We are moving tomorrow.

That's why I haven't been blogging or emailing or even turning on the computer. I am busy, my friends. But I have some things to tell you.

First, and most important, did I tell you about the obviously pregnant lady I observed smoking outside the hospital entrance a couple of weeks ago??? (We walk by the hospital on our way to preschool.) I was so shocked that I leaned over and said to Tommy, "do you see that pregnant lady smoking?" I'm not sure how he responded -- I'm not sure he knows what smoking is, exactly. Anyway, I saw the same thing yesterday except the woman was across the street from the hospital. And as I told Eli, I can't be sure it wasn't the same woman because I didn't really look at her face either time. Just her belly and her cigarette. One point for the Americans (who at least smoke secretly if they are pregnant).

Second, and actually most important, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA SID!! Tommy called her on Skype and sang Happy Birthday, but he did it in his silly (weird) voice. Last night in the bath he looked up at me and said, "how old is Grandma Sid?" So we know he actually was thinking of her all day long.

Third, have I mentioned that I'm sad about leaving the communal garden and all our friends in it ? We've had such a good time there. And it's so lovely. Luckily, Tommy will remain friends with little Leon (there's an accent over that "e", but I don't know how to make it) and we will surely come back and play here. Leon's mom had a baby last week -- a little boy named Julian. He's cute but the hot weather is hard for him. The hot weather has also been hard for a little girl baby you are all familiar with. She must have screamed for an entire hour in her buggy yesterday over the course of all our walking -- not understanding that she was just making herself hotter.

Finally, wish us luck this weekend. We are moving into our house before our stuff arrives on Monday. We have a mattress being delivered for Tommy and all his bedding, and we bought an aerobed and bedding at Peter Jones last weekend which will also be delivered tomorrow to the house, and for Lizzie we are borrowing a pack-n-play from Karalee. Otherwise, I have ordered groceries to be delivered tomorrow. No other furniture. Doesn't that sound like fun? If this place weren't so expensive, we wouldn't do it, but it is. So we are. Eli thinks we can convince Tommy that it's fun. I think Tommy might be a little cleverer than that.

Oh, and one more thing: Eli has warned me that we won't have internet access for a while at the new house. So I imagine I will get behind on the blogging (especially as I will need to work when I do get internet access -- why did I agree to do this project, again?). Sorry, and don't give up on me, I will be back. And if something really interesting happens, I'll do the post from my phone but there will likely be typos which would be embarrassing. xox

Lizzie Sitting

A cute one, to start:

Tommy: So, Dad, how was your day?

E: It was fine.

T: So what'd you do?

E: I figured out how to build buildings.

T: And did you ride a digger with a jackhammer?

E: No, somebody else rides the digger.

T: Oh. So you all take turns on the digger.

We're doing well. Uncle Brett arrived on Tuesday which has been fun for all of us. He brought Tommy a remote controlled airplane, but it still doesn't have any batteries in it. No matter, Tommy loves the remote control. As Uncle Brett pointed out, it's not entirely clear that he understands what a remote control does.

It's been a somewhat busy week. I bought Tommy's bedding and mattress. I paid more for an organic mattress, but I read a scary article about the toxins kids breathe in from their mattresses, and the author of the article made the point that since they spend 12 or more hours on them daily, it's one of the most important organic purchases one can make. We have been unable to find a bed we want to buy for Tommy because all children's furniture in England is white, and the adult single beds are pricey. So he'll be sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a while.

Tommy went to preschool on Thursday morning and it was great. He was gone for three and a half hours PLUS he took a ginormous nap because he was so worn out. I am looking forward to the fall when we can do this daily, but by then he will probably have stopped napping.

It really feels like Lizzie is a different baby this week. She loves to sit up and play with her toys. She doesn't put them directly in her mouth now -- she likes to wave them around to see if they make noise, and she likes to pass them from one hand to the other. Today she even got the green hammer and banged it around for a while -- fixing with her brother. Tommy looooved it. They also played hide and seek. That game entails Tommy dragging Lizzie's blanket (with Lizzie on it, totally against the rules) behind the drapes, then he sits back there with her and I look for them (and pretend I don't see Lizzie's body sticking out of the drapes). I know they're mine, but they're just so cute. It's also adorable how much they love each other. Lizzie looks for Tommy and when she spots him, she gives him a huge smile.

Hide and seek:

Lizzie is crying...

and I'm on break. Eli got home about 15 minutes ago and he's started dinner and now is presumably bouncing our baby girl so that she will sleep. We have got some sleeping difficulties, my friends, but we have only 10 days until we move into our new house and begin to address them. She has no idea what's coming but after we unlearn all her bad habits, she will be well rested and an even more amazing baby than she is now. It is her six month birthday today! She is doing very well sitting up but does tip more often than not.

While I'm on my break, I'm eating Doritos. Most of you know that I NEVER EAT Doritos, but the USA - England game was on Saturday night and our friends Simon and Vivian came over to watch it. They must know that I never eat Doritos because they brought two bags, along with an apple pie, a big container of custard (must be a British thing), two pans of brownies, a thing of vanilla ice cream and more alcohol than I will drink in the remainder of this calendar year. We provided burgers, a big salad and sweet potato fries.

Oh, was it a big party, you ask? Why, no. Just the four of us. Which is why I'm eating the goddamn Doritos now.

We had a very nice weekend. We spent Saturday morning with Hanh and Brooks, then we had Simon and Vivian over. On Sunday, we met new friends in Holland Park. We met them through Jess and Sam (the guy is Sam's cousin, I think, but maybe second cousin?). It was nice.

And we did lots of jobs. I am fixated on getting all of the jobs we can do now DONE before we move into the new house and all I want to do is unpack and get settled. So I also worked on Sunday and finished a big chunk of my project -- but don't worry, I have another even bigger project already. Anyway.

We spent the morning in Kensington Gardens. For about 20 minutes, we went to a playground, but mostly we kicked the "football" around and found sticks and looked at the little trucks and lawnmowers. We also fed the swans and ducks (and pigeons, yuck), but we got out of there pretty quickly after Tommy announced his intention to touch a swan. I told him he couldn't, but with him you never know and the best course of action is to remove the temptation. Anyway, at the playground we met an American mom from Houston who was adamant that I need to get a car, and now. I think it's telling that she's from Houston, and really wanted to know if her husband works in finance and if she has the BMW SUV or the Porsche one (popular here), but I bit my tongue. A post on Americans in London is forthcoming.

Today during preschool, I purchased all of Tommy's bedding. He has an adorable duvet cover that he picked out. It has planes on it. My impulse buy of the day were some plane stickers that we can put on the wall to decorate his room. They match the duvet cover. And are about as much effort as I want to spend on a room in a rented house. He also got a pillow, a comforter, a mattress cover and a couple of plain white sheets. Tommy's Grandma Sid has already bought him some construction sheets, so I'm going to have Grandma Nancy make the topsheet from that set into the top of a duvet cover. Then, he'll have a couple of sets of bedding and when he vomits in his bed, I will be prepared. You know he will. Kids vomit in bed. They just do.

I wonder if Hanh's feelings will be hurt that she was mentioned in passing and I spent a whole paragraph on Tommy's bedding. Sorry, Hanh. It was so so so nice to see you and especially to go to Baker and Spice with you.

Uncle Brett arrives tomorrow! Tommy is excited. (Today he told me he wants to go back to Arlington and then pointed at a little girl and said, "see, there's Layla!" She's one of his friends from Arlington.)

Finally, I will tell you that Tommy will be going to preschool on Thursday mornings until the end of the term. This is so he can learn all the songs in the summer show. (Eli wants to buy a camcorder before the summer show.) I told Miss Tracy that if she sings them with him a couple of times, he'll be good to go (it's no secret that I believe Tommy is musically talented), but she said I should just bring him. So I said, thank you very much, I'd love to.

(I was just typing away, and Eli turned to me and said, "One popular phrase that people use at work here is "and then you disappear up your own asshole." I can't quite figure out what it means." Feel free to email him with your thoughts.)

14 lbs, 8 oz.

Lizzie gained weight. And the pediatrician again complimented her on her strength and just overall development. She took her shots very well and was so woozy that she let Hanh hold her for a long time and then fell asleep in the buggy (or pram, as it is also called here). Now she's sleeping and I have my heart set on walking to Baker & Spice this afternoon so I'm certain she'll sleep until five and ruin my plan. Which is not bad for the ol' waistline, I suppose, but I spend far more time than I will admit on this blog thinking about those chocolate and almond croissants, which are better than the cinnamon buns for anyone who remembers. Anyway, I love the pediatrician and I feel sort of sheepish for not using NHS but you know what? He called me last week to discuss the chickenpox and whether Lizzie would live or not (the pharmacist at Boots led me to believe there was actually a question and told me to take her to hospital immediately -- no, not THE hospital, just to hospital because that's what they say here), and then today we discussed it some more, and we also talked about a question I had about Tommy, AND he looked in Lizzie's ears because she's been tugging at them. You get what you pay for??? Or you pay for what you're used to? I think that's the real issue -- that in the US we had a pediatrician who knew the kids and me (and how neurotic I am) and I like that.

I hope you all have good weekends. When iPhoto stops acting like little jerk, I'll post the cute picture promised in my last post. I did not forget.

Sorry

Today Tommy said "sorry" to me, which is lovely, but he said it in a little British accent. I knew it would happen, but I didn't think it would be so soon.

He also told me today that "when Miss Kasha [the woman who cleans our apartment] turns into a mommy, you can be the cleaner!" He said it like being the cleaner was the exciting, fun job. So I laughed and turned away from the computer so I could pay attention to him for a bit.

Lizzie had a good day sleeping-wise, so she was a nicer baby. She ate a large potion of carrots and seemed to feel good. Then, I let her taste some coconut yogurt that Tommy and I were eating and she kept lunging for, and she lost her business when I wouldn't give her another taste. I really don't know where she gets this eating thing from. And I don't know where I got so relaxed that I would feed her yogurt in the middle of introducing her to carrots. My poor second baby.

For those of you not following the London weather, it is raining here and has been all week. This is problematic for me because (1) we cannot go to playgrounds in the morning and (2) I don't get to hang out with my grown up mommy friends in the garden in the afternoon. Instead, we all stay inside together and Tommy breaks all the rules just to watch me get mad. And we read those damn Richard Scarry books over and over and over which Tommy loves but I am done with.

And that's all from London. We are just fine and counting down the days until we move into our real house. With four bedrooms! And all of our things! Wheeeee.

Pictures tomorrow and I have got a super cute one for you.

The kiddos

I posted this picture because Tommy climbed this rock by himself, almost. I told him I wouldn't help him, so he backed the stroller up to the rock and used the board (which can't be more than 6" high) to give himself a small step. I admired his determination.

I swear to God, this is the last post that will discuss or picture (ew) potty-training. But just for the sake of keeping a record, here he is (still no accidents; he is just awesome):

The Lulabell in a very cute hat:

The Lulabell sitting with her daddy and helping him with his work:

Today could have been horrible but was fine. It rained, so I decided we would go to the Natural History Museum. It is a block away, and free. We had to get out of here about 9:20, so we found a digger to watch for a while, and then skipped into the museum at ten on the nose. This was a good thing, because there was a pretty long queue when we left at 11:30. Tommy had a great time, except that the T Rex was pronounced "scary." Then, we had lunch and left for preschool. Tommy didn't want to stay once we got there, but after trying to be nice for five minutes, I turned into a mean mama and told him he had to go and he would have fun and I left.

When I picked him up, he told me he'd had fun, and then it started pouring. I am a person who is used to rain and as long as Lizzie isn't getting wet, I'm normally okay with it, but this was HARD RAIN. And we were walking home. So I was trying to steer the buggy with one hand and cover Tommy and me with an umbrella in the other hand and it was horrible. So I stopped under an awning to reorganize and dropped my phone. And then carried on, without it. For those of you who don't know this about me, I love my phone. It's an iPhone. And here's why I love it. When I push a little button, a map appears. And the map shows me where I am. I can hold it and walk and the little dot on the map that is me moves. I'm certain you all understand how valuable this tool is to me in a city like this. A city that is not on a grid and thinks nothing of using the same (or nearly the same) street name four times.

About ten minutes down the road, I realized I had lost the phone. So, I tore the stroller apart looking for the phone while the kids got wetter and wetter. And then I turned around and went back and talked to the people in the two shops nearest to the spot I'd dropped it. No phone. We went back to the apartment and the whole time I was thinking about how whoever took the phone could be calling China! Or reading all my email! Aaaah.

But, when I got home, I called Eli and he had already spoken to the woman who found my phone and I have it back now. Safely with me. Which is good because on the way there, I lost my A to Z (I had to use it to find the nice woman who found my phone's house, of course, because I didn't have my phone). It fell out of the cup holder. There has to be some sort of message here, but I really don't know what it is.

Here's why we don't let Tommy pick out his own clothes:

We went to Whole Foods today and bought some bread that we used to eat when we lived here in 2007 and maybe that's what set me off, but today, I am just overwhelmed that Tommy is a three year old boy. Or maybe it's the potty-training and the transition to a big-boy bed, and sudden acceptance of a blanket and pillow? Whatever the reason, I am stunned that he is so grown up. And Eli keeps telling me how it's great, how he's still completely adorable, and how our relationships with him are so much more developed because we have conversations (I can ask him questions like, "what's your favorite fruit?" or "what's your favorite color?") but for some reason, today, it's killing me.

Tommy bit his lip this morning while eating his granola, so for the rest of the day, when he ate something, he started screaming (full on screaming) -- presumably because he bit the same spot. Please feel free to email me any suggestions you have for dealing with this. He's only had yogurt and a popsicle today, and I'd like him to have a slightly more nutritious diet tomorrow if possible.

My Sick Kids

After all my worrying that Luc and Emma would get the pox from us, Tommy got something from them. He has a fever, and seemed sort of spacey before nap, but otherwise is fine. (For now.)

The chickenpop baby is fussy today and slept very fitfully last night (her parents are exhausted today). I called the pediatrician and he said that she only needs to come in if she seems to be in distress but so far, she just seems like she's itchy. Poor thing.

I'm happy it's the weekend and Eli can help get through this lovely time.

A few pictures.

Here are Eli and Tommy in a pink teacup in Windsor. This is especially funny because one of Tommy's favorite songs has a line that is about not liking spinny rides -- and so Tommy says he doesn't like them, but of course he wouldn't leave us alone until he got to ride this one.

Here's Lizzie today. She looks pretty good for a baby with the chickenpox (which are getting much worse). She has been a horrible sleeper today.

Tommy & Lizzie having a moment on the couch together:

Happy Birthday to Larissa today!

Update -- she's got them.

Lizzie has the chickenpox. POOR BABY. I noticed a couple of spots on her face last night and thought she might be sensitive to her new soap. But this morning, she had one on her back, and a few on her head. No fever yet, but she has been asleep for almost two hours which pretty much means she's sick.

Chickenpox have not affected Lizzie's appetite thus far. She scarfed down some rice cereal at lunchtime. She likes to eat -- I have no idea where she gets that from.

Grandma Nancy's Gone...

but she left a legacy: a potty-trained boy. He hasn't had an accident in days. I realize I've spent far to much time on this blog writing about the potty-training, but it is hard for me to explain just how life-changing it is.

We finally did something sort of fun with Grandma on Saturday, and went out to Windsor Castle. We had lunch, toured the castle, went to a toy store, and got back on the train. Lizzie slept about seven minutes during the whole trip and Tommy also skipped his nap. Sunday, I worked while the rest of the household went out to the garden. We let Tommy stay up late and watch "Finding Nemo" with us (or, as he calls it, "Fishies That Live In the Ocean"). He was, predictably, terrified at the scary parts and again, I felt like an idiot for not thinking through the viewing selections a bit more carefully. Monday, Eli took Mom and the kids up to St. Pancras while I worked. The afternoon was mellow because Tommy was up at 5:51. I heard him wake up and started to mobilize but still by the time I got into his room, he'd talked Grandma Nancy into turning on the light and playing trucks. He also managed to wake his sister. So that was nice.

The other big news around here is that the Lula started solids and she loooooves them. She eats rice cereal with gusto, and when we tried sweet potato, she was similarly enthusiastic. I am less enthusiastic because her spit up is now orange and I'm worried it will stain everything. She is also working hard on sitting up and can do it for a couple of seconds at a time, though she tips very easily.

Luc had a high temperature last night, so it looks like Tommy did give the chickenpops to another kid. Now let's just hope he didn't give them to his sister...

I promise to post pictures soon. They're still pretty cute.