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.

Walk the World 2008 - Windsor Park

Bilal, my good friend and colleague Susan Miller and I together embarked on a 5km walk in Great Windsor Park to support the World Food Program raising funds and awareness for the hungry of the world. It was a fun, rewarding day out for everyone and we also managed to raise monies for a very worthy cause.

A few statistics, worldwide, 471 SAP employees participated on this year’s Walk the World or showed their contribution through a donation to the World Food Program. By adding 10 Euros from SAP for each engaged employee, the final donation-result ended up by 16.812 Euros. I am glad that we were able to be able to contribute and be part of this effort.

The World Food Programme recently announced ‘hunger´s global hotspots’ and gives an overview of the hunger-related problems in specific countries. It also depicts WFP´s efforts to improve the situation against the background of the global increase in food and energy prices.

Kitchen Garden Mania

What can account for Britain's renewed love affair with the soil? Is this sudden grip of Kitchen Garden mania a global trend, I wonder. I personally believe the increased interest in home vegetable growing has something to do with our search for a better quality of life and reconnecting to nature. Apart from the simple formula that sunshine produces Vitamin D and Vitamin D counters depression, there is something immensely satisfying about the process of growing fruit and vegetables. Watching your seedlings grow evokes nurturing feelings and cradling an armful of homegrown veggies has some of the same elements of maternal pride - I am indeed very proud of my compact veg patch :-). So for those who know me well, you're probably sick of hearing my regular rants about supermarkets poor quality produce and excessive food miles. A very interesting survey revealed that one in every seven pounds in the UK is now spent at Tesco. There is no doubt that supermarkets are convenient, - but not as convenient as walking into the garden to harvest fresh vegetables whenever you want instead of purchasing overpriced hermetically sealed, refrigerated, bland food that supermarkets often provide. For me, growing a few vegetables feels like I am taking a defiant stand against the supermarket giants. I do try to grow my own veg and supplement with a locally grown organic veggie box which is delivered weekly to my home. I avoid buying any fruit and vegetables from supermarkets apart from Waitrose. This year I have grown peas, sweetcorn, watercress, baby salad leaves, swiss chard, spinach, tomatoes ( 5 varieties), rucola, strawberries, sweet peppers, beetroot and herbs ( chives, sage, basil, coriander, bay leaves, rosemary and mint) plus our huge pear tree .So this leads me to our little man - Bilal. Thought, I would to start teach him early about growing vegetables. Here he is proudly watering the tomato plants with his new mini watering can - such a quick learner and a great helper in the garden. If I may say so myself…;-) ...as always the ever proud Mama.

When our tribe met their tribe !!!

Well, what a fun packed weekend. I was reunited with my two best friends from University - Sonia and Rachael. To say we were inseparable in our heyday - would have been an understatement to say the least. Said and I hosted a bbq for all at our home in honor of my friend Sonia and her family (husband -Steve and their beautiful two children, Aaron and Priya). Rachel, Russ and their son Harvey joined in the party too.

It has been over five years since Sonia and Steve emigrated to New Zealand so it was absolutely wonderful to see everyone so settled with families. A far cry from our University days:-). Bilal had lots of fun playing with Harvey and especially enjoyed all his special gifts including an All Blacks beach towel and a rugby ball from his Uncle Steve ( a true NZ rugby fanatic).

First Steps....

My husband, Said and I have waited ever so patiently for this day to come. Each of us always asking the other “ I wonder when he will start to walk”. The day Bilal started to walk alone has at last arrived. Many of our friends warned us that a mobile toddler is hard work. I totally agree. Personally, I am exhausted after a day chasing him around. Nevertheless, it’s a true joy to watch him grow, gain independence. Our early feelings of trepidation are over, as are Bilal’s ;-). We are perpetually amazed at his growing sense of confidence as he toddles all over the place. Such fun to watch - I filmed hours of it! Here is our little guy in action – we’re so proud.

Entering the Blogger's Fray

Well, I have to thank my friend and wonderful colleague, Kellie Fishpaw for encouraging me to start a blog for my little son Bilal. I read her family blog often. It is a fab way to keep up to date with what her two boys, Jack and Scott have been up too. So here I am - blogging for the first time ever. I hope to use this blog to keep friends and family up-to-date with our little guy's adventures. More to come....