April's Mom Arrives

enjoying some tapas in Cambridge

getting bigger every day

having pints at the Eagle pub - they were decked out for memorial day to honor the Americans who fought over here in WWII

Grandma Sue arrived in England this last Wednesday and we've been having a great time ever since. We planned a trip to Stonehenge this weekend, but Pedro got food poisoning from a restaurant in Cambridge and we got hit by a rain storm today so those two things foiled our immediate plans. If tomorrow's weather improves, we'll make a second attempt - Stonehenge is about three hours away, so the drive isn't horrible, but it would be if the weather was bad, combined with holiday traffic (even though they don't celebrate Memorial Day in the UK, it is a bank holiday here, so everyone still gets the time off).

In other news, April's cousin Danny is flying over to visit from Germany in a few days, so we'll have a mini-family reunion this week. We'll all spend next weekend in London before seeing both of them off again. We'll post more photos again soon!

Mother's Day

We didn't do much on Mother's Day because April had to work, but spent the previous day in Cambridge to celebrate instead. Here are some of the photos.

Outside Aki-Teri on the Quayside.

She knocked herself out just as our main course arrived.

Watching the punters on the Cam.

It was a good day.

Baby Check Ups and So Forth

We had a visit from our community midwife this morning to check on Isabella's physical and mental development. Sarah came over this morning and checked her reflexes, responses, and strength - and Isabella did very well on everything. When Sarah lifted her by her hands, Isabella stood straight up and had great neck control - Sarah said that usually doesn't happen for three more months. She also had her follow an object with her eyes and Isabella was very interested and alert (even though she was totally ready to go down for her first morning nap). She also put a baby rattle within her reach and Isabella went straight for it and grabbed the toy (a milestone we just hit yesterday!).

In other news, Isabella did a proper laugh yesterday too (it was definitely a day of firsts)! I was doing some sit-ups with her on my knees (don't be too impressed - another first) and she thought that was just the most hilarious thing in the world. I tried to catch it on tape but it didn't go so well once the film started rolling.

Tomorrow we have her next set of vaccinations. I'm hoping that goes as well as it did last time!

The Rest of Today's Pictures and More

I wanted to post the rest of the pictures April took today in a separate post, and here they are. Isabella's wakeful periods are filled with wild, random kicks and punches accompanied by loud coos, gurgles, and sighs - so she gets pretty tired out and often passes out unexpectedly. Our indoor lighting is horrendous due to the construction of this 200 year old English building, but some shots just have to be shared, even if they're a little blurry.

She Wants to Be a Rock Star

I had a mini-photo shoot with Isabella today and I just couldn't resist putting up a few in the same pose. She had just woken up from a three hour nap and was as happy as can be. When she smiles, she really puts her heart into it and smiles so hard that her little eyes just about disappear! She can roll over with relative ease now and seems to be well on her way to actually doing it on command.

The weather here has gotten significantly warmer so we've been spending as much time outside as possible. Hopefully the good weather stays with us because Grandma Sue is coming next week!

2.5 months old