Mesh-mash before moving

Whenever Cat coughs or sneezes I automatically say “будь здоров” (Russian equivalent of “bless you”) and it looks like she picked up on the fact that coughing equals attention. So now whenever she wants to be noticed or picked up she does very fake cough together with the usual grumpy “mmm” sound. At first I thought that I was imagining things, but Clive noticed it as well. He and I were having a chat the other morning while she was awake in her cot. Cough. We look at her, the coughing stops. We look at each other and start discussing how fake it sounded. The coughing starts up again. We look at her, she stops. We glance at each other and start laughing. Cat’s eyes widen from surprise, she smiles and does a bit more coughing until I pick her up.

She napped for almost 2 hours yesterday morning while I was making lots of noise with the blender to make her some carrot puree. No such luck today – I was quietly talking to my mum and she woke up after 45 minutes.

She is surprising me by how fast she is getting good at eating from the spoon, though in her impatience she still manages to nock my hand & the spoon around and get some food on her face, hands, bib, top and even pants. I think we need to get some of those super “shirt” bibs that cover everything. I’m happy she liked the carrot puree as I myself dislike cooked carrots – they tastes so horrid compared to the wonderful taste of fresh raw carrots.

We are two thirds packed and hopefully will finish the rest in another hour or so. I’m looking forward to discovering the new area, but a bit sentimental about leaving this one after being here for 3 years. I find a lot of comfort in small familiar things and surroundings lately. We usually pass the cleaner man, who picks up rubbish and sweeps the street, on our daily walks. We started saying hello to each other and today for the first time he wished me good weekend today. Made me smile, made me sad as there won’t be any familiar faces, streets, shops or buildings at first. (OK, I’m being overly dramatic we are only moving few tube stops – I felt less soppy when leaving Australia. I think I’m in my “it would be nice to set up in one place for a long time” mood. Last time this happened I bought a flat, was happily discussing how I don’t have to move ever again and a year later was yearning to move to somewhere new).

If everything goes well we’ll have phone/internet set up on Tuesday (last two times it took a week longer than promised). Until when have fun and UK people, enjoy long weekend.