17/52

Maggie: I compiled the first 16 weeks of photos into a collage and we were struck by the range of expressions Maggie uses! This week she has suddenly discovered talking; she doesn't make a lot of sense but she is definitely trying to tell us, her sister or the dogs something.
Elisabeth: We made the decision to move Elisabeth's cot into their room this week, despite this coinciding with a head cold, she has coped pretty well, and we think she is sleeping better without the disturbance of Maggie's crying. Last night she started walking around just before dinner, I suspect she could have done it for some time, but she wanted it to be perfect. She carefully steps along, rebalancing as she goes. Maggie cheered and laughed from the sidelines.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 portrait project at her blog Practising Simplicity.

Although we had the week off, after the girls came down with the head cold on Wednesday (and then me on Thursday night), we've been laying low. They have so far coped quite well.  Head colds always scare me a little, I listen to their breathing at night for any sign of difficulty, but so far there has been none.

16/52

I couldn't help myself, the girls have been reading a board book about Easter for weeks. Their favourite page was of foil covered easter eggs. So this morning, the Easter Bunny left them a basket of eggs each. They were super excited and spent the next five minutes picking them up and popping them in their mouths (still in their foil) then dropping them on the floor. It was worth it just to see their excitement. They did get one small egg each, the rest were hidden away quickly.

Maggie: the look of surprise! 
Elisabeth: trying desperately to take the foil off.

Joining in with Jodi for her 52 portrait project.

Happy Easter.

15/52

Maggie: After a day of rain on Friday, and some outings over the weekend, we came back to the hut to relax this afternoon. It was sunny and warm, so we pulled the play pen out onto the terrace and added some foam matting for comfort. The girls had a lovely time eating fruit and playing out in the open. Despite her serious expression in this photo, they were having a great time!
Elisabeth: This week has been exciting to see her understand so many words, apart from the usual pointing to Mama, Papa, Maggie, Big dog, little dog, she has added ears, nose, eyes and flowers to her list. I love seeing them in these pixie crochet tops my aunt made them, I love watching her smile at her sister, and watching them kiss and cuddle each other is just about my favourite thing ever.

Joining in with Jodi at her blog Practising Simplicity.

14/52

Maggie: I think they are finally getting used to the DSLR camera, so when I pull it out they don't act terrified. She was obviously tired out from her standing up practise (in the last week she worked out how to stand up from a squat without holding onto anything) and plonked herself down against the wall with her baby biscuit for a rest.  
Elisabeth: With the change back out of daylight savings the light coming in through the end window of the hut at the end of the day is earlier. It hit the wooden floor and lit up the girls hair. Elisabeth was multi-tasking pushing the toy stroller and eating, and it is possible she was also dancing.

Life is busy. The girls are busy little girls. I try not to over think the weekly portraits too much. I try to keep the photo shoot brief, perhaps 15 minutes maximum. It is still practise for me as I play with the manual settings for exposure, aperture, white balance, whilst chasing them around the room and trying to compose a photo. I still use auto focus as it's so much faster than I could be with the girls moving about, but I still try and aim for their eyes. I am slowly starting to develop the photos myself in Lightroom. I try not to dress them up, but prefer if they are clean-ish. I try to just capture them doing everyday activities. I hope that apart from the two images I share on the blog (I think I took about 200 yesterday) I capture a snapshot of their personalities and what they are up to at that point in their development. I hope one day they appreciate the portfolio of images as much as Rob and I do now.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 portrait project at Practising Simplicity.