The fifth family birthday of the year.

Louis at the helm, aged 3

Yesterday marked the fifth family birthday of the year.

Eight years ago I hastened to Nina and Gareth’s home in Twickenham to keep company with Elliot and Eve while their parents dealt with pressing matters in hand.  Not many hours later Louis Oliver was born, a fine, strong son, with dark hair and huge dark eyes.

He is a sturdy, healthy little boy with a surprisingly deep voice and a huge desire to be as wise and knowledgeable as his elder brother who is four years older than him and a significant role model. He is two years younger than Eve but taller and broader than her and sometimes irritated by her ‘big sister’ attitude to him. It was very amusing when they were younger to listen to them chattering. They both talked at the same time and neither listened to the other. Now they have proper conversations – usually!

Louis aged 7

Though he is very ‘boyish’ he is also a sensitive soul, quite a dreamer, spending hours drawing and colouring intricate pictures and explaining the details. He enjoys jigsaws and construction toys and follows complex diagrams with ease – he’s far more capable than I am! Another of his hobbies is growing crystals and he is becoming rather well-informed. It’s easy to forget sometimes that he’s still quite young because he tries so hard to keep up with Elliot.

When he comes to our house he loves to play with the animals. He likes the dogs and enjoys going out for walks with them, but he really loves Winston and makes a great fuss of him.

Like his father and his grandfather, Louis needs to be fed at regular intervals or he can become quite irritable! Most of the time, however, he is a charming little boy with a most infectious giggle and beautiful brown flirtatious eyes with the longest lashes – why do boys always have such gorgeous eyelashes? He often looks very serious - he has an absorbing inner life - but he has a wonderful sense of the ridiculous!