Thursday 31 December 2009

New Year's Eve

Here we are at the end of 2009. It is New Year's Eve and we're reflecting on the many important events which took place this year. The biggest events were buying our house, Cristina's happy pregnancy and her unfortunate maternity leave battle at work, being burgled in our old rented house back in January 2009, being visited by Cristina's parents Rafael and Conchita and the most important and wonderful event being James' arrival.

Just to catch you up on December...earlier in December we had quite alot of snow in Reading. James saw his first snowflakes!

On the 19th Ed came to pick the three of us up in Reading and brought us to Wisbech to spend 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year's celebrations. The roads were a little scary, but Ed/Jish was a champion driver and we had a safe and pleasant journey. This was James' longest car journey so far.

Once in Wisbech, Cristina still had to take a test called the "Life in the UK Test" in order to apply for permanent settlement in the UK. The test was to prove that I can read English!! However, you have to learn a lot of trivial facts as well as more important ones about the UK and so, it is a stressful test. It is quite hard to pass (you must get 75% correct) unless you study the materials closely. David/Grandad drove me to Norwich (2 hours away!) to take the test. I had to stay away form James for 8 hours which was very hard. Plus, holding off on breastfeeding him for that long was actually painful. The good news is that I passed the test and have sent off my application for settlement to the Home Office. Grandad had to navigate some treacherous roads. On the bright side, we spent the drive admiring the beautiful landscape of frosted trees, perfectly white snowy fields and the gorgeous skies with low winter sun shining on.

We have had a wonderful first Christmas with James. James was a very good boy this year and so he was visited by Father Christmas in person! You have to watch the slide show to see:



James has received many gifts, cards and good wishes from friends here in the UK and all over the world. He is a lucky little chap. We were able to Skype with family in Knoxville on Christmas day. We spent Christmas day at Granny and Jish's house with Tia Helen, Great Nanna and Great Grandad. We all had a terrific Christmas meal topped off with a delicious Christmas pudding. Then on Boxing Day we went to Grandad and Anne's for another meal and more fabulous presents!

James is fascinated with the Christmas tree, lights and ornaments. He has had a growth spurt while we have been here, demanding alot of milk and even growing too long for some of his clothes. He is even more alert now and plays with a toy with you. He interacts more, smiling lots and laughing from time to time. He "talks" every day experimenting with noises. Now that he is 4 months old we have started giving him a few spoonfuls of rice cereal after his milk once a day to get him used to the idea of eating from a spoon. So far he likes this new game, although he doesn't manage to actually eat very much of the cereal.

Tonight we will ring in the New Year. We wish you all a very happy 2010!