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As will always be the case, the year started with the birthday party on 2nd January for Stephanie and Charlotte. Just when we are starting to recover from the throes of Christmas festivities, the wrapping paper, food with E numbers and lots of noisy things, more start to arrive in the house all over again. A winter birthday means the fun has to be indoors, and thanks to the wonderful facility of Greenbank Sports Academy just a few minutes walk away, it is the perfect place to entertain some lively little ones on a winter afternoon.

Face painting, pass the parcel (with everyone a winner), hot party food and a bouncy castle and indoor romping area proved to be an excellent combination – and no washing up to do after! Parents could enjoy a (not so quiet) drink at the bar whilst the kids just let off steam before crashing out for bedtime. Both party girls had their faces painted – pictured here with their much loved childminder Joanne, Charlotte (left) as the fish Nemo and Stephanie as a princess – in pink of course.

Joanne is also a whiz with the camera – managing to catch the little monkeys looking at the camera at the same moment is no mean feat. Here are two lovely photos which she managed to snap around Christmas last year…(Charlotte on left in both)

Also in January they were able to go to their first live ballet – Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker - at the Philharmonic Hall with a visiting Russian corps. Surprised, but pleased, Mummy found herself staying for the whole performance with two little girls with wide open mouths!

We visited our dear friend Joan McLarnon at her home over Christmas, on a cold winter day when her coal fire proved too hot for the girls – who promptly stripped off every stitch and ran around Joan and her guest, Mary Riddoch, whilst we ate tea! Not something we have seen them do before – or allowed them to do since. Here are Stephanie and Joan pictured as “princesses”.

March brought a mixed bag of things – including Mummy going away for a week on tour to Spain with the RLPO, leaving Daddy at home with the princesses for a whole week. Talking on the phone each day updates included the most amazing amount of detail – including all the treats Daddy was feeding them whilst Mummy was away! Coming home from Spain, the snow arrived and we seized the rare chance to build a real snowman in Liverpool – Stephanie (left) and Charlotte were excited by the snow and, as with the cartoon film The Snowman, cried when it melted the next day. They also found wearing sunglasses in the bright snow stopped them squinting – hence their impersonation of the “Blues Sisters” in pink jackets below.

That same day Daddy had to go into hospital for another operation on this shoulder (this 4th time it worked!). Coming home the girls were so gentle and caring, Stephanie tried the sympathetic route of donning a sling like Daddy to make him feel “at home” and Charlotte grabbed the chance to dress up as a nurse. She also enjoys dressing up without any excuse – and when she found Mummy’s old green hat and coat (from the early 1960s!) she even got into those to pretend to be Mummy when she was “a little girl”.

The seasons are playing tricks and the unceasing fields of golden daffodils at the Marie Curie fields in Sefton Park came into bloom very early this year. Yellow is Charlotte’s favourite colour so she was in heaven amongst these particular flowers. Whoever had this brainwave for these fields was a genius, to raise funds in this way and produce enjoyment for so many city dwellers is simply brilliant.

When signs of Spring started to appear, Mother’s day brought two more lovely portraits taken by Joanne. Somehow, with their hair plaited, Stephanie and Charlotte look older than their 3 years.

It is easy to talk about “the girls” all the time, but they are really quite different people. We are trying to spend more time with them apart, doing different activities and giving them time to be heard without their sister interrupting. So here is a quick look at them separately.

STEPHANIE

Anyone who knows Steffi always says what loving, caring and thoughtful person she is. Always quick to defend her sister and friends (both parents have been admonished by her when we have had to shout at Charlie!). She adores giving cuddles and kisses, and often strokes your arm when she is talking to you. She loves her food, and only has to see a car seat at a distance to start catnapping, finding sleeping as easy as her Mum!

She was adamant about starting ballet lessons in February, but when corrected about walking on her toes without points, did not like being told off so was suddenly less keen. But not before she (and her sister) corrected the ballet teacher when she put on a CD saying it was Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake …..and both shouted “no it’s not, it’s Nutcracker!...”  (Quick exit left for pink-faced parents of know-it-all twins, who were absolutely right of course!).

She has since developed a keen interest in the violin, probably as a result of watching so many episodes of Playhouse Disney’s Little Einsteins.

When Charlie caught chicken pox first in May, Steffi was pleased to play nurse and look after her sister. Though when Mummy found her about to use Charlotte’s chest as a giant “dot-to-dot” picture, trying to join up the dots with a red felt tip, convinced that there was a picture in there somewhere, her “nursing” days were over!

CHARLOTTE

There is a simple reason why Charlie weighs 6lbs less than Steffi – because she does not sit still from the moment her eyes open in the morning, her mouth is rarely closed, and her brain is constantly working on a smart answer.

She does not like being smaller than her sister, and on one occasion really wanted to wear her sister’s pink sequined shoes. (Charlotte had chosen something else and was not denied the chance to have sequins). She had now decided she would get them – and announced to Mummy one day that Steffi’s shoes now fitted her. Knowing that she had walked around Southampton all the previous week in a size 6, Mummy found it hard to believe that she was now a size 8. When asked (like Cinderella) to put on the shoe, she did and it fitted perfectly. At this point, Mummy has bad conscience and gets handbag and credit card ready to go shoe shopping – when she paused to ask Charlotte to put on her old shoes. Indeed they did no longer fit. Just as they were about to leave for shoe shopping, Mummy looked Charlie in the eye and asked how many pairs of socks she had on. With a guilty coy look, Charlie put 3 fingers in the air! She nearly got away with it – what a cheeky monkey! (Can you see this streak in her through the photos below?)

Given a chance, Charlotte will always try to overtake in anything she does. She scoots around on her feet quicker than most, talks as fast as Mummy, and having been a late starter on the bike, is more carefree and a bigger risk-taker than her sister when it comes to riding fast around the park. She loves to chat to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen, and happily tells everyone all the family secrets!

She has a great sense of humour, teasing is second nature to her and when our friends Deb and Chris Tayler inadvertently left the big pram to roll into Greenbank lake (no-one was in it at the time), Charlie could not wait to get to get home to tell Mummy, and then called Grandparents to tell them on the phone as well as recounting the story to all her little friends too. She loves walking in the parks on Sundays and is seen below taking a rare breather leaning against an old tree trunk.

Their first sleepover friend arrived at Easter when Rebecca Bradley and her mum, Karen, came to stay for a few days. Poor Rebecca moaned that she could not get to sleep because of the talking twins – who thought it was very exciting to have a 3rd person sleeping in their bedroom.

When the weather permits we get out cycling on our bikes with the girls on the seats at the back – but the weight increases are making it harder each month for the parents to keep up with the Dangerfields on their bikes. Thankfully there is a useful watering hole called the Britannia Inn on the Mersey waterfront for weary, older cyclists to freshen up!

Both girls have been going to concerts and rehearsals since they were 5 weeks old, so it is not surprising that they feel at home wandering around the backstage of the Philharmonic Hall. They enjoy going to the Family concerts series at the Phil with the unique and lively Alasdair Malloy as presenter.  
At a recent concert given by the Merseyside Youth Orchestra (now Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra), when all the players dressed up in the concert’s theme of Bugs, there were special guests at the front of house. Lots of creepy crawlies and things that make Mummy run away were brought in to add a lively dimension to the concert. Stephanie and Charlotte both earned “We stroked a tarantula” and “I held a Millipede” stickers.

A week in Southampton was attractive because we had been before and knew plenty of places to visit. But this time is was even more special because our dear friend Sarah Burns had managed to arrange for the girls to have their first riding lesson. Steffi took to it as if she had always ridden a horse – her back straight but relaxed, her hips taking the movement of the horse trotting quite naturally and never for a moment looking the least bit nervous. Seeing both girls with large helmets, and animals far larger than they were, but thoroughly enjoying themselves for over an hour in the saddle was a fantastic sight. We cannot thank Sarah enough for having the foresight to know that they would love doing this so much. They have since watched themselves back on video many times with fond memories of that lovely day, ending with playing with Sarah’s dog Bramble.

The rest of the week included a return visit to clean and safe Durley Chine beach in Bournemouth, to Longdown Farm in the New Forest to feed the animals and collect eggs, and to exhaust themselves on the brilliant range of trampolines for anyone between 0-90!

Our Romanian friends, the Paraoans, are well settled in Liverpool now and their youngest son enjoyed his 5th birthday this summer with a bouncy castle party in their garden. The girls have a soft spot for Robert – and judging by the photo below, he has for them also!

Strange beasts appear in our house all the time (various clarinets including Bassets, broken clarinets and baby clarinets) but nothing like the Contrabass clarinet had been seen by Stephanie and Charlotte before its arrival in time for the 2006 Summer School. Taking it out for a breath of air, Andrew was soon surrounded by curious little people who wanted to know how it made such a “big” noise and vibrated so much!

Mummy’s old doll Patsy has been given a new lease of life and Charlotte seems to be mostly in charge as adoptive mother, changing her doll each day and putting her to bed each night. Patsy even has to come shopping in the double buggy sometimes (which can really cause people to look twice!) and is often seen strapped in her seat belt in the centre of the car backseats.

With the Summer School over, it was time to head off for a break. En route to France we stayed at the Rebecca’s house in Barnet and at this point the interest in the violin really began. They were fascinated by Rebecca’s cello (which is what Charlie wants to play). But both girls took the chance to have a go on the smaller instruments that Karen has in stock for her teaching.

Arriving in France after the crossing with Speedferries (we can recommend them for a fast 55 minutes cheap crossing!), there was a 2-day drive down to where we were staying in Foye. S&C were amused in the car by some new gadgets from Daddy, and loved being back in France where they could eat fresh croissants for breakfast (one morning Charlie ate 4!). The tree house in the garden was a dream for three and half year old girls. Adults were banned for the duration, and only the owner’s lovely dog Roxy was allowed anywhere near.

The weather was not great towards the middle of the first week so we decamped to the Redpath family home near Cognac for a night – only to end up staying 4 days! We all had such a wonderful time there that it was very hard to leave Tim, Claire, William, Ben and Tobie. The girls have consistently asked when they can go back, adoring Claire because she was so patient with them, and wanting to bring Tobie back home as a little brother! The last night there we were able to experience the incredible sight of 57 hot air balloons taking off just before sunset in Cognac. An unforgettable and spectacular sight.

Our dear friends, Peter and Ann Dangerfield, joined us for the last week of the stay in the Loire and we joined up with the Bradleys for a day out at the Zoo at Doué once again. The zoo never disappoints, and even the sceptics in the group were won over (taking a few hundred photographs to reinforce their enjoyment of the day). The photo of Steffi and Charlie here shows how much the enjoyed the day too, before heading back to the coast to go home. A last day on Calais beach before catching the ferry back was a good ending to the holiday, with the car making it home easily despite being loaded down with bottles of France’s best export!

Upon arrival back in Liverpool, there was just enough time to get ready for Grandad Billy Parr’s 80th birthday. Mummy threw herself into making a scrapbook (This is your life style) as a surprise, that
+ was given to him at the party (which he knew nothing about). Family, friends and neighbours pulled together to have a lovely afternoon at the Greenbank Sports Academy, with the children running around in the enclosed “magic forest” at the back whilst the adults enjoyed a drink outside in the sunshine.

Stephanie and Charlotte have already started nursery school and pack their little backpacks each day since they started on 13th September 2006. How did those early years pass by so quickly?

With love Stephanie, Charlotte, Sandra & Andrew