Once a month, I volunteer with the Angler's Monitoring Initiative - in short, it's just a group of fisherman who care about the quality of the local streams and do basic testing for pollution to make sure the fish thrive. When I go, I almost always take Isabella with me. The fisherman are very good with her and she loves getting her hands dirty. As a result, my three-year-old knows the names of bugs that I didn't learn until I was in college. Yesterday, we took a bucketful of bugs and small fish home with us so that she could bring it to playgroup today for a bit of "show and tell." It was a moderate success, and Isabella was certainly the most excited one of the group - she was the last one standing and put up a fight when it came time to clear up.

 Playgroup this term has been going very well for her. It was only last term that I still had to promise treats and surprises for her to allow me to leave her there. But with the older four-year-olds now in reception, what the Brits call kindergarten, there are only the littlest kids left, which has been a big boost for her confidence. I also prefer it because there is more one-on-one time with the teachers/playleaders. She is also very much into art now and brings me home more drawings and pictures than I know what to do with. What do other parents do with all of the art that accumulates with kids?

First Movie and Gratitude

Once upon a time I kept a running list of things I wanted to blog about, and was good at putting them down on a regular basis. That ability is now gone - so either I've gotten better at living in the moment, or have lost my ability to remember things well.

It's another weekend, and the end of another full week. Pedro is down with a cold and our plans for camping seem to have gone out the window along with the forecast for good weather. No matter though, we had a good week -  I took Isabella to see her first movie in a theater yesterday. We saw The Smurfs, and I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed it. I was bored for the whole first 30 minutes, but once the Smurfs made it to Manhattan and the double entendres started, I found something in it for me (any by the way, the set/interior designer for the New York apartment...very cool)! We bought popcorn, and true to form, Isabella dumped half of the bag while wiggling in her seat. Then she commented on how dark the theater was and how they needed to turn on the lights and kept talking about this until we were both startled to attention by the cinema's sub-woofers and lack of volume control. It was such a cool experience with her - it was another true first and I kept feeling like I was getting away with something by being at the movies in the middle of the day.

My reverie burst when we walked out of the theater, and I could see my car in the middle of the parking lot....with the driver's side door wide open. Wide open and even touching the car right next to it! Apparently, I left my door open when I ran to the other side of the car to prevent Isabella from wandering away from the car and didn't bother to close it. Nothing was missing - but nobody bothered to close the door either - it was so weird. Like the time I left my handbag on top of the car and no one stole it. Again, I felt very lucky - because as we saw during the early August riots in London - English people aren't always honest and polite. I've had a string of minor misfortune lately, dealing with an unfair parking ticket, a dog who peed on a neighbor's foot, dead appliances, and other small things that can wear away at morale.

But life is good, truly. When much of the world faces down war, natural disasters, economic collapse, corruption and injustice...I am so grateful for our spot of tranquillity. I didn't have any theater photos, but these pics I took earlier in the week of my girl feeding "Teddy Pedro" water from the dog bowl will have to do.

just a spoonful of sugar...

feeling better already

Sunday in the Park

We had some fun with this. Ferry Meadows is a nature park we just discovered this past weekend. It's so close and so cool that it's almost a shame we didn't know about it until now. Nevermind. Though the playground is mostly featured in this video, there are a couple of small lakes and a lot of green space. If I get my way, we'll eventually have a kayak of our own to paddle around!

Growing Up with Grown-ups

After not having blogged for so many months, it's a lot harder to come back to it than I thought. I've been working on a post that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere - probably because I'm trying to summarize what's gone one for the last four months (it feels like way more). But as I was looking through photos on my ipod, I found a few that were worthy of a post all their own.

I cannot complain that having a child has held me back from doing anything I've wanted to do - going out with friends, travelling, or even getting a coffee. If there is something going on we simply bring Isabella - living so far from family, we have no built-in babysitters. There are limitations, of course, such as trying to bring her into London needing a nap or trying to get the baby buggy up and down the steps of the Underground. And certainly, we go into the city far less than we used to because of those reasons. But Pedro and I are fortunate not to have that lost look some parents have, because Isabella is so well behaved and cool. Without a doubt, she is my sidekick and I like it this way.

All of that said, Isabella spends a lot of time with grown-ups. It is starting to show, I think. When we went to see our friends Ed and Cevin, who just moved to London, we barbecued on their massive balcony in St. Johns Wood all day. Isabella spent her time chatting with us (alas, they are kid people with no kids), playing with their iPad (filled to the brim with kiddie games), and taking the following pictures with my ipod. 

The photos were very telling. Make no mistake, she had a blast when we were there and didn't want to come home (there was also a trip to the park that day - a big highlight). But the following week she told me, "Mama, I need more kids at my house." Man, that made me feel lacking. We see a lot of our friends with kids during the week - especially now that we are on British summer holidays - school and playgroup are out. But with the two little girlfriends she has had since birth, she is noticeably the third wheel when they're all together. It's like they're just old enough to want exclusivity. The two sisters next door even play more with each other than with Isabella when they're together. She doesn't seem to notice this quite yet, and her innocence is heartrending to us.

My good friend from college, Rebekah, and her family drove down from the Leeds area to spend some time with us this week. Her kids, Graham and Josephine (5 and 3-years-old), really hit it off with Isabella. Seeing the three of them engaged and her really involved with the activity was restorative. Of course, they live three hours away. As a parent, especially with only one child, you tend to overthink everything (this post being a prime example). The clichés make the truth no less true: all you want is the very best for your kids. But in the end they have to figure things out all on their own, especially friendships. 

I'm off now - I hear some lovely music drifting down from her bedroom. 

Come Back

Isabella has been asking for a baby brother or sister (actually, pretty much demanding a new sister) so it prompted me to show her the blog from its early days....her growing in my tummy and her first day in the world. That was last Sunday and I haven't been able to shake those images, nor the feelings they brough up in me, from my mind. Looking back at the blog shook me up a little bit, but mostly made me really thankful for this chronicling of her early days, pre-Facebook. So I have decided to pick it up again - I'll still post photos and small bits to Facebook, but I would like to keep this record for all of us. Facebook is an immediate fix, but really isn't a good substitute for what this blog was to our family and friends.

I'll be back.

Easter 2011

Isabella woke up this morning to a little basket by her door. She stepped over it and continued on to our bedroom for her usual morning cuddle. This girl needs time to wake up, just like her parents - maybe even more so. Anyway, I had to walk her back to her room and point it out. Then, we went downstairs and the hunting began in earnest.

The Easter Bunny was pretty generous this year. Two little baskets, lots of hidden eggs, little toys, and just a silly amount of sweets and chocolate. When I brought out some of the Easter stuff this year, I found almost all of last year's candy! Luckily, she doesn't have a crazy sweet tooth - the marshmallow peeps will probably become dried little toys and the jelly beans are unlikely to be touched, only played with as she hides and rehides those eggs.

After finding all sorts of goodies inside the house, we discovered that the Easter Bunny had hidden stuff out in the garden too! Such a crafty character, that bunny.

Later on today, we are headed over to some friends' for smoked beef brisket and more surprises. Happy Easter to all!

Thomas!

My friend and I took our girls to see Thomas the Tank Engine, for his limited visit on the Nene Valley Railway today. Early on, we really encouraged her to like Thomas - kids get into what you yourself get excited about, for the most part. Anyway, I wanted her to subtly know she could like a "boy" thing.

So this early encouragement probably explains why she loves taking the train - be it the underground (subway), trolly, or tram. In fact, our trip to the London aquarium was interrupted multiple times by requests to go back the "the track." As in, "Mama, when are we going back to the track?" 

She has already learned that the journey itself is just as good (maybe better) than the destination.

As she retold the tale of Thomas to Pedro this evening, she reminded him that Thomas is a "really useful engine." Of course, I had to tell her to stop causing "confusion and delay" this morning as we were trying to jet out of the house. She didn't get my joke.

It was a fun morning for all.

3rd Birthday!

 Isabella turned three last week! Look at her go on her new scooter! She also got a fish tank! We put it in her bedroom and she absolutely loves it. This is year she was showered with all kinds of cool toys from her friends and family - we are very fortunate for such generosity and thoughtfulness. She's got lots of new art supplies, books, and cute outfits and accessories to last her the next year.

A few days later, we had her Peppa Pig themed party at our village hall. It was a smallish affair, only eight kids (most kids parties we go to have up to 20!), but the decibel level was pretty high! I worried that the kids wouldn't have enough to do, but those worries were totally unfounded. They all went nuts. I am starting to think that Isabella may be an introvert, like me, because at one point she got into one of the tents with some stuffed animals and started playing by herself. If there is a lot going on, she does tend to withdraw from the action - I am hoping that she doesn't become super-shy like I was. 

Her party was also meant to be a dress-up party, as in re-use your Halloween costume - but Isabella didn't want to put hers on! And the rest of the kids abandoned theirs shortly after walking in the door. Isabella had a robot costume that was FUNNY! Hopefully, I can get a  photo of her in it before she can no longer squeeze into it - her legs are growing miles a day.

Happy 3rd Birthday, my Sweet!

November and December

We have been so busy lately, it's hard to keep up with everything. Ever since the vacation and cruise in Puerto Rico I have been playing a big game of catch-up. Catching up with projects, catching up with Christmas, with friends, with family...and someone is always inadvertently left out. I remember hearing my mom complain that there weren't enough hours in the day and I'm afraid that I'm saying the same things now. As a "stay-at-home mom", I feel this shouldn't be so. Most days, I feel like I'm working full-time with a 15 tasks going at once. And yet, when someone asks me what I do....I never know quite what to say.

So here I am, playing a bit of catch-up from the past few months.

Our trip to the Caribbean was wonderful. We were celebrating our ten-year anniversary and decided we wanted to include as much family as could be there. We did a cruise with my mom and her partner Steve, Pedro's parents, and my cousin Dennis and his fiancée. By day we relaxed, and by night we relaxed too - so I guess it's the universe piling all the stuff on me now to balance out all the relaxation I had then. The food, the sun, the people - everything went off without a hitch and we discovered that a cruise is a really great way to get together with family. After the cruise, my mom and Steve stayed four more days in PR since she had never visited the island before. So we did all the rounds to Pedro's family, introduced them to my favorite Puerto Rican dishes, and showed them some of our favorite beaches.

There are a lot of really great things to say about this trip, but since a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, I made you a video. Enjoy - and please leave a comment if you watch it - I'd love to hear what you think.




XO

April

Come On-A My House

Zoo Video

The Zoo

Today, I took my girl to the local wildlife center: the Hamerton Zoo.

We saw belligerent tortoises, a kookaburra, meerkats, maned wolves, a Bengal tiger, and operatic gibbons. 

 And she learned all of their names.

 

We were the only two visitors there during the first hour!

 We had the park to ourselves.

And it was wonderful.

Halloween

We are officially halloweened out. Three days straight of Halloween: a party, a carnival, trick-or-treating, and village bonfire night. We even opted out of two other things we had originally planned for Sunday! Anyway, Halloween was very fun this year. 

Isabella went as a garden gnome. I made her little skirt, the hat, and the beard. I threw in a black belt and her little boots and the look was complete. As for myself, one day I was Cyndi Lauper and the next I was a 50's teenager with a poodle skirt. Pedro was a swarthy viking.

For the first time in my five years living in England, I got trick-or-treaters at my house! I was unprepared and they ended up getting Isabella's candy from our special trick-or-treating on an American base the day before. But it was very exciting for me (and Isabella too).

Bonfire night was great too. November 5th is the official Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes holiday), but our village decided this year to combine it with Halloween. I had originally planned to enter Isabella in the costume contest, but was feeling particularly rotten with my cough and we only made it to the actual bonfire lighting and fireworks later on in the evening. Last year it was freezing outside so we were prepared this year with hats, mittens, down coats, blankets, hot water bottles, and hot toddies for the grown ups. And the weather ended up being....very pleasant! Of course, the day I'm over-prepared is the day I don't need to be.

Halloween plinko - her favorite from the carnival - she used almost all her tickets here!

All in all, it was all good, but I am ready to pack it up. And the next holiday will be spent with family! We're getting ready for another trip and mini-family reunion with both sides of the family in two more weeks. It's going to be a good Thanksgiving.

MORE Pumpkins? Yes, More Pumpkins.

We picked our own pumpkins at that same PYO farm we went to for berry picking this summer. They had a vast field full of lonely pumpkins, each of them begging to be taken home. The surrounding field also had more autumn vegetables like gourds and squash, so we picked a few of those as well.

It was cold! out on those fields, but the sky was clear and the early evening was beautiful. We went with some friends and all the kids were besides themselves with pumpkin joy. 

Once we chose our pumpkins, we dropped them into these holes for measurement. Isabella kept sticking her head into the holes saying, "Where's the ladybird?" (Ladybird is Britspeak for ladybug.) It was a random question, but one that demonstrates what is usually on her mind - she loves ladybugs.

Finally, on a rainy day, we decided to carve this pumpkin up into something "very scary," at Isabella's request. She helped me scoop out the seeds (which we toasted with salt and sage, of course), and carved it!

An awesome jack-o-lantern sure to scare the goblins away from our doorstep.

Onward to Halloween

candy-filled pumpkin parcels a la MarthaStewart

Isabella and I have spent an awful lot of time with Halloween decorations this year. I searched through every box in the shed and garage trying to find all five of my old Halloween decorations, but to no avail. So I invested in some cheap homemade versions instead. Halloween is fun and it's a pity that it's not celebrated  in the same over-the-top way we do it back home. So no trick-or-treating outside the American community over here, but I'm working on a deal with my neighbors...

The garden is beginning to go to seed - my runner beans that are still left on the vine have gotten hardened outer pods and the seeds inside have turned...magical! They're purple! We have serious plans to start a beanstalk. "Bella and the Beanstalk" - it has a nice ring to it.

And of course, it is again baking season - the time of year that I get stingy with the heater but very generous with running my oven. These spooky treats were inspired by my Creative Director, Isabella Aida, who really wanted a ghost with glasses and a happy face. The glasses wouldn't fit, but he is quite happy as you can see.

And lastly, I have been making a bigger effort to write down all the funny things Isabella says at this age. Unfortunately, most of them get missed, but here are a few (mind you, these are coming from a two-and-a-half-year-old with a cute little high-pitched elf voice, and just a tinge of baby accent left):

"I like my orange hair."

"This is AMAZING!" As said after taking her first bite of dinner, and a clue that my constant hyperbolic speech is rubbing off on her.

"That's a FINE pumpkin, Mama." Evidence of more accrued British culture and speech.

And my favorite from last week: I had gone into her room to get her out of bed and she looked to the window and said, "The sunshine is ready!" Beautifully put.

Hike to Harvest

Our neighbor's tree out front has just started turning yellow. Isabella is with her second cold  in two consecutive weeks. We are using our heater twice a day now. And dinner tonight is a hearty, hearth-y moussaka. Autumn is really upon us here in England. I feel we have to spend as much daylight hours outside as possible, before the sun goes down at 4pm by the end of December, and the days begin to wane dramatically by 2pm.

the donkeys and horses from down the road

So Isabella and I have begun to collect even more wild berries, apples and other edibles to use such efforts as an excuse to be outside. We have even started taking the dog down to the creek for regular baths, instead of a hosing.

footpath to Southwick and the giant crabapple tree

But today I'm definitely feeling the indoorsy vibe. My attention has turned from various scattered clothing and gifting projects to projects of the house: what do I really want to look at between these four walls for the next 6-7 months before spring beckons us out again? So I am putting together a few boxes of things we no longer use or need to sell in my first car boot sale - the equivalent of a garage sale, except various people in the village get together in a parking lot and sell their wares from the trunks of their cars.

last stop at The Swan from our recent hike

This weekend we are also planning a big family hike with some other friends and their kids. It will be a kid-friendly pub crawl from one village to another - with good food and drink at both ends - absolutely the best way to do it.