Catch-up

January started off a bit slow, but the past few weeks have been really busy. We rearranged the living room, putting the second, smaller couch at the far end of the room and moving our table to a more prominent (and accessible!) position. So now, family dinners take place a lot more often! E and I visited the Imperial War Museum while B and C stayed home - the museum was a little bit too heavy for him, so we left earlier than I'd intended... but that's fine because it's not far from home - a short walk from Waterloo station, which is only a quarter of an hour's train ride from where we live. E liked the walk-through submarine, but they'd closed the Children during War exhibit so there was less to do than I'd thought. The trench warfare walkthrough was way too intense for him and we left at the entrance, bumbling about past various, less-scary displays on our way out. And, on the way back, we stopped to balance on benches, low walls, to smell the flowers on display at the outside florist at the bottom of our hill, and as a special treat, to walk through the "curly gate" of the graveyard that strollers don't fit through. Having young children has (mostly) taught me to slow down and live in the moment. Less agenda, more flexibility and all that.

Today, B and I went on a date for afternoon tea at our normal posh hotel in Marylebone, near Baker Street (of Sherlock Holmes fame). It was good. We talked about things, uninterrupted. 1 year plans. 5 year plans. Memories. Anecdotes. All the while drinking tea and eating far-too-rich treats. I, in my unabashed Americanness, mentioned a left-out, treat-loving, 3-year-old boy at home, and could I have a box to go for a few leftover treats, please? They did one better than that, and sent us home with two little boxes of extra treats. Splendid.

C is climbing things (successfully, I might add....gah!), jabbering away in nonsensical baby talk with the occasional "E-rriii-gah!" which is what she calls her big brother, dancing, loving music, pointing imperiously at anything she wants (and then climbing you to GET it, if you don't respond quickly enough), and generally being non-stop. We have been referred to a pediatrician for her sleep issues. Which, over here, is kind of a big deal. Hard to get referrals like that. But she is up every few hours (or less) throughout the night. Yesterday, for example, we had resettles at 10ish, 12ish, feed at 1:30, then 3:45, resettle at 5, up at 6.... that's not by any means unusual, either.

So... some promised pictures from the Horniman Museum, which is a nice little place in Dulwich. Some of its exhibits (the outside animals, the bandstand, some of the gardens) were closed, and they now charge for aquarium entry, but it's a fun place to spend half a day, and you can get lunch in the cafe (or bring your own, as we did, and eat in the large greenhouse/conservatory).

E and I blitzed through the hand-on wildlife section while B sat in the car with a sleeping C. E turns the dial to listen to the different sounds of wildlife here.


Getting a bit too up close and personal with a taxidermied fox:

The large walrus in the middle of another exhibition - we read about and looked at extinct or nearly-extinct animals, including a replica of a dodo, and perused monkey and other skeletons/skulls.

C woke, and joined us in the aquarium. 'Scuse the bluriness - flash wasn't allowed.


Then we headed upstairs to the instrument exhibit, where there's a hands-on room for children to make their own sounds:


After lunch, we went outside to burn off some energy. Spot the boy in this pic?

C gamely tried to keep up, but she hasn't quite mastered running yet. Behind her is museum and conservatory.
Spot the boy, Part II:


"This tree was planted in 1953, the coronation year of Queen Elizabeth II."

Looped the rest of the grounds, then back to the car and home. And that's all for now.