mama drama

Hello all! Mama Brenda writing to you all tonight. Sorry we're a day late with the blog, but Chad's parents had their last night in London yesterday, so we thought we should spend it talking to them, instead of staring at our computer screens! Their time with us flew by, and we really enjoyed having them here. They were kind enough to babysit Rowan one night so that Chad could come to my second performance of Lulu, and they even got to see the third show themselves! Hard to believe that we've had three shows in the past week, and will have two more in the next few days, and then we go to the U.S. on Sunday! Such a massive amount of work (I think for both Chad and myself!) and then just like that, it's over! Chad and I thought I should write a blog entry before the memories fade about my experience of going back to work full time after having Rowan, so I hope this doesn't bore anyone too much!

We had just over five weeks of rehearsals, 6 days a week (a half day on Saturday) and with the commute, I was away from Chad and Rowan for about 9 hours most days. That first day I definitely got teary-eyed multiple times when I thought about my sweet little baby, and in general the first week was quite difficult. I'm still nursing, so I had to pump during my breaks, (sometimes in bathrooms, until a very kind stage manager set up a little private pumping area for me in the rehearsal room!) and since this is the biggest and most difficult role I've ever performed, I was studying every free moment I had. Add to this a teething baby who doesn't sleep through the night, and you get a quite exhausted Brenda! But gradually I adjusted to the schedule (and also gained a lot of comfort with the role!), and now instead of feeling exhausted, I feel quite energized! It's still crazy during performances: I'm onstage almost constantly, and when I'm not, I'm doing very quick costume changes, and during the first intermission I pump, and then during the second intermission I have to do a big costume and wig and makeup change, so I don't really get much of a break for 3.75 very intense hours! But I'm so grateful that it's all going well, that Rowan seems to be doing great, and Chad is being the most wonderful dad and supportive husband. I feel so lucky that the three of us get to travel together for at least the first year of Rowan's life, and neither of us have to miss out on spending time with this incredible child of ours. The feelings of love when I hold Rowan after being away for hours is quite overwhelming!

Well, I may end up editing this post from time to time to add other memories, but for now, I'm feeling the pull of sleep! We really can't wait to see our families in the coming weeks and celebrate some early holidays. Hopefully Rowan will continue to be a good little traveller! Oh, speaking of travel, yesterday we went to the U.S. Embassy here in London to get Rowan's Global Entry application finalized. He didn't get fingerprinted, contrary to what the border agent told us last July when we entered the States, but he did get his photo taken, which I must say is so much easier now that he can hold his head up (which he couldn't do when we had to get his passport photos taken)! He's certainly having a very different childhood than Chad or I had!

Have a great week!

(I didn't really want to talk about this, but since this blog serves as a sort of time-capsule for us, I just have to mention that Chad and I both lost some sleep last week over the election results. I'm rather horrified that Donald Trump will be our next president, and I'm sorry that so many people felt that the right choice for our country is a seemingly hate-filled, misogynistic bigot. We're aware that not everyone shares our beliefs and we don't want to use our blog as a platform for arguments, but I'm just so terribly sad about the results. Love to all.)

showtime

Happy voting day one and all. (Is happy the right word? Probably not. But I'll definitely be happy when it's over.) I'd like to stay up and watch the results roll in, but that's not going to happen since we're on London time. Although if Rowan wakes up particularly early tomorrow I may get my wish.

The final dress rehearsal (and first complete run-through) of Lulu was last night, and from what Brenda tells me it went well. At the very least they made it from the beginning to the end without stopping which is no small feat considering the difficulty of the music. Brenda's first performance is tomorrow night and she'll have four more over the next week and a half. I'm really looking forward to seeing the show and hearing all of the great singing Brenda's been telling me about.

On Saturday I worked up the courage to take Rowan to visit Brenda at work. It was a risky outing because it stretched Rowan's awake time beyond his usual two or three hours. Once you get beyond that he turns into a time bomb, and I would prefer he's at home in bed when he explodes instead of strapped to my chest in the middle of London. Even though he ended up being awake for well over three hours Rowan did great. We walked partway and took the Underground (Rowan's first time) the rest of the way. He didn't seem to mind the loud ride or the throngs of people in central London. Once we got to the theater we kept Brenda company during her dinner break and met several of her colleagues backstage. It was a fun trip.

It's time to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

tech week

Happy Belated Halloween to one and all! In case you're wondering, they do celebrate Halloween in London (there's a zombie outbreak just two doors down), but as far as we could tell they don't trick-or-treat.  We didn't get into the Halloween spirit much this year, although we did put cute pumpkin pajamas on Rowan and continue our tradition of watching a not-so-scary movie (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). The real highlight of our weekend was that we got to spend the whole thing together. Brenda was not called to rehearsal on Saturday so we enjoyed a relaxing weekend and slept as much as Rowan would allow us to.

Tech week began on Monday for Lulu which means that Brenda is rehearsing this week in costume and on the stage. Her rehearsals are keeping her at work longer and later so Rowan is getting more time just with me. Today we took a trip to the library to use the printer. The powers that be in Iowa were kind enough to send me a ballot via email, and I needed a place to print it. The public library to the rescue! Unfortunately, I have to mail the ballot back to Iowa the old fashioned way, but at least I'm one step closer to casting my vote. Brenda has already voted thanks to Wisconsin's handy online absentee ballot request form. Hey Iowa, why don't we have one of those? Wisconsin has professional sports teams, cheese hats, Door County, a couple of Great Lakes AND easier absentee voting. Let's step it up a notch, OK? I'll write in my suggestions for improvements on the ballot.

I'm going to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday! (Don't forget to vote!)

changing venues

Howdy folks! It's a cloudy morning here in Hackney, the London borough where we live, and the days are definitely getting shorter. My alarm clock (AKA Rowan who, by the way, doesn't have a snooze button) starts chatting each morning between seven and seven thirty. The past few mornings I've heard him talking and thought "No, it can't be after seven. It's still dark out." But, of course, it was indeed time to get up and do some parenting. The first order of business each day is Rowan's lesson on how to brew coffee.

Brenda's rehearsals are progressing and soon will be changing locations. Most of her rehearsals up until now have been at 3 Mills Studios, but this week they're moving over to their performance venue, the London Coliseum.

 I snapped this picture of 3 Mills Studios one day when we went to visit Brenda at work.

This weekend Brenda and I saw a couple of friends. Rowan experienced his first pub when we met up with our friend Tim, although Rowan ignored the beer and focused instead on playing with Tim's hat and beard. On Sunday we went for a stroll in the park with a friend of Brenda's who is also currently working at English National Opera. She's been here with her thirteen-month-old daughter since early August. It was fun seeing her daughter crawling all over the park and imagining that Rowan will be doing the same thing before too long.

As Harry Potter fans I feel obligated to tell you that Brenda passed by the Palace Theatre yesterday, which is currently home to the new Harry Potter play. I definitely want to see it.

So that's what we've been up to. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

very absent(ee)

Hello once again from jolly old England. Brenda's parents headed back home on Saturday after spending a wonderful week and a half with us. We always have a great time with them, but this visit had the added benefit of making my stay-at-home dad duties much easier. Rowan had an absolute blast with his grandparents. They taught him a lot of songs, introduced him to some new toys, and spent a lot of time playing with him. I'm sure he's already looking forward to seeing them again when we're back in the U.S. next month.

On Sunday Brenda and I changed apartments. (We just can't stand being in one place for more than a couple of weeks.) Much like the old place, our new flat is in a residential area, close to a park, and very comfortable. When I imagined us being in London, for some reason I thought we'd be eating scones everyday while staring out the window at Big Ben. My semester in London during law school was actually kind of like that. Our classes were held smack dab in the middle of the city, just a block away from the British Museum, so I had a daily reminder of where I was. This time, however, we're living in a residential area that isn't very close to the city center so it feels like we could be anywhere. Today I even went grocery shopping at the nearby Lidl, which is a German grocery store chain. I could take Rowan to the heart of London one day so we could do some sightseeing, but he sleeps and eats quite often and gets rather cranky when either of those things doesn't happen. I'd better stick around this neighborhood and see if I can find a place that sells good scones.

I don't know if you've heard, but there's an election coming up in the U.S. and since Brenda and I are tax-paying, freedom-loving Americans (I just fired off a couple shots from my gun for effect. Wait, is that legal here?) we want to vote in it. We've voted absentee before, but that was from our apartment in Germany. This time we're attempting to get our ballots sent to an Airbnb apartment in London. Living a nomadic lifestyle is complicated.

Our new flat doesn't have a dishwasher so I've got work to do before bed. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Lulu by day, supermom by night

Hey all! I'm writing you again this week from beautiful London. Fall has definitely arrived (or are the temps always in the 50s here?), and I've been bundling Rowan up whenever we go on outings. Brenda's parents are in town, which has been wonderful, and they've been encouraging me to take Rowan out and about. We went to the public library last week and took part in story time. Most of the kids were a little older, but we met a couple of nice moms with kids around Rowan's age (I was the only dad there and Jim was the only grandpa). Today we visited Brenda at work (much to the delight of her castmates), and tomorrow we're going to a play group for 0-2 year olds. Rowan handles the outings very well. As long as he's fed and gets his naps, he's up for pretty much anything.

It was really nice meeting Brenda's castmates today. She's working with a friendly bunch of people, which I'm sure makes the difficult task of rehearsing Berg's Lulu more pleasant. (A smiling baby helps them forget about all the characters that get killed off during the show.) Since she began rehearsals last week, Brenda has been working all day and, with the exception of dinner, all evening so she can prepare for the next day. On top of that, she provides all of Rowan's food (except for the occasional pureed carrot that he likes to wipe all over everything he can reach), and she hasn't gotten an uninterrupted night's sleep in close to seven months. The point is that Brenda is amazing and so are all of you other working moms.

It is definitely bed time over here. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

London

Greetings from London! Brenda, Rowan, and I arrived in the UK on Friday after a rather stressful morning. The flight itself was quite pleasant but making it to the plane on time was the tense part. When it comes to packing (and most other things) we tend to procrastinate, so our trips to the airport are usually more rushed than we'd like. This time we were finishing our packing and preparing our apartment for a friend who will be staying there while we're gone. Add to that a six month old baby who, frankly, can't pack or clean very well yet, and you end up not getting to the airport on time. Luck was on our side, however, and we made our flight.

Once we arrived in London we made our way to the baggage claim only to discover that our stroller and car seat weren't there. The baggage bloke we spoke to was very friendly and said our stuff would be delivered to us once they found it. In the meantime he offered us a stroller and a car seat as permanent loaners (apparently they don't want them back after kids use them because kids are germy). So we took our new carseat and hopped in a black cab and headed to our temporary home for the next couple of weeks.

Here I am with all of our luggage (sans our missing stroller and carseat) in Paddington Station.

After much hemming and hawing I've finally decided to rejoin Facebook. I've been wanting to share pictures of Rowan with you, dear blog readers, but I haven't yet because there is no way for me to limit who can access the blog and I don't want the entire world to be able to see pictures of him. So the solution I've come up with is a Facebook account. I plan on posting pictures of Rowan regularly (and not much else). If you'd like to see them, feel free to send me a friend request. In case you need it, my email address is chadcgraham@gmail.com.

Brenda has already had two days of rehearsal at English National Opera and by the sounds of it things are going well. I've also been working this week. In fact, I started a full-time job yesterday, and it's been a lot of fun. My title is stay-at-home Dad, although the "home" part isn't totally accurate. It's more like stay-at-Airbnb Dad. Anyway, I've got a great boss who takes three naps a day, smiles a lot, and loves to sit on my head.

It's getting late so I should call it a night. My boss is definitely a morning person. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!