anniversaire

....mercredi 30 Novembre....Demain le 1er Dec. Paul et moi celebrons notre 3eme Anniversaire!!! Qui aurait cru, il y a 3 ans, qu'un petit wisti(ti) naitrait 3 ans plus tard!!! - Puis demain, on va vacciner notre petit amour!!...j'ai la trouille! Mais apres maintes reflexions on a decide que c'etait mieux ainsi..dure choix...(tout cela sera soutenu avec des remedes homeopatiques ainsi que du reiki...ainsi que beaucoup d'amour).

Elias maintenant met tout ce qu'il a en main dans la bouche!!!...Puis il passe pas mal de temps a quatre pattes!! dans son baby gym ou simplement sur sa couverture a decouvrire ses dessins, ses jouets ou simplement a regarder/decouvrir son monde alentours. On joue beaucoup ensemble et il rigole comme un petit fou! -- L'heure du coucher n'est pas triste par contre et la on rigole moins! ...Il y a beaucoup de pleure avant de dormir! j'en pleure presque aussi! et espere que bientot ca va changer et que mon petit amour va s'endormir plus en douceur...

ah et, hier on a eu la visite de Michele qui attend un petit bb pour le mois de mai 06.

s

Take with one hand. Give with the other.

The last two nights, for the first time(s) ever (except in Switzerland), Elias woke up only once. Wow. It was such a good sleep that I woke up, well, tired!

Then tonight he woke within one hour of going to sleep and has just woken again.

This pic: Switzerland last week.

aaaaah..la Suisse

Nous voila de retour! Quel voyage! Quelle experience! Les taxis/avions/trains/etc on ete un peu fatiguants, et a certain moments je me disais meme.."quelle idee ai-je eue???" Mais, j'avoue que le voyage a ete magnifique! Elias a ete un amour! Tant qu'il y a du mouvement il est heureux! Pleins de choses a voir et a entendre!

Puis le temps etait magnifique, les promenades superbement fraiches, ensoleillees et chaleureuses - vraiment une tres belle semaine!

Et finalement les nuits d'Elias etaient plus longues! donc les miennes aussi!!! ...(malheureusement cela a change depuis!)

Nous revoila a Londres - les 2 premiers jours etaient durent! Elias n'avait pas l'air d'etre heureux du tout - dans un sens je le comprends...apres le soleil/la pluie, apres l'air pure/la pollution, apres des routes plates ainsi que peu de traffic/plein de gendarmes et embouteillages, apres vue sur le lac et montagnes/vue sur...des murs!!!....(Nous pensons retourner tres bientot mais cette fois avec papa aussi!)

Malgre ca, mon petit charmeur eclate toujours de rire et nous fait des grands sourires!

x

Travel

I've been a bit quiet on posting as I was in Los Angeles for most of last week and now I am in New York. The Bugaboo turns out to be as popular on Santa Monica oceanside and in Central Park as it is on Hampstead Heath. Makes me feel quite at home!

Despite the joy of nights of unbroken sleep I am missing my boy and his ways. He and Stefanie are in Switzerland where he is sleeping well, being taken for subzero morning walks by Lake Geneva, and being spoilt and indulged by her family and friends.

Annoyingly I have pics Stefanie sent me from Switzerland on my phone but can't get them onto my computer :( Instead, here's LA, Santa Monica beach and NYC, Central Park.

First bottle

Forgot to say, Elias had his first bottle of expressed breast milk yesterday. He had half of it and seemed to think it was pretty good.

This morning after 13 hours sleep (puntuated with 5 wakes) he was in such a good mood, laughing and playful, that I just wanted to stay at home and hang out with him.

Tonight he fell asleep by himself. The new regime is under way. There is crying but I think it's going to work with Stefanie there comforting him but not feeding him to sleep.

Sushi and an Early Night

Spent the afternoon with Nistan, Talia and Alba and their Japanese friends in Belsize Park eating sushi and talking babies. The other two babies, Alba and Kai, are 8 weeks older than Elias and there is a big difference in behaviour. Kai is the most chilled baby I have ever seen and Alba is manically fascinated with everything around her.

It's about half past eight. Elias went to bed two hours ago, Stefanie went ten minutes ago, and I'll follow and I hope to be asleep in ten minutes time.

Maida Vale Saturday

Italian

This is ridiculous. Elias was refused a British passport yesterday because we are not married. So yes, in 2005, you can have a British father of British parents, be born in England, live in England, have a mother with an EU nationality and who has lived and worked in England for 15 years, but without the parents being married your only choice for a British passport is to be naturalised. Ridiculous. I wonder how many less deserving passports are dished out each year - best stop there on that train of thought..... or at least stop writing about it.

Anyway, the rude and unhelpful British passport officials can stick their £60 and one week wait, because this morning we went to the Italian Consulate in Eaton Place and in a slightly crazy 90 minutes with some very friendly, helpful and better dressed people, Elias was added to Stefanie's Italian passport.

Screw you Mr Passport and stop looking so pleased that you get to say no to people as if you yourself both make the decision (rather than following some checklist or policy document) and are the exemplar of Britishness.

I'll stop there.


....tres peu de temps pour ecrire...mais je veux remercier Clare pour le tres gentil "comment" que tu as ecrit! -

Elias est un amour de fromage! Je l'Aimeeeeee tres fort! Maintenant il fait plein de "gooogagaa" et de sourires et de rires! Quel bonheur de se reveiller le matin et de le voir! De le chatouiller et de l'entendre rire! De le voir grandir!

London

Today was Elias' first trip to central London. He and Stefanie came in to get his passport so he can have his first foreign travel imminently. I met them both in a beautiful and sunny Trafalgar Square. He was happy and amazed by all the people going past. After a feed and nappy change in the National Gallery (!) off they went to the passport office.

Tuesday November 8th

Sleep

One night... sleep from hell - waking every hour.
The next... sleep from heaven - 5 hour stretch without waking.
What's that about?