Irene...

Of course, I am very late with posting this!

Hurricane Irene! We have experienced many a typhoon while living in Japan, so we werent too concerned about the hurricane as we kind of new what to expect. The only diference this time was that the village where we live is below sea level and is prone to flooding. LUckily we live in a 4th floor apartment so again we werent too concerned. The hurricane was due to hit late into the night and be in full force during the night. At around 4pm we had a knock on the door saying that there was a mandatory evacuation, after runnning around, asking and calling various people we found out that the evacuation wasnt mandatory for us only for all the houses around us.

We knew that the apartment would be ok but the problem was whether the electricity would fail.

So in the end we were flooded in for a day with about a metre and a half of water keeping us indoors, there were boats and kayaks in and out of what the car park should be! and we were without electricity for 2 days. Luckily we had gas so we could cook and have hot water.

Having a baby we though that it would be better to be stuck in rather than stuck out. We stocked up on food stuffs, although the shelves at the local supermarket were quite empty by the time we got there.

We were so lucky in scomparison to those around us, some people lost a lot of things and were without electicity for much longer than us.

Here are some photos.

The Local Park

We are lucky to have a couple of parks close to us but our favourite is the park next to the local station. It is quite small, although the photos make it look quite big.


There is a small river that runs through it and is home to a variety of birds, Ive even bought a book on the birds of New York so I can swot up on my latest sightings.

There are also a family of geese, the goslings are very cute and growing unbelievably fast.

We often spend an hour here, have a little walk around and then put out a blanket and sit for a while. There are lots of trees so plenty of shade from the blazing heat of late.

Teeth

Baby M got her first teeth quite early, the first bottom two were through just before 4 months. Now, at 7 1/2 months tooth number 8 is coming through. The five in between all came through at the same time, she did really well and wasnt too bothered by the 5....number 8 is proving to be a little painful for her. As I am still breastfeeding all these teeth have been a little painful for me at times too! ouch!

Recently...

Baby M is everywhere, everywhere that she shouldnt be! We need to do some serious baby proofing, she wants everything thats she isn`t supposed to have. Wires, remotes, phones, shoes.....!

She is crawling about everywhere now, well it`s more like an army crawl on her knees and elbows..she has crawled properly a couple of times but she gets around much faster scrambling about, very cute....very tiring! :))

Her new favourite thing to do is to lie `in` her bouncer saucer and look at the window! At first she could only get in and not get out but she can do both now, clever girl!

Storm King

We planned to go away for Memorial Weekend but as we all came down with a fever and a cold in turn we didn`t! The only day that all of is were feeling pretty ok was Sunday so we decided to head out for the day.

Off we went to Storm King, www.stormking.org

This place is about an hours drive from where we are. I am not particularly arty and I know nothing about sculpture but I really enjoyed it. It was an interesting place.



The only downside was that about half of the park doesnt have any shade at all, so in the heat it is quite hard to get round especially with a little one. However, they do have a tram service which will drive you round the whole park, this was great. We were lucky to get a seat though. I wonder if they put on more trams as the days get busier(?)

Food

Just over a month ago I started giving baby M solids....at first I was thinking that it was going to be hard work making food but it turns out that Im really enjoying it. Maybe slightly addicted.

Boiling,　steaming, freezing into cute little shapes....luckily everything she has had so far she has liked. But she really likes carrots, avocado, tofu and squash.

Left: Rice, Squash,Pear Right: Tomato Clockwise from top left: Cereal, Rice&Pears, Avocado&Tofu

The past month has been lots of funny seeing her funny expressions and trying new food, she is also rolling and scrambling all over the place, time for some proper baby proofing now. Wont be long until she is crawling......then the real fun begins xx

Its been far too long..

So I started this blog, with all good intentions.　Having my baby put a bit of a spanner in the works....where did the last 6 months go?

So, I promise to post at least once a month......the spring is here so hopefully we will be out and about doing more things. Its been a very long winter in NY...snow, snow, snow!!