soo..... in january this year my parents booked our trip to lagos, nigeria for christmas! baby judah wasn't born yet but his screaming spot on the plane had been reserved.

fast forward 11 months and mama was busy running around getting all the last minute bits together for the trip.if  you are black and reading this you know that is a lie. my mama was just starting. it was as if she just booked a last minute ticket! ok fine - somewhere in between is the truth....she kinda packed at the end of summer as she put our stuff away. then she relaxed and suddenly panicked when there was a week to go. cos that's just how she rolls. why write that important uni essay in week 2 of the term when you can work on it solidly in the last week of term with back to back cans of red bull?

anyhoo, we made it out of the UK with 6 suitcases. yes. 6. plus 4 pieces of hand luggage. no, we haven't relocated. mama said we actually travelled light. we were allowed another suitcase & she would've happily filled it had we actually been in possession of one.

i woke up early - ok, i was woken up after 4 hrs sleep. i had stayed up to watch the spectacle that was mama, daddy & my uncle Taz trying to weigh & rebalance the suitcases. my daddy did not want any drama at the check in desk. no moving of shoes from one suitcase to the other whilst onlookers marvel at the contents of said suitcases -"did I just spot a pack of sausages in there?! hope she isn't going to australia - she'll be on Banged up Abroad or Nothing to Declare!". none of that. and no wearing of five coats as there is nowhere to put them. none of that said mama. nobodys got time to be looking like a pimp at heathrow. so i watched, got bored and decided to open one of my christmas presents from my cousins toluwa & tobani....because I could.

so yes, i was rudely woken up but i was excited. nothing could dampen the excitement of getting on an aeroplane!that was until I got downstairs and we opened the door. "where is the aeroplane?" i asked. daddy explained that he isn't bill gates, at least not yet, and that we'd be going to an airport. hmm...in peppa pig they walked out of the door and next thing they were in the sky. is daddy pig bill gates?

anyhoo, airport was fun. i rode my brand new trunki suitcase whilst mama proudly took in all the "aww she's so cute!" and "how adorable!" comments I got.

the plane journey was a breeze for me. i watched a bit of. cbeebies then slept. there was a distinct lack of peppa pig but other than that it was a good flight. baby judah on the other hand seemed to have come prepared to make his presence felt. whilst mummy was trying to make a mental list of all the things she'd packed in her suitcase incase she needed to make a claim(yes, she was!) - baby judah decided to strike. he wailed in his sleep and then slept off again. this was repeated a few times on the 6 hour flight but my parents didn't get flustered. they had decided they were going to have a stress free journey...and despite judah's best efforts, they did. we were de-layered upon arrival and as we left the plane a local lady stopped mama and said "ah! have you not dressed this baby?!" mama smiled and explained that he had a short romper on. the lady heaved a sigh of relief and said "ah! thank God o! It's cold!". mama rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, and wiped the sweat off her brow as she walked into the humid airport. "welcome to Lagos!", she said as I scooted on my trunki.

ps:  incase you are wondering...yes, I've taken to calling my mummy "mama".

Disclaimer: the airport check in events mentioned in the text may or may not have happened to people we may or may not know. if it happened to you...then it's definitely coincidental. definitely.

xoxo

SO after the last post mummy sat me down to point out that there actually isn't a glamorous side to parenting....well, except the glossy pictures we take just before me or baby Judah mess up our clothes. mummy went on to tell me a few things that will never make it onto a magazine cover but are actually a more accurate image of parenting:

1 - the after-effects of the super-poo that goes all the way up the baby's back

2 - the face of a mum who has been up entertaining someone who thinks it's perfectly ok to wake up for a little play at 3 in the morning.

3 - the face of the same mum during teething season (in our household this began when Judah was 8 weeks old and has carried on with no teeth in sight...)

4 - the face of an inconsolable screaming baby

5 - parent bent over the bathtub cleaning up after baby has relaxed in the warm water & done her best to gross you out

6 - mum doing what only a mum can do to unblock her baby' s nose when it's blocked and the man-made contraption isn't working....

i stopped mum there because i'd like you guys to come back and visit this blog! mummy often likes to delve into the joys of labour & childbirth but again, i somehow managed to sidestep that one. so there you have it, far be it from me to ever mention that parenting is glamorous.

here is mummy a few weeks ago before it got really cold - she is currently obsessed with spots!

.

 what mummy wore:

shorts - zara (out of stock)

jumper - h&m 

shoes - topshop (old)

bag - river island (old)

xoxo

just when mummy thought motherhood couldn't get anymore gross and humbling, i pushed her to the edge with two words:

POTTY TRAINING.

so, you're probably wondering where we've been....

no, we haven't been on a fantastic trip to dubai - that was my friend hannah. Nor are we on a weeks break in the Lake District surrounded by beautiful nature with the gentle rush of the streams providing a serene soundtrack. no, that would be another little friend of mine whose name I shall not mention - you know who you are! nope, we've been here all this time. me generally keeping mummy very well exercised (she needs it, she went to London the other day and had aching muscles the next day from climbing up & down escalators - do not be fooled by her skinny legs: unfit.com). i have other ways of raising and lowering her heart rate: some days she'll find me on the window sill having navigated my way onto there via bean bag and bench, on other days she finds me in little judah's cot - i'll generally be standing in there winding up his mobile. the first time she found me there she went light brown from shock.

anyway, to bring you up to speed here is a list of things i am currently enjoying doing:

1 - still stripping down to my panties as soon as i get into the house.

2- licking mummy and daddy's face/ears because...well, it's fun

3- telling mummy "that's a good idea" whenever she tells me what she's about to do

4 - telling daddy " how about we read my story first?", whenever he suggests something for me to do at bedtime

5 - kissing and cuddling baby judah and telling him i love him because i do

6 - modelling! oh yes - i got to be a little model in our kids church brochure! i had so much fun and looked straight into the camera & said "cheeeeeeeese!" - mummy trained me well! if we get access to the images mummy says i can share them with you.

as you can see i have been extremely busy lately.

mummy has been acting busy too, claiming that motherhood of two is a shock to her system. her hair regularly looks like she's been electrocuted and so she runs around in a beanie hat most of the time.  everyday is like a manic monday in our house at the moment - we somehow make it out of here looking normal but trust me, one peek inside and you'll think you got the wrong address. i better get back to business - mummy's just cleaned the mirrors - perfect for a little lick and finger printing.

i wore:

top & leggings - zara

baby judah wore:

knitted top & trousers- zara

mummy wore:

jacket - river island

shorts & sweater - zara

necklace - accessorize

shoes - pied a terre

bag - mulberry

p.s- the pictures were taken by my uncle taz who has a fab new blog dedicated to natural hair. check it out here

xoxo

we promised to show you the rest of our pics and here they are! these were actually taken a few weeks ago, in early september. they were done at painshill park which is where mummy and daddy had their wedding reception 5 years ago. it was a fun day, generally consisting of a very patient aunty maja, a "feed me seymour!" baby judah, and as for me, i was quite happy throwing stones into the lake and chasing the ducks! daddy had the job of keeping me from falling into the lake whilst mummy tried to keep up with judah's milk demands.

mummy's hair was looking a little rustic - she says it's in keeping with the rustic feel of the location. yeah - pull the other one mummy. i saw her freaking out when she initially realised she'd forgotten to tie her hair back. oh well, now she says the pictures convey "an imperfect beauty" which is what family is all about. as she continues in her english lecture i pretend to listen but really i'm thinking of how i can go back and watch peppa pig in peace. i know, let me do a wee right here...

p.s a very special thanks to the beautiful aunty maja for the awesome pictures. see more of her work at:

blueberriesandthings

xoxo

so, i had a small "big chop" around November last year. I say small as really there wasn't much there to chop off. mummy says my hair was happily growing on the sides only and threatening to make me look like wolverine. not on her watch. she chopped those flyaway hairs and began to anticipate the sudden onslaught of a full head of afro hair. 5 days later there was still nothing and she fell to her knees in prayer. ok...slight exaggeration. it did feel like she was rushing into my room everyday to check on progress. a few months passed by and it seemed that i was destined to look like wolverine's lovechild as the same areas began producing hair again! only this time, the hair had brought more friends along with it. the front centre section was still as bald as a football pitch in the zimbabwean rural areas. mummy was distressed. in this same hour of distress, her friends were popping out babies whose hair was so full and thick it seemed my hair had been given to whoever was to follow  as a bonus.

mummy thought about all the wonderful things she had imagined doing with my hair, when it  suddenly occurred to her that she could actually do something. she'd seen a quote: start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. that, my friends, was the end of my hair's free, gypsy-like existence. mummy began to treat my head as though it were full of thick afro hair. she started giving me weekly conditioning washes and tended to each strand. one day she noticed that my hair had actually begun to fill out and i could have little bunches. that was the guillotine well and truly down on my wild and free days. my hair has actually come a long way and i am now getting more nervous about what is to come. i've heard mummy chatting to her friends about the "stretching comb" and the use of vaseline and sometimes even butter to pretty much, fry that hair straight!

it seems the stretching comb was all the rage in my mummy's pre-teen years. she and her cousins would take it in turns to sit on the kitchen chairs and crisp out that hair! after one such stretching comb session mummy's aunt said  "you look like a bird! is it really that desperate mwanangu (my child)?" you see, her hair had been chopped quite short as it had gone ginger from relaxers (to be fair mummy's hair is quite brown and goes ginger in the sun without much help - except the time she put lemon juice in it as an experiment. but i digress). this same aunt pointed out that only prostitutes had ginger hair (black prostitutes that is) - and so she chopped it off with the fervour only witnessed on edward scissorhands. on that same day, on the way to sunday school, a local boy decided to point out that her hair looked like it was a stairway. she acted like she didn't care and  continued to walk, looking like a kingfisher basted in butter and slow roasting in the Zimbabwean sunshine.

all i ask is that i never have to have butter in my hair and a hot metal comb that's been heated on a stove near my head.

xoxo

hi there! i figured it was about time i got back in the game. we need some testosterone up in here! even my uncle lekan was complaining that i haven't been on in a while!

well, i am now 3 months and 3 weeks old. i have grown a lot since you last saw me, that is unless you follow my mummy on instagram in which case i haven't changed much since Friday! personality-wise...i'm a pretty chilled out kind of chap. i like to take things easy - unlike my little big sis who is like a mini hurricane these days. she tries to come and rough handle me, sneaking in a cheeky bite here and there. well...i am just biding my time. she sees me with my wobbly head and little legs and thinks she's the queen bee. well, i'm just watching and learning. i'm drinking as much milk as i can and have already shocked the doctor with my rapid growth.  yes, little big sis - mummy and daddy keep warning you. uncle taz was shorter than mummy once.....thats all i'm saying.  better get ordering those gravity boots - you are going to need them!

here i am throwing some shapes in my bouncer! i got better moves than jagger!

me enjoying the only bubbly i can...for now!

what i wore:

picture 1

navy cord trousers - zara

maroon cardi - zara

shoes - mamas & papas (from my aunty tolu)

picture 2

cardi - zara

trousers - mamas & papas

picture 3

me - created by God on a very good day!

p.s - incase you are wondering if  i've already been dabbling in some skin lightening cream, i actually had a horrible bout of eczema. thankfully  after much shea butter and baby aveeno, it is clearing up now. i guess there was a bit too much fineness going on all at once...watch out world, i'm back!

ciao!!

soooo....

we are looking to move to a house. mum is extremely excited about this prospect - i'm not sure why as it seems a house is bigger than this flat which she moans about cleaning. anyway, this prospective house move caused my parents to step up their school selection for me as this is a big factor in deciding where we move to. mummy wanted to move to bath just to live in a bath stone house but daddy soon brought her back down to earth!

on monday mummy and daddy decided to take me along to visit one of their shortlisted schools. as i am currently being potty trained  they were slightly on edge - this was not the time for me to have an accident. daddy was watching me like a hawk, whilst mummy attentively took in all that the headteacher had to say.

after what seemed to me like a cross country walk around this school we finished off in the headteachers office. i had by this point had enough and as the headteacher said "make yourself comfortable", i proceeded to start pulling my pants down. daddy immediately asked if i needed a wee to which i responded in the negative. i did not wish to have a wee, i just wanted to be comfortable - and these days, comfort involves running around with no trousers on. mummy tried to remain calm, and asked if i'd like to sit on her lap. yes i did, but with no pants on thanks! it was one of those mini tug of war moments as i willed my pants down and mummy pulled them up whilst the headteacher looked on amused and daddy clutched baby Judah. i finally gave in distracted by the headteacher who mentioned biscuits and saved mummy and daddy the horrors i had planned for them that morning.

we left the school with my parents dignity just about intact, and me munching on a custard cream. they should have known really...i refuse to wear my pyjama bottoms to bed and as soon as i get home, i take my shoes off and immediately remove my pants, preferring to run around bare-bottomed. i am 2 years and 3 months, i know my mind!!

xoxo

so...

it looks like little judah and i have a lot of updating to do. you would not believe all the dumb things our mummy has managed to do in the last few weeks. she blames it on "baby brain", a condition she says is induced by pregnancy and motherhood. she says it needs to be officially recognised and sufferers compensated by their spouses....with shiny glittery objects or high value leather goods. as she continues telling me of her plan to perhaps start a charity to support sufferers, i'm busy writing on my chalkboard and noting all her crazy acts of late.

•  in the post titled 2028 - i told you my mummy had said that was the year my brother would turn 18. Well, are we in the year 2010? no? well, thats what i thought. mummy's lost her maths brain. just yesterday she was declaring that in 8 years time little judah would be 6. #truestory #backtoschoolmum

•  judah tells me that he was most embarrassed 4 weeks ago when mummy dragged him to john lewis to go and report some issues she was having with her new bugaboo pram since converting from a bassinet to reclining seat. for some reason, the seat recliner appeared to be missing from the seat frame. mummy had dragged my super fashionista aunty adenike with her. she explained all the things that had gone wrong with the pram much to the dismay of the staff who were attentive in true John Lewis fashion. they noted down all her grievances and told her they were ringing bugaboo immediately as this had never happened before. mummy & aunty nikky left and returned in a couple of hours to find a mini congregation of the nursery team crowded around her list of issues. they informed her that bugaboo wanted to open a case & inquiry as this had never happened before and may result in possible product recalls. little judah was awoken from his happy nap as the staff began to prepare the pram to be photographed. next thing, mummy was called over by a senior staff member who pointed out that mummy had infact put the fabric onto the frame the wrong way round. as mummy's face turned from a chocolate brown to a deep aubergine, the lady proceeded to cross everything else off the list as it all stemmed from this one mishap. as it soon became clear to the other staff members that there was nothing to see anymore, people went their way and aunty adenike tried to cool mummy down by assuring her it could happen to anyone. (without a brain maybe!). so now mummy has been making any john lewis purchases online.

oh mummy - and you look so normal....sigh.

we took those pictures after church and just before our swimming lesson! didn't i tell you? judah & i have started our lessons now. when mummy told me i was so excited & said "yay mummy! swimming with dolphins!". mummy's face fell as she realised she had given birth to someone with higher expectations than her own.

what i wore:

shorts, tights, cardi, blouse -  zara

shoes - pediped

what mummy wore:

dungarees, top & bag (all old season)- zara 

shoes (old season)- kurt geiger

xoxo

that's the year little Judah will be 18. how do i know? well...

last week opened with an upbeat mummy, happily considering dad's proposal to one day have another baby. she had been stalking jools oliver (wife to jamie oliver) on instagram. the sight of their 4 happy kids generally enjoying life together was definitely making mummy think this 3 kids thing might not be such a bad idea.  by the end of monday, mummy was not quite as upbeat as she was at the beginning but remained optimistic as she took in a picture of the Oliver kids swimming in their pool looking healthy from eating all their home-grown food. she went to bed dreaming of her own mansion with pool plus garden patch to grow pumpkins et al.

tuesday and wednesday were meant to be her days of rest & me-time as i go to nursery. however as i'd decided that monday night & tuesday night would be my up-all-night-ers, mummy was in zombie mode & slowly the once brightly colourful picture of 3 kids was slightly fading. wednesday night mummy decided to plan how she'd entertain me on thursday and friday. upon looking at the weather forecast was shocked to find that not only was it going to be 29C on thursday, but that that was the last day of summer. she begged daddy to take us to the seaside, explaining that i was probably the only child who thought the beach was a place on the tv show peppa pig.

we went to the sea side, i built sandcastles, baby judah dipped his toes in the water, i swam in the sea with daddy. we even had a bbq on the beach! mummy says you haven't lived till you've tried sand-infused bbq sausages - i decided to pass. it was fun all round. mummy's dream of 3 kids was slowly being infused with colour again. thursday was a happy day.

friday however was not. as the temperature nose-dived to 18C, so did any chance my dad had of seeing that dream of 3 coming to pass. by the time i'd run rings around my mum, refused to nap in the afternoon, joined little judah in a who can scream louder contest and generally been a wind up all day, mum was checking out long term/permanent contraceptive solutions.  before bed, she checked her instagram and saw the Oliver kids bouncing around looking happy & healthy as usual. well, nobody posts pictures of tantrums she said to herself & told her uterus to stop skipping.  when would she be free again, she wondered. 2026, I'll be 18. and 2028 so will baby Judah. She was excited until she realised how old she would be. better start enjoying these moments mum! you wont be 30 forever! (fine....so mum isn't 30 any-more but i've got to get her back onside - i don't want to be sent to boarding school).  she says she's not far off 30 so i'm not lying. she just coughed.

hmmm..

xoxo