Inka`s dress

Here we go Great Granny. See how well the dress fits. It`s one of my favourites to wear at the moment. Thank you.

More photos of SoCal

Tractor in a farm stall near the city of Dana Point.
Inka playing at St Clementes Beach
Inka and Andy, Historic Old Town, San Diego near our hotel.
Inka happy as she finally gets to see her beloved Polar Bear. He was asleep most of the time which didn`t bother her.

California

Our trip to California... Mostly stayed in Dana Point, near Laguna Beach, Orange County. We stayed with friends who have 3 adopted children from China. The girls were really good with Inka and in no time Inka was teaching them English nursery rhymes and demanding they do them with her on demand. Our friends eat mostly organic, sugar free food which seemed to helps me loads with my morning sickness. I'm going to miss Lois` home made sour dough bread every day and trips to the coolest health food stores. Highlights were roasting hot dogs in the fire pits of Doheney Beach, experiencing a fifties diner complete with jukebox, hamburger, fries and milkshake and managing to eat an avocado and bacon salad as Inka slept in a restaurant overlooking Laguna Beach.
We went to San Diego for a week, using public transport all the way. Inka had her first ride on a bus. She wanted to sing the wheels on the bus all the time and was fascinated to see the doors on the bus really did go "open and shut all day long". Seaworld in San Diego was a hit, mostly because Inka just loved it all, especially polar bears, killer whales, otters and being able to stroke star fish and manta rays.
I had to get used to saying "restroom" instead of toilet, "to go" instead of take away and "sidewalk" instead of pavement otherwise Id get confused looks all round. I cant believe the size of the drinks they give you in restaurants. Americans must have very large bladders.
For more photos look at my facebook album.

Boys will be boys

So we had our scan. Its a boy! I must say I was a little in shock. I was expecting a girl and we had been throwing ideas around for boy`s names and couldn't`t think of any boys names we liked. I had said from the start that our experience with this baby`s scan was so different from Inka`s and so it must be a boy. He was so relaxed on the 12 week scan and on this 20 week scan, he had his back to the sonographer and wouldn't move. She had to make us go for a coffee and come back so that she could get a better look. The scan showed him to be all well. Ive come to terms with the shock that I'm having a boy...so exciting. We think we have a name for him too. We are not telling yet though.

Paying Attention

Ive been told I don't update my blog enough! Its nice to know there are some of you paying attention! Here are some more recent photos of Inka. We went for a walk through a field in Patcham to see the Chhatri, a monument to the Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in the World War One and a sculpture there for the Brighton Festival. Ill update soon with our trip to California when we get back! California here we come. Other news is I'm 20 weeks pregnant, we have our scan on Monday and will find out if its a brother or sister for Inka.

The Two Year Old

Inka the two year old. Her party was relaxing and fun. With a few friends she made teddy biscuits, ate together with teddys on the picnic blanket and devoured ice cream. Her face was full of awe and delight as her teddy cake came out and we sang happy birthday to her. I was surprised to find that she could blow her candles out on her cake. All my hard work on perfecting my first teddy bear children`s birthday cake and she said it was a dog! She enjoyed every moment and loved the attention. Her present of a sandpit is being well used, only its not so warm outside and she wants either Andy or I to sit with her at all times while shes playing in there. Another favourite present is her chick rucksack, as soon as she put it on she waved goodbye and said "Going to work" and walked out the door. She is still a delight and as funny as can be.

Snow Day

On Monday the snow stopped everything. Most schools in the area were closed, the rail service limited. It was fun seeing adults and children alike having snowball fights, making snowmen and slipping on the icing ground. Walking down the street I looked around and it all looked so pretty, white and clean, I could not help but smile. I realised that even though Id seen snow in England before this was the first time it had settled for the whole day and I could finally make a snowman. Now this is a very exciting thing for me, as a child growing up in South Africa I`d seen Christmas cards with snow, television depicting fun in the snow. Inka wanted to go outside straight away and look. Her first remark on the snow was "Oh Nooo, messy...wipe please". We made a snowman, Kamran helped as he rolled the biggest ball. I could only manage the snowman's head. Andy kept on laughing at my rolling technique. Inka was amused and watched us, she wanted to add stones for the snowman`s mouth but her gloves are a little big so she found picking them up hard and was frustrated. Over the last few days shes been very concerned about the melting snowman and wanted to check on him every few hours.