The big chill

The Simmonds-Moore household are suffering from coldy fluey things this week, including ms sienna. Not good at all.
It seems to have turned into true winter complete with with icy wind and damp air. A good job that we are leaving the country for a whole month on tuesday. Hopefully North Carolina will have some sunshine for us, even if it is still chilly. As our house is so old, it has high victorian ceilings which are not very conducive to maintaining warmth. I am frequently seen adorning fleece items and steve's ski socks in order to stay warm.
Sienna has now truly discovered her hands, and can now grab her toys (in particular Chicken and Cow), my hair, her hands, and be totally fascinated by the objects that she is inspecting. She has also mastered the art of The Gurgle, and practices a lot of her waking moments. Words of the week for Sienna: Billabong and Buzz. These seem to make her giggle and twinkle.
Looking forward to hearing news of the new cousin - Harold and Vickie are expecting their first child any day now....due date is 30th November, so hopefully we will be with the Moores when we hear news of the next addition to the family.

Sad news

On sunday 4th November 2007, Sienna's great grandmother, Mimie Simmonds passed away at the ripe old age of 97. Granny Simmonds was an amazing, eccentric woman, with hundreds of tales of life and history, whose personality and mental acuity did not diminish until the very end, when her body could no longer contain her spirit. In the last few months, she has been gradually leaving us, by sleeping more and more, moving slowly into unconsciousness. She left the world in the arms of my dad, and auntie Pat. We are happy that the oldest and youngest members of the Simmonds family could meet each other and have even a few moments of physical overlap. Steve, Sienna and I are heading down south on wednesday for the funeral. It is hard to believe she is gone, but I feel blessed to have known her.