PhotosHappy New Year! Here are our Christmas photos.
Anna came to play on the 5th. Nia would not allow Anna to monopolize the camera. Later, Nia showed everyone how to row, row, row a boat.
Nia loves her doll house. She likes to give the baby a bath, and put Mama in bed.
Our young lady is making the transition of drinking from a bottle to drinking from a cup. This can be very confusing and frustrating, requiring twice the pacifying.
The Schells and Luigs took a Saturday stroll around St. Albans on the 19th. Nia was happy to see her friends, Charlotte and Oliver.
January 23: Nia's favorite word: BATH! Nia's favorite place: BATH! Nia's favorite activity: BATH!
Before Nia leaves for the hospital, she'd like to give you a tour of her playground.
We're home again! We had left for Birmingham on January 27 so Nia could have her second heart surgery. She was in the operating room for nearly 6 hours on the 28th, then spent less than 24 hours in intensive care. She relaxed on the ward for a few days, then underwent a catheter exam on February 4. Her pediatric cardiology consultant told us that he was quite pleased with the evidence from the exam, and let us go home the next day.
She had undergone a Takeuchi procedure (creation of an aortopulmonary window and an intrapulmonary tunnel extending from the anomalous ostium to the window), as well as having the circumference of her mitral valve stitched up a bit to reduce its aperture. Did you get all that?
Nia spent about two weeks in relative isolation at home. Her consultant recommended that she take it easy for about that long to avoid overexerting herself. After all, her chest had just been sliced open and slapped together (for the second time). Nevertheless, she played as enthusiastically as she ever had, if not more so.
Eventually, she could start seeing her friends again. Collen, Bill and Kathy stopped by to eat raclette with us while Nia had a few drinks with Clare. The Nelsons had brought a gift for Nia with them--four gifts, actually. They keep Nia company when she watches the T.t.'s.
It's getting warmer, and we're spending plenty more time O-U-T-S-I-D-E! Mama was away for a couple of days, then Papa had a cold for a couple of days. Now Oma ist da--alles clar!
Nia rode in her first Bentley and instantly fell in love with it. She has never looked more at-home in any other car.
We spent the Easter holiday at the Lake District. Yes, there are lakes (and mountains) in England. Nia saw the boats, and the water, and the trees, and the birds...
Nia finished off the month just being silly around the house.
The first Millennium Kids coffee was hosted by Jill and Aimee. I brought my camera, and thought it was time for a new "kids on the couch" photo. Nia did not agree.
The Luig family learned that they will be moving back to Germany. That meant a going-away party, with all of Charlotte's young friends invited. Later in the week, Charlotte came over to visit Nia.
Corinna had to go to Mallorca, Spain mid-month to give presentations about the new Mercedes-Benz CLK to UK dealers. She couldn't be without her girl, so she took us along. Papa and Nia had a few sunny days to play at the beach in Cala Millor. When the weather kept us inside, we found games to play in the hotel room. Here's a picture of our hotel - Hipocampo Park. The view from our balcony was the non-beach side, but at least we could see the pool and the playground. Here's one last look outside.
Corinna has written down Nia's Story (all the surgeries, check-ups, and worries, April 2001 - Present).
Relaxing back at home, getting back into the routine, playing with friends, keeping up a busy social agenda, can knock a girl out.
Corinna was gone for a couple of days. She had to go to Germany and drive back a new car for the company. When she returned, she found Nia checking out her bicycle seat. Corinna drove from Germany to the UK via France, so she had some fresh French bread for Nia when she arrived. Corinna knows that Nia loves to help cleaning up, so she bought her daughter her own broom and dustpan set.
We obtained a couple of passes to see the qualifying session for a DTM race. Nia enjoyed seeing all the cars, including classic Formula 1 cars, and a DTM car close-up.
A few Luciuses arrived on the 19th. We took advantage of the nice weather upon their arrival by immediately visiting Nia's favorite playground.
This was a month of frequent-flyer mileage. We were in Germany for the first week, then in Florida for the last two. We saw plenty of friends and family, old and new. But the big event was the birthday: Nia turned 2 on the 18th. Omi hosted two joyous birthday parties. The first was done in the German traditional style - a small get-together attended by whoever's home and awake in the morning. The afternoon saw a big American-style to-do, attended by Nia, Mama, Papa, Omi, Granddad, MiLu, Grammy, Grandpa, Great Uncle Scott and Aunt Carole, Adam, Emily, Tinkie-Winkie, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po.
PhotosWe returned to the UK and tried to resume our normal rhythm. That's not very easy, with such an energetic and popular young lady in the household. During our first full weekend back (not counting the first week, when we were all whacked-out by jet lag), we hosted another big birthday party. This one was attended by all of Nia's friends (other than the Millennium babies, whose party was July 21)... ZOOM!
Corinna had to work at the Goodwood Festival of Speed during the next weekend, so the whole family went along for the ride to Portsmouth. On Saturday, John and Nia went to the nearest sandy beach: the Witterings. The beach was idyllic - cool air, warm water, low tide, and nearly abandoned in the morning. It got busier in the afternoon and the tide came in, but it was still enjoyable. We joined Corinna at the Festival of Speed on Sunday. Vanessa, Jessica, and Thomas joined up with us for a while and shared lunch with us at Lord Marsh's house.
Nia introduced her Papa to Mead Open Farm and all its fun. We have annual tickets and are getting a good return on our investment!
PhotosHere in sunny England, summer is in full "swing" (seen the movie?). Nia is enjoying every minute of it, but she is usually too fast to catch on film. We go to playgrounds nearly every day. We have to squeeze in as much fun as possible in the mornings, because she goes to Meadow View Nursery (run by Child Base) in Newport Pagnell three afternoons each week.
When Corinna occasionally gets a nice car from work, and it's a nice day, and everybody's in the mood to get away, we make mini-holidays. We got away to Hunstanton on the 17th.
Nia enjoys playing together with our neighbors, Chris, Sam 1, and Sam 2.
Nearly every chance we get, Nia and her Papa head back out to the farm.
Victoria, Tobias, Emma, and Dennis Blaker visited us on the 25th.
Do not adjust your sets - the first "September" photos on the left are really from the end of August. We went to Cornwall for a week with Oma and Opa, and I have published all of the photos together here. We took our time getting to Cornwall, and spent the night along the way there in Bath. We visited our favorite Italian restaurant there, where Nia caught up with her fish friends (we've been here before).
I've been pretty busy. I started a company, you know.
Nia had a fever on October 1st. She spent the next two months not feeling very well - diarrhoea, vomiting, and high temperatures. The pictures on the left were during a brief "sunny spell" in the middle of October.
Nia enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame in October, when she appeared on newsstands in the November issue of UK's Junior magazine. The Junior article, written by Joanna Moorhead, was based upon Corinna's account of Nia's heart problems and our worries along the way. The photos were taken in September by Tricia de Courcy Ling while we were in Cornwall.
(no photos)
Nia had a check-up with her paediatrician on November 7 (John's birthday), and was referred to Birmingham Children's Hospital. She stayed there for a week (including November 13, Corinna's birthday). Her cardiologist ruled out any heart problem. Finally, near the end of November, her symptoms cleared up as mysteriously as they appeared.
December was a month of cold, dark, miserable weather. We tried to get of the house and on the road as often as we could, to the Mead Open Farm, Bletchley Activity World, coffee groups, shopping, anywhere. This month needed some cheering up. We needed to get away, to a better place, like... Germany? What a great time for special birthdays, like Oma's 60th! All of her children and grandchildren were there, as well as over 60 friends and family at a celebration brunch that lasted most of the next day.
After all that excitement, we just spent time hanging around the house, waiting for Christmas. It finally arrived. No one can be sure who got the "best" present: John and his VisorPhone, Chris and his X-Box, or Nia and her BIG CHOCOLATE SANTA!