Six months old

Our little Alex was six months old on Friday. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone and I also can't believe I'm saying something as cliche as "they grow up so fast" (again!), but I am! He is just delicious, a really sweet, easy going and happy little guy, as those of you who have met him will know. It is amazing to watch him grow so fast and I feel like I'll be waving him off to university any minute!

What is Alex doing at 6 months?

• Smiling and laughing and he does lots of it. He's very smiley and his giggle is highly infectious. Mummy and Daddy get those special smiles when we walk into the room now too, there's nothing quite so heartwarming as those.
  
• He's got 2 bottom teeth so far and they make for such a cute two-toothy smile but you have to be quick not to be hypnotised by said smile and end up with a quite painful bite.
  
• He's getting very good at grabbing things and starting to show pretty good motor control. It's funny when he has to really concentrate on something though, especially when he is focusing hard on putting something in his mouth, it makes him go cross-eyed.
• Everything goes in his mouth at the moment, and right now his favourite thing is his feet.
• He babbles a lot. He's been doing it for some time now and seems to "get" conversation. Daddy says it's because Mummy talks to him constantly and he has to learn early on how to get a word in edgeways! Cheek! He is constantly making new sounds and practicing them, which is adorable when it's the gurgles and oohs and ahs but lately it's been squeals and shrieks which I hope is just a phase, and a sort of wailing/singing which is very cute but gets us some strange looks when he does it in public.
• His favourite toy at the moment is his Sophie la Giraffe teether. It's brilliant and he chews on it all the time but it's funny because people either know exactly what it is by name (and every baby in the Queens Park/West Hampstead set has one) or I get really strange disapproving looks from people who think I have given my baby a dog toy to chew on!
  
• He is very affectionate and knows how to cuddle now. The first time I felt him put his arms around my neck when I picked him up was one of those landmark motherhood melty moments. He also likes to touch our faces affectionately and sometimes while he is feeding will smile up at me and reach up to touch and stroke my hair. Those are my favourite moments. Although he is still not able to control his movements that well when he gets excited and I am working on teaching him the difference between stroking and pulling/yanking!
  
• Food - we are just about to start solids so watch this space on how that goes. I'm nervous about having a child who is a picky or just reluctant eater, but I'd say there's a good chance he'll like food, being three quarters Chinese and half me! He's got a good appetite and feeds well so hopefully he'll take to eating solids.
• He can sit up fairly well with help but can't do it on his own yet.
• He is pretty strong and likes to be in a standing position. I think he's motivated by his nosiness as he can see more that way.
• We've been taking swimming lessons for a couple of months. He's getting pretty good at it, I'll have to post in more detail about that.
• He loves being sung to. Nursery rhymes are hit and miss. Some of them make him really laugh, others are received with a stare.
• He thinks his nose is funny. His favourite Mummy moment is the eskimo kiss, where I rub noses with him.
  
• He loves it when Daddy flies him around the room or "zooms" him and recently showed his excitement and appreciation by throwing up all over him - last time Daddy does that again, at least with his mouth open!
• Alex HATES being on his front. Tummy time is like torture, no mistake.
  
• He can roll over now, mostly from his back to his front, although I have seen him do both. He just doesn't seem that interested or motivated so I keep trying to egg him on and he just stares at me and then wails until I pick him up. But then on occasion I've left him somewhere and come back to see him flipped over so I know he can do it, he just won't perform on demand.
• He is making some crawling actions when on his tummy but isn't anywhere near being able to actually crawl yet. It's more of a swimming motion or possibly just scrabbling in frustration because he hates being in that position!
• He doesn't like rustling sounds, or velcro or the hairdryer. The worst is blenders and hand dryers though, they freak him out.
  
• Lately he has been keeping us up at night a bit more. He was sleeping through the night early on but since he got into the heavy duty teething has been waking up during the night more often. At the time of writing, he still has the remnants of jet lag but we hope he settles back into a more manageable pattern soon and we can revisit our old friend sleep once more.
  

Here he is with Daddy on Friday

Happy half birthday little one!!

Baby whirlwind

Well, he's here! He's actually been here for four months now so there's lots to catch up on. I'm sure anyone reading this has seen it all on Facebook or got my email already so I apologise for broadcasting old news but I'm going to have to play the new mum card as my excuse.

Our baby son arrived three days overdue on a snowy December night, December 18th 2009. He had a little bit of a tough time coming into the world but arrived safe and healthy, announcing himself with a ferocious cry! Dad and I were overjoyed. If you want to know the details of my birth story shoot me an email and we'll have a coffee!

First family picture - proud dad, exhausted mum, and cute little bundle

Happy and healthy mother and baby

Proud daddy

Poor little guy, didn't have a name for about two weeks and was just known as Baby, but we finally decided on Alexander - Alex.

Baby Alex, one day old

Getting ready to go home from the hospital

It was all pretty overwhelming. Birth was, not surprisingly, the most un-fun thing ever and I felt like I'd been run over by a train for a good while after! Tiny newborn babies are wonderful but strange little creatures and the first month was pretty tough, especially as Alex was colicky which meant sleepless nights. And I don't mean constantly waking up to feed him which is what's expected, I mean he cried all night most nights and we didn't sleep at all. But the colic went away very suddenly sometime within the second month and things got so much easier after that.

We were snowed in for most of the first month, due to the most severe winter I can remember in London. But no complaints there. I was lucky not to have to struggle to work in the snow and ice, and instead stayed inside in the warmth snuggling with my sweet little bundle. Jon was lucky enough to have an extended paternity leave so he was with us for about a month and thank goodness for that. I don't know what I would have done without him. The first week Jon went back to work was chaotic. I didn't know what I was doing and when I was supposed to do it, but I soon found my rhythm and since then I've enjoyed being a mum much more than I'd expected I would. It felt very surreal most of the time and still does. I can hardly believe I'm a mum and I still do a double take sometimes when I catch sight of myself pushing a pram in a shop window. I hadn't actually expected to enjoy it this much though, and I haven't looked back.

Alex and I are now having a great time and getting to know each other. He is a pretty good baby and gets cuter by the day so he's a joy to be around. We're busy though, my work schedule never looked this full! We are out every day doing lots of fun things and making the most of our time together. There'll be more on those things later. There's a fair bit to catch up on, four months worth!

Lady and bump of leisure

I am finally on maternity leave. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I was ready about 2 months ago, I must admit. It was getting increasingly hard to focus, everything was such an effort and so tiring, and the commute was really getting to me. Oxford Circus was of course getting increasingly busy every day on the run up to Christmas, so it was a good time to get out.

The first day of leave was my birthday, which was pretty uneventful this year. A part of me wished I had organised a good old knees up as I realised it will be the last one I have before I become a mother and may not have the chance to do it again for many years, but then again I struggle to stay alert past 8pm these days and there are only so many orange juices a girl can drink in one night out! In the end I was happy to have a relaxing day just enjoying not being at work, and a lovely dinner at Yauatcha with my darling husband.

Of course, it wouldn't have been at all like me to start maternity leave without some drama! I'll spare you the details but the first few days were spent at A&E with suspected Deep Vein Thrombosis (all fine, there was no clot in the end so it was a false alarm but pretty worrying at the time), as well as at the hospital with my dad who was having heart bypass surgery. Seriously, what else can happen this year?

Now that things are settling down I'm enjoying being a lady who lunches for just a short time. I've been meeting up with the other women from my NCT class too. We're all on maternity leave now and 3 have had their babies already, so we started doing the lunch thing last week. It was great, I felt stupidly happy to be off work for a while. We also met at a place that was crawling with yummy mummies and babies so it felt a little like the start of things to come!

I can't believe I'm 37 weeks already and in theory only a couple of weeks away from the new arrival. Jon and I are both nervous but excited. Aside from some final touches to the new nursery we are totally ready. All of the baby stuff has been bought and delivered, clothes and bedding washed and put away, hospital bags packed and ready, and parents-to-be delirious with anticipation and excitement! Last weekend the dutiful dad-to-be built the baby's new crib and pram/stroller.

The crib now lives at the end of our bed so I can practice walking around it before its occupant arrives. So far I have only stubbed my toe on it twice and thankfully nobody except me screamed or wailed when it happened, so I'm glad I'm getting the practice in.

I love the buggy but so far not so much that I've taken it out for walks empty! For now it lives in the hallway where I grin at it on passing. I know, there's no end to the madness of a first time expectant mother who loves new stuff!

Jon also got in a bit of practice trying on his baby carrier, but hopefully the baby won't be of quite the same shape, stature or furriness of the practice teddy!

It's just a matter of playing the waiting game now. I keep thinking Junior will arrive early but I may be wrong. I'd just like him to be here before Christmas. Place your bets now!

Merry Christmas 2008!!

Gosh, how long has it been since I updated? Shockingly long, is the answer you're looking for!

Not that much to report really. Been settling into the new place, working, taken a couple of trips to the States, including one for Thanksgiving. All good but apparently not worth writing much about!

This was just a quick one to say Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you had a good one. In the Poon household we enjoyed the time off work - with a lot of Guitar Hero, a fair amount of karaoke and shedloads of food, and that about sums it up! Christmas day was a nice quiet one here at the flat with my dad. There might be more details and some retrospective posts later, but I wouldn't want to a) jinx it, or b) get anyone's hopes up (neither yours nor mine!) by making big promises!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The opposite of nesting

My life seems to be all about change right now, and it's all go. My dad and I are putting the family home up for sale and it's all very surreal. I am spending my weekends at the house packing up my stuff and purging these days. It is amazing how much crap you can accumulate when you have space to spread out in and never really move out of a place for years and years. Some of it is nice, a real trip down memory lane. Some of it is just mind-boggling. All of it is very tiring! There is a lot of work to be done.

Tomorrow the agent comes to take photos and measure for the floorplans and after that it is officially on the market. He is optimistic and thinks it will sell fast, so let's hope he's right. It is really crazy and trippy to think about, and the sentimental part of me is having real trouble with the thought of leaving the house, but it's the right thing to do.

Wish us luck.

Goodbye to an old friend

How many of you have met my little car Oyf? How many of you have enjoyed a ride in the little fella? He is such a dear old friend to me - and yes, he is a he, I know all cars are supposed to be girls but he always was a boy to me! I have had to part ways with him and I must confess my heart is a little broken.

I sold him to a friend though, one who really wanted him, so I know he has gone to a good home and once in a while she'll send me updates and maybe even put him on the phone to me. Truth is he'll probably like being with her much better, she'll actually drive him regularly and not neglect him like I did, leaving him for so many lonely days on the driveway untouched. I barely drove him and now that we've moved somewhere with much better public transport connections and expensive and restricted parking, it had to be done. Pouring money down the drain is one of my better talents but even I could see how crazy this was!

So, goodbye dear little blue car, I miss you.

Happy 2008!

I hope everyone's new year has got off to a great start. I think I'm only just coming out of the holiday season now!

Christmas was nice. It was a quiet one again, just my dad, Jon and myself at home. I cooked up a storm, traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Trying to work magic with parsnips and carrots

Apparently my cooking requires the supervision of 2 people!

Merry Christmas everyone!

After dinner - food coma

Jon and I both went back to work after boxing day. This is the first year I've had a full time job that requires me to work the days between Christmas and New Year and I thought it would hurt but it was actually quite cool. There were so few of us in and no bosses to be seen anywhere so it was a little eerie but nice and relaxed and never a full day. I am really loving working at Turner as you know, but the holidays really were fun, there were all sorts of shenanigans involving inflatables, mustaches, silly hats and a 5kg (!!) bar of chocolate.


New Year was a quiet one. Jon was sick so we didn't venture out, and just stayed in watching movies. I had to drink almost a whole bottle of Champagne by myself too, poor me! I must say, and this will sound weird to a lot of people, that I was looking forward to going back to work. I am not good at having time off without a holiday or a specific reason, I'm not much of a lounger or a pootler at home, and I need a regular routine and focus. Plus, my boss was away another week so I managed to ease myself in.

So, a brief reflection on 2007:

• Began 2007 in sunny Nice
• Left LBS
• Started working for Turner
  
• Went back to California in March and officially became a legal US alien
• Jon's folks visited in June and we took a trip to Istanbul with them
  
• Tuscany in July
• Embraced Turner's "summer Fridays" where we finished work at 3pm every Friday for the summer months
• Back to the States for November and Thanksgiving
• What is likely to be our last Christmas in the family home

That's extremely brief but I really can't remember anything else! It's been a good year but I'm looking forward to what 2008 will bring. Watch this space to find out what that is.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to one and all! I am actually feeling festive this year, which is a big change. It takes a lot to beat the bah humbug out of me but I think the new office was too tough for me - lots of home-made decoration making (with varying degrees of success and rocketing tackiness and amusement) and playing cheesy Christmas tunes wore me down. I've been dragging it out a bit too - an early Christmas lunch with one of the departments, another lunch with my boss and the Department Heads, a dinner with close friends and then the office Christmas party last week which was fun, the photos are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78362&l=b1dff&id=692170356
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78438&l=1fe54&id=692170356
But this is my favourite picture from the night:









I got a generous and thoughtful gift from my boss, which was a very pleasant surprise, and was even sent flowers from his wife! I even went as far as to get a tree this year, and have a big feast planned for Christmas day. It'll be a fairly quiet one, just my dad, Jon and my cousin and myself, but we will eat with Christmas spirit. I'm excited.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season, with lots of love,
Poonie xx

Another year older and not much wiser

I celebrated another notch on my life post a month ago. It was the first year in a few I haven't been away for my birthday, but we were flying out to the States a couple of days later so decided to stay home and keep it low key. It was a nice day, even though it was the first time I have worked on my birthday for years. The folks at work found out and I got serenaded at my desk, which was nice. Then Jon turned up with flowers and we went out for some drinks with friends. Some people couldn't make it, as expected since it was a school night, but it wasn't a bad turnout and it was great to see everyone. I was far too deep into the pink bubbly most of the night to get many pictures but you get the idea.

The missing months

You may have noticed I've been shockingly absent for the last few months, so if you're reading this, thanks for still being here! It's been a really busy time since the last post, and I'll spare you too much detail since it's all quite fuzzy to me now anyway, and give you the highlights.

Well, I started my new job at Turner Broadcasting right after we got back from San Francisco in April. I got off to a good start and hit the ground running and haven't looked back since. 8 months on I'm still loving it there and feeling very glad I made the right decision. It was pretty surreal at first, but now that I've got used to sharing the office with various cartoon characters, attending staff meetings where we sit on the floor and watch cartoons, having a TV on my desk and a giant jelly bean machine by the door, and attending meetings in rooms called Shaggy, Dibble and My Fair Lady, it's just another day at the office. The job is busy but that's not a bad thing, we all know the devil likes to make work for my idle thumbs! It's not too stressful, but keeps me out of trouble and I'm feeling motivated, excited and I'm learning a lot. I also feel much more settled there now and have a good relationship with my boss and other colleagues, so all is good.

Travel wise it's been a slower year. We've been away a few times so I can't really complain, but the frequent mini-breaks have dried up somewhat, mostly due to work commitments. Jon, by the way, has changed jobs twice this year! He is now back at the first company he worked for in London, now in a permanent role and much happier. Who knew we would someday both be happy at work simultaneously!

Anyway, I digress, we were talking about travel. We were in Istanbul in June, with Jon's parents. They were on another European visit to Barcelona, London and a guided tour of Turkey so we met them in Istanbul for the long weekend. This was my second time there, the first being at least 10 or so years ago, and I liked it as much as I remembered. It's a very cool city, straddling the east and the west both geographically and culturally. We stayed in the Old City with a view of the Blue Mosque from the restaurant terrace. It's a shame we were only there a short time but we had fun exploring the city a little - the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkopi, the Grand Bazaar and a cruise of the Bosphorus.

Shortly after that we spent a few days in Tuscany, for Jon's birthday. We were in our favourite little walled city of Lucca, almost exactly 4 years after our last trip there together. It was gloriously sunny and we had a great relaxing break. We spent a lot of time with our lovely host Annie, who took us to the beach and out for some very good meals. We also took a day trip to Florence. It seemed very crowded compared to Lucca and we did a whirlwind walk-around checking out the must-see sights and then escaped back to the far more chilled out haven of Lucca. I have a feeling there will be future posts about other trips to Lucca and Italy.

We spent the rest of the summer at home in London, with Jon starting a new job and then another new job, and me settling into mine a bit more. For my overseas readers, we had a miserable summer in London. Barely a warm day and just the promise of sun. So we booked a trip to California for November so we would have something to look forward to!

More later, on North Wales and California (in that order).

Is America ready for me?

It's official, I'm an alien, A LEGAL alien! I think most of you will have heard this already, but I won the green card lottery last year. I received a letter of notification and the application forms back in June of last year, which I of course thought was a joke. But no! It's one of those things I've heard about but didn't really take seriously. I have applied maybe 3 times over about 7 or 8 years. I basically do it when I remember it, as the application period is only one month long each year and I usually forget. And even then, it's something I did just because I could, I never actually thought anything would come of it. So receiving the letter was a shock. And so was the application process, I'm not a fan of filling in forms at the best of times. But I did it, and shelled out the application fees, attended the expensive medical exam, and did my time at the US Embassy for the interview. They approved me without too much fuss but as my interview was 3 days before I was flying to the US there wasn't enough time to turn the visa around so I had to wait until after I got back to courier it to the Embassy. I got it back today with a shiny new visa in it!

Jon and I have planned a trip back to California in March so I can get my entry stamp and become an official US permanent resident. The plan is not to move there immediately for the long term, it will be a tough time to leave my dad alone. But it gives me options for later on. We'll see how things go.

Life goes on... gently

Hey everyone, and apologies for the short absence. This is my first entry since my mum passed away a month ago and it feels like a lot longer. Most of you already know about it, and I want to thank you all for your support and kind thoughts, and the cards, messages, gifts, phone calls etc that I have received. I'm sorry I haven't been able to talk to everyone individually as of yet but I am back in circulation now and hope to do so soon.

As you can imagine it has been quite a month. I took 2 weeks off work and am thankful that I have an understanding boss and wonderful colleagues who have been nothing but kind. I was ready to go back though, I needed to settle back into routine and keep busy. I spent the first week off arranging the funeral and all the other paperwork that nobody ever talks about. It's been an education. The funeral process, I'm glad to say, went very smoothly, which helped. We found a nice cemetery and had a very nice ceremony a week later. There was a good attendance, the chapel was full. Unfortunately, most of Mum's family couldn't make it as nobody could fly in at short notice, but my cousin May and Mum's God-daughter were there and the chapel was full of her friends. I have had so many lovely messages from people far and wide who have known her over the years and it is amazing to know how loved she was and how many people she touched throughout her life. I know she will be so greatly missed.

It's been something of a rollercoaster and I know it will be this way for a while. It's hardest on my dad, but he doesn't talk about it much so there is little I can do except be there for him. The grief comes and goes in waves and most of the time it is extremely sudden and triggered by the most unexpected things. Half the time it doesn't even seem real and I forget that it's even happened. The support of friends is definitely the best medicine. I am so grateful to have Jon too, he has really come through for me during this tough time. He was there at my side all the days my mum was in the hospital offering comfort to me and my dad, he was there with us when she passed away, and held my hand throughout the funeral. And since then he seems to have just learned to accept that there will be the occasional random fit of tears and irrational behaviour from time to time! He also seems to have perfected a technique of distracting me to take my mind off things if I get sad, it's quite a gift. I suspect he does it in other situations too though, if I bore him talking too much! I'm trying to spare him somewhat though, as I don't want to burden him too much with it. I'm just glad he's here.

So things are going back to somewhat-normal now. I am busy at work, which is a good thing right now. I've also been quite busy outside of work, including a few trips and events to look forward to. It's Jon's birthday next week so we're off to Portmeirion (in north Wales) this weekend. I'll be back here soon with the usual ramblings! Speak to you all soon!