De Silva Family Blog

Leo's first night alone wasn't so bad after all. He woke up a few times during the night, but it was certainly better than his recent performances. It's my birthday today and Leo spent all night making me my first birthday present of the day, a large pooey nappy, which he was very pleased to give me at 5:30am! I also received an ipod (so that I can be a cool dad and catch up with the rest of the World), various accessories for it, some cash and some lovely birthday cards - thanks all! Leo actually made his own birthday card with lots of red finger paint! I saw the remnants of his craft session a few days ago - it looked like a crime scene! We spent the day in St Albans which turned out to be a lovely place - I can't believe I've never been before. We had lunch (and afternoon tea) at The Waffle House , situated within a 16th century watermill on the River Ver. It was followed by a lovely walk through the park beside the lakes and up to the amazing cathedr

Leo hasn't been sleeping well recently and last night was particularly bad. Poor Mummy was at her wit's end (she doesn't do too well with a lack of sleep)! So after her having a chat with the NCT girls, we thought we'd try moving him to his own room. I've been resisting the idea for a while as the thought of my little son abandoned and crying in a dark room on the other side of the house breaks my heart. Nevertheless, we've got to try and fix the problem, so I'll get over my irrational feelings and we'll give it a go for a few nights. I think he knows something is up as he's been especially happy and smiley today - almost as if he's trying to say sorry. Well too late Leo. You've made your bed (or rather I have), now lie in it! I've just finished moving the cot into the nursery and now our bedroom looks empty. Well, fingers crossed...

Things have been so busy at work recently and I've been dying for a break and a chance to spend some more time with Leo. Finally that day has come and I've got ten days of holiday - known as "Daddy Days" to Leo. I'm not sure its going to be very a relaxing time, but as they say, "A change is as good as a rest".

We thought Leo might be a little young for the baby led weaning, so we've started him on the traditional mush - baby rice. He's not too keen on it, but once we started mixing it with sweet potato, banana and the like he's taken to it quite well. He prefers to feed himself, although half of it usually gets plastered around his chops.

Taking her inspiration from little Leo, who can't sit still, Mary decided to take part in Cancer Research's Race For Life . Two thousand women from Stevenage and the surrounding area ran. Mary was running for Marge (Nana) Payne and Grampa William Heppenstall. Every other person there had someone in their life who had been touched by cancer. It was quite emotional - Mary was crying before the race had even started! Nevertheless, she managed to pull herself together and here you see her powering her way to the finish line in her record time of 27 minutes exactly (beating her p.b. by 38 seconds)! She finished well within the first 50 runners! Leo and I were hoarse from cheering her on. Well done love - I'm proud of you! Thank you to all who sponsored Mary - she raised a grand total of £360 for a wonderful cause.

We had Thomas Miller biennial summer ball last night. It was a black tie event so I had to dig out my old dinner jacket. Unfortunately the shirt was looking a little worse for wear, so I had to make a quick dash to John Lewis to pick up a new one. What do you think? The ball was held on the Silver Sturgeon - a luxury cruise boat on the Thames. Apparently it was used for Rod Stewart's engagement party! It was a gorgeous evening and sipping champagne whilst waving at the tourists on the Millennium bridge was certainly a novel experience. I'd forgotten how beautiful London can be - the houses of parliament, Tower Bridge, etc. - perhaps I'll have to do the tourist thing soon. Can't wait for the next one.

Leo has become incredibly interested in our food during the last few days. We'd been reading about baby led weaning , so we thought we'd let him try it. What better food for a little monkey than a banana?!! He loved it. I'm not sure how much he actually ingested, but he sure mashed that banana with his gums.

Leo has always been a bit of a flirt. The minute he sees a stranger he's all smiles and giggles - especially with the Ladies! He's especially partial to Rosalind (above, check out her blog ), his first girlfriend from our NCT class. I'm not looking forward to our chat about the birds and the bees. Perhaps I'll leave that to his mother!

We affectionately refer to Leo as "Little Monkey". Given his resemblance to Bobby , the Gorilla at London Zoo, perhaps we should call him "King Kong" - he's certainly the new king of our household (now that my wife has abdicated)!

Leo loves to "walk" (although he can't support his own weight yet), so I bought him a baby bouncer . As you can see, he loves it.