The Consequences Of...

...an extra 15 minutes of sleep:

Autumn Leaves

The weather is starting to get nippier, but it's been downright pleasant throughout September and early October. There's a different feel to the weather in England... there's more of a warning bite to the breeze than I ever felt in California.

I remember swimming in mountain lakes in Shasta County with my godfamily when I was younger. The water on top was sun-kissed, warm and pleasant. If you dove more than a few feet underneath, however, the water grew instantly colder, reminding you of the lake's glacier roots. Autumn in England is a little bit like swimming on the line, dipping in and out of the cold.

Today E and I visited the park because he woke up too late to go to one of the play areas (they close at 3:30). He was a little bit out of sorts today because he had his MMR jab yesterday. The nurse said to be aware that symptoms can crop up within a week - some children go through a very mild form of measles or mumps, some run a fever, etc. So I'm keeping an eye on him.

Meanwhile, at the park...



Running, climbing, pointing, swinging (not pictured, too blurry)...


Wanting to climb, and...

...giving himself a hand for getting to the top of something he could climb.

That's all for now. Poor B left before 7 this morning and won't be back until after 10pm, so hopefully he'll catch a break sooner rather than later.

Thank You?

A certain young gentleman has been handing me things lately. Lots of things! Things ranging from my shoes to a spoon he's plucked out of a nearby bowl, to bits of fluff that are so tiny they're practically nonexistent.

I say "thank you!" every time. He likes the praise, and it teaches him manners (or so I hope). Recently, however, things took a rather unexpected turn when he handed me a brown furry object which turned out to be the corpse of a very large, very fuzzy brown spider.

I know they say "be prepared for anything" with babies, but really.

And no, the spider hand-in did not get a "thank you" - it got a garbled, dying camel noise of trying-not-to-scream-and-give-my-child-a-phobia-of-creepy-crawlies.

BusyBusyBusy

B is absolutely swamped at work and is going into the office tomorrow very early after getting back late tonight. We're both really grateful that E has been sleeping better at night - he's not perfect, but it's a far cry from waking up 2, 3, 4 times a night. If he could sleep in past 7, though, that'd be nice.

Ever since August 5 I can't help but think about this time last year and how difficult it was. The first three months were a real struggle and I definitely wasn't as happy as I am now. I remember how difficult it was to get out of the house and how I was physically weak for a good long while after the birth. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to relax and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyhow... just tomorrow to get through before a peaceful weekend of no stress.

A few pictures:

In the above pic, E is enjoying listening to his Mozart Cube in his pj's before bed - the cube is a present from Grandpa in CA. It also doubles as a noise trap after bedtime or during naptime. Simply place the Cube in the hallway and wait for an unsuspecting person to trip over it and land on the French Horn. Bonus points if the tooting wakes the baby.

E after a trip down the hill to the soft play center, with his very first balloon. He now recognizes the word balloon and will look around for one. He played with this one until it was the size of a wrinkled lemon. I guess we were lucky that it didn't pop.

Until next time.

Mundanity

Anything in, must go out. Anything out, must go in. This makes for interesting juxtapositions. Toys in the cutlery drawer, spoons in our bed.... it's all fun and games until someone loses a TV remote or a jar of eucalyptus balm gets washed (and quite spread out among the clothes).

Today we visited B's old babysitter for a quick lunch. She's in her mid-90's, and was recently discharged from the hospital where she had successful heart surgery. Yes, this is the NHS I'm talking about - and I don't want to get political, but I'll just add that both she and her pocketbook are doing just fine. As always, she had plenty of stories about old times, including reminiscing about what powdered egg tasted like during WWII when food was rationed.

Then we went to E's friend's 1st birthday party. I didn't have time to take pictures, but a friend did.


Staiiiirs!

Driveway exploring!

And that's all for now.

Wanderings

Yesterday I took E to the common, less than a mile's walk away, to enjoy the late afternoon sun. (And, of course, to wear him out before bedtime, but the whole enjoying the sun thing sounds more romantic.) In the above picture, he's about to take a spill, thus the pseudo dance move.

Here's a video of the man himself in action.

Kaboom?

Elijah reached for Daddy's Blackberry with toddlerish determination.

Upon wresting it from his hands, he looked up excitedly and pronounced his most interesting word yet.

"Kaboom?" he asked.

"No," Daddy said. "At least, I hope not."