Last summer days

Summer is on the way out, the leaves are falling, the rain seems more and its getting chillier. The veggies are almost all gone apart from the many leeks and marrows that are still going strong, I guess we will be eating a lot of leeks this winter!

Maria is now 9 months and a half and she is crawling everywhere, still in her unique style, as I explained in a previous thread. She started saying "mama", "dede", "nene" and other consonant-vowel combination. She is extremely excited about the leaves moving in the wind and the grass and loves to spend time in the garden (daddy's girl). Many times she crawls in the kitchen and stands up, hanging onto the door, looking outside in the garden and "asking" me to take her outside.

"I love my swing"Maria in her swing and the plants in the background.

At the end of August we visited our friends in Wales and spent a few days in Cardiff area, going geocaching and visiting museums and parks. We stopped at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff to take some pictures.

At the Millenium Stadium: the England mosaic and its representatives

and the Romanian mosaic and its representative
Maria and daddy went geocaching along the river

with the stadium in the background

in Cardiff harbour on a rainy day
visiting our friends, Corina, Jamie and Eric and their new baby, Finley
Maria playing with Eric
Eric was so sweet showing Maria his and Finley's toys and playing with her. Thanks, Eric!
"Back home, playing with my toys and practicing some gymnastics"

"Gosh, this hair gets into my eyes"

Meeting with babies and mums in our group
Maria and Ben
Sam and Priscilla's visit
Maria and daddy on a swing
and by myself
Daddy's time at the playground
Maria and her friend, Sam going to the playground together
and going to the sensory room (thanks Priscilla and Lylda for taking us there)
"I love this place"

Before our trip to Wales, we went to visit Grannie Mary and Granddad Peter. We had a lovely time, celebrating granddad's birthday and seeing also uncle Ed, who flew over from France, auntie Katie and uncle Ron. The day after, we went to the Eastbourne airshow with Mary, Peter and Ed. Here are some pictures from the day.

Flying in formation

Maria, granddad and grannie waiting for the next act

The whole family enjoying a nice windy day and the airplanes

Maria 8 months update

We have been enjoying a lot our life as parents, in the last 8 months, since Maria arrived. Maria is now 8 months old and she has been developing in a normal pace. She is 8kg and 68cm, average height and weight. In the last few weeks, she has spent a lot of time playing with toys, sitting up. She did her first steps shortly after 6 months and she can walk with support.

Being on her tummy is not Maria's favourite thing, so she might skip the crawling stage. Although, in the last 3 days, we discovered that she is moving in the room, but in a funny way, with one knee down and the other leg bent as she would step on her foot. She does manage to move where she wants to. She is also pulling herself up in the cot and I found her several times waiting for me standing up.

Talking is not one of her strength yet. Her voice is quite high pitch and she managed to scare two of her friends, with her squeaky sounds. She can be probably like Will in that regards, not very chatty. We started taking her to the swimming pool since she was 4 months and of course with us to our badminton practice. One of her favourite toys is the shuttlecock. Well done, Maria! We hope you will enjoy playing badminton with us when you get older.

Her eyes are still blue and the hair keeps on growing and getting lighter and lighter. We enjoy every Thursday attending our mum and baby group and playing with our little friends. During her 8 months, Maria travelled 2 times by plane, several times by train, bus, ship, subway, tram, car and has spent a lot of time in daddy's taxi (the baby carrier). She visited 2 foreign countries and she is ready to fly with us to Germany in a couple of months.

New Forest

My friend Corina and her two sons, Alexander and Edward came over to visit us on their way home to Canada. Here are some pictures from the New Forest on their second day here. Lauren joined us, as well and we enjoyed a beautiful sunny, but windy day in the New Forest.

With Lauren, Corina and EdwardBig red woods

Trip to Devon

Just two days after we got back home, we packed and we were off to Salcombe with Will's family. It was a great idea to get all together to celebrate Will's dad's 70th Birthday. It was a beautiful holiday and we had a very nice and relaxing time.

Beautiful view from the cottage in Salcome
Kayaking in the first day of our trip

Maria and daddy watching mummy kayaking

In the last day, a nice surprise came from Will when he wanted to do a double kayak with me

The synchronization seems to workThat's fun
Back on the shore

Devon area is very nice and we were quite lucky with nice weather, so we did some geocaching in the area, generally following the coastal footpath and went for an evening estuary cruise.

On our search for travel bugs and geocoinsDaddy taxi is fun
On the estuary evening cruise
Lovely time on the boat
Family picture (Valerie, Ed, Mary and Peter, us, Katie and Ron); Maria took the picture (just kidding, she was sleeping)
On the way back home, we stopped to visit the Model Village
Wondering through the Model Village in Torqay area
Maria was ready to go home...

Back home and last days of our trip to Romania

I know, I know, it's been a few weeks since we got back home from Romania and nothing on the blog, but we have been incredibly busy. It was so good to see Will again after 3 weeks in Romania without him. It was nice to visit family and friends back home, but it feels better to be back where our home is now.

Last few days in Romania were nice and my best friend prepared a nice surprise for me, showing up in Brasov from Los Angeles unexpectedly. Here are some pictures of the day we met.

Meeting Oli in Brasov

Last day at home I also had the pleasure to meet Crissy and Zico who came over from Colorado.

Maria playing with ZicoWondering in Brasov on a rainy day

With Crissy and Maria in the Central Park in Brasov

At the Black Sea

At the beginning of June we spent a few days at the Black Sea, in Eforie Nord, with our friends Dan, Lili, Luca and Eva and also my aunt Mio who joined us for a day there.

Mio, Maria and Will in our first day at the sea

So nice to be back at the Black Sea after more than 10 years

Maria and daddy hiding from the sun

"Love being on my feet in the sand"

Daddy time

on an empty beach in Eforie Nord

"I had enough sun; now it's time for a nap"

what a cutie!

Maria and mummy out for dinner

I love to be on the beach

"look at my foot!"

it's so hot, I really need a pony-tail

moon over the Black Sea

how lovely was to spend time with our friends, Dan, Lili, Luca and Eva

Luca taking out Maria for dinner. What a gentleman!

Just before dinner at a nice restaurant with a great view

with Luca and Maria at the restaurant

Smile for daddy!

Maria sitting up and thinking...