February 29, 2008

February 28, 2008

Lyra is on great form these days, and we had a lovely day. I took the two girls to Waterlow park before art class, and Nova pushed Lyra on the swing. I was sitting in the cafe with a couple of other mums when I got a call from Jemima. Caroline had just been mugged in our road and she wanted Adam to send an alert out to the residents' association. She was walking down the pavement by the road with her six year old daughter when two men in balaclavas and puffa jackets accosted them. "We don't want to hurt you," they said. "Just give us all your jewellry." She handed over a ring, but as Caroline said later, "They picked the one woman in Highgate who's not covered in gold and platinum and diamonds." Not the sort of thing you imagine happening in your street in the middle of the afternoon.

Made a Moroccan chicken tagine for dinner, which was excellent, though I don't think it falls into the midweek meals category as Delicious magazine suggests. Adam was out for the evening, and I rediscovered the pleasure of reading in bed. I'd forgotten you could do that...

February 27, 2008

Adam got up at 7:15 to get Nova ready for gymnastics, but when he got upstairs he discovered that the bedroom clock was an hour slow, and she'd missed it. Adam says I reset the time when I turned it on last night. (I guess I must have done, though it's hard to believe as it's a tricky multiple button maneuvre...) Fortunately Nova was sanguine about the screw-up. Lyra's resistance to being resettled at 6am (her usual wake-up time) was understandable as well...

I was in a bit of a daze all morning, and forgot to put on Lyra's nappy when I got her dressed. Around lunchtime I noticed the classic "accident" stain in her trousers where she'd wet herself. Dodged a bullet there...;-)

It was Simonia's last day, and when it was time to leave she made a little speech about how we are very nice poeple and she is leaving only for "professional reasons". I'm glad she's gone. A nanny becomes part of the family, and it's difficult not to see her decision to leave as a rejection of you and your children. The whole thing felt a bit like breaking up with a boyfriend (and then having to see them every day...)

Lima potato soup for dinner, with grilled chorizo and a glass of red wine. Lyra cried when we put her down again. I left her bedcurtains open this time, and I think Nova's fairy lights might disturb her. I went back and turned them off and gave her a good cuddle and she settled with no trouble.

February 26, 2008

I'd planned to wait until the weekend to move the cot, but we were so eager to see how it would look that we dragged it through this afternoon. Lyra had her afternoon nap in there. She was a little unsettled by the change, and it was hard to get her down, but I think she'll like sharing with Nova.

Went to Brent Cross in the afternoon. I wanted to get Nova a little present to mark the occasion, and to offset her envy of Lyra's new bed. "Her bed is way fancier than mine," Nova commented accurately. I had a look for a little dress she'd liked last week that wasn't in her size, but no luck. Instead I bought her some Sylvanians to add to her collection -- the lounge act, with a singing cat, pianist dog, and terrific little grand piano.

Lyra kicked off again at bedtime. It must be strange for her -- she's only ever slept in the same room as us until now. She objected to the curtains being closed, so I left them open, closed them when Nova went in so she could use her reading light. Big day for our family...

When I was at Brent Cross I also bought some new martini glasses, which we christened this evening with the absolutely delicious sake martini -- equal parts sake and vodka with a dash of gin.

We went down to bed at about 12:30am. I'd just turned off the light and was drifting off when the bed started shaking and banging against the wall. "What are you doing?" I said to Adam, but when I opened my eyes and saw he wasn't there, I realised it was an earthquake. It must have lasted thirty seconds or so...

February 25, 2008

February 24, 2008

Rob, Jemima and family came round for coffee and pastries in the morning, which was nice, as we haven't seen much of them these last months. In the afternoon Pete, Pasc and family came round to watch the Carling Cup. It was a very exciting match -- and Chelsea lost -- so everyone went home happy...

February 22, 2008

Lyra is stuffed up with cold and very clingy,and Adam's no better. The pair of them are feeling miserable. At least Nova is in high spirits, enjoying her new clothes and bicycle.

We took Nova's bike up to Finchley this afternoon, to cycle in the park next to Freddy and Beulah's house. There are lots of relatively flat paths in the park and Nova was doing a great job cycling on her own, though steering is still a challenge. She also tends to cycle too fast (or not slow herself down when she picks up speed). Heading down this gentle incline, she got going faster and faster, until she eventually careened off the path and crashed straight into this spindly little tree. In fact, it was such a spindly tree that it had a couple of strips of wood supporting it. Nova somehow wedged her bike tire between the trunk and the support, and then hurtled forwards over the handlebars. It was quite spectacular, and very upsetting for her -- mostly scary, I think, and a bit of a bump where her knee hit the tree... To her credit, she eventually got back on again and did a good stretch of riding before we went round for tea and crumpets at the Garfunkels.

We've booked our April holiday -- we're going to stay at an organic olive farm on Ithaca (off the west coast of Greece) for a week. It looks wonderful, and because it's the off season we're getting it for half price. Just as well, as I don't think we could afford the high season rate...

Watched The Last King of Scotland tonight, or rather Adam did. I couldn't really watch it -- I found Forrest Whittaker's Idi Amin too menacing -- it was giving me stress. More importantly though, the Scottish doctor character was such a complete git it very difficult to sympathise with him...

February 21, 2008

Of course it's hard to get much of anything done with Lyra around. She's happy as long as I'm sitting on the floor nearby, and pootles around ignoring me, but as soon as I do something else she clings and whines. It's frustrating at times...

We need to start thinking about our April holiday, otherwise it won't happen. I'd love to go somewhere hot, but that might involve too much flying. Our top candidates are Crete, Greece, southern Spain, Portugal, Sicily, maybe the Canaries or the Caribbean...

We had a happy half hour looking at fabulous, self-catering villas on Koh Samui until we realized how much the airfare would cost, that it was eighteen hours travel time, and that April is the worst month to visit Thailand. Back to the drawing board...

February 20, 2008

Took a spin through the Tudor rooms, where Nova astounded me by looking over at a painting of a bewigged young man and saying, "Oh look, there's a picture of John Evelyn." "John who?" I thought to myself as we walked over to it, and sure enough she was right. They'd learned about him when the studied the great fire of London.

Spent some time playing on the computer, looking up different artists. "Do you think they have they heard of me yet?" Nova asked. We looked, but there isn't an entry for her at the moment...

Walked down the Leicester Square and bought cinema tickets for the matinée of Enchanted. We had a bit of time to kill before it started, so we did a loop through Chinatown. Nova bought herself a new purse with her pocket money, and one of those paper new year dragons.

Lunch was popcorn and Maltesers while we watched the film (which was charming). "How many Maltesers are we allowed to eat?" Nova whispered after awhile. "As many as we want," I said. "I think we'd better stop now," Nova decided, "they aren't healthy." The little killjoy...;-)

After the film, we walked up to Hennes on Regent Street to buy Nova some new clothes. It occurs to me that she actually doesn't get many new clothes -- most of her wardrobe is hand-me-downs from Fay and Bella. We bought a pair of jeans, some black leggings, a pink striped teeshirt, a spotty dress, a pack of socks, and some sparkly silver shoes.

Walked back down to Piccadilly (we definitely walked a few miles today) for afternoon tea at the Wolseley. I ordered a full tea for one, but should have got two, as Nova demolished the lion's share of the finger sandwiches, scones, and little pastries, along with a few cups of tea. She charmed the waiter sufficiently that he went off to get her an extra scone. She charmed a few customers as well -- I noticed a couple of people smiling over at her sitting there in one of those inimitable Nova outfits scoffing tea and talking a mile a minute.

"That was practically the best day ever," Nova said on the tube home, "except for my birthdays, of course." It was an awfully good day...

February 19, 2008

My manager Lou has just announced that she's leaving as well, and in fact her last day is just before I return. It ended up hijacking our agenda somewhat, as there was a lot of discussion around working with a new director, interim arrangements and so on.

I thought I needed to race straight home afterwards, but Adam texted to say that his meeting had ended early. Took the opportunity for a bit of a recce for my day out with Nova tomorrow -- checking out good places for us to go clothes shopping, so there are no big surprises on the price/taste front tomorrow...

February 18, 2008

Nova's eyes were saucer sized at the riches laid before her. She flitted around looking at families of badgers and hedgehogs, little covered caravans, and woodland picnic sets, before settling on a family of brown rabbits. She couldn't have been happier...

Back at Jane's, she immediately disappeared upstairs with Elsie, while we had a cup of tea in the front room. After a half hour or so we heard the front door slam... Looking out the window, we saw the pair of them in little jackets, sunglasses, wide headbands (Nova's hair was done up in a loose chignon -- she looked about fifteen), and spotted red flamenco shoes heading down the road with suitcases. There were actually arriving from New Guinea(?) for some fashion game they were playing. It was priceless -- I wish I'd had the camera with me...

February 17, 2008

It was madly crowded as always, so I left them in the bagel place, and took a little spin round with Nova. We bought big bunches of white tulips and gerberas for a fraction of what they cost in Highgate.

Lunch was a two-stage affair. The three girls ate first -- sausages, sweet potato, broccoli, and passionfruit creme brulée. It was the same fare for the adult sitting, except we got leeks instead of broccoli...

They handed on a big bag of clothes that Frea (and Martha and Ellie before her) has grown out of. It was a relatively successful Sunday lunch with small children -- a few hair pulling incidents, and Nova crashed through their glass coffee table (nothing broken luckily).

Took Nova out for a cycle as soon as we got home, though it was almost dark. She's already much better than yesterday, and I only needed a light grip on the fur of her gilet as she wobbled around pretty much unsupported.

February 16, 2008

Fay came round to drop off a half eaten chocoalate cake before they set off on their Swiss skiing holiday. Everyone at Nova's school goes skiing at half term. When people ask where you went over half term they mean which ski resort. If you said Egypt, they'd probably say, "I didn't know there was skiing in Egypt..."

Anyway, Nova was feeling a bit depressed about the way we "never go on holiday". A little unfair, though it's true that we didn't get away at the October half term becasue Adam was too busy with work, and it's the same story this time. Actually, I think Nova would probably hate skiing, but that's beside the point. She wants to be doing what the other kids are doing.

"Hey," I said, "instead of a skiing week, let's have a bicycling week. Bicycling is quite a bit like skiing -- you get to go fast and fall down a lot. The main difference is that bicycling is warmer. And since you've outgrown your little pink bike, we'll go buy a new one this morning, and practice every day until you can ride it." She liked the idea, so after breakfast the two of us set off for Halfords on the North Circular.

The place is staffed by a crew of slack-jawed yokels, but we eventually managed to purchase a bike from them. It took 45 minutes to assemble, and the only place to go to kill the time in this retail park full of carpet warehouses and tile emporia was McDonalds. It's Nova's fourth visit (though only the second she's old enough to remember).

I bought her a chicken McNugget happy meal, and I had a filet o' fish and fries. We sat down and opened our packages of food. "Hey, are we supposed to eat with our hands?" Nova asked. "Yep," I said, "there's no knives and forks in McDonalds." "Great!!" Nova whooped. It's a constant battle at home to keep her from eating pasta, peas, even soup with her hands...

Back at the ranch, we took her new bike out onto the parade ground. After an hour, she was pedalling on her own for ten seconds and more, and could even steer a little bit. She was exhilirated by it...

Adam and I spent the evening hashing over our problems. We realised that there isn't a single problem of his (missed work deadlines, lack of exercise, shortage of friends, sore back) that he doesn't blame me for on some level (or hasn't blamed me for at some point). The flip side is he tends to feel that I'm blaming him for everything I complain about (weather, moronic Halford employees, the quality of the bread in the UK...)

To get us through the current rough patch, we've decided to practice showing common courtesy to one another in the hope it will become habitual. We also thought it might be an idea to spend a little less time together. With him working from home and me on maternity leave, perhaps it's too much of a good thing. Or rather too much low quality time together, and not enough of the good stuff. We'll see...

February 15, 2008

Kim came round for her "observation" session with Lyra. We were talking about Lyra's slow weight gain given what a big baby she was at birth. "She's probably just finding her natural weight," Kim said, "you and Adam are both short -- she'll likely be short too." Now I'm no Amazon, but I'm certainly not short, and neither is Adam. It makes me question her powers of observation...

Spent the morning hanging out with the girls while Adam beavered away in the flat. The three of us ate lunch together, then Nova and I did art class while Lyra napped. I made spaghetti bolognese for dinner, which was a complete flop with Lyra. I'm going to give her a couple of weeks and try again. I don't think I really fed Nova tomato sauce when she was little, and it's the one food that she's picky about.

Adam and I are still rowing like crazy. Tonight's installment was over money, and ended up with him storming off to sleep in the flat. Actually, it may have been money that set it off, but really it's still the original Valentines Day fight starting little brush fires...

February 14, 2008

Made a little Valentine's breakfast for everyone: heart-shaped toast and jam, sliced strawberries, and blood orange juice. I feel like I've turned into my mum when I do stuff like that... We exchanged cards and chocolates, plus Adam gave me a really cool necklace.

Nova's class led the infant assembly today. It was very sweet. Some of the kids read out little pieces they'd written about their "quiet place". This is what Nova read:

In my bedroom I usually do something like relax on my bed with my favourite book or work at my wooden desk. I just do that until all the noise is over and I can come out again. It's really nice and calm if I shut the door.

Our new nanny Agata came round this afternoon. We walked up to the school together and picked up Nova, and they had a bit of a visit before it was time to take her to art class. They seemed to get on well, and I was surprised to learn that Nova already knows a few Polish words...

Agata had made a big tinfoil "alien" as a present for Nova, and suggested that she decorate it and maybe write a story about it before they meet again. She used to work in a nursery, so is very oriented towards art projects, which Nova should enjoy. (I'm not sure how she'll find time for that when she's looking after Lyra as well, but we'll see...)

All in all, it was a frantic afternoon, and the girls' meals were a bit of a hodge podge. Nova knew not to challenge me over the mushroom omelette I made her (she's not a big fan of mushrooms). Anyway, she was in a hurry to eat up so she could head over to Fay's for a sleepover. I saw her off, then wrestled the baby into submission while Adam worked away on his adidas project.

I didn't feel much like launching into romantic meal preparation after Lyra was down. Adam had been in a strop ever since I took too long doing the Waitrose shop (I ran into Beulah...), and he was left holding the baby. We'd snapped at each other ever since, and I was tempted to take to the bath with a large glass of wine and call it an evening.

We managed to find our equilibrium and cooked a nice dinner together -- proscuitto wrapped asparagus with parmesan; scallops with tomato-fennel sauce and black linguini; and chocolates for dessert.

February 13, 2008

Went into town to get something to wear for work next week -- ended up buying a pair of black trousers and a dark blue cardie in Gap that fit the bill. Not particularly exciting, but they'll combine well with other things I own.

My next challenge was martini glasses. I expected them to be a straightfoward purchase, but all the ones in Selfridges were overdone. I'm after the classic, triangular style. Walked up Marylebone High Street checking out the kitchen shops, but no success there either. Had a lovely half hour in La Fromagerie though, buying a cheese course (fourme d'Ambert, Napoléon, brie de melun, and an ashy goat one) for our Valentine's dinner.

I cut across Regents Park, headed up into Camden, and caught the early showing of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I thought it was very well done, not too sentimental, and felt Schnabel had made a good effort at portraying what locked-in syndrome might be like.

Got home just in time to kiss Nova goodnight before lights out -- Lyra was already down. It the first time that I (or Adam) haven't put her down. She's a bit miserable again -- we think it's her teeth. There seem to be lots coming in at once, though the her top right centre one is lagging behind. Can't tell if it's there or not...

A quick internet search dredged up loads of terrible genetic conditions that can cause missing baby teeth. Couldn't bring myself to read any of it... We'll just keep waiting for it to show up...

February 12, 2008

Nova is a very observant girl, and regular comments how much I cuddle Lyra compared to her, who I hug first in the morning, differences in the tone of voice I use to speak to them. Fair enough, and she's generally right, but it does get a little tiring to have your every gesture commented on.

I had my last life coaching session with Caroline this afternoon. Today's big insight was though I actually really like change -- and generally do well out of it -- I almost never initiate it. I wonder if it's connected to another thing I've noticed about myself. I hate misplacing things, and will devote ages to finding the most mundane objects like gloves or tupperware lids. But when something is definitely lost -- especially something valuable -- I've noticed a slight exhiliration in being free of the responsibility of looking after it. Not sure what the connection is yet, but I think it's there...

February 11, 2008

They've upgraded all the machines since I was a regular visitor. I couldn't figure out how to stop the new treadmill from counting down from half an hour. So I did a run where I increased the speed by one increment each minute. I'd decided that I'd speed up to a certain point, then decrease the speed one increment each minute until the half hour was up. Kept it interesting...

Lyra is in great form at the moment, full of energy, bubbly, and cheerful. She's adelight to be with -- the last month has been a real slog with her being so poorly. And she's finally starting to take an interest in reading, particularly Maisie's Bedtime. She yawns and pats her mouth when I say that Maisie is sleepy, and helps find Panda behind the bedroom curtains.

Adam and I tried the cranilla martini -- muddled fresh cranberries, vanilla vodka and a dash of sugar syrup. A really nice drink, which got me wondering about combining muddled blueberries with zubrovka...

I'm really enjoying this cocktail project, although it had an unintended effect the other night when we were out at Morgan M. Whenever I'm asked if I want a cocktail in a restaurant my mind goes blank, and I always end up ordering either a gin and tonic or a dry sherry like some old grandmother. I expected that by experimenting with cocktails at home I'd expand my horizons, and would say, "You know, I feel like a manhattan tonight," or "a cosmopolitan would really hit the spot." Instead, I thought "why spend the money on a restaurant cocktail that I could just as easily make at home."

February 10, 2008

Another wet bed, another morning bath... it's hard to keep up with the laundry these days. Nova's definitely making progress on the bedwetting, but tends to have two or three wet nights in a row, and it can be challenging keeping her in bed linen without a dryer.

We were still mulling over the nanny decision today. It was a tough one -- we saw a number of good candidates, and they all had their various strengths. In the end we offered the job to Agata, a really nice Polish woman with a two year old daughter. She wants to return to work after a couple of years at home with her child, and took great trouble to reassure us that being a mother wouldn't affect her reliability, even bringing her boyfriend and daughter along to help make the case. She was the only one who emailed afterwards to thank us for interviewing her and ask for the job, which always makes a good impression.

In the afternoon I took Nova to Highgate Woods for some exercise. She spent the whole walk there and back talking about her dream house, and the family she would have: a husband who owns a pub(?) and three daughters. "That's a nice number," I said. "Why didn't you have three kids then?" she asked. "It just didn't work out that way," I replied. "Maybe you and daddy should have done more sex," Nova suggested. Maybe...;-)

Once the girls were in bed, I met Liana at the Flask for a bottle of wine and a meal. Their plans to move to New Zealand seem to be rolling on -- they've both applied for interesting jobs, and are making moves to rent out their house. Quite exciting for them...

February 9, 2008

Made a vegetable frittata for lunch. "I don't like courgette," Nova said when she sat down. After taking a bite she said happily, "hey, I like courgette now!" This is why we keep on trying things...

Saw our final candidate this afternoon, a middle aged Polish woman with a fine arts degree and absolutely no experience of childcare. We've had enough appointable candidates, that I was open to seeing someone a bit different, and thought her interest in art might appeal to Nova.

Nova was very taken with her -- and she was quite glamorous, with her long velvet skirt, scarves and dangling jewellery, and "darlink" this and "darlink" that. As afterschool care for Nova she might be quite a fun choice, but you couldn't possibly leave her in charge of a baby...

Christine phoned up to inform us that Alice has the measles. Apparently, it was difficult to diagnose because GPs see so few cases nowadays. The Whittington confirmed it as measles, and this morning a health protection person visited them at home. Lyra's visit to their house was just on the margins of when Alice would have been contagious, but they were advised to contact everyone she had contact with in the last ten days.

Once the girls were in bed we mixed a couple of martinis and sat down with the spreadsheet I'd made for evaluating potential nannies. I added Simonia as well, and it was interesting to see that she didn't score all that well against the others. In fact, if she'd applied with this bunch, I doubt I would have given her an interview, and I saw ten people. That being said, we've been happy enough with her for the last two and a half years, and I hope to be able to say that of the person we chose this time...

February 8, 2008

Four more interviews... all quite different, all appointable... I was starting to get a bit ridiculous by the fourth one -- a stunning Polish PhD in child education from Poland, mother of two, with recent experience in a Montessori nursery, and a passion for Thai and Italian cookery. London is such a employment magnet for the rest of Europe, that I suppose it's worth her while to nanny in the UK (though it might be a bit intimidating to have her in the house...)

Pete came round to babysit and we went out to dinner at Morgan M. Opted for the taster menu -- it's been a long time since I've had one, definitely before the pregnancy. The man himself always comes up in his crumpled whites and makes a tour of the tables. He's a tasty little morsel himself, and if he propositioned me while Adam was in the loos I'd probably run off with him...

February 7, 2008

I saw a very sweet Slovakian girl called Denisa in the evening, who's being badly treated by a family in Golder's Green. They call her each day to tell her what hours she'll be working, sometimes giving her a half hour's notice to get to their house, and are paying well under the market rate. It drew a complete blank with her when I said we'd want to have a contract with her to cover things like holidays and sickness. I was half tempted to offer her to job and get her away from those people, but her English isn't that great, and we with Lyra just learning to speak that's a higher priority for us than when we hired Simonia.

February 6, 2008

February 5, 2008

February 4, 2008

Posted our nanny advert on a website we'd been recommended, and within twenty minutes the responses started rolling in. I'd received over forty by the end of the day, most of which were of reasonable quality. I made a first sift based on experience of babies, where they lived, and level of English.

There were lots of Eastern Europeans, Brazilians, French girls (mostly au pair types), Filipinas, and even a Nepali woman. There were a few really left field ones, such as the pharmacist who's contemplating a complete career shift with no explanation. I sent a response to everyone who applied, even if it was a quick note to tell them I wouldn't be interviewing them for the post, and arranged phone calls with several candidates.

It was a little awkward with Simonia around, but she pretty much stayed downstairs. We've made an effort to be warm to her, as she'll be around for another four weeks. It such a silly misunderstanding that's been blown up out of nothing. If there's one thing no one could accuse us of it's being tight. I've rounded up every payment I've given her, which would add up to far more than the £8 she believes she was shortchanged. (To be fair to her, she's no clock watcher, and has been on time or early for every shift she's worked.) I think she was likely planning to leave anyway, and is justifying her decision, which is human nature...

February 3, 2008

The show included a children's entertainer/magician called Otis Cannelloni, who had a very dry brand of humour. One of those shows equally enjoyable to kids and adults.

In the afternoon Nova and I went round to Pasc's. She disappeared upstairs with Fay, while Lyra and I had a cup of tea with Pasc. Nova has been keen to play with Fay all weekend, and was very down when they sent her home for dinner after she'd only been there a couple of hours.

I tried to explain that it was a Sunday evening, and they both had homework, and even that Fay was having spinach pasta for dinner (which Nova hates) but she remained gloomy. She actually said, "I'm so depressed..." Her problems get more complex to address the older she gets.

Stayed up late helping Adam with his adidas work. I threw together some dinner for us about 10pm, and worked on one of his sections until nearly 2am...

February 2, 2008

I put together the family calendar this afternoon while Adam took the girls to the park. I wondered if we'd have enough decent images to choose from as it's been a quiet year for holidays, but I think these are alright:

Nova cooked dinner tonight from the cookbook she got from David and Denise for Christmas: American hamburgers, green salad and strawberry milk jelly. She pretty much did the whole thing, aside from a bit of chopping and taking things out of the oven. She was very pleased with herself as she should have been -- everything came out really well. Adam and I washed ours down with a caiparinha.

The Simonia drama continues... We were stunned when she gave notice, and she'd given no indication that she was unhappy with the hours we were offering. Tonight we received a great long text message from her, about how she was so upset we'd changed her rate without talking to her, and how the relationship was now "broken". There had been a misunderstanding about £8 a couple of weeks ago, but we thought it had been resolved. Her English isn't all that great, and although she said she understood, perhaps she didn't...

We'd written her a letter apologising for the misunderstanding, and offering her more hours, but she's decided to move on. Actually, I think her husband has stirred the whole thing up, and I'm pretty sure he was composing the text messages -- Simonia could never have written them.

February 1, 2008

Adam was babysitting for Pete and Pasc again tonight. By the time I'd done the kids' meals, there was no time to cook for us before he had to leave. He ordered a take away from Rani, and when it arrived I left the girls alone for a couple of secs and ran it up to him. (When it turned out I'd given him all the date chutney, he ran it down to me...)

I did find time to make us both a "smoky martini", which is a gin martini with a dash of dry vermouth and a dash of whisky. Good name for it -- there was a slightly smoky undertaste that I really liked