Week 16

My baby angel is 17 weeks old today. At this rate, I am going to be 60 in no time!

Esme had her 3 month doctor's appointment on April 15. It actually turned out to be her 4 month appointment because it got delayed by a week due to our trip to London and then delayed again because I thought it was on a Friday when it was, in fact, on the Thursday and I had to reschedule for a week later...OOOPS!

Here is what the Dr Had to say:

Weight: 15 pounds 7 ounces (75-90 percentile)
Height: 25.5 inches (75-90 percentile)
Head: 42.5 cm (above 90 percentile)

The doctor said that her height growth was above normal but that she is staying consistently in her 75-90 percentile. She said she is getting tall quickly because both Stephen and I are fairly tall. Dr also said that she is very proportionate and is very healthy. I was also warned that she could start rolling any day...mommy beware!

I told the dr that she has been having a little mucous in her stool and she told me that Esme most likely has a dairy intolerance. This means I have to lay off of the dairy and take a calcium supplement to see if it helps. Doesn't sound like a big deal but to a girl who drinks at least two pints of milk with her dinner....it is HUGE.

So far there is no need to start Ez on rice cereal. She is still sleeping through the night like a pro and seems perfectly happy with what the mama milk cow has to offer.

Meeting Great Grandpa WIl

My Grandpa Wil had to make an emergency business trip to Buffalo and was able to stop by and spend his 66th birthday with us. This is the first time in 35 years that my Grandpa Wil and Grandma Mardine were not together on his birthday so we were excited to have him. We went to a local italian bakery and bought him an amazing chocolate cake and planned on taking him to dinner at Houlihan's (a local favorite of ours). Unfortunately, something came up and he had to shoot back up to Buffalo (a 7 hour drive!) before dinner time.

On a whim, we all decided to hop in the Elantra Friday night and drive to Buffalo to spend more time with him and see Niagara Falls. We had been planning on visiting Niagara Falls in the near future and thought that this was as good an excuse as any! Stephen loved seeing the falls. We went up the Skylon on the Canadian side and got some pretty good pictures of the waterfalls. It isn't every weekend that you get to see one of the 7 wonders of the world!

The drive was long and the stay was short but it was worth it. We got to spend a little more time with Dad/Grandpa/Great Grandpa Wil and we got to do some sightseeing on top!

Great Grandpa and Esme




Horseshoe Falls from the Skylon


Mommy and Ez


Niagara Falls


Grandma and Esme


Mommy, Daddy and Ez


Esme is a champion road tripper and slept pretty much the entire time. We didn't have to stop any more for her than we would have done on our own- thats our girl!

picture of the week:

Weeks 15

Esme seemed to grow instantly as soon as we returned to New York. She had been trying very hard to find her feet while we were in England and finally succeeded the day after we got home. She now has a love affair with her toes and feet and will not leave them alone. Sometimes she even gets angry that she cant quite get them into her mouth....



Here is a short clip of Esme finding her toes


The fire alarms at our apartment continue. We have lived in this apartment for 7 months and have spent a solid 5 months of that time dealing with excessive fire alarms. We are DONE. We have a meeting with our apartment manager tomorrow and will be breaking our lease, even if that means going to court. Here is an example of what we have had to go through for the past five months. This particular alarm went off at 445 in the morning (keep in mind that we have muffled our alarms with around 5 layers of duct tape and the alarms are still this loud):


We will not subject our daughter to this kind of atmosphere any longer. We have also been having issues with the neighbors below us partying loudly until 430 in the morning and smoking pot incessantly. If this were a college dorm I would be understanding- but it is not. We pay a lot of money to live in so called "professional, luxury apartments" and are not getting our money's worth.

Esme has stopped taking all binks except avent binks and will only take those when she is very tired. She much prefers her thumb!

Ez has also started reaching for things. She is a bit clumsy and doesn't always manage to get what she intends to- but she tries and that is what counts! She loves stuffed animals (especially the stuffed parrot her god father Mike got her) and slobbers them to death. The main dilemma in our household is that our cats also like stuffed animals. They are pretty much like dogs and carry stuffed toys twice their size around the house in their mouths. We bought the cats a special quacking duck stuffed dog toy so that they would stop stealing Esme's things. Do you think that worked? NO! Esme LOVES the duck (she thinks it is hilarious and laughs at it constantly) and the cats still prefer her toys.

Another first for Esme this week was going a full day without going poo. We thought this was strange but since she didn't seem uncomfortable we didn't worry too much about it. Until the next day...

Ez was sitting in her bouncy chair and we heard a noise. It did not sound particularly dire so I let her sit for a few minutes (she sometimes takes a while to finish!). Bad idea. When I removed her from her bouncer I soon discovered that the noise was indeed DIRE and I had a very big mess on my hands!



The mess was down both legs and completely up her back. Thank god for spray and wash- I think I need to buy stock in their company!!!!

London Calling (weeks 14 + 15)

I apologize in advance- this blog is long and probably very poorly written! I just needed to get it out of the way...

We survived our first trip with an infant! Esme was an absolute gem on both plane rides- not a peep from her! There was a horrible little wretch a few rows back that screamed bloody murder the ENTIRE plane ride to England and I was afraid she was going to rub off on Ez but...NO DICE! We couldn't have a more perfect, well behaved baby.

Esme in her "sky cot" on the plane


From the moment we touched down in England, we were on a mission! We went straight from Heathrow to Stephen's parent's- but not before we had a little drama. We were quoted around 260 pounds for our two week car rental. When we arrived at Hertz, we were told that there was a 58 pound surcharge for the child seat (which we requested but were not told there was a charge for) and that the insurance would cost us 20 pounds a day. That took our quote from around 260 to over 600 pounds for two weeks!! I threw a fit. Eventually they gave in and, although they wouldn't lower the price, they gave us a brand new Audi with 10 miles on it to drive. Now here comes the best part of the story. We drove the car for two weeks and when we returned it we complained again...and guess what? They reversed all of the insurance and baby seat charges and only charged us the original 260!!! Moral of this story: complaining pays.

Jill and Richard (my mother and father-in-law) were very gracious hosts and were kind enough to let us stay in their home and pop in and out as we pleased. Jill made us several lovely meals and kept us fed and watered! Thank you both for your love and hospitality- it means a lot to us.

We spent our first night in England at Stephen's Mom and Dad's house. They were very excited for our arrival (although I dare say Esme was the main cause of excitement!) and were smitten with Esme. Grandma and Grandad Bailey are pleased to FINALLY have a girl in the family.

Gram Bailey giving Ez a bath


We drove from North Essex down to London to visit Raj and Kulvant. We had a lovely evening catching up with each other and went to a nice italian dinner down the street from their house. Esme was a bit cranky but there was a 5 hour time difference and given the circumstances she did very well. She even slept through the night despite the time change!

Uncle Raj and Esme


After spending the night with Raj and Kulvant (and after a lovely full English thanks to Kulvant) we headed up to meet Uncle Adrian, Auntie Helen and cousins Miles and Stuart. It was great watching Stuart and Miles interact with Ez. Miles even showed me that he had feet to match Esme's! Both of the boys have grown so much I hardly recognized them- it had been almost a year since we had last seen them! We had a mini Christmas (we didn't get to celebrate in Dec because I was enormously prego) and enjoyed sharing stories about our crazy 2009! We can't wait to see them all again in September at Adrian and Helen's wedding!!! YAY!

Stuart and Miles playing with Esme on her play mat


Ez with her Auntie, Uncle and Cousins


Next stop: Hastings! We went to Michael's house and introduced the baby to his family. It was great seeing his mom and his sister Katie again- they loved Ez! Paul also stopped by to meet the babe! She was an absolute misery that night and it was the first time I was really fed up and stressed out by her behavior. I know it was to do with the time change and because she was tired but it sucked! The highlight of this visit was meeting Michael's fiance Veronica. She is absolutely charming and is going to make a beautiful bride in October! Stephen and I were honored to be asked to be the witnesses at their wedding (although I am unsure if they were asking just Stephen or both of us! Guys, if you are reading this, please let us know!)

Esme's first rainbow (on the way to Hastings)


Michael, Veronica and Esme (Michael is Esme's God Father!)


Esme and Paul (this is a cute picture!)


The next morning we met up with Stephen and his son Oliver and Alan. These were school friends of Stephen's in Hastings and they used to ring bells together. Oliver was three months old the last time we saw him and was only days away from being three years old! Time flies! It was really great catching up with them and we have vowed not to leave it so long next time!!

From Hastings we traveled on to Brighton and met up with Adam, Natalie and their son Jack. They were lovely hosts and Natalie (despite being 33 weeks prego at the time!) treated us to a lovely home cooked meal. It was great meeting Jack for the first time although I think having Esme there confused him a bit! Adam and Natalie were kind enough to let us use a few of their baby things while we were there and Jack kept pointing at Esme when she used them and saying "Isabella!," which is the name of their soon to be born daughter! We look forward to hearing about the birth of Isabella any day now!

Esme and Jack (Natalie is in the background)


Esme was being cranky as we were eating dinner at Adam and Natalie's and this is how she finally fell asleep!


After Brighton we drove back to Dunmow for the night. The next morning we headed to Lough to introduce Esme Jean to Auntie Norah. Auntie Norah was over the moon. She really enjoyed meeting her great niece and couldn't believe how well behaved she is. Most of our time was spent visiting and catching up on the past year and we were sad to leave. We look forward to seeing Auntie Norah at the wedding in September!

Our drive home from Louth was a chore- the road was closed two different times and it took us twice as long as it should have!

Esme and Auntie Norah


Not a great picture of me but oh well!


You would think we would have been worn out by now...but we trucked on! Stephen went to work in at the London office for one day while we were in England (he also worked one day from "home") in order to save vacation days. I took this opportunity to spend the day with my old coworkers at the cemetery. It was great introducing them to Esme and catching up on all of the gossip! I really miss it there....don't know why, but I do! Michelle arranged for all of the folks at T Cribb and Sons Funeral Home and a few of the cemetery workers to meet up at a local pub for drinks. We had a good laugh and it reminded me why I love all of those crazy cockneys!!! They all enjoyed meeting Ez and, of course, made jokes when I had to nurse her- I wouldn't expect anything else! I forgot to get pictures with the girls at East London and I am kicking myself!

The next people we visited were Stephen Pilditch, his wife Keiko and their daughter Erika. The last time we saw Stephen and Keiko, Keiko was pregnant with Erika- now Erika is almost a year old and is an absolute doll! We met up at Stephen Pilditch's parents house and then walked to a local pub for nibbles and drinks. Erika is a lovely little girl and we thoroughly enjoyed watching her interact with Esme. I enjoyed seeing how much both Pili and my Stephen have grown- two years ago I would have never guessed that they would both have babies! Now they both have lovely little girls and couldn't be better fathers.

Baby Swap


The cutest picture ever!


Stephen, Keiko and Erika


The next set of people to be visited were Steph and David. We spent the day in London (ice cream at the very posh Fortnum & Mason is a staple of mine and Stephs). We caught up over tea and ice cream (they treated us!) and then the girls went shopping while the boys went to the pub! Steph and David bought Esme a beautiful penny bank from mamas and papas and Steph bought me a pair of earrings! They really spoiled us and we are excited to return the favor when they visit NYC in October!! Dinner at Gourmet Burger Kitchen finished the night and we went on our separate ways! I really miss my shopping sprees on Oxford Street with Steph- hopefully we will get to go dress shopping in September (when I have lost about a million pounds)!

Ez and David


Ez and Auntie Steph


Esme at Fortnum & Mason


Esme's first ride on the underground...


We celebrated Esme's first Easter in England. Gram Bailey made a beautiful easter dinner and we spent the day visiting and spending time with Gram and Grandad. The easter bunny even decided to make a stop! Esme got a stuffed bunny from the mommy and daddy easter bunny and a big girl cup with the flower fairies on it from the Gram and Grandad Bailey bunny.

Esme and Daddy on Easter


Esme in her Easter dress


Esme with Gram and Grandad on Easter


Our last visit of the trip was with Joseph, Kelly and their daughters Amy and Emma. Kelly was pregnant with Emma at our leaving party last May and now Emma is 9 months old!! We had lunch at Frankie and Banny's and then spent the rest of our visit at their home. Amy and Emma are delightful little girls and we really enjoyed our visit

Amy and Esme


Emma and Joseph


That pretty much concludes our trip to England. The flight back was on a rickety old plane but we made it in one piece and that is what counts! We already miss England and are looking forward to our trip in September! Esme had a great trip and it was good to finally get to introduce her to her English family members! She loves them all VERY much!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip:

At Auntie Norah's


In her new towel from Gram and Grandad Bailey
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This is a video of Esme laughing. She always quiets down a bit when the camera is on her but I think I caught some laughing and some good jibber jabber in this one!