De Silva Family Blog

Christmas was a very welcome break this year as I've been working too hard, suffering from a severe lack of sleep and a cold - get the violins! I spent the whole time playing with Leo and forgot completely about work. It was wonderful. We became so close, he even started to get separation anxiety when I left the room! We spent Christmas at home with the whole family - 11 in total. Luckily it wasn't too much work as everyone helped out and the grannies took over the kitchen! Leo was so exited that he woke up at 2am on Christmas morning to open his presents. (Actually he was suffering from a cold and couldn't breathe.) We finally got him back down again by 3am, so Mary and I sneakily opened a present each. We felt like naughty children! With two babies in the house, there were so many presents they filled half the living room and, when it was time to open them, chaos ensued. Poor Leo didn't know what was going on. Although he was extremely excited by all the

Since becoming mobile, Leo has been getting more and more clingy. Whenever Mummy is nearby, he can't bear to be separated from her. He tracks her down and surprises her in the kitchen, in the shower and even on the loo! This little menace was finally captured by Hatfield police in a pushchair he had taken for a joyride around the Galleria. He has been given an ASBO but, in a final twist to his long suffering mother, his puppy dog eyes won over the judge. Now he is not allowed to be further than five paces away from her at all times.

For weeks Leo teased me with "da" and I was desperately hoping that he would call me Dada. Then all of a sudden he said "Mama" and ever since it's been Mama this and Mama that. I felt like "Earl" from that old TV show Dinosaurs (see clip). Finally we had a breakthrough and those longed-for words were like music to my ears. All day, we've heard "dada dadada dad da". Any moment now, just like the in the clip, I'm expecting him to finish with, "Not the Mama"!

Soft, strong and very long. Tasty too!