De Silva Family Blog

Dear Fans I've been bugging Daddy for nearly six months to update the blog and I've waited so long, that I've finally learned to type myself, so here goes. In the past six months, I have... ... had my first sports day ...made a fire with daddy, ate marshmellows and put it out with my water pistol. made chocolate cakes... had a party with my cousins and aunties ('cause some old people were 60 - here are some pics )... washed the car (I was really after Ollie!)... went to Tenerife (here's our holiday album )... was a wise man-pig in the pre-school nativity... and became best friends with my bro bro!

Ollie seemed to take an unusual degree of satisfaction from battering my poor cuddly gorilla, "Harriette," with his sword this afternoon... Yet despite this streak of gratuitous violence, our little boy has a gentler side too...

After spending the afternoon in the woods it was time to have dinner. Ollie, deciding he would rather stay outside and play, scampered off to hide. The poor little thing hid behind a clematis leaf! This master of camouflage thought he was so funny he couldn't help but give himself away with his giggling

Mary organised a wonderful birthday weekend for me. To start with, it began on Thursday! We spent the day as tourists sightseeing in Oxford, followed by dinner at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir where we had a wonderful "mini" tasting menu comprising of five courses. By the end we were glad not to have opted for the full nine-course feast! We spent the night away from the boys at a nearby B&B followed by a day of shopping in Bicester Village - my first proper shopping trip in a decade! Unfortunately it was rather fruitless as factory outlet stores don't seem to cater for short-arses like me! Saturday was my actual birthday. I had a lie in but was woken at 9:30am by the boys pouncing on me. They were very excited by my presents having spent a great deal of time working on them. As a result I've got some lovely coasters made with clay, paints and glitter and the imprints of tiny hands and feet. I also received an amazing photo collage from Mary containing s

For my first proper holiday, I went to Jersey with Mama, Dada, Leo, Nana and Grampa. We went on a big boat, which was so exciting. There was a ramp up to the shop and I spent most of the trip running up and down it, with Grampa Clive chasing me. We stayed in a big house with a huge flower bed outside for digging in. Every day we went on an adventure or three. We spent a lot of time at the most beautiful beaches. With so much sun, sea and sand - what more could a little person want! Some days we had to do adult stuff, but even that was fun - especially when a seagull stole Grampa Clive's ice cream! Halfway through the holiday Nana and Grampa left and we moved to a lovely new house - it even came with CBeebies, a football pitch and my own king-sized bed. The next day, we visited a castle where my brother Leo the Lionhart, King of Gorey Castle, led the fight against the French invaders. I fired the cannon that sank their ship and even saved Dada from a swordsman. King Leo

So that's where they go!

For the bank holiday Monday, we got some bike seats and went on a short trip around Grafham Water with Roz, Sophie and their parents. In typical bank holiday style it was cold and rainy. Our resolve faltered as we thought of our poor, wet, shivering offspring strapped to the back of our bikes. We forged ahead regardless and were rewarded with the weather easing somewhat and even a ray or two of sunshine. After lunch Mary had a number of passers-by laughing at her. She was a little put out until she looked backwards and found the source of their mirth - a headless Ollie!

Too much Gummy Berry Juice!!!

I've been a good boy recently and eaten all my dinners so was finally tall enough to go on the the big boy rides at Legoland. I'd been looking forward to it for ages, so was very excited when Mummy and Daddy said we could go. Things started off well as Ollie met Bob the Builder and managed to get me a job on a building site... Unfortunately, it was only a small job but that did give me time to go on the Sky Train and a balloon ride. After helping Daddy put out a fire, I was famished, so had some grub in Dragon's Castle. . That afternoon things took a turn for the worse as, despite passing my driving test, I was caught on camera for reckless driving... ... and put behind bars! Things went from bad to worse as, after being let out early for good behaviour, I got eaten by a lion! Fortunately I'm a tough little thing and he spat me out, choosing instead to go after my, much juicier, younger brother. We celebrated our lucky escape with a quick pint of

Fed up with being told what to do whilst living in their house, Ollie and I have designed and built our own house where we will be in charge. It's a pretty cool two-up-two-down, with an extended hallway. Both living rooms have French doors, giving great views of the TV. My bedroom is South-facing, also with a clear view of the TV. The wonderful thing about it is that there is plenty of room for expansion as our needs grow. Even better is that we're safe from Mummy and Daddy as they are too big to fit in! Even with the current state of the housing market, we decided it was better to build rather than buy. We used recycled building materials and found some great cheap labour. Haven't got the plumbing in yet - anyone know a good plumber? The only drawback is the crime in this neighbourhood. Apparently the Big Bad Wolf lives around here and a cardboard house feels rather vulnerable. Fortunately we've got a decent security system. We'll arrange a house-w

From all your boys. Love Ni, Leo & Ollie xxx

I spent this week in Shanghai, attending a Board meeting for one of my clients. It's my first time in China and I've been blown away by the scale of development going on over here. The picture shows the Pudong district of Shanghai (my hotel, the Shangri La is the little orange building to the right). This whole area, all 500km2 of it has been built during the last 20 years! Unfortunately the most I've seen of this place is the back of a cab as, during the two hours I had free, the driver and I failed to communicate in any way. Finally, when I realised that we were going round in circles, I got out and walked back along a very busy road. I felt cheated, despite having only paid half the fare on the meter, so you can imagine my horror when I realised that I'd left him my camera too! At 500 times the cost of the fare, I'm sure that driver is celebrating right now. As for me, I'm just looking forward to getting back home.

We celebrated Ollie's birthday a few weeks ago , together with Leo and Ros. So, for his actual birthday, we thought we'd celebrate with a day trip to London. We started by visiting my office, where the boys worked their charms on various colleagues and were well paid with chocolate, sweets and toys! We then headed off to the main attraction, Dinosaurs Unleashed , an amazing interactive exhibition. Leo was really excited about the whole thing, until we entered the building and he came face to face with a life-sized, roaring, T-Rex. He turned tail and ran! Fortunately, after some cajoling and some (very nice) hugs, he managed to overcome his fear and spent the next few hours becoming a palaeontologist: digging for fossils, piecing the bones together, classifying dinosaurs and learning all about them. He even appeared in a video with one! Meanwhile Ollie slept peacefully in his pushchair, blissfully unaware that he was sleeping under the most vicious carnivore ever to walk

Most Sunday mornings, our Matriarch (Grandma) gathers the De Silva clan together. These meetings are often characterised by loud music, crazy dancing and offerings to the God of Mahem - and that's just the adults! The pygmies love their time together and it's heart-warming to watch them careering around the living room shouting at the tops of their voices. No meeting of the De Silva clan would be complete without the traditional feast and Grandma's special soup is always a welcome winter warmer, guaranteed to slip down the throats of even the most temperamental eater.

Ollie has seemed on the verge of walking for the last two months now. Admittedly, we haven't really encouraged him as he's already getting himself into enough trouble on all fours (he's a fearless climber). However it seems the lazy little boy has been having us on as he seems to prefer being cuddled and carried around. He was caught on CCTV standing unaided at his party a fortnight ago and today he took his first two steps (public) towards Grampa Clive. As soon as he realised his mistake he flopped to the floor, but not before he'd been seen. He grinned sheepishly at all the applause and cheering and then asked to be carried!

We celebrated Leo's third birthday today and it started with a present hunt around the house. With the help of his metal detector (his first present) he proceeded to uncover a whole shopful of toys - many of which were linked to some Welsh fire department. After dropping Ollie off at my parents we had lunch at Aroma, a chinese restaurant in Stevenage. Having learnt about China at pre-school last week, he was very excited, but not quite as much as he was about visiting the Netherlands' National Circus - where in contrast to us, he was rather fond of the clowns. Personally, I preferred the jugglers. We returned to my parents for dinner and a fire engine shaped birthday cake. Before blowing out the candles, we asked Leo to make a wish. He said, "I wish to be with my Daddy!" I turned to mush.

I had my first birthday party today and it was brilliant! I shared it with Leo and Roz, but luckily I had my own cake! Kelly made it especially for me but it was disguised as Thomas the Tank Engine. I figured it out though! In fact, everyone was disguised: Leo was a fireman and Roz was Peppa Pig, but there was also Spiderman, Snow White, SpongeBob SquarePants, faries, princesses, cowboys, etc. We had a nice entertainer who was a bit mad and liked jumping around to the music. I preferred jumping around on the bouncy castle, although I did enjoy the parachute. The ball pit was fun and the food delicious (Daddy didn't let me try the beer), but the best thing of all was having all my favourite people with me. If you'd like to see some pictures of my party, Daddy's put them here . So long, and thanks for all the prezzies. Love you all. Ollie xxx

Leo is becoming cheekier by the day. Here are some of his recent gems... As I'm carrying Leo upstairs to bed: Mary: "Ni! Can you just get me ..." Leo: "Ohh! She always wants stuff!" Mary's looking at bracelets in a shop: Leo: "Mummy. Do you really need another bracelet?" After school today: Mary: "Leo. Can you count from 1 to 20?" Leo: "1, 2, 20!"

Following her maternity leave, Mary returned to work this week. We'd been wondering what to do about childcare and whether we should put Ollie in a nursery when Kelly, our cleaner, mentioned that she'd trained as a nursery teacher! Dropping her apron and rubber gloves and we were suddenly looking at Super Nanny! Not only does she have two children of her own (including Abbie, who Leo's got a crush on), but she cooks, cleans and decorates the most fantastic cakes as you can see with this chocolate orange flavoured "Christmas Muffin" cake! Most importantly the kids adore her, much to Mary's chagrin as they promptly run/crawl to meet her the moment she comes in the door!

  I was trying to explain to Leo this morning about how today was the start of a New Year, but to a boy whose concept of time extends to today, yesterday and tomorrow (sometimes he even gets those mixed up) it was perhaps asking a little too much. Nevertheless, he is saying "Happy New Year" to everyone he meets. I was also discussing New Year's Resolutions with him and I told him how mine was to play more sport this year. I asked him what Ollie's should be and he replied, "Eating!" Finally I asked what his was, hoping that he would say eating too... "Playing!" "That's not a New Year's Resolution. It should be something that's good for you; that you don't do very much of." "Playing computer games!" Anyway, to all our nearest and dearest (in fact any who stumble across this blog), we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all the very best for the new year. Love Nigel, Mary, Leo and Ollie xx