We were all invited over for a Bank Holiday dinner at Milly's house which was a real treat. James and Milly both scoffed their dinner down and had great fun playing together.

As they often do in Nursery, Milly and James give each other a goodbye cuddle before leaving!

With a much less drawn out labour but almost a very dramatic arrival, with baby almost arriving in the hospital lift, our perfect baby daughter made her way into the world at 3pm weighing in at 7lb 4½oz. The delivery stage was officially timed at 1 minute!!!

Still in the delivery room, here a very proud and super Mummy has one of her first cuddles with Thomas jr.

Daddy went home and picked up James, whilst Mummy and baby stayed in hospital with Granny. Baby took well to her first feeds and was soon fast asleep after her quick entry to the world.

After a tough sleepless night for the girls, Mummy managed to get a few pictures of baby on her first morning on planet Earth!

It's amazing how small babies are when they first pop out. It always amazes us that they fit into a washing up bowl for the first few weeks!

James and Daddy had a nice evening together and talked about going to see Mummy and baby the following day. James was very excited and wanted to dress up ready for his trip to the hospital!

As everything was such a rush the previous day, Daddy hadn't had a chance for a cuddle and soon made up for that once at the hospital!

While Daddy had his first cuddle, James kept his distance with Granny, piecing together what he could see. Soon he wanted to meet baby and got his chance straight away.

Baby was very good despite all the commotion going on in the room with James wanting to play, once the initial novelty had worn off!

James was very gentle and here he carefully puts out his hand to touch baby for the first time.

Our first picture of the four of us together. Yes, Mummy does look very tired here but it was all so worth it!

Baby drifted in and out of sleep while we were there and had a quick snooze while we got ourselves ready to come home.

We left hospital into some warm spring sunshine and baby was happily asleep in the carseat, not at all bothered by the bright light.

All the journey home, James kept looking across at his baby sister and he continued to want to "See baby" once we were home. Even if that meant lifting him up to the table to see where we'd put her while she carried on sleeping!

While Mummy enjoyed her home comforts with a nice warm bath, Daddy looked after baby, bringing back memories and tricks from two years ago!

James was very attentive all day and wanted to be involved at all times. He was very good and gentle with his cuddles!

Feeling so much better than last time with the shorter labour and less protracted delivery, it was great to have Mummy up, dressed and feeling human just one day after baby was born!

One proud Mummy, one loving son and one wonderful baby daughter!

After an action packed day, with Daddy going to the NCT sale, Auntie Alison coming round to take James to the park and Mummy and baby getting to grips with establishing a routine, James has a chance to try out one of Daddy's purchases at the sale!

Needless to say James was more than pleased with his new box of cars and here he displays them all in a nice long line!

James continued to be wonderfully accommodating towards his sister and before bedtime wanted to give her a goodnight cuddle!

Scarily enough for Mummy & Daddy we have two beautiful children under two for a few days. Who'd have thought that a few years back?!!!

After patiently waiting their turn, Grandpa and GranGran come over to visit and have their first cuddles with Sophie.

Proud as punch, Grandpa admires his first Granddaughter!

GranGran gets a cuddle too and baby has a good look with those big eyes of hers!

In the way little babies do so well, her unblinking stare is fixed on GranGran!

I think our latest addition passes the test!

While James watches a bit of Thomas with Grandpa, baby has found a nice comfy spot to sleep on GranGran's knees.

A couple of days before James' birthday, Grandpa & GranGran give James his birthday present. He seems quite excited to be getting it!

James often says to us "Look at that James" when he sees something special and this was no exception! James immediately falls in love with his new farm!

Everyone's happy here! Grandpa & GranGran are enjoying their time with the junior Thomases while baby sleeps and James plays with his new farm.

We've realised that both baby and James, when he was this age, look very similar so Daddy wanted to take a picture that mirrored one taken of James two years ago. Spooky similarities!

Daddy and James headed off to soft play for the morning to give Mummy and baby some extra sleep time. James loves it there and soon set about running through the tunnel. Fortunately, Daddy was there with a camera as usual to catch the action!

Star attraction at soft play is the bouncy castle, and when it's not too busy with bigger children, James takes his opportunity and goes for some bouncing!

Bouncing is all well and good but "Big Bounce" is the pinnacle. Here we have James mid Big Bounce!

After much parental deliberation we finally settle on Sophie as our daughters name!

Grandma comes down for a visit and is overjoyed to have first her cuddle with the newly named Sophie.

After her first 4 days, Sophie is sleeping well so far and crashes out in her chair, even if it is on the dining table!

Once Sophie has woken up again she's quickly picked up by Grandma, looking for any opportunity for another cuddle!

Needless to say James was very excited waking up this morning. He'd been saying James' birthday for days beforehand and was eager to start opening his presents straight away!

It was a struggle to get James ready with all the excitement, especially as James had received badges on his birthday cards!

James has to tell Sophie that it's his birthday before he heads off to nursery. It doesn't really matter that she's asleep!

After telling everyone in nursery that it was his birthday, James discovers another new toy to play with while Grandma and Big Rog share the fun.

Grandma was certainly chief baby cuddler for the day and Sophie certainly took a shine to her.

Sophie drifted in and out of sleep in Grandmas arms for most of the afternoon!

In fact the only time that she didn't look quite so content was when Daddy kept pointing that flashing box at her all the time!

Once James was back from nursery, it was time to open all the other presents we didn't have time for in the morning.

With so many new toys to take in, it was a little confusing for James to know which ones to play with first!

The track proved to be a big success and James was really excited to start playing with it!

Grandma shows James where the helicopter pad is on his new toy and James has to tell his Mummy that he has got a new helicopter to play with!

This is what birthdays are all about! One very happy little chap shares his joy with us all!

Opening another present, James unwraps his new Thomas the Tank Engine apron with Grandma!

Having opened a golf set given to him by Grandma and Big Rog, James immediately wants to head out into the garden to play with it.

James grabs a golf club and starts to figure out how to play this new game!

Life some Arthurian character, James looks for inspiration from the skies, seeking extra power for his golf shots!

Speaking from a golfers point of view, there may be a little too much right hand in this golf grip but we've all got to start somewhere!

James seems to get just as much enjoyment from tidying up the golf set and taking it for walks as he does from playing golf!

All the while as James opens all his pressies, Sophie kept on snoozing!

Another new present for James was this great little chair for him to sit alongside Mummy and Daddy in the living room!

No birthday would be complete without a nice birthday cake and today was no exception!

James was very impressed with his caterpillar cake and just as taken with the candles. We eventually had to light them and blow them out three times!

And the best was yet to come as once the candles were finally blown out, it was time to sample the cake!

Sophie will sleep almost anywhere we put her and being plonked in the middle of a great big bed is obviously a great place to snooze, even if you do pretend to have squirrel paws while you sleep!

Having recovered much quicker from the birth of Sophie, Mummy felt more than ready to show Sophie off to her work colleagues and just a week after emerging into the world, Sophie was off to her first social engagement!

Only being a little scrap does have its benefits. It means we can bath Sophie in the smallest of containers even if she isn't too keen on the bath bit!

Julie and Milly popped over to say hello and to meet our new arrival and was soon swamped by little 'uns!

After the initial novelty of meeting Sophie had passed, Milly soon joined James in one of his favourite pastimes!

Needless to say the noise level rose to match the fun level!

Once the bouncing game had come to an end, so began another favourite. Chasing round the kitchen loop is always a great way to play!

There is only one known thing in the entire universe that can stop two 2 year olds in their tracks, reducing them to silence...

Our two best friends, tuck into their caterpillar cake and all is good with the world! The fact that they both sat down there and then with no prompting was purely their own doing, or was it the sight of the chocolate cake?!

Milly spots the tractor on James' plate and points it out, or is it a bit of chocolate that she has her eye on?!!

After munching most of their cake, James' Daddy asked for a cheeky smile and got this wonderful response. Happiness is...!!!

With lots of visitors turning up from the South Coast, James found himself unwrapping yet more pressies! Here he opens a lawnmower from Auntie Jo, Joshie and Alisha.

Even though they are six months apart, they are both roughly the same height but James is much slighter. James is just like his Daddy was!

Even though she's only 10 days old, when Sophie is awake she's very aware of what's going on around her. Having great big eyes like those will do that though!

All the energy that goes into having great big open eyes is very tiring!

James also received a present from Sophie which proved to be a great success. James loves this pushchair and gives many of his toys rides around the house - he always makes sure the seat belt is fastened for a safe ride!

With Mummy cooking some dinner, Daddy was left in charge of the little ones and with Iggle Piggle to help out on the TV, he enjoyed a nice long cuddle with both little Thomases!

James' old bouncy chair has been adopted by Sophie and proves to be very successful in both entertaining Sophie with the toys and as somewhere else to sleep.

Auntie Catherine and Uncle Andy popped over to say their first hello to Sophie.

Sophie seems very content cuddling her Auntie and is that the foundation of a smile - or is it wind?!!!

Yet another birthday present arrived for James with Auntie Catherine and James loves his new computer!

Daddys paternity leave had come to an end so Granny had come to cover Em's first days managing on her own. Surely it was just an excuse to come down and have some more cuddles?!

James loves throwing his ball up in the sky and the anticipation is just as good as the execution!

I don't know, you put her down for one minute and she's fast asleep! This time on the bathroom floor!

This time Sophie has found a much better place to sleep. Snuggled up on Mummys shoulder after a good feed!

Being ever the chatty little lad he is, James quizzes his Daddy about what he can see up in the skies.