7lbs 14oz

Sami bear

2011-11-28T21:16:00.001Z

It turns out pigeons do eat chips

2011-11-15T22:05:00.001Z

The other day we were walking home when Malik stopped suddenly, pointed across the street and said, "See, pigeons do eat chips." We all turned to see a group of pigeons devouring some McDonald's french fries on the sidewalk. So, I guess he was right.

We didn't manage to take a picture in time but trust me, the boy is a genius.

Kirin took this one of Sami straight out of the bath.

Summer hols and birds

2011-10-19T00:10:00.001+01:00

You know our kids are urban when this is how they describe what birds eat. It's rather long and you might have to listen carefully to work out what he is saying, but it is very cute. From our holidays in August to the south of France.

Malik on birds and bird houses from Ravi Mattu on Vimeo.

A real smile... and Malik's first sports day

2011-07-08T23:19:00.000+01:00

Eye of the tiger - in position for the wheelbarrow race

Basking in the glory of all those medals

The boys driving their "cars"

2011-07-07T00:24:00.000+01:00

Sami seems to enjoy all the attention he gets from his big brothers. He's really smiley.

We got one of a smile... kind of

2011-06-22T22:55:00.001+01:00

We have a name

2011-06-21T22:59:00.001+01:00

Number three has a name: Sami Lal Pickering Mattu. Sami means "high or exalted", while Lal is a middle name passed down from my dad's family.

All three boys are in good form. Kirin told me, excitedly, that he scored a goal with his left foot today when playing football with the big kids; Malik had his first face painting session and chose to be Spider-Man; and Sami has shown himself to be a real smiler (lots of it but we haven't yet got the definitive picture to prove it).

Week three for number three

2011-05-25T21:45:00.001+01:00

So, we three went to the office to register the new baby's name... only to discover we couldn't agree on one! So, the very nice lady at the town hall suggested we book again and come back when we had decided. Honestly, we're close, real close.

Week two... and still no name

2011-05-20T21:22:00.000+01:00

Big brother and 'Dr Evil' (it's the finger)

First and third

I might be drowning in this blanket

Baby number three - he's here

2011-05-15T22:11:00.000+01:00

At the hospital with mum

Welcome home

Three beautiful boys

First bath

Overly aggressive cuddler

A few pics of our new, as yet unnamed, arrival.

His big brothers are especially excited.

Kirin is a doting eldest brother. He has always been proud to be the big one and keep an eye out for Malik but he wasn't old enough to really know what was going on; this time, he's super sensitive, always wanting to soothe when 'three' is crying, usually by putting his little finger in his mouth or running for mum to give him some more food.

Malik has been super, super cute too. He has been telling everyone that 'my baby' has popped out, and asking Johanna when 'her baby' is going to pop out. He now seems to have understood that it's a 'our family baby' and he has been adorable with his kisses and curiosity. Every morning, before Johanna and the baby have woken up, he tiptoes in to the room in an exaggerated way (think of Bugs Bunny, with big steps as though he's walking on springs) and takes a little look, shudders with joy (as he does) and shuttles off contentedly.

They both seem genuinely fascinated by him. And as overjoyed as their parents both are.

Johanna and I are very proud of our big boys and moved every time we catch a glimpse of them being their cute selves.

Ursula and her boys visit London

2010-08-02T20:39:00.005+01:00

We went out to Ruislip Lido, which has a lake and a train that takes you through the woods. The boys had a great time playing together.

Malik thinks he's one of the big boys, which is why he's sitting with Kirin, Julien and Louis. He also fell off his scooter last week which is why he's got a bit of a fat lip.

The blog is back!

2010-07-20T21:27:00.008+01:00

A trip to the seaside

Sports day - Kirin with Sandro and Beatrice

Mum's away in Paris with Auntie Judith, so the boys are having a barbecue

The Wetland Centre - sitting in an old fishing net

Like father, like son

A trip to Highgate Wood (Malik with, from left, Beatrice, Darcy and Mae)

It's been a busy few months (yes, that's right, months) and our wireless router was down. I know, I know, that's a poor excuse but thanks to some welcome prodding from our friends in Australia (thanks Hepburns), it's time to start blogging regularly again. I used to enjoy it so much, I'm not quite sure why I ever stopped. Actually, I do.. it's 9:30 and I just got back from work. That's not unusual!

Anyways, this blog is about our much more beautiful and interesting boys. We've been hanging out a lot with Kirin's friends and their parents. We're all connected by Bluebells, the nursery he has just finished, and there are a few of us like-minded families who have formed a bit of a community. The kids are a bit of a gang and play really nicely together; it's very sweet. Meanwhile, Malik and Darcy, another second sibling, tag along as part of the group. For some reason, all of the big kids like to make Malik the monster all the time and run while yelling, "Catch me Malik, catch me." He seems to like being involved.

The big moment for us is that Kirin has finished nursery at Bluebell's and will be starting school in September. It's a bit moment for him. It's hard to describe just how lovely Bluebell's and the woman who runs it, Anita, is wonderful. She's built a special place in a non-descript church hall and it's become a big part of our lives. Kirin has always loved going there and he loved Anita and the other women who work there.

I have to admit, I found myself crying as I tried to thank Anita for all that she had done for our first baby. Like me, she's a bit old fashioned in some ways; whereas much of London life feels like a constant competition with other parents over who gets into what school and how advanced your child is, her nursery is all about having fun and letting kids be kids.

Fortunately, we're not finished there - provided we can get him potty trained in time, Malik starts in September.

Malik's two

2010-05-06T22:47:00.004+01:00

Rock star

2010-04-15T22:20:00.000+01:00

Pepee man

2010-04-15T22:16:00.003+01:00

Click on the photo to see what the title means.

Malik discovers the tide

2010-03-25T19:55:00.004Z

Malik discovers the tide from Ravi Mattu on Vimeo.

Blogging seems to take have taken a backseat in recent months. Apologies for that but the dripfeed is what happens when you have two kids and a busy job.

Back in April 2007, we took Kirin on his first trip to Brazil and I posted a video of him discovering the tide. Well, our most recent trip to Brazil was Malik's first he too was entranced by one of nature's water shows.

Decorating the Xmas tree

2010-01-24T22:03:00.002Z

MVI 1259 from Ravi Mattu on Vimeo.

Happy new year.

We've been away from the blog and London for a while, but we are going to be posting a few pics and videos over the next few days.

As you will suspect, the boys are growing up fast and the relationship between them is pretty cute.

We're still here - and we're growing up

2009-11-14T00:49:00.002Z

So, how many months is that then? It's been a busy few months. In a set of bullet points:

Kirin celebrated his fourth birthday. The weather was good we had a barbecue and lots of fun in teh garden. He loved it.
Malik is talking more and more and a lovely little bundle of smiling fun. He's learning Portuguese from Patricia, our Brazilian nanny.
The boys have a very sweet relationship. Kirin seems to love having a little brother and Malik spends a fair bit of time following his big brother around, and trying to copy him while stil carving out his own identity.

These pics were taken a few weeks ago when Neena, Paul and Chandra came to visit. We rented a little cottage for a few days up in Norfolk and these are the boys on the stairs there.

Lakes in Canada

2009-09-14T22:22:00.001+01:00

Ice cream, marshmallows and cowboys in Canada

2009-09-14T22:01:00.002+01:00

Brothers

2009-09-10T11:08:00.002+01:00

It's been too long since we've updated the blog but here's my latest favourite picture of the boys. They look like brothers don't they?

A trip to Coventry

2009-05-21T22:51:00.006+01:00

On Sunday we travelled up to Coventry to meet Anya, the new baby of one of my cousins. Kirin was keen to wear his kurta pyjama, which my mum and dad bought when they were last in India. He was equally keen that Malik wear his and they look so cute that we were happy to oblige. These pics were taken in our garden before we left.

We had to go the mandir, the Hindu temple that I remember going to as a child on our trips to the UK to visit relatives. Unlike our British cousins, my siblings and I did not grow up surrounded by all things Indian. But even though my parents were not especially religious, when we did come to the UK, we would go to the temple for weddings or special occasions. And my paternal grandfather was heavily involved in running this particular temple.

As a kid, I always thought that spending a few hours of my weekend at a place where I had to cover my head, the boys and girls would have to sit on separate sides of the room and we would listen to an old man reading a religious book in Punjabi was not the best use of time. So, it was strange to find that I was quite excited about taking the boys on their first trip to this temple. It actually felt good being there, much more so than when I was a kid. It was, of course, nice to see some of my family (in this case, the family of Lashkar, one of my mum's brothers) and the boys enjoyed themselves. Kirin even did some tidying up in the kitchen. He was heard asking one of my cousins, in his proper little English accent, "Do you need some help?"

Even though I didn't spend a lot of time there growing up, and can't remember the last time I had been, the familiarity made it seem very comfortable. It wasn't so much the religion, so I can't help but think that it is down to wanting the boys to know about their family history. Who we are, where we came from, how we got here and how lucky we are to live the relatively easy lives we do. Going to Coventry is a glimpse into our past.

We drove down Princess Street, the road where many of the first Indian men to arrive in the city took up residence. Many other areas weren't open to non-whites; the rental signs would include the warning, "No dogs, no coloureds". So, the men would pack into the types of terraced houses you see at the start of Coronation Street, work long and hard in the factories that the Midlands used to be famous for, save enough to buy a property and somehow get their families over from India or east Africa.

In my family's case, the Mattus were at number 50 and the Sidhus (my mum's side) were at number 53. I pointed out the houses to Kirin (Malik was asleep within a couple of minutes of getting back into the car). He seemed to know that there was something important about those places. "Dada and dadi lived there, when they lived in England," I told him.

As the boys get older, I imagine we will be visiting again.

A walk in the woods

2009-05-21T22:42:00.005+01:00

We went for a walk in lovely woods of Kenwood House, on the north side of Hampstead Heath. Kirin enjoyed climbing various trees and having some ice cream. Malik found everything rather exciting.

The four of us hopped on to a tree to have a little drink and a pair of nice passers-by insisted that they take a picture of us. "You look so lovely on there," they said. They didn't take the best of pictures but we do look lovely.

Some more pics of the boys

2009-05-21T22:41:00.002+01:00

Yes, it's been ages and even these pics are a bit old. They are from April, the weekend of Malik's first birthday when we went out to the countryside to spend some time with some visiting friends.

Kirin seemed to enjoy playing with Patch, the dog at the lovely B&B we stayed at. Malik was less certain about the dog when it gave him a big lick.

New cousin Willem

2009-05-18T10:48:00.006+01:00

David and Catherine had a little boy on 3rd May. He is called Willem Thomas and weighed in at 8lbs 13oz. He is gorgeous and both David and Catherine are doing well.

David hasn't had much to do with babies until now but has had a cat for several years so Willem was getting a lovely tickle on the tummy and the odd scratch under the chin from his Dad when I saw them.

Here's Willem with his Granny. She's becoming quite an expert now with 3 grandsons (sorry about the fuzzy photo).

Kirin is very keen to meet his new cousin and give him a big cuddle but we'll let the new little Pickering get a bit more used to the world first.

Skiing - kind of

2009-03-27T08:32:00.006Z

We spent last week up in the French Alps, in a lovely little village called St Gervais les Bains. We went with some friends from Paris and rented a gite together.

The plan was laid out fairly carefully. Malik would go be at the creche, Kirin would go to ski school and Johanna and I would spend the mornings at least skiing.

Despite the story that is suggested by the photographs above, it didn't quite work out like that. Kirin didn't like ski school (he apparently cried for the duration of the first two hour lesson) and so we took him out of it and spent only one morning each doing any skiing ourselves.

I think we underestimated just how tough it must have been for Kirin. It was all in French, he didn't really know anyone and the French are – how shall I say it – a bit tougher on the kids. Parents are prohibited from hanging around and the teachers/instructors aren't too forgiving when it comes to a crying child.

Johanna saw another little bawling his eyes out saying, "Maman! Maman!". The instructor's reply was to rub his eyes to pretend to be crying, and sarcastically say, "Mais non, mais non!", in a mocking sort of way.

I'm sure it works for French kids who are used to this thing but it wasn't right for us or Kirin. I am already working on convincing Johanna that things are done differently in Canadian ski schools; friendly, smiling types who offer lots of hot chocolate and empathy. Can any of you Canucks back me up on that (Sara? Andrew?)?

In the end, we still had a good time being in the mountains with the boys. Kirin loved the snow and wearing a ski suit and sunglasses. Malik was as lovely as always, just pottering about walking, walking, walking. And some stunning sunshine and weather. You could literally ski in a T-shirt if you were crazy enough to want to do that.

The Christmas package arrives

2009-02-18T08:00:00.003Z

The Christmas gifts from Canada finally arrived (for some reason, they were sent by surface mail which is why it took so long). There were lots of lovely presents for the boys and how cute is Malik in his new dinosaur pyjamas? (And yes, he has a bit of a dribbling/drooling issue.)

Snow in London

2009-02-18T07:54:00.002Z

This is a bit late but a few weeks ago, we had the first proper snow in London since I have been living here (since 1997). Much of the city and, indeed, the country came to a standstill - and it was brilliant.

I had to go to work because of a deadline I couldn't move (my tube line was the only one that seemed to be running as normal) but at home it was a lot more fun. We live near the top of a hill and the street outside the house became a bit snow party, with all of the kids and their parents building snowmen and throwing snow balls.

Kirin loved it.

Finding joy in the smallest things

2009-02-02T22:06:00.003Z

One of Malik's favourite past times is watching the clothes go round and round in the washing machine. Hours and hours of good clean fun

The boys weekend

2009-01-30T22:10:00.003Z

Johanna went away for a long weekend in Budapest, so it was a boys weekend back home in London. We all made it without any serious injury. As you will see towards the end of this video, Kirin did his best to help me take care of little Malik.

A toothy grin

2009-01-25T21:07:00.002Z

This post was supposed to have been written and published a few weeks ago, but time is a rare commodity these days. That is certainly the case with two kids. For those readers who, like us, thought we didn't have a lot of time to ourselves with one baby... you have all the time in the world. Of course, it is all worth it.

Malik's first tooth arrived a few weeks ago and it is in the very same place where Kirin's appeared back in June 2006. Click here to check it out.

Hilarious

2009-01-13T22:19:00.003Z

This video is a couple of weeks old (we have taken down the Christmas tree).

Malik is becoming more and more animated and growing up. He responds to his name and crawls towards any familiar voice. We haven't yet caught him in one his wide, cheesy grins but we did manage to get a little video of his old man's laugh. It's extra cute to see just how funny he finds his big brother.

Christmas

2008-12-29T20:59:00.004Z

Christmas this year was spent in the UK, with Johanna's family coming up to London to hang out with us. Kirin and Malik both seemed to have a good time and life has slowly been getting back to normal since the in-laws departed.

It has been very cold here - below freezing, which is rare in London - so we have had to bundle up pretty well when leaving the house. Kirin has been less than keen to wear a toque, but he does seem to love the mask Johanna bought him. He now refers to himself as "Dash" (from the great film The Incredibles).
Malik's crawling is speeding up at an exponential rate which is both lovely to see and a bit frightening. I swear we need to put a helmet on this guy to save him from all of the bumps and bruises.

More important, his awareness of things around him is developing just as quickly. When I arrived home today, he was genuinely excited to see me and even crawled over to say hello. He also started grabbing the duck that Kirin had snatched from him in the bath. Fighting for toys... that is a phase I'm looking forward to.

Malik is on the move

2008-12-22T22:59:00.005Z

Malik has started crawling which is fantastically cute (see the first video) but also a reminder that we need to keep an even closer eye on him. This morning, while I was at work, Johanna and Kirin were in the kitchen and left Malik in the living room. He was playing with a noisy toy, thrashing away, when all of sudden it went quiet. Johanna and Kirin returned to see what was going on - only to discover that Malik had disappeared. Don't worry - they found him in the bathroom trying to stand up to take a look in the bath.

NB - See if you can hear Kirin offering some positive re-enforcement to his little brother.

And, he is taking to the swing quite nicely, too.

The Christmas show

2008-12-22T22:32:00.004Z

The shepherd boy

Looking for direction

Kirin and his mate Joel

Malik is happy to see his big brother

A couple of weeks ago, we spent Saturday afternoon at Kirin's nursery to see his first Christmas show. As you might expect, we took a couple of videos (apologies for the shaky quality ad sound). Kirin did well but seemed a little like a deer in headlights when he saw the crowd. The one thing he liked more than anything else: his red tights.

Rockin' around the Christmas tree

I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus

How cute is Malik?

2008-11-22T22:21:00.002Z

Very cute.

Autumn in Istanbul

2008-11-22T20:17:00.011Z

The Blue Mosque

Istanbul may seem an unlikely meeting place for family who live in Bosnia, Canada and London but that's where we met the other Mattus last week. Istanbul is one of my favourite cities because of the beautiful buildings, hectic streets, mix of modern and old, great food. At first thought, not top of the list for an easy trip with small kids but it was, in reality, great fun.

We all rented flats round the corner from each other, spent lots of time together and explored the city en masse. Here we are having a break in the Spice Bazaar.

Apple tea, Turkish coffee and formula

The kids played well together with the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace as their backdrop. I wonder if they will like travelling when they're older?

Who cares about history when there is a puddle: Kirin with his cousins Yash and Suran

Malik soaking up the atmosphere

Other higlights: Hagia Sofia, the view from our balcony across the Bosphorus to mosques and Topkapi, the court yard of the Blue Mosque at dusk, Kirin and Suran dressing up as the king and queen of Istanbul (with belly dancing accessories), Chandra's first birthday cake (everyone loves chocolate!).

Chandra, Malik and I check out the fruit and veg truck

Amazingly none of us bought any carpets or Turkish delight but we did eat a lot of kebabs.

What an amazing day

2008-11-05T21:38:00.012Z

I don't really do politics on this blog but today has been the kind of day that I want my sons - mixed race, British, Canadian, European, Indian, urban... - to understand for the change and power it represents. This is the most important political event of their short lives and I want them to recognise the significance of today's vote. We always teach them that anything is possible and could there be any more powerful a symbol of that than the election of an African-American as US president, especially after the horror of the Bush/Cheney years?

Kirin and I have been getting ready for the big day by watching some videos. This is him watching "Yes we can", the viral video by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

If you haven't seen the original yet, check it out below. He put the words of one of Obama's early speeches to music, published it on his blog and the word spread like wildfire. Kirin liked it - though, that may well have been as much because he likes watching videos as the content, I kind of figure it will get through to him by osmosis.

This morning, Malik decided to wake up Johanna and me at about 4am. I decided to see if the dream had come true and it had. I sat down to watch Obama's victory speech and the boys humoured me with this picture. I think Kirin was more excited that I let Malik sit on his lap than with the book I asked him to hold. Well, you can't ask more of a three year old.

Ok, the last politics of this blog. Check out Obama's victory speech.

A birthday party

2008-10-03T20:50:00.003+01:00

We had a little party for Kirin last Saturday (I know, I know, it has been almost a week but it's been busy so I haven't had a chance to post). The weather was great and the kids were well-behaved. Well, Sam, Kirin and Sandro must have done something to upset Malik.

The video below features a great performance by some of the kids. From left: Madeleine, Sandro, Kirin and Sam. Enjoy

The stripy boys

2008-09-24T20:12:00.002+01:00

Happy birthday Kirin

2008-09-23T20:09:00.006+01:00

As most of you have seemed to remember, today is Kirin's third birthday. Thanks to all of you who sent us cards, gifts and e-mails; it is embarrassing to admit that most of our friends with children seem to have a much better calendar of our children's birthdays than we do of theirs, something which Johanna and I are both hoping to change.

The day was a pretty good one. We started (at 6am) by opening presents. Here are some pics:

From left: Aliens love underpants, from Pooa and Phoofer; A Salmon for Simon from Sara, Michael, Cole and Oliver

Part of the National Geographic Bug Barn, a set with a net (left) and a barn (right) to allow you to check out bugs at close range

A couple of cute puzzles from Sarah, Scott and Max in Sydney

And finally, our gift to Kirin: a bike and a helmet. He wore the helmet all day, from the time he put it on in the morning, for the duration of his time a nursery and all afternoon until about 6pm when he put on his pyjamas for bed.

It is hard to believe that it has been three years since our gourgeous boy arrived in the world and turned our lives upside down and back again. It's weird, but on the one hand it feels like only yesterday that we brought Kirin home from the hospital and at the same time, he seems to be growing up so fast that it is sometimes easy to forget just how young he is.

I suppose this sounds like the kind of thing my own parents would have said, but this afternoon, when I was running to try and keep up with Kirin zooming away on his bike and Johanna was pushing Malik, suited up in his fuzzy, fleecy hoodie, in his push chair, it was hard not to feel proud and happy and overwhelmed by our lovely little family. Long may the glorious adventure continue.

Post-beard post

2008-09-16T22:09:00.002+01:00

IT'S GONE - HURRAY!!!!

The nose looks bigger but overall it's MUCH better.

Batman, Batboy, Batgirl and Batbaby

2008-09-10T21:07:00.004+01:00

In theory, mornings are supposed to involve me getting up to give the boys breakfast while Johanna tries to catch an extra hour of sleep. In reality, most of the time things don't go quite to plan. I usually get up with Kirin, give him a bit of breakfast and soon after, we hear Malik cooing in his crib. If I go back into the room, I usually find Johanna pretending to sleep - I think parents have this strange idea that if you close your eyes the kids will somehow be put off the scent and go play by themselves or go back to sleep in their beds, but this never actually happens - and eventually she gets up and we all end up hanging out for a bit before I head off to work.

In this video, Malik was in our bed because for a bit of the night, he just didn't want to go back to sleep. He had woken up, Kirin and I heard the cooing and went in to check out the action. The quality is a bit fuzzy at the start because the curtains were drawn and it was a bit dark in the room, but I think you will get the idea. It's also a bit long but it's pretty cute. (Just in case you can't quite understand it, Kirin is asking his mummy if she wants to "snuggle in" and suggesting that they can "share the blanket". How lovely is that?)

And finally, thanks to all of you for commenting on my beard. It was good to see that shaking up the editorial content got so many people sufficiently excited and I definitely appreciated Sara's backing in philosophical/existential terms but Nisha was right that it does have to go. It is still there because although I am very keen to get a professional shave and a haircut (imagine how bad my shaggy barnet will look without the grey-haired beard to offset it?) but just haven't had the time. I will keep you faithful readers in the loop.

Hedgehog Mattu

2008-08-29T19:25:00.005+01:00

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

2008-08-27T23:53:00.003+01:00

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

2008-08-07T22:00:00.006+01:00

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

2008-08-06T19:36:00.003+01:00

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

2008-08-06T07:44:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-01T23:23:00.003+01:00

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.

Jail birds

2008-07-29T21:35:00.004+01:00

As you will have noticed if you are a regular reader of this blog, our family are into stripes. But for once, it's not Johanna but me and the boys in our prisoner/sailor garb.

On another note, Johanna's cousin Nicola has had her baby - a beautiful boy called Evan, who has weighed in at a very healthy 8lbs 13oz. Congratulations to the Guerrieri family!

Summer has arrived - but not in London

2008-07-20T19:48:00.007+01:00

Mother and son

Smiling boy

Malik and pooha

Chandra trying to eat her little cousin

And let's not forget Kirin - who told his parents that he "loves" chocolate

We are just back from a great couple of weeks in Croatia with Neena, Paul and Chandra, and some of their friends from Sarajevo. We spent most of the time on the Peljesac Peninsula, about 2.5 hours north of Dubrovnik in a lovely village called Kuciste.

The boys had a great time in the sun - you can see how in many ways, life with small children is easier in a hot climate next to the sea. You don't need to worry about clothes (Malik was in a nappy and nothing else for the duration; Kirin would alternate between wearing underpants, sandals, sunglasses and a hat and his swimming trunks, sandals, sunglasses and a hat) and much of our time was spent dipping into the amazing waters of the Adriatic. And, even nicer, they got to spend a bit of time with their cousin Chandra, pooha and phoofer, and we got to spend some time with Chandra and her mum and dad.

A smiling Malik and the Incredible Hulk

2008-06-23T21:58:00.006+01:00

It's been a tiring few weeks but we hope that Malik is starting to get a bit more used to life on the outside. He just got over a little cold and today he spent a lot of time smiling for his mummy. She even managed to get a picture of him doing it (if you look closely, you might see the little dimple on his left cheek).

"Please don't make me angry."

2008-06-10T21:16:00.000+01:00

One of the things we have a lot less of now than when Kirin was a baby is time. Back then, it felt like we didn't have any time to ourselves; now it feels like we had all the time in the world and it is a struggle to find a couple of minutes to ourselves without feeling that it would actually be better to get some sleep.

Having said that, we (i.e. Johanna because work is so busy that I rarely get home before the boys are asleep) are trying to establish a routine with little Malik. Baths are now a regular evening activity and the boys are enjoying hanging out in the water together. Malik seems to enjoy floating away and I thought this was a pretty cute pic, post-bath.

Cousins

2008-05-29T08:08:00.001+01:00

My parents are back from Sarajevo and Neena, Paul and their lovely daughter Chandra came for a quick visit, too. It's weird thinking of Kirin as the big kid of the group but he is.

It's a been a while

2008-05-18T20:32:00.006+01:00

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted, but if you thought time was hard to come by with one child try having two. I'm sure it will quiet down at some point but between Kirin, Malik, work and sleep, there hasn't been much time to post. So, here is a sort of picture essay of the last three and a bit weeks (in keeping with the ordering of a blog, from most recent to oldest).

"Malik wants to sit on my lap," Kirin told his mum this morning.

Mummy and her boys. The other day, I discovered that Johanna couldn't move after reading stories to the boys because they had both fallen asleep on her.

Dada and Dadi arrived to meet Malik for the first time. After a couple of weeks in Bosnia and Croatia with Neena, Paul and Chandra, they are coming back to London on Tuesday for a couple of weeks. Expect lots of pictures

Meet Malik (now 7lbs 10oz)

2008-04-30T20:46:00.004+01:00

Well folks, we have a name: Malik. It has been tough choosing one (it was tough last time but Kirin was our favorite by a long shot) but this is the only name that both Johanna and I liked. It is a Muslim name meaning "king" in Arabic. It's also a popular surname among aristocratic families in Pakistani Punjab (my family comes from Indian Punjab). Just as important, it satisfies the key criterion: a name that Indian that non-Indians can pronounce.

And finally, another contest: we still haven't decided a middle name so we looking forward to your suggestions in the comments.

PS - You will note a new link on the right on the page to Baby Guerrieri. This is the blog of Johanna's cousin Nicola and her husband Todd, who are expecting their first child on July 1st.

Tired, very, very tired

2008-04-23T08:08:00.006+01:00

Yesterday was Kirin's second day back at nursery since his little brother arrived on the scene. Because I am still on paternity leave, I was able to take him.

He woke up early (5:20am) and after a big breakfast of porridge, you would think he was ready for a big day. He enjoyed the session and when I walked him home, was happy to push himself along on his scooter. He got home, had lunch and then announced that he needed to go to the toilet. He was in there a long time (he usually lets us know when he is finished), so I suggested to Johanna that maybe she should check on him, just in case he had fallen asleep. She was incredulous ("I'm sure he hasn't") but opened the door to find son number one, snoozing on his potty.

I handed her the camera before she took him off to bed.

It's not all about number two

2008-04-18T22:31:00.005+01:00

You could be forgiven for thinking that this blog is all about the new baby. In truth, that was the kick in the butt needed to do some more posting, and Kirin is still the original star.

Today, Kirin and I left mummy to have a nap and spent the afternoon wandering around Bloomsbury and the British Museum. The highlight, for Kirin, was seeing the neo-Assyrian lions at the British Museum. Below is a pic he took of them. The highlight for me was seeing how excited his face was when we rounded the corner and saw his lions. I don't, unfortunately, have a pic of that.

Eyes and thumbs

2008-04-18T21:37:00.004+01:00

One of the inevitable realities of having a second child, is that you are constantly comparing him to the first, both in terms of whether they do the same things but also how you, as a parent, approach the whole experience.

At a week old, "Number two" seems to open his eyes more than I can remember Kirin doing and he is getting close to thumb sucking. More important, I managed to grab a lovely pic of him doing both.

On another note, thanks for your comments both offering answers to the logic behind the last post's title (correct answer: a combination of weights of our two little lovelies; most creative answer: Avtar's suggestion that it was the amount of weight I had lost through pacing during labour) and some ideas for names (the best beer title was from Derek, offering a brand from Calgary: "Big Rock" Mattu). We obviously have a clever set of friends of relatives.

Does he look like his big brother?

2008-04-14T22:11:00.002+01:00

Check out the archive and the first postings. They both have a lot of hair.

14lbs 2oz

2008-04-14T20:46:00.005+01:00

So, there you have it. You spend more time planning the last few weeks of pregnancy than any other period of time during the previous months - you will sort out your birth plan, pack your bag, get the house painted, make sure Kirin is as happy as can be for the momentous change about to be unveiled, get back into the pregnancy yoga that you loved so much last time, go through the new born baby clothes, get away for a few days before the chaos and relax - and then the baby decides to show up three weeks early.

We are still adjusting to life with two kids but so far, things are going as well as can be expected. Johanna is as amazing as ever. She delivered a breech baby completely naturally - a textbook breech delivery, the midwives said. And, crucially, Kirin is doing his best to understand how his world has been completely transformed and welcome his little brother into the family. It can't be a easy thing and he's been fantastically gentle. Watch out for a very cute video in the next few days, with some suggestions for names.

And finally, a prize for those readers who can guess the logic behind the title of this posting. Any thoughts welcome in the comments section below.

Even hippos like the park

2007-11-15T22:35:00.001Z

Johanna's delightful cousins in California (Nicola and Sarah) have reminded us that we haven't updated the blog for some time. In truth, we didn't need reminding but we did need a kick in butt to get some pics up here.

Life has been busy of late. Lots of work, lots of Kirin and not quite enough sleep. Kirin is growing up so quickly. His language has developed from imperatives to more and more full sentences. His physical abilities and sportiness are getting better and better - he watched me play volleyball the other day and was so excited ("That's my daddy!" he kept on exclaiming to Johanna) that he insisted on sleeping with a volleyball. And he's become a serial cuddler. It's great.

Hopefully we will be getting a new digital camera at Christmas so I endeavour to keep this site a bit more updated.

High art in Kew Gardens

2007-11-15T22:28:00.001Z

A few months ago, towards the end of summer, we made a trip to Kew Gardens. There is a fantastic exhibition of Henry Moore sculptures there, stuck out in the open for all to explore at close range and, in the case of children, climb all over. Happily, Kirin loved it.

Birthday smiles

2007-11-15T22:18:00.001Z

Kirin's second birthday (September 23rd) passed a couple of months ago with nary a posting on the blog. Here are a couple of pictures from the top of the Parliament Hill, after we fed the ducks and had a little walk in the park.

Here is a picture of Kirin on his birthday scooter. It is hard to explain just how impressive Kirin is on it. Notice how he is bending his knee as he pushes. Trust me, it requires more co-ordination than you would think a two-year-old kid could muster. But then, as the father, I would say that wouldn't I.

Peanut butter vs Marmite

2007-08-21T10:25:00.000+01:00

I probably don't need to explain the video. A (friendly) battle exists in multicultural households between parents, where each one hopes that their child will favour their own cultural habits. Well, the peanut butter/Marmite debate is a classic of the genre. Watch the video if you want to find out who, for the time being (kids are a notoriously fickle bunch), is in the lead.

More important, I think you will agree, it has been too long since I last updated the blog. In a snapshot, Kirin has been changing and developing so quickly in the past few weeks and months, that is hard to know where to start, so I will continue with the wonders of language development. A friend of mind recently suggested that now was the perfect time to read some Noam Chomsky, to experience the linguistic theory in real life. He's probably right but I haven't yet had time to read Chomsky, so we content ourselves with marvelling that Kirin knows so much more than we adults think they are.

Some recent highlights:

Letters - I discovered during a recent reading the literary classic, Dr Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book, that he knows far more of the letters than he was previously letting on. Notable markers included "P" and "Q". We have since starting doing a lot more singing of the ABC song, too.
Numbers - He can count to ten, with half decent consistency, in English and Punjabi.
Animals - Kirin has been able to identify the usual ones, such as dog, cat, cow, etc., but recently also pointed out a zebra (NB: he pronounces it in an English way).
Names - Not only does he know my name is Ravi, he now can also be heard saying "Johanna".
Sounds - Someone has taught him what a fart is. Not the most romantic notion that he manages to name anyone who does one, but I suppose it was inevitable.

The moral of the story: it is easy to underestimate, even for fantastically proud parents like us, just how impressive children are and how much they learn.

Buddies

2007-07-16T21:13:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago, we spent a week in Sweden with our good friends Hanna, Giovanni and Sandro. You may recall that in April 2006, we spent a few days with these guys in Italy at Giovanni's family summer house. Well, Hanna is Swedish and her dad has a summer house and... well, you get the idea.

Here are a few pics of the boys.

Sheep shifter

2007-06-20T23:44:00.000+01:00

Some recent developments:

Language - Kirin is picking up words so quickly now; every day, something new comes out of his mouth. Including: every time he sees a Mini, he points and says, "Mama car." (He even does this when we aren't around, with Laura, our shared nanny.); he can say please and thank you; he enunciates "water" in a clear, posh English accent; he helped me count to ten in Punjabi; today's new word was "dinosaur" (one of his favourite new books is called Dinosaur Roar); he still occasionally calls me "Rav" but mama is always mama.
Favourite words include: Izzy; Hanna; fast (said when running); peepee (Johanna has started potty-training); Rav.

Green thumbs, part two

2007-06-20T23:39:00.001+01:00

This is an example of Kirin being less helpful in the garden. Johanna's mum/Kirin's granny bought us a couple of lovely trees to plant which required digging a fairly deep hole, filling it with compost and planting. Kirin thought it would be a better idea to stand in the hole instead – but as you can see, he is trying to shovel some dirt in, too.

Green thumbs

2007-06-20T23:23:00.000+01:00

One of the real joys of our little flat in London is the garden. Johanna has been doing a great job of making it even lovelier by tidying it up and planting some new flowers and trees. Project number one has been replacing some ratty old grass with a new flowerbed.

As you might expect, Kirin appears to be on his way to becoming an avid gardener. He loves watering the plants and as you can see, he is also more than happy to help his mama add a little colour to the back yard.

NB, 1: See Paul, he's still wearing the hat.

NB, 2: If you are wondering what dangerous gardening tool he is holding in his hands, they are Mr Potatohead's glasses.

New experiences, part two

2007-06-05T07:11:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, we went to see Neena and Paul (pooaji and fuhfher respecitvely) in Sarajevo. And as I mentioned in the previous post, travel is about new experiences.

First, he finally decided to wear a hat. As any parent of a small child will agree, getting a little kid to cover his head to protect against the sun is next to impossible. But for some reason when Neena and Paul's landlord (who own a hat shop in the middle of town) gave Kirin this baseball cap, which is much less trendy than the ones we tried to put on his head, he loved it. I think it may have had to do with the fact that fuhfher was wearing his hat, too.

Second, he had his first professional haircut. In the past, Johanna has done a good job of chopping his fast-growing hair but it usually requires a few days of patient trimming; little boys aren't good at sitting still in one place for 15 minutes and when you have a pair of scissors near his head, that's not an ideal combination. Amazingly, he didn't seem too bothered this time. But once again, he may have been emulating his fuhfher who was sitting in the next seat getting a haircut, too.

New experiences

2007-06-02T10:16:00.000+01:00

One of the joys of travel is discovering the world beyond the daily life you inhabit. This is even more the case when travelling with a child. For Kirin, every day brings new experiences but there are certain things that it is simply not possible to do in London.

By way of explanation, the only way to get around in Paraty Mirim was by boat. Appropriately enough, the canoe at top was called a Canadian canoe. Amazingly, even though I was paddling, we didn't tip over once and Kirin seemed to enjoy canoeing across the bay. (We got him the cutest little life jacket, just in case.)

And, as has been noted on this blog before, Kirin loves fruit. Here's a pic of him enjoying a drink on Ipanema.

Brasil - paradise found

2007-05-20T21:30:00.000+01:00

Where to begin? Well, you all know our thoughts on Brasil - it really is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The music, the food, the beaches, the people, the style, the surfing... It a place that never ceases to wow us.

On this trip we discovered a new side to the experience: travelling with a child. Many of our friends had asked if we were taking Kirin with us on "honeymoon" (it seems such a funny term when you have been together for nine years, more in line with cans trailing off the back of a car leaving the church than the type of holiday we are used to) but we couldn't have imagined leaving him for two weeks. Why would anyone think that was a good idea?

But more important, travelling with Kirin is really nice. First, Brasil is the most child-friendly country you will ever encounter. Absolutely everyone seems to love kids and the whole society assumes that children are welcome everywhere and encouraged to have fun.

So, when we walked down the street Kirin was constantly getting smiles, kisses and cuddles. The word they would use is fofinho which is a sort of catch-all phrase suggesting that someone is too cute for words. It's true, the boy is gourgeous and finally getting to an entire country that recognised this was great for a pair of (proud) parents!

Beyond that, nowhere is off limits to kids. When we went to restaurants, the waitresses/waiters were also happy to play with him while we ate. When we went into shops, they found it hilarious when he would take all the shoes off the shelves. On the bus, no one seemed to mind that he was making a lot of noise or not sticking to his assigned seat. It's a sharp contrast to the UK, where you only go to certain restaurants because they are child-friendly and where some hotels still don't accept guests if they have children (our good friends Rich and Rachel had a nightmare finding somewhere to say when they came over for our wedding because they have a young child, Valentina).

It was also really interesting watching Kirin learn about a new place and new things: discovering the wonder of the tide (see the film in the previous post); enjoying the warm water of a tropical ocean; tasting mangoes, papayas, pineapples, passion fruit, and drinking straight from a coconut; wandering around a sandy beach; wearing sandals; swaying on a hammock; sitting in a canoe. He's at the age now where you can literally see him thinking things through, considering his decisions and weighing options. It's fascinating and wonderful.

Of course, the country itself still awes us. In Rio, we stayed with a lovely woman named Inia who treated us as though we were part of her family. And she and Kirin seemed to love each other (she even baby sat for us one evening, so Johanna and I could go out and check out one of our favourite restaurants).

In Paraty Mirim, a bay with little except for about ten houses, a wondrous bay and an idyllic beach. Our friend David Baker had a friend from Rio who lent us her weekend house there and we spent four nights in quiet paradise.

I could go on for ever but we are heading to Sarajevo to see Neena and Paul in about three hours and Johanna has suggested that I should maybe help with the packing and cleaning of the flat. Once again, she's right.

I leave you with this final thought: GO TO BRASIL. The only thing that would make it better would be to have all of our friends and family there with us. Perhaps we should organise a Brasilian wedding ceremony...

Follow your nose

2007-05-20T21:11:00.001+01:00

For the first time since our return from honeymoon, we have had a few minutes to think straight. Work has been insanely busy for me and, as the family's chief blogger, this has meant updating has not been very regular.

It has been more than a month since our wedding and this is the first photograph to make it onto the blog. We had had this great idea of how to involve Kirin: he and Suran, his cousin, would be our ring bearers and walk down the aisle with the bands in front of Johanna and her party. Kirin, however, had other ideas. As soon as he saw his mama outside of the hall, he insisted that she carry him - she (happily) obliged and he joined us at the front for the duration of the ceremony.

This picutre is just after the civil ceremony, when Johanna and I had sat down to sign the registry.

Kirin discovers the wonder of the tide

2007-04-25T22:51:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been an incredible few weeks. We got back from Brazil yesterday, so there has been little time to do much more than become reacquainted with our flat and British time zones. So, a longer post will follow in due course. But here's the short version: the wedding was an amazingly fun and beautiful day for all of us; the honeymoon was brilliant; and Kirin is now a master of futbol.

Enjoy this video taken in Paraty Mirim, a little slice of paradise where we spent some wondrous days. Here's a tip: make sure you have the sound on.

The whole world in his hands

2007-03-26T10:37:00.000+01:00

I wasn't sure whether this video was truly blogworthy but if Kirin's excited chatter and the air of (justified) self-congratulation at the end make it worthwhile.

On another note, congratulations to our friends Derek and Sandra who have just welcomed their second child, Anna, into the world. Click on the link to the Browler on the top right of the page if want to see her.

Working from home

2007-03-21T09:37:00.000Z

One of our recent discoveries is that Kirin is a great climber. Sofas, filing cabinets, small ladders, people. You name it, he will make find a way to scale it.

This picture was taken before I left for work yesterday. Johanna was checking her e-mail and Kirin was desperate to join her at the table. So, we set him up with his crayons and a notepad and he got on with his tasks for the day.

Seeing him like this makes me think that he is really turning from our little baby into a little boy.

Boots were made for walking

2007-03-16T18:53:00.000Z

A lot of comments have been made about Johanna's sartorial style, especially in the stripes and pyjama department. This may have trickled down to her son.

Kirin hasn't been feeling too well for the past couple of days - he has some sort of tummy bug - but after a fitful night, the first thing he wanted to do this morning was put on his boots. Did I mention that he is an international supermodel?

A helpful pair

2007-03-16T18:46:00.000Z

A little video from last week's sleepover (see post below). Their two mothers have obviously been training them well.

Kirin hosts his first sleepover

2007-03-12T21:36:00.000Z

On Saturday, Kirin hosted his first sleepover. This is Leon, who made his first appearance on this blog way back in January 2006. He is the son of our good friends Derek and Sandra and was the inspiration of the first baby blog we had ever seen, the Browler.

It was fun to see the two boys together and interesting to witness two such different personalities. It may have been that Leon was getting used to us but he is quite concentrated and quiet whereas Kirin is more of a chatterbox that is unable to sit still for long. Still, the two boys had a good time together hanging out in the garden and playing with the toys(actually, it's more like they revel in scattering them across the floor to cover as much floorspace as humanly possible - two kids can make a huge mess in a small flat).

In this picture, Kirin was happily showing Leon his favourite little "hideout", down by the fridge at the end of the utility room.

Kirin's media debut

2007-03-02T15:39:00.000Z

You try all of your life to become a journalist/media person and your son accomplishes it at the tender age of 17 months by appearing in a major international newspaper. How cool is that?

For the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a supplement for the Financial Times called "The Business of Fashion". The theme of the issue was shopping as politics, Bono's notion that there is a growing class of consumer that wants to buy products that are made in sustainable and ethical ways. It appeared in the paper today (click on the picture to enlarge it).

One designer who features prominently is Katharine Hamnett, who is famous for making T-shirts emblazoned with political slogans. She has recently created some new ones using organic cotton. One of them was a children's T-shirt and I thought it would be nice to have a kid to model it. Enter Kirin.

It was a bit tricky getting a half-decent picture of a toddler but this one worked out ok. If anyone wants a copy, I have about 50 at the office.

Finally, an old family friend, Nisha, and her husband Mark have created a baby blog of their own. Check it out here.

Music class, Lesson two

2007-02-24T09:27:00.000Z

Another picture from our visit to see Dave, Cath and Lola last weekend. I suppose kids naturally take to objects that make a noise, especially when they are able to press or pull something that causes the noise. Kirin first started tickling the ivories at Christmas at the Lethbridge house. My parents still have the same piano from our childhood. No one has played it for about 25 years and is it has remained horribly out of tune for ages. But my mum has always refused to sell it becuase on one of the piano legs, there are some teeth marks that I left by biting into it when I was very young. I can't quite remember the details but I think it was something to do with sitting at the feet of my brother or sister while they were practising.

Our son, the young Lothario

2007-02-19T11:55:00.000Z

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, Kirin is a serial cuddler. More recently, he has begun to develop into a bit of a smoocher, too. This is Lola, daughter of Dave and Cath, who will be a year old on February 27th. We visited them at the weekend and, as you can see, the two kids got on well. I should add that they were both encouraged by their very enthusiastic mothers.

Lovely gifts

2007-02-02T21:23:00.000Z

One of the first stuffed animals that Kirin has enjoyed playing with is Leapie, an Australian frog sent to him by Auntie Sarah. It was the first cuddly toy he really was ever interested in and it remains a favourite to this day.

He is also wearing another notable gift on his feet. When he was born, Auntie Sara in Vancouver sent over these lovey slippers which are made by a company based in north Vancouver. He started wearing them a lot at Christmas, when we were in Canada, and now loves them.

Music class

2007-01-22T13:02:00.000Z

As you will have noticed from a previous post, music - listening and playing - is something that will hopefully be a big part of Kirin's life. From an early age, he has been exposed to a lot of it. Jack Johnson used to be the music of choice for massage time and Bob Marley has already featured heavily. More recently, we have discovered that Kirin is preety keen on The White Stripes, too.

At Christmas, one of his gifts was a lovely little set of musical instruments (courtesy of granny) that includes a harmonica, kazoo, set of spoons, tambourine, egg shakers and a percussion instrument in the shape of a fish. Fortunately, it's one of those toys that will is able to entertain both mummy and son. And, it may also be inspiring Kirin to become a comedian.

Snow

2007-01-12T17:57:00.000Z

This photo (not a great pic but one of the few of the three of us) was taken on Boxing Day in Waterton Lakes National Park, which is about 90 minutes away from my parents in Lethbridge. This is a pretty quiet park compared to some of the others in the Rockies and in winter the place virtually shuts down, except for some hard-core back country skiers and the like.

Normally, there is a lot more snow on the ground but there was more than enough for Kirin to have a good time. Of course, judging by our facial expressions, you could be forgiven for thinking that the parents were enjoying it more than he was!

Islands in the Stream

2007-01-10T11:32:00.000Z

Country music. It's not quite not my bag but some of the folky/bluegrass stuff is pretty good (think Johnny Cash). Johanna, however, is a fan and is especially keen on Dolly Parton. So, the plan is for the two of us to sing "Islands in the Stream" at our next karaoke session. Until then, here is a clip of mummy and son practising their vocals and dance routine.

Christmas in Canada

2007-01-05T00:13:00.000Z

It's 12:30am and jetlag leads me to think about updating the blog.

The little video above is of Kirin and his three-year-old cousin Suran (the daughter of my brother Sunil and his wife Rehana, who live just outside of Calgary). Johanna (and Sunil?) was decorating the tree and these guys were endeavouring to untangle one of the rows of beads. It was a long process. And yes, Kirin is saying "Mama" on seeing Johanna. Incidentally, he also says mama when looking at the cats, our friend's dog Louie and, occasionally, me.

I have to admit, I was a little worried that Suran wouldn't take to Kirin; she is used to being the only grandchild (although she has a new, four-month-old brother called Yash) and I wasn't sure she would be too keen on sharing the limelight. Well, fortunately, I was wrong - Suran is a precocious, cute and curious little girl, and these two were inseparable for the entire two weeks. It was beautiful to watch them playing together and she was wonderfully sweet with him. One day, we went to see some family friends and she introduced him to Sonal by putting her hand on his shoulder and saying in her small, lispy voice: "This is my friend, Baby Kirin."

Sufice to say, we had a great time with the family. I really missed not having my sister around but we still managed to enjoy lots of good food, much wine (mostly Sunil's impressive homemade vintage), many early nights and a fair bit of playing in the snow. Will post more pics when I get a chance, including some shots of the kids on their sleds.

One final note, our good friends Auntie Sarah and Uncle Scott became proud parents in October to little Max and have created their own blog to show him off. Click here to check him out.

Happy new year!

A serial cuddler

2006-12-13T15:36:00.000Z

Although you might not guess it from Kirin's facial expression, he is a very keen cuddler (or as we would say in North America, hugger). One of my great joys is coming home from work, poking my head round the door, and seeing Kirin run over to me with his arms stretch ready for a hug. Recently, he has even starting patting my back in a reassuring way, much like I have always done to him since he was born.

In this picture, Kirin is cuddling his little cousin Olivia, who is the daughter of one of my Sidhu cousins, Gurbukshaw (but goes by the nickname of Kaka, meaning little one) and Lee. They came to visit us a few weeks ago when Pooaji (she's in the background) and Uncle Paul came to visit from Sarajevo.

The other day, however, Kirin's cuddling got the better of him. From Monday to Wednesday, when he is with nanny Tracy and the other two boys (four-year-old Charlie and his little brother two-year-old Ollie), one of his favourite activities is chasing Charlie and hugging or jumping on him. Charlie is usually pretty sweet with Kirin, but after one long day, he couldn't take it any more and, in the desperate voice of a sweet and exhausted child, pleaded to Tracy: "I can't cuddle him any more. I'm tired and I just gave him a cuddle. Please let me have a break."

Suffocating by love.

Has it really been five months?

2006-12-04T21:13:00.000Z

Okay, okay. I know what you are all thinking. What happened to 7pounds14? Has Kirin stopped having those wonderful little adventures of life that gave us readers a bit of daily joy? Has his dad finally found a real job that doesn't allow him to blog when in the office?

Well, the honest truth is that it's been a hectic few months - yes, it really has been that long since the last post - so, here is the Coles notes view of Kirin's life since June 30th (in the voice of Kirin):

July 6th - Flew to Victoria, BC for Pooaji's wedding. The flight was fine (I impressed everyone by not crying and being pretty cute for over 12 hours). The wedding on July 8th was great. I spent most of it playing with my big cousin Suran, and taking things out of my mum's handbag for the duration of the ceremony.

July 12th - Went to Vancouver, to visit a lot of our closest family friends: Auntie Sara, Uncle Michael and Cole and Oliver; Uncle Neil (no pics - sorry Neil); and Uncle Andrew and Auntie Sally.

July 14th - To Alberta, for a few weeks with the Mattu side of the family. Spent most of our time in Calgary and Lethbridge. Among the highlights: going up the stairs at dada and dadiji's house in Lethbridge; chasing Blue and Jack (Suran's cats); seeing the parade through Bragg Creek; going to the Calgary Stampede and the T'suu Tina Annual Rodeo and Pow-Wow.

July 30th - Fly to Montreal, to meet dad (he had to go back to London for a week of work). Spend a few days there before heading down to Toronto and London for Uncle Verb's wedding.

August 2nd - Fly back to London.

Since being back, there has been little let up in the pace of things (back to the voice of dad). First, Johanna and I settled on a date for our wedding: April 7th 2007, here in London. So, for those of you whom we haven't yet told (sorry) please start planning.

Then, there was an important date to celebrate: Kirin's birthday on September 23rd. Has it really been a year? It's hard to believe but yes, it has. It was a great day, and lots of friends and family joined us for a barbecue in our garden - masala lamb chops, my Auntie Bimla's tandoori chicken, champagne, friends and family and lots of sunshine. Unfortunately, this meant we didn't take too many photos, but we did manage to have a good time and enjoy ourselves.

Life has started to approach some normality. Johanna went back to work the week after Kirin's birthday and, after taking some time to settle, he seems to be enjoying himself. We share a nanny with another family down the road for the three days when Johanna is at work. They have two little boys - aged four years and 20 months - who both seem to be treating Kirin very well. The nanny is a lovely woman called Tracy who does lots of things that we do - talking a lot to the kids, reading them stories, and doing her best to engage them. Kirin seems to love them all.

The latest adventure has been one of the most exciting. About a week after Kirin's birthday, the three of us were hanging out in the lounge. Kirin was about a metre away, standing at the table, when he decided to make his way over to us. The difference is that this time he walked. It was only about three steps but it was the first time we had seen him consciously take a few steps to get somewhere rather than plonking himself on all fours and zooming across like a wolf cub. Now, of course, he is speeding around like no tomorrow. It's fantastically cute but you start to realise that your baby is growing up and, despite how immeasurably happy that makes me feel, there is a tinge of sadness at the end of his babyhood.

Now, we are getting ready for Christmas. We bought a tree last week. Kirin hasn't knocked it down, but he has managed to take off various bits of decoration and hide them under bits of furniture. Rather more significantly, the three of us are heading to Canada on December 18th until January 2nd. It will be nice to smell the cold prairie air, see the mountains again and, above all, to spend some time with the family and meet our new nephew Yash (Sunil and Rehana's new son). It has only been a few months since we were there for Neena's wedding, but when you have the development of a young child as a sort of gauge of progress, you realise how much things can change even in a short space of time. And you realise how hard it must be for a parent to be far away from their own children and grandchildren.

Now that I have got this post out of the way, I will try to post a bit more regularly. I actually had a better written version of this all ready to go, but my computer crashed just before I published and I lost it all. Hope you enjoy the second version.

Peekaboo

2006-06-30T11:41:00.000+01:00

This is what I miss when I am at the office. It's a bit hard to see but you will get the idea.

Fresh air and Hrundi V Bakshi

2006-06-27T20:00:00.000+01:00

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago in our garden. It has been about a year since moved in to this flat but we have only had the opportunity to take advantage of the garden in the past few weeks. The weather wasn't very good last summer; for the early part of this one, it was pretty wet and cold.

Happily, a few days of sunshine and serious heat finally appeared in June and we have been getting outside as much as possible, in the garden, the parks or the playground. The big reason, of course, is Kirin. However much we adults yearn for a little bit of outdoor space, it must be even nicer for a little person to be able to crawl around, touch the grass and get some fresh air on his skin (as fresh as it can be in a megacity like London). The first time was back in April when we went to Italy and hopefully the weather will be good in Canada, too.

Kirin's latest trick is to turn over on to his tummy when you are trying to change his nappy. It's a bit like that moment in The Party, the movie where Peter Sellers plays Hrundi V Bakshi, a hapless Indian who causes a lot of mayhem at a glamorous Hollywood party. Bakshi unwittingly gets drunk and dives into the pool. The other guests try to help him by finding a set of dry clothes, but when the western star Wyoming Bill Kelso tells him to get out of his wet ones, Bakshi replies in his strong Indian accent, "You take your clothes off, naughty man!", proceeds to squirm out of Kelso's grip and then starts bouncing up and down on the bed. Well, that's pretty much what Kirin does these days, so you have to be quick.

***

On another note, Uncle Sameer has helpfully offered a short history of the word Kirin. We included a short description of the Indian origins in the original post of this blog and here is the cross-border, international version.

As a regular reader of your blog, Sir, I feel that there has been precious little attempt to give some Kirin context... I am hereby attempting to redress that balance.

Wikipedia on Kirin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirin

Which leads us to Wikipedia on Qilin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

Here's where the Giraffe Theory gets a proper airing, and we find out, for one, that:

"The Qilin is the lord of all beasts or hairy creatures"

Which is no news to Ravi at 5am.

Then we find out that Kirin is actually Manchuria:

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9117324

or is it Mishra?

http://www.saraswatiriveryoga.com/kirinbiopage.htm

The Canadians won't be left out:

http://www.kirin-studio.com/

But surely the most unexpected connection is:
Norwegian Kirin
William Copeland, credited as the founder of Japan's first beer brewery Kirin Breweries, was a Norwegian.

01/05/2006 :: The Spring Valley Brewery, forerunner to the now famous Kirin Brewery, was founded in 1870. Foreign immigrant William Copeland had discovered a spring in the hillsides over Yokohama and quickly recognised its potential. Japan had only just opened its borders to the outside world, and though the country already had a beer brewery, it was not doing well. The existing brewery was also foreign run but Copeland realised that bitter western beer needed attuning to Japanese palates, and his product was an instant hit.
Copeland was a registered American citizen, but had in fact emigrated from Norway as an adult. His birth name was Johan Martinius Thoresen, born 1834 in Aust Agder. Before leaving his home country, he received practical training at Arendal Bryggeri, experience that proved handy in his later life.

There have been speculations about the Kirin name, some claiming it is a spin-off on the common Norwegian female name Karin. Karin was supposedly a close acquaintance of Copeland. However, due to various reasons Copeland went bankrupt in 1884, leaving him in personal financial ruin. Japan Brewery Company purchased Spring Valley, and it was Japan Brewery Company that later changed its name to Kirin. Nonetheless, Kirin still credits Copeland as company founder and the father of Japanese beer. A memorial to the Norwegian adventurer stands on the original factory grounds, and an annual remembrance day is held in his honour.

And finally, more Kiriniana: http://www.googlism.com/index.htm?ism=kirin&type=1

Crawling

2006-06-23T09:05:00.000+01:00

It's the moment every parents waits for - movement on all fours or crawling. After weeks of trying, Kirin finally managed to get all four limbs working together and is now zooming all over the place. It's pretty fun to see him motoring around but it also changes the whole parenting thing. You can't really leave him on his known now, for fear that he will pick up something he isn't supposed to - rule number one of being a child seems to be that you must find the most dangerous item around, such as an electric cable or sharp object, and put it in your mouth.

Having said that, it is also very cute. If you are in the next room and call him, you will soon hear a little plodding - those are his hands hitting the floor - and in a few minutes, a little face with a toothy grin will appear around the corner.

The boy is growing up.

More firsts

2006-06-12T09:24:00.000+01:00

Kirin has started crawling. Unfortunately, we haven't yet managed to shoot a video of him doing it. So, here's the next best thing. He started to pull himself up at the start of last week, and has been motoring around the flat since Friday. This video is a bit slow and don't worry - he didn't hurt himself...

Vamos Brasil!

2006-06-06T20:48:00.000+01:00

In celebration of the World Cup, a little mention of Brazil seemed appropriate.

We bought this basket in Manaus, in the Amazon. It was an absolute nightmare to transport - we were only a few days into our trip, it didn't fit into overhead cabins very well (we didn't want it to get ruined in the hold), and I ended up having to carry it on planes, trains and automobiles around the country. But it has proved very handy as our new laundry basket.

Last weekend, I found myself holding Kirin and having to put the clothes in the washing machine. So, it seemed the obvious solution. I can't quite figure out if he is happy to see his mum or just enjoys the tenuous connection to Brazil. I wonder where he could have inherited that from?

A toothy grin

2006-06-06T19:38:00.000+01:00

My friend Sara has recently started her own blog, and like us, she sees it as a good means of showing off a gourgeous son - Cole who will be two years old in a few months - and giving some sense of what life is like as a new-ish parent. Sara recently wrote about "firsts" - those milestones in life that every parent (and grandparent) marks down as progress: "First tooth, first smile, first burp..."

A lot of early parenthood (all parenthood?) is a celebration of firsts. I think we see them as a sort of affirmation that, however tiring or hard things might be, we are at least doing some things right.

Kirin's most exciting first of recent weeks has been the first tooth, which is largely why it has been so long between posts. I wanted a picture of him smiling with the tooth on display but it's not that easy to get a snap of him with his mouth open in just the right way. Johanna accomplished it last weekend and just to prove that the tooth really exists, I enlarged the mouth.

PS - Just before he went to bed this evening, he did a little crawl before going to bed. Now if we time it right, the next video might be...

Kirin goes to Thailand

2006-06-01T07:25:00.000+01:00

Winner of this week's Best Supporting Blogger award goes to Auntie Sarah, who recently took Kirin to Thailand. I think she says it best:

"Picture the scene... you are best chums for 18 years (eek!), you have
a baby and your friends go MAD.

How do you like these pictures of our holiday to Thailand? Rav-ster
with your fantastic writing skills I am sure you can do these justice
on Kirin's blog. Hope you get a bloody good laugh out of these - we did taking them.

It's in Koh Samui, nice venue huh?"

Nice indeed, especially as we are still wearing sweaters and winter jackets here in London.

Journeys

2006-05-18T21:33:00.000+01:00

When you grow up in small town Canada, long car journeys are part of the experience. The first family car I can remember is a brown, Pontiac Catalina (I think). In typical North American fashion, it was huge with official seat space for six but probably enough room to fit in 10 fairly comfortably.

Sunil and Neena, my brother and sister, would sit in the back and I, the baby of the family, would be sandwiched between my mum and dad in the front. For a little kid, it was a good place to be especially when I felt sleepy. I would lie down, put my head on my dad's lap while he was driving and head off to a dreamy paradise.

Kirin seems to like the car, too. He usually falls asleep pretty quickly or amuses himself with his dog (the green thing in his hand). But as he grows older and increasingly curious, you get the sense he is keen to face forwards both to see what we are doing and to check out the world the right way round. Having been on a train facing the wrong way, I have to say that I can't blame him.

Ambitious

2006-05-12T09:35:00.000+01:00

It is pretty safe to say that most people tend to think the dirtiest part of parenthood is the nappy/diaper issue. But one revelation is that, in fact, it's what happens at the other end that really makes things messy.

Kirin has been eating solid food for a couple of months, and the older he gets the trickier it becomes. First, he is more easily distracted these days which means getting the food into his mouth can be difficult. You end up playing games with him and when he opens his mouth to put a toy in, you quickly stick in a spoon of porridge or yoghurt. Second, it gets all over the place. If I get home from work after the evening meal, the immediate area around the high-chair looks a bit like a college bar after closing time.

Yesterday, Johanna took care of Sandro and Kirin for a few hours and, incredibly, decided to feed both of them at the same time. Even more impressive, it all went rather smoothly.

To soothe or not to soothe?

2006-05-11T13:33:00.000+01:00

An early dilemma for new parents is whether or not to use a soother. It may be a UK debate, but there seem to be two schools of thought: a soother can become a dependency that eventually causes teeth to deform and, when you child gets older, is hard to break; using a soother helps your baby sleep.

For us, the decision was a pretty easy one to make because Kirin has never taken the soother. Instead, he usually prefers sucking on his right forearm when nodding off to sleep.

In the past couple of days, however, he seems to have found a sort of middle ground in the great debate. He has decided that a soother is a fun toy - easy to hold and fun to chew on. This pic was taken this morning.

BTW, if you are wondering why he looks a little teary-eyed and his nose looks a bit messy, it's the cold he's been fighting for the past couple of days.

Finding your feet

2006-05-10T10:01:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I updated the blog for a few reasons. First, we have been really busy between work and play of late. Second, Kirin has had a cold for the past couple of days which means the opportunities to show him in all his cute-ness have been rather few and far between.

So, how about another video? This was taken at Easter in Italy, a little clip of Kirin and his buddy Sandro. Just to remind you, Sandro is two months younger and is kind of bobbing because his mum is a dancer and he's got rhythm. It's a bit long - I haven't quite figured out how to edit - but personally, I can look at my son all day.

*******

Finally, I had an article in the FT yesterday about a new genre of film rooted in south Asian Diasporas. Most bizarre, a talk radio host on WABC in the US read it and now wants to interview me. How weird is that? I will let you know if anything materialises and when the show might be on.