Quotes etc

Still catching up on emails (may have missed a few here and there) and blogging has taken a back seat for a while... sorry!

We are potty training in... well, let's just say we're taking the long, scenic, easy route of no pressure. And no really big accidents, either. Yet. This necessitates (for the moment), a bare bottom around the house. We have leather couches. E's always been in diapers when sitting on them but today we were letting him watch a TV show and he (gasp) sat still for more than 5 minutes. When he moved again, his eyes got suddenly wide and he proclaimed:

"Oh! What is happening to myself? The butt of myself is stuck to the couch?!"

Even disregarding the toddler-style phrasing, you have to admit it's hilarious.

Speaking of cuteness, today I had to put the baby down for a few minutes. I heard her begin to grizzle from the other room. When I finally got to her, she'd been crying/grizzling for a minute or two. She also had a sticker on her knee and four cuddly toys deposited on her head. This is not an isolated occurrence.

Lastly, I asked E what color the sky was. We were indoors at the time. He turned to me and said, solemnly: "Gray." I guess I'm raising a very British child.

I feel incomplete not putting up a photo, so here is one of E and me at the Science Museum in London last weekend, watching a giant factory steam wheel go around and around. I tried to explain the Industrial Revolution to E but I'm not entirely sure how much he absorbed.

Randomness

So I called my US bank yesterday and wound up chatting with the lady on the other end about the royal wedding while we waited for the computers to update details. I realized that I totally heard her accent. And she was from CA. I feel really weirded out right now. I think I'm probably going to have culture shock when I visit. That is going to be strange.

Yesterday we went to one of the local street parties, because Friday was a national holiday due to the wedding. There were something like 79 street parties in our borough alone! We had a little picnic then E went on the bouncy castle someone had set up. It was great to see the street shut down to traffic.

B and I went to the local farmer's market today and then the park afterward for E to run off some energy. We both have to-do lists a mile long. Mental to-do lists. If I wrote it all down it'd just be daunting.

I have no relevant pics so here is a photo of a teethy baby. (And no, we're not getting a whole lot of sleep lately.)

Suffolk, Part 3

During our entire time in Suffolk, we only spent one day not socializing. Time really flew by. Most of the pics above were from our day "off" - no obligations, so we stuck close to the bungalow and beach and E had a nap.

We met up with friends at Africa Alive, an animal park with a nice playground and indoor play area. Spent a lovely time observing the birds and animals and watching a birds of prey display (during which E insisted upon getting up, wandering off, and touching trees. Odd child).

We milked a faux cow...

...fed goats...


...and saw lions (among other animals).

Then we headed off to the playground, which was the highlight for E.



After that, it was indoors to the soft play. I have no pictures but E had a great time. There was a complicated system involving vacuum, air, balls and tubes, and "cannons" which shot the foam balls all around. E simply loved it.

And C? Well, she's slotted in well. Now if we could just get her to sleep a nice unbroken stretch from midnight until at least 6, instead of waking up twice...!

Hard to feel put-out, though, when you look at her cute little mug.

Well - that was our Suffolk trip!

The prince is getting married on Friday. Some places are even having street parties. B and I are probably going to a friend's barbecue though. E starts playgroup twice a week from next week. That term runs into July. Then he starts nursery (preschool) in September.

He'll be the youngest in his class due to being August-born. I'm not worried about his academic skills nor his social skills. I think he'll be ready for preschool, although I'm still a bit leery about sending him into kindergarten at barely 4. He knows at least 90%, if not more, of letter sounds (S = sss for example). He knows both upper case and lower case letters - all of them, from A-Z. He can name and recognize a variety of colors and shapes. He can count to 20 although he skips 13 (superstitious?). He can count actual things (i.e. 3 red cars) although he's not 100% on this if there are more than about 4 things to count. He strikes up conversations with complete strangers and says "please" and "thank you" properly.* He even shares with other kids.**

*most of the time, anyway
**ditto the above

So - life is progressing. I read something recently that nails it totally for me. "The days are long, but the years are short."

Suffolk, Part 2

Before I finish up the trip recap - I just want to say that B and the kids and I will be in CA from June 16-July 12! Very excited!

Anyhow... after staying with our friends, we headed up to Lowestoft, which has a long (mostly) sandy beach. We were in one of the buildings on top of the cliff. The UK has these things called beach huts, which are colo(u)rful little shack things. I gather they basically keep beach-type things in there as a kind of glorified locker, and maybe sometimes retreat there to sit out of the sun or to change clothes. Maybe Americans don't use beach huts due to relying more on cars? I don't know.

Here's the beach:

E had been stomping about in a most pleased manner in the water.

After one night in Lowestoft (breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea included), and a quick visit to E's great-aunt, we set off to our simple but cheerful little bungalow in Kessingland (where Rider Haggard, the novelist, once lived). We were a 5 minute walk from the beach.

E on a motorbike at his GA's house:

Running up the path past the ducks at the cottage, toward the gate leading to the beach:

B getting the kite aloft, E with spade and mat.



Sandcastle-building, moat-digging...



Got a few more photos to put up in the next post... will try to get to that in a few days. We are having a great long Easter weekend, and we have another four-day weekend coming up due to the royal marriage!

Suffolk, Part 1

We drove up to Suffolk last week to attend a wedding reception. Stayed two nights with friends, who have kids aged 3 and 4, and had an absolute blast. They loved E and E loved them! After they all got up very early in the morning, the 3 year old boy and E instantly bonded over the fact that their pyjamas have dinosaurs on the front.

At one point, someone jokingly asked who was going to marry E, and both kids laid claim to him. And they all held hands to go across the street and look at the pigs (rural location here) and kept holding hands. B has a very touching pic on his Blackberry.

Later on, we all went boating on the pond.

There's a little island with a Wendy house. We touched down briefly, but poor E was so sleep-deprived we didn't stay long.


Here's a better view of the lake, with "The House in the Clouds" just visible.


Fleecy hat, strawberry ice cream, beach. Ain't life grand when you're 2?


Will update more next time. Until then, here's a recent pic of Callie and B:

Spring 2011

...is finally here. B was out all day today so E, C and I went out for a long midday/early afternoon walk. It was bright and sunny, the skies were blue, and it was reasonably warm for once. Everything's been gray for so long that it was almost breathtaking to see sunlight again.

A few pics, mostly from Kew Gardens....


And a gorgeous spring sunset viewed from our garden. I don't think the picture does it justice. It looked as if a magical dragon had soared through the skies and spewed out plumes of bright orange cloud.

Semaphore Tower

Last weekend we took a short ramble on Ockham Common, with the baby in a sling and the toddler running a bit wild.

We found lots of pinecones:

And a den.

And a semaphore tower.


It was gloomy with patches of slightly-less-gloomy, pretty much par for the course in winter here.

But spring is right around the corner. And we had a good time.