Happy Birthday Sebastian!

The day started with pancakes then presents.

Thanks everyone!

Sebastian!

Breakfast at The Address hotel.

Mmm, croissant.

Burj Khalifa.

Horse by the mall.

Football star.

Who looks like his daddy?

Mwah!

Chicken curry time.

Thumbs up from Daisy.

Yum!

I look drunk. I wasn't.

Cheeky.

Cake!

More yum!

Bastie loves his water bottle.

Our beautiful baby is 1, toddlerhood, here we come! This morning we went out for breakfast to The Address Downtown Burj Khalifa where Bastie discovered the joys of croissants. After a wander around Dubai Mall we spent the afternoon at home then had chicken curry and banana cake, yum!

We've had a wonderful first year with Bastie, he's so much fun and in to everything. He adores Daisy and Zach but isn't afraid to stick up for himself if he feels the situation warrants it. He absolutely loves cuddling and snuggling and doesn't care who with. Shop assistants and waiters all over Dubai have been on the receiving end of top cuddles from our little chap.

He was a very easy baby for the first 10 months but has had a rougher last couple of months with some huge teeth coming through and him being very frustrated as he really wants to be walking but isn't quite there yet. As a result, Andy and I spend most of our time holding his hands walking him around and around and around some more. It has to be hands, a walker will not do. His current challenge is walking up stairs which he's pretty good at. He started crawling at 10 3/4 months but, not surprisingly, would much rather walk. One of his favourite things to do is to be walked around dribbling a football. He also loves dancing and clapping his hands to music.

His speech is pretty good and he can say mama, dada, Daisy, Zach, hello, hiya, yeah, yes, that, there, dark, bird and - after our trip to Al Ain zoo - tiger! He loves bread, apples and fish cakes and raisins. He has six teeth up the top and five down the bottom. Ouch! We love you Bastie Boo Boo!

Bx

Staycation - Concert weekend!

Jules, Nat and me waiting for NERD.

Very excited.

There they are! Pharrell in the red hat.

Nat pounces on Pharrell at the afterparty.

That's Amy, the small hot mess up front.

Woohoo, staycation time! Andy has a week off work and we are spending it doing fun things in Dubai.

We kicked off with a weekend of fun for Andy and I and a weekend of tired parents for the kids. First up on Thursday night with Nat and Jules was NERD supported by Mike Posner. Mike Posner was really good, great live voice and lots of fun on stage. Then came NERD....and they ROCKED! I love their music and am a big fan of Pharrell Williams and they didn't disappoint. Then it was on to the after party at Vista. Andy's work was running the event so we had access to the VIP lounge and got to meet Pharrell, eeek! Very exciting, very big night.

The next night we went with Tim and Mary Ann to Amy Winehouse. Two words - train wreck! What a shocker, she was a mess and it was very uncomfortable viewing. Lots of booing from the crowd. Had fun at the after party though!

Bx

Daisy and Zach's Party!

This photo should have been at the end but it didn't load, oh well. The cake was a sweetie, chocolate and sprinkle covered three tiered, two turreted castle flying flags with photos of Daisy and Zach on them.

That's Sophie, the Cheeky Monkey party entertainer up the front. Glad it wasn't me.

Work it Sophie. She did a fantastic job.

Limbo action.

It's not that low Daisy.

Parachute fun.

Pizza, sausage, chips, carrots, cucumber and cherry tomatoes were on the menu.

Zach starts off with his turn in the Happy Birthday spotlight.

Followed by Daisy who got uncharacteristically shy.

But still managed to blow her candles out.

Daisy and Zach had their big joint birthday bash last weekend. We woke up to a perfect Dubai day, blue sunny skies all the way, good weather forecast, nothing to worry about, phew! However...an hour and a half before forty two (yes, that's forty two) children and their parents were descending on our garden a GINORMOUS unexpected sandstorm came flying in. Goodbye all the helium balloons Andy had just put out, hello absolute carnage. It was a bit like tornado hitting, trees were down all over town, fully grown palm tees snapped and (get this) light posts bent. It absolutely howled for about an hour then at five minute to 3pm (kick off) the wind settled, the skies cleared and the sun was shining again. A frantic clean up got in ready just in time for the first guests, hurrah! All the kids had a great time and we got a party entertainer in who kept them all busy for two hours, playing games and dancing so we got to talk to the parents and enjoy the afternoon too.

Bx