end of the sweden trip

near the end of our trip we went out to see davids family warehouse of antiques, as that is the family biz .. it was pretty cool.. there is so much stuff there and a ton of rooms just packed to the gills with furniture. Of course as the trip went on Liadan warmed up to David and Lulu.. particularly Lulu, andrew and i went to the store to get some groceries and left Liadan with them and when we came back she was asleep on Lulu.. how peaceful do they look...

another sweden town

another day we went out to this island here is us in one of the streets. On the island there was a castle/ look out post huge fortress thing that we checked out .. where you can see David and Lulu looking hilarious and here is a view from the island about halfway up.

they play this game called kub? i am not sure of the spelling.. you have teams and you set up wooden pegs on each end and with some other sticks you knock down the other teams standing pegs. there are a couple other rules but you get the gist. Here is a pic of us playing kub outside this fortress.

Another Place in Sweden

Another day we went to this seaside town that had the coolest summer homes on the water as you can see. Then on the other side of this little harbour were these rocks that we walked across to get closer to the sea for a little picnic and swim. We had Liadan in the backpack, how cute does she look peering out of the shady tent i made her.

Sweden Brekkie and the Cabin

Some Sweden highlights were breakfast in the morning which is this huge array of yummy things to eat like pate, bread, cheese, this prawn mayo spread, jam, yogurt, fruit, cold meats and eggs.Here is a pic of Liadan getting in on the action she didn't notice for the longest time we had put the banana sticker on her forehead.. the little cutie

This is a pic of Lulu's sister's and husbands cabin where we went for a couple nights.. here you can see us setting up our breakfast spread outside. It was a great place, quiet and peaceful. The weather was still great but it was a little chilly at night.. here is the two of us bundled up and strapped to each other and then a little later i turned her around for a better view - i think this picture is hilarious because liadans elbows make it look like i have huge saggy tits and that her head just comes out of my chest .. heehee...

In June we all went to Gothenburg Sweden to visit with some friends of Andrews that he met while treking around Nepal.

Their names are David and Lulu and here they are on one of the first days we were there at one of their sunning spots, heres me and Li while i keep her out of the sun.

I feel bad it's been so long now that we were on the trip i don't remember all the the things we did and the places we went but David and Lulu took us everywhere.. to a ton of different places to enjoy the amazing hot weather and we met all their families.

So I have gone through all our pics and i'll just give a short recap of some of what we did.. but there will not be too many details, sorry

Sex and City at the everyman

Though I do quite like being a hermit with my little one I thought it would be nice to venture out into the world a little.. so with the release of the Sex and the City movie I though I would go to one of the mommy screenings at a cinema called the Everyman.

This cinema is in Hamstead and is one with big comfy couches and chairs and little tables so it would be more roomy. Since I was taking the outing I thought I would ask a friend of Andrews wife who had a little girl 3 months after us if she wanted to go and as it turned out she was already going to go to the same screening but with a whole pile of other mums she met from a baby massage class she took .. so I tagged along with all of them. It was really good to get out and it was crazy babies galore but liadan was really good and although the movie was pretty sub par but it was a really good day out.

First time in the Walker

So as mentioned before I got Liadan a walker so she could move around a little more independently and not totally ruin our backs while she figured out how to walk on her own. I’m so glad that these things are not banned here in England cause they are banned in North America and she has a pretty good time banging into all our furniture and trying to get as close the tv as she can. So here is some footage of her in the walker for the first time.. of course now she is a little more speedy about it and that will be posted soon

Walking with Daddy

Liadan thought why stop at rolling she has decided to get a head start on the whole walking thing. She loves holding onto Andrew fingers and walking around take a look for yourself… I have been looking on Ebay so we can get her a walker..which we now have and there will be footage to show this soon too.

Roast with Chris’s mom

Early that same mat playing day we went to the Lord Stanley for a roast with Chris and his mom, beau and ryan, Neil and Isabell. Good eats for all.. same curt service. Here is a pic of that day and note this is the first day that Liadan ever wore a dress.

Also I know I am once again really far behind on the blog so I’m going to try and blast out new entries for the next couple weeks ..so stay tuned lots to come

Mat Playing

Liadan was playing on her play mat today and she was getting into all the different sounds and things it does more than she usually does, what was so cute was her figuring out that she could actually turn the lights on for the flowers anyways you can see for yourself it’s a little slow of course because as soon as I get the camera out she decides to do something else. Then later she was sitting there and pulled herself up to standing on the arm things of the mat.. but they are not meant for that so it’s not easy going. But here is a little clip of her on the mat

Update from Andrew - The Golden Compass

So, last year I worked on The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of the first book in Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy.
While the movie itself didn't raise too many eyebrows, it did manage to win the BAFTA and the Oscar for the Outsatnding Visual Effects.
Here's a quick taste of my work and a picture of the animation team with our two gongs. video coming soon

Visit from Mark Lack

Our buddy Mark Lack recently moved from Cambridge to Bromley so he came up to see us for a visit a few weekends ago. We just hung out.. then went up to the Lansdowne in Primrose to sit on the sidewalk for a drink.. and then we came back down to our local the Victoria for another. Liadan warmed up to Mark later in the day and she roped in herself another fan. Here is a picture of us outside the Victoria that Mark took on his cell.

Rolling both ways

For the longest time Liadan would only roll from her stomach onto her back but today April 24^th she did it, rolled from her back onto her stomach. I caught it on camera it’s not as good as the first one I caught but you can still see it.

Spinach!

So the eating continues we caught her making some more funny faces when she tried spinach for the first time… hope you enjoy it! Since the last list of food we have now tasted apricot, beetroot, artichoke, coquina, watermelon, potato, sweetcorn, cucumber, cantaloupe, guava, pomegranate, plum, galia, yogurt, blueberries, and salmon.

Cutting Her first tooth

Andrew noticed one day while Liadan was chomping on his thumb that there was something a little sharp on her gums. Upon closer inspection we could see that there was a little tooth cutting through. Close on its heels was the second tooth and they are both in pretty good now... check it out. She has been getting a little more grumpy and whinny but so far she has been handling the task of growing teeth quite well.

Our little princess

What fun are kids if you can’t dress them up and have a good laugh. I bought this hat for Liadan .. I love it and after I put it on her it looked like a crown. On another day seeing her sitting in her Bumbo it looked like a thrown .. so I put the crown hat on and wrapped her fleece blanket around her shoulders..to keep the cape on I used a sweater clasp thing I had and I gave her a flag from a soft wheelie toy of her for the scepter. Here is our little Princess Liadan!

First Bath – in the kitchen sink

Liadan of course has had baths before but I do admit not as many as she probably should have we got into doing the whole sponge bath thing. Drawing a bath just seems to take so long and then Andrew has to sit in a lukewarm bath with her since it can’t be too hot so I have taken to bathing her in the kitchen sink which I think is more scenic for Liadan as it’s next to the window and easier on my back. She seems pretty indifferent to the whole event which I guess is a good thing and it takes up a good chunk of our day. Here is a picture of her in her first sink bath.

6 months

Liadan was 6 months old on April 10^th I can’t believe how quickly this time has gone. She is so precious we love her so much our little cutie. And a couple days later

As well a friend that I originally met in Toronto, Alex was in town for just a day on her way to Scotland for a visit so she came over and we went for breakfast and a catch up. I also found out it was her birthday that day too so Happy Birthday again Alex and I hope you had a great time up north.

Here is a pic of the little one and Dad chill'n out in the evening sun

My birthday

I turned 31 ..doesn’t feel too different. In the morning Andrew and I went to the Engineer pub up in Primrose for an eggs benny breakfast, came home for some tea and cheesecake (the second best cheese cake I have ever had from Morgan and Melrose also in Primrose) and then he headed off to work. Liadan and I spent the day as usual playing, napping and watching tv. Then that evening our friends Beau and Ryan came home with Chris and Andrew and treated us to dinner of steak pie while we watched America’s Next Top Model. All in all a good birthday for me.

I can't believe Mom is 31.. holy moly

Snow Day

April 6^th…ah spring.. it dumped in the morning so that when we all woke up it was a white wonderland outside. Here is a pic. It was all gone and a beautiful sunny day by the afternoon.

Visit to my old neighborhood

A few Sundays ago we took Chris our flatmate to Ealing where I used to live last time in London for a roast at the Red Lion Pub which I used to live above as well as it being the work local. It was a really good feed and Liadan was very well behaved. After we went for a little walk around the city centre and then headed home..

That was a really boring entry .. sorry…to make up so me pics

It was the first time we actually dressed Liadan in clothes I usually can’t be bothered and we go out in the usual baby onesie attire but this day she wore trousers and a hoodie - here is a pic of me breastfeeding while I enjoyed my half Guinness, Liadan licking my cup and one with her with her Daddy.

Solids

So when Liadans weight was slipping a bit I though perhaps its time to start weaning her onto solids and after our first attempt at it I could tell it was a good idea because she literally ate it up. She loved it moth open and couldn’t wait for me. Mashing food became a new added pass time for me and so far we have indulged in the follow baby rice, apple, banana, pear, mango, papaya, avocado, courgette (zucchini), butternut squash, broccoli, sweet potato and I think that is it for now. April 17^th enter swede. April 19 now spinach and basil April 20 peas.

Here is a little clip of her eating apple for the first time.

Good Sunday – at the Lansdowne

We ventured up the road into Primrose to have lunch at the Lansdowne a number of Sundays ago with Chris our flatmate. It was packed and there were at least three other strollers too. The boys shared a roast chicken with all the fixings and I had fish and soup. It was all yum and little Liadan slept the whole time in the stroller. It was a lovely warm sunny day so we went for a walk and the sit and relax in the sun in our living room. A good Sunday.

And here is a random pic of the baby

Health update

Liadan has had all her shots now until she is a year old and her weight had dipped down but is now maintaining its steady rise, at last weight in she was 6.9kgs. I also went and got her weight today and now she is 7.22kgs She is also sitting up more on her own as you can see in this cutie pic.

relaxing and max’n and rolling

so since we have been back in London we have not really been doing much but hanging out at home playing and napping. Liadan still sleeps with us we have been a little unwilling to sacrifice our own sleep to get her into the cot and during the day I love every minute of having her sleep on my chest. We get out at least once a day to get groceries or go for a walk in the park.

Liadan was slowly figuring out how to roll from her stomach to her back check it out..the funny thing is she did it a bunch for a few days but since has stopped. It was like she proved she could do it to herself and has been there done that, next.