Maximilian

I went to Austria for Christmas this year. I was really excited about Christmas Eve. In Austria they don’t have Father Christmas. Christkindl (Little Jesus) is bringing the presents instead. He accidentally rang a little bell when he came into our house. I immediately ran into the living room, but he was already gone. He left behind a candle lit tree and a lot of presents. Tata and Tonton came all the way from Belgium as well and celebrated Christmas with us. And a couple of days later we lit the candles again to celebrate with Alessia and Chiara.

My parents were a bit sceptical but I insisted we try skiing. So we went up to the mountain, geared up with ski boots, helmets, and of course little skis. I put my hands on my knees and off I went. I really enjoyed skiing and we went four times. By the end of the holiday I was quite comfortable and could do the “pizza slice” and nice little turns. We might even go back to the Alps for a few days to take my first lessons with a real skiing instructor.

Skiing is not the only thing on offer in Austria. I also went ice skating with Alessia and Chiara. And we went swimming to the spa in Villach with Maman and Papa. There are two amazing slides. They go really fast and I was a very brave boy on both of them. I am a little bit naughty because the bigger slide was only for children aged 4+.

Opa and Oma looked after me really well and I spent a great time with them when Maman & Papa went to ski all by themselves.

Video after my first few days of skiing

Skiing video

This year the Christmas time was so nice and merry. I met Father Christmas and I must admit that initially I was a bit scarred of this old man. But with the support of Maman and Papa I overcame my fear and had a little chat with him. He said “HOHOHO” when I left.

I could not wait to get to Austria for winter sport activities. So I went to do some ice skating in London ahead of time. I was a little slippery at first but after a little while I started to gain confidence.

We have a few Christmas markets in London. But it does not really compare to the real thing we went to see in Frankfurt. We visited Amelie and Fabian and had some really scary time in the natural history museum with the big bear.

This year I threw another joined birthday party with Harper and Maximilian R. We rented the Ellen Brown Centre in Spa Gardens and the Latino Bambino dancer came to entertain us. This was followed by Austrian food – this sounds like a Papa idea but it was actually Fred R’s idea. I also had some special guests directly from Brussels. Mamy, Tata and Tonton came to see me on my special day.

After the holiday season a more regular schedule started again. Maybe the first highlight was the Bermondsey Street festival where Papa did a round of shame with what I can only call a modern day witch. In pre-school I quite enjoyed myself in the body painting exercise. Outside of school the birthday parties of both Leila and George were great fun.

While my parents (almost) closed the wedding season in Spain my summer drew to a close as well with a last visit to Belgium. I spent the time between Mamy and Tata+Tonton. Tonton introduced me to skateboarding. I am working on some nice tricks. After so much effort we prepared cookies. You probably know just how much I love chocolate and it was needed after all the skateboarding.

We also made a visit to Pairi Daiza. It was really nice full of really interesting animals, like baby lions, cheetahs, massive hippos, elephants, all set between Hindi temples, traditional African villages and the Japanese tower.

This summer I wanted to go to a really nice and warm place for summer holiday. So we went to Austria to see Oma and Opa. Temperatures exceeded 40C and hardly fell below 25C even at nights. This represented a new high since records began well over 200 years ago. We adapted our life style to the weather conditions spending the days on the lake and evenings dining outside. I still wear my armbands for swimming but I am getting quite good kicking in the water. And I am definitely a master on the slide where I went up and down with my cousin Alessia.

The Villacher Kirchtag was on as well and I finally had the chance to wear my lederhosen. I think my father was soo proud. Close to Oma & Opa’s place there is a monkey reserve. About 100 monkeys from Japan live in a huge park and they really have nice tricks. My ever-busy parents went to a wedding in Vienna and I stayed behind with Oma & Opa. I had so much fun and helped them with the potato harvest from their garden.

Upon my return to London I transferred downstairs into pre-school. It was a little bit of a change and I missed Nicole at first. But after a short period I settled in really well.

The spring really was pretty awful but finally it is reallly quite nice. So I thought it is time to bugger of to the South of France or even better: Knokke. My pathetic parents claimed that they are too busy “working”, but luckily Mamy was happy to have me. I love the sea and I got a big digger to build all sorts of structures in the sand. I also love riding my bike on the digue.

As I am already a big boy I got a bit fed up with nappies. And Mamy was very supportive of my big boy aspirations. So together we executed the switch to potty training. My parents were so impressed and proud when they came on the weekend to see me.

The SE1 crew was on the road again. This year the destination was Tuscany, a nice villa only 10km outside of Sienna but still very secluded high up in the hills. The place had all the amenities required most importantly including a pool and a paddling pool. But we also explored the surroundings and those were very remarkable indeed: day visits to the historic town centres of Florence, Sienna and San Giminagno and visits to both the Chianti Classico and Brunello wine regions. I have visited the first wine cellar of my life at Isole e Olena, but sadly my father did not invite me to the wine tasting.

Peppa Pig is a phenomenon. If you don’t have children you have no clue what I am talking about. If you are a parent all you know is Peppa.

At first you do not understand why kids get so excited about boring stories of everyday life illustrated in rather dull images. On second thought you realise how lucky you are that all your child wants is boring stories about Peppa & George – rather than 3D shooter games…

So you will now understand why more than half a dozen SE1 families upon the initiative of Fred & Nadine made their way down to Southampton on Saturday morning. Obviously they went to Peppa Pig World. It will be even less of a surprise that Peppa Pig World turned out to be just as boring as the stories.

However, Peppa Pig World is just a small part of the Paultons theme park and that was where we spent the next couple of days. Attractions included the big Pirate Ship, a roller coaster, the massive water slide, a Jumping Bean and many others. The minimum size to be allowed on any of these attractions was 90cm. While Harper easily walked through, I had to stretch on my toes to pass the “height test”. Harper and I turned out to be really brave and we enjoyed these attractions so much. I understand that our parents had just as much fun at the bar in the evening once we were peacefully sleeping.

It was so much fun that we are already planning the next visit. Even more exciting attractions become available at a size of 110cm or more. So Harper and I are trying to grow extra quickly.

I must apologise to all my dear blog readers for having been completely radio silent for such a long time now. Our hectic life style is not a sufficient excuse. I take full responsibility for having confused my priorities and I shall prove to you that I have re-discovered the right path.

So let’s go back in time to April and May. I finally convinced Maman to replace the sleeping bag, better known as straitjacket, with a proper duvet. Soon thereafter I used my new found freedom to climb out of my bed altogether and wonder over to my parent’s bedroom for my naptime…

We made another visit to Austria, this time to Carinthia where Maman and Papa celebrated the wedding of Toria and Alex. I was lucky enough to stay home with Oma & Opa who looked after me so well.

For a change the May bank holidays have been blessed with wonderful weather. We jumped on the opportunity with lavish picnics in the park and an ice cream feast. For the second bank holiday weekend Tata and Tonton came to visit us in London. And with them came fantastic new clothes and shoes – fashionable designer clothes, not the cheap stuff my parents always force me to wear.