A Walk About Town

Anna and I in front of Buckingham Palace.

The other day, for my weekly trip into town, Anna and I just walked around. The weather was so nice I even took my jacket off at one point. We visited Buckingham palace and got there just as the changing of the guard was ending (oh well, I wasn't trying to get there for that so I was pleasantly surprised).

The guards as they were leaving.

Then we walked through St. James Park which is right there and then down to the Thames River.

The view of the park from the far end. Through the trees you can kind of see Buckingham Palace.

We ended the day walking along the south bank for quite a way before catching the train home. Again, we can have Anna play tour guide.
Here I am in the middle of the bridge to cross the river. Naturally, the sun came out just before the picture but that didn't stop Mummy from taking it. You can see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the background.
And here I am at the end of the bridge. Mum thought it was a cool looking bridge. I thought she was being silly.
Along the river at this point were a bunch of street performers who wouldn't move until you gave them money. Mostly they were painted all gold or silver (one was even blue) and dressed in period costumes. Mum only took a picture of this one because the hand was actually playing the guitar.
I got out of the stroller to see this other bridge (what is it with her and bridges?). This one is the Millennium bridge and it's just for pedestrians. The ground was really cool and ridged and I didn't want to hold still long enough for the picture to get taken, I wanted to explore. Mum wouldn't let me do that though, how unreasonable. The dome in the back is St. Paul's. This bridge is cool too but you can't tell because of all of the people on it.
We also visited the Globe Theater. It made us think of Uncle Ben, especially as there was a pub next to it called the Swan. Someday Mum says we will take the tour that goes inside it but for now, we just saw the outside.

So those were the highlights of our walk. It was a lot of walking and started getting chilly by the end of it but was fun to see more of the city.

I am the weather

(Groundhog Day) I am amazed at how good the weather has been since we got here. I was totally expecting to not see the sun from the time we left India to the time we arrived in CA. Fortunately, that has not been the case at all. It has been surprisingly sunny and even warm at times. Of course, not warm enough to compete with India but we have adjusted well. So naturally, as I was thinking of this post, it snowed in parts of London on Wednesday morning. Apparently it's the earliest it has snowed in something like 40 years. Fortunately, as I was getting sick, I didn't go into town that day (we went in on Monday instead).

Crawling and Other New Anna Things

I got the video to work! Now you can all see her crawl.

Her is Anna demonstrating her new found mobility. She's been doing this for a little while but I finally got it on camera. She is getting faster at it. Fortunately, not so fast that I can't get to her before she gets where I don't want her to get (such as down the stairs). Although when she wants something, it's getting harder to keep her from it, especially now that she remembers things after we hide them (darn that object permanence). Jason had to construct a barrier between her and the corner where we keep all the toys.

I can already tell that walking is not far behind. She stands so much it's almost hard to get her to sit (I read a headline for an article that said "Encouraging your baby to stand" and I just chuckled) and is cruising along the furniture. She also walks quite well while holding onto our hands. Jason says we need to start pushing her down.

A couple of other things she does now, she is starting to wave. I was out with some friends and they were holding her while I went to get something. When I came back, they said she was waving at some Indian ladies. I guess she recognized their clothes and felt like she knew them.
For reasons unknown to us, she is starting to growl. We have NO idea where this came from because neither of us growl. She's all set to meet her Tartini cousins now. She also will talk but move her hand back and forth over her mouth while she does it. I think she picked that up from me. When she wanted to be loud in places where she shouldn't be, I would put my hand over her mouth and quickly take it away. She started making noise on purpose to hear it. I'll see if I can get that on camera. It's pretty funny and Jason laughs every time she does it to herself.

She also has four new upper teeth making it a grand total of 6 in her mouth. She is no longer allowed to chew on our fingers. The top ones all came in within 2 weeks of each other which really disrupted her sleeping. Now that they are all in she is sleeping fine. I had hoped there would be a bit of a break before more teeth came but she is drooling and chewing again. Hopefully that phase will last a while.

Canterbury

Only part of the Canterbury Cathedral, probably about 2/3 of it.

Last Friday, we went to Canterbury for the day. It only took about an hour and a half by train and the journey went smoothly. We went with some friends of ours here, Grant and Jana because if you travel with four or more people, the tickets are half price. As an added bonus, Grant went to school there so he knew the town and where to go.

We left here around 9:30 and arrived around 11. We stopped and had a snack/small meal for Jason of fish and chips (well, Jason had fish, we all just had chips). A funny thing is with fish and chips here, they sell something called mushy peas. Jana said they are surprisingly good and that Anna might like them. So we got her some and they were like baby food. It was just the thing for Anna and she quite enjoyed them. In fact, she was pretty upset when they were gone so we had to give her chips to round out her meal.

When he stood up straight, he was even taller than the rafters.

We spent some time walking around the place which was charming. Apparently, within the city walls, you can't change the exteriors of the buildings. So all the buildings are really old and way cool. You can tell when a building is actually old (rather than just trying to look old) because the door ways are really tiny, smaller than Jason, just right for me. When companies redo the interiors, they will often turn three floors into two to have normal ceiling heights.

While we were there, they were in the middle of the Canterbury festival. We never did find out what was going on for that but there were little flags strung across the high street which gave it a nice, festival-y feel. It reminded me of the festival in the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

After walking around and just enjoying the place, we decided to go to the cathedral. Grant and Jana decided not to come in with us because they had been there before and the prices had gone up. So they just wandered the town for a bit.

Talk about a big space. I was impressed, Anna didn't seem to be.

The cathedral was amazing! It was huge and had tons of stained glass (which I love). It was a sunny day so we were able to enjoy the way the light played in the space. They had it kind of chopped up into three different areas, each with it's own name. It helped break it up so it didn't feel quite so huge. There was also a crypt in the under part that was darker. I thought it was interesting how they had little chapels named after different saints or families and each one would have an altar and a few chairs.

Some of the beautiful stained glass. There was tons of it everywhere with lots of beautiful blues.

This candle is where the tomb of the guy people would make pilgrimages to see used to be (if that makes sense). It was destroyed by some king so now they mark it with a candle.

The grounds were very nice. There was a bit of grass and the remains of an abbey and the remains of the church that was destroyed. By that point we were getting cold and tired so we didn't really explore outside the church so much. The bathrooms were pretty cool. Each stall had it's own sink and the flush was a chain hanging from the ceiling.

Us on top of the city wall.

When we were done with the cathedral complex, we met up with our friends again and went to late lunch/early dinner. Then we bought a couple of things in a couple of shops and walked along the old city wall to get to the train station to catch the train home. The whole trip went smoothly and we had a lot of fun. I thought of my sister Jen the whole time. Not only because she is an English major but also because she's the reason I have the beginning of the intro to the Canterbury Tales memorized in the old English. Some things you just never forget.

An Ode to Jason

Today is Jason's birthday so I'm going to take some time and sing his praises. Last night, Jason was saying maybe he should start a blog in which he would write his opinion about everything. And boy does that man have opinions! The thing is, while they would probably not be all that popular, they are very reasonable and well thought out. I usually agree with him. He can be a touch inflammatory at times but that is only because he stands by what he thinks and doesn't apologize for what isn't very PC.

He can be very focused and driven and intense. Sometimes, this can be a problem like when he is around people who aren't as intense and gets annoyed. Generally though I think it's a good thing as it leads to his being a hard worker. And what a hard worker he is! People can't seem to believe how much time he spends at school/work. Ironically, he isn't there as much as other people in his class but he gets more done. We're not sure why they are there if they are only going to fool around but oh well. I guess they aren't at intense as he is.

Jason seems to think it's his fatherly right to tell bad jokes and puns. Fortunately for him, I think he's hilarious (bad jokes aren't the only ones, he says genuinely funny stuff too). He is thoroughly enjoying being a father. Anna cracks him up all the time. Just yesterday, she was talking and he was just laughing at her. He is great with her and she adores him. When we go in our room and she sees him in bed, she just laughs. Same for when he comes home. The other night he had to stay late and I think she was sad that she didn't get to see him before bed. They have a lot of fun together. He does this thing (scares me to death, I'm able to not say anything any more) where he takes her by the ankles and swings her around like a pendulum. Naturally she loves it, laughs the whole time.

He has quite a sense of style. He loves colors, especially orange. Naturally, winter is tough. I went to buy him some shirts and had to get olive and navy and was sad I couldn't get anything more bright. He knows what looks good on me and I never have to worry when he buys me clothes. I know they will be nice and fit. He is even really helpful when we go together and finds great stuff.

One thing I really appreciate is he will tell me like it is. The other day, my hair looked awful and he didn't mind telling me so. Of course he said it with love and tact and I already knew it was bad. If I ask if an outfit doesn't look right, I really want to know and he will really tell me. That way, if he says something looks good, I can rest easy that it really does and he isn't just saying that.

He has such a strong testimony. When he joined the LDS church, he jumped in with both feet and would get kind of offended when people thought he had just joined for me. When we were first married, people would often remark that they couldn't believe he had only be a member for two years. He enjoys going out with the missionaries and is even going this afternoon.

He can be pretty outgoing which is good for me who can contentedly just sit at home. But he also likes to just sit at home too. He's the perfect blend of introvert and extrovert so that we can stay in at times but still get out and meet new people. Basically, he's pretty much wonderful.

Urban Babies Enjoy Fine Dining

Eating dinner with a little bit on her face.

Anna never ceases to amaze me with the foods she likes. I probably should have known she would like adult tastes when we were living in Philadelphia and loved the minestrone soup from Olive Garden then ate practically her weight in hummus. Oddly, I was still surprised when I didn't have anything to feed her so I thew something together with what we had. It was couscous with canned tomatoes and fresh mint and basil. She loved it. I can't say I blame her, as I was feeding it to her I thought it looked yummy and later made it for myself but added some chicken, olives and feta cheese (it was quite good).

She has also quite enjoyed whole wheat pasta with kale, fontina and bacon. This is a dish that we quite like (Martha Stewart, everyday food) and I just chopped up the left overs. Since there wasn't much cheese in it, I cubed the left over cheese and few it to her that way. I think the cheese was her favorite part! Since then, she has been a bit of a cheese fiend. She loves the fontina, has enjoyed some mozzarella and quite likes edam. I have to be careful that that isn't all I give her because she will contentedly eat just cheese for a meal.

Toad in the Hole, it was pretty bland but I have some ideas to make it better. I'll have to try it again.

Oddly enough, things that we didn't like so much, she doesn't either. I made something called toad in the hole. It was kind of bland because the batter didn't have any salt or pepper, if I make it again I will add that. Well, I groud it up but she didn't like it. I tried adding mustard (there was already some in the batter) and while that helped a bit, it wasn't enough. She liked it when I then added some peas that had been cooked in sesame oil.

She has also decided that she doesn't like her food ground up anymore. She would rather have it chopped up and eat it off the tray. She good about picking things up (although slippery fruit can be tricky) and doesn't throw them around too much. She's also really good about not choking or putting too much in her mouth at a time. Funny thing, last night, I was making her green beans and while I was getting them ready, she wanted a raw one. She chewed on it until the rest of the food was ready.

Feeding her is becoming a lot of fun and part easier but part harder as she eats more and more real food. I have to actually plan what she is going to have and make sure she has enough, especially in the way of snacks. (Funny side note, yesterday she and Jason were having morning snacks together. They need to eat about the same frequency.)

Like Christmas Morning

Before we left Philadelphia, we packed up all of our winter clothes and left them with my brother and his wife. Our thought was, we weren't going to need them (and we didn't have room in our luggage) in India so we would have them mail them to us when we got to London. After getting here, we wondered about sending the stuff because it would be expensive. Well, after thinking about it and figuring out just how much it would be and comparing that to how much it would cost to buy the things we would need here (taking into account the exchange rate) we decided to go ahead and mail the stuff.

Megan (who did lots of measuring and asking and checking, which I know wasn't easy for her, for us and should get a medal but will only get a big THANK YOU!) mailed the boxes (yes there were two of them, she really is wonderful) on Tuesday which meant they would come some time this week. We got the smaller box yesterday and the larger trunk today! I am so excited to have them. Now we will be warm and actually have choices in our wardrobe. We have been wearing a few things we bought in India when we realized that all we had were t-shirts and shorts and I got a couple of jackets for us at a charity shop a while back. Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of laundry and poor Jason only had one pair of jeans.

I can't wait to get dressed (although I am enjoying wearing my bug fluffy robe that just came in the mail) and don't even mind that I have to now put all the clothes away. A small price to pay. Now if we could only take care of our trunks that are still in India...

A Brief Foray into Politics

My family a few years ago.

I know I said I hated politics but sometimes, you just can't ignore it. In California and in Arizona right now, they have propositions on the ballot to amend their constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Needless to say, these campaigns are getting heated. Especially in California where the polls are showing it is getting lots of support especially among the coveted 18-34 age group.

A little while ago, the No on Prop 8 group said that the commercials for the Yes people were telling lies because they were showing some of the consequences that would surely come to pass if the proposition did not. As if only things specifically listed in the proposition would happen. On a more personal level, some friends had a rock thrown through their bedroom window as well as their car window, a young man manning a booth was slapped and in Arizona, my friend's parent's sign was vandalized. It reminds me of in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where the evil queen is very pretty at first when she wants something from you but when you cross her and make her your enemy, she becomes very ugly. My mom said, on her blog:

"Also the tone of the No campaign has changed over the last couple of weeks. Before, they were using words like “fair,” “tolerance,” “civil right,” etc. Now, rather than those warm fuzzy words, they’re screaming at us, “Haters,” “bigots,” “Neanderthals.”

Isn't it interesting how those screaming for tolerance never seem willing to offer it to others?

My parents, aren't they cute?

My dad also has a blog (we are becoming quite the blogging family) that he started mainly because of the campaign. On it, he talks about family life and the eternal importance of it. He also talks about the destructive powers of homosexuality on individuals, their adoptive children and society at large. I was shocked, appalled and saddened at some of the things I read. He is also careful to cite where the information is coming from. These aren't just the rants of a crazy old man. I strongly recommend reading what he has to say: familyman-lloyd.blogspot.com. I know for me, it has given me concrete examples to give in the event of a discussion on the matter. Even if you don't live in California, this isn't an issue that is going to go away and in all likely hood, it will come to wherever you live, if it hasn't already.

Culture Familiarity

Or whatever the opposite of culture shock is. In coming here, it all feels very familiar. I think coming from India is what is really doing that. If we can come here straight from the US, I would have probably focused on what was different. As it is, it's been a nice half way point between the two places. There are some things that are the same as in the US and some things that are the same as in India. Then there are some things that are unique to here.

For the same as in the US, there's probably more that is similar. Everything from the mode of housing to the public transportation to the grocery stores. The prices of things are even similar (even if there is a pound sign in front, the numbers are closer than the rupees). One thing I've grown to love here is the preponderance of charity shops (thrift stores run by charities). There are tons of them here and I love going in them. I almost can't leave without buying something even if it's just a book (I got Eats, Shoots and Leaves yesterday). Plus, the money is for charity so that's nice.

A few things are the same as in India. The way they drive on the road (although they do follow the traffic laws here) for example. The side of the road they drive on is starting to seem familiar. When we go back to the States, it might take a bit of getting used to. I hope Jason won't need too much adjustment as we drive home from the airport. Also, the love of Indian food and the cheap spices. I can buy a bag of Garam Masala for less than a pound and I saw a bottle of curry sauce for 9p (like 9 cents)! Who knows how good it will be but I say, for 9p, it's totally worth it. Finally, they have switches on their electrical outlets here. It throws Jason off (things can be plugged in but not really) sometimes but I think it's way cool. For example, I can switch off the outlet and don't worry about Anna sticking her finger in the socket. Plus, they always say that it's best to unplug appliances when not in use and it's so much easier when you can just turn off the outlet.

Then the things that are unique. The double decker buses are fun although the top isn't all the fun. You have to be more aware of where you are getting off so you don't miss your stop. Then there are the potato chip flavors (or crisps). I haven't had a chance to try the prawn (shrimp) cocktail yet but I did have the chargrilled steak and it was good. How can you resist steak flavored chips? I'm also a big fan of the scones and have to stop myself when it comes to trifle. mmm, trifle

My favorite thing by far would be the toy library. That's right, you pay a membership fee, and they have toys that you can borrow for two weeks. After they are returned, their batteries are checked, they're checked out to make sure they still work and are safe and are cleaned. They also have a play room (you can't play with the check-out toys) and a day set aside for kids 2 and under. And it's not just toys, they also have books for kids and moms and safety equipment (those are for 6 months). There is a small fee to check out the toys but the max is 2 pounds and that's a small price to pay for a cool toy that you don't have to store when they grow out of it. They even have a music class once a week. We went last week and Anna almost didn't know what to do with all the toys. Between our moving around and my disinterest with "stuff" she doesn't have many toys. It took her a while to figure out what to do but she started having fun and there was even a little boy to grab his nose and try to pull off his socks and have him try to take whatever she had. Fun was had by all.

Grrr Snarl Snarl Roar

I have a really cute video clip of Anna crawling that I was going to post today. Unfortunately, it seems to be the wrong file type so I can't. How annoying. I'm going to see if Jason knows how to change the file type (I looked around and couldn't figure it out but he is smarter about computers than I am) so we can post it. I may also look to see if I can change how the camera records so we don't have this problem in the future. As a consolation prize, here is the picture that for some reason takes every time I start a video. So this is how it would have started. I have no idea why it's so grainy.

Anna the Tour Guide

Other than the art work on the walls, we feel like our house is put-together enough to show you around. So, we are going to have Anna play tour guide. This is our street. There are houses on the other side too but they are farther back and up a bit of a hill. Traffic goes both ways and parks on both sides but there isn't quite room for that so if people are passing each other, they have to wait. Here is our actual house. We are the upstairs of the house on the right. You can't tell but there is another door for the downstairs people on the far right but it's being obstructed by the bush. And our front door. Notice anything missing? That's right, there is no actual door knob. A lot of the places here don't have them and when they do, they often have it in the middle of the door and they act more as a door pull. We also have a cool old fashioned shaped key for the dead bolt. Here are our stairs right inside the front door. Mummy and Daddy keep saying they are going to put up a coat rack but nothing yet. The flute thing came with the house and that is my stroller folded up.The Kitchen where all the food making magic happens. This is at the top of the stairs and the bathroom is through the door although I won't take you in there because it's not that interesting. Mummy most likes the double oven although so far she has only used one. Mostly she likes the idea of it. I like playing with the box next to the trash. Unfortunately, they don't like me to play with it and keep thwarting my efforts. Up three stairs from the kitchen is the living room. Here is the one couch and the bookcase. Mummy worries about me and the stairs. She has this crazy idea that just because I like to crawl over to the railing, I'm going to fall down them so she doesn't let me crawl over to the railing. At least I can stand at the couch. And the living room from the other direction (standing at the bookcase). We all like the rug a lot but for different reasons. Mummy and Daddy think it looks nice, I think it's comfy for crawling. The little faux fireplace is actually a heater. Mummy is sure I'm going to crack my head open on the slate platform at the bottom. I try to tell her to relax as I play with the little drawer on the bottom. Next to the ladder is Mummy and Daddy's room and mine is just next to the blue chair. Here is Mummy and Daddy's room. Some day they are going to put up blinds but for now, the sun comes right in those windows in the mornings and makes this room all nice and warm. As you can tell, I'm also a fan of the bed. This one is my room. It is as small as it looks. It had another bed in here when we moved in but there wasn't anywhere else to put it so we just put it on its side along the wall. This shrinks the room even more but I guess it's ok because I don't really play in here. Some day they are going to put blinds up in here too. For now, Mummy just pinned up the blanket to keep some of the sun out so I can take my naps during the day. There is a closet behind the door. And here is the backyard from the living room window. The pretty grassy yard belongs to the people downstairs. We have the gravel area in the back with the shed. The shed is nice because we have put things in there that we don't want in the house like luggage. Other than that, we don't go back there. The red behind the trees is the football (code for soccer) stadium. The streets get pretty crowded on game day but at least it's quiet. We don't hear anything during the games except an occasional roar from the crowds. The only way we know it's over is because we see people walking back to their cars.

So this is where we live. We all like it and are glad we didn't have to live somewhere tiny and cramped. The neighborhood is nice. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk to the train, the library is just up the hill and the grocery store is a long walk or short bus ride away.

A Grand Day Out

The dress on the right reminded me of something out of Gigi.

Yesterday, as part of my new schedule for myself, I went into town (London) and did fun things which I will now do every Wednesday. Anna and I went to the National Portrait Gallery and to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Getting there was a bit of an adventure. It was my first time on the train/tube on my own. I have to say, people here are so nice when you have a stroller with you. I almost never had to go up or down stairs on my own. Someone would always ask if I needed help and grab the front wheels for me. Once, the guy didn't even ask, he just grabbed the wheels! As much as I was tempted to say I was fine and could do it on my own (I can be like that), I gratefully accepted their help.

When I first got to the Portrait Gallery, I had a bit of museum choice remorse. It occurred to me that it was a whole gallery of heads of people I mostly didn't know and what was I thinking? I persevered though and did enjoy it after all. It was still mostly people I didn't know but I just zoomed through and only stopped at the people I was familiar with. So, some of the people I saw: William Shakespeare (it was pretty dark), Henry VIII (although it was only a drawing, I'm sure they had an actual painting of him but I didn't see it), several of his wives and his son, Victoria and Albert (of the museum, probably the only reason I cared about them), Alexander Flemming, the Bronte sisters, Dickens, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I (three of them at different times in her life), the current royals, Princess Margaret (several at different stages of her life), Paul McCartney, E.M. Forester, Virginia Wolf, Margaret Thatcher, Florence Nightingale, David Beckham (a video of him sleeping, it was strange) and many more.

As with pretty much all of the museums we have been to so far, the building itself was pretty cool. The problem with this one was there were a lot of stairs which didn't go to well with my stroller. They did have an elevator but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing things. There were a number of people that I thought I would see but didn't such as Jane Austen.

From there, we went to the V&A (Victoria and Albert as it is called). This is a museum of primarily decorative arts. We had been there between the sessions of conference (one big plus of where the chapel is located). That was handy because then we had a map and I could plan out in advance what I wanted to see. This place is huge and it made it possible to just see what I was looking for. Plus, I was able to glance at the things I saw on the way to what I had decided on.

So I saw: Fashion (we saw half of it during conference, this time I could see them all at my own pace), jewelry, tapestries (at least the oldest medieval ones), metalware and musical instruments. It was all a lot of fun.

Wiggly babies in your arms make for blurry pictures. This is the last one I could take.

The jewelry room was interesting because it had a long room with a staircase in the middle (and an elevator) with another room on the next floor up. While I was in the jewelry, I took a few pictures and after I had been almost through the whole room, a guard told me that photography wasn't allowed. Oops. After that, I was wary of taking pictures of anything. Anna was getting kind of antsy after the jewelry so when I looked at the tapestries, I put her on the floor in the middle of the room and let her crawl a bit while I looked at them. Fortunately, the room was almost empty of people.

Looking down from above, my contraband picture.

They had a special exhibit on the Supremes and I was tempted to go but was too cheap to pay to see it. The musical instrument room was above it though and at one end, you could kind of see into it. There was also a screen playing a performance. I had the song Diana Ross was singing in my head for the rest of the day. I was feeling like a rebel and took some pictures of the costumes from above. Once I saw the guard that was there, I was more careful with my camera.

Although it was very tiring, it was a fun day. I was really brave too and actually asked people for directions (I am more likely to wander looking for what I want), help (I had a guard watch the stroller for me while I looked at the instruments, the only way in and out was through a half dozen stairs) and information (they were putting up stands in Trafalgar Square and I asked what was going on). The day even ended with Indian food with Jason and a girl in his class.

The National Observatory

Anna and I straddling the Prime Meridian. We were on the east side and the west side.

The area of London where we live is not too far from another area called Greenwich. You may recognize this from time zones in relation to Greenwich Mean Time. This is where the prime meridian of the earth is and from where all the time zones originate.

A little bit of history. Way back when people were sailing around the world, they didn't have an accurate way to measure longitude. This was a big problem as ships kept hitting things and sinking. The king at the time decided enough was enough and they needed to crack the code so to speak so he issued a challenge to try to find a way to figure it out. The guy who ended up doing it was based in Greenwich at the observatory so they gave him the distinction of being the zero.

Me with the clock. It was cold so I used my scarf to keep my head warm. I felt like I was in the Middle East.

Now, you can go visit the observatory where we worked. It's set up as a museum now and we visited it a couple of times. The first time, it was already closed so we just looked in from the outside. We were able to see a clock that had some big historic significance (I don't remember what it is just now) and the standards for various lengths. The second time we went in and had a look around. Mostly it was a lot of old astronomical equipment which was interesting. Then there were rooms that talked a whole lot about time and clocks and that was where I started to loose interest. For some reason I don't understand, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum so we don't have any picture of that part.

Jason comparing his foot to the foot marker. They seem to be the same size.

Naturally, the prime meridian is very well marked. They have a laser that shoots out of the building and a line on the ground of the courtyard where people line up to take their picture with it. We kept quoting Robin Hood: Men in Tights to ourselves "I'm on the east side, I'm on the west side". We crack ourselves up. There is also a clock that is counting up from the millennium. Apparently, before the millennium, it counted down.

The laser coming out of the building with the digital counting up clock. This was at dusk. When we went back during the day, you couldn't see the laser.

The observatory is at the top of a good size hill in a big park and the view is phenomenal. You can see the Maritime Museum at the bottom of the hill, the Millennium dome to the right, Canary Wharf in the middle and the river Thames. As you can tell, it was a pretty gray day when we went the first time and it was getting dark but it was still a great view. Then we went down the hill and walked along the river by the Greenwich University. Because it was night time and quite cloudy, you could still see the laser. I thought that was pretty cool.

The laser by one of the buildings of the University. I wonder how far you can see it?

Monday, Monday

You can tell she is impressed with the really old carvings in the British Museum.

I realize this probably sounds crazy but I quite enjoy Mondays. Let me explain. I feel like I'm in a constant state of trying to be a better home maker. On Mondays, I'm all gung-ho about getting things done and being organized. Then, as the week progresses, I'll not do something (like dishes or ironing) because I don't feel like it. Unfortunately, my brain gets stunted, like I can't move on from the thing I haven't done. So then I end up spending the rest of the day reading while Anna plays on the floor and chastising myself for not doing whatever it is that I'm avoiding. It's a vicious cycle.

Fortunately, there is the weekend. It's as if this is my chance for repentance and renewal (oh the symbolism) and I can start the week off right. Today has been no different. I had a great day of productivity and down time so I could read. To top it all off, Anna has had good naps which we all know can either make or break a day (with all the moving around, her naps have truly suffered. I'm starting to get her on at least a loose nap schedule). Other than the staying up too late, this day has been pretty great.

To add to my great day, I've put together a schedule to follow for days in the future (I love planning). So now I know what I need to do when and on what days while still giving myself down time and flexibility. The hope is that then I won't feel a need to rebel (I can have quite the rebellious streak) and will stick to it. Plus, I won't stress about the things I need to do because I have a time set aside to do them. As you can tell, I'm a big fan of schedules and, like my dad, systems. Now if only they would actually work in practice and not just on paper...

The right equipment

Anna with the Rosetta Stone (of a sorts). It's just like India, they'll let you touch anything these days (hehehe).

It's amazing how parenthood can be easier with the right equipment. This is a bit of a revelation to me because I'm not one for lots of baby crap. I pretty much try to get away with as little equipment as possible. When we were buying her bedroom furniture, I planned on using the top of her dresser as a changing table (why get another whole piece of furniture that we will just have to move and will clutter up the room?). Then with toys, I'm not really into anything larger than will fit into the diaper bag. I figure, why buy toys if she will be perfectly happy playing with a wooden spoon from the kitchen? Poor deprived kid. In spite of that mentality, there were some things that even I had to admit we needed. We recently bought a high chair, a stroller and a hand blender for baby food mashing.

The high chair is the kind that straps onto the chair. Unfortunately, our chairs are all director style chairs and there is no way the seat is going to fit on it so we just put her on the table (it's a big table and we put her in the middle so she doesn't tip over, plus I actually use the straps). Feeding her is a ton easier. I don't mind if she gets food on the seat because it's easy to clean (unlike her car seat which is a mess), she is strapped in (I wasn't using the straps on the car seat because they were annoying) so now I only have to contend with her turning her head to watch Jason and she has a tray which is so much fun for things like Cheerios. The first time we put her in her seat, we tried giving her cut up bits of canned peaches. In retrospect, it might have been better to start with something less juicy and slippery but it was fun none the less. The one down side is that now she can throw things and drop things. Every time I give her Cheerios, she has a couple stuck to her pants when I pick her up. Then last night, we gave her some fried rice (we ordered Chinese food) and when we picked her up, she had so much rice in her lap and on the table next to her it was comical. I don't know if she actually ate any but she had a lot of fun.

When we first got here, I was all excited about being able to buy baby food in jars. They don't have them in India and they were a bit of a novelty to me. The problem with them is that not only are they a little pricey (even though I bought them on sale) but they are pretty bland. and they all seem to be pasta and tomato based. I'm not sure she liked them all that much. I know about adding spices but we don't really have any yet (I'm buying them as they come up) and salt is no good. So I got a hand blender like the one we left in India and have been mashing up what we have been eating. I think it's a hit so far. Today for lunch, she had mixed Chinese vegetables. She wasn't so sure of them at first but decided they were pretty good before too long. I'm hoping this will improve her meals. At the least it will increase her culinary repertoire.

Then there is the stroller. I was really starting to want one. I would look longingly at people who had them any time we went out (and a lot of people have them). We thought about getting the same kind we had before but didn't really see it here (the companies have different ones here than in the US) and it cost the same number but with a pound sign in front instead of a dollar sign and that made it really pricey. We thought about ordering it from an American store but didn't know about the shipping. We ended up getting a Quinny Zapp. It's a small, light weight one which is good for taking it in the city and we can still use our car seat with it. Anna mostly likes it but the straps are kind of big for her (even on the smallest setting) so she slides down in the seat. It looks pretty funny.

At first, I didn't like it at all. I'm kind of out of practice with having a stroller and was too used to the freedom that came with just having her strapped on my front. Of course it didn't help that the tube is not particularly stroller friendly. They have escalators and stairs but no elevators any where. So far, I have only gone with Jason so he helps but who knows what will happen if I have to go alone. Although, knowing here, someone will help me (people have all been really friendly). Plus, after our little escalator incident, I'm a little scared of them and have a bit of anxiety taking the stroller on it. I've gotten better with practice but it's still a little scary. And then, the one we got ended up not having a little under basket. I was not expecting that because just the day before I was asking a girl what she thought of it and we even discussed the basket that was on the bottom of her stroller. I was so confused. We have since found out that while it doesn't come with one, someone makes an after market one that we can get on eBay. We will have to do that. So while at first I had some serious buyer's remorse, it's growing on me and I'm glad we have it. When we get back to the US, I might still see if we can get just the frame for our other one (we still have the seat) and we can use this one as our high quality umbrella stroller. We'll have to see.

How big is Anna?

Sooooooo big (but not as big as she thinks she is). So Anna is eight months old now and has picked up a ton of new skills. She is very pleased with herself that she has figured out how to stand up in her crib (sadly I don't have a picture of this yet). Needless to say, it's all she does. She even figured out how to stand in her sleeper bag (like footed pajamas but without the feet, just a seam). Her crib is now on the lowest setting. It's very common to put her down for a nap and after a little while hear giggling. When we peek in, she is standing and kind of bouncing and laughing at herself. It's hard to be upset when she is so happy and pleased with herself.




On Sunday, at conference, a friend of ours introduced her to Cheerios. She hadn't had them yet and thought they were pretty good. I noticed that she was able to pick them up with her thumb and forefinger (a big step for those of you without kids) and get it into her mouth. That same day, when I was changing her nappy (as they call them here) I noticed she has cut another tooth. This one is on the top and just to her left of the middle two teeth. I was not surprised as she had been chewing predominantly on that side for some time. This whole teething thing doesn't seem to be too bad for her.



As far as actual size goes, when we were in Mumbai and she was 7 months old, I weighed her and she weighed 7 kilograms (about 15.4 pounds). That put her right in the middle of the weight curve. I wasn't able to measure her height accurately (we did compare her to Jason's feet which are about a foot and she was two and a half of those but that was pretty sketchy) while we were there though. Since coming here, we have two tape measures (you find the strangest things in furnished flats) and I tried to measure her but she was wiggly and I was alone. I think it was about 27 inches. I don't have my height growth curve though so I don't know where that puts her. I think it's near the top though.


Ever since we were in India, Anna has been able to get up on all fours. Any time she tried to move forward though she would just fall on her tummy. From there she was able to army crawl to get what she wanted. Now that she is spending more time on the floor (carpets are so much nicer than tile to play on), she has actually been able to crawl a few steps! So far, she hasn't gotten too far or go to fast (which I know will soon change) but we all get really excited about it.


So that is what Anna is up to now. She just keeps getting bigger and bigger. With Jason home more (he only goes into school 2 or 3 days a week) she is getting to like him more. Of course she still likes me best if anything is actually wrong but he is getting fun too. Often he is more interesting than eating. Naturally, people love her here too. She makes friends on the tube or the train every time we go. A friend pointed out that she is so popular because she is so responsive and happy. It's hard not to love a baby who is smiling at you with that cute smile she has. I know we sure can't stand the level of cuteness in this house.