Phoenix Loves... Being a Onesie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHOENIX

365 days - one full year turned, from whence you came and we learned,

What fate had brought us, babe or brute. “Cry all night long just make him cute!”

From overdues and false alarms, you finally dropped into our arms,

That thing once just a duck-like scan, now thrust unto our virgin hands.

No pain relief and stern midwife, contractions on the bus? That’s London life.

Part English, Swedish and science fiction, born London Town to Nigerian diction.

 

So finally we journeyed home, an eager family now alone,

Through January’s freeze as cold as death, that first night hung on your every breath.

Midwives came and then they went, until your folks were all but spent,

To me this now seems just a blur, though I’m sure your mum would beg to differ.

Soon came our friends, family and mates, drinking tea from mugs and eating biscuits off plates.

With cards and presents and love and fuss, we welcomed them in but longed for just us.

 

After our hospital tos and hospital fros, you gradually began to grow.

A noise, a touch, a look, a smile – the things that make it all worthwhile.

Who would have known there was such a treat, as to hear you fart whilst you’re asleep?

Small bottom burps and big loud trumps, the largest ones that make you jump.

Your face so sad as if it knows, when it is time for me to go.

Your face so glad when I come home, like you’re the dog and I’m your bone.

 

Well here we are and how far you’ve come, perched on the cusp of turning one.

And though it’s been but just one year, I struggle to remember before you were here.

Before the chatter and cheeky grins, the eel-like crawl and crazy spins,

This little man now in our bed, you take my space and kick my head.

But I can’t complain, I never could, ‘cos I have got it pretty good.

When all’s said and done and in the end, I’m just dead chuffed with my best friend.

Phoenix Loves... 2013.

“Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” - Brad Paisley.

I'm not too sure who this guy is, dad's looked him up and says he's an Americam singer-songwriter but we came across these words from one of his songs and thought they were quite nice. Although in this case tomorrow isn't in fact tomorrow, it's yesterday - 1st January 2013.

Dad's been telling me that around this time of year everyone likes to try and guess what's going to happen in the year to come which, if long words are your thing, is also known as making predictions! They like to guess all sorts of things apparently. Making lists about what will be the next fashion trends, best new music, new technologies etc...

This year however there's one list that everyone's talking about (well the folks at least) and that's Yeah Baby! magazine's hot list for 2013. Yours truly is being hotly tipped for big things this coming year - including turning one, starting to walk, starting at dagis (nursery) and even starting to talk. Check it out!


Number three ain't half bad!

Ok so it's not for real but pretty sweet anyway! Thanks mum and dad, however I do worry sometimes that you've got too much time on your hands...

But there sure are lots of things to look forward to in 2013 and I can't wait to get stuck in. Pretty much everything I do at the moment is a new experience and that's ace. I'm not sure how it feels when you're older but I hope people carry on finding new things to excite them and learn from, and that includes you readers!

Me and my family are hoping to find a place to call home this year. It's great fun staying with mormor and morfar but I think we'll feel like we have a proper new life once we have our own place - somewhere where I can be as noisy and as messy as I want!

Other than that I wish to see as many of my family and friends as I can. Farmor and farfar are coming for my birthday in January which is going to be tons of fun and then hopefully my godparents will be coming later in the year too. I cant wait.

All the best for 2013 everyone and happy new year!

Phoenix Love x x x










Phoenix Loves... Business time.

Working for the rat race
You know you're wasting your time
Working for the rat race
You're no friend of mine

That's from a song by an old band called The Specials, but despite their warnings I am officially joining the rat race!

No, I'm not training for the animal Olympics but have instead joined the big bad world of business. And why not? Dad's started a new job and mum's been working away, so it's only fair that I get a slice of the action. If you can't beat them, join them!

It all started when the folks gave me my own laptop and mobile phone for Christmas. You see for a little while now Ive been crazy about mum and dad's various little toys they do 'work' on. They've even gone as far as to nickname me 'zombie baby' as there's no stopping me touching the laptop once I set my mind to it!

Step into my office baby!

To be honest I don't see what all the fuss is about with this working malarkey. You basically get to sit on a nice spinny chair and press loads of different buttons all day - not exactly hard. It's a no-brainer for me! I can take or leave the silly clothes though...

City slicker.

So going forward you're going to be seeing a lot more of me in the office, giving 110 per cent and thinking outside the box. I'll be touching base with mum and dad at close of play everyday. All in all it's a win-win situation for me.

Watch out Lord Sugar, watch out Dragons and watch out David Brent (?!) as there's a new Gordon Gekko in town and he's young, hungry and after your fortunes... I'm 'oot!

Phoenix Love x x x

P.S. I hope you all spotted a few office phrases that I threw in there!

Phoenix Loves... Christmas.

Ok so I'm a bit late with this but Merry Christmas! Or God Jul as we say here in Sweden.

Before I tell you about my Christmas I thought it would be best to let you know a little bit about what Christmas in Sweden is like. It may be celebrated all over the world but it certainly isn't celebrated in the same way!

In Sweden we celebrate Christmas on 24th December, or Julafton and that's when we exchange our presents. More on presents later! Where dad comes from in England they do all this on 25th December. Dad says another difference is the food that gets eaten. Whilst in England Christmas lunch is usually a big turkey with all the trimmings, in Sweden it's a mixture of cold meats, fish and cheese. Not bad at all but certainly takes a bit of getting used to!

Other Swedish things include watching Donald Duck at 3pm on Julafton, drinking glögg, drinking julmust and Christmas goats!


We can't explain - you have to try it.

A Swedish Christmas goat.

I had a great first Christmas. So many presents from so many people and too many for me to mention in this blog. I'm thinking I'll do a post just for all my fab presents... watch this space!

Where to begin?

 It was our first Christmas as a family and we all went to a lot of effort. Check out my reindeer outfit, mum's red bow/Christmas tree earrings and dad's erm, jumper?



Familjen Barker. Lose the naff slippers and jumper next time dad...

Domestic goddess mum was back at Christmas and her and mormor worked so hard to make everything pretty, tasty and just right. Dad and uncle Daniel on the other hand...



Hmm... I'm not convinced.

The following day (25th December) Santa had left me a stocking to celebrate English Christmas too. More presents to open and more wrapping paper to play with - that's the best part.

Looks can be deceving. I'm actually really happy with my stocking.

Phew. After all that I'll need a years rest before doing it all again. I think I could get used to this Christmas thing though, especially if the pressies keep coming!

Merry Christmas!

Phoenix Love x x x

Phoenix Loves... England.

And in a flash it was over.

You know, one week seems like a long time for a baby but when that's all the time you've got to spend with the ones you love it's sadly not that long at all...

Back home now after an ace week in England and so much to talk about and remember - all good stuff if we forget about mum almost choking on a chicken bone! Where to start? Well, I guess the start is as good a place as any...



Hey ho let's go! Ready for the trip to the airport.

Munching on croissant at Kastrup airport.

First up we headed off to farmor and farfar's (granny and grandad's) house. I hadn't been there since we left England but it didn't take me long to settle back in, especially now I can crawl. So much to explore! Farmor, farfar, auntie Sophie, Lily and Daniel were all waiting for me when we got there. Not only was I spoilt with cuddles but there was a huge bag of presents waiting for me as well - you shouldn't have! I got to see dad's cousin Chris, his auntie Carol, his other cousin Liam and his girlfriend Hayley (Liam's gf, not dad's!) too - Brucey bonus or what?!?

I might have mentioned before that prior to me being born dad was the only person left who could carry on the Barker family name, despite farfar having five siblings! So now that honour (or pressure) has been passed onto yours truly - again, you shouldn't have! To celebrate this, here's three generations of Barkers sitting down for a spot of tea, English style...

Now who's king? Holding court with farfar and pappa.

On the Thursday we drove up to my auntie Kate, uncle Jon and cousin Harry's new house. It was so good to see them and how happy they are in their new home - we can't wait to come and spend Christmas there soon. I reckon my cousin Harry and I have got loads of fun times ahead. More blogging on this in particular soon!

Cousin Harry and me.

Next it was off to mum and dad's old hunting ground - London. We've still got tons of friends there (most tried to convince us to come back) so we had a busy schedule to stick to.
 
First we headed to dad's old work to say hello and have a bit of lunch with his friend Damien. Then we went to mum's work for a drink and chat with Shiona. Then it was off to meet mum's friend Noorin who let me share her muffin and finally we headed to find our beds for the night at Wayne and Roni's house south of the river. Wayne cooked mum and dad dinner which was nice for them but next time Wayne, save some food for me! Mum and dad always get all the good stuff.

"I'll take the expensive mirror with the cute baby in it please." At Heals.

We were up bright and early Saturday morning to head back to north London where this little blogger (I said blogger) was born. After a new haircut for mum we went for an early lunch with my godparents Tom and Kathryn who just happen to be two of my favourite people, enough said. After that it was off to the Salisbury pub where, you might recall, we had our leaving party in June. Now at this point lots and lots of friends came down and needless to say we had a wicked time. Most were adults but two special people get a mention, my friends Jet and baby Leo, who it was great to see again (Jet) and finally meet (Leo) - two cuties after my own heart.

Saturday night saw my parents abandon me (call the social!) to go out and have fun. Can you believe the cheek of it? I guess they're allowed a bit of fun without me, especially when I get to hang out with Jet, godmummy Kathryn, Kathryn's sister Sophie (a Phoenix Loves blog fan - shout out) and Jet's mum Molly. All I can say is that I was in toy heaven. So. Many. Toys. Mum and dad went to the London wedding party of dad's friend Davey and his new wife Twinkle (cool name) and I guess they must have had fun as they still had the same clothes on when they came to collect me the next day...



Dad and mum (whisper it) having fun.
 

Mum and Dad who?? Me and Jet causing trouble.

Sunday was a super quick breakfast with friends at our old favourite Cafe Lemon and then back to farmor and farfar's to chill out, and lord knows we needed it after such a crazy few days!



The Cafe Lemon Breakfast Club (CLBC).

A big, huge, giant thank you to everyone for making our trip so much fun. We can wait to see you all again soon in England... Or Sweden? Easyjet do super cheap flights - go on, I dare you!

Phoenix mused... Me pondering our travels.

What? We have to go home now?

All my love,

Phoenix Love x x x

P.S. I've heard a rumour that some people seem to think this blog isn't written by me, but by mum or dad instead. DON'T BELIEVE IT. Do you really think they could write like this? Puh-lease.

Phoenix Loves... 21st November.

21st November 1965 - Icelandic singer and musician Björk born.
21st November 1975 - Elton John received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
21st November 1983 - In Los Angeles, movie theatres premiered Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video.
21st November 2012 - Phoenix Love comes to England.

Ok, so maybe I'm getting a head of myself a bit but you never know - November 21st 2012 could be that momentous!

After months of waiting I will soon be hopping on a plane to the land of the Queen, fish'n'chips and oh just some of my favourite people in the whole world. Farmor, Farfar, my aunties Sophie and Kate, my godparents Tom and Kathryn - the list is endless.




Coming to get you England!

Mum and dad have been invited to the London wedding reception of dad's friend Dave and his new wife Twinkle, and we get the added bonus of spending some quality time with family and friends. Swedish life is great but sometimes I wish we could see everyone more often...

Mum's going to be running a tight ship as we've got loads of people to hang out with and just under a week to do it but I can't wait.

See you all in a few days!

Phoenix Love x x x

Phoenix Loves... Bolibompa.

Yaaaaaaawn.

It's hard work getting up at 5:30am, all those early mornings start to catch up with you after a while. That's why it's good to start the morning the right way - you know, set yourself up for the rest of the day.

I think we all know what I'm talking about. The most important part of the day? Helps keep you going until night time? Begins with a 'B'... No, not breakfast - Bolibompa!

Good morning.

Bolibompa is kid's TV and it's on every morning here in Sweden. Dad says it's a bit like something called 'The Broom Cupboard' in England - for those of you old enough and ugly enough to remember!

They show all my favourite programmes and not just the Swedish ones, but loads of my old favourites from England too, like Mike the Knight - sweet! And not only do they show my faves but they also dedicated a day to celebrating my name. You see, in Sweden Phoenix doesn't officially have a names day but thanks to Bolibompa I do - check it out.

That's my name!

And it's not just me that enjoys Bolibompa, the folks do too.

Dad likes it as he can watch all the shows and try to understand what's being said in Swedish. He's been learning at S.F.I (Swedish For Immigrants) for almost two months now and he's getting better, but kid's TV is still just about his level...

Mum on the other hand has a whole other reason for not minding the early mornings. Each day there's a different person presenting the show and one in particular seems to tickle mum's fancy. His name is Farzad and I think he's my favourite too. Dad says mum fancies the pants off of him, whatever that means! Anyways, here he is in all his glory.

Farzad's the one on the right!

Don't worry though dad - you've got nothing to worry about. You may not be as tall, dark, handsome, young, cool, stylish, funny... Oops got a bit carried away there. Basically what I'm trying to say is that you're ours and no amount of Bolibompa can change that. We love you!

Phoenix Love x x x