First Things First

Whilst I'm on hold with the cable company (stupid internet is being slow), there is time to catch up with the blogging. There is more to come on Thanksgiving (if you want a sneak-peak look here).

In two weeks time we're all off to the Old Country so Bluet can meet most of the rest of her family for the first time, and be schooled in the British Christmas traditions. However, her British Grandfather (please let me know what you really want to be called, probably not that, I think) is off to New Zealand for the next 3 months, and before he went he stopped by for a 3 day visit, in order to meet Bluet before she gets really big. 3 days is not long, but both Bluet and her grandfather like to do lots of things, so here is our weekend.........

There were some issues on the subway ride. So when he finally arrived it was too late on Friday night to see Bluet.

However, we were able to capture their first encounter Saturday AM. Where they each appeared to make a good first impression:

We then went for a Saturday morning breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien in Central Park. 

Back home (see hair pictures from last week)

Then an afternoon trip to some bookshops sans Bluet and Emily, where we found some old AA Milne books, amongst other things. I hope Bluet enjoys them as much as me (and my Dad before me) did.

A quiet evening falling asleep in front of 'The West Wing' followed.

Then Sunday morning came early. Me and my Dad were left In Charge and everything went well. In all honesty I cannot remember what we did in the morning, but it was something fun, no doubt. Later on, we all headed into Park Slope to have some food and beers with old family friends, Charles and Diane, (not pictured) in Brooklyn. It got dark and Bluet and Emily went home, whilst the rest of us enjoyed a pleasant evening, with Grandfather/Dad/Andrew admitting he actually rather liked New York.

Later, hell froze over.

At the Park Slope Ale House in the dark

On Monday, we went on the train downtown to buy Bluet a thing for her Christmas (no spoilers) and then we stopped for lunch at a very trendy downtown cafe on Union Square. Whilst the food seemed good at the time, the fish soup gave me and my Dad 'issues'. As Anthony Bourdain said, never eat fish in a restaurant on a Monday. A lesson learned, as they say.

Trendy restaurant Ahoy. NB Don't eat the fish soup on Mondays.

Waiting for the train back up town

Waiting for the train is very tiring/boring

Eventually, we arrive at MoMA and look at some art.

Bluet is more impressed by her Grandfather's jumper

Although eating the fish soup at the lunch venue was a Bad Idea, it was also the first time and place where Bluet tried to drink out of a cup like an adult. Although she didn't know exactly what to do with her tongue (of course, she wanted to stick it out, which is unhelpful in these situations), she enjoyed it and was happy to practice further when we got home.

Coming soon, thanksgiving pictures (and an explanation of Thanksgiving for the Brits reading this).

7 Month Birthday

well the week surrounding Bluet's 7 month birthday was a big one family wise, with the first chance to meet her British Grandfather followed by Thanksgiving with her Missouri family - more on both later.

In the meantime, here is a video of a 7 month-old in action. As you can see she can sit up, eat stuff, and use her hands. She can almost crawl, so hopefully that will be in her next vid.

In the back of the car

We aren't in New York any more

Thanksgiving bound

It's 5AM. Do you know where your children are?

Bluet's Fashion Tips

Step one:

Fall asleep in your pram at a jaunty angle for 30-40 mins

Step two:

Wake up with awesome hair

Bluet and the records

Learning about the value of music

5,000 Hits, you say?

In the post preceding this one you can see what I found in the vaults - a lost post of Emily's from the 3rd of June - no idea why it never went up then, but nice to see now. She looks very different these days, even though that was just a few months ago.

(Actually, the blog software put it where it was originally written - you can view it here : http://bluet2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/bluet-in-action.html)

And here is a more recent picture of Bluet hanging out with her friend Caroline at the Blue Point Brewery. Although it isn't clear from the photo, Bluet has started to respond to other babies, reaching out to touch/grab them (the other baby in the mirror remains the one that makes her laugh the most).

An Experiment

Tonight we try an experiment. Usually Bluet eats around 18:30, has a bath (a description of which may be posted when we get our 5,000 visitor), listens to a story (perhaps 'that's not my tractor' - the attention span is too short for Dr Seuss). Then by 19:00 she is fast asleep in bed.

Bluet asleep in own bed. Note thumb in mouth and essential rabbit

Tonight we are going to go to a birthday party for a friend of mine at work, starting at 19:00. Our plan, such as it is, is to head down there a little early, and let Bluet go to sleep in their bedroom. Then, once we are ready to leave the party, we will try and not wake her whilst walking across the city to the uptown bus. This will fail, but hopefully she won't scream all the way home, disturbing the revellers returning from their nights out. One hope is that this interruption to her sleep will help her adjust to the loss of daylight savings time (American 'British Summer Time'), and thus she will no longer be waking up at 5.30 in the morning. A second hope is that it works brilliantly and we can employ this tactic for future parties.

A good night's sleep restores energy

How could a baby that looks like this be any trouble?

Take me home. now.

Ready For Winter

Ideally, we'd all have one of these sleeping bag type things to keep us warm whenever we go out.

Destruction and Carnage

Bluet at the marathon