Some recent pics

Mostly of the kiddos. In the first pic Rosie's T-shirt says ' The new Britney', it's one of my favourites. There's a couple from our day out to the Natural History Museum and just some of Tobes and Rosie. Doesn't she have a funny little face? Like a tiny adult.

London Calling

I seem to have four loves in my life at the moment - Jason, Toby, Rosie... and London. I'm so glad to be back in London and we've been making the most of being here. We've been to the Science and Natural History Museums in the last month and they're both amazing. Toby had a brilliant time and all the national museums are free so it's easy to just pop in and go whenever we like.

On Saturday Jenny and I parted at the Oxford Street tube station. She was on her way to Kings Cross to catch a train back to Cambridge. Even though my feet were killing me I decided to walk from Piccadilly Circus to Charing Cross. It's a lovely walk. I went past Eros where people go to propose or profess their undying love, up through Leicester Square where I saw a punk rocker with a mohawk and a safety pin in his ear get out of a hot pink limo and down past Trafalgar Square which is even more spectacular since it's been pedestrianised. As my train pulled out of Charing Cross I had a spectacular view of Big Ben in twilight as the sun was setting. Such a beautiful city. I can't imagine ever getting tired of London.

On Sunday we met up with Elizabeth, Andrew and Mary Catherine in Greenwich for coffee. We took the children to look at the Cutty Sark and ended up having lunch at Goddard's Pie House. It's one of, if not the oldest pie shop in London. They do a variety of meat pies with mashed potato and we all stuffed ourselves. J and I even tried the jellied eels, a real Cockney delicacy. (Note to self: never, EVER try jellied eels again.) J and Andrew went for a traditional apple crumble for dessert but Elizabeth and I couldn't resist the cherry pie. It reminded me of a Hostess Fruit Pie, not exactly haute cuisine, but still really, really yummy. On a freezing day in London it was just what we needed.

Good lord

Further evidence of my insanity, as if it was needed - I misspelled my brother's name in the blog! Dad just pointed it out and I had to look up the entry to see for myself. My God. Dad is 'John' and my brother is 'Jon'. You'd think that after 30 years I would've got that down.

Lovely day

Had a really nice day out with Jenny today. The Ritz was gorgeous and tea was very nice, though I think you're really paying for the atmosphere. I've had better teas but it was still very good and I would sell my soul for a vat of their clotted cream.

Afterwards we went to Rigby & Peller. What a revelation! Ever since Tobes was born I've been wearing a 38B size bra. I'm actually a 36D!! What a surprise. I couldn't believe it. It was so fantastic. They take you to a changing room then the fitting lady asks you to strip to the waist and she looks at you, calculates your size then asks you questions about what you'd like. I explained that I had recently had a baby and needed some everyday bras. She then remarked that I'm very high-waisted and said that most underwires would be uncomfortable because they would rub my underarms. Amazing! That's exactly why I've been living in support vests for years. Most bras are just too uncomfortable.

The fitting lady then went off and chose some bras for me and brought them back for me to try. She adjusted the straps and even adjusted my breasts in each cup. It was all done so matter-of-factly that it didn't seem strange at all. I explained that I had had a breast lump removed years ago and since then my breasts have been a bit 'uneven', shall we say. She showed me how to adjust the straps to compensate. It was a life changing moment.

Needless to say, I spent more money on underwear today than I've spent in my life. I got some beautiful bras and one bra and knicker set in particular that is just dreamy. Totally impractical, can't even go in the washing machine, but soooo beautiful. Every girl needs at least one set of really beautiful under garments and it's been far too long since I indulged in this luxury. I don't think it'll be quite so long before I do it again though.

Special day tomorrow

Jenny is coming down from Cambridge and we're going to the Ritz for tea to belatedly celebrate my birthday. We're doing it late because it's so hard to get a reservation. I can't wait. It's something I've wanted to do for ages and I'm sure it will be memorable. We're having tea in the Palm Court which is beautiful.

Afterwards we're going to Rigby & Peller because I really need some new bras. Rigby & Peller are reknowned in England for being the best place to buy lingerie (I believe the Queen shops there, though that's not exactly a great endorsement for lingerie). The staff are specially trained to choose your bra size just by looking at you. Then they make recommendations based on not just the size, but also the shape of your breasts. Should be interesting since my breasts are like spaniel's ears since Rosie was born and I gave up breastfeeding.

And speaking of shapes, I tried on about half a dozen lovely outfits that have been hanging in my closet just waiting for an outing. Unfortunately, I seem to be the shape of a lumpy potato at the moment. Still waiting for the diet and pilates to kick in.

And in other news... we've had carpenters in this week putting in bookshelves and making a mess. Next week the bathroom gets done and in March the kitchen is ripped out and replaced. All exciting though exhausting stuff.

AND, Tobes is still gorgeous and Rosie is blooming. She had her portrait taken today and is obviously a supermodel in the making. Big, gummy smiles the whole time.

Tales from the Dim Side

What a week I'm having and it's only Tuesday. Yesterday I had the kitchen guy out to start working on a design for the new kitchen. It's the same company we used in Chislehurst so it was a very comfortable visit. I did the proper English thing and made tea and we sat at the kitchen table and discussed various ideas.

The kitchen table is right next to the utility area and I usually dump the clean clothes on the table until J or I can fold them and put them away. When the kitchen guy stood up to leave something fell off of his chair. He bent over to pick it up and when he stood up he was holding a pair of J's underpants. I assured him that they were at least clean underpants but I'm sure that's one story that will be making the rounds at his office.

Yesterday afternoon I had the burglar alarm guy out to discuss modifying our system. I dutifully made the tea and we sat down to discuss the alarm. He was a very sweet guy but about halfway through our chat he started talking about his son who was killed in a car accident. It was very heavy stuff and an incredibly sad story but certainly not what I was expecting when I made the appointment. An hour and a half later the guy left and I couldn't help but give him a hug before he went. It wasn't even 4.00 but I felt completely drained from the day.

This morning was a bit hectic. J took Tobes to school and I got up, washed Rosie and got us both fed and dressed. We were meeting up with the Mumsnet group for lunch at the Tea House in Greenwich Park at 12.30. I picked Tobes up from school in the car and we stopped in the village for Rosie's Gaviscon (that's a whole story in itself), some cash and a Kinder Egg for Tobes since he slept in his own bed all night (bribery is a wonder when it comes to raising children). When we got back in the car it started shuddering and making terrible noises. I had to come straight home and call the RAC. I knew what the problem was because it had happened before and, thankfully, they were able to fix it on the spot. What a pain though and we missed the lunch.

After all the hassle with the car I wasn't in a great mood and Tobes was cranky because we didn't get to go to the park. We had lunch at home and about halfway through I started to feel ill and set my bowl of soup on the footstool before running to the loo. Tobes followed me and was asking for something but I told him I had to use the loo and he would have to wait. In a fit of temper he slammed the bathroom door and I heard him stomp off down the hall. Seconds later Tobes came running into the bathroom shouting 'I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry...' Uh oh.

He had obviously walked into the living room still angry and either intentionally knocked the bowl of soup over or slammed into the footstool and knocked the soup over on accident. Whatever the cause, the result was spicy corn chowder EVERYWHERE. Poor Rosie had been in the line of fire and she had (thankfully cold) soup on her head and splattered all over her clothes. She was looking at Tobes like "What the hell were you thinking?!" There was soup on the carpet, the armchair, the footstool, splattered over the stack of magazines, everywhere. Tobes spent a lot of time alone in his room this afternoon.

AND to further illustrate my complete brain deadness (is that a word?) it wasn't on Thursday that I left the stroller in the village. It was Friday. I should also add to my list that in the last few weeks I have:

• locked myself out of the house twice
• forgotten how to top up my mobile and forgotten where I put the instruction manual
• can't find but hopefully haven't lost my eternity ring
• did the grocery internet order and then immediately remembered half a dozen things I meant to buy

and the list goes on.

Delayed Baby Brain

On Thursday Rosie and I went to the docs for her first jabs, then went into the village for my consolatory mocha as I said in the last entry. Well, after the coffee I wrapped Rosie up, tucked her into the stroller and walked back down to where I had parked the car. I put the brake on the stroller and parked it on the sidewalk in front of the car, took Rosie out and strapped her into her carseat, put the nappy bag in the car then got in the drivers seat and drove off... do you see what I missed? I left the stroller on the sidewalk even though it was right in front of the car. AND when I went back to get it the stroller was gone. I guess that's really not so surprising since it was two days later.

I think I'm having delayed baby brain. Usually at the very end of pregnancy and right after a woman has a baby nature has a little trick up its sleeve. It makes women very absent minded, they can't remember facts (except when they pertain to baby) and they are very absent-minded (except when it comes to baby). This is nature's way of making sure the mother focusses on the baby and doesn't get distracted with less important things.

After Rosie was born I seemed remarkably sane. I juggled both children, the housework and everything else with surprising ease. Well, that's all coming back to bite me in the ass now. In the last few weeks I have:

• lost the stroller
• forgot to put Toby's seatbelt on him twice (luckily he reminded me as we were going down the road)
• forgot to strap Rosie into her seatbelt and drove from Cambridge to London without her strapped in (that was both J and I that forgot that one)
• drank Rosie's formula and microwaved my tea
• walked out of the house to go somewhere without my shoes on
• forgot to brush my teeth and by the afternoon wondered why my teeth felt fuzzy (more than once... many times in fact)

and countless other small things that make me want to laugh or cry every day.

Bits and pieces

• Rosie had her first immunisations today. She was very brave. She cried for a few seconds then sucked on her dummy while snuffling a bit and feeling sorry for herself. I think it was harder for me than it was for her. I couldn't even buy her an ice cream to make it all better so I bought myself a large mocha instead. She was very cranky all day but has finally crashed out and I have my fingers crossed for a peaceful night.

• Tobes is doing really well at school. He's going three mornings a week now and J has been taking him in. It gives them some time together and Tobes likes to eat breakfast at school with his friends. With his new schedule he's still doing dance and French but is also doing music now. He was showing me how to do the Hokey Cokey today. I pick him up before lunch and I was there a bit early today. The children were in the garden playing so I decided to look around Toby's classroom and see what they're working on. I was very impressed to see that they're learning about Big Bang Theory and the prehistoric stages of the earth. They had made a big poster representing the Big Bang using lots of glitter and the noticeboards were labeled with the various eras - Mesozoic, Cenozoic, etc - just waiting for art works to fill them. They're also planning a field trip to the Natural History Museum to visit the Earth Galleries. We really lucked into finding this school. I'm so glad we did!

• And speaking of school, I posted off Toby's primary school application this week. It's a totally different process here than in Texas. Children don't just go to the closest school. People fight for the best schools so you have to fill out a form listing four schools in preferential order and hope for the best. For anyone interested our list was - All Saints, St Margaret's of Lee, John Ball and Brindishe. All Saints is an extraordinary long shot but I thought we might as well go for it. Very small, excellent school and they have adorable uniforms (I'd love to see Tobes in a school blazer and tie). St Maragret's would be fantastic and John Ball would be OK. Brindishe is a bit far so our chances are less but it's a great school too. We find out in May. Keep your fingers crossed.

• On Wednesday I became a year older. Not sure how I feel about that. OK, I think.

• Wanna hear a secret - J and I have been looking at estate agent websites. I know, I know. We're crazy. We've just moved into this flat but we're already thinking about the next place. We've made a resolution not to move house in 2006 but we are looking at neighborhoods for the next move. When Toby gets into a school in May I'm sure that will narrow down the search as we'd like to live near his school. We saw an amazing place this week. It's an old house that's been used as offices and needs lots of loving care but it could be BEAUTIFUL. It would be a decade-long project to renovate it but it would be a 'forever house'. That's what we want next time - The Family Home. So exciting to think that we're just one more move away.... or at least I hope so. Knowing us we'll buy some lovely house and then decide to slope off to Singapore.

The Incredible Exploding Baby

Rosie has had a cold for a couple of weeks now. It's not too bad though sleeping next to her is like sleeping with a sleestack in the room. The only minor problem is that she keeps exploding.

Because she's making so much mucous at the moment her milk doesn't go down very well when she eats, so she'll eat two ounces and spit up one. It's really bad when she eats six ounces and and spits up four. And she doesn't just spit them up, they come flying out of her with great force. I made the mistake of holding a cloth a few inches in front of her mouth while burping her today. I thought I might be able to catch the vomit and save myself some laundry but it was like putting a spoon under a tap. Regurgitated milk went everywhere.

A few days ago we all went out to lunch in a nice Italian restaurant down the road. It was J's last day of vacation and we wanted to do something special. I had to take Rosie to the loo to change her nappy and Tobes decided to tag along. As I was folding up her changing mat Rosie exploded milk all over the bathroom. She managed to throw up in both sinks and into her changing bag which was sitting on a table in between them. She also got a fair amount of vomit on the floor and herself. Tobes thought this was hilarious.

Because she had thrown up into the changing bag she actually got vomit on her clean change of clothes so I had to decide which clothes were cleaner and put together a reasonably clean outfit. As all of this was going on women were coming in and out of the loos. One older lady stopped to say "I don't miss that stage. My daughter is sixteen and so much easier than a baby now.' She then went to let J know that I would be a while. A heavily pregnant lady also stopped to chat. She was 6 weeks away from having her first baby and in that blissful hopeful stage. I tried to assure her that it wasn't always this crazy but she was already making goo-goo eyes at Rosie, vomit and all. Poor lady. I wonder how she's going to be doing about 8 weeks from now.

Unfortunately, Rosie doesn't just explode from the top end. She's been doing the most shocking poos too. Her tummy gets full of mucous and it all comes firing out into her nappy at top speed. Her nappy can't always take the strain and the excess poo either shoots up her back or, even worse, up her front. The first time it happened we were out (of course) and I had to just throw her outfit away. Even in a sealed plastic bag there was no way I could tote it around in the nappy bag until we got home. It was disgusting.

Yesterday was Rosie's piece de resistance. We had some friends over and just as they were leaving I heard the unmistakable sound of poo being fired into a nappy at breakneak speed. Rosie was in her bouncy chair and in the time it took me to walk the friends to the door and say goodbye the poo had managed to work its way up Rosie's back and leak out the side of her nappy. By the time I got back to her she was basically sitting in a sling of poo. She even had the stuff in her hair, for God's sake! I wiped her down as best I could and put her straight into a bath. The clothes, blanket and chair cover all went into a hot wash though I probably would've been better off burning them.

Hope she gets over this cold soon. I don't think the washer and dryer can take much more abuse.

John & Angie Black

Here's my handsome brother and his beautiful bride on their wedding day.