I'm sorry that we had to take such a long break for the summer, but we're back into the full swing of things now.
Evie had a fabulous extended summer. It all started with her first trip on an airplane (in her own seat) to the US.
She finally got to meet her American family and all of Mommy's oldest friends. She experienced an American birthday party, swimming in the lake, the immense heat of Texas, Cajun food, Mexican food and some real TN BBQ. She met her other Great Grandma, Evelyne (from whom she gets her name).
Evie started perfecting her crawling whilst we were in Nashville and she traveled all around doing her Commando Crawl. Evie survived the early summer heat of both TN and TX. Although, I think her Daddy almost melted (note to self: only take English people to the US in the fall or winter).
Evie continued her tour of the US with her next stop in DC to see some of Mommy's dearest friends. Evie got to have her first ever 4th of July in the nation's capital and it was very lovely. Mommy's friends have 2 little dogs and Evie was unbelievably excited with her first dog experience. She still thinks that any white dog she sees in the park are Casey and Riley.
From DC Evie moved on to her final American destination, NYC. She went to see the Big Apple where Mommy spent most of her adult life before she came across the pond. She got to meet Mommy's favourite chef and wonderful friend Uncle Raffaele. He made Evie some very special baby food and they were fast friends.
She also met the beautiful and clever Beth. Beth has been Mommy's partner in crime for years. And she's quite the clever jokester too. We all had a lovely dinner together and only wish that we had more time to wander the big Apple. But, alas Evie's American adventure had to come to an end and we had to return to good ole (much cooler) England.
But, that was just the beginning. Evie returned to London (where London hadn't even started the summer) and immediately had to get ready to cheer Mommy on for her 10K.
Then, the fun really started. Mommy and Daddy had to lower Evie's bed because she had learned to sit up in the night. Less than a week after that, she learned to stand up!!
That required another bed lowering and some room alterations. After that, there was no stopping her. Evie is now crawling everywhere (very quickly) and cruising all around the furniture. She's walking holding on, but hasn't quite managed to let go yet. But, it's only a matter of time now.
In the rest of July Evie had numerous trips to the parks in Beckenham and London. She tried the sandbox for the first time and she finally started to notice all the ducks swimming around her. She went to visit Daddy for lunch a few times and even tried her first ice cream (organic Strawberry from Cornwall).
At the end of July Mommy started working from home and Daddy changed his hours in preparation for Mommy's September return to work. But, this was the true start to the English summer. So, Evie had some fabulous trips down to Eynsford and Shoreham. She traveled by train with Mommy while Daddy and Uncle Spencer laboriously cycled their way through the countryside.
Then Evie decided that she'd like to go a bit further north and see Suffolk, where Grandpa George lives. She had her first seaside lunch and her first proper country pub meal of beautiful salmon fish cakes and mashed potatoes. She had a nice country walk by the sea and down by the river with Grandma and she perused all of Grandpa's interesting books.
The rest of August was spent practicing walking and playing in Grandma's garden. Also in August Mommy applied for Indefinite Leave to remain in England and Evie is hoping that Mommy gets to stay :) She thoroughly enjoyed the train ride up to London for the processing. She had her own commuter paper and seemed very much the seasoned commuter.
Mommy also left Evie in Daddy's care for a night and had a fun night out with all her NCT mommies. It was the first time we were all together without the babies and it was wonderful to get all dressed up and hang out with the girls.
As the summer came to an end, Evie spent the last holiday weekend hanging out with uncle Spencer and Mommy and Daddy. As the weather has been beautiful, we sat outside watching the football and enjoying the last days of summer.
The beginning of September saw some new and exciting changes. Evie turned 9 Months old and started with her child minder, Yvonn. And Mommy started back to work 3 days a week. Evie went for 3 settling in days and after the first one, was happy as a clam. She loves her time with Yvonn and mostly with her new 3.5 yr old best friend, Sasha. She now has 4 new people to see 3 days a week and to practice her German (the child minder is German and all 3 older children speak German). Mommy started back to her job and can enjoy every moment of it because she knows that Evie is equally as happy with her new friends.
Tomorrow is a special day for Mommy and her closest English friends, Uncle Liam and Auntie Sarah. It is the anniversary of the event that brought them together. So, even though none of us are in NYC tomorrow, we're all going to spend the day celebrating the lives that we have been lucky enough to lead in the last 10 years. We are going to celebrate the 3 (almost 4) children that we now collectively have and spend the day being happy that we're all friends. We know that there are many people who are not as lucky and our thoughts will be with you all tomorrow. To all Mommy's NYC friends, we hope that you know how much we love you and that our hearts (Mommy's especially) are with you always. We hope that tomorrow is a day that will fill you with pride and joy in your City that has proven to be unbreakable and unstoppable.
