What have we been up to in the last two weeks?

Last weekend we visited Mary and Peter in Burgess Hill, so it was Maria's first visit to her grandparents house. It was a rather cold, but sunny day and Will, Maria, Katie, Mary and Peter were heading to find some geocaches in the Burgess Hill area. Here is a photo next to one of the caches.

It was my mum's last week here until we see her again in May. And it was our last chance to play a game of badminton together and to go out, as a couple. On Valentine's, Will took me to a very nice show, Andrew Lloyd Webber's best music from all his musicals, played by the Show Biz Orchestra. It was a special night and a great gift from my husband.

Here is Maria trying on some of her suits and playing.

Maria is getting bigger and heavier, even if the scale still doesn't show it (she is about 4.5kg). She can hold now some cuddling toys and smiles and makes funny noises, "talking" a lot to us. She hates when she needs to get dressed for her outdoor trips especially putting her hat on, but she managed to "arrange" her hat as she liked this time.

My mum left on Saturday morning from Luton Airport. After we dropped her off, we decided to do a geocache next to the airport, on the other side of the driveway. We even saw my mum's plane taking off. "Bye-bye mama, see you in May!"

Snow in England

It snowed in the UK last week and lots of schools and businesses were closed, only for a few inches of snow. It was though very nice to see all covered in white.

Winter in South England

Footpath on the way to Chilworth

Will on his way to work

Maria ready for a walk

Are we ready yet?

Maria and daddy in Hythe on a sunny and cold Saturday

Maria playing on her grandpa lap

Badminton and Visit

Last Saturday we finished painting the kitchen and then went to Salisbury. On the way there we stopped for a geocache and found another travel bug, enjoying a nice countryside walk.

On Sunday, we decided to try again my physical abilities, after the disaster on the first badminton practice last Thursday and we invited our friends Priscilla and Richard to play some games. We had fun and enjoyed the games. Hopefully I will get back in shape soon. Maria and Sam joined their parents on the badminton court and my mum was watching them while we played.

After the games, we went to Priscilla, Richard and Sam's. We had a nice dinner and enjoyed playing with the little ones. Here are some pictures of Maria and Sam. Sam is one week older than Maria.

"How comfy it is!"

"Thank you, Sam for letting me sit in your seat!"

"Where is Sam?"

"Here I am, Sam I am!"

Impressively strong neck muscles

2 months since Maria Emma's arrival

Year 2009 started well for us. Both Maria and I had our 6 weeks check and all was ok. Therefore, I started trying to get rid of the kilograms I gained while I was pregnant and went swimming, played badminton and walked. I also started the post natal clinics and I enjoy meeting other babies at the same age as Maria.

Maria Emma is now almost 2 months old and she is 4.1kg (9.03lb) and 59cm. Although she is fed a lot, she has not gained too much, but she is still on the graph. We are gradually getting rid of the awful colics that have made most of our evenings very noisy. In the last week, we had the privilege to see Maria smiling and playing with her hands, as she discovered her fingers and hands. And another great achievement was that we finally managed to persuade her to sleep in the Moses basket and not only in mummy's arms. She still enjoys sleeping in our arms or falling asleep in our arms, but this happens only during the day.

My mum and Maria in the garden

There she is sleeping in daddy's arms...

Daddy's girl

As we are planning our first trip out of the country at the end of March, we needed to apply for Maria's passport. Here is the "winning picture". Doesn't she look like a 3-4 years old child?

She recently started enjoying her bouncy chair and she often falls asleep in it.


But sometimes she is awake and likes to listen to us singing songs for her or reading books or just chatting with her.

curly hair after bath

As Will finally received his much desired Christmas present, a GPS for geocaching, we have introduced Maria to some geocaching trips around Romsey and Salisbury, looking for the travel bugs. We quite enjoy this activity and it is a good excuse to go out and about.

Christmas and New Year

Christmas was very nice and special for us, as it was Maria Emma's first Christmas. We decorated the Christmas tree a few days before Christmas, despite the Romanian tradition of decorating it on Christmas Eve. In preparation for Christmas, my mum and I tried to make Gingerbread.

The results were:

some dark (or burnt), some ok...

On Christmas Eve, Santa came around and left some presents for all of us. Maria received many presents from family and friends from all over the world. Thank you very much for all the beautiful presents and cards!

Maria waiting for Santa ...

Mama Lili playing with her granddaughter

La pomul de Craciun (in front of the Christmas Tree)

Christmas Day was a relaxing day. We took advantage of a nice sunny day and took Maria and my mum to New Forest for a walk. We hiked along the Tall Trees Trail and remembered of our trips to Sequoia and Redwoods in the US. Here are some pictures from Christmas Day.

Sunny Christmas Day in New Forest

Enjoying the walk

Between Christmas and New Year, our house was full of visitors. Uncle Ed and Aunt Valerie from France, Grannie Mary and Grandpa Peter and Auntie Katie came over and we had a very nice Christmas dinner together, with lots of goodies and a delicious Christmas pudding, all cooked by Will, Ed and Peter. After dinner we opened some crackers and played our favourite game, Taboo, while Maria was very happy asleep in Katie's arms.

Maria and uncle Ed (doesn't he look like daddy?)

Maria at 1 month

New Year's Eve came very quick and our friends from Wales (Eric, Corina and Jamie) came over to celebrate the New Year with us. My mum and Corina cooked a very delicious traditional Romanian meal, while Jamie and Will emptied the beer cans. We were really happy for having them over.


On the 1st of January, a very cold, but another sunny day, we took our friends for a train ride in a nearby lakeside park.

First train ride for Maria

Will didn't take the train, so that he could take pictures of us and as usual, he reached the destination before the train did... speedy gonzales...

choo-choo...

"Hi Will" cheered and waved our carriage

After the train ride, we went for a nice walk around the partially frozen lake. Will spotted a nice landscape and showed us again his talent in taking very beautiful pictures:

seagulls on ice

Maria and a little duck

The days before Christmas

Last two weeks have been busy, with lots of people around, midwife and health visitor visits, first bath, first pushchair experience and first shopping trips to Salisbury, Southampton and Eastleigh. We also registered Maria, who became now an official British girl. Will is back to work after his two weeks of paternity leave and I am trying to keep up with a few hours of sleep.

Maria Emma is now 3.24 kg and she is a very healthy girl, eating very well and being awake for quite a few hours during the day and night. She enjoys the bath and hopefully she will enjoy swimming in the near future, too.

Mama Lili (grandma from Romania) arrived 12 days ago and she has been enjoying a lot the time spent with all of us; it's great to have her here. A big "Thank you" to everyone at home for the beautiful presents sent for Maria.

Grandma Mary and grandpa Peter came over again, this time bringing over Aunt Katie and Uncle Ron.


We received more flowers, cards and presents from family and friends. Could you guess what this is??

It is a nice bouquet of flowers, indeed, but not a normal one... a very special one. If you look closer you notice some "roses", but they are actually baby sleep suits, vests and hats. What an ingenious idea. Thank you Auntie Katie and Uncle Ron for such a cute and special present.

Last Thursday we went to introduce Maria to badminton. She watched her daddy playing and met our club friends. Wendy and Bob (from badminton) also visited Maria at home a few days before our badminton practice. Yesterday, we went to Will's work and my work to show Maria to our co-workers. They were very pleased to see our little girl and were surprised of the amount of hair she's got.

My mum just bought a very nice Christmas tree for us, which is ready to be decorated. Christmas Day will soon be here and we can hardly wait...