Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! ...and other belated things

A happy Christmas

As I sit here to put down a few words and update the blog, one eye is on Lev as he wriggles, roles and shimmys off the play mat. For someone who who cant sit up or crawl, the kid sure moves.  The Australian Open on TV captivates him (anything on TV does, but I'll pretend he's a future tennis prodigy for now).

For all his wiggly ways, the long flights to the US and back for Christmas weren't bad at all. He slept or played happily in his bassinet, which you can get in the coach class bulkhead seats on longer flights.

"Bring me a daiquiri ASAP." - Lev

This was Lev's first trip to his country of citizenship, and my first visit in 19 months.  Just like when I returned home after 2+ years away during my Peace Corps days, a bit of a tear came to my eye when the border control officer stamped my passport, looked up at me and said, "welcome back." For some reason, I always feel like more of a patriot when I live abroad.

But all that aside, we had an excellent 3 weeks in the U.S., splitting the time between my mom and stepdad in Arizona and my dad and stepmom in southern California. It was fantastic to to see my parents and a nice bonus to get some winter sun. We called this the Lev roadshow, as he hadn't yet met anyone aside from my mom. Everyone fell in love, of course, and Denis turned out to be quite the comedian, getting Lev to crac up several times, such as in this great video.

At Joshua Tree - Dad, Denise, me, Anya and Lee...and Buddy. 

Music lessons w/grandma

After an idyllic Christmas, we headed to Palm Desert and my dad and Denise. There we played tennis, got a lot of swimming pool time (which Lev loved) and my dad and I even made a trip to the Rose Bowl to watch the Ducks have a great win over Wisconsin. To cap it off, my god parents, Lee and Robert, came all the way from southern Oregon to see us - a great reunion.










Now back in London, the clouds are a bit easier to take after our long holiday. Lev is growing fast and pulls off the very cute trick of grabbing his feet and putting them in his mouth. We've also decided to move to another flat in the spring - we'd like a bit more space and a yard, so we're in the midst of shopping around. So if you come for a visit after April 1, you'll have some upgraded digs!

I hope everyone is surviving the winter ok and has had a good start to the new year.

Nate