A year as Brum's bonniest baby

May 10 2007 By Patrice John

WITH his baby blue eyes and cheeky grin, little Jake Maloney still has the picture perfect smile that saw him crowned Birmingham Mail Baby of the Year in 2006.

The 23-month-old bonny boy beat more than 2,000 entrants to become overall winner of the competition.

And even though it's been a year since he first came to stardom, mum Michelle Eden said the tot is still basking in the limelight.

"After winning that competition he was treated like a bit of a celebrity," she said.

"The nursery nurses at his nursery bought copies of the paper and all the parents that came in saw that Jake was Baby of the Year.

"People started ringing us up and said they could see him on the cover of the paper."

Jake won the 0-9 month category of Baby of the Year, to the delight of Michelle, aged 23, and dad Bren- dan, aged 26.

But he now has the joy of being a big brother to little Thomas, who is just eight weeks old.

Michelle, of Kings Norton, said: "Jake has really grown into his role as a big brother and he's settled in well.

"He is relishing the role and he even tries to help out with the bottles and feedings."

Michelle said she would encourage anyone thinking about entering the competition to go for it.

"We never dreamed that he would win," she said.

"We had no idea that out of all the babies he would come top and when he became the overall winner it was unbelievable.

"I would have been happy to have just had his face in the paper."

Jake and his family won a break with Haven & British Holidays and £100 worth of Argos vouchers.

The runners-up in the competition were Jade Chatterley, in the 19-36 months category and Maddison Jackson, in the 10-18 months category.

See tomorrow's Mail for details of how to enter Baby of the Year 2007.