Just some random musings on a Monday night...

A is now a big 18 months old.  He loves having someone read him a book.  He can say the following words:  Ma, Book, Outside, All done, Socks, Shoes, Moo, Baby, No, and Argh!  Argh means sippy cup for some reason.  He is very coordinated on the playground.  He can climb all the way up the tall slide and slide back down it.  He can climb up and down a ladder.  He can hoist himself up on to any surface that is less than 2.5 feet high.  Like his sister was at the same age, he has great balance and climbing skills.  Since A does not have many words, he gets frustrated a lot.  He yells and screams and throws tantrums.  He loves his sister, but he fights for the attentions of Mommy and Daddy.  He wants someone to be reading him a book at all times.  He sucks his fingers almost constantly.  He has a perpetual runny nose due to allergies.  He is very loving toward babies.  He considers anyone his age or younger to be a baby.  He's a big eater, but he purposely throws food on the floor if he doesn't like it at that given moment.  He's exhaustingly fast and mischievous.  He can get into the toilet, out the gate of the playground, stuffing poisonous berries in his mouth, eating cigarette butts before you even notice he's missing.  Despite all his craziness, he has a smile that can melt anyone.  I'm sure this is going to be a recipe for trouble down the road.

Some thoughts on cultural differences here in England:

• They call ladybugs, "ladybirds."  I tried to explain the nonsense in that to my British friend, but she insisted that it's the perfect name for those cute red and black bugs.
• Customer service is not a priority over here.  It's often that you get bad service and no one seems to think that that may ruin business.
• There is a general lack of convenience items here.  It's like everyone wants to do it the hard way.  It's hard to find cake mixes, swiffer wet-jets, or even a good 24 hour pharmacy here.  
• When you pass someone on the street and they are totally in your way, you should say, "er, Sorry!" even though nothing is your fault about the situation.
• The credit cards over here are completely different.  Instead of being swiped like American cards, they have a chip that you insert into a chip reader.  Also, waiters bring a little credit card scanner to the table with a key pad.  They let you enter your tip into the machine and then hand it back to them where they print off your receipt.  We should totally have that in the US!  
• In British currency, the smallest bill is a 5 pound note.  They have 1 pound coins and 2 pound coins, as well as a 50 pence coin.  It would be awesome to have those in the US!  
• All the homeless people in Oxford have a really cute dog.  All of them!

Well, that's all for now!  We sure do miss Chick-fil-a, Chipotle, and Trader Joes!