One year old.

Bad news for all you ‘caterpillar shuffle’ fans out there, Leah has learnt how to crawl properly! She was making her way across the living room floor yesterday when she suddenly decided to give the whole ‘one knee in front of another’ technique a try, her top speed has now doubled!!

She is also getting very good at walking while holding our hands, we took her to ‘Clarks’ at the weekend to buy her first pair of proper shoes, however her wee feet are still too small so she had to make do with a pair of jelly shoes from Adams! She is also pulling herself up unto her feet on the furniture and when she is feeling particularly brave tries to balance without holding on, her current record before her bum hits the floor is 0.5 seconds!

Have to say a BIG welcome home to one of Leah’s wee mates from our baby room Nora, she was reunited with her Mum and Dad, Bill and Dana Spyker last week and now starts the rest of her wonderful new life in Chicago.

As promised, though a little later than expected, please enjoy the following pictures from Leah’s first birthday extravaganza last week!!

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Visiting Great Granny D

11.9 months old!

Hey all you Leah fans out there, you can stop sending me angry emails now, more photos are on the way!!

We never thought we would say this a few weeks ago but life in Kazakhstan is becoming a distant memory, it now feels like we have known Leah for her whole life!

She is improving every day and since our last post she has put on a few pounds, learnt how to say ‘mama’, is starting to get her first tooth and is beginning to walk with our help, her impression of the John Cleese ‘funny walk’ is hilarious!! She gets so excited seeing and doing new things for the first time, she’s a lot of fun to be around and after only 3 months of knowing her we have already forgotten what life was like without her.

Like a lot of orphanage children she is a child of routine which is great, if we get her into her cot at the right times each day she will sleep right through the night as well as 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. We have learnt from experience that she dosen’t appreciate it when mummy and daddy try to change things, even by only 30mins!!

Her first birthday is in 3 days time so watch this space for some birthday pics next week!

Philip, Amanda & Leah



Visiting Granny D's House



"Charlie said I could borrow his dummy, honest"!!

Ist week home

It’s been exactly a week since we got back and its starting to sink in that we are really home!!

Leah has settled into a routine remarkably quickly and has been sleeping in her cot every night, which was something we were worried about. She is sleeping fantastically well and last night slept from 9pm till 7.30am with no interruptions!! She is also eating loads, she tackles bowls full of mince and potatoes that I would struggle with!

Its impossible to express how good it is too be home, we're loving the simple things like peanut butter on toast and sleeping in our own bed at night!

I'll update again in a few days time with more pictures, in the meantime enjoy!!

Philip, Amanda & Leah



Arriving at Belfast City Airport 16 hours after leaving Almaty



Room full of family at the airport



Leah and some of her cousins



Leah and her cousin Jacob bullying Granny D



Playing with my new toys!