My first shoes

Yesterday Calum reached two new milestones; he got his first pair of "real" shoes and a new car seat that faces forward. To anyone who doesn't have kids, this probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but to a Mom with her first child these steps are further steps away from your child being a baby and becoming a toddler.

We got Calum's shoes from a store called Clarks. Whilst they aren't nearly as cute as the Nikes we got him in Seattle or the Converse my Aunt & Uncle got him before he was born, they are special shoes designed for walking and crawling which in the first day seemed to have already helped him stand more flat rather than on his toes. As part of the first shoes purchase, the people at the store measure the babies' foot and take a picture of him in his new shoes which is entered in a drawing to win £300 worth of kids shoes (which is probably only a fraction of what we will spend eventually!).

I'm pretty excited about the car seat, we don't pick it up until Thursday, but it's going to be so great to be able to see what he is doing now. On Friday I drove into Southwest London to meet a friend for lunch and on the hour or so drive it was impossible to know if he had slept or not. I also think he's going to love being able to see things from a different perspective. Eventually he will also be able to take advantage of watching t.v., Mark was so insistent about buying a car with those t.v. screens in the back and we have only ever used them once in the two years we have had the car!

Today I am off to a Baby Show with Mark's sister Tracey who is due in June, should be fun. Last Tuesday we officially exchanged on our new house which means it's almost as good as ours! We don't move until May 28th, but with all we need to do and buy between now and then, I think that's actually going to be just right. Last Saturday my Grandpa Britton passed away, this week is his funeral in Polson, MT. I am really sad I can't make it but am so glad that Mark and I made the visit out there in October to see him. He was a big part of my life when I was younger and is probably very happy now that he is with my Grandma again and able to play golf. Life is precious and far too short, so enjoy it. Have a great week x

New moves

The past few weeks have been really entertaining and a tiny bit heart breaking watching Calum try to learn how to crawl. Due to some massive thighs he just hasn't been able to get from sitting onto his tummy until just a couple of days ago. Now all he wants to do is go from sitting to his tummy although when he finally gets to his tummy he gets frustrated because he can't move forward (which isn't usually helped by us trying to lure him with the remote control or mobile phone as bait!). Anyway, it's pretty cute to see how proud he is when he gets down onto his tummy and for now I'm grateful he isn't crawling.

On Tuesday we went to see his health care visitor (nurse) who is referring us to a pediatrician as Calum is still in the top of his age group for weight (98th percentile at 25lbs 9oz), apparently they just want to make sure there isn't anything wrong as he seems to be eating a normal amount of food and having the right amount of milk. The pediatrician will also look at his flat as a pancake head and check out some concerns with his hips. We've also been referred to a physio therapist as Calum isn't anywhere closer to getting off his tip toes when standing and the nurse thinks this might hinder him trying to stand and eventually walk. Just when I thought everything was okay with Calum, everything seems to be wrong!

Mark and I went on a much needed date on Saturday-somehow I convinced him to take me to Up in the Air followed by Thai at a new place near our house, it was fantastic! Will have to make up for our lack of Valentine's Day plans which I think will probably be a trend for the next 10-15 years or so since it will be pretty hard to find anyone who wants to stay at home and watch kids on that night! Fingers crossed, we should exchange this week on our house-it's been a looooooooong time coming but once it's been done we enter into a contractual agreement and it's almost ours.

Wish us luck and have a great weekend! x

Bruiser

On Thursday Calum had his 8 month check up which was a little delayed due to all the snow we've been having lately (worst winter in decades, aren't I lucky?!). Before we went I was genuinely thinking that Calum had slimmed down a bit but it turns out I was wrong. Our little boy isn't so little! His stats are:

Weight: 25 lbs 8 oz (99th percentile)
Length: 73.5 cm (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 49.1 cm (99th percentile)

So as the nurse nicely put it, his weight and head size are proportionate with each other but his height isn't.... Basically, our kid is a touch taller than average (not sure how this happened!) but is overweight and has a massive head! Oh, and as if this wasn't enough we have been told that he is no longer to go in the Jumperoo (Mom's lifesaver and his favourite toy of all) because he's spent so much time in it that his calve muscles might not have formed right which is why he only stands on his tippy toes and not flat like he should be to help for walking later on. He might even need physio to fix the problem! Oh, and his hips might be out of line a bit as when he was laid on his tummy the rolls in his bum cheeks weren't symmetrical!

To cap off a great appointment Calum decided to bash his head on the nurses' desk causing her to run off for a cold compress, me to look like a bad Mom and Calum to get his first ever bruise smack dab in the middle of his forehead (as kind of seen in the photo above). Looks like our little boy is going to be quite the bruiser, literally!

Happy 9 mos today to my cheeky little monkey. To celebrate he kept us up from midnight until 3 a.m. last night. Like Daddy, he knows how to party like a rock star. Happy Sunday!

Change

I've been a bad blogger lately. The past few weeks have been a period of change for our little family, it just seems like everything is happening at once with Mark's job, my job, our London flat and our new house. The only constant in our life these days seems to be Calum. He's such an easy going baby that he seems to just roll along with the punches whilst making us laugh along the way.

One thing is for sure, he is a cheeky little monkey. When looking through pics to post from this past month it was hard to find any where he wasn't doing his new pose or flapping his arms around with excitement. He's even got a few different grins and has started to learn how to make us laugh-most often by splashing water on us from his cup. Taking Calum out for dinner has started to become a little embarrassing.

Yesterday Calum and I went to baby movie (Sherlock Holmes) and another Mom and her baby, a boy a little older than Calum, sat down next to us. Calum spent almost the entire movie staring at the little boy and squawking at him. It's not uncommon for Calum to scare his friends in our baby group by shrieking at the top of his lungs, reducing them to tears. Let's just hope this is a phase and doesn't last!

At Nana's house last week Calum started backwards crawling. He hasn't perfected it at home quite yet but he's certainly giving it all he's got. With that nicely padded little bottom of his he's also become a great little butt crawler, able to get anything just slightly out of reach. At Mass on Sunday he entertained everyone in the back 10 rows of pews with his constant raspberry blowing. It's now getting embarrassing to bring Calum to church!

Never the less, our little comedian and attention seeker makes these sometimes difficult and stressful days all worthwhile. After all, we're doing it all for him now, aren't we?

On the subject of change, I wanted to post these two pics below. Other Moms probably know the tinge of sadness you get when you realise your baby has grown out of a certain stage of clothing (not because you have to put them away but because they are getting bigger and you can't make them stop!). Somewhat miraculously I was able to squeeze Calum into a 3-6 month shirt I had taken photos of him in back in September. I can't believe the change in him! He's like Benjamin Button-getting better with age, not so chubby and with more hair!

Jan.18, 2010-Almost 9 mos
Sept. 11, 2009-4 and a half mos
The happiest moment of my day, going into Calum's crib in the morning
Playing the water splash game (see the snow outside?! SO glad it's gone!)
Doing the arm flap after his bath. There is a matching top to these pjs but unfortunately Calum's forearms are too big to stuff into it!

Sightseeing

Just before Christmas my Mom came to visit, her second time to see me since I moved to London in June 2006. The last time she came I was 3 mos pregnant so running around London (and Paris) was a bit exhausting and we probably didn't get to do as much as we wanted. This time things were different because we had Calum and no longer live in the middle of the city. Never the less, we saw a lot in time she was here and it was so nice to have her.

The first night my Mom was here we got snow, a pretty rare occurrence where we live. It was so pretty and really Christmas-y but didn't do us any favors in terms of being able to get out and about. The snow stayed for most of her visit and with the BA strike we weren't really sure if she would be able to make it home, but all worked out in the end. We spent a few days in London, going to Notting Hill/Portabello Road market, walking the Thames and having lunch at our favorite little place-Brown's on Shad Thames, seeing Buckingham Palace (a first for me!) in the FREEZING cold, shopping Harrod's and seeing the world famous Selfridge's Christmas windows, having dinner at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants and spending a day in Canterbury where we saw the amazing Canterbury Cathderal.

Even after more then three and a half years of living here, I'm still amazed at all of the things there are still for me to see and do. There is so much history here that I don't think I will ever again be impressed with the history of things in America. The Canterbury Cathedral was founded in 602!

Before my Mom left (on the 23rd) we had our first Christmas where we were spoiled for presents. My Mom even managed to buy things Mark like which is next to impossible since he is notoriously hard to buy for! It was a great way to start the holiday and I'm really looking forward to Christmas in Seattle next year.

(My Mom wasn't included in the pics below by her request!).

London Bridge at night
View of the city from the Thames
Freezing at Notting Hill
Canterbury Cathedral
Inside the cathedral
Inside the cathedral, from 1679!

Calum's 1st Christmas

With over two busy weeks to cover, I don't even know where to start! Here are a few highlights:

*My Mom was here to visit from Dec 16th-23rd. Despite not knowing if she would be able to get home due to planned BA strikes, all worked out and it was SO nice to have her. Every day we were busy being tourists and celebrating Christmas early. I will post pics in my next post.

*We had snow! The night of Dec. 17th we had about 8 inches of snow, Calum's first. It made everything seem more Christmas-y and was nice for my Mom to see. Things pretty much resumed as normal thanks to the awesome bus, train and tube network so we were able to go about all the things we had planned with a beautiful backdrop. Nothing beats Xmas shopping on Oxford Street with big snowflakes falling!

All bundled up

Checking out the snow

*We took Calum to see Santa. Here in the UK Santa lives in a grotto so the backdrop is a little different then what I am used to at home. I have to say, it was a bit of a let down since all we did was plop Calum in Santa's lap, have the picture taken and leave. Calum didn't cry though, Santa said he was the only baby that day who didn't!

Getting ready to go see Santa (and not too happy about the reindeer sweater!)

*Ever the attention seeker, Calum has realised that being in front of the camera is his time to shine. This is great since most of his pictures from the last month or two show him with a doe in the headlights look, mouth opened.

Posing for the camera

*Christmas dinner at our house with the Verghese family went off without a hitch or any family arguments! It was nice to have it in our house but even nicer to go to Mark's Mum's and Paul and Rachel's for Boxing Day and have a bit of a break!

Boxing Day

*Calum got spoiled rotten! I think the highlight was the rocking horse my Mom got him, but he also got some really great toys from the rest of the family. Our house now looks like a daycare but Calum is happy and has lots to entertain him and keep him busy.

Checking out one of his new toys

First time on his new rocking horse

*Mark is off work until January 4th so we have lots more time together before life goes back to normal. Here in the UK most businesses close from Christmas Eve until after the New Year which is sooo nice. Come January things are going to be busy, I've got a meeting with my MD on the 13th to talk about going back to my old job in London and have some serious decisions to make. Either way I'm going to be working again soon so I'm going to cherish every minute I have with Calum before I have to go back.

Christmas was just so special this year with Calum, I really look forward to seeing him as he gets older when he can understand a bit more about what's going on. I think more than ever this holiday made me realise how much our little threesome means to me and how lucky we are to have each other. Take away all of the gifts and we have something more special then any amount of money in the world can buy. Hope you all had a great holiday x

Sneaking up on us...

That's exactly what Christmas has done this year, it's snuck up on us and I feel far from ready! Tomorrow if all goes to plan (British Airways has announced a massive cabin crew strike), my Mom arrives to stay with us for a week before we host Christmas dinner for Mark's family and then celebrate Boxing Day. The week with my Mom is going to fly by, I've got lots planned and can't wait to show her London at Christmas, it's truly magical.

In the two weeks (!) since I last blogged we've had some good news... The offer on our house has been accepted and if all goes to plan we should be moving late March. Of course there is still so much that can happen between now and then, I'm trying desperately not to get my hopes up-the house just feels right and every day I imagine what it will be like living there.

We managed to make it to mass last Sunday and went to London to visit Mark's Dad's grave, the 13th marked 22 years since he passed away. I think he would be so proud of his family, it was nice to have us all there and to see how it's growing. Mark's sister Tracey will probably be okay with me sharing the news that she's 14 weeks pregnant. She's looking great and Calum is going to be lucky to have a little cousin so close in age.

Speaking of Calum, what a little charachter he has turned into the past couple of weeks. He is a very loud and boisterous little boy, he is constantly vocalising how he is feeling and has given me a fair few headaches screaming at the top of his lungs. His desire to be the center of attention has only gotten stronger and he now gets excited at the prospect of going out I think purely for the opportunity to make more friends with strangers we meet out and about. He also seems to love the cold weather (9:2 odds of a white Christmas in London!) and gets excited when the wind blows when we go outside, its pretty cute and I'm just loving the stage he's at now-I wish I could freeze time and he could stay like this a little longer.

Here are a few photos from Calum's 8 mo pics (we had them done a little early, he's not 8 mos until Christmas Eve). Have a great week x