Wee Cameron Edward

Welcome to the wee chap in a onesie! So far Cameron has been a good eater and sleeper. He was quite smushed initially, so the pictures have only recently begun to be snapped. Here are a few of Cameron in his bouncy chair and playing sleeping bunnies with Maria.

Dressing up

Maria's hair has only just now become long enoungh for me to pull into any kind of hair-do. The hair-do's normally last for 30 seconds before she pulls them out. But this morning I managed to get her into a tutu as well. So I took some photos.

Speaking of things growing longer, my mom keeps asking if Maria's legs are long and skinny yet. Long being a relative term, if we are comparing them to the underpinnings she used this time last year, the answer is emphatically yes. But in a broader sense I would not describe them as very long and skinny. But you may judge for yourself...

Paris

Now that a week has passed since we returned, I think I can safely say Ed and I have acquired the necessary distance in perspective to evaluate our trip. The verdict is that it was enchantingly beautiful and a lot hotter than Cambridge. We will probably not attempt another city break like that until Maria turns seven but we're very glad we went. During the trip, Maria learned three new words which are now in constant use: walk! fun! and happy! In many ways, they perfectly describe the trip.

Walk!
The hard part about Paris was getting around with a loaded push chair and exuberant baby. We would leave our hotel most mornings not intending to return until late afternoon/evening. That meant we had to bring along all our worldy goods and chattel: three liters of water, four nappies, wipes and fragrance bags, juice for Maria, snacks for all of us, coats in case it got cold, Maria's blanket so she could nap, Lion to keep her occupied in her push chair, the camera, sunscreen, money, and tons of other bits and pieces I won't bore you by listing. Pile all this onto the push chair and then add a very sturdy little girl and the result is rather heavy. Now carry this push chair up and down stairs in the Metro with a sturdy little girl desperately trying to get out and 'Walk!' We avoided over-using the Metro as a result and walked miles every day as a result. It felt really good to be so active and food tasted wonderful when we stopped. But Maria didn't like the long confinement at all and almost as soon as she was strapped in we would hear her squaky little voice from the front: walk! (don't feel too bad for her. We went to every park we could find and let her play. Our visit to the Eiffle Tower consisted of playing in the children's sandpit at the bottom.)

Fun! Happy!

We did some lovely things in Paris which we wouldn't have done had we not had a baby with us. For one thing, we visited a beautiful park called the Bois de Vincenne, towards the east of Paris. It had a large lake in the middle with paddle boats and ponies to take the children around on. Maria stood with her nose pushed through the chain link fence staring at them for at least half an hour. Next time we're there, she'll be bigger. We did take her on her first carousel ride in the park and bought ice cream cones. The sun drenched everything. Everyone in Paris seemed to be jogging around the lake. I (Beth) felt a strong yearning to run around the lake too, and watched the joggers with not a small bit of envy. If Ed ever gets his wish to live in Paris, I won't lack for fellow joggers. What was especially pleasant about our day was that it felt like an authentic place for a Paris family to go. If there are other days as splendid as that one, I certainly could see myself conceding Ed's wish.

Ladybird

Some recent photos of Maria Eleanor

New furniture

We have had two old couches in our living room since we moved in. They were red in the 1960's but now are just a tired, unmatchable orange-pink. The covers on the arms were ripped and they were extremely low to sit in. They belonged to the house and featured in our contract so it was up to the college to dispose of them. But they seemed content to let them stay. At any rate, it can take the college weeks to fix an urgent problem and years to fix non-urgent problems so I felt there was little hope in asking them. Once our washing machine broke with a wet cycle mid-way through and it took two weeks for someone to biff around and check it out.

Then last week our neighbour shared with me their couch dilemmas (similar to ours) and told me that St John's were going to give them new couches in a few days. Now, I know how the college operates. They like to do things in batches. Take the washing machine example. They would prefer to wait till everyone's machine broke in the middle of a wet cycle and then come round to fix the lot. So, spying my chance, I emailed the college and asked for new couches too.

Two nights later, I got a reply. It ran like this, 'your neighbour does not want their new couches. They are green and faux leather. Would you like them?'

I sat back and regarded the two orange numbers presently residing in the living room - was this a situation of 'better the evil one knows'? Then it occurred to me - perhaps I could run over and ask my neighbours what caused them to reject the couches. So I popped over and knocked at the door. They were surprised when they heard my explanation and said that they hadn't seen any couch and they still wanted the new ones.

Treasuring this knowledge in my heart, I secretly wondered why I had been offered the couches then. But with the joy of a tenant I was able to shrug my shoulders and say, 'It's Johns' problem.'

We took the plunge and asked for them.

The next day they arrived - very much green and faux but not that unsightly. They are, sadly, hard as rock but nonetheless an aesthetic improvement. Our other neighbours got their couches too, so who knows who the mystery neighbours with the mystery reject couches are. Here are the pictures:

Easter Chicks

Today, the Saturday before Easter, Edward and I took Maria to see the Home Farm at Wimpole Hall. I entitled this post Easter Chicks, which is slightly misleading, because the cows easily dominated the experience. Maria also got to feed a goat, see chicks, ducklings, piglets, lambs, horses and ponies. The constant refrain as we went around the animals was 'Maa-maa!!!' That's what a sheep says, for those of you who don't know. She was ecstatic throughout. The rain was rather persistent, as you'll note from the pictures but this suppressed the crowds and as we managed to get a table inside the farm cafe for lunch, no one minded much.

Maria's reaction to the farm was so clearly demonstrated, and she was so enthralled by all she saw that Ed and I commented on the way home that it was amazing to remember she is only 17 months old. This reminds me of another story. The other day, Maria was entertaining herself in the living room while I did some laundry. I turned around to see Maria carry her little stool into the kitchen, place it against the cabinet, climb the stool and fetch her colouring pens from the desk organiser. The operation was performed with such fluidity and intentionality that I stood back aghast. Who was this urbane, sophisticated, cunning child? And then I recognised her. The urbane child took off the lid of the yellow pen and proceeded to eat the tip. "Maria!" I cried, "Not in the mouth!"

Visitors from America

Last week my (Beth's) Mom and Dad came to visit. We had a lovely time - such visits are always much anticipated. Not only do we love the company, the extra attention and love for Maria, but also the abundance of nice fruit, red meat, mars bars and custard tarts that magically appear when Grandma and (especially) Grandpa are around. And diet Pepsi, that's a Grandma treat.

Under Grandma's tutelage, Maria has started talking! She is particularly advanced in the animal noise department, now making sounds for sheep, ducks, birds, cats, dogs and cows. Frustratingly, I tried to show her off to some friends on Saturday and she resolutely refused to bleat. But she can.

We have had lovely weather and enjoy throwing rocks into the waterways around John's. The pictures show how bright and fresh the flowers are around Cambridge. This is such a glorious place to live in the spring. And yet, we also wish we lived closer to both our families.