De Silva Family Blog

Leo loves Fairlands Valley Park. It's got some great climbing frames and slides including this one from when I was a wee lad - "The Big Slide." It's huge, measuring at least 15 metres long. To one with such little legs, it's a veritable mountain. Leo was up and down the thing about 20 times and as he climbed, his mantra was "Climbing like Uncle Tom !" After a while, he could take it no more and plonked himself down on a nearby bench for a coffee break... The poor little thing was so shattered that he fell asleep into his lunch of alphabetti spaghetti!

The process of mummification is a very exact ritual, perfected over centuries and designed to ease the passing of the baby into the Dream World. Whilst in ancient Egypt, the process always began half an urn before sunset (they used water clocks in those days), higher up in the northern hemisphere, where the time of sunset varies considerably during the year, it is necessary to maintain the same time to preserve the baby's internal body clock. Scientists have empirically found 7:14pm to be ideal. It starts with a thorough washing of the baby in warm water (approximately 40°C) scented with a blend of natural oils, including lavender to assist with sleep (Johnson's Bedtime Bath is a suitable alternative). The subject is then clothed in garments of cotton and wrapped tightly in an outer layer to simulate the close environment of the womb. The baby is placed carefully in a wicker basket and surrounded by sacred charms and toys to give good luck to the baby's "Ka"

Our cheerful chappie has certainly got a dazzling smile - even without any pearly whites.

Leo loves Peppa Pig, a cartoon about the life of a precocious five-year old pig and her family. Each 5 minute episode follows Peppa on an everyday adventure such as washing the car, going to the supermarket, or Leo's favourite: jumping in muddy puddles. They're great for teaching him about life. Each time Leo wakes up from his sleep (both morning and afternoon) he must watch a minimum of four episodes. Our Sky+ hard disk is almost full of them and we must have seen each about 37 times! During the day he often copies Peppa. He even speaks like her sometimes with phrases like, "It was a little bit funny," or "Silly daddy!" Clearly he's living in a fantasy world! Similarly, before he goes to sleep, Leo always asks for a bedtime story about Peppa. Usually he'll make up his own storylines to fit into something he saw or did that day, but just like on TV, most stories end up with everyone rolling around laughing! If only real life were like P