Our Christmas

 Hanh and Eleanor came from Budapest.

 Mandy and Alina came for Christmas Eve:

 We did crackers, and then all put our paper hats on.

 Tommy was really sad on Christmas morning because Santa brought Lizzie a car, but not Tommy (it's a long story).

Lately...

We had lunch with Simon and Vivian last Sunday, and they very thoughtfully brought Christmas gifts for the kids.  Tommy got a globe that lights up, and it continues to fascinate all of us.  He looooves it.

On Sunday, we went to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree (see Big Ben back there?)...But, my pictures aren't in order so you won't see the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree until the bottom of this post.

Waiting for the tube at Parsons Green.

The very exciting Covent Garden Christmas Tree.  Tommy loved it -- see what color the ornaments are?

Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree:

And that's all the posts I've got for you today.  We're definitely feeling very Christmassy here!  Yay!

Lulu likes to carry things

Lulu likes to carry things lately.

She wouldn't leave the house without her crocodile:

 She loads up her bags with little toys and carries them around (below she's pausing to replace her new baby's paci):

 And on Sunday afternoon, she wore her sunglasses and brought a harmonica:

Holiday Partying, UK style

So I know you all remember the post wherein I confess my anxiety for the Christmas parties here.  To recap, I was concerned about everybody getting drunk and being ridiculous, and as a follow on to that worry, I was concerned about how many drinks it would take for me to make a complete ass of myself.

It is, then, with great pleasure and indeed some pride that I tell you today that the parties were just fine.

My Wednesday night party did involve some VERY drunk people, but they were friendly and nobody was too inappropriate and the only problem was that the party was in a nightclub and it was so loud that my voice was husky and sore on Thursday.  (Thanks for asking, yes I did have two phone calls with clients.)

But the Friday night party was actually very fun, and also very funny (likely those two are related).  I had a hell of a time getting there.  The Notting Hill Gate tube station was evacuated (fire, I later learned) right when I got to the platform, and so I had to hike out of it in a huge herd of people and I sort of talked myself into it being a big deal and my heart started pounding because how was I getting out of there, and then all of a sudden, I decided that if it was my time, that was it and I was okay with it, and then I calmed down.  It appears I am ever so slightly claustrophobic.

Anyway, I got on a bus and then eventually back onto the tube and was only an hour late to the party.  Not that it mattered, but I barely arrived in time for dinner and it would've been bad to miss that given that I knew I'd be drinking.  I sat by a barrister who is one of those people who is so smart that he can speak knowledgeably about everything (politics, sports (not that I had any idea if he knew what he was talking about there), cooking, New York, and of course a niggling little point of contracts law) so dinner was interesting and fun.

The entertainment began during dinner, with a magician and a contortionist.  Not at the same time.  I found both of these things very random, but most people seemed to enjoy them.  (A fair amount of rude comments during the contortionist, though.)

Anyway, after dinner was when the party really began, you know.  The rockaoke began.  Rockaoke, for those uninitiated like myself, is like karaoke, except that there's an actual band.  (I feel somewhat badly for the musicians in the band, and hope they were well paid.)  I looked at the list of songs, you know, flirted with the idea of possibly going on the stage but luckily, nothing looked so fun to sing and I managed to stay off the stage (though not off the dance floor).

I took some videos but I really don't think I should post them.  I played them for Eli and I don't think he was nearly as entertained as I was, anyway.  Don't worry.

I did some drinking and some dancing and when the party was busted up at midnight, I was sad.  But, I managed to get six hours of sleep before my children woke me up, so it was clearly for the best.  Also, I didn't really embarrass myself (though one woman said to me today, "I saw you dancing to Beyonce."  And I said, "yeah, I really like that song" because tell me what else was there to say??).

My honest assessment:  It was more fun than holiday parties in the US.  And that's it, on that topic, until next year, amigos.

Happy Birthday LULU!

Lulu turned two today!

I woke up very early so that I could bake blueberry muffins for her birthday cake.  Then, she came down to the kitchen and saw her presents (only one from her parents; the rest of the pile from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob) and her "Happy Birthday" banner (also from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob).

Because she is the second child, she doesn't believe in doing anything for herself (unless we prefer to do it for her, in which case she absolutely must do it), and so passed her gifts one by one to her big brother for opening.

Then, we had muffins and hers had two candles.  She briefly looked confused, and then settled into it and blew them out herself.

So after a lovely breakfast, Mandy arrived with gifts for both kids (nanny of the year).  SO FUN.

The day my dreams came true.

So a few weeks ago, I told Eli that I wanted to go to Royal Albert Hall for a holiday concert this year (you know, like a tradition-y type thing), and Eli picked the concert:  John Rutter's Christmas Celebration.

When he suggested the concert, I said, "oh, yes, perfect. I love John Rutter's music."  And it's true. The entire time I was in choirs (all 14 years), I always loved best the John Rutter piece we happened to be singing.

(At this point, you are all free to stop reading. I know this is interesting only to people who were in choir and I'm pretty sure that's only one of you at most.)

So, the concert was this afternoon.  Miss Alina came over and Eli and I got on the tube.  We arrived, and settled into our AWESOME seats.  I just love it at Royal Albert, but good seats make it so so so much better.

A cute, funny little Englishman came out and explained the concert, and the frumpily dressed choir sang a bit, and we all sang "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and then I realized that the cute little Englishman was actually John Rutter himself.  It wasn't a concert of John Rutter's music.  It was John Rutter. (For those curious, he is adorable and witty and crisp.)

So I told Eli, who said that yes, it was John Rutter, and he knew because he'd met John Rutter before when he came to Wyoming.  And then my brain jammed up and I couldn't really think anymore because I realized I didn't know my very own husband.

The concert was awesome and for those curious (Lib) yes, the choir sang Candlelight Carol.  Also, we all sang the Hallelujah Chorus but I sucked (of course, when John Rutter was conducting me!?).

(And, this is unrelated really, but if you are looking for some fresh holiday music, may I suggest the Christmas album by She & Him??)

Santa

For anyone wondering about today's visit with "Father Christmas" (Santa), I offer you the photos below.  This occurred before we even left the house.  I leave it to you to imagine the rest of the afternoon.

(Yes.  These are full on tantrums.  At the same time.)

Lizzie's Two Year Visit

Lizzie can do lots of things now.  One of them is hold multiple ornaments, see above.

She weighs 21 lbs, 11 oz, which puts her in the 5th percentile for weight.  She's 85 cm tall, so in the 25th percentile for height.  Dr. Ladbrooke was not worried that she fell from the 9th percentile for weight, since her height is consistent and she generally appears healthy.  Lizzie refused to talk with Dr. Ladbrooke until the end of the appointment when she thanked him for her sticker and told him good-bye multiple times (her happiness to be out of his office obvious to all).

Well done, Lulu!  It seems impossible that you'll be two years old next week!

Uncle Brett's Visit

I don't know if I mentioned that Brett came to London for a week in November, but he did!  We all just loved having him here.  Here is some evidence of our excitement and happiness (Brett, sorry that you're in your pjs, but these things happen don't they).  These photos were taken right before Eli and I took Tommy to school, which is why he's in his uniform.

And here's the goodbye hug:

Christmas Play 2011

Friends, you will be happy to know that Tommy pulled off his starring role in the Christmas program without a hitch.  Sure, he yawned through the whole thing.  And sure, his lines were said in a loud monotone ("IKNOWTHEBABYJESUSNEEDSAPRESENT"), and he did say "Jesus" as though its a swear word rather than a baby at one point, BUT he did not have his fingers in his mouth the whole time, he did not cry, and he did not wander around.  I consider it a success and am very proud of him.

He just doesn't care about it at all, but was pleased to receive a juice box and cupcake when it was all over.

Christmas tree post with photos

Hang in there, because this is going to be a random one.  (And that's different from normal how?)

FIRST, we have a 9 foot Christmas tree!  All set up!  With colored lights! It's a beauty. Thanks to Tommy, for putting all the silver balls right in the same spot, and to Lulu, for taking them off.  Lulu was such trouble during the setting up process that at one point, Eli shut her out of the living room  and you have never seen someone have such hurt feelings.  It was chaotic all around:  as Eli observed, the more excited Tommy is the louder he talks, so that by the end of his proclamation, he's shouting! 

Lulu does something really cute right now, which she did when we plugged in the lights on the tree last night.  She says, "Woooow..." but in a sort of breathless, incredulous way.  (It can be about things even less impressive than Christmas lights.)

The next random thing is a result of Tommy getting asked to get off the ladder during decorating.  He predictably was disappointed when he had to get down, and when I wouldn't relent and let him climb back up, he started yelling at me in his classroom jargon:  "Bad choice, Mommy!!  You have done a very bad choice!  YOU'RE ON THE RED LIGHT, MOMMY!"  all while shoving his hand with a  "thumbs down" as close to my face as possible.  It is actually still making me laugh, but you'll be happy to read that I did not laugh as he did it last night, no, just threatened some time on the step (very far from the ladder) if he couldn't get his act together. I hear him chide Lizzie for making bad choices on occasion, too.  SO FUNNY.

 Tommy took these:

I spent the weekend in Budapest with Hanh and Eleanor.  Folks, I'm not going to lie.  Eleanor is an ADORABLE baby.  She is chatty and alert and bright and she is very fat.  Delicious, honestly.  She hated me on Friday night -- when I held her it made her cry in a serious, frantic way -- but we became friends on Saturday morning and I got to hold her quite a bit, and we had some good chats.  She's coming to visit for Christmas, and we're all very excited.

It was a different trip, now that there's a baby.  We didn't go to the opera, and we didn't go out to dinner (but we did go out to breakfast and lunch).  We went to the Christmas market but it was very cold and so we didn't stay long.  We baked cookies, and of course we ran around that island in the middle of the river.  And there you have it.  It felt good to be there, because last week was nuts at work and I got to catch up on some sleep.  And it's always so nice to spend time with Hanh, especially when I'm so far from most of my besties.