London Living

I think Dougal and Jamie were quite surprised upon entering our London flat. Living in NZ you get used to larger homes, and after 5 years I had forgotten how different London living is. We live in one of 4 flats, and upon entering the front door Dougal commented looking up the communal stairs "Is that yours too?". Umm no, we are one bedroom, one bathroom, a lounge and a small narrow kitchen, that's it - no upstairs & no downstairs. When looking for the laundry they were directed back to the kitchen where the washer-drier is located under the kitchen counter beside the sink. The small fridge (also under the kitchen counter) has food and beverages competing for the small space. In summer beverages often win out with the majority of food being pushed out to the 'pantry' - the cupboard above the sink.

We are lucky that our downstairs neighbours are away in the States at the moment and have been kind enough to give us keys and access to their flat. Thus the boys are camped out below, then come up the back door via the garden for dinner and showers. This makes it possible to have us all staying at Turtle House.

Latest photos

First photo: Alexa showing off her neck strength


Below: Dougal, Jamie and Alexa with Tower Bridge in background.

Three Henderson's in London

On Thursday Alexa was bundled into our little red car and we headed out to Heathrow to pick up her uncle's Dougal & Jamie. For them it's the first time to meet their niece, and first time in the UK. Alexa took to them instantly and has spent the last couple of days staring intently, they in turn are pretty taken with her and eager to cuddle and play with her. Not so keen to step up to the changing of the nappy though! They arrived bearing many many gifts from home - this included the obligatory NZ food (chocolate & licorice) as well as some wonderful gifts for Alexa, including a home made doll from Robyn & Natalie, children's CDs and workbook from Helen and also a few treasures for David and I.

Friday we headed to David's and my favourite London spot - Borough Markets located under London Bridge. Starting there with a Monmouth coffee we wandered east along the south side of the river to Tower Bridge, crossing the bridge and then back and crossing London Bridge stopping many times to explore local sights. We were lucky to see Tower Bridge lifting as an old barge motored past. Then I headed home while boys kept walking further west along the river to Westminster & Big Ben.

Meanwhile Alexa has had a busy week. She had a growth spurt early on and began waking twice nightly for feeds at 2 and then 5. This lasted a few days before settling back to the once nightly feed. She is becoming more active and robust each day now. David and I have been enjoying lifting her above our head to delighted smiles and she also loves simple songs and actions. Some of these have been learned at baby yoga, others from my childhood. The CD's from Helen will expand my repertoire and we can enjoying making up different movements and games. Yesterday she surprised us by rolling from her front to her back. This seemed to be a bit of a fluke as she wouldn't repeat it despite encouragement from David and I. However I can see that it won't be long before she becomes more difficult to change - and dangerous to leave her unattended on couch or changing mat (which sits on the table).

She has just reached 17 weeks - which according to local advice is the earliest time I can start feeding her solids. I have not yet, and so far there doesn't seem to be any need to. I will wait until she appears more interested in food, and also when milk doesn't seem to be enough.

Having problems posting photos - they will come later.

Doing the Boogey

Alexa & Mum

Loyal Rufus

Rufus has been mentioned in a previous post. He is Alexa's favourite toy at the moment and she loves cuddling (see left) and, well as you can see below, eating him! He often ends up with a soggy nose, having been dribbled on and attempts at chewing him. Still he remains forever loyal and keeps coming back for more.

Real nappies

This week all the bits & pieces finally arrived for the reusable nappies. This is now day 3 of reusables and I'm finding it very easy and not too much washing (the nappies can be washed with the rest of the washing). With the sunny weather it is easy to hang the nappies out to dry in the sun which bleaches off any marks that escaped the liner. The nappies are prefolded and either have plastic domes to fasten, or a nappy nippa which has plastic teeth that grip the nappy and keep it in place. All I have to do is add a liner to them and then once on cover them with a wrap which fits snuggly around waist and legs to ensure nothing nasty escapes. So far all has gone well, the only adjustment is that they are much bulkier than disposables. So she now has a very large ass! This may hamper her efforts at rolling over, but I figure will be good ballast when she starts sitting.

Lately she has become slightly more vocal making funny humming sounds while producing copious amounts of bubbles. I have taken to putting a bib on her as she produces so much slobber that her tshirts get very wet. She's also starting to be more active by lifting her legs and feet into the air - this is the beginning of the roll as it won't take much if her legs fall to one side for her to roll over. The aforementioned heavy bottom being the only thing that may weigh her down.

The little red car is fantastic and Alexa has been very good to date, content to play or sleep in her car seat while I navigate the busy streets of London in what seems to be constant congestion. I have adjusted surprisingly well to life at home. I do find however that I go a bit stir crazy if I don't meet up with adults for a chat every couple of days and I am always keen to hear what has been going on at work. I have a good network of local Clapham mums that I go for walks or have coffee with but I most enjoy meeting up with my 'old' friends and chatting about goings on. I loved attending the Ladies Bookclub on Wed at Christine's, and seeing Rachael & Nat on Friday for lunch.

Sweet Pea

When John & Anne were over in April they spent a day helping in our garden. This work, plus all the hours David has spent improving the garden has paid off as it looks fantastic! We have 3 lovely bushes of roses - red, cream and purple in full bloom, plus assorted other plants I can't name. The parsley & mint are growing well and are very leafy - they make a great accompaniment to the Pimms & Lemonade. Today I have taken this shot of our first sweet pea. The tallest is almost at the top of the netting and it looks like there are quite a few buds so plenty of flowers to come. Just lucky that I get to spend so much time making the most of it.

Sitting under the apple tree

It has been a very hot week in London this week. So every day I lay out the polar fleece rug under our apple tree and after her nap Alexa and I lie in the shade (ahh it's a tough life!). As mentioned previously Alexa loves looking up at the leaves and is quite happy to kick on her back gazing intently at the leaves. Here she is caught gazing with much thought, then in a later shot she spotted me surrupticiously photographing her. Yes she is wearing a "Mind the gap" T-shirt!

Playing with her new toy

We have decided that Alexa needs some new toys, so Sunday we visited Lilliput. We were hoping to find a ball for her (David suggested a tennis racket & golf club too) but were unable to find one suitable. So we settled on this bizarre item. It is perfect for her at the moment as she can hook her fingers around the cloth and is able to hold it briefly. Later on she will be able to squeeze the stars and make them squeak. Here she is giving her new toy her full attention! Please note the girly skirt she is wearing - although she hasn't yet learned that grabbing it with her hands and pulling it up to her head is not ladylike.

Smiling at Dad

We haven't uploaded photos recently so here is an older one of Alexa & I in Kent at end of May. A particularly nice smile from Alexa.

A new mode of transport

We have a shiny red car! Yes that's right. Thanks to Kirsty, who is working for the British Car Show, we have the lease for 6 months of a brand new Peugeot 1007. It's a red 2 door city car with 4 seats, the smallest back seat I've seen and novelty electric windows that slide back at the touch of a button. We've yet to take her out for a spin as we are waiting on a car seat, but will be very pleased this summer to have this new form of transport.

Meanwhile in Alexa's world she is pretty focused on two things at the moment - training Mum & Dad to pick her up when she is supposed to be going down for a sleep, and sucking/chewing to ease pressure from her gums. Both of which she gets plenty of practice at. David and I as new parents are still working at our technique - do we put her down and leave her to cry, do we go in as soon as she cries, or do we go in at intermittant intervals. Everyone we talk to has different thoughts, but all agree that at some point she has to learn to go to sleep by herself. unfortunately the process for her to learn this is painful - for her and us!

Dougal, who originally was due into London early June, has changed flights and is now coming over mid June. The great news is that Jamie, my other brother, has also decided to come for a visit. So very shortly both will be over saying Hello to London for the first time and meeting their little neice. We are all very excited by this, and just hope London does us proud by turning a corner and allowing summer to arrive.