1. Chav's. Britains New Ruling Class. Ade reckons we were probably Chav's in our youth (well, he might've been).
2. The grass is not necessarily greener. I feel a bit displaced, actually. Living here I often think wistfully of 'home'. Being back, I think longingly of my place here. Home is now, it seems, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic.
3. Reminded that my house in Canada is awesome compared to housing in the UK.
4. House prices in England have gone absolutely doolally and we'll never ever be able to afford to live anywhere near the South East again unless we win the lottery.
5. Walking in England is far more enjoyable than walking in Canada.
6. London Buses are amazing compared to 3 years ago, it is now 'the' way to get around town.
7. Bugaboo Strollers are almost NOC when walking down Kings Road beside 3 million other Bugaboo Strollers.
8. The London Eye rocks and I can't think why we never went up it sooner (despite sharing a pod with a Chav).
9. Food in England is vastly superior to food in Ontario.
10. I miss my family.
Dear H
Everyone who's seen you since you returned from the UK has commented how much you've changed and how big you've grown! I can't see it, being with you every day, but you have certainly changed over the last month in so many ways.
The most delightful thing you have been doing for the last 4 weeks or so, is 'talking' to us. You're constantly trying to communicate, forming various sounds with delight and smiles as you do it. We think you'll be an early talker just like your mum was! Favourite 'words' are 'ah-goo' and 'ugg', but they're just 2 of a fabulous repertoire of first noises. You are definitely trying to tell us things!
Obviously the biggest thing this last month has been your trip to the UK. All your family were absolutely delighted to meet you for the first time and you were definitely the 'star of the show'. You were spoiled rotten, and your Christening was absolutely lovely. You were good as gold on the plane too (unlike your big brother!), sleeping through the outbound trip and awake but content on the homeward one.
You've started to sleep better since we've been away (thank you God!). 7 or 8 hour stretches followed by another couple of shorter ones. Your mum feels alot better for that I can tell you! I am determined to get you into a good 'nap' routine now that we're back too, with morning and afternoon snoozes up in your bassinet :)
Keep delighting us with your lovely self little boy, you're such a joy to have around!
We're back after 3 weeks of family-hopping in the UK. Good trip, too exhausted to write much, will do so later. First to unpack the eleventy suitcases we managed to bring home with us and wash 300 weight of clothes.
In Hereford, staying with the outlaws. Promise to write more detailed entries at some point but having trouble getting online for any length of time, so bear with me!
Went to the beach today, and it's awesome being at a British seaside town, there's nothing like it. Tacky amusement arcades, chip shops, piped music blaring over loudspeakers, buckets and spades, fun fairs, etc. And a beautiful big sandy beach which we strolled along, digging the odd sandcastle and collecting shells under a beautiful sunny sky.
Cold and rainy old England still the same, currently in Leicstershire visiting my mum. H happily adjusted to the time zone after 2 nights, thank goodness. Off to Hereford in the morning to see the outlaws!
Eating our way through the UK at the moment stuffing ourselves full of all those nice foods we've been deprived of for so long. Going to be as fat as a house when I get back!
Hrm. It's 2.40am. I feel like it's 2.40am. Harry thinks it's 9.40pm. Harry slept the entire way here on the plane. Things are not looking good.
Journey was OK though - had a conversation with this geezer on the plane. Hob nobbing with the [semi] famous during international travel darling.
Staying at my dads tonight then onwards 'oop north' tomorrow (assuming we can fit 2928148 bags of luggage in the rental car)
H only woke up ONCE last night and the difference in my energy level as a result is wonderful. He hardly napped yesterday, and then I went out for a haircut leaving 2 bottles of expressed milk behind which he guzzled. Why he slept so well I'm not sure, whether because of the volume of milk in the bottles or because he didn't nap, but I'm not complaining.
G took D skating for the first time while I was at the hairdresser, along with a bunch of others and they had a great time. D was absolutely full of it when I got back, he wants to go every week! Promised him we would take him again when we get back from the UK.
Speaking of which, I have to pack. I hate packing. I hate thinking of all the things I have to remember, forgetting some, remembering again, panicking the night before, etc. I've made a start by piling some stuff up, but it's hard to know exactly how much crap I need to take with me for 4 of us, for 2.5 wks. H needs more than most as he's the most likely to need several items of clothes each day.
D, meanwhile, is 'Star of the Week' at school. This means I have to prepare tons of crap for him to take in to school tomorrow to show the class, something I could really do without on top of packing. One of the things he's had to do is keep a journal all week of what he and 'Sammy Star' (a teddy bear belonging to the school) have been up to. He's been taking pictures of Sammy this week with his digital camera, and we will stick them in with each day's entry. Cute.
Please visit my blog alot and make me rich ;-)
He goes through a growth spurt. Or something. He fussed and ate incessantly last night, culminating at 12.30am in massive screaming as I was unable to satisfy his appetite due to being exhausted and sore and feeling as though there was nothing left. I had expressed some earlier in the day in order to get my hair cut later in the week, so I had to kiss goodbye to it (and the haircut) and allow G to give him it in a bottle. 5oz later he burped like a builder and went to sleep for 5 hours. Sigh. Today he's also been feeding loads.
I'm a tiny bit stressed about the feeding in terms of going to England on Saturday because for some reason several people are very keen for me to give him formula! Apparently a "big boy needs more" than my boobs can provide (have you SEEN the size of him??) and he's obviously "starving". I've been getting a bit of grief over it which will no doubt be worse when I get there!
The thing is, he's thriving, he's huge, he's growing well, I'm enjoying being able to feed him, and the only issue is that sometimes it is exhausting.... which is actually my problem and not his, and one I'm prepared to deal with (along with the odd moan here & there). He's doing so well. I'm proud of myself for sticking with it too. Breastfed babies do feed more often than Formula Fed babies,and I'm sure there will be comments made about feeding him every 2 hours or so because these guys are only used to formula feeding...... my sis and I were both formula fed and Dylan was too due to circumstancse beyond my control.
The times when H has growth spurts I have the choice of being awake and sore and feeding non stop, or giving him some from bottles of expressed milk, and he's happy. And these spurts only last a day or two. He's definitely getting the best nutritionally, I don't want to give him formula for the fun of it. I hate the thought of his little digestive system having to cope with something new, and all the changes it will bring in his poo and stuff. If and when I decide to do that it'll be when I feel he's ready for it, and he's certainly not ready yet....... he's still a little baby and he's nowhere near needing extra supplementation in the form of solids or even formula yet. He might get that way, might be ages, might be soon, I don't know, but I'll take it as it comes and hopefully won't get too badgered while Im at home to give him bottles!
A weekend of chores decluttering this bomb zone. Went to Costco yesterday (why is it impossible to walk out of there without having spent 400 bucks?) and bought some luggage for the trip (amongst other "essential" things that you always end up having to buy when you go there).
Watched a couple of good movies this weekend too - Wimbledon, which was very funny and your typically British comedy flick. And last night 'The Forgotten' which made both G & I jump out of our skins several times.
H slept really well last night. Plus I got to lie-in till 10.30 after G got up with him at 8. I feel good for the extra rest... on to the garden next for some weeding and pruning action.