Hedgehog Mattu

As you can see from this photo, a bushy beard has taken over Rav's face. I waver between liking and loathing the beard but Kirin has decided - it has to go. He is trying to encourage his Dad to shave by saying that Dad can't read bedtime stories until he gets rid of the beard, very much along the lines of "you can have a biscuit if you finish all your dinner" tactics we use on him.

Kirin is also developing a cheeky sense of humour and the beard inspired some impressive cheekiness the other day.

Kirin's birthday is coming up and he has already been sent a couple of presents via Amazon. When the delivery man rang the bell, Kirin dashed out to collect the parcel and asked "Is it for me?". We looked at the address label and sure enough it was for Master Kirin Mattu (of course we haven't opened it yet - it's sitting tantalisingly on the mantle piece). Next day the Amazon man came again with another parcel for Master Kirin, all very exciting. Day three and the Amazon man called again. "Is it for me?" Kirin asked expectantly. We looked at the address label but this time it read Mr Ravi Mattu. "No, this one is for Daddy" I said, "look, it says Ravi Mattu here on the label" "You mean HEDGEHOG Mattu!" replied Kirin with a huge grin on his cheeky face.

The beard is supposed to go this weekend. Watch this space.

Noises and a close talker

As I think I have noted on previous posts, Kirin has been amazingly sweet with his new little brother. But I think he may have inherited his dadi's habit of close talking (for those who don't watch Seinfeld, this is someone who has little notion or regard for maintaining a socially accepted amount of physical space between him/herself and the person he/she is talking to).

I was actually trying to get Malik on video doing soe of the cute baby sounds he makes when you look at him but also got a bit of his big brother muscling in on the show. Although you might not be able to discern it from watching this video, Malik seems to quite like it when Kirin comes in for a close cuddle.

We'll always have Paris

On the Eurostar

Sailing in the Jardin du Luxembourg

Kirin gets ready to meet some locals

Lawrence of Arabia

We just spent a great four days in Paris, staying at the flat of our friends Ursula and François, who were away on holiday (like every other Parisian) and let us use there beautiful place in the fifth. They, of course, have three boys so had everything we needed.

The city has a strange feel in August - there are few Parisians around, because of the vacances en masse, and the many of the shops and restaurants are closed. But for us, it was fantastic. The weather was dry and warm and we spent a lot of time walking around.

More than any of us, Kirin thought he had arrived in paradise. The boys have tonnes of toys that only a boy could really love - swords, cars, Playmobil and even a pirate ship for the bath. And he didn't mind the pains au chocolat either.

Another flashback

As you will no doubt guess, this is another old video that we thought hilarious. This was taken only four months ago (just after Malik was born) and it is amazing how much Kirin's language has developed.

More important, you will soon discover why, when we hadn't yet decided on a name for Malik, "Penny" was his working title.

NB: The video is a bit longer than I normally post on the blog, so sorry if you get bored mid-view.

Smiling sleeper

This video is a few weeks old now - from our trip to Croatia - but I have just managed to sort out a few bugs with the video uploading program. It might be a bit slow for some of you but I thought the sight of Malik smiling in his sleep - while swaying in the hammock - was pretty cute.

NB: If you are wondering why the shot seems to move downwards towards the end of the video, I had Malik on top of me and was holding out the camera with one hand and I'm not that strong. Sorry for any film professionals out there.

Story time

Not a whole lot to say about this pic other than pyjamas, stripes, a doughnut and a book.

Also, I wanted to point out a couple of new links to the blogs of some friends:

• The Lost Art of Self-congratulatory Indulgence is by our good friend Neil McBean on the "process of creative production." Check it out - some cool ideas there (and some nifty videos, too).
• Six Weeks in Jerusalem is the blog our good friend David Baker who, as the title suggests, is spending six weeks in Jerusalem. He's there to learn Hebrew, learn about more about his Jewish faith, read books... to learn. Lovely insights and some nice pics as well.