Busily Beeing

I started 2013 with the intention of blogging a little more often than twice a month.  I may have to downgrade that to "at least" twice a month.

I started a new novella on Jan 31 and broke 17,000 words yesterday.  Got my cover for the piece accepted for publication last month and am tentatively scheduled to go to the London Book Fair courtesy of the publisher for a bit of promotion.  I'm hoping to finish my current piece in the next few days (projected 20k word count), let it sit for a week, then edit and submit.

In the meantime, the kids have been growing and developing, funny things have been said, sibling rivalry waxes and wanes, and a lot of train sets have been built and dismantled.  Today we put a dress on C (she is not convinced by such things) and E immediately said "Oh, you look very stylish!  You look like.... a cooker!"  He meant a chef, but C was very pleased.  (It also helped that the dress had huge pockets.)

Yesterday B and I got a (relatively) fantastic night's sleep and woke up energetic.  So we took the kids to Morden Hall Park which is surprisingly easy to get to via public transport.  The most difficult part was the walk down and up the hill to our local train station.  We took scooters plus a lightweight stroller as a fallback for C/holdall for random stuff.

The most exciting bit for E was the fact that we got to ride on A TRAM!!!!!! as part of our journey there.  BOY was he excited when he realized we not only rode on a tram, but also got to go over level crossings.

And the park?  That was good too.

Here's some pics.

Riding back into the park proper after a spot of lunch at the nearby cafe.

Tire swinging in the "natural play area" which had some interesting things to do.

C having a turn on the zip wire.

Floating sticks in the fast-moving river while watching a dog retrieve his ball.

Decommissioned mill wheel.  We floated LOTS of sticks under this bridge.  The water was very fast-moving here.

The very exciting crossing.  Yes, we looked both ways.

Waiting for the tram on the platform.

Chillaxing after one's bath.


Anyhow, that's all for now.  I'm now mostly caught up on photos - there's a few from last month I'll try and slip onto the blog at some point.  E is off school this coming week due to half-term break so I'll be even more busy this coming week.  Going to be drinking lots of tea and practicing being zen in between planning days out/adventures on busses etc.

Tuneful Park and 2nd Birthday

C turned two last Sunday.  We were scheduled for a little party with grandparents and cousins in North London.  Deciding to chance the car breaking down, we took a route through Central London that kept us on slower roads with lots of access to public transport if we did break down.  We drove past the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, 10 Downing St, the Horse Guards - I often forget how very close we are to Central London.  Fortunately, the car didn't break down, and we were treated to a big laugh by E quickly reading a Tube sign as "Tuneful Park" instead of "Tufnell Park."  Good stuff.

Duet on Grandpa's piano.

Running amok in the music room with bells.

Blowing out candles on the gingerbread house cake C shared with her cousin, who is turning 1 in a few days.

 Today we decorated our Christmas tree.

It's beginning to feel festive around here, although there is so much more to do before the big day - including a short trip away with friends.  Today while out with the kids we met a baronet!  87 years old and going strong, we had a great chat.  He says nobody ever stops to chat with him... but we did, and it was fantastic.  His baronetcy is in Nova Scotia.

Well, that's all for now.

September

Can it really be September already?

E's reception (kindergarten) class held visiting hours this week where the kids and parents could drop in and stay awhile.  We met up with A and his mom on Thursday and spent some time in his new classroom, then B got to go with us on Friday and participate in a short interview with E's new teacher.  She seems great!

I am so impressed with his classroom and indeed, the school in general.  There are two reception classes (children ages 4/5) who share a playground - that will be 60 kids his age (then there's Year 1, 2, all the way up to age 10/11, but the older kids have more separate areas).  E knows many of them - some won't be in his classroom, but they'll be able to play together during breaks/lunch/outside time.  The aides I met are all cheery and very willing to initiate interaction with the children there.

Also, the preschool he went to is on site as well, just over a low blue fence.  So he will be able to see his old teachers and aides and even chat to them if he likes.

A snippet of the toys/tools/projects I saw over the two mornings we visited:

-table with sand, pebbles and wooden diggers/cranes
-dinosaur table with wooden blocks to build them houses/other structures
-"tree block" table - these are amazing blocks cut out of natural wooden branches, with bark still on
-water basin table with boats
-permanent structure: climbing frame with a big slide
-permanent structure: water "tube" with removable/adjustable dams.  E and his friend spent a long time carrying water from the fountain over to this tube and pouring water down to the bottom/floating boats etc.
-there's also a big covered sandbox outside with lots of toys
-a big wooden firehouse set up with fire trucks, ladders and firemen

Inside, the classroom had two little areas to each side.  One was set up as a kitchen with a TON of toy items, lots of plastic/wooden food and other equipment.  I looked into the eaves and there were dozens of "dress up" boxes containing everything from holiday/Christmas type wear to ethnic wear to princess/prince fantasy and superhero costumes.

The other bit is set to be decorated as a reading nook with beanbags and lots of books.

The main part had several project tables as well - a playdough table with lots of rollers and tools, a table with lots of stamps and pieces of paper the children could doodle on, and a painting area.

E is really excited to start in just over a week!  He will be doing half days at first.  They recommend we do half days for the first week.  Then he can be eased into longer days - I can take him home for lunch and a break, then send him back to school for the afternoon session.  When I feel he is ready I can send him with a packed lunch for the whole day.  They are very flexible up until the beginning of November and then they suggest the children do full days unless the parent feels strongly otherwise.

Anyhow, this is getting to be a wall of text, so how about some photos?

Here's E doing the zipwire at Kew.  He's a bit excited.

A special treat.

Inside the desert-themed greenhouse at Kew.

B, post being shot in the face by a slightly more vigorous baking soda/vinegar volcano than expected.

Hurtling down the inflatable slide at a charity fundraiser for the preemie baby unit at the hospital where he and C were born - we were happy to spend money there, and he was happy to slide.

The Incredible Levitating Toddler.

And... only ONE MORE PHOTO until I am caught up with everything recent...

...C, having gotten herself some breakfast (in a manner of speaking).  E was helping her clean it up "by eating it off the floor," he explained helpfully, as his sister shouted "CHEEESE!" into the camera.

Most reception children start tomorrow, but E's the youngest in his class and will start next Thursday.  So we are going to go on a little road trip to Devon and stay in a rural cottage for a few nights midweek.  Tomorrow E is visiting A at his house, Tuesday is the first day of C's whizbang playgroup (seriously, this is an awesome playgroup with a handmade wooden pirate ship AND a huge wooden playhouse outside, plus slide and trampoline) that I used to take E to before he started actual preschool.  He will be going along with me for the first two sessions until he starts his big school.  Then we're off late Tues or early Weds, not sure which.  Hooray for very last minute flexible holidays!

I'll end with a recent quote from E:

E: Why is the sun so hot?
Me: Blah blah... star... gasses... nuclear fusion...
E: The core of the earf is really hot too. That means the core and the sun be's friends.

Gotta love 4 year old logic.

April

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

-Edna St. Vincent Millay (who, I believe, was a friend of my grandmother's).

We are not up to much here. Our balmy weather disappeared quite sharply and now we have all the bright colors of spring underneath a drab gray sky. I don't mind the rain because it's been so dry lately, and there's a water shortage, but the cold is getting on my nerves. I thought I was all done with wrapping us all up in 900 layers just to go on a walk around the neighborhood.

It's the second week of the Easter holidays here, and E won't have to be back at school until next Tuesday. B had booked today off work and we spent it visiting grandparents in North London and going swimming - well, everyone else went swimming while I perched in the attached cafe area on top of a mound of our stuff, armed with a book.

Speaking of books, I broke 60k on the novel and hope to be done with the rough draft by the time we leave for France in May. Finding it awfully difficult to make time for the writing these days, but I hope to pick up the pace when E's at preschool next week. I can usually get a little bit done in the morning before picking him up at lunchtime, even if C doesn't sleep for long.

We find out whether E has been admitted to our local school (the one his preschool is attached to) next week sometime. I wasn't all that worried about our eligibility but then I heard that the school had 200+ applications for 52 places this year. So it'll be nice to have the whole official letter and all.

Our nights with a certain young miss have been full of ups and downs. Last Friday she only woke once - at 4am - and then slept until 7. Best she's ever done, and of course she doesn't go and repeat it... the nights since have been anywhere from 4-6+ wakings. But I do think we're getting somewhere, slowly. Naturally, any progress we make with the baby has to be somewhat offset by a little boy, standing at the foot of our bed at x'o'clock in the morning and saying "Dadden, my bed has turned into a volcano, you need to come turn it into a bed again." And then showing up fifteen minutes later, after being given a "guardian" stuffed wolf, to say "Wolfy has caught fire in the hot volcano, please save him."

Well, bedtime is rolling around sooner than expected (doesn't it always?) so here is a token picture, because blog posts with just words always seem like such insurmountable walls of text....

I hasten to add that B was the one who dressed her, and the pom-pom boots were definitely his choice as well. But she carries off the look well, I think.

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.

2 and a Half

2 1/2 is a fun age so far.

It's the age where he says things like...

"I'm going to go hide behind that tree over there!"

and

"I'm sneaking up on you!"

He is getting more and more confident every week. We can see a marked difference between today and just a few months ago - he can climb the ladders in the park by himself, negotiate tricky rope bridges without hand-holding, and is running at warp speed now.

A few photos from the Imperial War Museum last weekend:

At the controls of the submarine.

More submarine antics.

Big tank. Don't ask me what kind, I was too busy chasing after him to read about it.

Going through the air raid shelter.

Listening to air raid alarms.

Callie's wheels, compared to those of bygone days.


Watching WW2-era cartoons.


Text reads: The day will come when the joybells will ring again throughout Europe, and when victorious nations, masters not only of their foes but of themselves, will plan and build in justice, in tradition, and in freedom - Winston S. Churchill, Jan 20th, 1940.

Gadding about outside.

Today we took a long walk on the nearby common. Even though it was still chilly, the sun was out and made a noticeable difference. We all really enjoyed being outside.

Callie is growing.


And things in general, are going well. B and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this week :)

Brain Mush

C is not a bad sleeper at all, but I do miss getting large chunks of uninterrupted sleep. It makes some things harder. For example:

E: "What's dat?" *pointing at a wet, decaying leaf on the ground*
Me: "That's a decomposing leaf."
E: ?
Me: "Oh. Uh, it's disintegrating.
E: ?
Me: "...er, it's... old... and falling apart."
E: "OK."

Lately we have been....

...cooking and decorating gooey (too gooey, didn't cut well, but tasted good!) gingerbread men and cookies.


Having elaborate tea parties with bears, monkeys, etc. (All practice for cooking me breakfast in bed at some point.)

Eating pasta out of new bowls with forks, at the grownup table.

Sort-of-playing board games, which at E's age consists of lining up the little tokens and knocking them over with dice.


And enjoying smiley baby, of course!

Will leave you with one last conversation:

E: "I want to go up through the roof in a rocket to the sky very high."
B: "In a rocket? It might be scary."
E: "Yes, it would be scary. There might be an owl."

Very Snow

Well, B made it into work after all for his last day before paternity leave. Last night (Weds night) a whole lot of snow settled, so we were both really glad he could stay home today!

E looked out the window on Tuesday and said in surprise and excitment: "Oh! Very snow!" He was happy to kick around in it today but has been slightly sick so didn't last long.

Just in comparison, here's our garden on Wednesday...

...and here's our front walk today:


It'll be down in the mid 20's overnight and might not get above freezing tomorrow but there's no more heavy snow forecast. As for another type of forecast... nothing yet. I walked around the local mall today and had some spicy food though.

E has been chattering away lately and is in a funny stage where he's learning how to use pronouns. Sometimes he gets it right: "Nooo-ooo, I'M not stinky...." and other times he's so off it makes us laugh. "Oh!! Help you?!" is one he uses when he needs help. Sometimes I'll ask if he wants me to do something ("Should we go sit on the bed and read a book?") and he goes "YES! I will!" and runs off immediately. Favorite phrases include "Dadden wants a cuggle." or "Dadden wants to go in the kitchen!" which is often amusing. Sometimes after sneezing he says brightly, "Oh! You sneezed! Ha-ha. Bless me."

Two good ones B just remembered: "Drop it, the cee-real. Make mess. Wery messy now." and "Oh! Meelk! Fannnn-TASTIC!"

In other news, I wrapped my first Christmas present (for B) yesterday. There's lots of festive food being sold in the supermarkets etc... but somehow it's... different over here. Did you know that the eggnog in the UK is alcoholic? It's not even called eggnog, it's some weird brand name. I had some last year and it has a huge kick. Bleh. I might make my own non-alcoholic version if I have the energy, but I've still got to bake a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie and I think those take priority.

I am looking forward to a nice (small) glass of post-pregnancy Bailey's, however.

Boy.

All boy.

'Scuse the flash making the letters hard to read.

He loves "the typing laptop" and asks to use it often. It's B's old work laptop so it's a clunker and stands up fairly well to, shall we say, inexperienced hands.

Dad is now in NY and planning to Amtrak it back West at some point. Having an extra pair of hands to change diapers (yes, he did! lots!), wash dishes etc was a big help! Fortunately E wasn't too traumatized by his departure and now often says "Granddad schleeping" to explain away the mysterious lack of grandfatherly presence.

B brought home a pumpkin from the local farmer's market today. I don't think they really "do" pumpkin patches here in the UK. Certainly not like they do Stateside. There isn't much of a buildup to Halloween here, which I find is refreshing yet disappointing. I don't mind the lack of emphasis on trick-or-treating, but some people are such GROUCHES about it, going so far as to put up signs on their doors warning people off. Given that there's no Thanksgiving here, as an American I always feel a little bit bereft in the autumn months... Halloween is kinda skimmed over by the majority of people, there's no late-November feast, so Christmas is a long, hyped-up wait.

Regardless, we'll be baking pumpkin pie this season (probably quite soon, with that fresh pumpkin) and I'll introduce B and E to toasted pumpkin seeds. Nom. Speaking of E and expat living, he was watching a signing show on TV (Makaton signs designed for toddlers and special-needs kids). "Giraffe" popped up. E turned to me, pointed, said "GirAffe." Turned back to the TV, said "GirAHffe." Great! Just great. At 2 and a quarter, dude already recognizes his mama talks different. Won't be long till he quits humoring me and starts correcting me. (And at that time I'll probably be tempted to suggest B takes a year-long sabbatical from work so that we can go back to MV to live for a year, for re-education, if you will.)

Speaking of the young gentleman, his quotes have been getting more convoluted, though no less funny. "OHH! Stubbed my tickles!" was a recent one. He calls the bottom of his feet his "tickles." Which tickles us. Obviously.

Another one - Dadden: "That toy has to stay in the bath for now...it's probably sleeping!" E turns, shakes his head and says "It probably wake up now!"

And he has taken to teasing me by mimicking a high-pitched yelp whenever he sees a speck-that-might-be-a-spider. Oh, the shame.

Well, we're all off to a baby event tomorrow in London since B got a free ticket through a friend. I expect it will mostly be overpriced and overhyped, but there will be deals and freebies and, apparently, play-spots with lots of toddler toys. Plus, I'm 33 weeks along now (that's technically 4 weeks until I'm considered "term") so it's probably time to look at buying a few things. Like, you know, diapers and a Moses basket. Cotton wool for wipes. Yadda yadda. And with that, swollen-ankled me is off to bed.

Approaching Autumn

Went out to Kew this weekend. I'm getting slower as this pregnancy progresses but it was nice to have a walk in the fresh crisp air. Lots of kids out in woolly jumpers, cardigans, jackets etc, unspoken concession to summer's end. E had a blast at Kew's playground as usual. We also found a little indoor play place in the shop which had a toy kitchen, a crawl-through tunnel, and crayons/paper with kid-sized tables and chairs. The cynic in me sees the probable extra profit they make, the parent in me just breathes a sigh of relief at something extra for a curious toddler to do.




After a long play session, we had sandwiches and water and B indulgently bought E a pinwheel and a little stuffed monkey in the shop. E fell asleep in the car on the way home clutching his new toy. We're all beat (especially me - aching muscles!) and looking forward to a nice warm evening inside perhaps with a movie.

Some recent quotes (lest I forget them):

"Mmm, flower. Smells DELICIOUS."
When asked to count how many eyes he has... "One... two... three FOUR FIVE! Six seven EIGHT!" (Big smug grin.)

And the worst, the very worst....
E: "Spider, Mama. Spider!"
Me: "WHERE?" (as I nervously peer around and attempt to stand on one toe)
E: "Spider... GONE.... Hahahaha!"

Haircut, etc

E had his first proper haircut last week. We went to a local kids' hairdresser/shoeshop and he sat in a tall chair and watched a large fish tank while the lady snipped away.

Before:

During:


After:


He's been getting very chatty of late and making some funny comments. When I told him about the impending haircut, he said in a knowing voice, "Ohhhh! Lawnmower!"

Lying with B in the hammock a few weeks ago: "That the moon! Moon hiding in trees."

Dadden: "Where's your cup?" E: "Cup hiding... in living room."

We have a lowercase alphabet puzzle that he enjoys. I'm gently working on the sounds of letters, aided by the pictures underneath the puzzle pieces (rainbow for R, apple for A, etc). E will often pick up/point out a letter and say "P! Puh, puh!" But for "X" he goes "X! Black hand!" For ages I had no idea why, and then B pointed out the fact that there's a picture of a hand being X-Rayed underneath the X puzzle piece.

And... we're not sure whether it's genuine or a bedtime delaying tactic, but last night when B was tucking him in, E said: "Butt trouble! Lie down mat!" After being duly checked, nothing was wrong, but it did make us laugh.

Speaking of which, we're no-pressure potty training, which basically means we're leaving out the little potty we recently bought to get him comfortable with it. I didn't expect him to take to it but in the last 5 days or so he's gone from sitting on it fully clothed to insisting "diaper off!" to sit down on it. We give him praise and read him books while he sits. To date we've had one success. He goes right back into diapers when he feels he's done and it's all child-led (he makes the decision when/if to sit down and when he feels finished) and really it's not a lot of hassle for us parental units either. Still, we have no real expectations (well, before 3 would be nice).

Next week I should have an interesting update for the blog.