Yes, I can!

Emilia cannot crawl and perhaps she never will. Until a few days ago, she absolutely hated being on her tummy, which means that every time we tried to put her on her tummy to encourage her to crawl, she would scream and cry. Now, things have changed and she even sleeps on her tummy. Weird. However, she is still not capable nor willing to crawl. She can roll, she can go back, a sort of lobster-crawling, but she cannot go forward. I am not really too concerned about this as I know that not every baby crawls; I, for example, never did, according to my parents and went straight to standing and walking. Perhaps, Emilia is taking it after her mummy. Today, however, we had a play date with Emilia's good friend Elias and when they got together, while Emilia was happy to be seated and enjoyed playing with her toys from her position, Elias was all over the place. It took Emilia a few minutes before she realised what was going on but when she did a look of determination appeared on her face, sort of: I can do it too! It was so cute to see her trying so hard to crawl. And she didn't cry or make a fuss about it, she just tried to move, and in the end, she did crawl a bit. This made me realise that Emilia needs to interact more with other babies, from observation, and admiration, come imitation! 

Anyway, these two kids are too cute together. We joke that they are boyfriend and girlfriend, although, now that the royal baby is out, we like to think that Prince George Alexander Louis is Emilia's future husband! :)

 

 

 

 

Just the Three of Us!

Today we took Emilia out for some shopping and she had her first experience at Wagamama, another quick lunch favourite spot. Wagamama is a very baby-friendly restaurant that provides not only an highchair but also a kids menu as well as an entertainment sheet full of activities. Emilia was a bit grumpy, we think because of the two teeth that are finally coming out; however, we still had a happy family out. Just the three of us. 

 

 

 

Work and Fun

Work can be fun, sometimes. Wednesday morning I had to wake up very early (this is not the fun part, of course!) to catch a flight to Amsterdam for a work meeting. The meeting, however, was in Tilburg, about an hour an a half by train from Amsterdam. On the way we saw lots of land and farms, and that's about it! The weather was absolutely lovely, blue sky and warm. It was only a two-day meeting but it was very productive and I am glad I went. 

In Tilburg we stayed in a very sweet hotel, a sort a cottage in the middle of a forest. And we could walk through the forest to reach Tilburg University, where the meeting was being held. Definitely a  change of scenery from the city life in London.

 

It's worldwide known that in Holland, if you are a local, instead of walking, you bike. Look at this bike park, it gives you an idea of how many pedestrians or cars are around in Tilburg!

 And we were lucky to be in town during the biggest fun fair in the whole Country. Needless to say, we had to wander around. It was so much fun! See, academics can have fun too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I got back to London, I rushed home hoping to see Emilia before bed-time. And thankfully, she was still up when I got home. So, I gave her some little things I bought for her, and she loved everything. We played together and then I wished her good-night. It had only been two days but I terribly missed her!

Bittersweet

My mum left and this time she is not coming back. After more than a month with us, she finally went back home. Of course, it was sad to see her go but I was happy for her because she is going to get some much deserved rest now that she is home. Needless to say, we will miss her terribly and she will miss us, mostly Emilia, terribly but thankfully we are going to Pescara in just three weeks and then we will all be together again. 

My mum left our flat at 1.35pm and thankfully we were invited to a bbq at Steph and Andrew's which helped us face the solitude and emptiness left by my mum. So, we packed our things, took a taxi, and headed to the West End. The weather was once again great in London and we had an amazing time playing with the kids, eating a feast, and enjoying the sunshine. Emilia was very calm and relaxed too which helped us enjoy the afternoon with our friends. She wasn't a fan of the slide but otherwise she was pretty content.We need more of these gatherings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Old is Fun!

Today I turn 34 years old. No matter how old you are, it's impossible not to enjoy all the attention, the celebration, the calls, the texts, the Facebook messages, the photos, the wishes from all over the world. Today I received about 100 messages of birthday wishes, some really touched me and made my day: an old friend from university reached out to wish me a happy birthday and described me as one of the most spectacular people he had ever met, now, that is a birthday message! Another friend called me "princess", well, I kind of felt like a princess today, I definitely felt all the love from all the people I love. Thank you ever so much. And since some of you have asked how I celebrated this birthday, here is the story. 

Rob and I had a celebratory lunch at the new restaurant on the ever so cool Shard, Oblix.The place is so popular and in demand at the moment that the only available slot we could find for the entire week for Monday at 1.30pm. The food was amazing but what makes the place cool is by far the spectacular views over the city. London is gorgeous from the 32nd floor! To welcome us at the entrance were beautiful flower arrangements that reminded me a lot of our wedding flower arrangements, a lovely touch. Rob and I both had grilled tiger prawns and they were the biggest prawns we had ever seen, in fact, for a minute, we thought we were being served lobster by mistake! I also had a Martini Americano that went straight to my head! I am not really used to drinking cocktails at lunch but I thought I had to have one on my birthday...I think it will have to be another year before I'll have something this strong in the middle of the day!

 

 

Another cool aspect of the restaurant is the open kitchen where several chefs are frenetically working as busy bees to make their clients happy. And I enjoyed looking at them.

 

 

 

Overall, it was a lovely way to kick off the birthday celebration. 

On the actual day of my birthday, today, I didn't do much but I really enjoyed the company of my family. Rob joined me for lunch near my office and my mum, Rob and I had a lovely Mexican dinner cooked by Rob tonight. For the first time after a month, this morning I held Emilia in my arms and it felt so good. I still need to be careful lifting things, especially heavy little humans that like to kick! But I had to pick her up today. It was the best gift I could have asked for. And speaking of gifts, thanks ever so much for the cards and the presents. Even Emilia came to my bed this morning with a card and a nice bunch of pink flowers - the girl has got some good taste! :)

 

 

It's almost midnight, my birthday is almost over. Some people don't enjoy celebrations but I do. I have celebrated every single year of my life, sometimes with big parties, other times with more intimate affairs. But as long as I'll live, I am sure I'll be getting excited about my big day, the cards, the presents, the attention, the love, and the candles on the cake. Getting old is fun!

Fun Under the Sun!

As the nice weather keeps rolling in London, we are trying to spend as much time as possible outside - before you know it, it will be rainy, cold and grey again! So today we walked to one of our favourite lunch spots in the area, the one and only Nando's (yes, you heard it right!), enjoyed a delicious meal while Emilia played with her colourful cubes, and then crossed the Millenium Bridge to do some shopping at the One Change Mall to take advantage of the sales - I left with two sweet stripey dresses!

Emilia loved Nandos and had a great time wandering around the Southbank, where we were constantly entertained by musicians and street artists. By far my favourite gig was two guys from Moldova playing the accordion and percussion; their music was so genuine, authentic and fun that I could have stayed there to listen to them, clap my hands, and dance for the entire day. 

There was such a cool energy around today. Again, I love you London!

 

 

 

She is back!

My mum is back with us and we couldn't be happier and more grateful! 

This is the third time she has flown to London over the last month. First, she came at the beginning of June to help Rob with Emilia while I was in Barcelona for work, then again in mid June to be with us during and after my surgery, and now to help us once again since I am still recovering from the surgery. I feel for her, her job is quite challenging and she usually looks forward to the Summer break to rest a little. Now she hasn't had a break since her school closed for the Summer and won't be having much of a holiday this Summer because of us. But this is what mothers do, right? At least this is what special mothers do and I couldn't be more grateful. 

As tradition now, she has brought some fresh fruit from the garden, this time we introduced Emilia to figs. Oh, I LOVE figs, I can eat so many of those delicious green things and today I literally attacked the fruit bowl. You know you are getting old when you eat a fig and immediately go down to memory lane - I could even see my parents' garden and smell the flowers and hear the cats! Anyway, Emilia was very intrigued by this new fruit, she especially liked the consistency and how sticky the inside bit is. She also seemed to like the taste - like mother, like daughter. Although, Rob loves figs too, so it must be something that runs in the family. 

 

 

 

 

 

To celebrate the arrival of nonna Patrizia we went to the park and spent the whole afternoon there. The weather was once again glorious and we had a very relaxing and fun time. Emilia played with her favourite toys and found a new accessorize, grandmum's gigantic sunglasses! I love London even more when it's sunny and we have family around.