Splashing

Following Australian tradition, we're keen to teach Elly to swim. Maybe not an Olympic swimmer just yet, but she'll have to learn to out-swim all those killer Australian aquatic animals - with all the teeth, tentacles and spines. And that's just in the backyard pool.

So we went to the local pool for the first time today. It was a nice quiet day, and was a great chance to introduce her to the new sights and smells without too much chaos.

Things we learnt today:
- Elly is just fine in the water. There was wiggling and kicking and a determined look on her face.
- Her parents are also fine in the water, though ultra paranoid.
- The pram is too wide and doesn't fit in the change rooms.
- Then the pram then has to be parked in another part of the gym completely.
- It is a two person operation to juggle everything.

An interesting side-effect is that Elly now splashes a lot more in her bath, coating the floor. It is like she has discovered her swimming legs and wants to use them in small confined spaces.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Bridie, Steve, Elly and... Santa.

We introduced Elly to Santa today. She was clearly aware that she was in the company of someone who would be bringing her presents, and was on her best behaviour. After all, it is important to give a good first impression.

Santa Skate 2008

Once a year the London skate community have their special Santa Skate. Hundreds of skaters donate some money to the skate, get a Santa outfit and go on a tour of the major sites of London. But this year was different - I went along too!

The weather threatened icy rain, the roads threatened slippery surfaces, and Santa threatened never to visit me again. Still I braved the elements and put on my big one-size-fits-all Santa suit, complete with white fluffy beard. Fully dressed I felt as warm as Santa, especially after he drinks the sherry.


It was a great skate - mainly for attracting onlookers and bemused motorists. Good clean fun was had by all. Though it is a pity I'm going to be getting coal this year in my stocking.

Shakin' a Tailfeather - part 2

Well, since Elly was all dressed up and it was the first Friday of the month, we actually watched the Blues Brothers movie. There should be no surprise that we have it on DVD.

Elly watched on bemused as her parents got up and danced the Tailfeather together, it has been a while but the moves are still there.

Shakin' a Tailfeather

It's the first Friday of the month and Elly is ready to shake her tailfeather.

Are you my mummy?

That's right, we have been to the Dr Who exhibit at Earls Court. Steve had a day off, so we prepared for a big day out with scary monsters and special effects. Prepare to be amazed!

The exhibit focuses on the latest series with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant - with their sets, costumes and creatures. For example the gas mask from possibly the spookiest episode ever, where a child follows people around asking "Are you my Mummy?"

The exhibit has been on for a while.... and it shows. The moving parts of the exhibit just seemed to creak, if they moved at all. But it was good to be there on a weekday - there were only 3 other people and we barely saw them. So we had K9, Cybermen and Daleks to ourselves.

Along the way we made some buff new friends. Here's Bridie up on stage with some metallic gogo dancers:

Even Elly got to meet a Dalek. Though clearly she is immune to the terror associated with the Supreme Commanders of the Universe...

Hoodie

...and Dad's been teaching me to poke my tongue out!

Look what my Nanny knitted for me

Don't I look pretty - Nanny Shirley knitted this for me and it arrived yesterday - I couldn't wait to try it on!

Check out my groovy tights

Sounds like...

Happy Halloween

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween - hope you like my outfit - what you can't see are the cute socks that look like orange cowboy boots - Mum's crap with a camera sometimes.

Love Elly xxx

Look who's smiling

Despite the rumours of grumbles and grizzles, Elly is starting to smile - and it is no longer wind!

We've met Humphrey

Whilst out and about in John Lewis, we ran into Humphrey

Humphrey is 3 years old.

He is a gentle and soft elephant.

Sometimes he gets a bit noisy (if he is being an indian) or grumpy when he gets tired but usually Mummy says what a good boy he is.

Contrasted with Elly who is 6 weeks old, a gentle and soft siren who tends to be noisy and grumpy when she is not asleep. Otherwise Bridie will agree that she is a perfect princess.

PS. We still didn't find what we wanted at John Lewis.

Pink

Our house is slowly going pink.

Bridie has never been a pink person. I think it has always been a bit too girly for her. And since we didn't know if we would have an Ally or Elly, we had managed to avoid pink presents too.

But no longer.

Not only do we now get lots of pink presents (which I find adorable), I have also taken the step of washing my red T-shirt with lightly coloured clothes. As a result we now have lots of pink stuff.

Except for the angry red look Bridie gives me whenever the topic of T-shirts comes up.

Happy 1 month birthday!

Elly has turned one month old.

We even came close to being awake for her actual arrival time of 2.43am (thanks to Miss Elly herself)

Britax Vigour 3+ roadtest and review

You may have noticed that our blog seems to be less about travelling and London life, and more about our new baby. It seems that the title above ('ramble about the travels and trials of London life') might be inaccurate to some degree now - or at least more trial and less travel.

We can solve this by unifying them into one big blog posting - about how we get our baby Elly to travel in London. If you don't want to read about prams/buggies then stop now.

When we went buggy shopping we wanted something small, light and zippy. So we chose the Britax Vigour 3+ - which is different to the Vigour 3 because it has a plus after it. Apparently. (I guess upping the model number to 4 was impossible because that is what they call their 4 wheel buggy)

Pros:
- Big wheels. I have always believed in theatre you can't beat a big prop. The same goes for wheels.
- Great maneuverability. Goes around corners easily, and can steer one-handed. Perfect for the mother-on-the-go-using-a-mobile-phone.
- Fits in the back of a VW Golf for when we use Streetcar.
- Wheels come off for fitting in even smaller cars. Actually got it in the foot well in the back seat of a small car.
- Not too expensive - at least compared to other options.

Cons:
- A pivoting front wheel can be a problem when making a big step up or down onto a curb as it can turn to the side and go off at an angle. Front wheel is lockable but at the expense of maneuverability.
- Wheels are soft plastic, but still somewhat solid - so can seem a bit hard against edges. Still Elly doesn't seem to mind too much.
- Back wheels are too wide to go down a bus aisle. This of course puts you at the mercy of bus drivers to open the rear doors. Though looking at the aisles, I'm not sure how any buggy could get down them.

We aren't even using the seat part right now as Elly is too small. Instead we have the Baby Safe Sleeper - a cot attachment that can be used directly in the backseat of a car. It also clips directly into the buggy, so Elly can go from house, to buggy, to car, and back again - all without waking her up.

Pros:
- one cot suits all - therefore minimising waking the princess.
- saves on buying a separate cot and car seat.
- attaches using the existing seat belts.

Cons:
- Heavy
- Fiddly one-hand release system doesn't always disengage. Combined with the weight makes it difficult to get Elly in and out of the buggy.
- I think it will only last 6 months before she outgrows it.
- Requires 2 of the 3 seats in the rear.
- Can be a bit fiddly to attach the seat belts to the hooks.
- Has a big unattractive Britax logo on the front

Summary
Are we happy - yes. Elly loves going on the bus, can sleep through the melee at Sainsburys & Tesco, and she draws stares because it looks a bit different.

Out and about in South Park Gardens

Elly had her first trip to the park today.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't quite what we had requested - instead of warm sunshine, we got cold, grey and raining. Not at all surprising in October really. So Elly was rugged up nice and warm, loaded into her hot rod buggy and given a protective rain cover.

I have this urge to paint flames down the side of the buggy - or to give it go faster stripes. But Bridie insists that would not be the sort of carriage for a lady. I offered to bling it out in pink and frills, but that idea didn't even get acknowledged. Perhaps it is best I'm not left in charge of decorating. (Though I might have to fit a GPS unit on there when Bridie isn't looking - just to geek it up a bit)

On a sunny day this park is normally packed with young families. So much that you can barely see green grass for the number of blankets, picnics, Frisbees and kids. We almost had the park to ourselves today - except for a gardener and a posh man in a suit who seemed out of place. Maybe he was escaping from the credit crunch.

Elly in action

A video from one of her happier (and quieter) moments...

Elly and a squeaky friend

Almost 2 weeks old

And still so tiny...

Day 5 - relaxing

This is Elly in one of her more peaceful moments. I could easily waste an entire day looking at her, if we weren't so flat out looking after her.

Preparing to hit the town

Zzzzzz....

It is amazing how long it takes to get her organised for a day out. After the clothes selection, packing, nappy changing, feeding, cleaning up the sick, extra packing, another nappy change, the list goes on and on. While she gets exactly what she wants.

In the end we got as far as our local Mothercare store before the excitement all got too much for her. So Bridie wheeled her home, and I was left holding the shopping list.

Day 3 in the big world

This is Eleanor doing her standard "I surrender" pose.

She came out with fantastically sharp fingernails. So the mittens are there to protect her little face, keep her hands warm and prevent her from gouging a hole out of her loving parents who get too close.

This is probably one of few photos where Eleanor is not wriggling around... much

Day 1. Eleanor Rose Bauer arrives

I'm not going to go into the gory details of the birth. But let's just cover a few points:
- I was exhausted and I was just the support crew
- Baby's are cute - a friend recently remarked that that really is their survival tactic.
- nothing prepares you for meconium
- birth plans are just that - plans. Anything could happen and for us it mostly did. About half of ours was trashed as events unfolded.
- Your midwife is crucial. We got a very good one and are very very thankful for it.

Anyway... we'll tell you the details some time.

Fruit predictions

This tomato grew in our garden last week. The product of random events seems to have created a boy tomato. Specifically a boy tomato that is happy to see us.

Now we didn't know the sex of our new baby, and I sorta believed this was a sign of what was coming. That and Bridie kept dreaming about having a son. It seemed that the pointers to the future were pointers ... if you get my drift.

But it turns out that you can't trust fruit in these matters. I think the best place for this tomato is in a sandwich.

Thames Barrier

Ian and I headed into London to check out the Thames Barrier on the weekend. It's big, shiny and stops flooding.

Now I have been damming small rivers since I was a kid, with rocks, sticks and mud. I could spend hours trying to halt the flow, with only temporary success. Sometimes Bridie even thought I was a beaver.

But this takes it to new levels. They can block the entire Thames in case of a super high tide and prevent all of London flooding. And, with any luck, they will be more successful than I was.

New set of wheels

Nope - not a car. We have bought a pram for Ichi.
(And that isn't Ichi in there - that's Basil Brush modeling the product)

We tried to choose something light and zippy. This had 3 large wheels and seems ideal for the task. Not sure if it will fit on the bus yet since it does have a wide wheel base.

Now we just need to bling it up a bit.

Photos with the Queen

I promised a photo of me meeting the Queen... So here it is.

On the left (behind the head with glasses) you can make out Prince Philip, shaking the hand of our CFO Thomas Chambers. This is the point where he seemed to recognise the name Symbian.

This seemed to be the 'Gold Room' in Buckingham Palace - despite it being called the White Drawing Room. Everything is bright and chintzy, though I suspect it was like this long before it went out of fashion for the masses. This room definitely says you're in a palace.

Other rooms tended to be that dark red colour that is associated with royalty - not just the carpet, but up the walls too. I imagine you don't get much choice in colours when you're the head of state - purple might be the only other option.

And the thrones seemed a bit underwhelming. They were two low pink seats, suitably embroidered with E II R and P. I was hoping for something more dominating - something to remind us loyal serfs to behave because we are in the presence of power.

5 weeks to go...

People have been asking for photos of Bridie, so I thought I should oblige and upload one. Some people are interested in her and are showing love and support through the pregnancy. Others seem to have some fascination about how much baby you can grow inside one girl. I, on the otherhand, have recently seen birthing videos and I know the worst is yet to come.

We have been in full-time nesting mode this weekend.

Not only did we move bookcases out of the bedrooms, we swapped bedrooms, set up a moses basket, a crib and a bunch of other flatpack furniture that seem to be necessary for new family life. One of them is a change table as seen in the photo above - though it does seem to be have been annexed by the local unicorn population (extra points if you can find the one that looks like a duck).

But we have shown some restraint - we're trying not to buy every article and gadget that companies like Mothercare thrust towards us. But we have the buggy on order, we have most of the essentials, and we're feeling a bit more prepared than last week. Not that we could ever be prepared for what is about to happen...

We do still have a bunch of stuff to buy, and some of you have been asking what we would like or need, so we have put together a couple of lists if you're interested in helping out - Mothercare wish list and an Amazon wish list.

Gone to London to meet the Queen

Symbian recently was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise, and I was one of the people randomly chosen to go to Buckingham Palace for a reception and to meet the Queen herself.

I felt terrible not telling anyone, but I just didn't believe it was going to happen. Or it would be some boring sit-down ceremony. Or just a huge practical joke by the company at my expense (we're still waiting to find out if the Nokia acquisition was some huge Finnish practical joke).

And after filing into Buckingham Palace it starts to get real. The sheer amount of red carpet and gold edging does that to you eventually. There were huge chandeliers and big paintings, and rooms large enough to fit a house in. Or two. And I had a weird revelation - everything in these rooms is the real thing - there are no copies or fakes here. Everything is probably worth a fortune.

After quaffing some drinks we notice that people in the room seem to be creating a queue, in the great British tradition. So we joined in, thinking it was time to take our seats. But no, about 5 meters down the queue is that sweet little lady you see on the news. And sure enough we were formally introduced, I shook her hand, said hello and moved on. Prince Philip was there too, he even seemed to vaguely remember the name Symbian. But the queue was moving, and we returned to the masses, feeling stunned at what had just happened.

I found out later the right thing to do is to say "Good evening, your majesty." But as an Australian we're not trained in Royal etiquette. Come to think of it, we're still trying to oust her as head of state. At least I didn't say G'day mate. Oh well, next time... mate.

We were browsing the art (oh look, a Rembrandt) when Prince Philip came over with a fantastic opening line "you must be the eggheads." Originally thinking he was referring to our software background at Symbian, it turns out he was highlighting that three of us were follicle challenged. We laughed, chatted, showed our phones, promoted our company and he mingled onwards. Clearly these people are masters of the social art of mingling.

Bridie felt a bit abandoned at home. Partly because she is more interesting in art than I am, partly because she would appreciate the champagne better than I, but mainly because there are unicorns all over the Royal Coat of Arms and therefore around the palace. And they wouldn't let me bring home souvenirs.

The weirdest thing was walking out of this palace / national monument / art gallery and not walking through a gift shop on the way out. Of course we weren't allowed to take photos. Though apparently some will become available for a small charge. Stay tuned.

Overall a great night that just zoomed past. Big thank you to Symbian for the chance, and Liz for having us over for canapes.

Mexican wave

P1010993, originally uploaded by skate roggie.

Led an impromptu mexican wave on the skate last Sunday. Why are they so rewarding?

Taking coals to Newcastle

We headed up to sunny Newcastle this weekend for the gorgeous wedding between our friends Sarah and Simon and got our first look at the Gateshead Flasher (AKA the Angel of the North).

In training for the arrival of Ichi, we went up by car with friends Jo and Mike and eight month old Charlie - who was an absolute little gentleman the whole way there and back.



Bridie's bump also got it's first real social outing - although close dancing isn't so close anymore!

Replication

Again, from the XKCD

http://xkcd.com/387/

Project Ichi on target

Well, today we had our second scan with Ichi - after having all Ichi's features pointed out (except for the gender - we turned away at that point) - nose, eyes, mouth, chin, heart, kidneys, fingers and toes - and yes, everything's there and in the right proportions, we watched the party from the inside - the kicking, the moving, the arms flailing - even playing peek-a-boo with his/her hands.

The bit that made us both go AWWWW was when Ichi yawned - a nice big one. Obviously with no TV or books, Ichi's finding things pretty boring down there. His/her entertainment is mostly how to surprise Bridie with a well placed kick.

More project updates as they come to hand...

Secret Ichi Party

Yesterday was the first day I felt Ichi move. I am now in Proud Dad mode.

Bridie, on the other hand, has been on the invite list to the Secret Ichi Party for a while now - when she's at work, on the bus, lying down, or whenever. It seems Ichi likes to Salsa and quiet times are the best for a bit of internal tickling.

Seaworld

Just got back from San Diego for a boring conference about SD memory cards - those fiddly little cards that you use in your phone to store photos, video and toonz. Not much exciting to report there. To summarise - If you want to store a whole bunch of stuff then use a small thin block of plastic jammed into the side of a phone.

But I was stuck in San Diego for the following day, so we went to SeaWorld! This is Shamu...

Shamu likes to splash - spraying the first 14 rows of the stadium with water at regular intervals. This turned out to be a bit dangerous for those of us with cameras as it is not a light spray - those tails give a good soaking.

It turns out that Shamu isn't just one Killer Whale - it is a generic title for all the Orcas at Seaworld. Surely that must be confusing for the poor whale.

Snow in April

It's snowing!

This time last year we were having a heatwave.
This year the plants gave up on the winter freeze, and have decided to bloom. Poor daffodils... all confused.

Steve passed his MBA

Woohoo!

The London Photography Meetup Group

Went along to the London Photography Meetup Group yesterday. Once a month they meet at a small pub in Soho for a social chat. Members range from professional to people who are 'in between cameras.' There was a little bit of Canon/Nikon banter, but generally a nice bunch of people.

And, in addition to the drinking, they even get together occasionally for a bit of photography and technical workshops.

Let's see how this goes...

7th wedding anniversary in Cuba

We have just got back from Cuba for our wedding anniversary. But in some ways it is also our last big trip, as Bridie gets more and more pregnant.


We had a great time, spending most of our time in Havana. We sucked up the culture with an occasional Mojito. Or at least Steve did, as Bridie is banned from alcohol at the moment.

We also did some day trips. Once out west to Viñales, a UNESCO protected area. We also checked out the tobacco fields, drying and cigar manufacture areas. And another day to the east in the tourist centre of Cuba, Varadero.

Anyway, check out our photo site.

We're going to be parents

Hi

Well, it's a big news day for us. We're going to be parents.
Woohoo!

It is still early days yet. Bridie is due at the end of September, so we still have six months to go. In the meantime, Bridie is already enjoying pregnancy with all the perks that come with it. While there has been no binge-eating of pickles and ice-cream, there has been the occasional random vomiting (which is never constrained to the morning). And now she has the superpower excuse for everthing - "I'm pregnant!"

It is too early to know the sex at the moment (nor do we have any desire to), but we have a nickname in the meantime - Ichi, from the Japanese for one or first. Why? Mainly because we were staying in the Dai-Ichi Hotel in Tokyo at the time, but also because this would be our first baby. And Bridie decided it would be a good name (see superpower reference above)

Here is your first chance to meet Ichi:Early days, but there's a suprising amount of action going on at this stage. Ichi is only 6.5 cm long, but bouncing around like a kangaroo - it's actually surprising that Bridie can't feel the kicking... yet.

Anyhoo... stay tuned.

Steve has now finished his MBA!

News flash: Bridie is happy to have her husband back. Quote from Bridie "Woohoo!"

Theoretically this means more time, less stress and more life. Let's see how this goes. My guess is that life will expand to fill all the time available, somehow leading to equivalent stress.

I don't care - I'm going out for dinner to celebrate.

Mobile World Congress (ne 3GSM)

I have just got back from WMC/3GSM - the main industry trade show for the mobile phone industry.

It's a madcap few days where geeks from around the world converge on Barcelona, Spain. Effectively turning it into a mobile geek heaven (or hell). Bridie took great delight in people-watching the arrivals at the airport: "geek ... tourist... geek... geek... geek."

All the big names announce their latest offerings, companies try to out-hype each other, and all the suits converge for days and days of meetings. But the reality is that you need to fight to see the new toys, the hype is short lived and the meetings often are not necessary. The idea is good, but it doesn't live up to expectations.

It's a tiring time, with the only positive thing to look forward to are the parties each night. Symbian's party was Monday night in a nightclub called Opium. It was rockin with a band downstairs and a chillout room upstairs. Tuesday I went to a chip manufacturer party with a middle-eastern theme; food, drinks, belly dancers the lot. I even had tickets to the Samsung party on Wednesday night but I had to fly back.

Ironically international roaming wasn't working that well - so I missed a lot of calls. The best voice mail I had was "that thing that is buzzing in your pocket is your phone - you should answer it sometime."

Some photos from one of our corporate blogs

Anyway... home now. Yay!

Christopher Columbus says "pull my finger"

(he was not above low-brow humour)

Photos in Barcelona

Near Santa Eulalia

A unicorn gargoyle.
And... well you can see what this is.

La Pedrera

Bridie has always love Barcelona. Luckily I was going there for work for 3GSM/Mobile World Congress. So we book a hotel and flight and got out there early for a weekend break.

Our mission - to photograph La Pedrera.
(Though all these photos are only Steve's)

This is a building built by the architect Antoni Gaudí. It is a fabulous building with no visible straight lines.
And on the roof at the most amazing sculptures used for chimneys and water storage.