EU Referendum

When I turned on the news Friday morning, I was genuinely shocked and found myself staring at the words "leave wins" with my mouth gaping open.  I knew there was a rumbling under the surface for people who wanted England to try it on their own--again--but, I thought the majority would be to keep things the same and stay in the European Union.

Having had a couple of days to process the future (after initially being really nervous), I think the best thing to do is to keep calm and carry on.

Some people are referring to yesterday as the U.K.'s Independence Day--to which Lee hopes that we will get a new holiday and yet another day off from work every year.  If that is how half the country feels (the vote was 52% to 48%), then I suppose they can be happy that becoming independent from the EU is as simple and peaceful as a vote.  The United States' Independence Day was hard-fought for and feels like it holds much more meaning because of all the people who died to have their own sovereign nation.  From what I observed, the voting process to break away from the EU merely required a five-minute walk to a polling station and an "X" in a box written in pencil on a half-sheet of paper.  So, although England became independent from the EU, I'm not sure it warrants a holiday because of the ease of the process in which it was 'won.'

The statistics of who voted to leave based on age groups was quite surprising to me:

Age
18-24     27%
25-34     38%
35-44     48%
45-54     56%
55-64     57%
65+        60%

The U.K. joined the EU 43 years ago.  So, it is interesting to me that the people who have never lived in England while it was independent voted to remain--it's all they've ever known.  Maybe the older generations can see the bigger picture.  They've seen England before joining the EU and have given it a chance for about four decades.  It's very small-minded to assume that all of these voters are 'racists' as many people have been labelling them.  The older 'leave voters' said in interviews that they want England to be able to make its own laws again and their phrase 'we got our country back' was uttered numerous times on t.v. yesterday.  Maybe they are seeing changes to this country that are upsetting to them and this vote was their only way to reverse the chipping away at their traditions they have observed over the past 43 years.

Only time will tell if England is better off out of the EU, but I am really impressed with the way the public and politicians have behaved since the votes were counted.  David Cameron's resignation speech didn't have an undertone of judgment for the people who voted to leave--although he was undeniably for the other side.  He showed a lot of respect for the voters and his rhetoric was what one should expect of a leader these days.  (Obama, take note.)  Instead of slyly calling his opposition less-than-smart--which is all I hear from the Democratic Party in the U.S.--the Prime Minister spoke with class and accepted the results.  There were no added looks of disappointment or sighs of hopelessness or attempts at jokes to make fun of the winning side.  His speech was exactly what should be expected of a world leader.

I'm not sure if Cameron invited Obama to speak a few months before these votes were cast, or if he came on his own volition, but the ultimatums he issued if England were to vote to leave were incredibly arrogant and it looked like he didn't think the British public was smart enough to weigh the pros and cons of the election for their own country.  I realise that the U.K. not being an EU member will affect countries outside of Europe, but that press conference Cameron and Obama held was way out of line, in my opinion.  If the roles were reversed, then I'm sure Cameron's opinion would not be welcomed during this year's U.S. elections--and I know whomever becomes the President affects countries all over the world.

Voting to remain would have given the U.K. the opportunity to carry on just as we were--and 48% of voters would have been happy to do that.  It would have made us feel more secure for our families and financially.  But, that's not the case and we all have to deal with it.

Over the next two years, we will find out what it is like to leave the EU--seeing as England is the first to ever vote to leave.  There is a huge group of people here who feel like taking the risk to try things on our own is the best idea at this point in time.  And being an immigrant myself, in order to remain here after my first two years, I had to take an English history test that covered everything from the Stone Age to modern-day politics and the general running of the country.  It was hard.  But, it taught me that Britain is Great.  This country has made it through some really awful times and found ways to continuously remain a force in the world.  The people here come from really tough stuff--and so do its immigrants!  I am sure that no matter how dire the news reports make this situation out to be, that England will stay strong and make it through whatever comes its way.

Developmental updates:  Jackson can stand while holding onto a table.  He doesn't pull himself up to do this, but if he's put in that position, he can stand for a few seconds.  When we're looking at books together, he seems to understand when I'm done reading a page because he will laugh or make a 'hmm' sound.  This week, the lift-the-flap books and those with different textures on the pages seemed to 'click' with Jackson because he knows what to do.  We've noticed that Jackson isn't as keen to meet new people as he used to be.  He used to smile almost immediately, but now he has a look that combines concerned eyebrows and an unblinking stare.  This week he tried peanut butter and waffles for the first time and loved them!  I didn't serve them together, but now that I mention it, maybe that will be on next week's menu.  He did, however, eat peanut butter with bananas--maybe we'll have the next Elvis on our hands!  Not only because his love of the banana and peanut butter combo, but also because he has started 'singing' around the house and out on walks.  Jackson has become very busy and activities that once held his attention for long lengths of time are either of no interest to him or he decides that he wants to move on to something else quicker than he used to.  Now when we leave the room, he will lean and peek around corners or up the stairs to find us.  Sometimes we find him peeking through gaps in his stroller.  He's a pretty stealthy baby spy.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Road Trip to Chester

In England, almost every car is required to get an annual MOT (a test of exhaust emissions, road worthiness, and vehicle safety).  Our car just had its MOT and it passed all of the checks so we didn't have to pay for anything to get repaired.  Also, we realised that in the past year, we have only driven 3,000 miles!  I suppose that may be because we only use the car on the weekends and rarely do we ever leave Southport.

So this weekend, we decided to drive to Shrewsbury.  But we barely made it past Liverpool when we got bored of being in the car, so we saw a sign for "Pickerings Pasture" and since that sounded nice, we followed the signs for that.  At least we thought we did.  Apparently we took the wrong exit and we never found it so we kept on driving and ended up in Chester.  It was a perfectly warm and sunny day to walk around outside and it would be the first trip to Chester for Jackson.

On the way there, we saw a car on the motorway (highway) pulled off to the side with tan smoke flowing out of it.  As we got closer, the car went up in flames and as we were driving by it, the windows all popped out and they exploded into what looked like little black diamonds.  We saw two women standing behind the car, calling on their cell phones for help, so we assumed everyone got out all right.  I'm sure it was incredibly distressing for them, and I hope everyone who was driving behind us got by without getting hurt.

Since this was our first trip to Chester in our own car, we had to deal with the hassle of finding a parking place in a car park (parking lot) because finding free parking close to any city centre in England is like finding a needle in a haystack.  But once we parked, we realised that it was actually a blessing in disguise because along our walk to the city centre, we saw new sights and found a couple of parks beside the River Dee.

The last time we went on a road trip, we happened to arrive on the day that the whole village was having a Christmas parade and other festivities.  Today in Chester, a Summer Solstice parade was going on--what a coincidence!  We gave an impromptu call to our friend Stuey who lives in Chester and since he happened to be off of work today, we met up with him and got to visit for a bit.  Overall, it was a great day and although Chester wasn't our initial destination when we left the house, it all worked out for the best.

Trying to crawl out of his garden centre, but he ended up calling for help

Jackson found my purse behind the chair and pulled it across the carpet and over a pillow by the zipper and handle so he could chew on the strap.  He was committed!

Using his grasping skills to eat a rice cake

Playing around and making sure that he goes through every toy in the toy box before the day ends

The River Dee from a view we've never seen it before

The (very loud) Summer Solstice parade

Developmental updates:  Jackson now weighs 22 pounds 9.5 ounces.  It seems like his growth is slowing because the jumps in weight gain aren't as substantial as they used to be from month-to-month; but we needn't worry because Jackson is still following the 91st percentile.  Jackson likes to open and close his hand and stare at that movement.  He may be doing strength training exercises though because his grip has gotten stronger and more nimble recently.  He likes to pull on my hair when I'm least expecting it and he has a very acute pinch which he sometimes uses on our necks and faces.  Lately, Jackson's appetite has increased greatly and it seems like he is constantly eating little meals and snacking.  At playgroups with the other babies, he isn't happy with the toy he is given initially and now he is always trying to grab the toys that his friends have.  Or, if I hold up a new toy for him to see, he will drop the one he has and reach for the one I'm holding.  Last Saturday night was the first time that Jackson slept all night (from 7:30 P.M. until 5 A.M.)!  Even when he woke up to eat, he went back to sleep for another two hours.  Lucky me!  The periods of sleep have been improving so by the time I go back to work, he should be sleeping through the night.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Happy Birthday, Ma'am!

We had another beautiful week in Southport and tried a new baby group where Jackson and I both met some very nice locals.  Along with the baby groups, we also got to have lunch with our friend from church, Paul.  Everywhere we went, Jackson was so well-behaved and showed-off his huge grin.

On Friday, we celebrated the Queen's birthday by watching her Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's Cathedral on the BBC.  Instead of watching it at home though, we went to the local Methodist church and watched it on their big screen.  This was all organised by the Ainsdale Civic Society and they did a very thorough job, making everyone feel as though we were sitting with the royals in London.

Jackson and I arrived about ten minutes to eleven and when we found our seats (front row, of course), we were handed a hefty programme printed in colour!  When I flicked through the pages, I realised that every hymn and reading from the service was printed for us and when the camera panned through the audience (at St. Paul's), I got even more excited because our programmes looked just like the royals'!  Because of the camera angles and really clear audio, combined with the fact that we were sitting in pews in a traditional church setting, it felt like we were part of the crowd sitting behind the Queen.

My favourite parts of the service were the reading by David Attenborough of Michael Bond's 'reflections on the passing of the years' and listening to the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir made-up of all boys and men.  The whole service was quite enjoyable and Jackson's attention was captured for the entire event, aside from the short nap he took in the middle of it.

Uh-oh!  Jackson found the papers that we left on the floor

Who could get mad at this face?

Initiating his own tummy time, which sometimes turns into nap time

Sporting his cool pants that we got at the food festival

Banging on his ocean drum, trying to catch the beads inside

Developmental updates:  Jackson can now wave!  He waves back to us or initiates the waving himself, and he also waves to no one in particular.  We recently bought him a toddler-sized wheelbarrow and he has discovered the tyre by tipping the toy over and he likes to spin the tyre while the toy is upside down.  Jackson has started joining in singing when music is played--even at church.  He is eating a lot more food than he used to, filling his day with snacking instead of just the three regimented meals.  Thankfully though, he will eat anything we put in front of him.  This week he discovered his love for peaches.  Jackson is very at ease when he's put in his crib now and will nod off within five minutes whether it's for naps or bedtime.  He is moving around a lot more on the floor.  Since the day he was born, Jackson hasn't stopped moving, but now he is grabbing at cupboards and pulling things off of the coffee table and shelves.  He can reach farther and farther each day which I quickly discover when I set bowls of food on his highchair tray.  Luckily he hasn't spilled anything, but there have been many close calls.  When Jackson used to be put onto his stomach for tummy time, he would flip onto his back fairly quickly.  This past week though, we continue to find him on his stomach and staying that way for a long time, as if trying to piece together how to crawl, which is something I predict we will see very soon.  His 'speaking' skills are still coming along and he is confident to make a lot of noise wherever he goes.  Today, he said a sentence to himself and then laughed at the end of it.  (I really wish I knew what he was saying, but I'm sure he will continue to entertain us endlessly when we start to understand each other.)

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.