We've just been loungin'

But not really! Big Brother is in the States, but Parr and I have somehow stayed busy between running errands and getting to visit with friends. Less naps have been taken this week than originally planned, but nonetheless it has certainly been low-key. Parr was definitely missing his brother at bath time!

We've been out and about getting fabric samples, window shopping, and visiting with the friendliest 91 year old man (He tried to get me to guess his age. I'm not falling for that one!) in the yogurt aisle at the Waitrose. He stopped me as we were meandering through to look at Parr. We agreed that children are miracles and that Italy is a fabulous country. I learned that one of the best tenors (opera) is named Florence and is from Peru. I also learned that the secret to old age is keeping your mind sharp. He was so sweet and friendly; I felt like I could have been in the Piggly Wiggly having this long conversation with a complete stranger. That just doesn't happen here.
Parr also had his 6 week check up. I was planning on them weighing him, but alas, while the baby clinic (where you are supposed to go on Wednesdays to get them weighed) is in the same area as the GP, they cannot access the scale to weigh a baby. I don't get it. I may or may not have dropped a minute amount of sass and name dropped our pediatrician's name at home.

But apart from having no idea how much Parr weighs (he is gaining weight), all else is well.

5 weeks

Parr will be 5 weeks old tomorrow, and we are enjoying some time with just Wil, Parr, and me. I am missing Big Brother and the house is eerily quiet without him; however, he is off having a ball in Alabama where so far (last I talked to him) he had had bubblegum and homemade waffles with a promise of an icee this afternoon. Needless to say he is a very, very happy boy! And we cannot wait to join him in a few days. [I would like Zoe's chicken salad and sweet tea in lieu of an icee. ]

I'm thankful for this time with Parr, and selfishly, it is a chance to slow down and (as corny as it sounds) reflect on the past month. That is, when the jackhammer next door is not going strong. If the workmen spoke english, I would have some thoughts to share about jackhammers and infant naps. Oh wait, Wiley already took care of that. While my parents were here, he marched next door, and told the worker men (as he says) that their noise was really bothering him and was very annoying, and when would it stop. Mom said they said 5 days. Not so much the case.

We've made quite a few outings with Parr--to church, Bible study, to Wiley's school for the school run, coffee with a friend, dinners, and two Junior League meetings.

Perhaps the best was when Wil and I got a "posh curry" after getting Parr's passport (Wiley was in school). [Warning: Spit up involved. I should just put that under the header because let's face it, with a baby, spit up is always involved.] We arrived early at 12 noon (no one eats til 1), Parr starts crying after we sit down even though I had just fed him. After trying everything else, I had my "posh curry" while nursing Parr. (I love my "bebeaulait" nursing cover.) Of course, Parr spits up all down my side of my leg. Whatever. What is a little spit up? I clean it up on myself and him. Then, a while later, a busboy comes up with a wet towel. He kneels beside my chair and starts wiping something off the floor. On the same side that the spit up incident happened. As businessmen and women began trickling in from their "posh cocktails in the bar area," I couldn't even make eye contact with the busboy. I just pretended it never happened. And that was Parr's first "posh curry."

This little boy is on the go, and he loves, loves, loves sleeping in his stroller. He wouldn't nap in his moses basket this morning, so finally after trying to get him to sleep for over an hour--I popped him in the stroller and off we went to run errands to the library, post office, and butcher. In minutes the boy is asleep. And stays asleep when we get home so mommy can eat lunch!

black, grey, white

You know you live in London when your stacks of shirts look like this:

black. grey. white. one dark green shirt.

gone are the bright colors.

i type this wearing black leggings and grey turtleneck.

i don't even know when this happened.

Do it to it Lars

Hubby's New Year's Resolution to exercise more.

Rainy day in London.

4 year old with more energy to burn than we've ever seen.

= Father-Son P90X Kenpo workout

Getting Wiley dressed was a bit of the equivalent of dressing up. Get those shorts on. Get that Under armour on. Just like Daddy.

Wiley's favorite are pushups. Nevermind his form is a little off. As you can imagine if you know Wiley, he did not particularly care for being told what to do by Tony. So, Wil stuck to the book, and Wiley did whatever variation of Kenpo he wanted to do.

Listening to them workout was hilarious. Then watching Wiley thrash around, throwing his body around in the name of kickboxing, and toweling off (because he was so sweaty!) made my day. Ah, living with boys.

*Title from Heavyweights

Rub a Dub Dub

Parr got to take a bath with his big brother. He enjoyed it much, much more than his previous baths alone.

I think it had something to do with the faces Wiley was making at him.

(warning: about to do a bit of a baby brain dump to update and remember for myself and family.)

Parr is doing well. He's almost 3 weeks old. He is getting much chubbier, especially in the face and neck area. He is pretty fussy/restless/doesn't want to go to sleep in his moses basket between 6 and midnight. But once he has his last feed, he is pretty good for the night, waking up to eat every 3 hours. Other than that he is really good. The mornings are especially best because he wakes up, eats, then goes back to sleep very easily. We thought we would make it without a swing, but with this restless/sleep strike in the evening, we bit the bullet and ordered a small travel swing (space is at a premium in our flat). I can't wait for it to get here. I also ordered a Moby sling/wrap so that I can "wear" my baby. Also exciting because honestly as much as we would like to be able to hold Parr all the time, we just can't. I hope he likes the sling...Wiley screamed bloody murder when I put him in his Baby Bjorn when he was little. My mom left to go back home this weekend, so that was a bummer. However, we are just so thankful she was able to come for so long. This week it is just the four of us, and it is kind of exciting to be doing it just us and seeing what it is like. We are thankful too that T is coming next week when Wil is back at work. SO thankful for all of our family. Wiley is continuing to be a sweet big brother. He did a little show this morning for Parr singing some worship songs in the microphone. This afternoon, he sang quite a few renditions of "she'll be coming round the mountain." It's hilarious to say the least. I'm amazed at how Parr is growing, and when I see pictures of the two boys together, I still can't really believe that I have two children. Two boys. Wow. And what a huge blessing.

Hopefully soon I'll do a post about Parr's arrival which might be fun to read (or might not be?) to see the difference in having a baby in the US and in the UK (on NHS)...

I certainly did not...

...voluntarily offer my 4 year old a whole donut this morning to enjoy while watching Gullah Gullah Island (holla 1990s kids tv!)

...break a mayonnaise jar (they shatter, while remaining in mayonnaise jar form, so please pick up with a broom and dust pan. not your hand!)

...break one of our 4 bowls (cath kidston. tear.) while trying to reheat some pasta. i was moving the bowl all of 6 inches, and i still can't reconstruct what exactly happened.

...promptly thereafter, as my mom was cleaning up the broken bowl (i think she was worried i might fall to pieces, like the bowl, you know, crazy new baby, post preggo hormones), spilled red wine all down my sweater. first sip. (mom again steps in to avoid possible breakdown of daughter)

...and last night, i went through 3 diapers, rather Parr went through 3 diapers, in about 3 minutes. problem was, in between poo diapers 1 and 2, i somehow got poo on my hand, our duvet, and Parr. again, i can't reconstruct these events, other than i was doing it in the dark and couldn't see well.

i think i gave Parr what was left of my brain. which one might think is a lovely, selfless thing to do, but given the state of my brain, it might not have been so great.

on another, less-poo-ey, note, wil and i went to dinner alone for the first time since pre-parr! I don't think i had actually been without parr since he was born (he's 2 weeks old plus a couple days!) thanks mom for babysitting the boys! we were this close to throwing in the towel but thankfully wil insisted that we go even if we weren't that hungry. it felt so good to get out, and i could tell such a difference in our attitudes when we were doing our usual parr-doesn't-really-want-to-go-to-bed-between-9-and-1230am-routine-and-only-wants-to-eat. another fun fact of our yummy sushi date was that the tables were so close it was like speed dating but interestingly enough, both tables on either side of us were Americans. a reason why i love our little 'hood.

Brothers

Things are lookin' good here.

Um, mom, why is he starting to cry?

Hey, Parr, just pose for the picture and then she'll leave us alone.

Pose is not working. Can you take him already?