Baby swans are called cygnets. Baby ducks are called ducklings. Don't know who is going to hatch first - Rose or the duck family that has taken up residence in our backyard pond.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Upcoming hatch
Baby swans are called cygnets. Baby ducks are called ducklings. Don't know who is going to hatch first - Rose or the duck family that has taken up residence in our backyard pond.
Welcome to the house of fun!
Our house is quickly becoming Baby HQ, baby stuff is being unpacked and finding a home and bags of clothes are being washed and sorted by age range, thanks to everyone who's sent us things, it's all much appreciated... we thought we'd share a couple of fun photos.
Our hanging toy rack... was recently a big hit with a visiting baby.
It seems our baby wants to give Imelda Marcos a run for her money, as his growing collection of shoes attests, he literally has more shoes than his dad.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Pregnancy Productivity
There is towards the end of pregnancy a 'nesting' period. During this period the mother to be and father to be begin to prepare the house for the baby, this can include decorating and cleaning.
Everyone has a funny story about how they cleaned the ceiling or floor with a toothbrush in preparation. I have found that I have been finishing a lot of craft projects I had been meaning to do, so I call this period of time 'pregnancy productivity' because I seem to be quite productive.
A few examples:
Everyone has a funny story about how they cleaned the ceiling or floor with a toothbrush in preparation. I have found that I have been finishing a lot of craft projects I had been meaning to do, so I call this period of time 'pregnancy productivity' because I seem to be quite productive.
A few examples:
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| Curtains - a good use of a lot of fabric and hopefully will let me 'sleep when the baby sleeps' which sounds like good advice |
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| Headboard - may have a bit more tweaking, perhaps I will be adding some filler to make it softer. |
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| Floor cushion - I only realized later that this is burnt orange, we have a small living area so our dining table is a coffee table height, we sit on floor cushions to eat and I am sitting on this cushion right now writing this blog post :) |
Friday, March 28, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
Baby Bump!
What would a baby blog be without some "bump" photos? These were taken last month. Looking beautiful, Rose!
Anticipating Halloween
The five best baby costumes currently available from Party City:
Can't believe they don't have a Taco Baby costume yet. Or Hamburger Baby.
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Baby Bunting Great White Shark Costume |
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Baby Peacock Costume |
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Baby Business Costume |
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Baby Bunting Shrimp Costume |
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Baby Bunting Elvis Costume |
Can't believe they don't have a Taco Baby costume yet. Or Hamburger Baby.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Baby Names!
The top ten baby names for boys in England and Wales versus the United States, as of 2012:
Hard to imagine thousands of Alfies running (crawling) around! Rose is currently 78th in England and Wales versus 261st in the U.S. (Was 264th in the U.S. at the time of her birth--way to hold steady, Rose!) Daniel is currently ranked 16th in England and Wales versus 11th in the U.S. (#5 in Texas!)
The Texas top ten is disappointingly in line with the rest of the country:
England and Wales United States
1. Harry Jacob
2. Oliver Mason
3. Jack Ethan
4. Charlie Noah
5. Jacob William
6. Thomas Liam
7. Alfie Jayden
8. Riley Michael
9. William Alexander
10. James Aiden
Hard to imagine thousands of Alfies running (crawling) around! Rose is currently 78th in England and Wales versus 261st in the U.S. (Was 264th in the U.S. at the time of her birth--way to hold steady, Rose!) Daniel is currently ranked 16th in England and Wales versus 11th in the U.S. (#5 in Texas!)
The Texas top ten is disappointingly in line with the rest of the country:
1. Jacob
2. Jayden
3. Ethan
4. Noah
5. Daniel
6. Jose
7. David
8. Aiden
9. Matthew
10. Alexander
Where is Walker (Texas Ranger)? Major or any other beloved UT quarterback? (Okay, Major is actually on a big upward trend in the U.S., but it has a ways to go before cracking the top ten.) Mirabeau?? I am disappointed that Texans are not getting more creative and Texas-centric with their baby names. Makes me start to doubt that Texas is like a whole other country after all... More inspiration can be found here.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Baby Quilts
Since Rose and I share an interest in quilting, I thought the history of baby quilts might be an interesting topic for a post. Not knowing much about baby stuff (or…history?), I didn’t realize that cribs are a relatively recent invention, and therefore baby quilts don’t have a very long history!
According to one of my favorite Half-Price Books finds, The Perfect Patchwork Primer by Beth Gutcheon, colonial-era quilts tended to be gigantic because they had to cover you, your husband, AND a couple of hatchlings. Younger children would sleep in the master bed with their parents, and older children would sleep on trundles that were stowed away under the master bed during the day. A quilt needed to be large enough to cover the larger bed and also hang down far enough to hide the trundles stored underneath.
This article by French quilter Christiane Billard has a lot of interesting information. Cribs started being mentioned in New England writings around 1750, and we can assume that quilts for cribs followed soon thereafter. However, it was still common practice until the middle of the 19th century for children to sleep in their parents’ bed. In 1841, Catharine Beecher’s book Treatise on Domestic Economy was published--the first comprehensive guide to housekeeping published in the U.S. The book was immensely successful. Beecher promoted the use of cribs, and American households soon fell in line with her way of thinking.
In the 1800s, baby quilts were usually made by the pregnant mother or a grandmother for the first-born child. The same quilt would then be used for each subsequent child until it fell apart from wear and tear.
Ballard points out that the aesthetics of baby quilts evolved as attitudes toward children changed during the Victorian era. Baby quilts had been miniature versions of adult quilts, but as the sanctity of childhood began to be recognized and the genre of children’s literature started to flourish, baby quilts became more fanciful and educational in their motifs. Baby quilts then started to feature appliqués of animals, letters, and scenes that would be amusing to children.
Have you made, received, or purchased a remarkable baby quilt? Tell your story in the comments or send me a photo if you have one! I would love to compile a gallery for another post.
According to one of my favorite Half-Price Books finds, The Perfect Patchwork Primer by Beth Gutcheon, colonial-era quilts tended to be gigantic because they had to cover you, your husband, AND a couple of hatchlings. Younger children would sleep in the master bed with their parents, and older children would sleep on trundles that were stowed away under the master bed during the day. A quilt needed to be large enough to cover the larger bed and also hang down far enough to hide the trundles stored underneath.
This article by French quilter Christiane Billard has a lot of interesting information. Cribs started being mentioned in New England writings around 1750, and we can assume that quilts for cribs followed soon thereafter. However, it was still common practice until the middle of the 19th century for children to sleep in their parents’ bed. In 1841, Catharine Beecher’s book Treatise on Domestic Economy was published--the first comprehensive guide to housekeeping published in the U.S. The book was immensely successful. Beecher promoted the use of cribs, and American households soon fell in line with her way of thinking.
In the 1800s, baby quilts were usually made by the pregnant mother or a grandmother for the first-born child. The same quilt would then be used for each subsequent child until it fell apart from wear and tear.
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| Crib Quilt, Mill Wheel pattern, c. 1840, The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Ballard points out that the aesthetics of baby quilts evolved as attitudes toward children changed during the Victorian era. Baby quilts had been miniature versions of adult quilts, but as the sanctity of childhood began to be recognized and the genre of children’s literature started to flourish, baby quilts became more fanciful and educational in their motifs. Baby quilts then started to feature appliqués of animals, letters, and scenes that would be amusing to children.
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| Marion Whiteside Newton, Crib Quilt, Alice in Wonderland patterned, 1945, The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Friday, March 14, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
British -> American Translations for Baby Terms
Cheerio!
Cheerios? Dan, what are you talking about?
Well Rose, we use different terms in the UK compared to the USA, interestingly some of the USA terms are the old English that was brought over when American was colonized and some of the UK terms are older versions of words that have been replaced by new words in the USA.
Ah, like for example:
UK English USA English
Anaesthetist Anaesthesiologist
Antenatal Prenatal
Chemist Pharmacy or Drug Store
Cot Crib
Dummy Pacifier
Flat Apartment
Homely Home-like*
'in hospital' 'in the hospital'
Jumper Sweater
Mum Mom
Nappy Diaper**
Polo neck, Roll neck Turtle neck
Pram, Push Chair Baby stroller
Trolley Shopping Cart
'sorry' 'excuse me' or 'pardon me'
'tucked up' as 'the baby was tucked up' 'tucked in'
Vest Undershirt, Tank top
Waistcoat Vest
* In the USA 'Homely' means plain or ugly, Dan refers to the flat as homely often, even after I told him the American meaning of the word.
**Diaper is one case where the original word (from middle English, one of the earliest uses was "Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper" —Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew). Diaper was replaced by Nappy, probably a shortened form of Napkin, in the UK, Ireland, and South Africa. Diaper continues to be used in the USA.
There are also a few things to consider when naming a child, for example, 'Randy' is a popular name for a boy in the USA, but in the UK it would be like naming your child 'Horney'.
It is also worth mentioning that like American English, English in the UK can be very regional. Londoner's and Southerners in general speak differently than people from the North. Similarly, in the USA someone from Louisiana uses more words of french origin while someone from Pennsylvania would use more words of german origin.
There are also totally different languages spoken in different regions of the USA and the UK, but that is a different post.
Cheerios? Dan, what are you talking about?
Well Rose, we use different terms in the UK compared to the USA, interestingly some of the USA terms are the old English that was brought over when American was colonized and some of the UK terms are older versions of words that have been replaced by new words in the USA.
Ah, like for example:
UK English USA English
Anaesthetist Anaesthesiologist
Antenatal Prenatal
Chemist Pharmacy or Drug Store
Cot Crib
Dummy Pacifier
Flat Apartment
Homely Home-like*
'in hospital' 'in the hospital'
Jumper Sweater
Mum Mom
Nappy Diaper**
Polo neck, Roll neck Turtle neck
Pram, Push Chair Baby stroller
Trolley Shopping Cart
'sorry' 'excuse me' or 'pardon me'
'tucked up' as 'the baby was tucked up' 'tucked in'
Vest Undershirt, Tank top
Waistcoat Vest
* In the USA 'Homely' means plain or ugly, Dan refers to the flat as homely often, even after I told him the American meaning of the word.
**Diaper is one case where the original word (from middle English, one of the earliest uses was "Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper" —Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew). Diaper was replaced by Nappy, probably a shortened form of Napkin, in the UK, Ireland, and South Africa. Diaper continues to be used in the USA.
There are also a few things to consider when naming a child, for example, 'Randy' is a popular name for a boy in the USA, but in the UK it would be like naming your child 'Horney'.
It is also worth mentioning that like American English, English in the UK can be very regional. Londoner's and Southerners in general speak differently than people from the North. Similarly, in the USA someone from Louisiana uses more words of french origin while someone from Pennsylvania would use more words of german origin.
There are also totally different languages spoken in different regions of the USA and the UK, but that is a different post.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Deptford Wives
A bit about our new neighborhood.
We moved in January to an apartment in SouthEast London. Our neighborhood is called Deptford, in the council of Lewisham, south of the river Thames. The neighborhood is more residential then where we previously lived, which is nice, and there is a large Vietnamese population so we are really close to a good Pho shop, which makes me happy because it reminds me of Houston. The neighborhood is quirky, but not too trendy, and we live close to: a park, pharmacy, library, doctor, grocery stores, and a McDonald's (sometimes you just need a McFlurry ;).
If anyone is thinking of visiting, Greenwich is the closest neighborhood that has hotels, and probably the nicest close place to stay. Our apartment is tiny, but has a large garden so I am really looking forward to summer when I can sit outside and enjoy the late summer sunlight.
I will post more about the little man as he begins to come on the scene, and thanks to everyone who has stopped by the blog for a visit, I am really looking forward to keeping all my friends and family around the world up to date as we build our nest in London. xoxo Rose
We moved in January to an apartment in SouthEast London. Our neighborhood is called Deptford, in the council of Lewisham, south of the river Thames. The neighborhood is more residential then where we previously lived, which is nice, and there is a large Vietnamese population so we are really close to a good Pho shop, which makes me happy because it reminds me of Houston. The neighborhood is quirky, but not too trendy, and we live close to: a park, pharmacy, library, doctor, grocery stores, and a McDonald's (sometimes you just need a McFlurry ;).
If anyone is thinking of visiting, Greenwich is the closest neighborhood that has hotels, and probably the nicest close place to stay. Our apartment is tiny, but has a large garden so I am really looking forward to summer when I can sit outside and enjoy the late summer sunlight.
I will post more about the little man as he begins to come on the scene, and thanks to everyone who has stopped by the blog for a visit, I am really looking forward to keeping all my friends and family around the world up to date as we build our nest in London. xoxo Rose
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| House Wives Cash & Carry - Classic |
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| Mrs. and Mr. smokestacks in Deptford |
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Sales, Sales, Sales....
Hello all.... it's Daniel here.... Rose left her computer open, so I'm taking a minute to say "hello" from me! And so I thought I'd take a second to share something about one of the activities that has been filling up our last couple of weekends: NCT Nearly New Sales!
The Nearly New Sale is like a Black Friday sale for baby swag. The NCT, or National Childbirth Trust, is a charity (that we're members of) offering information and support during pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood. We're currently attending their ante-natal classes - which are very well taught. One of their initiatives is the "Nearly New Sale" that allows parents/to-be to shop for second hand, but barely if-at-all used, equipment and clothes at quite excellent prices. The sales are also a fundraising opportunity for the charity; who take a cut of the sales while the parents/sellers keep the lion share. For the last weekends we've headed out early (to beat the rush), shopping list in hand, to see what bargains we could find...
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Even better, and despite taking the bus in the wrong direction for a couple of stops, we managed to arrive before the sale started, and were within the first 100 people to enter the sale and thus received a "goody bag", the wonderful bag above full of magazines and flyers for various products and such like.
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We were on form and managed to grab up most of our "wish list" items, a baby bath insert, a changing mat, a couple of books and a pile of assorted designer clothing - so the little man has some stylish clobber already.
Just to let you all know our preparations are well under way, and all is well with us... we're really looking forward to the little one arriving, and thank you for all your support, and we look forward to introducing the little one to everyone soon.
All best wishes for now...
Cheers, Dan
The Nearly New Sale is like a Black Friday sale for baby swag. The NCT, or National Childbirth Trust, is a charity (that we're members of) offering information and support during pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood. We're currently attending their ante-natal classes - which are very well taught. One of their initiatives is the "Nearly New Sale" that allows parents/to-be to shop for second hand, but barely if-at-all used, equipment and clothes at quite excellent prices. The sales are also a fundraising opportunity for the charity; who take a cut of the sales while the parents/sellers keep the lion share. For the last weekends we've headed out early (to beat the rush), shopping list in hand, to see what bargains we could find...
As you can see above our first outing was quite successful, in that we bought a fair amount, and probably spent more on a cup of tea on the way home than we did at the sale! However, the careful observer will notice from the haphazard way everything is strewn out on the table when we returned home that we were a little shell shocked!
Next time we knew what we were going to be in for... and so planned accordingly, even studying up on which room equipment would be in, versus clothing, books, etc.
Even better, and despite taking the bus in the wrong direction for a couple of stops, we managed to arrive before the sale started, and were within the first 100 people to enter the sale and thus received a "goody bag", the wonderful bag above full of magazines and flyers for various products and such like.
We were on form and managed to grab up most of our "wish list" items, a baby bath insert, a changing mat, a couple of books and a pile of assorted designer clothing - so the little man has some stylish clobber already.
Just to let you all know our preparations are well under way, and all is well with us... we're really looking forward to the little one arriving, and thank you for all your support, and we look forward to introducing the little one to everyone soon.
All best wishes for now...
Cheers, Dan
Friday, March 7, 2014
Hi, Mom!!! This photo is being returned from U.P. who remembered Rose had sent it several years ago. Reportedly, an Italian DQ special? Will have to intro the forthcoming arrival to the real thing.upon his arrival to the States - as any good,great uncle would do. Can't wait to see photos of baby Cull and Christmas meet and greet Much love, Uncle Pat.
Monday, March 3, 2014
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