Home Alone - part II

Mark is away doing a lecture so Vera and I are home alone agan. Well at present Vera is having fun at nursery and I'm at work. Big accident again on the motorways with road closures and diversions. Took me over 2 hours to get to work...

Can't wait for our holiday next week!

Vera had a great day yesterday, had double portions of Lamb and vegetable casserole with mashed potatoes for lunch, ate all her fruit and all her broccoli, cauliflower and cheese.

She's very vocal, babbles and chats away and likes playing instruments. She'd also been busy playing with the teddy computer!

Here's Vera when we were walking to nursery this morning

August Bank Holiday

This long weekend was the last bank holidays before Christman, someone happily told me the other day. Shame the weather was not playing ball! We had a great long wekeend nonetheless, with shopping, playing, outings to Saffron Walden and on Moday, a BBQ at Maria and Mats' for Vera and I.

Mark was busy doing slides for a talk he has this week.
There were 7 adults and 7 children, youngest 4 weeks and oldest 3 years at the BBQ and it was interesting to see Vera inbetween the older children and clearly not a baby anymore. She was a little bit shy at first, but then walked around on the lawn, chucked a few stones, feasted on souvlaki with tzatziki and the strawberries and ice cream!

Vera in their hammock!

 With daddy in Saffron Walden

End of the week

Vera's had a great day at nursery, playing hide and seek with Rachel, her key worker, yelling and eating!
They have to take her shoes off when she gets there as otherwise she loses them. The other day she had "posted" one of her shoes through the fence to the Roo's room.

She was happy to see m. which is always nice! Now we're waiting for Mark to get home and Vera is sleeping soundly upstairs.

[I dont know why this photo uploads sideways]

 Her hair is getting long

Home alone

Mark is away at a conference in Oxford today and tomorrow so Vera and I are home alone
http://www.biochemistry.org/tabid/379/MeetingNo/SA139/view/Conference/default.aspx

Vera's had a good day and a good week. She's very vocal and when she has finished her plate she says something resembling "all gone" (which is what we say a lot when she's cleared her plate)

Ana came with us today to nursery to pick Vera up and have a look around. Vera was very taken aback to see me and greeted me with a fair bit of indifference! She was probably expecting Mark! Once home and after food she was back to her normal self. It is so cute to see that she goes and picks out a book, toddles over, climbs up on the sofa and sits and "reads".

After her bath she wants to brush her own hair and then points to her pyjamas on and wants them put on.

Before bed time

Messing with daddy's flowers

http://db.tt/S7ylVXWi

Art

As the modern baby that she is, Vera also creates art on the iPad! She also likes playing the drums and playing the piano electronically. But of course, old school real instruments and pen and paper/colours are the best!

Beautiful summer!

we've had one of those weekends when you are just happy to be alive! Sun's been shining and it has truly felt like summer. Like summer should feel! reminded me lots of last summer when I had the great priviledge to be off sand enjoy every day with Vera.

I has Friday off too, so it's truly felt like a long weekend. We've had a few valuations on our house, so had the last one on Friday morning, then I was very domesticated, baked two types of bread, made meat balls and Vera and I went shopping.

We picked Mark up early and on Friday evening, enjoyed the first of three BBQs this weekend. have had way too much red meat this weekend, but also lots of nice salads and home made stuff. It almost feel like a crime not to fire up someting on the BBQ on days like this!

Vera's enjoyed toddling about in the garden and sitting in her paddling pool. We've been for walks to the swings and played with Duplo, her shopping basket and her beloved clothes pegs!

Other highlights this weekend is a Skype session with the whole family and Sweden and a long overdue phone call with a very dear and loved friend, Anna! And oh, getting some freckles!

Food, food, glorious food!

In the morning I have to have my breakfast before Vera gets up, otherwise her Weetabix is history and all she wants is my youghurt. When she returns from nursery she nearly self combusts if she's not fed within 60 seconds.

This is her devouring pasta the other night. Who needs fake tan?!

(this is also why she has a bath every night!)

Walking for a week

Vera is getting braver and more confident in her new skills and is practicing every day. She's wearing her red shoes that she got from mormor and morfar for her first birthday! I've yet to capture it on film, but Mark took this last Friday

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=274648472637076

We've all had a lovely weekend. On Saturday I was spending some quality time with Ana, Junko and Tahlia, who was over from Germany and brought the sunshine with her! We had afternoon tea and guacamole galore in Junko's garden in the afternoon and early evening. Ryan was there too of course! Then we went out for a nice meal and drinks at Strada. But we're older and more tired I guess, as we were home before midnight. Ana has an excuse of course, she has to rest for two!

Sunday was a lovely long lunch outside the Old Spring and a great catch up for everyone, the boys included!

http://www.theoldspring.co.uk/www.theoldspring.co.uk/info.php?p=3

Fun with bubbles on Sunday night

 Mark and Ana, all too happy to practice (or so we hope!)

 Tahlia - the guacamole master at work! Ryan and Junko

Today is also a year ago since Vera got christened. How time flies!

First steps!

Tonight  Vera  has  taken  her first  unsteady  steps!   Big  day  for  all  of  us!
I  have  a  few  videos  of  the  early  attempts, but  never  managed  to  capture  when  she  walked  a  longer  distance.
Watch  this  space!

Nursery girl

And so we set off on another week!

Shopping trolleys and motorways

We decided to go down to IKEA in Edmonton (Tottenham, north London) on Sunday, as Terese and Chris were going to be there and itwould be fun to meet up. We set off just after 12 noon, with the aim to be there at 1-ish. Unfortunately, there had been a big accident on the M11 motorway and we got stuck - all three lanes closed. We sat there for over and hour and after a while, some cars were directed up a slip road. we were lucky that we were close and managed to drive across a central reservation and take this rookie route out. The traffic was very heavy but we managed to navigate through back roads etc and made it back on to the motor way, below where the accident had been. The journey took over 3 hours, but we were lucky to get out at all. We later heard that it hadn't been cleared until after 5pm.

Anyhow, in IKEA we had lunch and coffee with Terese and Chris, and a bit of a catch up! Terese and Chris headed home and we attacked the shop. We bought some storage for Vera's room and also some toy storage for downstairs, as her collection grows! As our house is so small, we have to maximise the space!

Terese and Vera. Terese gave Vera her first wooden jigsaw with animals!

 Vera enjoying meatballs and pasta for tea

 Chris and Terese

Same old...

Another lovely weekend. Still no summer weather to speak of, but lots of quality time together which is the main thing!
Vera's spent her first full week at nursery. She was a bit tired on Thursday, but much better yesterday -an intense first week full time at nursery. But she's eating and sleeping well and takes part in lots of activities, outdoors and indoors/ She is having a great time and is very happy.

I thought I'd share a few photos of Vera's nursery.
Crocus Bright Horizon Hinxton

At the front, all set for the Olympics!

The back, each room has their own garden and then they explore the campus on a daily basis.

Hinxton Hall, croquet lawn, just behind the nursery. This where the Jubilee party was and Mark's office is behind the hall.

I've had a busy Saturday, including 2 lots of baking, sight test, cooking, walk and watching the Olympics

Sun flowers on our walk today

 The swings, a firm favourite

 They're small, but it's the local cricket team playing outside the playground. They stopped for tea shortly after. Couldn't get more British than that!

Giggles

A Flavour of work

Here's a little flavour of what I work with (nerdy I know!). I normally take a photo of whiteboards to remember what's been discussed! (Again...nerdy!)

These meetings were about system access privileges and sampling