Saturday, 7 November 2009

Sleeping

We take a fairly relaxed approach to sleeping in our home. The girls are always welcome in our bed, and we are often joined at some point during the night (although sadly/happily this is becoming less and less frequent as they grow older). I am sad that they don't want or need to sleep with us as often because it shows they are growing up and becoming more independent, but I am happy because it is something that they have done in their own time, and as they get bigger it is undoubtedly easier to sleep without so many people in one small bed!

The girls share a bedroom (by choice) which we have always encouraged, as I strongly believe it is an important part of their relationship. I will be the first to admit that some nights the whispering and giggling is not ideal, but overall they gain far more from sharing than they do from being apart. Many people I know mention how amazing it is that the girls get on so well and are such good friends, but I think a lot of siblings these days barely ever spend time together, so it is hardly surprising that they aren't particularly close.

But having separate beds doesn't mean they can't occasionally put everything on the floor and co-sleep anyway!

Friday, 6 November 2009

Happiness

Happiness is your first ever pair of 'baby skis'.

Happiness is practicing skiing on the rug in the hall with your big sister.

Happiness is making a special nest filled with your very best treasures.

Happiness is a dear friend asking you to be Godmother to her beautiful baby girl.

It has been a happy day here in our little corner of Switzerland.

Thursday, 5 November 2009

Bump...

Emily fell off her bike today, and it was a BIG one (even by Emily's standards). So it looks like we will be buying another new bicycle helmet this week. But despite the size of the bump, she was fine (arnica and paracetamol), and was actually quite cross when I insisted on cutting the ride short to get home and put ice on her head.

And even though they have accidents, and hurt themselves, and cause my heart to be in my mouth with fear and worry for their precious lives, they still always manage to make me laugh.

Today they were a bee and a puppy, and were off to bee and puppy school (where else?), where they were learning to be doctors and to ski. I think this is good news for us - surely being a doctor that skis is a good life ambition for a 4 and 2 year old. Isn't it? Even if they can only learn such skills at bee and puppy school....

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

Emily

Today Emily has been a typical toddler. Everything has been done at a snail's pace, with minute attention to details. We have stopped to discuss endless important topics such as;
  • why light bulbs are located at that particular point on the shelf
  • how long until the rest of the pears on that tree fall onto the ground
  • why the green leaves don't fall onto the ground
  • why jumping on the fallen pears isn't a great idea
  • why we can't buy orange striped rugs for the hallway, and will be sticking with black for the foreseeable future
  • why cats don't talk
  • why chocolate is not a suitable food choice for lunch
  • why we can't go skiing today, despite being able to see some snow on the distant mountains
And so it goes. Everywhere we went and everything we did today was done slowly and with a constant barrage of questions. Emily has even started asking Sofie some of her 'why' questions (why do they take the pumpkin animal sculptures away in the Winter), and Sofie (bless her) has the patience of a saint, and does answer her little sister endlessly (so they can save the pumpkins and make the animals again in the Summer, so other little children can come and see them).

So to all intensive purposes I achieved very little today. Whilst Sofie was at playgroup (2 hours) Emily and I bought a bag of salt for the softener and a new doormat. That's it. But we talked a lot, didn't rush, and I decided it was more important to relax and accept Emily's pace for the day, rather than try to rush and worry about what I wasn't doing.

This afternoon Sofie had a craft afternoon at the farm, so Emily and I spent the time walking around the farm, buying apples and milk, chatting to a cat (it was a bit of a one sided conversation) and balancing. Emily is very into balancing right now.

But Mummy, why isn't the cat talking to me? This cat very rude. Where you going cat?

We collected Sofie, who was bearing a wonderful piece of Christmas craft (it is a star for the front door in case that isn't totally obvious in the photo!), and then we all went off to collect (more) leaves for the Autumn table.


Well Emily didn't want to collect leaves, she wanted to bring home a 'stick' instead.

It was a day that could have so easily been filled with shouting and frustration, but instead I realised that sometimes it is ok to focus on the journey rather than the destination.

Sunday, 1 November 2009

The Duck Pond

This afternoon we headed out to the duck pond (which most people refer to as Lake Zurich, but to us it will always just be the duck pond), to enjoy the beautiful weather, and feed the ducks (of course).

So we fed the ducks and swans.
Emily made her own personal fashion statement with her beloved Winnie The Pooh crown and heart sunglasses.

Then we walked around the Marina to the park (via the ice cream shop!).

Then we decided to play in the Autumn leaves (ok, so technically I herded everyone over onto the grass because I wanted to take some photos, but as it you can see it wasn't really a huge hardship for anyone!).

I love the photo below of Sofie. She is such a difficult child to photograph right now, and she tries hard, but she just doesn't like having her picture taken. But today she was so involved in her game and having so much fun that I got some fabulous natural shots of her.
The shot below was taken by DH, and I have added it because it was his favorite of the day (and I also have to admit that it is another great picture of Sofie).
This last picture is of Emily, and although it isn't great (chopping her head off was not deliberate), she is pulling such a typical Emily face, that I had to include it.

We all had a lot of fun. I love spending time with my family, I love my camera, and I love Autumn.

Saturday, 31 October 2009

It was inevitable really

I think that deep down both DH and I knew that this would happen.

We went to the sports store today to get ski boots for Sofie (her skis from last season are still fine), and a helmet for Emily (even if she isn't skiing, she still needs one for sledding).

And here is a picture of what actually happened in the shop.

If it isn't totally clear in the photo, that would be both of our girls wearing ski boots and holding skis. It would appear that Emily (did I mention she is only two) will be taking to the slopes this Winter.

She couldn't be more thrilled about having her own 'baby skis', not to mention a Dora The Explorer ski helmet. Believe me when I say the choice of good ski helmets for girls is woefully inadequate, hence the hideous 'character' helmet, as opposed to something a bit less nasty more neutral.

And after we got home Sofie did a picture for Emily. She drew Emily (to the right of the blue heart), and the 'bump' on her head is her new ski helmet. Emily was thrilled, and insisted I put the picture up somewhere special.

Friday, 30 October 2009

A ride on the bus

We arranged to meet friends at a nearby park this afternoon, and the girls were really looking forward to it (as was I), until Sofie (my little girl with big ideas) suggested we could take the bus to get there.

Now technically we can indeed take the bus to this particular park, but for those of us who secretly want to live a greener lifestyle, but remain sadly addicted to the comfort and convenience of our cars, this is not an appealing prospect.

So I dragged out the bus timetable (our village is so small we get useful stuff like local bus and train time tables delivered to our home on an annual basis), and looked up which bus we could catch. As it turned out there was a bus that would get us there at almost the exact right time. And in fact, there are a lot more buses running through our village than I ever imagined.

Suddenly I started dreaming about getting rid of my car, and becoming one of those fabulously self sufficient types who was always jumping on and off of buses, whilst saving a fortune by not running an expensive second car. I worked out that I would probably need to use DH's car one day a week, but other than that the girls and I could easily manage with public transport for most of our trips.

Why on earth had I been so reluctant about catching the bus? This was clearly going to be fabulous, and undoubtedly signal the start of a whole new era in our lives.

And it was good, really, it was. This is Switzerland the public transport is punctual, efficient and clean. The girls loved the whole experience.

They ate a snack on the bus on the way to the park.
They enjoyed playing at the park.

The Autumn leaves were the best part for both girls. The following two pictures actually sum up both of their current personalities perfectly.

Emily is just active. Always moving, always up to something, always loud, and full of fun. She is our comedian, always laughing, very cheeky, and her life is one non stop adventure.
Sofie is often quiet, very self sufficient, always thinking of things, focused, and easily becomes very absorbed in what she is doing. She is our sweet, sensitive girl, whose ability to read others often astounds me.
After a lovely afternoon at the park, they weren't even bothered about waiting for the bus at the end.

But to be totally honest, although I have promised them that we will take the bus again very soon, I just really can't see me living without my car.
Maybe it is because Winter is fast approaching, and what seemed a reasonable wait in a bus shelter today, will become unbearable when the temperatures drop well below freezing in a few weeks.
Maybe it is because I am not great at schedules and timetables (I don't ever wear a watch), and today i had to tell the girls we would be leaving the park at a certain time, so we could catch a specific bus. Normally we just stay until they are finished playing, but today i had to make allowance for the fact we would have to walk to the bus stop, wait for a bus, and then walk home at the other end. The girls didn't mind their play being interrupted, but I wonder how they would feel if it happened all the time.
Maybe it is because I know that although there are all sorts of wonderful places we could reach using public transport, the effort of making multiple changes and connections means we wouldn't always bother to go.
Maybe it is because having to rely on public transport would require more forward planning, and remove a lot of spontaneity from our lives.
Or maybe it is because deep down, I am just a grumpy old person, who likes the fact that my car makes my life easier!

But the girls had fun, and we will be catching buses more often from now on, although lets just say that I won't be giving up my car anytime soon either!