A rattle or two keep the *booboo* away

Emilia had her second round of immunisation today and as a prize for being such a strong and brave little girl, mummy bought her this sweet set of two rattles. Aren't they adorable?

Before receiving the second 5in1 needle and the meningitis one, Emilia was weighted (she is now 6.14 kg!) and checked by our health visitor. She then fell asleep and didn't even wake up when the first needle went in. Perhaps all the rolls and fat in her legs helped :) She did, however, wake up and cried a little when the second needle went in. Thankfully, she is reacting well and is playing with her new rattles at the moment. Let's hope she'll stay clam and happy throughout the rest of the evening. 

An afternoon with Elias

This afternoon we hosted a play-date and had loads of fun. Emilia was great the whole time and showed great interest in books, more than toys. On the other hand, she didn't seem to care too much about Elias, she even turned to the other side when put next to each other! I am sure Rob would love if her interest in boys stayed this way forever!

Elias is a very sweet boy and lives very close to us. We are happy to have a local friend and will have another play-date at their place next Tuesday. It will be fun!

Morning Activities

Right after breakfast, there is nothing better than sitting in a comfy chair while reading a good book.



The next best thing is gossiping with mummy!

Afternoon Tea Series: Betty Blythe

My WI girlfriends and I have just started a new series that is promising to be very exciting! 

For my birthday last year I received a lovely book entitled Tea & Cake, London. The book was, of course, a gift from one of the WI members, Elena, and when she gave it to me all the rest of the crew was with us. It took us no time to realise that we wanted to start an Afternoon Teas series. It's so nice to hang out with similar minded people! 

So we started yesterday afternoon and we could have not picked a better tea place to begin our new adventure in London. Here are some pics from the evening. As you can see, we had loads of fun dressing up and wearing all the vintage clothes and accessories available in the vintage tea-room. The tea was lovely and all the cakes delicious. Definitely a nice spot in London!

1. Afternoon Tea at Betty Blythe - November, 25th

12 weeks

Today Emilia is 12 weeks old. Soon, we will be celebrating three months! 

This week hasn't marked any special milestone, apart from the fact that Emilia loves playing with her hands and especially putting them in her mouth! Thankfully, her routine is going strong, so she still naps in the morning and then again in the afternoon, and she falls asleep every night around 8.00pm. We certainly cannot complain! 

Otherwise, it was a busy week in terms of social events. On Wednesday evening Emilia met our friend Munther who was in town for a training course. We met Munther back in Durham, nine years ago. He now lives in Dubai and we were all looking forward to catch up a bit. Unfortunately Emilia wasn't in a very good mood and the poor guy had to cut his visit short. Thursday was Thanksgiving. Our friends Ilaria and Cristian arrived from Italy early in the morning and spoiled Emilia with gifts and lots of cuddles. Ila and Cri have stayed with us until today and Emilia loved all the extra attention. It was great to have them. 

As they noticed, Emilia is growing fast. Here are some recent pictures. As you can see, they are a bit fuzzy; this is because it is becoming more and more difficult to take pictures of Emilia as she constantly moves. You can see how big she is next to me now. She is not a little baby anymore :)

Thanksgiving 2012

One of the nicest things about being with an American guy, living in England, and hanging out with many friends from all over the world is that I get to know and celebrate lots of otherwise unknown holidays. And you know how much I love holidays! Any excuse is good to be merry.

Rob and I have been throwing a little Thanksgiving dinner party since he came back to London about seven years ago, and every year we get better and better, I think. We always order a fresh turkey from Borough Market and plan our menu very well in advance. For the last four years my good friends Ilaria and Cristian have also been traveling from Italy to London for the occasion, and we have loads of fun cooking and decorating the flat all together. This year we also had to look after baby Emilia while taking care of all the rest; it was a bit of a challenge but we are a great team and by 7pm Emilia was exhausted for all the *hard* work :) She fell asleep at 8.15pm and didn't wake up until 2am.

Here are some pics of this year's celebration. Enjoy!

My Italian friends Ila and Cristian who always fly in to help out with the cooking!

Rob pretending to be cooking!

Cooking and babysitting

The table decorations

The food: mac and cheese, pumpkin risotto, mash potatoes, carrots&mint, green beans with balsamic vinegar, gratin broccoli and cherry tomatoes focaccia. All homemade!

The guests

Drinks station

The star of the night

Lighting the sparkler

Thanksgiving quiz and prizes

Playing Thanksgiving quiz

Flowers arrangement

Hand-stamped eco-forks. Of course, pink and orange!

I am legit!

Following our successful trip to the American embassy, this morning we received Emilia's American passport and consular report of birth abroad. She is now 100% legit and most importantly she can fly!!! Pescara, here we come!!

A passport for Emilia: part 2

If you follow this blog, you already know what happened in part 1 of this chapter.

So, yesterday morning, Rob, Emilia and I visited the UK passport office for the second time. The night before we double checked again that we had all the documentation needed and hoped for the best. Last time they rejected our photos (as they were too bright) and also asked Rob to leave his passport for verification but since he had to fly to NYC we couldn't proceed with the application. Now, I am afraid to say that there will be a part 3 of this chapter. Unfortunately, we didn't come home with a successful application. I am sure you are wondering what the problem was this time? Well, they rejected our photos one more time. The interesting thing is that they do say that they are very flexible for baby's photos passports as they understand the difficulty in getting the pictures right. Wow, flexibility must have a different meaning in this office! Anyhow, Rob and I were not happy about the news and insisted as much as we could that they approved the application. In the end the girl at the till was tired of us, I think, and wanted to go on with her day, and that's probably why she accepted the pictures. However, she doesn't have the final say in the process, so we will see what happens next. The pictures will have to be scanned and we can only pray that they scan well, otherwise, they will contact us to send new pictures in and that will slow the process down incredibly. I don't mind saying that I got a bit stressed by all this, let's just hope we have a passport, from whatever Country, by December 6th. I need to go home.

11 weeks

Today Emilia is 11 weeks old! Not long before we celebrate her third month of life. 

This week has marked several milestones. Emilia smiles on a regular basis now and makes different noises in an effort to communicate with us. This morning I watched her *talk* with her bear, which was too cute. She desperately wants to interact with us, which means playtime is always on. Boy it can be tiring! She already has loads of toys but I went out this afternoon to do some shopping and came back with a lovely cat-rattle which she fell in love with straight away. Pictures to come. 

But I suppose the most important achievement of the week is that now Emilia goes to bed regularly every night at 8pm and stays asleep until at least 2am if not longer. Our evenings have become much more relaxed and pleasant now that we can enjoy dinner together, watch tv, talk and even bake! 

Here are two recent pictures of Emilia:

Happiness is...

...playing and gossiping with mummy! 

After her breakfast feed, Emilia is so good to let me have breakfast too. So I put her in her bouncer in the kitchen, close to me, and she gets her free massage (she LOVES the vibration!) and plays with the monkey while I enjoy breakfast. She then has a nap, usually a 40-50 minute nap, an hour if I am lucky, and then it's playtime! 

And while we play, we also talk (well, we *aghuu*) and gossip like two good friends :)

A passport for Emilia - Part 1

On December 6th we will be taking our first fight with Emilia. If everything goes well (fingers crossed!) we will all be flying to Pescara as a family. For this, we need a passport for Emilia. As the daughter of American and Italian parents, Emilia is entitled to apply both for an American and an Italian passport. Moreover, being born in the UK and since Rob established permanent residence in this Country, she can also apply for a British passport. Rob and I are both very keen in creating as many possibilities as possible to facilitate Emilia's future. By having these three passports she will have access to many countries should she decide to study, work, and live abroad. You can never have too many doors open in life.

While we are very eager to have three passports for Emilia, we had to realise that applying for a passport is no fun, especially for a baby who was born in the UK but neither parents is British. There is a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork involved. The adventure started a couple of weeks ago when we took Emilia to a photographer to get baby passport photos. As you can imagine, it's not easy to have a picture of a baby that complies to all the passport regulations. The baby cannot cry, cannot smile, cannot be held by a parent...too many restrictions for a two month old baby! But, Emilia proved us wrong, she was incredibly good and the pictures were taken in a matter of seconds. On Friday November-2nd, then, Rob and I went to the UK Passport Office in Victoria to apply for a British passport for baby Emilia. My mum and grandmum were in town, so at least they could watch the baby while we were out, much easier than taking her with us. Getting there was super easy and the place was super organised, there were lots of people but it took no time to be called. The bad news is that our application wasn't successful. First of all, they thought the pictures were too bright and wouldn't scan. We were livid, the photographer assured us that they would be just fine. Second of all, they asked Rob to leave his passport for all the checks and verification. Of course, Rob had to fly to NYC in two days. So no deal. We had to make another appointment, the earliest they could do was November 19th. Let's hope it will work out this time. We need a passport in three weeks!

So, the British option is pending. Don't get me started on the Italians, since they are still processing my registration to be officially resident in the UK ( I sent the application back in July!) and then they will start processing Emilia's. By the time she turns 18, maybe, we'll have an Italian passport. Oh joy! So, the American option was our last resource. Rob made an appointment with the American embassy for this morning at 8am. He had to fill in not one but three applications and we spent most of last night checking that everything was in order and that we had all the documentation needed. We didn't want to make any mistake this time. The annoying thing is that the American embassy requires the baby to be present at the moment of the interview. So, Rob and I tried to schedule the feeds so that we wouldn't have too much trouble at the embassy but as you know, a baby's routine is very unpredictable. Also, to make things worse, at 3.15am, about an hour after we fed Emilia, the fire alarm went off. When we heard the excruciatingly loud noise in the middle of the night we couldn't believe what was happening. Of all the nights the fire alarm could go off, yesterday was definitely the worst! Oh well, I tried to laugh at the situation. I must say, I was amazed at the speed my brain worked at that hour, and in seconds I got dressed and grabbed all the things we may have needed for Emilia while out: dummy, formula, hat, blankets, toys. The impressive thing was that Emilia didn't wake up, not only she was still sleeping in the flat, but she kept still while we were going down the stairs in a super hurry, and outside when the fire brigades arrived. Now we know, when she is out, she is out, no need to lower the tv or whisper in the house! Anyway, despite the horrible start of the day, we made it to the embassy twenty minute early for our 8am appointment, the queue wasn't too bad and by 10.30am we left with another official American citizen in the house. I am outnumbered now! The passport should arrive by December 1st, which means that even if the British passport won't arrive in time, we will still be able to fly to Pescara. That will be another interesting adventure!

Friendship is...

This week Emilia has had not one but two play-dates, one on Monday with baby Juliette and the other on Tuesday with baby Elias. Play-dates are always a question mark, you never know how they go, it all depends on the babes! Sometimes they are pure nightmares, other times they turn out to be the best moments of the day. It also depends a lot on where the play-date occurs; by far, it is much easier to enjoy a play-date at home or at someone's house, and possibly in the neighbourhood. Traveling in London by tube or bus is not always easy with a baby. When I am out with Emilia I am always a bit on edge: what if she cries? I don't want to bother people. Well, I have learned that babies do cry in public and there is nothing you can do but keep your patience and try to comfort the baby. Going out with Emilia can be a bit of a struggle sometimes, especially in a city like London, however, I still try to be brave and do as much as I can to get out of the flat with her. 

On Monday we ventured to the city to meet with baby Juliette and her mama Steph to do some shopping, or so we hoped. I had never been to Mansion House tube station before and let me say it's the least baby friendly tube station I have ever been to. First of all, it's a maze with too many exits, second of all there are hundreds of stairs and when you think you are done, sure enough there are more steps to trouble you. Of course, I was with my Bugaboo so you can imagine the fun! I did try to lift it on my own but it was impossible with Emilia in it and the changing bag on top of the pram's weight. Thankfully people, mostly business men, helped; however, poor Steph had to help me out with a couple of stairs while carrying her own baby in the Baby Bjorn. So, the trip was a bit of a stress and then of course by the time I got there Emilia woke up and was starving. And when she is hungry she is hungry. I mean, zero patience! Steph and I had to find a cafe' and I quickly fed Emilia before she moved mountains. I don't mind saying that it was a bit hectic, but thankfully I was with Steph who knows exactly what I am talking about. Next time, we'll definitely meet at my place or hers, I only wish we lived a bit closer. 

The play-date on Tuesday, on the other hand, was a big success, just what I needed to feel a bit better and more confident. We met with baby Elias and mama Katharina just around the corner, at the Design Museum. Elias was sleeping when we met (I was so jealous!); Emilia, on the other hand was about to fall asleep. So we strolled a bit waiting for her to peacefully fall asleep. Once both babies were asleep we went to the Design Museum cafe' and we couldn't believe we were able to enjoy lunch and chat for two hours without interruptions. Phew! I suppose it wasn't a real play-date but it was a good time out with a friend. 

Play-dates can be hard but both Emilia and I need to get out and spend some time with our friends. 

And speaking of friends, Emilia has fallen in love with her bunny-angel, thanks Annalisa and Jacques! Aren't they cute?

Movie Night

I hope I am not speaking too soon but the Routine seems to be working! Apart from Saturday that, as you know, was a VERY bad day, Emilia has been napping regularly both in the morning and the afternoon for a couple of hours and the very good news is that she is falling asleep at a good time at night allowing us to have dinner in peace and perhaps watch some tv and have an adult conversation. Last night we were even able to have what we call a movie night! Finally, after trying so many times, last night we were able to watch a movie without interruptions. Since Emilia was born Rob and I have tried to watch movies at night but with little success. Until yesterday we had only been able to watch two movies, although without really enjoying them as we had to pause them so many times to give Emilia all the attention she needed. So what would have been a two hour movie lasted in fact four. Yesterday, however, Emilia went down at 9.00pm and we looked for movie options straight away. I was craving a good movie. We checked what was available on Sky and both agreed that it had to be an easy movie to follow, nothing too artsy, our tired brains needed pure entertainment! We chose Crazy,Stupid,Love and I am so glad we did. With its mixture of comedy and drama, happiness and sadness, and a funny Shakespearean,  *The Comedy of Errors style* ending, we were hooked since minute one. If you haven't seen it, I'd definitely recommend it. I loved the cast, especially Julianne Moore (I am a huge fan of hers - have you seen A Single Man? She does a great job in it), the wittiness, and all the different love stories. It's a simple but sophisticated movie.

And apart from the movie success, we were both very happy to have finally been able to enjoy two hours of relaxation on the couch. Oh the little things that you give for granted before a baby enters your life and changes it completely...

Emilia, Also Known As...

When Rob and I were searching for a name for Baby O we were also thinking how that name would have been shortened or nicknamed. We were aware of the fact that no matter how short a name is, there was always going to be a shorter version. In fact, many names didn't make the cut simply because we didn't like their short version. With Emilia, instead, we have several good options. So far we have been calling her Emi, Milly, and Mimi', all nice and sweet nicknames, I think. 

Rob, however, loves calling her *Monkey*.

UPDATE: Today has been a great day. Emilia woke up around 8.30 and then napped for two hours and a half! The weather was glorious in London so in the afternoon we all strolled to the other side of the river and did food shopping at Waitrose in the ever so beautiful St. Katharine's docks. Emilia loves being pushed and looking around, so she enjoyed the walk with us. It was our first time shopping with her and it wasn't bad at all. On the way back she fell asleep and then napped at home for another hour. At 7pm, following our health visitor's suggestion, we bathed her and then fed her...and she fell asleep again. It has now been almost two hours since she fell asleep. I was able to cook (tonight fresh squid and peas as appetiser, and cod and tomatoes in the pan as main course), Rob and I enjoyed a lovely dinner together, and we are now watching tv and browsing the Internet. Yesterday, bad day. Today, good day! I am a happy person. Let's hope tomorrow will be a good day too, we have shopping and play date on the agenda!

Grand and Great

So this morning my mum and grandmum left. Thankfully their flight was very early in the morning and when their taxi came to pick them up at 5.50am we were still pretty sleepy to have the time and energy to cry. However, we were all quite sad. Ten days with them were simply amazing for all of us: Emilia received all the love and attention she needs and Rob and I tasted a bit of life pre-parenthood, which was very nice. Once they left, I went back to bed and tried to sleep some more. Then Emilia woke me up at 8.45 for her feed. The day started well: I fed and changed Emilia and then I put her in her bouncer while I enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a good slice of homemade vanilla and walnut cake. We then played for a good half hour on the couch and when she got tired I put her in the pram for her morning nap as my mum used to do. However, after 20 minutes things changed. Emilia started crying (=screaming!) and stayed upset for three hours. What a change! I was so frustrated I didn't know what else to do. I wish I could have just called mum for help one more time. Thankfully, the afternoon was a bit better and she did have her afternoon nap. Not for two good hours but she was down and peaceful for an hour and a half. Rob came back from NYC early today and I was hoping to have a nice evening with him, however we didn't manage to put Emilia down to bed until 10.00pm, so a bit later than what my mum used to do, which means we had to take turns to eat dinner. Hopefully, though, she will sleep for a while now. Time will tell. 

Today, I don't mind saying it, I was so down and lost that I started questioning what I do wrong. According to Rob, Emilia was simply missing her grandmum and great-grandmum. I am not sure it is possible at this stage, she is too little, I think, but perhaps she could sense all the love that she received in the last few days and something was missing in her daily activities today. She had gotten into a very nice routine with my mum and hardly cried for a week straight. I am sure there will be good days and bad days and today was just a bad one but I need some reassurance that I am a good mum and am doing things right. Mum, grandmum, I miss you so much! 

Here is a picture of grandmum strolling with Emilia. I hope I will be as energic as her when I'll be 83 years old.

R is for Routine

At our eight-week check last week our health visitor told us to start working on a routine for Emilia. She mostly meant bathing her every night around 7.30pm, feeding her soon after and then putting her down to sleep. This would have the huge benefit of giving us a few hours of time in the evening to enjoy dinner together, have an adult conversation, and perhaps even watch a movie. Well, it all sounded great in theory but I don't mind admitting that Rob and I were very skeptical when we left the baby clinic. Then my mum arrived and we realised that we were just not trying hard enough. Routine is indeed possible. 

My mum has introduced the concept of routine to Emilia who now naps a good hour in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon and for the last three/four days she has fallen asleep around 7.30-8.00pm and slept tight all the way to 2.30-3.00am and a night even till 5am! Fingers crossed we are on the right track! 

Here are two videos of Emilia after her morning naps. I hope you enjoy them.



 

Thai Street Food

About two years ago I started a craft night series with my girlfriends and two years later we are still going strong. Every month one of us hosts a WI (=women institute) event where the hostess teaches the rest of us something, anything crafty, and provides nibbles and drinks. We always have so much fun and it is so lovely to spend some time with other crafty friends. So far we have learned how to cross-stich, make vanilla essence, jewellery, soaps, cook Japanese dumplings, make vanilla and lavender sugar, decorate Halloween cupcakes, embroidery stitch, decorate cakes, make cake-pops, Italian bread, olive oil body scrub, and paint boxes and frames. Last night we all gathered at our friend Amy's to learn how to cook Thai Street Food. When Amy was in Thailand last year, she attended a Thai cuisine class and last night she shared some of the secrets with us. We loved preparing, cooking and eating all together.

Everything was so good that I thought I would share the recipes with my dear readers. Enjoy!

Thai Fish Cakes

Ingredients

300g fish fillets (i.e. salon, cod, haddock...) - chopped roughly

100g prawns

1 tablespoon red thai curry paste

small bunch of coriander

1 teaspoon salt

100g green beans - chopped finely

2 tablespoon of oil

Method

Put fish, prawns, red thai curry paste, coriander and salt in food processor and blend yo a fine paste, add beans and pulse to mix. Refrigerate for one hour. With greased hand shape a tablespoon of mixture into small patties. Heat oil in frying pan and fry cakes for 10 minutes on each side until golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Makes enough for 4 people.

Thai Spring Rolls

Ingredients

cabbage (1/4) - shredded

glass noodles (a bundle), placed in water to soften

50g mushrooms - finely sliced and chopped

50g carrots - finely sliced and chopped

bunch of coriander

1 clove of garlic - crushed

a pinch of pepper corn - crushed

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons of oil

spring roll pastry sheets

a little egg and flour

Method

Heat oil in frying pan, add garlic, pepper, vegetables and fry gently until veg is a little softer, add glass noodles and remaining ingredients. Lower heat and stir continuously for a few minutes. Place on a plate to cool.

Take the pastry sheets and cut to a triangle, place the point away from you so it presents as a pyramid. Place little veg mix in the middle and tuck the corners in with the point still exposed. Place a dab of egg and flour mix on exposed point and wrap remaining side up to form a spring roll. Heat oil in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes. Makes 15-25 rolls depending on size.

Papaya Salad

Ingredients

1 small papaya - peeled and shredded

1 teaspoon light muscovado sugar

1/4 garlic clove - chopped

1/4 red chilli - chopped

5 French beans - chopped

a few roasted peanuts - chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

4 cherry tomatoes - halved

juice if 1 lime

Method

In pester and mortar or small bowl break down the garlic, chilli, green beans. Add the sugar, peanuts, fish sauce, tomatoes and lime juice. Add papaya and toss. Serves 1.

Buon appetito!

 

Four generations of Italian women

Mum and grandmum are in town which means: I get to sleep seven/eight hours every night, I nap in the afternoon, I am treated with the best dishes at lunch and dinner, I get to enjoy home baked cakes for breakfast and dessert, I can take long showers, the flat is all clean, I don't need to do laundry, wash-up and iron, I have time to browse the Internet, I have booked a manicure and a massage, I will go shopping all day tomorrow, and Rob and I had a date night! 

Life is MUCH easier these days!

Two months of pure joy!

Two months ago at this exact time I was moved from the labour ward to the theatre at St. Thomas' hospital, and the doctors were getting me ready for a C-section. Two hours later, Emilia was born naturally. Today, we celebrate two months of our life with Emilia. Two months of pure joy.

In October we celebrated the first month with grandad Chester and grandmum Joann. Today, we have celebrated the second month with nonna Patrizia and bisnonna Nilde. Like last time we have bought a cake and sang a birthday song to the birthday girl.

Moreover, nonna Patrizia bought a bunch of lovely tulips for the occasion. So much love!