My wonderful friend Susan came to visit for a week during my birthday week. She lives in far away Australia, which by the way is really far away, so it was a big deal! Szonja was fascinated by Susan: her smile, the way she ate, the way she danced (see above). The week was spent with Szonja staring at Susan and making little noises to try and get her to interact. Luckily Susan was happy to comply.
A couple of days after my actual birthday we went to dinner at a place Csaba arranged. It was non-smoking, near-by and had yummy food - so we win! It was a chilly night, but Szonja was kept warm by the afghan from Mary Lou. She fell asleep around the time this picture was taken, and stayed asleep all through dinner with just little stroller jiggles when she stirred. I was happy she slept, but kind of disappointed no one got to see her cute dress. And even though it should mean that I was able to concentrate on the rest of the group and my food, I kind of always miss her when she's asleep so i spent the whole time thinking about how she was breathing etc.
On the 18th Csaba's parents came and brought me birthday food and cake. Here is Szonja with her Nagyapa. And there is me with my yummy cake, down there. We all had a piece that night, and then it sat in the fridge and I think everyone just slowly took bites out of it til it was gone. At least, I was taking bites out of it, I assume everyone else was too or else I ate the whole thing myself.
On my actual birthday day Jessica and Bill came with dinner. Yay! We had lecso, which is a Hungarian dish (lots of paprika) from peppers, tomatoes, kolbasz... hm, well I don't really know how to make lecso, but I think it has an egg in it, and it was really good.
There were those who giggled behind their hands...
And those who smirked...
Susan made bread, and at my request, a birthday apple pie, because I do love pie!
Susan and I had some chances to go to a near-by cafe. These were the first times I was outside with Szonja. My foot is finally feeling better, though I tried to walk slowly and wore hiking boots.
Don't I have lovely friends?
Csaba's mom was teaching me how to cast on. Do you see Szonja sleeping on the side?
We went to visit Szonja's great-grandpa, Csaba's father's father. He lives alone, and is pretty lonely. He seemed really happy to meet Szonja.
Csaba spent a lot of time in this apartment when he was a little boy so it was nice for him to see Szonja there too. It would be nice to find pictures of him at the same age on the same couch.
I love the look on Csaba's grandpa's face here. Szonja wasn't so sure about being held by him. She is just starting to be wary of strangers holding her.
Is there a resemblance?
I was hoping that Csaba's dad would be there too, then we could take a four generation picture. Next time! We will have to go visit more often - even this two hour visit was too short for someone who doesn't get much company. We have a plan to give a small photo album with pictures of Szonja for Christmas.
