time. She's like a constant source of reassurance!

Michael goes for a smile

Emma + Ice Cream = ..........

I haven't blogged anything recently, but it's not been due to a lack of activity on the black front. We've been very busy.

Sarah had the chance to go to a reception with her dad in Edinburgh. She got the chance to meet Prince Charles and Camilla. I think that once she got over the logistics of getting there, she had a great time. Camilla mentioned that her daughter had children similar to Michael and Emma's ages. She probably neglected to mention that her daughter probably has a nanny to help look after them. Sarah also got to meet Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland. Michael and Emma got dropped off at Granny and Granddad Black's, where they were reasonably well behaved. Emma really enjoyed eating lots of chips at McDonalds anyway. I tried to explain to Michael the next day that mummy had met some important and famous people the night before. Michael thought I was talking about Granny and Granddad Black.

Emma's starting to be a little more interactive in her talking. She can make the noises of the following animals

• monkey
• dog
• cat
• lion
• snake
• giraffe
• crocodile
• elephant
• frog
• cow
• sheep

She really loves reading books, and for once will willingly go to me from Sarah when reading a book is involved.

Michael had the chance to go to the big school with Sarah last week. He's really excited about it, and came home wearing his uniform. He's going to be in a class with most of his nursery group, so he'll hopefully feel at home there. It all seems a little too soon for me. I can't believe he'll be going to school after the summer holidays.

Emma's managed to disgust me twice over the past couple of weeks. The first time was when she came in from the garden holding something in her hand that I thought was a bit of food, but it turned out to be a live slug. I don't know if she'd tried to eat it, but most things she holds like that end getting tasted. The second time was when she got her hands on a dirty nappy left at the front door, and managed to spread the poo all over our corridor, doormat and her foot. It was disgusting. The area has been thoroughly decontaminated since, and we're trying to be a little more vigilant about not letting used nappies languish at the front door.

Emma also managed to lose our only key for the car last week. Sarah and I spent about 45 minutes looking for it in the morning to no avail. Sarah grew more and more sure over the course of looking that she'd seen Emma with it the night before, and as she was leaving for nursery, said that she'd seen Emma trying to open the front door with it. I had a look around the front door, and finally found the key underneath the radiator.

Lili and Kathryn came over to stay with us for a couple of days last week. It was nice to have visitors. Michael was happy to have some people to show off too, and managed a couple of games of mariokart with them. Emma wasn't so sure, and would start crying when Lili got in the back of the car, or when Sarah would leave the room leaving Emma with the girls. Michael was like that as well I remember though. Hopefully Emma will grow out of it soon.

Grandma and Granddad Adam were down last weekend with Baxter. Baxter seemed to like Emma, probably because he'd spotted that she almost always has food in her hands, and could easily be coaxed out of it. Baxter and I have always had a strained relationship. This wasn't helped by him peeing on my couch over the weekend. Michael and Emma seem to like him though, and I'm very keen that they don't wholly inherit the Black side of the family's disdain for all things canine. They're not getting one though. Ever!