Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We're having a lovely Christmas with my family. Anna has been enjoying all the attention that Amma, Afi and Uncle Kiddi have been lavishing on her. Plus, she got a lot of loot.

Once I get the pictures uploaded, I'll post them. Hope everyone is happy and joyous today!

TWO YEARS OLD!

I am now the proud owner of my very own two year old girl. I never thought that a twenty-four month period of my life could be so eventful, exhilarating, hilarious, exhausting and delightful.

We had a little birthday party for Anna this morning with a few of her little friends. The kids all played really well together. I thought that there may be some fighting over toys, but alas peace reigned superior today. The highlight of the day was Anna singing happy birthday to herself. She has decided that whenever a candle is lit it is time to sing happy birthday in her own version of the song which goes: “Happy birthday to you Anna happy birthday; happy birthday to you Anna happy birthday; happy birthday to you Anna happy birthday” etc. etc. She’s got the tune right, but I guess she’s decided that she’d like better lyrics.

We had cupcakes today instead of a cake, and they were a big hit with the kids. I’m not so sure how the parents felt about them because chocolate frosting got everywhere.

In other news, we went to a Christmas party yesterday where Santa Claus made a little visit. Boy, that did not go over well with Anna. She was absolutely terrified of Santa and wouldn’t go anywhere near him.

The garbanza has taken up kick-boxing in utero. It seems that she wants to be ready for anything once she makes her arrival. She moves around a ton, and lately it feels like she’s been using my bladder as a trampoline.

Pillow Talk

One of the highlights of my day is when I put Anna to bed, especially for her afternoon nap. Now, I don’t mean for this to sound as bad as it does. The reason I love it is that I get to listen to the conversations she has with her stuffed animals before she finally gets tired and falls asleep. In the afternoons it usually takes Anna longer to settle down and fall asleep so I am treated to an extra long monologue. Lately, there seems to be some friction between the stuffed hippo and zebra. The other day I heard, “Hippo, no pushing zebra, no pushing.” And also, “be nice, be nice.” I guess the laws of the jungle apply among the stuff animals of Anna’s crib.

Going Native

Anna has gone native. Lately, when I don’t respond immediately to her calls of “Mamma”, she starts calling “mum-may, mum-may, MUM-MAAAAY”. This continues until she gets an answer. I have to say I much prefer being called mamma to being call mummay. She also tells me when she needs to have her diaper changed by saying “change nappy”. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she says these things. My biggest issue is remembering to use the right word consistently so she doesn’t get confused. I end up confusing our babysitter, Angelika, all the time. I always forget to say jumper instead of sweater.

Anna and I went to a Halloween party last Friday, but we didn’t do much for Halloween here. Trick or treating isn’t that common here, and I live on a dead-end so there isn’t much foot traffic passing by. We had one group of trick or treaters. Hmmmm, what to do with all that leftover candy? I have pretty good idea of what will happen to it, and what has already happened to it. Let’s just say that it feels like the Garbanza is doing the Mexican hat dance in my belly from the massive increase of sugar in my bloodstream.

Yesterday, I discovered a new activity for Anna to tire her out and entertain her at the same time – chasing squirrels. It provides loads of entertainment for both of us.

On our way to a Halloween party!

Puss in Boots

Garbanza

Anna is going to have a little sister, and come March, Carlos will be seriously outnumbered. The ultrasound today was great. The little Garbanza looks healthy, and at one point, it even looked like she was waving at us.

Back In Action

Boy oh boy, a lot has happened since I last posted. Yikes.

At the end of August and beginning of September, we all went to Spain for a two week vacation. To be brief, it didn’t turn out quite as we expected. We first went to Ibiza for what we thought was going to be a lazy beach vacation. Not exactly. First, Carlos and I discovered that we should have done more homework before we booked a package vacation. Second, we all got sick. First Carlos and Anna got a 24-hour stomach virus and spent a day and some vomiting up a storm. Then I got sick and spent the rest of the vacation in bed. I don’t recall ever being so sick. Poor Carlos – I don’t think it was much of a vacation for him to look after a vomiting, pregnant wife. After a miserable week at the beach, we went to Barcelona to see the abuelos. I was still in an invalid-like state until our last day there, but I think Anna and Carlos had fun. The good news is that the Garbanzo survived this nightmare well. And, as of tomorrow afternoon, we’ll know whether we’re expecting a Garbanzo or a Garbanza – stay tuned!

After our less than ideal vacation, we made it back to London. Things have been quite busy. We’ve had a number of house-guests visiting which has been a ton of fun. We always love visitors (hint hint).

Anna has been talking a ton lately. Suddenly, she’s started forming sentences like “Let’s go home.” And “See you later.” It is really wild to hear her language development. We’re working on the colors right now. She always gravitates toward her orange crayon, but also likes “peeple” (aka purple). Anna’s hair has also started to really grow and get a bit thicker, finally. So, I’ve posted a recent picture of her with a new hairdo.

Stay tuned for Garbanzo(a) news tomorrow!

Introducing the Garbanzo!

Ladies and Gentlemen – meet the “Garbanzo” – who will be arriving the first week of March. Anna is going to have company! Why “Garbanzo” you may ask? When I first told Carlos that I was pregnant, I said that the baby was about the size of a garbanzo bean, and the name just stuck. Right now, the baby is a bit bigger than a garbanzo bean – 66 mm to be exact. We got confirmation from today’s ultrasound that everything looks good – hurray! Now we just have to wait until I reach 20 weeks to find out whether it is a boy or girl.

So, Garbanzo makes four.

Gliding in the English Countryside

On Sunday we all went for a drive in the English countryside – to Essex (northeast of London) to be exact. It was a gorgeous day for a drive, and we had fun until we got off the main motorways and onto the country roads. Boy, the lack of signage makes finding your way around rather difficult. Carlos and I have had a number of experiences of the crazy road signs here – we can’t get over the signs on the motorways that just say “The North” or “The West” as an indicator of which way to go. To me, that isn’t really helpful. Anyway, after making our way through a number of windy roads, we made it to our destination – Ridgewell Airfield. We each went for a glider ride. Pretty cool, huh? Carlos had gotten a gift certificate that he could redeem for the glider ride, and I got to tag along. We each did what is called a wire launch rather than being pulled into the air by another plane. The glider is attached to a wire winch (I think that’s the right term), and it pulls the glider up into the air at about a 70 degree angle really fast. Let’s just say that I’ve had moments in my life where I’ve felt less queasy. Once you reach about 1000 feet, the wire is released, and you just glide around. The gliding bit was fun, and it was a beautiful, cloudless day – a great way to see the surrounding countryside. Overall, though, I wouldn’t do it again. I think Carlos came to the same conclusion. We both thought it was a cool experience, but we definitely don’t feel a burning desire to do it again.

Anna had a grand old time. She got to see lots of gliders up close which she thought was very exciting. Plus, she got to have a little picnic lunch at the airfield. Here’s a picture of her eating her latest favorite – grapes.

Good books

I've read a few fantastic books recently. If anyone is looking for a good book to read, I highly recommend the following:

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

Saturday by Ian McEwan. I just started this book, but it is already so good, so well written that I know I can recommend it.

Confession of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. A very fun read (fictionalized account of where the fairy tale Cinderella may have come from).

The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory. Great historical fiction.

Got milk? . . . or sushi? . . . or olives?

Anna’s tastebuds continue to surprise me. Thankfully, she has finally started drinking milk. It has been a long time coming. After she was weaned, she would not drink formula or milk unless it was poured over cereal. That was it, nothing else. I tried a number of different types of formula and milk (soy milk, flavored milk, etc.). Nada. She just didn’t want any of it. Then, when we were in Iceland last month, she started to ask for milk and then actually drinking it when I gave it to her. Ever since we came back to London, she’s been drinking milk constantly!! At last!

I think Anna’s tastebuds are taking more after Carlos than me. She is constantly surprising me by the things she wants to eat. For instance, she eats sushi – the vegetable or shrimp variety. I haven’t given her the raw fish ones yet, but if she is anything like Carlos, she’ll eat those up lickety split once she gets a taste of them. Anna also loves olives. She would eat an entire jar if I’d let her. As soon as she sees the jar in the fridge, she starts asking for “Oleees Oleeeees” very insistently. Anna has also started eating the Spanish cured meats like jamon and fuet (a salami-like cured sausage that is delicious). She can’t get enough of it. I’m just glad that Anna doesn’t seem to have inherited my huge sweet-tooth.

Snip Snip

Anna had her first haircut on Saturday (that is, if you don’t count my minor trim of her bangs over Easter). Carlos and I decided to make an outing of the event, and we took Anna to Harrods to have her hair cut. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous to take your child to Harrods to have her hair cut, but it is the only place I know of in London that has a children’s hair salon. I thought it would be fun for her first haircut to go there. So, Anna’s mullet is now gone. I kind of miss it because it was a rather cute mullet with curls, but a mullet no less.

New words:
mooksick = music
eebah = zebra
doubleshoe = double u (the letter)

Posing before going for a splash in the hot tub.

Feeding the ducks in downtown Reykjavik with Amma.

Talking to a horse with my uncle Kiddi.

Coloring at the cottage with my favorite hat.

I'm a big dork

I just realized that I posted almost the same post twice. I thought I had lost the first version of “it’s been a long time”, so I tried to recreate it, and I didn’t think to actually check the blog to see if the first post had been published. I’m a big goof.

It's been a long time

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted. I don’t know why that is. I kept trying to write something after the July 7th bombings, but I couldn’t come up with anything sufficiently eloquent or appropriate. Just a knot in my stomach – which got a bit tighter today when I heard the news that there had been more bombings. So, now, here I am posting (finally) because I have terrible insomnia, and I cannot get to sleep.

Anna and I just got back from Iceland. We spent a bit over a week at the cottage with my parents and brother. Anna had the time of her life. I planned this trip so that it would coincide with a mini family reunion that my mom and uncles planned to commemorate what would have been my grandmother’s 100th birthday. The reunion was wonderful – I got to see a lot of cousins that I haven’t seen in ages. Also, I found out that my grandmother had written stories about her life and poetry. Who knew??? (It turns out that a lot of people knew, just not me) My mom read one of her stories, and it was amazing. For me, it shed a new light on my grandmother’s perspective on life and her personality. I’m hoping to get photocopies of the stories and poetry that she left behind. I can’t wait to read it.

I think it is going to be tough for Anna to return to reality after this trip. She got way too much attention while we were in Iceland. Her grandparents, uncle, great-uncles, friends all played lots of games with her and let her be the center of their attention. She’s going to think life in London is really boring after all that. Even more so after we start back with our regular bedtime routine tomorrow (that all went out the window while we were away).

It's been a long time

Wow, I really haven't posted anything in a long long time. I don't really have any good reason why. I wanted to write something really eloquent and moving after the July 7th bombings, but I could think of anything to say. I just had a big bit in my stomach (which got bigger today when I heard about another round of bombings).

It is now almost 1:30 AM, and I have terrible insomnia. Anna and I got back from Iceland today. We had a really great time at the cottage, visiting with Amma, Afi, Kiddi and a host of other relatives. I had planned this trip so that we could be in Iceland when my mom's family celebrated my grandmother's 100th birthday. She would have been 100 this past May, and my mom and her brothers decided to have a sort of mini-reunion in her honor. It was fantastic to see my extended family. There were a lot of cousins at the reunion that I hadn't seen in ages. The other fun thing that came out of this reunion is that I found out that my grandmother wrote some stories and poetry -- wow, I had no idea! My mom read one of her stories (more like memoir-like stories) at the reunion, and it was amazing to gain a whole new insight into my grandmother's life and personality. My mom said she'd photocopy the stories and poetry for me -- I can't wait to read it.

In Anna news, she spent her time in Iceland charming all her relatives. Boy, that little lady got way too much attention while we were there. But, she had a fabulous time -- imagine, being the center of attention all the time, not having to have a bath every day (because the cottage only has a shower, and she hated the shower), and getting to stay up late every night!! It is going to be really tough to get her back into her normal routine.