Zoë in Wonderland

On our last full day in Boston we made the inevitable pilgrimage to the end of the Blue Line to take Zoë to Wonderland.   

It was pretty weird hearing a disembodied voice on the T saying: "Next stop, Wonderland!", and I am not too sure quite what we were expecting from a place whose name conjures up all kinds of visions and expectations of extraordinariness.  For a few brief years in the early 20th century Wonderland was an amusement park featuring attractions such as rollercoasters and "a re-enactment of an urban conflagration" (?).  The amusement park is now a delapidated greyhound stadium near to the Suffolk Downs racetrack (both tracks have seen better days), located in the strange and lonely hinterland beyond the airport, along the North Shore. 

This is Wonderland now, a strange combination of Stalinist Black Sea beach resort and Ostend in Belgium.  I once spent a weekend in Ostend in 2000 with my friend Kirsten, and the memory still haunts me to this day.  Ostend was full of tremendously unattractive Flemish people and Wonderland was full of mahogany-coloured pensioners sunbathing on the pavement (why? when there's a beach right there?). 

In all fairness, it's pretty cool when you can hop on a train in the middle of the city and in 20 minutes be at the beach, so I'm sorry we left it until the last minute to visit this blog's namesake.  We could have come to this fabled land of wonder on sunny weekends and worked on our own mahogany tans.  And we couldn't even stay long when we did visit - there was so much still to do before we had to be out of the flat by noon the next day.  But we were glad we finally did go and spend our last day in Boston as a family taking Zoë to Wonderland. 

Baby meets dog

On our last proper weekend in Boston the Cragg/Warnes clan, including Rocky the dog, came to Boston to lead us astray. Despite boston.com prophesying a dire weekend of rain and thunder, the sun shone (naturally) and so there was much opportunity to get out and about to show these New Yorkers how fab Boston is, including how dog-friendly with all the wonderful parks and walks.  We walked the Esplanade, Newbury Street (with a pit stop for a cheeky drink), Commonwealth Avenue, the Public Garden, Charles Street, the North End and the Waterfront.  After all that we cooled off in the pool (sadly no dogs allowed, but I am sure Rocky would have loved a swim after all that walking). 

Rocky is very much Simon and Claire's baby. In fact, he is a registered service dog and by federal law can pretty much go where Simon and Claire go, including restaurants and supermarkets*. Zoë and Rocky have already met, but this time she was slightly wary of him, probably because Rocky enjoyed standing under her highchair during mealtimes, waiting for cast offs and nibbling her feet.  He also quite enjoyed hanging around the exersaucer in case a tasty tidbit should come his way.  Smart doggy.

* But not, it transpires, 4 Emerson Place. Long story. We sneaked him in anyway.

Because her Granny is a dentist

Something else to add to her lengthy night-time beauty regimen. 

Lists, lists, stuff, hairdos, PANIC

There's a lot to do before we check out of our apartment next Saturday morning.  I feel tired just thinking about making a to-do list.  Then there's the exhaustive list of items required by customs for the stuff that is being shipped home (I have done quite a lot of shopping, it's true). Unfortunately my attempts to flog Zoë's baby gear have been a bit hit and miss.  To date I still have no takers for the swing of doom and various other bits and pieces that we don't need to or can't take home, so next week I'll have to take a bunch of "lightly used" stuff to the Salvation Army on Mass Ave. 

I meant to get a lot of list-making done today, and maybe even some packing.  Zoë spent the day hanging out at daycare* and meeting her daddy's co-workers.  In the time available to me I managed a limited but nonetheless enjoyable list of activities.  Principally, I spent a whopping three and a half hours with Francisco getting my hair done and generally hanging out and chatting. 

I also managed to purchase a suitcase, get a dress for a wedding we're going to in September and buy some overpriced fish in Whole Foods.  What the bloody hell is she doing doing buying MORE STUFF when she can barely get a handle on the stuff she already owns, I hear you cry?  So, to make myself feel slightly less guilty when I got home I sat down and made the damn list and it only served to make me panic even more looking at all the crap I have to do before next Saturday.  Shiiiiiit!!!

* Zoë's teacher's dad came in to the nursery today with a guitar and a violin and apparently she was completely enthralled and even started banging in time with the music!

Sooper Pooper

Today's swim class was unfortunately cancelled due to a "toilet incident".  Why the offending child* was not wearing the prescribed plastic knickers I cannot imagine, but it must have been quite an "incident" as the whole pool had to be evacuated.  Bummer. 

Instead, Zoë went swinging with Josie.  Good times. 

* Or maybe it wasn't a child?  WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

Already planning her first cross-Channel swim

Geeks aren't well known for their love of outdoor pursuits and physical activity.  Surprisingly then, for a university reknowned for its extreme geekiness, MIT has some very impressive sporting facilities, including the Al and Barrie Zesiger* Sports Center.  Thanks to Katie's research, this was the venue for our little girls' first swimming lessons.  Wow, only 8 months old and already taking courses at MIT, those babies sure are super-advanced.... 

Here in the US they don't like babies swimming earlier than 6 months, for reasons that I think involve chlorine (?), but in the UK Zoë's NCT baby friends have been visiting the pool together for months already and are practically ready to form a synchronised swimming squad, so she has to be ready to join in when we get home!

At the moment the Al and Barrie's pool is overrun with babies and children, as all the geeks have gone home to their darkened bedrooms for the summer and MIT is running infant and toddlers' swim classes, and a "day camp" for older children.  I can only imagine the amount of urine and other kiddy bodily fluids washing around in that pool, which makes me grateful for, rather than wary of, our friend chlorine. 

The class is designed to teach the babies about water and to make them feel comfortable in and around it.  In my view, turning up the water temperature would make them (and their parents) feel much more comfortable.  The classes last 25 minutes and involve lots of singing and movement, particularly encouraging the babies to move through the water whilst kicking or "scooping" with their arms.  Zoë is like a manatee compared to Josie the seal - she spends most of the class chattering her new teeth together and chewing on the rubber toy she's supposed to be swimming after - but I think she really does enjoy it (although not quite as much as when she goes swimming outdoors in the sun with her daddy).  It's certainly been good exercise for me, as most of the time I walk from home to the pool and back, a round trip of about 5 miles. 

It's our last class at MIT today, but we'll be home in London very soon where Zoë can join Nelia, Alex, Matteo & Co at the Willesden Sports Centre for some more swimming fun,  All we need then is for some very rich person to give Willesden Sports Centre a lot of money so that they can rename it something super-glamorous like the Ira and Brenda Goldstein Memorial Lido and, if we're lucky, turn the water temperature up, as London in September is an awful lot chillier than Boston in July.  Brrrr!

 

* Here in the US, if you have enough cash and you want to be remembered for posterity, you simply need to donate an exorbitant amount of money and you can have a public building named after you.  Like the Barbara and Melvin Nessel Cancer Care Center at MGH, across the road from our building. 

Feeding time at the Zoë zoo

Because her teeth are hurting her Zoë doesn't much like being spoon fed at the moment, as you can see in this video.  Zoë also demonstrates her signature squealing so you might want to turn the volume down a bit if you are watching this at work!