Hello London

We are here in London and have been for a few days. The flights went well. We were able to be more together about leaving this time and slept for a few hours before we had to get up and get ready for the airport. Because we were ready, we got there earlier and had time to do the things we needed to. Our luggage was still a little overweight but it was a reasonable amount this time and we just paid the fee. We were a little worried about our card not working again but it did and we were able to get on the plane without a hitch. One funny thing is all the people working at the airport remembered us from last time (I guess we are hard to forget). We even had the same immigration guy stamp our passports.

We flew Emirates and I have to say, if you have a chance, definitely fly them. The seats were comfy, the food was amazing, they had strollers in the connecting airport to use, both of our flights left and arrived early and we had good flights (of course it could just be that it was a new plane and an international flight, either way, good airline). Unfortunately, Anna was way too excited to sleep. She did manage to fall asleep during take off but only slept for about half an hour before she was awake and ready to explore. Then she didn't sleep until landing. At least she was interested and not cranky.

We had a two hour layover in Dubai. Our previous tickets were for a 10 hour layover in Dubai so we were going to leave the airport and explore. As it was, we just walked around the airport while we waited for our next flight. The airport was quite large and there were a lot of people there. They are doing some kind of construction on their Emirates terminal so a lot of the seating was sectioned off. That left a lot of people sleeping on the floor which was a bit annoying but we were able to find a couple of seats after a bit.

Then came the flight to London. Again Anna fell asleep during take off and only slept for half an hour. I was worried she would stay awake until landing again (which would have been horrible in a 7 hr. flight) but she did manage to get some sleep through out. At first it was only in short bits but when she woke up screaming, I gave her some motrin and she was able to sleep for a long time. With all of her wakefulness, I wasn't able to sleep much. At one point Jason did watch her while I slept but it was only for an hour or two. The problem was, when Anna was sleeping I wanted to watch a movie or a tv show. Sometimes I'm not good at letting some things go and switching mental gears.

We were sitting next to a nice couple from Australia and they were very nice and understanding. The airline also had baby food and gave us a little pack with a spoon, toy, some wipes and a bib. then they had a little hand puppet too. It was all very cute.

When we arrived into Heathrow, we had to go through immigration. We were a little nervous about this because of Jason's not having a visa. Even though we checked and rechecked, we knew he didn't need one but that just meant that our getting into the country was dependant on hte offical letting us in. We shouldn't have worried. There were only a couple of questions and then we got our stamps and were on our way.

We got our luggage without a problem, got some pounds out of an ATM, and moved on towards the tube. They have a service in the airport where you can leave luggage for a fee so we left our crib while we went to our lodgings. We are staying at a B&B just north of Hyde Park and were able to take the tube there. It's about 10 steps from the station. We had to do a few transfers but were in no hurry (which helped me be relaxed) and managed it just fine. By the end, Anna was getting cranky. We finally lost her binkie for good at the airport and had to pause between trains to feed here.

We have a room with a couch and an attached bathroom. The woman who owns the place is very nice and the breakfasts are lovely. I was able to go down the street and get a new binkie with a tether this time. They didn't have any Soothie brand ones so I got one that seemed like it wasn't too different. Anna liked it at first and thought it was interesting and novel. When it came time to go to sleep though, it was a different story. The new one was all well and good but it was time to bring back the familiar. Alas, it was not to be. She has adjusted to the new one and we all sleep better now.

Anna is still adjusting to the time change but after we got her crib back from the airport and set it up, she has been doing much better. I can't wait to get our own place and she can have her own room. I forget how hard it is to hear her scream as she is trying to go to sleep.

The second day we were here, we went and saw Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliment and Westminster Abbey before being productive. I'm still amazed we're here and think this place is great already. I'm ready to settle into a neighborhood and get into a routine that includes regular sightseeing. Now if only we could find a place to live...