Zagreb

going to the museum of Naive Art

enjoying a fountain à la Michael Jackson

one of the many lovely parks

enjoying breakfast

We’re back from our jaunt to Croatia. We had a very nice and relaxing time. Traveling alone on the plane with Isabella proved to be easy and even pleasant. We stayed in a nice hotel connected with Pedro’s work and I even got a much needed massage out of the deal. Isabella and I spent the first two days on our own, wandering around, playing in the botanical garden of Zagreb, and just living life slowly in the warm weather. In fact, the whole trip was a nice change from our old break-neck ways of trying too see everything. In truth, there aren’t very many must-see sights in Zagreb, as all the main attractions are on the coast. We weren’t really sure what to expect from Croatia since the war – I thought it might be a bit seedy, as I’ve heard much of the Balkans are…it was slightly seedy, but the fact that the city has so many parks and green spaces made up for that.

Llegamos de nuestro viaje a Croacia. Lo disfrutamos mucho y tuvimos un tiempo tranquilo. Viajando sola con Isabella en el avión fue fácil y agradable. Quedamos en un hotel conectado con el trabajo de Pedro y yo pude tener un masaje bueno. Isabella y yo pasamos los primeros días paseando, jugando en el parque botanical de la ciudad, viviendo la vida lentamente y disfrutando el tiempo caliente con gusto. En realidad, el viaje entero era un cambio bueno de nuestro costumbre de tener que ver todo rápidamente. La verdad es que no hay muchos citios famosos en Zagreb, ésos estan en la costa. No sabíamos como será Croacia despues de la guerra – oímos que es típico balcanico, con partes viejos y malos – pero como hay muchas parques bonitos y muchos espacios verdes con fuentes estuvo mejor.

Green Mums Article

I finally was able to find the article on "Green Mums" that the Peterborough Evening Telegraph published in early July. You can find it by clicking here. Note that Hannah Gray, the interviewer, Anglicized some of the things I said; some of my Americanisms must have thrown her...

Isabella: In her own words

6 months old!!!

blueberry super food stains super badly

There are quite a few new things happening with us this week. First, I got a new job which I will be starting at the end of the year. I have just enough time to accustom myself to the idea of working full time and getting childcare in line. The good news about day care is that the facility is only a few minutes from where I'll be working and I can visit Isabella on my lunch break, which will make breastfeeding easier to keep up, not to mention mitigate my separation anxiety. The bad news is that we're on a waiting list to get in, and it could take several months.

she doesn't stay put under here for long

Second, we got our tickets to travel back to the States for two weeks in September. It's been two years since I've been "home" and I am hoping that I can squeeze in visits with as many people as possible. We leave on the 7th - mark your calendars!

still getting the hang of solids - mastered: apple and banana

Third, Pedro is traveling for work again this week and if we can get someone to watch the dogs, Isabella and I will spend a few days in Croatia on Pedro's tail. This will be my first test of traveling alone on a plane with Isabella. Tips and advice on this are most welcome.

Perhaps the biggest news of all is that Isabella is now 6 months old. It's unbelievable to me. There was a woman with a 3 week old at my postnatal class this week, and I kept staring at that tiny baby, unsure of whether Isabella was actually ever that small. So I came home and watched some home videos of her first days, and sure enough - she was. It's amazing that so much growth happens in such a short span of time - we're already needing to start childproofing certain areas. Well, I have to cut off here - Isabella has rolled across the room and is pooping for the first time in two days. You have no idea how happy this makes me!

SLEEP

I finally got a little time this evening to update the world on all things Isabella. I hadn't made any posts for a while, largely because I wasn't sure if many people were checking the blog anymore. But, I got a few emails about it this week - so I encourage you to post comments when you can, it motivates me to keep you all posted!

The title of this post is SLEEP, because I could really use some. One routine we haven't mastered is the going down for the night and staying down for at least four hours. Last night, Isabella was up every 2 hours - just like a newborn. Meanwhile, all my friends at my postnatal group boast of how their little ones are sleeping through the night like pros. For the record, a baby "sleeps through the night" when they sleep for at least 6 hours straight. I don't think this has ever happened for us - even once. We never used a pacifier for her, which has been great for everyone but me...because I have become the human pacifier. Many times over, we've suspected that she's teething - but she only pulls this routine at bedtime. What to do, what to do?

I've also started Isabella on solids - we're going very slow with this at the moment because she still really loves and needs her milk. But I've heard that solids will help with the whole sleep thing. The only things she's tried so far are baby rice mixed with breastmilk, and mama's homestyle apricot puree. She seems to really like the whole process of getting fed with a spoon. (I'll post token messy baby face photos soon.) All said, may Isabella and I get the sleep with both badly need tonight.

In other news, Isabella is now 5 months old and three weeks. She doesn't sit up by herself yet, but I got her a second-hand Bumbo and she loves the new and unfettered access to her toes. Her toes, by the way, have become her new day-pacifier and she sucks away at them with wild abandon. As ever, she loves spending times rocking herself on our laps, standing with help, and splashing like crazy in the bath. I got her a baby mirror that thrills her to bits. She has also discovered the joys of petting Tracia (who has, in turn, discovered the joy of a new petter). Every day with this little girl is the most amazing experience I've ever had.

Baby's First Big Trip

feeling marble at Siena's Duomo

We spent a few days in Italy over the weekend to celebrate Pedro's upcoming 33rd birthday. We had a wonderful time in the sun and warmth, and the only real downside to traveling the hassle with transportation (Italians love their strikes almost as much as the French!). Here are a few photos - if you'd like to see all of them, let me know and I'll send you an email with the link to my album at Kodak Gallery. PS - The newspaper article was published yesterday - we'll put up a link or copy up here soon.

Pedro's beard is a new fascination

she loved the colors at our hotel room in Pisa

Pisa's Baptistery

one of those famous landmarks...

strolling in Siena

at the Duomo in Siena

In the News

I got a phone call from a colleague I volunteered with last year at the Peterborough Environment City Trust's Seeding Sustainable Communities Project. The Daily Telegraph is working on a article about "Green Mums" and they'd like to interview me about cloth diapering. It's not too often that a new mother gets recognition in the newspaper! If anything comes of the article, I'll post a link here on the blog.

In other news, Isabella seems fast on her way to becoming mobile, much to my chagrin. I think I'd like her to stay put (and easy) for just a bit longer - but she seems to have other plans. Yesterday, she furiously kicked and wiggled forward in what appeared to be a precursor to crawling (more like inch-worming). She has also started rocking back and forth when sitting on my lap - it's so cute! I've also found an extremely ticklish spot on her tummy that makes her laugh in the most crazy way - I'll try and catch it on video soon. It's interesting though - as soon as I turn on the camera, she turns into Posh Spice and getting her to smile is something else (why smile, when you can Blue Steel?).

Posh Spice

Derek Zoolander and Blue Steel

Happy, Serious Girlie

Hi, my name is Isabella. See that hideous warning label on the side of my carseat? That's one of my top three things to touch and look at.

This is me showing my knickers to everyone at my friend Kathryn's birthday party. It was so great, I got party overload and passed out in mama's arms shortly after this was taken.

And this is me, enjoying my room and all of my toys on Father's Day morning. I've finally entered a phase when I spend lots of time in my crib blowing bubbles, singing at the top of my lungs, and thinking deep, deep thoughts.

Four Months Old - Happy Father's Day!

Isabella turned four months this week. She had her last round of shots for the next eight months. She did marvelously well and I was able to successfully distract her from all three shots with some toys that I brought along. She forgot the pain within seconds. I, on the other hand, seem to be suffering from the pain of food poisoning - which is strange because we think Pedro got it about three weeks ago. Last night I threw up every fifteen minutes for two hours straight. It was a vivid reminder of my labor with Isabella, in which I vomited every few contractions or so. Sickness in labor was something I had never heard of happening to women before - it seemed a very unfair addition to usual pain of labor. Obviously, it was all more than worth it. Now we have a beautiful and happy four-month-old daughter with whom to celebrate Pedro's first father's day. Enjoy the video!

Mom and Danny's Visits

Stonehenge!

braving the rain

my mom, with Danny and Isabellachanging her diaper in Cambridge

outside the houses of parliament in London

at the Texas Embassy restaurant in London

strolling in London

in front of Buckingham Palace

My mom went back home to Minnesota two Saturdays ago. My cousin Danny and his girlfriend flew over from Germany to spend a few days with us while she was here too. So we all hopped on a train into London and stayed in a hotel for two nights before we saw them all off again. We had a wonderful time having family around again and now we're all by our lonesomes again!

The weather here has been weird - some days sunny (yesterday was 84 degrees F), and some days rainy and a bit chilly. We drove through the rain to Stonehenge, saw the site, and pretty much turned back for home right afterwards. I showed my mom as much as I could in the 12 days she was here and we really did have a great time - it was wonderful for her to finally see the baby for the first time.

Now it's back to getting Isabella on a routine. She's been sleeping badly for the last several days, which has been a challenge for us. Tomorrow she has her four month vaccinations - yippee! Can you believe it's been four months?!

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

In Honor of Earth Day - Little Green Radical

Yesterday, April 22nd, was Earth Day. Isabella celebrated by donning a super stylish eco-beanie cap and going out to enjoy the sunny day with Daddy, while Mama worked a couple of hours and worried that she wouldn't take anything from the bottle (which she barely did - but still, we persevere). Thanks to Kat for the cute hat!


And here is Isabella's interpretation of Madonna's Atlas pose from this month's Green issue of Vanity Fair. As you can see, my photography skills combined with the genius of my point-and-shoot camera give Annie Leibowitz a run for her money.

First Vaccinations - Two Months Old

Isabella got her first vaccinations yesterday. She slept through the whole visit - that is, right up until the nurse stuck her with two long needles that went a good 1/2 inch into each thigh. She awoke from her sound slumber to the surprise of shots and started to scream differently than I'd ever heard her scream before (and believe me, there are many variations!). For the rest of the day she went from smiley to weakly cranky with a low-grade fever. Our first fever! Not the greatest first experience in the world, but at least we were prepared with Infant's Tylenol which seemed to help. Today she has been very tranquil and sleepy, so I think her immune system is still working hard on taking in the vaccines.

For now, Pedro is working on bottle-feeding her so that I can work this weekend. I haven't talked about it much here, but we were lucky not to have had any nursing trouble - which was one of my greatest worries given that I have so many friends who weren't successful with it. But when it comes to taking a bottle, she fights it. It's been very difficult getting her to feed from it without a huge struggle. In fact, this post is going to be cut short because that struggle is getting louder...