Genetics

BTW we just accidentally fed Bluet some swiss cheese (it was free and unidentified) and she would not eat it because it is horrible. This is the first cheese she has ever refused to eat (including stinky french cheeses and blue cheeses. This must be genetic as both Emily and I can taste the horrible swiss cheese taste people who eat the stuff must be insensitive to.

Hotels

I don't know whether you have ever entertained a 1 year old in a hotel for a whole day by yourself. To be honest, I haven't either as it is only 15:13 and Bluet is on her afternoon nap. We are in Houston for 3 days - they (probably) say that you haven't lived until you've visited Houston. But we've done it now. Emily has a job interview at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre, which she is tending to right now. To make her time in Texas (where everything is bigger except the hotel rooms, apparently) more enjoyable, she wanted us to come too. So here we are. There is a limited amount one can do in a small hotel room, even if you are an inquisitive baby. So today we have already been swimming twice (which she really enjoys, especially when I disappear then reappear from under water), run around the lobby (Hotels have escalators, which are like stairs, but better because they are oh so dangerous; Bluet loves escalators; fortunately she found some Bluet safe stairs in the lobby which entertained her for a few minutes), had a nap (Bluet only, I am also trying to write a paper whilst she is out here during her naps, as you can see right now) and eaten a Chipotle burrito.

Asleep on the Plane

In Swimming Cossie

Being European, I thought it would be nice to go for a walk and see a bit of the city. There is a University nearby (Rice University), and the land around Universities is always nice and well appointed with entertaining facilites. The guide book that comes with the hotel room (they also have a Gideon's bible and a copy of the book of Mormon, which I intend to read before we leave) suggests that nearby there is "Rice Village", a popular destination for locals and visitors; that has got to be nice. They also suggest that you drive, but seeing as 1) It isn't very far (maybe 1 mile) and 2) I can't drive we walk. We get there. It is rubbish. We come back. If you lived in Houston it would be great as you could do your shopping, but why visitors from outside would go there is beyond me. Still, it was nice to go for a walk even if we were the only people on the pavement. Later I looked at the map and see that there might be a park in the opposite direction.


Tomorrow we are going to the Zoo.

Talking Update

Having mastered walking, Bluet is currently trying to master talking. Has she got it yet? Well, judge for yourself here:

Summer in the city

Well I'm back from Florida (Bluet was so happy to see me yesterday she wanted to hold my finger all the way when we went out). It is about 70 bazillion degrees in Fahrenheits, or 35C* with lots of humidity. Early this morning we went to the park and Bluet played in the sand.

 
Later, we went to Roosevelt island, which used to be a small pox colony, but now is safe although it has only one road, and can only be reached by cable car from the rest of Manhattan. Bluet loved the cable car and looking at all the cars below. But not as much as she loved the stairs she found after brunch. But then stairs are her third favourite thing, after cheese and bananas.

*educated guesses

Conference

This week I have been in Sandestin, Florida, attending a circadian rhythms conference, and most certainly not enjoying the sun, sand and food whilst Emily tends to Bluet back in NYC.
Anyway, Bluet was concerned to see me leave on Saturday morning, as you can see from this photo.

Apparently every morning when she wakes up she looks for me ("Addy", she says). Fortunately, we have been able to catch up over the internets. Here we are yesterday:

It works well until she tries to close the computer, and she does seem to recognise me. Which is good because this is the longest we've ever been apart, and you never know with children. Apparently she has started to say "no" while I've been away. Hopefully she hasn't changed too much by the time I return tomorrow night.

Yesterday

(lost post from Sunday AM, i.e. discussing the events of Saturday)

Yesterday was the first nice day since forever, so we went to the park to picnic and work on our tans. Bluet walked in the long grass, falling occasionally but very happy.

Seeing it was to be mother's day tomorrow, I obviously paid a large amount of money to have "Mum" skywritten. Unfortunately I had to call the pilot off when he started to write "Mom" instead*

Housework

Looks like Bluet has finally realised the joys of negative entropy. Possibly she is now better at tidying up than her dad.

Firsts

Sunday was a big day. Bluet had her first ever taste of ice cream. She soon got the hang of sticking out her tongue and letting the creamy deliciousness flow into her mouth. Although I think she also experienced her first brain freeze. Later we went to the zoo and Bluet met her first celebrity. As you can see from this paparazzi style shot, it was Elmo and Bluet loved him. Strangely he looked significantly bigger than on TV.

Puttanesca sauce

Yesterday Bluet ate left over pasta with puttanesca sauce* for dinner. As you can see, she loved it. Even though it was full of anchovies and was quite spicy. No olives, though. Because those are horrible

*recipe available on request. It's really easy

Busy weekend

Well, that was a busy weekend. Friday we paid tribute to the beastie boys' Adam Yauch, and Bluet did her dancing thing videoed here:

Then Saturday we went to Central Park to celebrate Liisa's birthday. Bluet ran around in the grass, fell over a few times, ate cheese, and discovered the joy of dandelions. They are apparently hilarious.

Also here is a photo from last week

Vocabulary

Having mastered walking, Bluet has moved on to mastering talking. She can (for definite) say "Baby" in response to pictures of any baby, including herself, or if you ask her to say it, as in this audio clip.



This morning I made the coffee whilst Emily got Bluet up. Whilst I was in the kitchen, Emily bought Bluet over, and she said "Daddy" when she saw me. Which was wonderful - and I am 95% sure she meant me (Often she says "Addy" instead). She can also say "Mama" (or Mamamamama) to Emily. Perhaps most impressively she has become interested in counting thanks to a series of cards she was given for her birthday. They have different numbers of circles on them to count, and she points at them, we say "One, Two, Three", and she repeats something vaguely similar back. She can also (sometimes) say "Bye Bye" as she waves bye bye.