Halloween Fun

Vicki and Amelia hosted a wonderful Haloween tea party for all the little ones and their mummies. A glorious time was had by all. I for one have never laughed so hard at what had to be the most funniest group photo call ever. Mums tried to retain some order but the children refused to co-operate, later collectively crying to be picked up. Oh well --- we tried our best. Below, my friend Claire succesfully captured a few collective shots..sorta.

A day at the farm

Bilal recognises an awful lot of animals in pictures and proudly makes their corresponding sounds, cow -moo, duck -quack, pig-oink, sheep-baa and so on. When his Daddy and I took him to our local children's farm for an afternoon visit - he absolutely loved seeing the animals in real life. Making the appropriate noises to greet each animal he recognised from his picture books. He was not afraid to touch them at all and most of all was extremly well behaved throughout our entire trip. Oh! apart from pulling on the poor sheep's ear.

Bilal's got the giggles

This clip is so cute. Bilal seems to fall into fits of laughter whenever he hears a particular melody on his little Vtech ABC ladybug toy. A short lived fad but Daddy and I certainly could not help but join in this time around.

Little Pals

Bilal and his pal Nicky - hanging out at Nicky's 1st birthday party and at a friend's place. The baby pals love to play together. Here Bilal is pictured having a well deserved rest - whilst Nicky keeps on the look out for pesky parents. Bless them. So cute.

Reaching new heights

Bilal can now independently climb his slide in our garden . He was delighted with this accomplishment; as clearly demonstrated by his ear-to-ear grin. We are are continually amazed about his ability to quickly grasp new skills and more importantly his determination to succeed at everything he tries to do; even at first he fails. He just gets right back up and tries again - no fussing. A lesson to us all.

First ever family road trip

So, we survived our first ever family roadtrip to see our wonderful friends Lucia and Oliver in Switzerland over the Easter holidays. Here they are pictured with Bilal. This is how seriously behind I am with my blog posts.


Despite the 9hr drive we had a great time, we stopped in Epernay, France on the way down - staying the night in a gorgeous chateaux - Le Chateau d 'Etoges . The staff were so welcoming and incredibly helpful with the little one. We even managed to enjoy a delicious five course meal in their Michelin star restaurant - all with Bilal in tow. This would never have been permitted in an upscale London restaurant. I often feel - we British are not so accomodating or as tolerant towards children.

Le Chateau d 'Etoges at night.

A nice family pic in the swiss alps - Bilal disliked touching the cold snow. He even cried. Don't think he will be much of a skier if this continues to be the case.

Bilal the Book Worm

Well, it is a fact. Our 16 mth old son is a book worm. He LOVES books. In fact one of the first words he ever uttered was "Booka" which means book to you and I ;-). We practically have to carry a library around everywhere we go - no joke. He will happily sit and read alone or better still enjoy being read too. He loves turning the pages himself - looking and concentrating hard on each and every picture. I often wonder what is going on in his little head. I wonder if he recognises the images from his day to day life experiences....well, I guess it will not be too long before he starts reading out loud himself. We are thrilled he loves books at such an early stage and I sincerely hope this carries on throughout his life.