De Silva Family Blog

On his visit to see 9 week old Amelie, and -2 week old Moby (Mog is due shortly), Leo got to play on the swings. Looks like he enjoyed it!

Leo has been a little slow when it comes to chatting, preferring instead to use Neanderthal grunts and squeaks. So we were really pleased, and a little surprised, when all of a sudden he started baby babbling. After weeks of making "da" sounds sounds now and again, he finally said ... ... "Mama"! Now it's Mary's turn to squeak and come running every time he says it!

It was my Dad's (currently known by Izzy as "Dado") birthday on Tuesday. To thank him for all the help he's been giving us recently, we held a Sunday roast lunch in his honour for the whole family. But, before lunch, we did manage to rope him into some hard labour in the garden! He had a wonderful afternoon surrounded by his two grandchildren, although guess who hogged all the cuddles!

Ever since I left PwC over five years ago I've been missing my regular greasy spoon cafe, Cafe Deco on the corner of Smithfield Market. Every monday lunchtime the "Big Breakfast" was to die for - probably quite literally given the cholesterol I was ingesting. Nevertheless, since moving near Liverpool Street I've scoured the area but nothing I've found comes close. That is until Leo was invited to brunch at Rosalind's house. Kicking off with some Bucks Fizz followed by a hearty breakfast of sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, plum tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. washed down with a large mug of builder's tea. All it missed were the greasy spoons, the polish waitress and a dog-eared copy of the Sun. Although we did get Danish pastries to finish. The babies loved it too - they had the liquidized version. Here you see them nicely stuffed and ready for their naps. Haven't they (and their mums) changed in the last six months ?

Since Leo has become mobile, changing his nappy has become a very smelly, messy and difficult business. The boy will not lie still for more than ten seconds. Sometimes, I think we need the McLaren pit team to help out - they may be the only ones who could manage a nappy change in that time. Distraction seems to be the only option, but in a moment of exasperation the immortal words of MC Hammer came to mind, "Stop! Hammertime!" followed by some crazy 1980's dancing. It certainly stopped Leo in his tracks. I'm sure he was thinking, "Dad. Don't you ever do that in front of my friends!" For you nostalgic types, or those who have no idea who MC Hammer is and would like to see what I'm talking about, enjoy this clip . (The dancing is classic and the famous phrase is towards the end. You don't get that sort of quality these days!)

Leo was invited to his first fancy dress Halloween party this week. Mary and myself were very excited and racked our brains to come up with a costume for him. After a quick trip to Hobbycraft we came up with this little Devil's outfit. We tried to find a trident for him, but everywhere we looked had sold out. The party was held at Bethan and Kirsty's house - two lovely girls he met on our recent trip to Norfolk . It was a very scary party - they even had a vampire which sat up slowly when it hears a clap! I'm not sure Leo's ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer , but at soon as he saw that vampire he was off. A quick karate chop to the chest and strangle hold later and that poor vampire wasn't going to do much biting! It didn't take long for Leo to kick back and settle into his role as our Cheeky Little Devil...