PS.....

Julia will miss Nana the most because she lets her lick the bowl.... literally!

Adios, Nana!!

Nana and Julia reading the Night Before Christmas on Christmas eve!

Nana reading to Julia and Marco.

Nana with us at the National Gallery.

Nana, Sara and Denise at Portobello Market.

Nana and Julia during one of their many cooking adventures!

After one tasty pasty, one chicken pot pie, several baking extravaganzas and numerous outings, Nana wrapped up a three week stay and went state-side. Our fridge will never be as full as it was. We will probably experience sugar withdrawal since most of the hundreds of yummy things are gone. Nevertheless, we all had fun. Julia and Marco, in particular, will miss their story hour with nana. No one can read a book like she can.

Miss you, Nana! Come back soon!!

Dress Up, Anyone?

I'm Julia and I LOVE to dress up! I like to dress up as a fairy or in my mommy's clothes and my daddy's shoes. Sometimes I strip down and just wear wings or whatever I can find! I also like to dance, particularly with my friend Alex. She has the BEST dress-up clothes and is the BEST dance partner!!



Catch the fairy if you can!
Dancing fairies!


Tiger ears, fairy wings and daddies smelly running shoes!!! The BEST outfit EVER!!!

Merry Merry Christmas!

From our little elves to yours! We wish everyone a Merry Merry Christmas, or as they say here a "Happy" Christmas, and a Happy New Year. xoxo

Greg with his mulled wine, nana, Julia and Marco in Covent Gardens.

We JUST missed mass at St. Paul's! RATS!!! Instead here's a photo op outside! BRRRRRRR!!! It's cold!

Mr. Moo and his new train!

Zee kissing bandit

Allo, my name ez Marco Mee-lani end I em zee kissing band-eet. I like tu kiss zee ladies... end zee men too but mostly zee ladies. I like to latch on end kiss kiss kiss. Eef u let me, I will 'old on for very long. Ere are pictures of me kissing....


Ere I am kissing my auntie Julie.

End going in for zee kill with cousin Brooke.

Oh yes, my Godmother Michelle.

End... Unkie Andy.

More pics!

Julia, Greg, Freddie & Cal at the zoo.....



Freddie, Marco & Cal.




Marco, Sara, Kevin Jose & Beth

Andy, Cathy, Greg & Sara in Carmel.

Pictures from California

Here are some pics from the past month!

In the tub with Freddie and Calvie.

Greg and the kids.

Alex, Marco & Julia.

The lost month!

We're back!!!!!

It's been a long time since our last posting. In the past month we've logged 6,000 + airmiles and several hundred land miles (traveling between Sacramento and the bay area). We've consumed thousands of kcals in foods that we miss (Vic's, Chinese food, Mexican food, Vic's, Jose's fabulous Spanish taps, Vic's, etc.). And, most importantly, we spent a great deal of much needed time with friends and family. We didn't get to see and visit with everyone but we did pretty well for only being state-side for a month. For those of you we missed, we hope to see you next time we are home, or - better yet - we hope that you visit us here in sunny (eek! erase that) - rainy, cold and dreary - ol' England.

Highlights from this past month include:

• Julia and Marco getting reacquainted with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends.
• Marco's ever-improving dexterity and hand-eye coordination. The little champ is sitting up by himself, feeding himself (well, he can hold a cookie which counts for something!), and grabbing everything that's not nailed down.
• Marco's evolution into the kissing bandit! Watch out, you may be the next victim!
• Julia's excellent singing prowess. She knows the words to several songs and she will sing on command!
• Julia's rekindled admiration for Calvie and Freddie, whom she bossed around incessantly. (Not sure where she gets those genes.)
• Sara & Greg taking a much-needed kid-less couple of days in Carmel. Cathy and Andy joined us for part of the time which was such a treat!
• Visiting with Ann and Dave who were out from Colorado.
• Marco's baptism with godparents Paul and Michelle.
• Good food.
• Vic's (in a category by itself, of course.)

More about MGM!

HI!!!

I'm almost 6 months old! Look how big I'm getting! I take a few spills here and there but overall I'm doing really well and getting REALLY big!!!

I have two bottom teeth coming in. I like to practice biting. I particularly like biting fingers (not mine). I also like to pull hair. I'm really good at grabbing things - hair, earrings, skin (which makes my mommy scream), anything that's within reach so watch out!

I've started to eat real food too! I eat porridge, apple sauce and peas. I'm not too keen on the peas but mommy keeps shoving them in my mouth when I laugh! NO fair!! Sometimes she tries to distract me with toys but I'm on to her. Somehow she sneaks that icky green stuff in.... So crafty, my mommy!

I'm very good at rolling around. Mommy cannot leave me on a bed anymore b/c I will roll off (which I've been known to do). Often I roll across the living room and get lodged under a chair! I think it's really funny!

I'm just starting to sit up but I still need some help. My sister thinks it's funny when I topple over. She laughs at me. I love it when she laughs at me -- I laugh back.

My favorite things are: My jumper (still), my playmat (see above), my excersaucer, my stuffed lion, Kenny the kangaroo, and, of course, my sister.

It's naptime! I've gotta run! (Well, more like roll over.....)

Halloween: Part 2!

Too much trick-or-treating for the little guy!

The trick-or-treating group. From L to R: Garret, Colin, Matthew, Anna, Julia, Sarah, Karsen & Leah.

Karsen and Anna show Sarah and Julia the ropes: Look really cute and you get two. Say trick or treat in your 2-year-old voices and you get THREE!

Julia and Sarah munching and being pushed along by daddy.....It's the only way to go!

Halloween: Part 1

Mom....Do you have to take my picture again??? I'm sooooo tired of this. First you put me in this.... thing, and then you make me wear this funny hat, and if that isn't enough...you put make up on my nose???? Come on... I don't even get candy! Roar!!!



Boo!

Thank goodness Halloween is over! I'm sooo tired of my mommy dressing me up in this funny, and furry, outfit and parading me around. Tonight she even made us go with the big kids (Karsen, Garrett, Colin, Anna, Leah and Matthew - picture to follow) to get candy at all the houses near us. My best friend Sarah went with me, which was nice. We held hands and said "trick or treat!" Sometimes I just said "treat!" and people would give me candy. There were lots of kids out on the street. Mom said it was craziness and reminded her of home...... I thought this was home???? Anyway, I'm glad it's over because now I can go back to eating my lolipops and chocolate. (Daddy and Mommy keep sneaking my candybars....I'm onto them!)

Mid-October activities!

Here we are -- almost at the end of October! Hard to believe we will be home in CA in two weeks time! (YIPPPEEEE!!!!) We've had half-term break this week (eeek!) and have been filling our days with activities and fun: We've been meeting friends at the park (pics of friends soon!), going to the zoo, going to the library, seeing the sights, and, trying to keep busy indoors while it rains (which has been most of the week). Julia and Marco are looking forward to Halloween next week and the oodles of Halloween parties (think: candy) we will be attending! We plan to go trick or treating with friends - we hope to get a successful bounty!

Here are a few recent pics!


Julia and Daddy play with play dough! They make all sorts of fun creations!

Confessions of a fashion maven: Julia puts shoes on Marco - the shoes that she pics out. She doesn't like the ones mommy had on him. Clearly, Marco sees red loafers and he tries to make a speedy get-away. Unfortunately, he's still not going anywhere!

Marco STILL loves his door jumper! He jumps and jumps and jumps... and screams when you try to take him out! (Thanks again, Karina!)

Julia chilling before we hit the playground!

Marco and his dinner (rice cereal). He's still not buying that this is what we are eating. He's not too sure about it. More ends up on his front than in his mouth!

Half-Term Updates!

Julia has half-term break this next week. We are frantically scheduling play dates and museum dates to keep busy.

Marco is almost (hate to jinx it) sleeping through the night! He goes down at 8 and sleeps until almost 7!! We feel like new people!

Julia is officially sleeping in her "big girl bed" which she LOVES so much that she shows anyone (including the Ocado delivery man) who comes over. All Teds (ie teddy bears) start out sleeping with her but end up on the floor by morning. She's only fallen out once thus far!

Marco is getting two bottom teeth!!! Despite it all he's cheery, happy and laughs all the time! (We still think he looks like Unkie Andy when he smiles!)

Marco is also almost sitting up by himself. He still does the big roll over thing where he can't get back up but he's getting closer and closer to proping himself up w/o falling! He cracks himself up as he's falling over...

Julia still LOVES her baby brother (thank goodness!). She loves to feed him, make him laugh (hate to break it to her but that's not hard), and tells anyone who asks that he's her brother.

Marco continues to love his door bouncer (thank you Karina!)! He's happy as a lark jumping up and down for what seems like hours.

I'm nursing a cold.....again, and think it may be indicative of fall/winter weather / flu season in London. I'm hoping I'm not going to spend this season sick like many folks I chatted with last year!

Fall is officially here as it's wet, wet, wet. Leaves are falling off the trees; it's been raining a ton but it's still not too chilly.

Greg and I had a FANTASTIC dinner at Notting Hill Brasserie. We highly recommend it to any potential visitors who are interested in a great, hip restaurant in a pretty trendy part of town.

Finally, we are wondering what the heck holiday it is to warrant the hundreds of fireworks???? The past two nights it's been the fourth-of-July revisited! Did we fall asleep and miss something????

More to come soon!

Pictures from Julia

Here are some pictures of me with my friend Sarah, with Mathew, with my brother, Marco, and on the first day of school.

Notes from Julia

Hi, my name is Julia Beatrice Milani. I’m 2 years and 3 months. I’m about 2 feet tall and can do lots of neat things. I can jump really high; I can dance really well; I can sing really loud (which I do all the time); and, I can talk, a lot. (Mom says I have the gift of gab, whatever that means. She also says I wake up talking and go to sleep talking. My teachers at school say I have command of the language! I think this is good??? Mom says she thinks I’m going to be lawyer someday b/c I talk a lot and b/c I try to negotiate things like my naptime, my bed time, my tv time.) I like Dora the Explorer, her cousin Diego, Fifi the Flowerpot, and fairies. (Mom just got me some cool fairy lights for my room!) I also like my stuffed animals. They sleep with me.

I have a little brother named Marco whom I call “little man.” He’s cute and I like him too. He doesn’t do much yet but I think he will later – at least that’s what mom says. I think he’s smart b/c he laughs at me. I make him smile - even when he's been sad. Mommy says I’m a good helper b/c I pick up his chupa and put it in his mouth and I help feed him. We got him here in London at the hospital up the street. I don’t really remember before he was here.

I’m glad we moved to London. I LOVE IT. There are loads of fun things to do here. One of my favourite things is to go to the playground. There are loads of playgrounds here. My favourite ones are in Regents Park; they are the best b/c they have sandboxes and I LOVE SAND. There are also some good playgrounds near our house. (I like them even though they don’t have sand.) My two favourites are Violet Hill and Wellington. I like to go to the playground with my friends Lea, Louis, and Vicktor. (I also like to see Jeremy at the park b/c I like to chase him and yell at him. For some reason he doesn’t play with me… he likes to play with the big boys. I still chase him though. Someday he will notice me!) In addition to the sand, I like to go on the slide, the teeter-totter, the round-about, the swing and I like to climb. I also like to play ball with Louis. Sometimes we run around and chase the ball. On special occasions we go to different parks that are far away. My favourite far away park is the Princess Diana Park (which mom calls the Peter Pan Park) in Hyde Park. It has a pirate ship and a forest and tree houses! Its fun but I get REALLY dirty there!

I also like to go to the zoo. Sometimes, when we are in a hurry, we just run past the outside and check on the zebras and the giraffes. Other times we go inside and play! There is a good playground in the zoo. It doesn’t have sand but it has loads of things to climb on! It has cars that make noise and there is a neat carousel. (I usually like to ride on the giraffe!) I also like to visit the animals in the zoo. I like to see the monkeys, the big hairy camel, the cows, the llama, the ostrich, the turtles, the giraffes - of course - the tapir (he’s so big!) and the porcupines! I also LOVE the butterfly house! It’s hot in there and sometimes the pretty butterflies land on you! I always laugh when mom reads the sign that says to check for hitchhikers on the way out!

There is a fun kids section where I can pet the lambs and visit the bunnies. I like to chase the chickens but my FAVORITE part of the kids section is where I can wash my hands in the sink! It’s just my height – mom doesn’t need to lift me up so I can wash my hands over and over and over! It drives mom crazy!

We go to loads of museums here in London. My favourite one has the big dinosaurs. T Rex is my favourite. He roars which I think is funny. He’s HUGE. I have a toy T Rex that I carry in my purse sometimes. I make him roar when we are on the bus. It’s funny!

Speaking of bus….. I LOVE riding on the bus. We go on the bus with mommy all the time. I like to go upstairs and look out the window but we only do that when daddy is with us. I also like the train. For some reason mommy and daddy call it the tube. I don’t think they know it’s a train. Oh well.

I also like going in my friend Karina’s car. Sometimes she picks me up and then we pick up my best friend Sarah and we go to play at her house. It’s very fun. She has a huge backyard and loads of fun toys. Mathew and Jona play with us when they are not at school for big kids. We do homework at Karina’s. It’s fun.

Now that I’m 2 I go to school. I LOVE it. My teachers are Miss Laura, Miss Pip, Miss Kim and Miss Chloe. I love them. At school we draw, we paint, we play in sand (yippee!), we play with play dough, we read, we sing and we dance. It’s really fun. Sarah goes with me and we hold hands. My new friends are Maya, Madison, Drew and many others!

I just got a big girl bed. I LOVE IT. I love how I can get in and out by myself! Daddy is napping in it right now! I’m supposed to be napping too but I keep getting out to check on Marco and mommy. I don’t want them to have too much fun while I’m sleeping! For some reason mommy keeps getting mad….. OOPS, gotta go!

More from Marco.

Here I am again!