The Warsaw backyard experience...

Yes, it is something we can only dream of, stuck here in the grind of the urban jungle - the yard. So elusive to us, yet such an afterthought for most. The green trees, the space, the sheer presence of fresh air, all tying together to form a perfect place for an afternoon bbq with friends and family. It was wonderful to spend some time visiting my brother and his family in Warsaw - what a retreat! Ella did not know what to do with all the space and the trampoline quickly turned into her favorite toy EVER (caused many tears when play time had to end). She had so much fun with her cousins, while the parents enjoyed a bottle of wine. The simple pleasures of life....

Croatia and Montenegro...

Long weekend gave us another excuse to go somewhere, and since we've never been to Croatia and a drive through Montenegro sounded like a fun adventure, we decided to pack our bags and get some sun. I can't say that it was amazing - although the views were certainly breathtaking - rather, it was new, but not so different. The language was similar to Polish (in Croatia, particularly) and every so often it would be easy to spot the remnants of Communist tendencies. Dubrovnik was as touristy as it gets, although we were not there during the high season, so I can't imagine the throngs of cruise-ship tourists that must step through the walls of the old town during the summer months. We also visited an island off the coast where it felt like an escape from the chaos of Dubrovnik with no cars, and a beautiful little beach where Ella decided that she hates sand, although we enjoyed the swim. The history of the whole place, coupled with the water and the sun surrounded our every move, and made us want to learn more.

Montenegro was magical, as everyone told us it would be, with mostly undisturbed villages surrounding Boka Katorska - often compared to the fjords in Norway. It was great hiking and walking through the cobblestone streets of Kotor for Ella who could run freely through the century-old squares and make friends with the locals. A quick trip, filled with seafood, sun, history, and adventures...we hope to come back to the region sometime soon...




Ella was a trooper though! We put her through a lot from planes, trains and automobiles along with a speedboat here and there, hot and sweaty days... But she seems to love new places and her independence gets stronger each day (which is not always a good thing!); she takes it all in and goes along for the ride. Otherwise we would all be miserable!

Pietruszkiewicz time!

My grandma and grandpa came for a few days to enjoy London...and then my uncle, aunt and two cool cousins came to play with me too! It was a full house, but lots of fun spending time in the park and playing games.

Enjoying Easter

We thought this year we would join an English tradition of sitting in traffic on Good Friday to head down to the seaside for the Easter weekend. With a few other brave couples, we enjoyed beautiful weather in Cornwall and Ella got to see another part of the Island.

Ella turns 1!!!!

And we've survived! We have to admit - it was a celebration for us as well as Ella. We're still married and happy... Ella is becoming more and more like her mom with temper tantrums and lots of tears when things don't go her way, constantly keeping us on our toes. There are plenty of laughs too and she never ceases to amaze us (but isn't that what every parent believes?? :) We had a little birthday bash so that Ella could try her first sweets and someday look back and laugh at herself!

Dubai...

short trip...tall buildings, but lots of sun and water - fun for everyone after spending a winter in London. We swam and played and I got to spend lots of time in the pool!

backpacking

They are getting me started early with this stuff...and I'm still trying to get used to it, but I think there will be lots of hiking around this spring. I'm so tall in it!

Party time

I'm getting big now - at least my parents tell me this all the time! My mom even makes me pretend that I have friends - we have to go visit them, but even though I barely notice them, it's still fun because I always fight to take their toys (WHY??? why is our child turning out this way???) and see new things. I can stand now and I even know how to pretend to dance which is a constant source of amusement for everyone! My favorite toys are those that play music, because then I can really show off my moves!

My First Christmas!

So, I finally figured out what the tree was all about and why mom and dad made me go on a plane for 9 hours.....Presents!!

Christmas was a great time. I got to hang out with both my grandparents in the mountains and on the coast - Snow in Colorado and sun in California. It was a little tough with the altitude in Colorado, but I really enjoyed playing with my cousins. Overall it was a great trip.

Christmas in the new place

Just when I thought I had everything figured out, mom and dad moved me from our home, moved all the furniture, and put a tree in the living room.

I haven't figured all this out yet, but I have to admit, I love having more room to roam and while the walks are colder, it's fun to get all bundled up and hey, the tree is pretty cool all lit up with things for me to play with. I hope it doesn't get any colder though...

Fall Colors & Halloween

Ella's first Halloween! I was a big, fluffy, pink bunny with my own carrot :) Now that I'm crawling, it was fun to clean the floors with my pink fur at the halloween party.

Family visits and historic 'ol England

Granny Smith came out to visit and that gave me another excuse to convince mom and dad that I should get out to the countryside for the day. I had been reading about England's involvement in WWII and the historic leadership of both FDR and Churchill. So, we took a hike to his estate. But, wouldn't you know it, I was so cute that they forgot to take any pictures of the estate, just me. Well, what did you expect?

Playdates and gettin' bigger

So, now that I've grown to almost 20 pounds, I've made clear to mom and dad that I'm beyond all of the plastic play toys and sitting around the living room. I've got friends that I want to see, travel I want to do, books to read, etc. They are just going to have to recognize, I'm a big girl now.

Where should I move?

I'm sitting here pondering...

So apparently as an adult, you are required to move every two years. Maybe it's a government thing. Anyway, I've been told I have four choices.

In Warsaw, everyone sounds like mommy, so that would be cool, and I could see my cousins as well, but it's cold and gray...I'm a big outdoors girl you know.
In Sydney I've been told they have these things called beaches, I imagine sand probably tastes good, but that means long flights.
Maybe if we stay in London I will get to speak in that funny British accent - but then kids will make fun of me when I grow up...
Then there is Seattle...they have houses there! I can have a backyard! But I heard Dad say something about there's only one Johnnie Walker. Not sure what that means.

Mommy told me it would be helpful for me if I build an excel model, but I haven't been able to figure out the vlookup formula so I'm just going to have to ponder on my own. What do you think?

Ella turns six months!

It's unbelievable that last week Ella turned six months...What a crazy ride so far...and we've been so fortunate. Ella has changed so fast - it seems just like yesterday, when she could barely keep her eyes open for longer than a few minutes, and now it's party time every day, all day, if it was up to her. She's amazing, but of course I'm the mom so I would say that.

She can sit up now, smile, and let us know when she's unhappy about things other than food and sleep. She's figured out how to crawl backwards which amazingly is incredibly frustrating for her parents - we constantly have to get stuff for her or move her. She reaches for things, laughs, and cries when things are not going her way. Somehow she's incredibly stubborn :) She's also eating 'real' food now, as we're trying to get her to eat things like basil, mango, and spinach. Broccoli is definitely NOT the favorite.

We're spending a lot to time in Hyde Park, visiting with other moms, having lunches, going to swimming and music classes. Ella plays with other babies in daycare 1 hour a day when mom goes to the gym - the teacher has mentioned that she's 'very attention seeking.' I wonder why? We must work on changing that but of course it's difficult not to spoil her when she smiles so sweetly! In the evening dad takes over and disappears with Ella for her bath and reading time. It's so much easier now that she's a bit older and great fun as she is starting to be responsive. During the next six months she'll have a lot to learn as I go back to work, but in the meantime, it's still playtime with mom and dad!

Provence

So it was time to vacation again - I guess mom and dad really want me to get used to that whole flying thing! We stayed in a big house, went hiking, walking around little villages, and I think that mom and dad ate a lot of food. They dragged me to nice restaurants where I had to behave myself which was really problematic for me, but oh well. Also, I got to visit my first winery (and many after) and go on top of a big mountain from where I could even see the Alps!

Mom and dad did love this holiday. It was amazing to enjoy so much space after living in a small London apartment. We spent our days relaxing, driving around, hiking, walking and playing with Ella. Fall was in the air, although days were warm and Rob even braved the pool! We definitely ate too much, but it was difficult to resist the local cousine. It will be nice to come back someday.

Portugal...

To escape the 'summer' in London, we made our way south to a little town outside of Lisbon where it was actually warm. Although it was too windy for Ella to explore the beach, the warm afternoons and splendid sunsets provided plenty of opportunity for Ella to explore and mom and dad to relax. Some close friends, Elodie and Brian, came with us with their daughter, Izzy - it was entertaining to watch them both play!

I'm five months old!!!!

The last month has been quite exciting! I got to know my cousins, meet some friends, hang out with my grandparents, begin to learn to eat, sit, and start to show my true colors with my temper! Oh...and I even slept in this weird thing on the plane...wow, life is exciting!

First real food

Having just passed the five month mark, I definitely think I'm over all this baby stuff. I want to do things like mom and dad, especially eat like mom and dad. I try and tell them this by grabbing at their food and putting everything I can in my mouth. So finally, they decided to give me some of their food. I'm so excited, I can hardly wait...

Phototgraphy time

While in Sioux Falls, mom and dad dragged me to the photographer - here are some of the pictures we took.