The "new" Old White Bear

For anyone who's visited us in Hampstead you've most likely been to "Ye Old White Bear," which was a cozy local pub that had been around for ages. It was one of Ric's favorites, although the beer selection wasn't great. He liked it becuase "it was a good, standard, old school pub that was never packed and stayed open later than others in the neighborhood."

Well, we had to say goodbye to the, or should I say Ye, Old White Bear a few months back and have been waiting with baited breath to see what would be put in its place. This week the new restaurant opened - still called The Old White Bear (www.theoldwhitebear.co.uk)- and we are thrilled. We ate there on Friday night and couldn't have been happier with the meal. We had fried squid and Serrano ham to start, and fillet and tuna for main courses. The food was delicious but we were most wowed by the wine list. Almost every wine on there was under £30 and the selection was very interesting and different. We talked to the manager about it and it turns out that their wine person came from Vinotecca, our FAVORITE wine bar in London, over in the Farringdon neighborhood. One of the best surprises was Billecart Salmon champagne by the glass. With dinner we had a red wine from Austria, not something you'd normally see on a wine list, and it was delicious.

The interior of the restaurant is cool too. Mismatched tables and chairs, old radiators that had been restored, picnic benches, and odds and ends that look like they've been collected from antique markets over the years.

A new place to add to your list next time you come visit!

Update on the little man

James turned three months today and he's reached a couple big milestones this week in celebration - he rolled over from his stomach to his back, and he caught his first cold (from Ric).

The rolling over is quite a novelty. He can't do it consistently yet, but both Ric and I have witnessed the feat and can vouch for its authenticity. It's pretty entertaining and I think he's a little surprised when he ends up on his back and isn't totally sure how he got there.

The cold is not so entertaining. It started off harmless enough... a little coughing that was sad to hear but didn't seem to be bothering him much. Well, the coughs have increased in frequency and intensity and now when he's eating, he'll cough and then start screaming bloody murder. Poor little buddy. We're hoping he recovers quickly, although Ric's had his cough for almost two weeks now.

It was Mother's Day in the UK today and I was treated very well by both my guys. I was taken out to a nice lunch at the Horseshoe, where James slept quietly in his stroller as my Mother's Day present. And then we went by Judy Green's garden shop and picked out flowers for the pots out back that Ric planted for me. They look gorgeous and make me even more ready for spring.

New videos up on Flickr for anyone interested. We can't seem to get him "talking" on film though. He's either really distracted by the video camera, or doesn't like being put on the spot.

James's favorite perch

Just had to post this picture of where James loved hanging out while we were staying with Ma-Maw and Paw in Charlottesville. He was very comfy up there!

And we spoke too soon on the jet lag thing... James was up last night at 2am, 3:30am and 5am, then we started the day at 7am. That's more waking up than when we first brought him home! Hoping tonight is a little better.

World traveler

James took his first trip last week... we went all the way to Virginia and back, just the two of us! I was pretty nervous beforehand - never having traveled with a baby and being on my own was a little intimidating. But it went as smoothly as can be expected. Everyone along the way was SO nice and there were an unlimited number of offers to help. On the flight from London to Charlotte (where we connected before going on to Charlottesville) he cried/screamed a little at one point and didn't want to eat, but was pretty good the rest of the way. I had a couple seats to myself so we were able to spread out a bit and we did a lot of walking up and down the aisles. The three hour layover in Charlotte was pretty long, but we made our way into the US Air lounge after paying a daily rate and were able to make ourselves comfortable. There was even a private family changing room where I could close the door and feed him without lots of other people around.

Once we made it to Charlottesville, after 18 hours of traveling, he adjusted to the new time zone pretty easily. He woke up around 4 or 5am every morning wanting to eat, which he wasn't doing in London, but then he'd go back to sleep until 7ish. He had a lot of fun meeting so many relatives - his great grandparents, his uncle, his grandfather, and his great great grandmother. It was really nice to have so many people around to help entertain him! James is probably thinking that our normal life back in London is pretty boring just staring at me all day... he's missing the variety!

The flight home was great... overnight and he slept almost the entire way. Everyone on the plane was very happy and lots of people commented about what a good job he did. Yay! I definitely feel like I accomplished something by flying to Cville and back with him...

As a side note, we figured out at the very last minute that babies DO need UK visas and for a little while thought we'd have to try and force his way back into the country visa-less. Luckily, I found a GREAT guy in the US who was able to literally get the visa for us in 24 hours. I FedExed him all the paperwork, which he got on Monday, and we had James's visa and passport back on Tuesday. All for $250. Amazing. Especially since the company we were talking to here in London was going to charge us more than $2,000 and said it would take longer than two weeks. Yikes!

Lots of pictures are up on Flickr. Enjoy!