Hola!

Friday Afternoon Hijinks....

Willow's New Friend Tiara...

Tiara invited Willow to her house after playgroup...

She wants to join in now when we play tennis...

This week Marbella Mummy had her first playgroup lunch at her house. There were only 4 of us but even that was hard to get organised with an attachment to my legs everywhere I went (Willow is a little clingy at the moment!). It was a lovely afternoon and the kids all had a great time (as did the mums). I cooked fish on the BBQ and we had a glass of pink champagne.

We also had our first babysitter for Willow. We went to the White Party at Nikki Beach and had a ball. What a crazy party. We were home soon after 1am (didn't want to push our luck with Meiko, Tanc's assistant who was kindly babsitting for us).

On the weekend...

We went to Ikea to buy some wood flooring to (attempt) to lay ourselves in the basement room. Willow had a great time....

Then we took her to buy some new toys as she is now bored with her baby toys. There was so much to choose from she couldn't believe her luck!

She loves going out to eat...

Surrounded by all her old toys....

She also loves listening to her dad when he is on the phone... picking up some business tips.

And driving his car...

A lovely spring day ...

A windy day on the beach in Marbella...

Catching some rays...

Checking out a new book. She's graduated to hard covers now.

She loves getting in to my handbag and especially the purse... worrying!

Even more worrying!

My baby is growing up!

MMMM tasty!

Her favourite position

New toys from Ikea

Her first spag bol

Before we went away I went out on a girl's night, invited by Tina. There were seven of us... dinner then boogying at Finca Besaya. Lots of fun, laughter and screaming. None of us get out much!!

Note my new shorter haircut. Shortest it's been in years. I love it, much easier to handle, and looks much better.

We've just had a fantastic week away; few days in London and a few days in Berlin. It was a whirl in London as usual, too little time to do too many things. We managed to fit in a doctor's appointment, breakfast at Carluccio's, a viewing of a studio, dinner at a noodle bar, a trip to the Food Show, a walk through Brompton Cemetary and a trip down to Surrey to Lois and Norman's to see their lovely garden in full bloom before dark.

Then off to Berlin with Lois where we were met at the airport by Wolf, an old friend of Lois'. He was very helpful showing us which trains to catch etc. We stayed at the Savoy, an old, character-filled hotel frequented by writers and artists, the Havana cigar bar being quite famous. I loved Berlin; it's an unusual place, quite like Paris in some areas. It's very peaceful for a big city, sprawling, blossom lined streets, young people cycling, and you can't get away from a feeling of sadness and history.

Willow was such a good girl, she really loves travelling and seeing new places. She seems to take it all in her stride. Whenever she she sees kids she squeals and loves to try and join in with them. Very social party girl in the making I would suggest.

I spent half the trip in Ikea sorting out the kitchen for our apartment, which we visited. Very happy with it, and the area, fantastic, fashionable, young mums pushing prams everywhere...

We were invited to Wolf's for a salon gathering at his apartment. It was hilarious, very entertaining, a conjurer, a pianist accompanying Wolf singing old burlesque songs, a photographer in a rupert the bear suit...

Spring is in full swing here in Marbella. Puts you in a good mood, regardless of the woesome diagnosis for the world's economy and it's effects...

Little Willow (I just found out that in Portuguese is Sausalito) is enjoying it immensely, being in the fresh air and sunshine. Her favourite thing is looking for birds. It's very cute.

She is crawling as of Good Friday, and is constantly pulling herself up on anything and everything. I'm now in the next phase of parenting! She's like a pocket rocket across the floor! She's got the feeding thing down now. It's just mummy who has to get it together... I can't tell you how many pots I've burnt! Smoky carrot flavour is not pleasant for anyone.

Our terrace is so fragrant right now. It's just gorgeous. We went to the garden centre on the weekend and picked up some herbs and some bulbs for a bit of springtime colour. So the scent of jasmine, orange blossoms, hyacinths, basil, coriander and rosemary fills the air.... mmm heaven.

We've been playing tennis too which is great fun. Willow sits on the sidelines with her toys and has a picnic, every now again getting up to shout for team de Pola! I have to make sure I get the afternoon sleep just right so that this is all possible of course! The first time we tried was a disaster, with me changing a pooey nappy and breastfeeding on the court!