Happy Easter

For Emilia's first Easter we had several plans but in the end we celebrated at home, just the three of us. Originally, we wanted to fly to Pescara and have Emilia baptised on Easter Sunday itself; however, we had some difficulties with the organisation of the trip, finding the church, as well as a restaurant that didn't impose a set menu. So, we decided to postpone the trip and the baptism to the following weekend. Then, we were kindly invited to a Sunday roast at our friends Natalie and Dave's and to watch the Oxford vs Cambridge boat race in Barnes. We were very excited to go but when we woke up this morning, despite a lovely sun in the blue sky, the weather was a bit iffy and the temperatures quite low. We didn't feel to go to the other side of town and risk to get Emilia sick just a few days before our big trip to Italy. Also, we thought it would be wiser to stay home and start packing. In situations like these, I wish we had a car, it would make things much easier!

So, after a nice breakfast, we all dressed up, took some pictures and went out for a quick stroll to the local park and a visit to the church for the Easter blessing. The church was packed and full of babies and kids. It was very nice. 

 

 

 

 

Once back home, we treated Emilia to a yummy lunch and then put her to bed so that we could enjoy our Easter lunch. I dressed the table with pastel colours and Easter goodie bags and worked on the menu. For appetisers I made pastel-coloured deviled eggs, corn bread, and friend mozzarella sticks; the main course was a delicious lasagna that my mum made when she came to visit back in February and that we froze and kept for special occasions. And then, lots of chocolate! 

getting the colours ready for egg-dipping!

 

All in all it was a good family day. I hope you all had a fantastic and joyful Easter!

Hanging Out With Friends

I have mentioned our friends and neighbours Katharina and Elias before in this blog. Today, Katharina, her husband and Elias invited us to their place for a coffee. I had never met her husband before and Rob hadn't met any of them, so it was very nice to spend some time altogether. Katharina made a lovely chocolate and pear cake and we all enjoyed a nice cup of coffee that warmed us up. Sadly, it is still rather chilly in London, there is no real sign of Spring yet! So a warm cup of coffee is exactly what we all needed!

I really enjoy hanging out with Katharina and love seeing the two babies interacting. Elias was born only one week after Emilia, so both mamas and babies have a lot in common. We chatted a lot and played for a while on the floor. It was a lovely way to celebrate Easter Saturday.

 

 

When we got back home I felt full of energy and tried to make cornbread (again!). This was my fourth attempt - for some reasons, in the past I haven't been very successful at this recipe. In the last couple of months I tried three times to make it but it never came out good. In all fairness, I couldn't find the key ingredient (e.g. cornmeal) and had been trying to substitute it with corn flour and polenta flour. Not the same, I learned. But I was able to find semolina flour yesterday at Waitrose and gave it a try. Well, I am happy to say that the cornbread I made tonight is very close to the original I tried at my friend Steph's house a little while ago. Fourth time lucky! 

Family Day Out

It was a sunny day in London today, so we decided to go out, take a stroll, eat some lunch, and do some shopping all together, the three of us. We left the flat around 11.00am and headed to Canary Wharf. We usually try to avoid to take the tube with Emilia, especially on weekends and rush hours, however, I have to say, she quite likes it and is very relaxed. She looks around, in fact, she studies everything and everyone. She is so serious, and yet so funny.

 

 

 

By the time we got to Canary Wharf, which is only four stops from us, Emilia was asleep and slept for quite a while allowing us to have a nice lunch at Carluccio's. The restaurant was packed and there were many babies and kids. The place is, in fact, very kids-friendly, they even give you a children activity pack, which we loved. Emilia, of course, is too little to appreciate the games and the colouring puzzle but I am going to keep everything for her, and one day she will love it. 

Emilia slept throughout our lunch and then when she woke up she explored the new environment. She is such a curious baby. Although, all babies are, I suppose...everything is new and fascinating to them.

After lunch, we strolled around the Canary Wharf shopping centre a bit. Rob bought shorts at the GAP and then we did food shopping for the Easter weekend. We also made a stop at the Sweet Couture stall and bought two Easter cupcakes that we ate immediately with a lovely cup of tea as soon as we got home.

 

It was such a nice day and we ended it with a delicious, home-made, fish dinner: prawn dumplings, New Zealand squid and peas, and lobster tails. I love long, holiday, weekends!

A good investment

When Rob decided to buy the Jumperoo he said: this is going to be a good investment. Emilia will play with it and get lots of stimulation for her brain and activity for her body. What he really meant was that Emilia would spend lots of time in it allowing us to have some free time to do other things. Well done, Rob! Investments are life savers!

 

Playtime

I must admit, I am not a big fan of modern baby toys. To my eyes, there is too much plastic, flashyness and cheesyness. I prefer old style wooden and fabric toys. However, I understand that babies are attracted by all the colours, sounds, and creatures that come with modern toys, and Emilia is no different. Our flat is literally inundated with Emilia's toys, of all kinds. 

Among the more conservative ones, some of my favourites are the wooden toy that Emilia recently received from Lyla and Eden while we were in Baltimore and the multi-fabric cube that Ilaria and Cristian gave her when they came to London a few months ago. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as plastic toys go, nothing is *worse* than the Jumperoo, a "sculpture" made of plastic. However, Emilia loves it. Following the success of the Baby Einstein in the States, Rob decided to buy something similar to have with us at home. We built it yesterday and so far the effects have been great. It stimulates Emilia like nothing else, and tires her out so much that last night she slept for more than twelve hours straight and this afternoon she napped for an hour and a half (her naps usually last no more than thirty minutes).  Viva le Jumperoo!

Solids Update

As you may remember, we started weaning Emilia a bit earlier than usual. In the UK the Government recommends starting weaning when the baby is six months old, however, every baby is different. Emilia was certainly ready for the spoon before she even turned five months old, she just loves sitting in her high chair and being served. Of course, we tried to take one little step at a time and introduced one new food every weak. Two months later, I can say that milk is probably still her favourite meal, and it's good because milk gives her all the nutrients she needs. Apparently, she should have around 600ml of milk per day at this stage but baby Emilia won't be satisfied unless it is at least 700 (make it closer to 900!). She usually has two/three milk feeds and then three meals like big babies: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Her normal schedule is the following:

-wakes up for a milk feed around 6.00am (we would like to push this a bit later but for now we can't complain since she falls back asleep straight away and sleeps for another two hours, usually)

-breakfast around 9.30am. Usually some sort of porridge. She loves the oats, cereals and apple by Heinz and is not very happy with some of the new options I have been suggesting lately. She absolutely hates Organix cereals and banana, for example. 

-fruit snack around 11.15am (around 10-12 spoons of pureed fruit)

-lunch around 1.00pm (this is something I make: a mixture of vegetables, baby rice, olive oil and Parmesan cheese)

-milk feed around 4.00pm

-dinner around 6.30pm (some sort of vegetable mash)

-milk feed around 7.30pm

-in bed by 8.15pm

She is a pretty easy baby when it comes down to food. She likes most of the things I have been given her. Of course, there are some faves and some things that she'd rather not have. These are the foods she has tried so far:

Fruit: Apple, Pear, Bananas, Mango, and Blueberries

Vegetables: Carrots, Courgettes, Celery, Potatoes, Cauliflower, Peas, Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli, Sweetcorn, and Pumpkin

Cheese: Parmesan

Extras: Olive Oil

Tomorrow morning we will be trying something new for breakfast: bananas mixed with organic whole milk yoghurt and organic brown rice. Hopefully, she will like it. Also, I am planning to introduce meat soon, starting with lamb, and would like to add pastina to her veggies for lunch. And finally, we will be starting drinking some water and fruit juices. Our baby is growing fast. Too fast!

Emilia enjoying some blueberries mashed and mixed with bananas and baby rice

Da-da is the word!

When we were in Baltimore, right in the middle of the celebration for Emilia's sixth month birthday, out of the blue, Emilia said *da-da*. No one paid much attention to it but I couldn't help to notice Rob's face, it literally brightened up. I know what he was thinking: "Did I just hear what I think I heard?", "Did she say da-da?", "Is her first word da-da (=daddy!)"? Sadly, that was the first, and last time Emilia spoke, or made any kind of sound faintly close to what can be considered a word. 

Until a couple of days ago. She now screams on a regular basis and does say da-da, or ta-ta, all the time. Although we don't think she associates the word with Rob yet, we still think it's super cute. 

I tried to catch this on camera but she was being a bit shy. Just trust me.

So, da-da is the word...well, kinda! 

Baltimore Unpacked

Today I am home with a bad cold and since my head is so heavy and my brain so slow that I cannot do anything challenging, I have decided to finally unpack the extra bag we had to check in containing all Emilia's gifts and the things I bought while on a shopping spree in Baltimore.

The trip was good on many levels. First of all, Emilia was an absolute angel. Rob and I complain about this poor child too much, I think, but I must admit, she was very very good throughout the trip. The seven hours on the plane went by faster than we anticipated and apart from some grumpiness at take off at Heathrow, she behaved herself. The flight back home was even better as she slept all the way. Too bad mummy and daddy couldn't close their eyes, but that is our problem. Surprisingly, Emilia didn't get jetlagged. I don't know how she does it but both ways she adjusted to the new time zone IMMEDIATELY. One day, she will have to share her secret with me. Also, we subjected her to so many new things, she met loads of new people, went on several car rides and even left her alone for one night (of course with her grandparents though, so she was in good hands!) and she didn't say a thing. No complaints. All in all, she was an absolute delight. 

Ten days went by pretty fast and we had a quite packed schedule. We introduced Emilia to the American side of family and friends, Rob and I spent one day in Washington DC, went out for dinner (compliments of Rob's parents - thank you!), and even attended a wedding. 

 

 

 

The trip to DC was supposed to last two days but we were forced to cut it short due to a snow storm that in the end never arrived. Nonetheless, it was good to be relaxing and wandering around the American capitol. While Rob was in the office, I took the chance to visit a couple of sights I hadn't seen before. First, I made my way to the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress occupies three buildings but I only toured the Thomas Jefferson one. The building is lovely and worth a visit. It is the centerpiece of the library and was opened in 1897. Its artistic decoration, relating to learning, literature, knowledge, creativity, and intellectual achievement, is quite impressive. I really enjoyed walking around the building, I only wished I could spend a couple of ours in the main reading room...next time I'll try to go with a letter from King's and pretend to be doing some research there. 

After visiting the Library of Congress I made my way to the Botanical Gardens. I loved to immerse myself into the diversity of plants and flora from all over the world, from jungle to desert to primeval paradise, the indoor gardens and gallery offered the perfect scenario for an indoor break. And then, I felt so re-energised  that I walked all the way to Georgetown, passing by all the museums forming the Smithsonian, the Monument, and the White House. Once in Georgetown I treated myself to a nice lunch at Dean and De Luca, cupcakes from Sprinkles, and of course some shopping. In fact, the word that summarises this trip the best is shopping. As I said at the beginning of this post we had to check in an extra bag, but it was worth it. Judge it for yourselves...

Emilia's shopping:

Vale's shopping:

Are you watching me?

Now that we are back from the States we have started working on sleep training Emilia again. We were quite successful when we tried a week before going to Baltimore but then we didn't feel to push our luck while in the US. We have tried three nights so far, the first two don't really count because Emilia was exhausted by the time we put her in bed and fell asleep immediately. Last night, however, she was wide awake when we left her in her crib. She cried for five minutes and Rob and I forced ourselves to be very strong and let her cry for a bit. Five minutes went by and the crying stopped; we checked the monitor and Emilia was no longer in a vertical position. She had moved to a quite uncomfortable, horizontal position and kept looking at the camera. So funny! Of course, we know that she was attracted by the little green light on the camera rather than knowing that we were watching her from the other room but she did have that *Are you watching me?* expression on her face that made us laugh. 

Sweet baby, this is for your own good. Sleep tight! 

Gymnastics

This afternoon Emilia has enjoyed exercising in bed. She has done some gymnastics, aerobics, contortions, and yoga. She exhausted herself and is now peacefully sleeping in her crib. 

Now I know what to do when I want her to nap :)