Back in the UK

We made it and the flights were pretty good and easy all considering.Annie was on her best behaviour for most of the long flight and slept for the last couple of hours .Millie slept and woke as all babies do but only cried fleetingly a few times and was complimented by all the surrounding people as we were arriving at Heathrow;the same passengers had,of course,avoided all eye contact with us as we boarded,obviously not at all happy that they were seated next to not only a child but also a baby;).


Jet lag has been and gone and we only had one "bad" night when Annie woke at 3am.Apart from that ,it has been so easy probably because I am feeding Millie every 3 or so hours anyway so haven't felt any change in my pace of life! Hooray for babies!

Annie has slipped into life here with great ease which I do think has a lot to do with the fact that she is so confident in English.She remembers a lot from our visit in 2007 when she was 2 and a half and she and my mum are loving being together and its a joy to watch them.Millie is just being herself and cooing ,chuckling ,sleeping,crying and feeding as ever.

Highlights of the last 4 days for Annie include a very exciting visit to Santa's Grotto to meet the man himself,going to buy a Christmas tree with Oma and decorating it with our help,talking to her cousin Dominic on the phone,eating Heinz tomato soup,baked beans and spaghetti hoops,a visit to the local library to borrow a pile of books,watching new episodes of Charlie and Lola on TV ,snuggling under the new "In the Night Garden "duvet that Oma bought,playing with the toys Oma has or has borrowed from the neighbours and seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations in the shops and houses.

Highlights of the last 4 days for me,include seeing mum meet Millie for the first time(hankies out),walking around in a centrally heated house,eating proper bread,smelling the frosty air,watching Annie experience a real Christmas,going to the supermarket(something which will mean a lot to everyone living in Japan!),listen to Annie chatting away to mum and listening to mum and Annie giggling away, actually remembering the security code for my credit card without having to get a new card and number for the first time in 10 years and knowing that my retail therapy will help the UK out of recession.

A busy few days to come and my sister and family arrive on December 23rd for Christmas.We will have 4 under 5s in the house and they will rule......Cant wait !