Sebastian's birthday.

Birthday boy!

Two!

The present opening begins.

Thanks for all the great gifts everyone!

Eric the penguin.

Bastie the chicken.

The chocolate pancake feast begins...

...who ate all the pancakes?

Bastie!

Venturing out in to the sandstorm.

Daisy and Zach make sand goggles.

It was blowing a gale.

Burj Khalifa in the gloom.

And again.

Dubai Mall train.

Disco mayhem.

Couch mayhem.

Cake!

Two!

Cheese!

The birthday boy leads the conga line.

On Friday 17 February Sebastian turned 2! So he is officially no longer a baby but still very much our baby.

We don't do birthday parties until turning 3, a very good thing as we woke to a stonking dust storm. Bastie wanted to go to The Address to have chocolate pancakes for breakfast so off we drove through the murk. We had to sit inside but the kids managed a quick dash around the pool and gardens anyway. Bastie wasn't joking about wanting chocolate pancakes, he ate about 12 of them. In the afternoon we went to Nat and Jules house where the kids had a great time playing with their three kids then we had dinner, cake and a mad disco. Much excitement and fun for all!

When Sebastian was about 10 months old our happy little baby turned in to a complete grump and he stayed that way for about 8 months! Hence the first half of the past year wasn't the easiest with him. When it was just the two of us at home he was normally so lovely and sweet but other people didn't often get to see that side of him which I found incredibly frustrating. Prickly was probably the best word to describe him. Strangers trying to be friendly generally got an icy glare, he tended to ignore my friends and grumpy strops ensued when other kids came over to play. However, about halfway through the year a miraculous turnaround happened and he's been an absolute joy since then. Happy, friendly, engaging, even a bit of a flirt with the ladies, he's like a different child and we are having a wonderful time with our little Boo. He started at Lisa's playgroup in September and loves going two mornings a week. He has playdates with friends his own age another couple of mornings a week which he really enjoys.

Sebastian is 86cm tall and at the start of the month weighed 12.4 kgs. He unfortunately got giardia shortly after that and lost a quarter of his body weight in a week but he's slowly getting back on form. He has escaped the musical tyranny of Daisy and Zach in the past year and stands up for his right to listen to something other than Justin Bieber. He loves dance music the best but also loves to rock out and his current favourite song is Nevermind by Nirvana (yes!!!). His favourite thing to do at the weekend is just hang out with his family and maybe catch up with a few friends. He loves bolognese, porridge and chocolate pancakes and his favourite drink is juice. He favourite books are Melvin Might and I Love My Mummy.

Sebastian is great fun at home. He loves joining in all of Daisy and Zach's games and in the past year has gone from copying everything Daisy does to copying everything Zach does - especially the naughty things! He is incredibly cuddly and snuggly and plays on his status as the baby of the family by managing to get carried around a lot more than I put up with from Daisy or Zach! He loves bouncing on the trampoline, scooting around on his red motorbike and helping me in the garden. Bastie absolutely loves listening to music and is very definite on what he likes and doesn't like. He loves to dance and also loves the movie Happy Feet. He always has great fun in the pool, loves kicking a football around and is generally pretty active.

Since his turnaround it's been a wonderful year with Sebastian. I still can't quite believe how lucky I am to have such an adorable little chap who brings so much happiness to our home.

Bx