Tower Poppies, Cornershop and baby friends

It's been a while since I've written a post about London so here goes.

We live walking distance from the Tower of London now (by walking distance I mean about a 40 minute walk - 2 miles).  The Tower of London has an exhibition on from August-November commemorating the 100 year anniversary of World War I called "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red."  They are planting a ceramic poppy in the moat for every British and/or Commonwealth soldier killed in WWI - 888,246 poppies in total.  The last poppy will be planted the 11th of November (Armistice Day).  It is a really impressive display, even though it's only halfway done in these photos (you can see the volunteers in the background working diligently).  And, naturally, we had to take a photo of Poppy with the poppies. 

More info here if you want it: Tower Poppies

You can also buy a poppy for £25.

Today, my friend Lauren and her baby Ada went with Poppy and I to visit an art display of sorts in east London.  The Cornershop is a shop stocked with normal things you'd find at a corner shop - but everything is made out of felt.  The artist, Lucy Sparrow, stitched almost 4000 different items to put into the shop (it took her 7 months).  The result is a really cool little shop where you can't touch anything but you can buy a felt pregnancy test!  Here are some photos:

 

Here's an article about it: Corner Shop

And finally, some candid photos of Poppy and her NCT baby friends.  We meet up every Tuesday with all these babes and their moms, usually to eat cake and drink tea (or a cheeky Tuesday afternoon glass of wine) and talk about our babies' poos!

I have about twenty of these photos and they are hilarious!  The babies are in order left to right from youngest to oldest.

Ivy, Ada, Poppy, Ivo and Max

Food and teeth and brains.

Not a lot to report in this blog.  I just thought I'd do a quick update!  

Poppy is doing well - she's moved into 9-12 month clothes (although her new wetsuit is size 12-18 months and is TOO SMALL - stop growing baby) and now has two little teeth on the bottom! She's started eating real food - her favourite combination is avocados and bananas.  The little monster is very particular though.  She doesn't like purees and she doesn't like being spoon fed (unless she's holding onto the spoon also).  So, essentially, she's forcing me into baby-led weaning.  It's really messy but she's so cute trying to feed herself. And we have nappy-only dinner now (because all of her clothes were getting stained) which only adds to the cuteness.

As much fun as I'm having staying at home with Poppy, I can't help but feel like my brain is turning to mush. I went from being a full-on academic, writing a dissertation and getting a masters degree, to obsessing about bath temperatures and room temperatures and the million constant mom worries running through my head - "Is Poppy hungry or tired? Is she getting another tooth? Is she not eating carrots because she's allergic? How do I know if she's allergic? What if she has an allergic reaction?  Why won't she eat pureed food?  Is it bad if I let her watch TV? Why does she like TV so much? Does she have enough toys?  Is she hot? Is she cold?..." I could go on and on and on.  I love being a stay at home mom (how could I not? I have the cutest baby in the world!) but I am looking forward to getting back to work in October and using my brain for other things again.

Now for some photos:

TOOTH!

Aunt Amanda sent Poppy a bow but she doesn't quite have enough hair for it yet :)

Yummy food!

Yoga baby in the stroller. She's such a lady.

Watching her favourite show, Maya the Bee. I hate how much she loves TV.

Daddy showing her the ropes! As soon as she can walk we're putting her to work ;)

Today I dressed Poppy in a blue and white striped dress with some pink and grey in it also.  THREE different people called her a he.  Three.  She was wearing a dress.  One guy said "Oh it was the stripy top, I couldn't tell..."  IT'S A DRESS!  They could just say "how old is your baby?" instead of making things awkward and calling poor Poppy a boy.

Rant over.