James's baptism

James was baptised this morning! In the middle of the largest snowstorm that London's seen in years... It started coming down as we were leaving the house and we had inches of light fluffy snow by the time we were done. Very fitting since it was also snowing when we brought James home from the hospital. Here are a few pics, but there are lots more on Flickr (as well as a few from one of my client's kids Christmas party)...

My brother the chef!

My brother has always been a great cook, but it seems like he's taken it to a new level recently. He's making up recipes on his own - something I can NOT do - and cooking a ton for his girlfriend Jo (lucky lady!). Here are a few recipes that he shared, which I can't wait to try out for myself!

Asian Salmon:
In a bowl, mix the following ingredients:
Soy sauce (1/4 c)
Olive oil (1/4 c)
Garlic, minced
Sriracha Thai Chili Sauce (1 tbls or to taste)
Savory Spice Mix (1 tbls)

Roll and slice enough basil leaves to sprinkle on top of the salmon fillets. Press the basil into the top of the fillets in a very lightly greased baking dish. Cover with the mixture from the bowl and marinate 4-6 hours.

Cook at 350 for 10 mins, then put under the broiler for another 4 or 5, until the top is golden brown.

Ginger Asparagus (super duper easy and ridiculously tasty!):

Get the fat asparagus if you can. Chop off the bottom end and split them vertically.

Lay on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper.

Peel a piece of ginger, about 1-1.5 inches for 1 bunch of asparagus

Using the small, or "fine" side of the grater, grate the ginger directly over the asparagus.

Mix everything up on the cookie sheet, and once mixed, lay all the asparagus so the flat side is facing up.

Cook at 350 until fork tender, about 10-12 minutes.

Veggie Orzo:

Cook half a pound of Orzo, drain.

In a sauce pan, saute garlic, celery, and onion in a small amount of olive oil until tender and slightly browned. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes.

Mix into orzo, add Parmesan cheese and finely chopped parsley to taste.

Also, I made this Eggplant side dish that Jo really liked the other night so I thought I would share it:

Saute garlic, celery (or bell pepper), and onion until soft. Add peeled and cubed eggplant and cook until tender. Add tomatoes, chopped basil, salt and pepper and cook another 2-3 minutes until tomatoes are soft. Put in serving dish and mix in Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley to taste.

We've moved!

I haven't had a chance to take pics of the new place, so you'll just have to trust me... every single box is unpacked! Well, except for the ones we shoved in the attic and playroom closet, but we don't need to talk about that... Everything else is unpacked! I'm looking forward to my mom's next visit so she can help me reorganize the kitchen (one of her specialties) but for now, things are looking pretty good. Closets done - which was a feat since we moved two bedrooms worth of closet stuff into one bedroom closet, shelves are organized, toys are in the playroom - with James crawling around in excited circles, amazed at how much space he has, and most of the pictures are hung. Phew. It was a pretty exhausting couple of days (I've used that word a lot in the past 48 hours) but well worth it. We love the new place and can't wait for you all to come visit!

I'm going to try to shoot a video tour but in the meantime, here are some moving out pics from our former English cottage...

Christmas caroling

For the past couple years Ric and I have gone to the Christmas Carol concert at St. George's church in Mayfair. Last year I was heavily pregnant and cried like a baby at almost every song (especially the Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas duet - it was magical!). There weren't any tears this year but the service was equally as moving. They do a combination of choir singing, readings, and audience participation. With mulled wine and minced pies of course! Here's a little video of some festive singing:

The first farewell

We'll be saying goodbye to lots of things over the next few days as we move to a new house. But the first to go is our trusty living room furniture. I still remember when I was about 10 years old, living in Saratoga, and the family went out to buy new couches and tables for our house. I fell in love with this leather chair (it's so cozy!!) and wouldn't get out of it in the store until my parents relented and said we could bring it home with us. In the 20+ years since then, I've spent a lot of time curled up in that chair. Covered in a blanket. Reading a book or watching TV. It's been at home in our family houses on both coasts, in Ric and my first apartment in San Francisco. And our second. And it made the trek across the Atlantic with us.

Goodbye chair and couches. You've taken good care of us over the years. I hope you'll do the same in your new home for many years to come!

Little drummer boy

James update

We are almost exactly one week away from James's first birthday, so I thought I'd take a minute to write about what he's up to these days...

• Teeth: he's got six teeth (5 fully in and 1 halfway in). They're huge. Much bigger than other baby teeth I've seen. And he's got a big space in between his two top teeth. All of which makes for a pretty funny, and charming in its own way, smile
• Babytude: Ric had to go back to the US for work and two days after he left, James developed what I've affectionately termed a "babytude." He basically started pitching fits when he wasn't getting what he wanted. Very interesting development, and one that I wasn't expecting for a few more months at least. So we've started disciplining him to try and nip it in the bud. He gets a babytude with Ana and I, but not Ric, so Ric is trying to teach James that's it's not ok to pitch a fit with Mommy or Ana. I'll say one thing for sure, the kid knows what he wants and doesn't want. And while it's not behavior that we condone of , it is kind of cool to see him becoming more of his own person
• Mysterious sickness: Last week, also while Ric was gone, James developed a weird rash that at first only came out when we put him in the bath. After my initial panic - Oh my gosh, he's allergic to water! - we talked to the doctor and when the spots didn't go away after 4 days or so, we took him in. Turns out he probably had a viral infection of some sort, which also explains his insanely high fever the other night (which we chalked up to teething at the time). The bumps have pretty much gone away on their own, so we're now back to normal
• Food: the good news about James turning one is that he can now eat pretty much anything that we eat. I made scrambled eggs for him last weekend and he LOVED them. We've also switched him to real cow's milk instead of formula, and he likes that as well. And peanut butter on toast... yum!
• Eating: in a related category, James is now trying to feed himself with a spoon. It's pretty funny and REALLY messy. Food everywhere. And as a non-messy person, this goes against every fiber in my body. But he loves it so we're letting him experiment as much as he wants. Mostly.
  
• 12 month checkup: while we were at the doctor, we did a quick 12 month checkup. James is right on track with his development (he's saying a few words, can use his "pincer" grip to pick things up, is trying to walk, can wave, etc). And he now weighs 22.5 pounds, which is in the 70th percentile
• Walking: he hasn't officially walked yet, but he can stand on his own without holding onto anything (until he realizes he's doing it and then gets scared and sits down), and he took a couple unassisted steps. He gets around so well by crawling (that kid is FAST!) that he's not overly motivated to start walking. But I think he'll be there in the next month or so. We're excited about that... and preparing to put gates up all over our new house