Cool Britannia

We spent the day on Sunday exploring London. And I do mean exploring! We set out in the morning and did not return until the evening and we did the whole day on foot. We can't believe how much we packed into one little day -- then again, we probably walked about 8 miles, so it's not entirely surprising that we saw so much. Lucy slept through the first part of it, so she'll just have to take our word for it that she visited certain places. Oh and we also have some photographic evidence for her. So, here is how our day went...the pictures are in the order of our journey!

Picadilly Circus (Lucy is asleep in the stroller)

Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background (still asleep)

Footbridge over the Thames, with the Millenium Wheel in the background (you guessed it, asleep!)

Look, Dad...Big Ben! Parliament! (She woke up for this!)

With Mommy outside Westminster Abbey

On the lawn outside Westminster Abbey, with a view of Big Ben

Playing in St. James's Park

On the swings, with Buckingham Palace in the background (naturally!)

Hugging Daddy in front of Buckingham Palace

With Mommy at Wellington Arch (showing a bit of belly!)

We then went to Harvey Nichols and Harrods, where Lucy got some very fancy organic milk from the Food Halls. After that, we walked through Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens. I took Lucy in to see an exhibit of Princess Diana photographs and dresses at Kensington Palace. They were the really glamorous Mario Testino pictures...and one of them was the photo I displayed at Lucy's birthday tea! They also had several of the actual dresses on display that she wore in the photos. It was a breathtaking exhibit, especially for a huge Diana fan like me. After that, we had a lovely tea:

Afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace

Feeding Daddy a piece of scone

A swim in the hotel pool to finish off the day...not bad!

Actually, the day wasn't over yet. We went out for a very yummy Indian dinner with Lucy in the stroller. We thought we struck gold because she fell asleep, thus allowing us to have a really nice meal out. We figured we could just stoll back to the hotel and neatly transfer her to her crib for the night...but no such luck. She decided to wake up on our walk home, and proceeded to stay up until 1am or so. Maybe she was angry that she missed out on Picadilly and Trafalgar and was trying to make up for lost time? Anyway, it was a wonderful day!

I will soon post some pictures from the journey that Lucy and I took to see Angela in Bristol.

Greetings from London!

Lucy and I decided to tag along on a business trip with Jeff! VERY last minute plan, but we are glad we came. As many people know, London is a very special place to me and I have been coming here since I was a child. I hope that Lucy grows to love it here as much as I do. I didn't plan to take her here until she was 2 or 3, but the opportunity presented itself and we took it! Call us crazy!

Our travels to get here were long. We flew trough Toronto and everything was very delayed because of snow there. So, instead of arriving here this morning we arrived in the early evening. We made the best of it, stopping briefly at our hotel to refresh before heading out for a walk on Oxford Street. There are so many beautiful shops there and I hope to re-visit a few tomorrow. We will have one full day in London tomorrow, and then on Monday Lucy and I are headed to Bristol to visit Angela, a close family friend. Going to see her was one of our big reasons for making this trip -- I want her to meet Lucy while she is still little. Jeff has to work during the week, so Lucy and I will travel to Bristol on our own. It is a relatively short train ride from London, so it should be fun. Lucy and I also will be traveling back to the US on our own on Wednesday -- Jeff is working here until Friday, but I need to teach on Thursday morning in Boston. I am more than a bit apprehensive about flying such a distance alone with Lucy, but I'll muddle through somehow.

Jeff is giving Lucy a bath right now and it sounds like they are having a lot of fun! It is nice to relax in the comfy hotel bed :) I am not sure what our plan is tomorrow, but I hope to cram as much London into one day as is humanly possible! I will try to post pictures while we are still here, but they may have to wait until we return home (I didn't take the one above -- it is just something that I pulled off the web!).

Happy Birthday to Lucy!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY!

Yesterday was my baby girl's one-year birthday! It is amazing how quickly this year has gone by. It feels like just yesterday that this was our family portrait:

Now, one year later, this is it:


Lucy started out her big day with a great surprise...a lamby saying good morning to her when she woke up! She was very excited, pointing at the lamby and exclaiming "da!" (she calls everything "da.") Here are some pictures with her new friend:

Showing the lamby some love...this is sooooo cute, when she puts her little head down on something to show it affection.

Wow, it's a chair -- cool!

After refusing to take a morning nap ("No way, Mommy! I am not going to miss my birthday!), we headed to the New England Aquarium. Thankfully, she did snooze a bit in the car on the way there. We had so much fun looking at the penguins and the fishies!

Wow, there are penguins on the other side of the glass!

Touching a starfish

Another family portrait

We then stopped by a nearby Starbuck's where Auntie Laura met us to say Happy Birthday!

When we got home, she played with some balloons...

...and then Dylan came over with his mommy Naomi to have a little pizza party!

Lucy got to have a mini cupcake...her first real taste of sugar! She mostly just played with it and a lot of it ended up on the floor.

Today we had a little tea party at home with Lucy's grandparents (Nonna, Nonno, Grammy & Popi) as well as her Auntie Laura and Uncle J.R. It was a perfect little party -- not too big (we really wanted to avoid the huge first birthday party full of pandemoneom). We took LOTS of pictures...here are some of my favorites:

First trip to the dentist

We visited the dentist today for the first time. Lucy had a lot of fun looking at the fish tank in the waiting room, trying to climb into the chair on her own, and posing for pictures taken by her crazy Mommy.

Feeling groovy

Lucy is all better! Last week was rough, but as of yesterday morning she was 100% and we felt like we had the old Lucy back. She has had a good two days and is really excited for her trip to the Aquarium on Friday. Tomorrow is her first dentist appointment...wish us BOTH luck with that!

Tickling the ivories in her Patriots PJ's (GO PATS!!!)

I look just like my daddy...if my daddy wore a pink hoodie!

Roseola!

Lucy's illness turned out to be roseola...at least I am 99% certain that is what it is. It has been a fairly classic case -- a very high fever followed by a rash that starts as soon as the fever goes away. Thankfully, I caught the fever early on and medicated her so that it didn't shoot up too quickly. Apparently, febrile seizures can be a part of roseola if the fever gets too high too quickly. Other than the fever and rash, she had other typical symptoms as well -- extreme irritability, loss of appetite, puffy eyelids, etc. At least I know what has been making her so sick, and that it is temporary and not dangerous!

Here is a picture of her face today, where the rash spread. Poor baby! It is mostly gone now. She took two great naps today and had more food for dinner than she has had in a while, so I think she has finally recovered after a very long week. Just in time for her birthday next week!

She's still my baby

Lucy isn't feeling well today...she has a fever :( She has been very sad at times today because she feels so icky. So, she has spent a lot of her day cuddled up in the sling close to her Mama. It's pretty powerful medicine, if you ask me (well, along with Advil and Tylenol). I hate it when she is sick, of course, but days like this remind me that my "big girl" is still just a baby...and that to me, she always will be.

Happy Lucy

Here are two video clips of a very happy Lucy! In the first one she is grinning from ear to ear and breathing loudly, which means she is excited. In the second one she is giving her "doggy" hugs and kisses (she is so sweet!) and making her little squealy happy noise...music to my ears!

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Big girl in the car

Lucy is now 20 pounds and will be a year old in under two weeks, so we decided it was time for her to face forward in her car seat. I think she really liked it...we sure liked being able to look back at her smiling face! However, we think this new arrangement has made it more difficult for her to nap in the car (too much excitement, maybe) and so the afternoon nap we hoped she'd start in the car didn't really happen. As a matter of fact, no naps really happened today except for one 20-minute catnap...that hardly qualifies as a nap. I know that she'll transition to one nap a day (instead of two) sooner or later, which is fine, but NO naps a day is NOT fine! Of course, she ended up going to bed an hour early tonight. Our silly "big girl"!

Presenting the new Shirley Temple...

I can't believe she actually let me do this...probably because I let her chew on a curler. But look at the result...

The new Shirley Temple!!!
She actually looks quite silly but also very cute (of course). I am in LOVE with this picture because it is the first one in which I can really see what she will look like as a little girl. It also makes me sad because she is growing up so quickly...but isn't she pretty?
(click on the photo to see it larger)

Mini gym

Here are some pictures from the "mini gym" class that we took -- the session is over now, but Lucy really had fun so I think we'll sign up for another session soon. Or, we may try a music or sign language class. She's getting pretty good with her signs, so that may be what we do. It will help cut down on her shrieking if she can let us know what she wants with a sign...I hope so, anyway!

Happy New Year!

Lucy wore a very beautiful outfit last night for New Year's Eve. My boss and his wife bought it for her in Vietnam when I was still pregnant. They gave it to me soon after Lucy was born and I thought at the time that it looked so big that it would never fit her. Well, it just goes to show what a difference a year does make! It is still a bit roomy and fits her more like a long gown than a tunic, so I think she'll be able to wear it for another year or so still. She was especially excited to wear it in honor of her new great friend, another little Miss Lucy Elise who has just been adopted by her mommy & daddy in Vietnam. Lucy gives a shout out to Lucy today!!! She can't wait to meet you!! And happy 5-months!

After Lucy got all dressed up (including a snazzy new hair flower from Santa!), we went to a party at my boss's home, so I was really happy that she was wearing the outfit they gave her. She was quite a hit at the party, showing off her walking skills and making new friends. So many people told us how adorable they thought she was! She really did look especially cute in this outfit. We kept calling her the "little empress." Also, she was a really, really good girl at the party. Her behavior lately has been, well, less than stellar (lots of high-pitched screams when she doesn't get her way), so we were worried about how she would act. But she rose to the occasion and was a real charmer! We left the party just after 8pm and then she went right to bed when we got home. Jeff and I crashed fairly early, so we "missed" the New Year. Oh well, it was turning midnight somewhere (over the Atlantic, I suppose!) when we went to sleep.

Happy New Year to all...may it bring you much love, joy, growth, health, and PEACE.