Carrots extravaganza

After a couple of weeks of being awakened at 3am and 5am, we put two and two together and realized that Evie was hungry. So this week we started giving her a little rice cereal in her bottle and TODAY she had her first carrot puree. At first she didn't know what to think:

Or how to deal with the spoon:

But in the end she was really happy (and covered in carrot):


I think it must be very fun to have Jim as a Dad.

Our new neighbors!

Back before Evie was born, Jackie and Piotrek came to visit and we joked about how they should quit their jobs in Manchester and move to London. That isn't exactly how it happened, but now Jackie is working with Jim and they ARE moving to London. We are excited! On Saturday, we met them for dinner, during which an episode straight out of COPS happened right next to our table. Short version: Two grown women were dressed in hooker fairy costumes (they were hosting a fairy-themed birthday party for one of their daughters). For some reason that we never figured out, they were stopped by the police, at which point the fluorescent yellow fairy mom with fishnets and no panties started screaming obscenities, talking about how she was dying of lupus and the police were going to hell and then, in her six inch heels, ran off into traffic and down the street with a shortish cop chasing behind her. We were amazed at how fast she was, despite the heels, skimpy outfit and fairy wings. What drama! If I could have done it tactfully, I would have taken a picture of the slutty fairies, but a passer-by almost was beaten up by the boyfriend of one of them after doing just that (very obviously...not a smooth move), so I decided to keep my camera in my purse.

After our peaceful dinner, we wandered into the park, where a funfair was taking place (that explained the rough crowd in fairy costumes). Evie liked all the lights!


What a bizarre evening. Jackie said that she felt like she was in the twilight zone. It was fun anyway!

Country Walk!!!!

After over a year of not going for a country walk for various perfectly logical reasons (too sick with morning sickness, too pregnant, too overwhelmed by parenthood, bad weather)we rounded up Aurelie, packed up Evie and all that she needs and headed to the village of Guildford, where we embarked on our first 'family' country walk.

Evie was more interested in looking out of the train window than she was of hearing about the historic castle, WWII pill boxes and churches along the walk (she takes after her mama!)


Then she went to sleep (she takes after her Dad, too!)


Guildford near the train station is not the prettiest place, but it definitely got better!


Our first stop was just a few minutes into the walk at what Jim termed a Norman "Starbucks" castle. Apparently they were trying to take over as much territory as possible, so they built a bunch of castles, quick and dirty-like.


Evie was PSYCHED to be in a Norman castle.


After climbing a narrow spiral staircase, we reached the roof, where the number of people far exceeded the 12 person limit AND we were caged in...so we didn't stay up there very long.


It was a warm and sunny spring day yesterday, which we all really enjoyed.

Carrying a fifteen pound baby for seven miles is not an easy task, so we stopped frequently so that she and we could rest.

Evie took every opportunity to practice rolling over.


She also had no qualms about when and where she HAD to eat. Here she enjoyed a tasty bottle next to a huge pile of horse poop and alongside a pasture. There was no waiting!


Ferns provide a good diversion during brief meltdowns.


Just after we said how glad we were that there weren't lots of stiles to climb over, we came upon an abundance of stiles. Evie slept through all of them, but I didn't!


Aurelie insisted that we have a family picture, after which the camera died. The rest of the pictures in this blog were taken with my Iphone. The quality is pretty good!


We stopped for lunch at a pub called The White Horse in a very cute little village called Shere. The pub claimed to be haunted by a ghost of a little girl named Emma, who's body was found in the chimney during a refurb project in 1950. Evie did NOT like the pub at all, which we attributed to the ghost. She also is, I discovered while changing her diaper in the pub bathroom, terrified of automatic hand dryers. So Jim and I took turns walking around outside with her, where she happily looked at the trees and bushes. As soon as she came inside the pub, she started wailing...maybe she could see something we couldn't see? Here she is with Jim in front of the haunted pub.


It was necessary to 'ford' a small river to get through the town (pedestrian bridges were provided), so Jim decided to wade right in with Evie. Evie's reaction to having her toes dipped into a cold stream was to squeal in a way which made it very clear that if Jim did it again she would do more than just squeal. So Jim didn't do it again.


The train ride home was uneventful, although we did manage to randomly sit next to two French guys, which caused Aurelie to roll her eyes. She confirmed that they were talking about girls, their studies and what they were doing for the weekend. They also were talking about how they wished they had some cookies (when they saw Aurelie and Jim eating some), so Aurelie offered them some as well. They still didn't catch on that she was French.


It was great to be out walking again and Evie seemed to enjoy her first country walk. Hopefully we'll do it again soon!