London!

This past weekend we escaped the escalating tension here in Ukraine and jetted off to London to celebrate Gio's 5th birthday.  The trip started off badly with a 2 hour delay on the runway before take-off.  Maria chose to scream for most of those two hours, which certainly endeared her to the passengers and crew alike.  Both of us were in tears by the time we took off and I was certain the rest of the weekend would be a disaster.  I could not have been more wrong.

Plotting her screaming fest the evening before departure.  

Our first evening we spent strolling and riding around on double decker busses.  Gio adores those.  I think we could have just put him on one and left him there all weekend and he would have been happy.  With a two hour time difference Maria's usual 6AM wakeup became 4AM.  That was fun.  She and Paolo had some early morning bonding time.  

Friday was Gio's actual 5th birthday.  He was disappointed upon wakeup: "I don't FEEL any taller."  A ride on the Underground and a morning with the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum restored his good mood.  

Gio's favorite part of the museum was this animatronic T-Rex.  We returned to this part of the exhibit no less than 10 times.  It was a long morning.  

Finally dino-ed out, we hit a Fish-N-Chips joint. When in London....  

This being Gio, he insisted on a hamburger but was tentatively willing to at least try the fish....

....eventually embracing both culinary delights.

I found it fascinating that restaurants in London must display their food hygiene rating on their front doors.  Here was a our fish-n-chips place.  Next door was an Indian restaurant with a rating of a 2.  Ouch.  And nope, no customers in there. 

Working on his plumber look. 

After lunch we hit the giant toy store Hamleys.  Gio got a birthday serenade and managed to talk his gullible parents into five gifts rather than the one we told him he could pick out when we entered.  Well done, Gio.

Post toy store we hit an amusement park.  This was not the London Eye but tall enough for Gio who loved the ride.  Paolo looked a bit green by the end but Maria and I handled it just fine.  

Gio and Paolo allowed me to do very very little shopping on this trip.  I did convince them to let me go to Molton Brown for some of my favorite soap and lotion.  Gio stayed outside to admire the window display (snow falling between the glass- very cool!)

Once home we celebrated with cake and prosecco.  

Not quite believing he was getting his own glass (very watered down, those of you about to call child services)

Swigging it down before we change our minds...

Paolo attempted to do some work.  

Ah, the infamous World Bank work-life "balance".

Saturday morning we headed to the zoo.  

But first a romp at Regent's Park.

The zoo was great- ridiculously expensive, but still a lot of fun. 

Saturday afternoon Paolo and Maria headed off on a tour of Paolo's old stomping grounds (London School of Economics) while Gio and I hit the theatre district for a matinee of Lion King. Best part for Gio?  The slushee!

Our seats were fabulous! 

Gio eventually did get the hang of the binoculars.  I spent a lot of the show reminding Gio to whisper, a skill he has not QUITE mastered.  His enthusiasm boiled over sometimes.  Fortunately the theatre was full of children and our seat-mates were very tolerant.  

Sunday morning we headed to Gatwick on the train.  Gio sat next to this very drunk fellow and the two of them had a nearly incomprehensible conversation jumping from such topics as the sun to rock music to beer. The man eventually declared Gio the "loudest bloke I have ever known."  Paolo and I were not shocked.  

I absolutely loved London- the parks, the people, the food, the myriad of things to do.  I am ready to move tomorrow.  Wondering if there is a World Bank office there.....

Euromaidan

Though it is not getting a LOT of press in the US, there is what seems to be a revolution taking place here in Ukraine.  When President Yanokovich (to me a combination of a clown, dictator and bully) backed out of a deal to join the EU in favor of siding with Putin the population went into revolt.  With the vast majority of the Ukrainian people in favor of joining the EU and not going under the umbrella of Russia, this move caused outrage.  Right now the center of Kyiv has been occupied by a large group of protestors and the city hall has been overtaken.  The situation is in flux and there is a lot of tension after a horrible police attack on peaceful protestors this past Saturday morning.

On Sunday there was a mass gathering in our nearby park (Shevchenko).  

A fat purple baby was a photo opportunity for a few....

Maria is pro-EU (she is Italian-born, after all). 

Enzo was more interested in his best friend Anya to take too much interest in the political situation.

Today Enzo, Maria and I walked down to Maidan to check out the scene.  On our way we passed by this statue of Lenin which has been under attack in recent days.  Today it was surrounded by many police officers.  Interestingly these were the only uniformed police I saw on the rest of my walk.   

The barricades put up by protestors around Independence Square.  

They certainly were creative in their barricade making, including much of the giant Christmas tree that was in the process of being erected when all of this began. 

Flags were everywhere, music and speeches broadcast across the square.  

Here is that giant tree that was only partially erected when the occupation began.  Now it is home to protestors and their signs and flags. 

Enzo sported a pro-EU ribbon.

Tents, bonfires, cooking drums, free food, health services, extra clothing....

A campfire in the middle of Independence Square. It is very cold here these days; how these 1000s of protestors stay out here all day and night I do not know.  Very impressive.  

November summary....

Yes, I have neglected this blog.  Having a baby who refuses to nap unless in motion (stroller, Bjorn, car) means I have very very little time during the day to get something like a blog done.  Today, she is actually sleeping in her crib. It might only be for 20 minutes so I had better be quick....

November passed in a blur.  Maria continues to grow and change every day.  We are still struggling a bit with her antibiotic regimen which wrecks havoc with her tummy and her sleep (one of the main side effects is "sleeplessness"- not something you want an infant to experience!).  For those who have missed it, Maria has something elegantly called urinary reflux which means basically that a lot of her pee goes up to her kidneys.  Since there is a real danger of kidney damage if she ever gets another UTI, she must be on antibiotics for at least the next six months.  Hopefully she will outgrow this condition but her reflux is rated at the highest level (meaning the pee goes very high up) so if needed she will have surgery when she is 1.  For now we just are battling the antibiotic, which she hates, and its side effects.

And now it is December, a busy month as usual.  This week both Gio and I celebrate birthdays.  While I plan to ignore mine, Gio is certainly excited about turning 5!  We are taking him to London for the weekend.  He has had a strange obsession with London since he was 3.  We are not sure of the origin of his passion, but we thought it was time to take him.  He is most excited that "Everyone in London will speak English!"  We are taking him to see "Lion King" and will take him to Hamleys toy store on his birthday for some present shopping.  Who knows what else we will do while in London; Paolo lived there for 3 years so I am sure he has a few tours planned.

In 3 weeks we head to Italy for Christmas.  We are very excited that Uncle Andrew is joining us for the holidays.  Gio has all sorts of tough Lego projects planned for him.

Below are a few shots from the past month....

No one makes Gio happier than his best friend Grace.  While we are sad that by next year we will be living in different parts of the world, we are sure we will stay in touch with this wonderful family.  And who ever forgets his first best friend?  Or first love??  (I did hear Gio propose to her last week: "Grace, will you marry me someday?" She wisely chose to defer her answer.)

Below is a video from Grace's mom of the two making zucchini muffins.  Notice who is actually adding chocolate chips to the batter and who is merely eating them....

Gio's other favorite girl is his sister.  It is truly amazing to watch him with her.  Never an unkind word, never a hint of jealousy.  He greets her every morning with a huge kiss and she is the first one he goes to when he returns from school each day.  

The big change this month is that Gio began to ride the school bus!  He does not always make it to the morning run (7:54 is a bit early for him on most mornings), but he comes home each afternoon on it.  Since only 4 year olds are released at 2PM, Gio is the only rider on his bus, so he gets FULL attention from both the bus monitor and driver.  He LOVES the bus. 

We took Maria out for pizza last week.  She seemed very interested!  2 more months before solids, dear girl.

With Maria's aversion to stationary naps, I spend a LOT of time roaming around Kyiv in the afternoon.  Since the sun sets before 4 these days, I tend to be out to see the sunset.  

Enzo is my faithful companion on these walks.  

Gio and I have become obsessed with zucchini bread.  We make LOTS of it. 

Last Friday was a day off from school.  Grace and Gio had a blast.  

It was after this ride that Gio proposed!

Gio has been doing a construction unit at school. Here is some of his "homework."

This morning Gio woke with Maria and me at 6:30.  We had a lovely morning together.

We wish you all a very happy early December.  I hope to do a post after our trip to London....but only if I can get Maria to take another nap!