The Alvarez' go British

Last Thursday Oscar, Savannah, and I took the red-eye flight from Raleigh to London.  Who knew you could take a direct flight from here to London?!  Anyways, our flight left around 6:15 pm and we landed in London at 7 am.  I think Savannah managed to get 5 hours of sleep at most and I got maybe 3.  Poor Oscar never managed to fall asleep which is so unlike him.  He usually falls asleep on any flight before the plane ever takes off.  

Pre flight

Post flight

Thankfully we were able to get into our hotel room by 9 am so he got a quick 2 hour nap before his work lunch.  Savannah and I on the other hand, got another 5 hour nap.  Then she and I ventured out to walk around the city until Oscar finished with work.  Once we finally met up with him, we went and experienced English tea time at one of the area hotels.  Only in London do you pay $150 for one pot of tea and a few pastries.  Oh, and Oscar had a glass of champagne but still....seriously?!  

yummy pastries

After tea we walked around the city and did the tourist thing.  Because London is 5 hours ahead of our time, Savannah was able to stay up way past her bedtime and even went to have dinner out in a local pub.  I must admit that I was a little hesitant to take my 11 month old into a bar for dinner but when in London.....

this is how Savannah did most of her sightseeing

We finally went to bed around 10 pm London time and after about an hour of Savannah protesting having to sleep in the crib she managed to pass out ON TOP OF ME in the bed.  I don't think I've ever experienced a worse bed partner.  She squirmed ON TOP OF ME all night long!!!  And of course the same thing happened the following night.  Needless to say, Mom got no rest during this trip.

We all woke up around 10 am on Saturday and set out for a day of sightseeing.  Oh a side note---we had 2 groups of tourists come up to us at different times to ask Oscar for directions.  We couldn't help but laugh since we were tourists ourselves.  I guess we must have looked British :)  And this was the prefect opportunity for Oscar to use his fake accent and he totally forgot.  Oh well, maybe on the next trip.  Anyways, pictures of the day follow:   

breakfast in a cafe

Watching the drummers go by after the changing of the guards.  

visiting the Queen

Touring the Tower of London

Meeting a Beefeater

Such a happy tourist

Globe Theatre

Enjoying his ale at a pub

Having fun waiting for our lunch

Walking through a park

Savannah loved the cabs--no carseat!!

After shopping at Harrods, she's a little grumpy--way too many crowds.

check out the pics at the top of the phone booth---nice choice for a photo, Oscar!

Strolling through a park

Enjoying the "Englishness" of our hotel.

being silly in the room

Dad put her in jail because she was running amuck!

"Isn't there anything good to eat in this town?!" (and fyi, no there isn't!)

checking out the sights at Piccadilly Circus

She loved the tiny bath at the hotel. 

Our return flight home left at 11 am London time, and 8 and a half hours later we landed in Raleigh.  Surprisingly Savannah did wonderfully considering that she never took a nap.  Even after we got home she stayed up until about 7 pm and then she CRASHED.  I didn't even hear a peep out of her until 7:15 am on Monday.  I can't believe she didn't experience any jet-lag during the whole trip.  She is quite the world traveler now.  With one stamp on her passport she's already wanting to add more.  Lucky for her she'll get the chance to do just that in June :)

Fun times on the flight home

Thank you Dad for letting us tag along with you on a "work" trip!  We had so much fun and hopefully since we all behaved he'll let us go again sometime ;)

Savannah's First Trip to the Park

Even though Savannah and I went to parks all the time in Brooklyn, she was always too little to play.  I would just hold her and she would watch all the other children running around and playing.  Now she is finally big enough to swing, slide, and waddle around.  So a couple of weeks ago her and I met up with my friend Jansy and her two little girls at a local park for a play-date.  Savannah had so much fun even though she is still a little too little to do most of the things the big kids can do.

just chillin' in the swing

so much fun!

crawling through the tunnels to Brynn and Mallory

Mallory is showing us how to ring the bells.

A big thank you to Jansy for remembering to bring her camera and for taking pictures for me!  Without her help I wouldn't have been able to document this first.

A Special Weekend

The weekend of October 9th was a very special weekend for our little family.  That was Savannah's baptism weekend and her godparents came to stay with us to witness the special event.  Oscar and I chose three very special people to be the Godparents---Steve and Charmaine Miller and my brother, Harlan.  We were so happy that all three of them could be here together.  Even Aunt Lauren made a quick trip to witness the special event.

Savannah was definitely the star of the day (but isn't she that everyday?!) and she behaved wonderfully during the church service.  She never got fussy and but she did "talk" rather loudly at times and when it was our time to go to the front of the church, she "talked" and waved to the whole congregation.  Here are some pictures from the day.

"Let's get this show on the road!"

At first she was a little unsure of all the people watching her.

But she quickly got over her nerves and began waving.

"Whoa there, what are you two going to do to me?!"

Showing her off to the congregation.

The happy Godparents: Uncle Harlan, Charmaine, and Steve

Me and my sweet girl.

"Check out my gifts."

"ohhhhhhh how pretty! Let me have it!"

"What do you mean I'm too little to wear it?!"

Already reading her new Bible

Before the special Sunday, Savannah attended her first football game on Saturday.  Clemson was in town playing UNC so we got decked out in our Clemson gear and tailgated before the game.

She's ready to go!

This is how Savannah and I tailgate.

How the boys tailgate.

Lunch time

Flirting with the people behind us.

It was such a wonderfully special weekend!  We feel so blessed to have our sweet Savannah and to have such wonderful family and friends who love her as much as we do.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make the weekend so memorable!

The Last Baby Month

**tear*sniff*sniff**  I can't believe it's almost here--in just 27 short days our sweet Savannah will be turning one year old!  Where has this past year gone?!  It's with mixed emotions that I am planning her first birthday party.  I'm excited to celebrate such a joyous year but I'm also so sad that my baby girl will soon no longer be a baby.  Why can't she just stay little forever?!

My Sweet Savannah Grace at 11 months old

On a happier note, let me document all that Savannah has learned and experienced the past month.

~She is finally SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!  She goes down between 7:30 and 8 pm and sleeps until about 6:15 am---woohoo!!  On the other hand, her napping has gotten worse.  She thinks that since she sleeps all night that she doesn't need her one nap anymore---so not the case!!!
~Her current favorite foods are english peas, corn dogs, Horizon vanilla flavored milk, chicken with sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, yogurt, and various turkey hambuger helpers (yes, I admit that at times I take the easy road and don't prepare a completely home cooked meal).
~Some new favorite activities:

She loves to "help" Mama clean--swiffer, dustbuster, vaccuum,  etc

Riding her new 3-phase tricycle. Her favorite part is the attached cell phone.

She loves to talk on all real and play phones and also anything that we pretend is a phone.

~She has learned how to correctly stack her blocks and cups, and she is also learning how to fit various shapes through their correct openings.  She also loves to put lids on everything.

~As far as talking goes---I think I've heard her say "mama" twice now but I'm not convinced that she's for real.

~She got fitted for her first real pair of shoes at Stride-Rite.  I can't say that she really likes them but at least they help to keep her from always pulling her socks off.  

~She likes to bring me my shoes and help me put them on.  Hopefully one day she'll also enjoy putting on her own shoes instead of fighting me while I put them on her.  

~She is able to stand on her own and take a couple of steps but then she remembers that she can crawl so she's not really focused on walking just yet.  And that's fine with me cause I'm not ready to have to run after her :)

~She has developed some big girl eating habits.  Now we just need to work on her table manners.

She thinks she is a big girl and can feed herself with a fork and spoon.

She also thinks her mouth can hold much more than it really can.

She loves to drink out of a straw.

 ~She has officially outgrown her infant car seat to the point where she could no longer comfortably ride in it.  Just don't tell the DMV that I switched her seat a month early.

She loves her new seat and the attached cup holder.

~Her stubbornness appears to increase with age.

Climbing out of her stroller.

Temper tantrums while changing her clothes.

~She's not a big fan of dirt, grass, or rocks.  I've tried to take pictures of her outside and she kinda freaks out about being put on the ground.

"Ewwwwww, it's dirty over here!"

And because no posting ever has enough pictures, I've included a few random ones.

This is one of my new favorite pics---soooo sweet!

Age: 11 months and 5 days

Weight: somewhere between 23 and 25 pounds

Height: roughly 29.5 inches

Attitude: 10 out of 10 (not sure how she could possibly get more bossy/sassy/diva-like)

So my goal for the next 27 days, other than planning her party, is to really live in the moment and enjoy each and every "baby" minute.  It seems that in the blink of an eye she went from a beautiful, precious newborn to an energetic, prissy little toddler princess.  **tear, sniff, sniff**