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!

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 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