MiAmi

Wow am I behind with my blog posts! The weeks since we have been back from our US trip have been manic; in addition to getting used to our new routine with Calum at nursery Monday, Wednesday and Friday I am also trying to remember how I managed to get everything else done in my two days "off".

Since my last post Calum has been doing really well at "school", so well in fact that his key worker (person in charge of monitoring him and observing him, updating his little book on his developments) wrote in his book on Wednesday that "Calum was settling in very well". Whew! Even though he still cries a little when we drop him off, seeing him owning the place when I come to pick him up makes me feel a lot better and I've loved the peace and quiet at the "office" (AKA home).

So about a month ago I left Seattle for Miami where the 3 of us decided to spend Xmas this year. Calum and I had a great week in Seattle, he did amazing on the flight over with me and I wouldn't hesitate doing it again solo although I will definitely be waiting a few months! Our time in Seattle wasn't enough, it never is-didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see, everything was rushed as always, so I was glad to have a week with my two boys in Miami of relaxing by the pool, hitting the beach and doing some sightseeing.

We stayed in Coconut Grove, a little area about 15 minutes from downtown which was perfect for us-loads of restaurants in walking distance, a few shops and most importantly-family friendly. I love Miami but let's be honest, we weren't exactly going to be fitting in at the Delano's pool with a screaming toddler and we also weren't going to leave our baby with some random stranger so we could hit the bars/clubs on South Beach so this was a great option for us.

Anyway, the first couple of days were great-Calum was over the moon to be reunited with his Daddy and the weather was nice enough for us to lay out at the pool. Christmas Eve we had one of the most amazing Italian dinners I've had in my life and Christmas Day was spot on perfect. We had lunch at a French place around the corner, played in the park with Calum and then had a few drinks whilst watching the Lakers v Heat game (Mark has become a little obsessed with NBA lately and the Heat are his team).

Unfortunately Miami then experienced some of the coldest days they have had in history so we spent the rest of our trip out of the sun, in the malls, and spent one perfect day at Key Biscane.

On our last night we went to a Miami Heat game, in fact we actually extended our trip by a day so we could go to the game. When we last went to Miami two years ago (http://markandjenverghese.blogspot.com/2009/01/welcome-to-miami.html) we went to Mark's first ever live game and he loved it. Needless to say, taking a toddler to the game was going to be a whole different experience. It started out fine-we strapped Calum into the Baby Bjorn which is total child cruelty considering it's made for up to 25lbs and Calum must be approaching somewhere in the early 30s these days-not to mention he and the wearer looked totally ridiculous. Unfortunately things progressively got worse as the game went on, we could no longer ply Calum with snacks and the people in front of us weren't really enjoying having Calum throw his toys at them so at half time I strapped Calum on and made myself busy until the 3rd quarter ended and we left at the start of the 4th. Bummer.

Anyway, we had a great trip and I loved having a stress free, chilled out Xmas. Next year we're going to be here in the UK but Xmas 2012 will be spent in the US again and I'm hoping that we can meet my parents half way and have another Xmas in Miami.

Nursery

Monday marks Calum's first day at nursery (AKA daycare in the US). Mark's Mum, Pat, has been watching Calum here at our house since February when I went back to work and is going to watch our nephew now that Mark's sister is going back to work. We looked around at a lot of options but in the end settled on a nursery in between our house and Mark's office that is about a 10 minute drive from our house.

Calum will be in their toddler room which consists of 12 other kiddies from his age up to 2 yrs 9 mos. On Wednesday morning I went for our first "settling in" day which was a chance for me to be in the room with him while he got to know everyone and I'm happy to say he seemed to have a great time while I chatted to the head of the room, so much so that after an hour she announced that I should leave him for a bit. Well, I wasn't expecting this and kind of stammered, then snuck out and proceeded to cry on the walk to Starbucks, trying to remember what it is you do with yourself when you have an hour of free time and you aren't anywhere near a bed to sleep in or a t.v. to watch.

I called Mark on the walk who was fairly sympathetic and then checked my watch every 5 minutes for the next hour and sped walked to go back to get him. When I picked him up he had been outside playing and was seemingly quite happy. He was also dirty. Shock horror for those of you who know me. In 2 hours there he managed to get dirt all over his trousers and berry stains on his sweater. Needless to say that today when I dropped him off he was in the grungiest clothes I could find.

Yes, I cried again today and I imagine on Monday when he does his first full day (8.30-6) I will also cry. Ho hum. I guess it's better to do it now rather then in a couple of years when he's off to preschool and at least he's been dealing with it better than I.

Pictures finally uploaded from Seattle/Xmas/Miami but as I'm supposed to be working whilst writing this, I better save those for another post. Have a great weekend x

That's not my baby.....

Mark took the above picture yesterday and when I saw it I thought to myself, that's not my baby-that's my little boy! Over the last few weeks Calum really seems to have morphed from a baby to a toddler which has been bittersweet.

When we were on vacation Calum got his own meals ordered at dinner rather than the last time when we were on holiday scrambling to find decent jarred baby food in a "foreign" environment. I can't believe the choices in America-I think I had more fun ordering for Calum (and eating his "leftovers") then I did for myself!

When BA failed to deliver our stroller in Seattle and it didn't show up until 8 days later in Miami, it wasn't the end of the world because Calum can now walk wherever we go (although we have had some serious tantrums whilst in the reigns).

We can't really shop at Cater's anymore since it's all baby stuff although I did buy a pack of the white undershirts in 24 months even though Ashley kindly pointed out to me (in true Ashley style) that maybe Calum is a bit old to be wearing shirts that button at the bottom which I suppose is another sign that Calum is no longer a baby but my little boy.

In fact, we no longer shop in the baby section at our beloved (and much missed!) Nordstrom-Calum is a 2T.

I love this little boy-he was my star on the 10.5 hour solo flight from Heathrow to Seattle and did so good being carted around from place to place, staying up way past his bed time and adjusting to jet lag a lot better then his Mom did. He made our little family trip to Miami for Christmas, it didn't matter where we were as long as he was having fun and having fun he did-from splashing around for hours in the pool, to trying to make new hot girlfriends as you do when you are in Miami (if Dad couldn't do it, someone had to!), to running along the beach at Key Biscane-he loved it and we loved it and that's what it's all about. This little boy. Love him!

Snow day(s)

On Tuesday morning I woke up and immediately felt like a kid again, we had snow! I had been feeling a bit jealous of you guys in Seattle and loved the thought of having a lazy day at home with Mark and Calum, especially since Mark had been gone in Barcelona the weekend before.

Day 1-10 a.m.
Checking it out
Day 1-5 p.m., look how much snow we got!

Tuesday was great, nothing like a little snow to make you feel like baking. I made an Apple Upside Down Cake from Cooking Light's October issue, my Grandma's Banana Cupcakes, did about 4 loads of laundry, watched Repo Men with Mark while Calum was napping (awful movie), made a proper lunch for my boys, took Calum out to play in the snow and had a lazy evening in. I realised that if I lived somewhere where it snowed a lot, I would be huge-all you want to do is bake, eat crap and be lazy! Snow also makes it really hard to get to the gym which isn't ideal with Miami around the corner.

Calum not sure about the snow

Wednesday I woke up and we had even more snow. Mark decided he would actually try doing some work which he doesn't realise just doesn't happen when you have a 19 month old running around (which might have been a blessing as he now realises what I go through on my "days off"). We didn't bother going out in the snow because Calum really just wasn't sure about it the day before, which I can't really blame him for as it was up to his waist and there didn't seem to be any cleared patches for respite! Spending 15 minutes getting all bundled up for 5 minutes out in the snow to be followed by 20 minutes of cleaning up after the discarded layers from two boys just didn't seem worth it. I scavenged in the fridge and managed to produce a decent dinner from very little ingredients and almost no vegetables since I hadn't been to the store since the week before (fried rice with chicken and crispy noodles), but I think the fatty non-diet food was finally catching up to me. Managed to polish off the last bottle of wine in the house (well, except the sketchy bottle of red our neighbor brought at the beginning of the summer that is left for emergencies only).

The strip

Today (Thursday) I was even less enthusiastic about another snow day. I had a cupcake for breakfast, leftover fried rice for lunch. Mark decided he would try to get the car out and go to work, had a laugh watching him clear a foot of snow off the car with only his hands-we hadn't really expected a blizzard in November and don't even own a snow brush, shovel or an ice scraper (unless you count the credit card sized one I put in his stocking last year which just didn't seem sufficient). Mark managed to get out, I managed to email him my grocery list and now Calum and I are enjoying some peace and quiet. Will be very interesting to see what Mark brings home from the grocery store tonight since the last time he stepped in one was not long after Calum was born. He's been there 15 mintues and I've already had 4 calls....

Day 3, 1 p.m.

Not feeling overly optimistic about the prediction of more snow and colder temperatures meaning what we have won't go away anytime soon. Have a much needed hair appointment scheduled for Saturday morning which is unlikely to happen I'm afraid which isn't ideal with the clock ticking on our trip home-you might all see me back to my roots, literally!

Calum loving the snow days

As I write the snow continues to fall so looks like I will be housebound for a few more snow days. At least I get time to blog! x

It's a Family Affair

We've been busy since our last post, it seems like the end of October went by in the blink of an eye and all of the sudden it's November and just 5 short weeks until our trip to Seattle. Since we last blogged we:

Opened our Halloween box from Grandma McEvers. Highlights: Slim Jims (I DIE!), Rachel Ray magazine, American Halloween candy, Funfetti Halloween cake mix and frosting and our new Halloween haunted house candle feature with Pumpkin Spice candle (which is as close to a Pumpkin Spice latte as I will be getting since I was told last week at Starbucks it will basically never come here since Brits aren't into Thanksgiving).
Opened one of our Christmas presents early. Calum has been unwell for the last month or so. First it was his leg/ankle injury which had him not walking for over a week and then it was a mysterious flu like illness which my Mom thought could be Fifths Disease (http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/fifth.html)-you can kind of see the "slapped cheeks" look in the pic above that is characteristic of it. Miserable. Getting sick in the middle of the night, endless changing of clothes, sheets and etc. Calum used to eat anything you put in front of him and since then he's become picky and seems to have lost his appetite. This week he has an ear infection. It's never ending and distressing as a Mom to see your child sick and in pain and not be able to do much about it. Since we're going to be in Miami for Christmas we decided to go light on the gifts this year (as in Calum is getting 3 Fisher Price toys and the truck above is one of them) and as a perk me up we decided to give Calum one of the gifts early. It worked, for about 15 minutes!
Dressed up as a lion for Halloween. I think the look in the top pic says it all.
Had our 2nd annual Halloween party. Since we met last summer, the Mums in our post natal group have stayed in touch and they all came over on Halloween with the babies for our 2nd annual Halloween party. 6 babies + 6 Mums = chaos. That said, it was really fun for me to have them here all together and I look forward to having the party for years to come. I'm so lucky to have met these women, they have really helped me get through some challenging times as a new Mom and Calum is pretty lucky to have such a great group of friends already. BTW, this is the only pic from the day with all 6 babies and it also pretty much sums up the day.

Read lots of books. Calum has always been a big book lover (just like Mommy!) and can never have enough story time before bed. What started as a ritual of Calum and I of reading a book after the bath in his room has extended to him picking a second or third book and bringing it into our room to read with Daddy before his bottle. In addition to our own collection which has been pretty much all thanks to Auntie Tara, Calum gets to have 8 books at a time from the library which has been great-he loves going to pick them out and it allows us to change the selection based on what he's into at the moment. Currently he's into books about animals, making the sounds that they make, and he loves books with flaps to open.
Went to the Mary J Blige concert. Yes, I've been on an old school tour lately-Joe, Keith Sweat and now Mary. Our friends the St Martins were able to get box tickets to see Mary J Blige last week and I have to say, it's the best concert I've ever been to. She sang her heart out for 2+ hours and I found myself knowing almost every song. Amazing. In the bottom pic on the right is a footballer named Anton Ferdinand who happened to be sat in our box.
Renewed our love for our local park. Now that Calum has perfected his walking, the local park is even better than it ever was before because it offers unlimited space for him to run and play and that's just what he's been doing lately as often as he can get us down there. I mentioned before, but this park is literally right behind our house and is only accessible by a path that starts along a big duck pond that our house backs onto. The top pic is our attempt at feeding the ducks-Calum wasn't too happy about sharing his bread, hence him sneaking a bite for himself.
Had cousin Rhys over for a night. Mark's sister Tracey's baby, Rhys, is one day shy of a year younger than Calum so I wasn't sure how we would cope with two babies for the night but it all went off without a hitch. Calum couldn't quite figure out why his old baby toys were out and for the most part didn't pay much notice to Rhys being there-sadly he never seems to get jealous when I hold other babies although I suppose this will be a good thing if/when we have a second. Rhys is a very easy baby who loves to be held all the time (opposite to Calum at this age) and it was a pleasure to have him. The second photo is Calum giving Rhys a kiss-it's taken him ages to be coaxed into kissing but in the last week he's really seemed to pick it up and it's pretty cute.

How I know it's almost Halloween....

This arrived in the post last week:

Yep, my annual Halloween box from Mom. Sure I'm 30 years old and am still getting Halloween gifts from my Mom-so?! Unbelievably my Mom spent $90 to send a 20 lb. box which is sure to include a ton of candy I really shouldn't eat seeing as how I have to be in a bikini in two months time for our Miami trip but oh well....

I haven't officially opened the box yet, I'm saving it for Halloween but I did have to sneak out Calum's Halloween costume from the top which I ordered from the US Amazon since our UK selection isn't great. Here's a little sneak peak, I think it's safe to say that someone wasn't really loving not being able to use his hands and wearing a furry hat. Let's hope we have more luck on the actual day, this year I'm having Calum's friends around again for a little party and we're going to take Calum trick or treating around the new neighborhood to meet a few of the more distant neighbors we haven't had a chance to meet yet. Can't wait x

Down on the farm....

Last weekened we made our first visit to the nearby Godstone Farm which was I'm sure, the first of many. It was a perfect fall day to see the animals (which weirdly included ferrets and guinea pigs in an outdoor pen), play in the gigantic sandpit and explore what has to be the biggest playground I have ever seen. I think I had as much fun as Calum did, seeing the smiles on his face were priceless.

Calum with just about the biggest pig I've ever seen. For the record, seeing a pig in person has really put me off eating pig-such disgusting animals!
Trying to climb into the pig pen
Petting the goats despite the big sign saying DON'T PET THE GOATS
Love that smile!
This was only a small fraction of the sand pit. Calum finally overcame his dislike of sand that day, up until now he's not liked getting dirty!
On the swings