For the rest of you

My dad is in town. He arrived last Monday and will be staying until the 30th. The official reason for his visit is that Rob is in New York for work and he didn't want us to be alone, so he is keeping us company and is helping me out with Emilia. It is so much easier to have another set of hands and eyes around! Emilia needs so much attention these days and it can be exhausting to take care of her, the house, work, as well as myself all alone. So, thanks very much, dad, we appreciate your help! 

And Emilia is loving having her nonno around. In fact, I think her favourite word of the moment is nonno. She keeps saying it and smiles every time she does it. She is too cute and of course my dad melts every time he hears that magic word. At the same time, my dad is aware of how lucky he is to be spending some quality time with his beloved granddaughter. So, he has been taking pictures and videos for the rest of you, to give you a glimpse of how he is spending his days with baby Emilia. 

And when I say baby, I really should say toddler. She is such a big girl now and she knows she is getting bigger and bigger and wants to try new things on a daily basis. One of her favourite new adventures is to sit on the high stools in the kitchen. She loves it and you must remember not to try to help her out, she can do it on her on!

It's small things like these that make all of us happy and excited to be around her. Daily activities with Emilia become part of the things to look forward to in a day. On Tuesday, for example, my dad and I bathed Emilia and we all had a lot of fun. She is adorable while she plays in her inflatable duck and is too cute when she tries to dry and brush her hair. 

 

 

And in general, we have so much fun playing with her, just listening to her attempting to say new words and that smile, oh, I could look at her smiling every second. 

 

 

Certainly, the highlight of the week was the classical concert we attended on Wednesday. As usual, I found it emotional to share such beautiful moments with my little one. The church was full of babies and toddlers and they all enjoyed the sound of the piano and the cello. Some babies were just a few days old!

 

 

 

While the classical music was very relaxing, it's the last part of the concert that really got the kids singing and dancing. All the classic baby rhymes were played and we all sang along. Join us here in Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

Sing and Sign

This morning we took Emilia to her Sing and Sign class again. This time I tried to focus a bit less on the singing and dancing and a bit more on taking pictures and videos. I still found it challenging and the moment I took my phone out I had an invasion of babies all around me. It was reassuring to see that all babies, not just Emilia, are obsessed with mobile phones though! So, even if they are not great, these pictures and the short video should give you an idea of how we spend our Saturday  mornings. Fun, right?

The class overran a little and interfered with Emilia's lunch time. Thankfully we had Ponkey and lots of biscuits to keep Emilia happy on the walk home! 

Bach to Baby

This morning I took Emilia to her first concert and she loved it! A couple of weeks ago my friend Katharina asked me if we wanted to join her and baby Elias to a classical concert in Bermondsey street, just a few blocks from where we live. She gave me the details of the organisation, Bach to Baby, and I immediately checked their website and thought it was a wonderful idea. So this morning Katharina and I and another local mama, Katie, met downstairs at 9.30 and headed to St. Mary Magdalen church.

Bach to Baby is an innovative classical concert series for babies and their parents to enjoy together. Of course, with babies, you never know whether  they are going to behave or not but let me tell you you couldn't hear a fly this morning in the church. There were approximately 30-40 babies in the audience, ranging from the age of one month to two years, I'd say, and they were all hypnotised by the beauty of the piano! All the adults, mostly mums, grandmums and a couple of dads seemed to enjoy it too. I just loved looking at all these babies discovering the world and the magic of music. It was emotional, I must confess. I know already I will be one of those mums who cries at every big (or small!) event of their baby's life! 

I tried to take a video but it was not at all easy to do it while holding Emilia. So, apologies if you  don't actually see much of us...

P.S. A professional photographer took some nice pictures. I'll add them here as soon as she will send them to me.

Jubilee Weekend

It's a very long weekend here in the UK. Thanks to the Diamond Jubilee we have Monday and Tuesday off and the whole Country has been in celebratory mood since Friday evening. God save the queen! 

Last night Rob and I started the celebration with the Coldplay concert at Emirates stadium. We bought tickets a very long time ago, way before I got pregnant, and even if I was very excited to go, I was a bit concerned about the thousands of people walking to and from the stadium. Nevertheless, we decided to go. We saw on the Coldplay website that they would start playing at 8.45pm, so around 6.30 we left the flat and slowly made our way to Arsenal. 

Once we got there I spotted at least two or three other bumps and the girl queuing in front of us was pregnant too and due in just two weeks. Well, this is what I call a brave mother! She gave me the courage to go to the women's volleyball semifinals at the Olympics in mid August, for which we have tickets (I am due on August 29th...we will see...!). The concert was ok but definitely not Coldplay's best show; however we enjoyed it and I loved the glowing wristbands that they handed at the entrance. 

Today was the big Jubilee pageant, the highlight of the Jubilee festivities. A thousand of boats and vessels sailed through the Thames from Wandsworth Bridge to the Tower Bridge for the grand finale, right where we live. We hosted a little afternoon tea party with our friend Amy and her parents and I got very patriotic with the decoration of the table and the cake. 

We watched the whole parade on the telly for over three hours and from time to time we went out on the balcony to look around. 

Despite the horrible weather there were people celebrating out on the balconies and waving their flags. It was a great day to be in London, something to tell Baby O one day...

Wicked

Yesterday evening Rob and I headed to the Apollo Victoria theatre to see the musical Wicked. As I mentioned before, this was one of my gifts for Rob's birthday this year, and I knew he would love it.

We hadn't been out on a Saturday evening for quite some time, so we dressed up a bit for the occasion. Here are two pictures of me and the bump. Thankfully, I managed to fit into one of my dresses. I still haven't bought proper maternity clothes and am trying to use my own as much as I can. Of course, I will need to buy some maternity clothes soon as the bump is getting every day bigger and bigger.

At the theatre we bought a bucket of sweets for a craving mum-to-be and then headed to our seats, which were in a quite good position, in the stalls, right in front of the stage. Overall the musical was very nice and powerful and we enjoyed it. I can't say it's the best musical I have ever seen but it's definitely worth a visit. Baby O seemed to love it as she literally went crazy kicking all the time. This was a good test as we have a Coldplay concert in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure she can take the loud music! Of course there will be thousands of people at the concert and the music will be much louder, but if she is truly our daughter she will just love it! 

Also, Rob got another gift in the mail yesterday. It's a book he wanted to read but he had not bought it yet. I was quicker than him and ordered it for his birthday. It's the Commando Dad book. When he mentioned that he wanted to read this book I melted, I thought it was very sweet of him and I know how much it means to him to be a good father. I have no doubt he will and am sure this book will just give him the confidence he needs :) Of course, I am going to read it too, I too need to know how to survive the first 24 hours!!

I Have Zero Talent

Tonight I spent the evening with my very good friend Elena and had a super lovely time. We started off with a very good meal at Olives and then headed to the Royal Albert Hall to see Totem, produced by Cirque Du Soleil. This was my first time at the Royal Albert Hall (I know, I have been living in London for 6 years! But there are so many things to do here!) and the first time experiencing Cique Du Soleil. Both impressed me equally. The Hall is simply a fascinating building, it reminded me of a beautiful Opera Theatre in my hometown I used to go to when I was little; Totem on the other hand is a very pleasant show, time just flew. The music was just amazing and so was the whole scenography. The gymnasts in particular were very talented and really impressed me. 

After seeing so much talent, I had to wonder...where is my talent? I can't sing, I can't professionally dance, I definitely have no physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, balance and all the things that a gymnast masters so easily! So, what can I do? 

I'll have to think about this properly and make a list of my strengths in order to start doing something meaningful with my life. Right now, I don't mind saying it, I feel a bit useless and talentless!