The night, the day

Last night Charlotte woke just after midnight and I was up with her till about 12.30am. She then slept till just before 5am so I bought her into bed with me while Michael got up to get ready for work.

She coughed a bit today, and her nose is gross but thankfully she had a nearly 2 hour nap in the afternoon. And tonight the babysitter (Loriane from garderie, cheap at Sf10 an hour) said she went to sleep ok. And she's been asleep since. So we'll see how tonight goes.

It's pushing midnight now and I must go to bed. Between 9 and 10am I have a pick-up for 2dozen Apricot and Coconut Balls, I have to make 2 dozen Mini Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins and get myself and the girls ready for Katia's birthday. The Barbie cake and Fudge Brownie Cookies are ready to go. Now, a present for the birthday girl...

And sometime after 5pm, Michael's colleague Clare will pick-up her order (received today) for 2 dozen cupcakes with Happy Birthday Mike written on them (the cupcakes are made, I just need to decorate them tomorrow afternoon).

Whew.

Parent information evening at school

Tonight we were all invited along to Lily's classroom at 7.30pm where her two teachers spoke to all of us about...? It was all in French obviously. And while I picked up some of it, and the gist of other bits, the majority went over my head. I concentrated so hard that I could feel a headache coming on. And then I felt a tightness in my chest. And by 8pm I could feel the tears welling up. Then they came. I just cried. I felt so overwhelmed. Frustrated. And plain upset. Bet that's a first for the teachers...children crying every day, but not the parents.

Afterwards we were all given a book with our child's name on it and asked to draw a picture for our children on the page that said 'A surprise for my child' (Lily had already drawn a picture on the page for parents). Not being a drawer, and not feeling my best I wrote 'I love you Lily, love Mummy xxx'. Michael drew Elfie, a butterfly, the sun and stick figures of Charlotte, me and him. He also wrote 'I love you, Daddy'.

Afterwards we spoke with the teacher as Michael had some questions. I asked about having a meeting so that we could go over the information from tonight. When the teacher said that might not be easy, I got upset again and said maybe we should just go. And I walked out. Michael stayed and afterwards he told me that he explained to the teacher that it was a bit overwhelming for us tonight, not being able to understand everything. Good man. And the teacher made some plans to get us the info.

So, that went well...not.

We then went home and I continued doing what I know best - baking.

First cold of the season

Charlotte has been sick far more often than Lily ever did. I didn't even know where the Children's Hospital was till we had Charlotte (and still Lily has never been, touch wood). It started with the chicken pox when Charlotte was 5 months old and since then there has been such delights as bronchiolitis, pneumonia (I think that's what they said she had - she had a week of daily home visits from a physio and a baby inhaler), gastro, ear infections, conjunctivitis, colds, coughs, excema...the list seems to go on.

We had a break from illness during the summer. But it was replaced with falls and scrapes...eggs on forehead, gashed knees and legs, bruises, that sort of thing. But at 3.45am this morning it all changed. Charlotte woke up snuffly and with a runny nose and couldn't sleep. I went into her as Michael is on morning shift this week (5am wake up for 6am start) and had no luck getting her back to sleep. At 5am I brought her into bed with me (once Michael left) and she was restless but slept.

All day she has been sneezing and had a runny nose. And she barely slept 45 minutes of naptime (usual time 2 hours). She went to bed alright tonight, but sometime while I was out on my walk (between 8 and 9pm) she woke and Michael had to pick her up. He's had one attempt to put her back to bed (unsuccessful) so she is out there with him now while he watches the James Bond movie he wanted to see tonight.

Great. I should go and pull out the physiologic (saline solution nose wash) and the snot sucker (extractor). I hope we all get to sleep tonight.

More orders

I've just had a phone call order for a Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for this Saturday. And when Michael came home this afternoon he told me one of his colleagues wants to order a cake for her husband (she ordered a cake for his birthday last year as well).

It's good to be taking orders again...

*updated later this evening - I sent an email to my Now Baking email list saying that I was in the middle of making Apricot and Coconut Balls and asking if anyone wanted to order some. I've had two replies since, an order for 2doz (pick-up this Wed morning) and another for early next week. Best response to one of those emails so far.

Back in business

Summer has been slow for Now Baking, which is fairly standard in my experience. I've had my on-going weekly order of cookies for the Red Room (David the Aussie hairdresser in Lausanne) and some other orders and that's about it. I haven't minded...we've been busy doing our own thing, plus I bake anyway whether I have orders or not.

But this week it's all changing, and being the end of August/return to school it is eerily predictable. I have an order for Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies (dough only, that's a first...she freezes the dough and only bakes what she needs) tomorrow, an order for 2 dozen Apricot and Coconut Balls for Tuesday (plus David's cookies) and on Wednesday an order for a 4th birthday party - Barbie Cake, Mini Blueberry and Buttermilk Muffins and Fudge Brownie Cookies. Now that it is picking up I'm glad. I enjoy the baking and the pocket money.

Fete de l'aviation

We went to the airshow at Lausanne airport (Blecherette) today Fete de l'aviation. Arrived just after noon (after picking up lunch at the boulangerie here beforehand, thank goodness we did as the queues for tickets for the food were long, let alone queues for the food). Got a good park closeby and had a wander around (entrance was free). Unfortunately they must have been on lunch break when we arrived as there was no flying for what seemed like ages. Then the model planes got going, then the real planes. It was fun, we sat on the grass towards the end of the runway and enjoyed the sun and the planes, not so much the wind.

Then Lily needed to do pee-pee. Fine, dealt with that the a la naturale way away from the crowds. Not long after she needed to do ca-ca. I eventually found the toilet (notice singular) and the queues. Ugghhhh. Long wait in line, then a substantial time on the toilet. Once we found each other again (Michael had come looking for me as we were gone so long) we decided we'd had enough of the wind and the airshow. We both had headaches (combo of the wind and the lack of water, our own faults...kids had water just not us) and the kids were tired and over it.

Our own private airshow had more to offer.

Picnic 2005

This morning I ate my healthy cereal for breakfast and went for my normal 50 minute exercise walk. It was all downhill from there.

We got to the Picnic around 11.30am and there was a long queue to get in. We went through the annual process of collecting our name badges, picking out a t-shirt each for the girls (with Picnic 2005 on the front), have a glass of something (usually it's champagne, this year it was like a punch and they were offering it to the kids. I was so disappointed...that glass of champers is such a good start), and having our family photo taken by the Picnic photographer. It's the same routine every year. And then you are In.

We saw Christine, Stefano and Alessandro who joined us for a while (they were off on holiday so couldn't stay long). Then we saw Nina, Darren and Emma and Nina's sister from Melbourne. We all hung out eating and later taking the kids on rides. Lily saw Sophie, the seven year old from next door so they hung out together (after we stood in line for ages so the girls could have their fill of lollies/candy/bonbons (Australian/American/French translation). Sophie later went her own way when she saw her friends from school. And towards the end of the day we caught up with Robyn and Michael, an Australian couple who live in the same town as us here, who are both from Melbourne, Michael works for the same company as my Michael and Robyn has red hair. Yes, our doppelgangers. We like them.

And we ate. First off it was delicious seafood - prawns/shrimp/crevettes (Australian/American/French) skewers, all different fish, salad. Then Indian, then African, then Asian. All the different stalls set up with authentic food, beautifully presented...just get in line. We started on some desserts eventually. A whole, huge table full of individual petit fours...tiny tarts, cakes, pastries, on and on. And then the huge table full of fresh fruit, available whole or cut. You'd see people walking round with punnets of berries. Or a whole tart. I skipped the cheese table, but it looked amazing. The drinks section had all the soft drinks, juices, waters, beers and wines you could want. And later on we went back for crepes (chocolate for the girls and I, Grand Marnier for Michael). And at different times Lily had popcorn and fairy floss/cotton candy/?. And then even later we went back for wood-fired pizza (pick your own topping). Before the final traditional ending of ice-cream....Cornetto, Magnum and Movenpick Tiramisu. Yeah, got our money's worth.

Lily enjoyed the merry go round, as did Charlotte. With the right amount of pushing, shoving and patience we are able to get the girls on for a couple of go-rounds. Lily also had fun in the bouncy castle and at the bricolage (craft) area where she (or mainly me) made an Asterix hat. I'm not sure what else Lily played on/with as some of the time she was with Sophie and other times with Michael. I didn't see her a lot.

Charlotte on the otherhand rarely left my side. She was carried by either Michael or I the majority of the time. And one stage she even had a nap on my lap. She was happy to hang close. So no danger of losing Charlotte. Michael reckons that when they grow up, Lily will roam the world and Charlotte will live with us.

And as tradition dictates, it did rain for Picnic. But thankfully not till close to the end. It didn't stop us from leaving though. Robyn pushed some umbrellas together and we stayed dry. Once again the weather was a mixture of overcast, patches of sunshine and rain.

We left just before 6pm with the rain bucketing down, the bouncy castles already packed away and the food and drink finished.

I love Picnic.

But we did miss Judi and Michael.

Snouts in the trough tomorrow

Tomorrow is MK's work Family Picnic day...and I can't wait! So much food, drink, activities for the kids. All laid on by the company...the big Multinational That Shall Remain Nameless. This will be our fourth year attending. Each year I eat waaay too much. And each year we lose Lily at least once. So tomorrow night I will give a full report on what there was to eat, drink and do. And whether we lose Lily. Oh crap, there's Charlotte to lose this year as well. She wasn't walking last year so was easy not to lose.

The eternal Why

Lily asks Why questions all the time. Most times I try to answer her questions (although they can be right out there type questions) and sometimes I ask her why she thinks. When I ask her back, she inevitably says 'I don't know'. So the other day in the car I was singing some silly song about Smart Lily, to boost her sense of being smart enough to think of an answer or even to take a guess. I was singing something about 'I'm Smart Lily' when she said 'You're not Smart Lily'. Who am I , then? and Lily said 'You're Smart Robyn'! I gotta tell ya, it sounds soooo weird when your kid says your first name! So weird that I completely overlooked that she gave me a compliment!

Lily told me that Sophie, the seven year old next door, asked her why she asked Why? all the time. Then Lily said 'Mummy, why did she say that?' It really never ends!

Our own private airshow

This morning just before 11am we had a glimpse of Fete de l'aviation on this weekend. Six F5's Tigersharks (thankyou MK for the plane identification) from the Swiss team were flying by in formation for about half an hour. It seemed to be focussed over Ouchy, which meant from our balcony we had a fantastic view as they flew low and fast over Lake Geneva...right in front of us.

I had to dash off at 11.20am to pick Lily up from school (correction: I offered to pick Lily up from school as MK was so engrossed in videotaping the show!). But even from school there was a good view. While I was waiting for Lily to come out, I heard a little boy say 'magnifique'. I could only agree.

Busy day

No school on Wednesdays and garderie doesn't start again till tomorrow week (although Charlotte will also have Wednesday's off) so we had a free day. I ran into Christine C this morning and she was on her way to catch the boat with Alessandro from here to Vevey. Alessandro loves the boats so they often do that on a Wednesday, which is Christine's day off. Anyway, they were off to the Alimentarium in Vevey which I haven't been too yet. She invited us along but we had plans...

In the morning we were invited 'round to Jenny Z's for a playdate. This turned into lunch for the three girls, so that was good. Back at home, Charlotte went down for her nap as usual at 1pm and Lily had quiet time. Once we were all up again (I always have quiet time as well, religiously...you can find me lying on the white couch reading a magazine. Heaven) we headed out to Mon Repos park in Lausanne. Haven't been there in ages, but Moms and Tots group was meeting there today and we were free. I like the park, but it does get a bit crowded in the playground. Anyway, caught up with a few friends (always a good thing) and Lily enjoyed an icecream.

Christine and Alessandro showed up later (I had passed the info onto her). When it was time to leave, Christine invited Lily to dinner at her place...and bath afterwards. Lily thought this was great so off they went. Charlotte seemed happy enough to eat her dinner with me (Michael on afternoon shift this week so not home till 10.30pm) and play ball afterwards. And take her bath alone. Christine kindly dropped Lily home at 8. Wow, Lily had lunch and dinner at friends' places today...lucky gal. And last night Sophie from next door had dinner (pizza) with us. This is kinda fun having older kids.

Comments - an invitation

I was reading a blog yesterday that had something like 250 comments for one post. That blogger has a lot of readers and that one entry obviously struck a chord. But it got me thinking that if you're reading and want to respond, feel free. I even set it up so that Anonymous can leave a comment...but don't even think about it!

To add a comment, click on the link down the bottom of a post...next to my name and the time I wrote the post.

Polite society

It's been interesting to observe the differences in politeness and manners here. From day one we noticed that if you walked into a lift, waiting room, small space, your apartment building people would say 'bonjour' (or often 'bonjour madame/monsieur'). One of the earliest examples that sticks in my head was in a deserted railstation waiting room and a young boy (seven or eight?) walked in and said bonjour. It just seemed so...polite. And passing people on my walk along the Lake will often say bonjour (the older women in particular). The one that tickles me the most is walking into a waiting room and saying bonjour. Then when you leave saying au revoir. Whether there is one person in the room or half a dozen.

Kissing three times (or twice for the French) on the cheek when saying hello or goodbye is another fun one. When we were in St Gallen last week the hostel had a big group of young French people staying and some older leaders. In the dining room at breakfast, one of them would come in and give a kiss (once on each cheek) to all the other people sitting at the table. This seemed to go on all morning!* But kissing is between women and men/women. Between men it is shaking hands. It's so funny to think that Michael shakes hands with everyone on his shift when he arrives and then again when he leaves. But the cutest example I've seen recently happened yesterday. When we got to Lily's new school for first day, we were looking around for her classroom. I saw a teacher (male, middleaged) standing at the door to his classroom asking every student going in their name (they would have been about eight years old) then shaking each of their hands as they walked in. It was priceless...they start young!

*it can take ages to leave a party...even when a bunch of ex-pats get together we often do as the locals and kiss three times on the cheek. You can add a good half an hour onto your time just leaving!

That village feeling

We have been living in this apartment for 2.5 years. And even without knowing the language, I feel a part of the place. The man who sells the flowers most days in front of the train station (and says hello to Lily and is often singing), the check-out women at Migros (through pregnancy and now returning to work I ask one of them how her newborn David is...and it always reminds me of Baby David from the tv show The Royales!), the old woman who pushes around the older woman in her wheelchair, holding the little dog (I always look away when the dog licks the old woman's face), the women in the chemist who we often see on a regular basis, the tall striking blonde woman who works in the underground carpark below us (striking because she dresses head to toe like Olivia Newton John circa 1984...on acid).

And a big part of our connection to this area is garderie (nursery) which Lily attended for nearly 2.5 years (from March 2003 until July 2005). And where Charlotte started going earlier this year, nearly two years after Lily first started. Garderie is barely a 5 minute walk from our apartment, one of the furtherest things we'd walk to around here (other than the two parks we take the kids, they'd be 10mins walk). So we know Yasmine, the woman who runs it, fairly well. She's become a friend and we love running into her, downstairs in the square (like today) or in the park. She has Maxim, her son, with her and the kids enjoy playing together. She has helped me out numerous times, and often offered to take Lily for an afternoon here or there without charging extra. And today I received a text message from Yasmine asking how Lily's first day at school was. She loves the girls...and we love her.

Boring...and sippy cups

Lily said 'boring' for the first time yesterday...as in a sentence. 'It's boring outside, there's nothing to do' (in relation to the square in front of our building where we take the kids to ride their bikes or hang out sometimes). I know she got it from Sophie, the just-turned-seven year old next door. Sort of made me sad...like a tiny chip whittled away from her innocence and joy of life. And impending doom - is this the beginning of 'I'm bored', 'that's boring', 'you're boring'??

I packed away Charlotte's sippy cups yesterday (you can see it was a big day). She can drink out of a cup and has done off and on for a while. So she can have her water, milk and apple juice/water drinks from cups from now on. Growing up, these babies.

First day of school

Lily started school (ecole enfantine) today! We all went with her and found her classroom. It was a 10am start, but normal school hours for her will be 8.50am till 11.25am, every morning except Wednesday. I think the classroom is open from 8.45am. We drop Lily off in the classroom in the morning, then for pick-up the teachers bring the children up to the main level. We were given an envelope of information that included, amongst other things, the list of all the children (21) in the class and their phone numbers (plus the two teachers' names and phone numbers), a list of things I need to buy (glue - 2 sorts, pen - waterproof, folder, slippers...on and on), and we have to pay Sf 40 for materials, a list of the school holidays, a page on what is expected of the kids (we think - Michael saw it mentioned something about not crying!), the schedule for swimming (every second week) and gym and rythmn. And a note about a parent's evening next Tuesday in Lily's classroom for more information. Have to find a babysitter for that one.

After Christmas, the school will be two afternoons a week then after Easter it's four afternoons a week (always with Wednesday off).

By the time we dropped Lily off (after the teacher translated a lot of what was in the envelope for me) it was barely an hour later that I had to pick her up. Lily had a picture of a pig (so she told me) to show me. And she told us about the frog (real frog) the teacher showed them (and told them not to touch!), and how the children held hands when they went out (maybe to see the toilets and to come upstairs at the end?). And the toys and books in there that Mummy isn't allowed to see because it is for the children! So I think it was a good start :)

Home again

Last night was OK, or so I thought. I woke a couple of times (once to the sound of blokes talking - it was 4am!). But when I woke just after 7am (with Lily asking to go to the toilet) I saw Charlotte was in bed with Michael. I heard nothing but he said she woke at 5am and so he took her into bed and she slept.

After breakfast we got all packed up (again) and left the hostel at 10.05am. I thought we'd stop somewhere for lunch, depending on how the kids were. Well, they played quietly in the back for a while (in amongst the usual array of questions from Lily about whatever was going on around us), then Charlotte fell asleep. Within 20mins or so Lily fell asleep. And we got closer and closer to Lausanne. Charlotte woke at 12.30pm and played quietly, had some food and smiled and laughed. Then before we knew it we were home! We had to wake Lily up. It was 1.10pm. No stops and the most peaceful drive we have ever had with the girls. Bliss.

It's good to be home...eating healthy meals, in our own space, doing laundry. Lily played with the girl next door (Sophie) for a while which she loves. Elizabeth (the Mum) even took them outside for a while on their bikes.

And the countdown to school marches on - only two more sleeps till Lily starts school. Wow. She is so excited. She asked tonight over dinner 'what did your school look like when you were a little girl?'. Her mind is getting all ready for the big day...

Day 3 - Liechenstein and Austria

Bad night - Charlotte woke a couple of times, then by 2am she woke and wouldn't settle so I took her into my (single) bed with me. Not good. Then she woke just before 6am, Michael took over and she ended up falling asleep in his bed. But that was the end of sleeping for him. I managed to sleep till 8. So with the late start, then breakfast and packing our stuff up to be ready to move into the different room it was 10.30am by the time we got away.

First we drove to Liechenstein which only took about 50mins. I didn't even notice crossing the border, Michael said I was telling Lily off (they were really ratty in the car today, when not asleep). We weren't in the mood to stop and there didn't seem much worth stopping for. So we pressed on into Austria. This was better. We were there within 1 hour 15mins of leaving St Gallen. So close. My first time in Austria so that was pretty cool. We stopped at the town of Feldkirch. It was really pretty, at the base of a mountain, cute pedestrian main area with interesting buildings and shops (am I repeating myself?). We had a bit of a look around, bought some snacks from a great bakery (bakerei), and had some lunch. Charlotte had a meltdown which wasn't fun. She settled eventually and was asleep within minutes of leaving town.

Next we headed for Bergenz, still in Austria. We chose the smaller road over the autoroute as the girls were sleeping and we had the time. But there was some bike race or tour on, and traffic was stopped. Instead of waiting indefinitely, we backtracked and got onto the highway. Then it was slow in parts. Eventually we got to Bergenz, on the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee). We had a quick look, a play in the playground then headed home. We were back at the hostel by 6pm.

The new room is ok, but it doesn't even have a basin. Just six bunkbeds. Oh well, the bathrooms are close and it's only for 1 night.

I am ready to head home now. It is such hard work, travelling with the girls. Sleeping disrupted, screaming in the car, stroppy behaviour and arguing...and that's just Michael and me (insert exclamation mark). I know I am incredibly tired and over it at the moment...it will be good to get home and relax. Who am I kidding??

Day 2 - St Gallen and Appenzell

We went to bed way too late last night (it was after 11.30pm) so the 6.30am wake up call from Charlotte was a bit rude. But it was very cute to see Charlotte trying to climb up the top bunk and join Lily in bed (C is sleeping in a cot and Lily is in the top bunk of one of the two bunk beds. She is loving her bed up there...she is so keen to climb up there at bedtime, saying goodnight Mummy as she makes her way up). Anyway, this morning Lily was whispering 'put the bear down and climb up'. Charlotte would have loved nothing more but she had no luck. So Lily climbed down to help her up. When that didn't work they satisfied themselves with bugging me.

After breakfast and some time in the playroom we walked into St Gallen, an easy downhill walk. It's a pretty town, with different German-type ornate architecture and small enough to get around easily. We looked inside the big cathedral which had the most amazing (baroque?) interior. Lily asked to light a candle so I agreed. Then she asked to take the lit candle with her. But we left it there after I said we should think of people we know.

After lunch we drove to Appenzell. Rolling hills (do hills roll?), lush green paddocks, cows, cute villages. Appenzell is down in a valley so you get a good view approaching from above. Small town, fair few tourists, pedestrian-only road through town with interesting buildings and shops. The best was when the cows came walking right through town, bells ringing, slobbering and crapping everywhere, men in traditional costume with sticks and dogs keeping the cows moving in the right direction right through the pedestrian lining the streets. Pretty good show, completely caught us by surprise.

Took a slow drive home through winding roads back to the hostel. Girls were happy to spend some time in the playroom, although C ready for dinner (which starts not a minute too early at 6.30pm).

Tomorrow we may drive into Austria and Liechenstein. Both aren't that far from here. St Gallen seems to be a great base to explore so much of the surrounding areas, and into Germany, Austria and Liechenstein. Nothing is that far.

Even though we have to vacate our room tomorrow, we have booked one more night. The new room will have 4 beds, washbasin and use of shared toilet and shower. Not as good as what we have now, but preferable to finding another hostel for the last night.

We arrived and survived

Gruezi (hmmmm, can't find the exclamation mark....humourless (Swiss) Germans)

We ended up leaving at 12.30pm which was OK. I thought Michael said it would take 5 hours to get here, but it took under 4 hours (we arrived a bit after 4pm). Had nearly an hour to kill before we could check in so the girls played outside for a bit (Lily had gotten a bit stroppy towards the end of the trip and was busting to get out. We had only stopped once so I could understand).

The hostel is in a lovely location, surrounded by green paddocks with cows wearing cowbells. We went for a bit of a walk after dinner and the view was great - up high, green fields, the town of St Gallen down below, off in the distance Lake Constance and then beyond that Germany. Or so Michael thinks.

The girls seem to be having a good time, especially when they are in the well-equipped playroom. Some of these hostels are so well set up for kids. Much easier than staying in a hotel.

Tomorrow we will probably look around St Gallen. We would also like to go to Appenzell which is not far. Try some cheese. And marvel at the fact that women only got the vote there (for cantonal issues) in 1989. They say it is a traditional place, butt of the joke in Switzerland...but beautiful no doubt.

I am using the pay as you go computer at the hostel and I only have a few minutes left. And this keyboard is frustrating. Plus there is no seat. So I am going back to our room now and join Michael who is sitting in the semi dark while the girls sleep. He has enough light to read by. And probably more now the girls are asleep.

Not a good start

Michael was up with Charlotte at 5.20am this morning. And she wouldn't go back to bed. And she was scratching a bit. Ugghhhh. Now it's nearly 9am, Michael is back in bed (poor guy, he can't do all that driving with two small children in the car and be knackered...stressful enough as it is). Lily is watching tv (still in her pj's), Charlotte is bopping round doing her thing, I haven't had a shower. And we haven't packed. No, correction - Michael has his stuff in the suitcase. I still have to do ours. We are hoping to get away by noon.

Better go have a shower. And remember to pack Charlotte's excema creams.

And last night just before 9.20pm I got a call from one of my regular customers. He wanted to order a Mud Cake with Satin Chocolate Glaze for this Thursday. It was a shame to have to say no seeing as the Summer has been so quiet (which isn't unusual). I have a couple of other orders coming up which is good.

My business cards

Berkelely Jen put me onto a woman near her who did my business cards (she'd also done Jen's). Elizabeth did an outstanding job and was excellent to work with. It was fun to see my cards on her website as they are beautiful and should be used to promote her business. However the lines

Robyn needed a cohesive package of business cards, letterhead + envelopes, notecards, gift tags, and cakebox labels

is total BS! But maybe one day in the future...Elizabeth might know something I don't.

Going away

Well, it is 10pm and we have decided where we are going away. St Gallen. We will stay in the youth hostel there. We can only have the room we want for two nights, not three, so I am not sure where we will be Friday night. But we will be coming home Saturday. Gotta have one day to get ready before Lily starts school next Monday!!

Now, off to pack...

Skype

I love Skype! This morning I talked to Matthew in Brisbane and Judi in Taipei. My sister-in-law is getting a mic so we can chat (at the moment she can hear us, but we can't hear her) and I am hassling my parents to download it so we can chat with them in Hong Kong. Talking with people all round the world, the reception is clear...and it's free!

My username is my firstname and surname...for any friends and family who want to say hello.

Excema update

Last night (Sun) Charlotte slept through the whole night for the first time in nearly a week. It was so great. Took her back to the Dr today (and I was really glad Dr C was back from holiday). We got another prescription for the creams and bath liquid we've been using since Saturday. And a schedule for coming off the cortisone (Dr C said if you stop the cortisone suddenly it can cause a flare-up). So we do the cortisone cream for another two nights, then every second night till we finish next Tuesday. The thick unguent (which has almond oil in it, I think) we can use whenever. And the bath liquid is good to use a couple of times a week when Charlotte has dry skin.

Dr C recommended Charlotte avoids raw tomato and for us to be careful with laundry detergent. Also chorine can be a problem (it was so cold and rainy today I can hardly imagine going to the pool). She would not suggest allergy testing yet as a negative result may be inaccurate at this age. She suggested we wait a bit longer and see what happens.

Dad sent me an article today about children and excema that said, amongst other things,

Emotional stress can worsen eczema rash, so it is important that parents not convey a negative attitude toward the child when treating this frustrating (and often sleep depriving) condition.

This is good for us to keep in mind.

The Bulge

For lunch I had two rice crackers with low fat cheese spread*. No prizes for guessing it's Monday and I am feeling the bulge big time. Ugghhhh, my clothes feel tight and I feel like sh*t. Crap. Hate this. Oh yeah, also had a few pieces of chicken from the girls lunch. Just can't help myself.

On a totally unrelated note, I would like to put together a list of all the things I want to bake at the moment - I bought a great cookie cookbook recently and I want to try nearly every recipe. And the Super Food Ideas magazine has a great CWA article on prize-winning recipes. Want to try nearly all of those. Now if only I could someone to order all these goodies as I decide to bake them...like a Baking Fairy Godmother.

*not just any cheese spread though - this one I bought from Carrefour (in France) and it is a pack of 12 small portions. The brand is Sveltesse and the flavour is aux Noix (walnuts). Yummy.

Dinner tonight

I made chicken roasted on eggplants and tomatoes from Donna Hay's The Instant Cook served with roasted courgette and couscous. It was alright, probably won't make it again though....didn't taste as yummy as I'd like and looked nowhere near like the picture in the book (hate that). Perfect weather for it - raining and cold outside.

This afternoon I also made Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins, which is a great recipe and the muffins are divine. One of my favourites, this one. It's actually called Mixed Berry Buttermilk Muffins, but I often use all blueberries.

Plum Jam

I took the girls to the little park this morning, along the way picking up lunch from the boulangerie. We weren't there long before it started to rain (although Lily did have time to start what she called her 'park lunch'). When we got back, the girls were happy to play kitty's (which involved them crawling around on their hands and knees, miaowing, eating mice, lying down and Lily talking in a funny voice) so I decided to make plum jam. I've had the clean jars, fruit and sugar sitting there for a couple of days waiting for the right time. The recipe is super easy, given to me from Aussie Jen who got it from her Swiss mother-in-law.
Plum Jam
1kg plums, cut up (you can use any fruit)
1kg Gelvite - Sucre gelifiant (I buy it from Migros for Fr. 2.20 and it lists as it's ingredients sucre, gelifiant and acidifiant)
Boil the fruit and sugar for 5mins, blitz with hand-held wand and put into sterilised jars (I just leave my jars in a hot oven for a while). Tight lid, tip jars upside down immediately.

Now all I have to do is label the jars...and add them to my collection of jams (which includes some plum jam from Sept 2004!).

What was your best today?

Lily's daily question, usually in the evening either during dinner or while we are tucking her into bed. Some days we have to rack our brains for anything good (especially lately when there has been no garderie, Michael's working nightshift, no cleaner and Charlotte was sick). But mostly we can come up with something. And we ask Lily as well. Her answer usually involves some combination of playing/friends/park. Then she asks us what was Charlotte's best today and we either guess or tell her we'll have to wait till Charlotte can tell us herself.

Words - theirs and mine

When Charlotte was at her 18 month check-up/vaccination (which we went to just over a month late), Dr C asked how many words Charlotte could say. I had no idea. So she said 'Ten?' and I said 'yes, no more than that' (that was a stab in the dark, though).

Charlotte is now 21 months old. She repeats a lot of the words we say to her now, but the ones she'll say herself currently are
aggy (an early word, for 'raggy' her cloth nappy companion of which there is many), ca ca (French baby talk for poo), hello, bye bye, no, night night, car, thankyou (that was an early one too and she said it so cute - now it's like 'ugg oo'), Lily, nanny (for Daddy, but she can say daddy clearer now as well), mumma, au revoir, up (wanting to be picked up), come (wants you to come with her and she can say it quite bossily!), woof woof, miaow, neigh, quack, baby, ball, bag, star, bubble, clock (pronounced caaaar-lock, I love this one), this (pointing to something she wants), boo boo (for something that hurts her),
and she sings the beginning of Freres Jacques (sounds like 'air air ar ark') and Happy Birthday (can't remember how that sounds but I know what it is!).

Lily of course has a great vocab and likes to talk...she likes it best to be in conversation with you. And she asks lots of questions (some of them are so obscure, like today 'how does the rain get into the pipes?' then 'how does the water get into shops?'). She is also good at translating what Charlotte is trying to say.

And I am lost for words when it comes to describing how loving, funny, smart and cheeky Charlotte is and how gorgeous, smart , funny and kind Lily is. But I feel it in my heart all the time.

Thank goodness

Such relief - Charlotte slept till nearly 7.30am this morning! What a difference from the last week. Her skin doesn't look as red, still a bit dry and I've hardly seen her scratching. She didn't even mind the cortisone cream. And she is more like herself too...running around and playing, more interested in what's around her than sitting down and watching tv (in stark contrast to Lily who could watch tv all morning and has recently because I've been too tired to offer anything different). Right this moment it's 'Bill and Ben' on BBCPrime (and not the version I vaguely remember from our childhood - this is an updated version). And Charlotte is going through Lily's jewellery and hair accessories box and asking for hair clips to be put in.

Michael is asleep as he was on nightshift last night (6pm-6am). It looks like another mild day (what happened to summer? not complaining though) so sleeping will be easy. He does the same shift tonight, then has a week off. Wonder if we'll get organised enough to go away for a couple of days. It's been too much to think about up till now...

And now it's time...

to go to bed. Why I stay up so late is a mystery. Crazy woman. But considering my night was cut short courtesy of Charlotte, I feel even more entitled to mooch around. Won't be thinking that when she wakes in a couple of hours (based on every other night this week).

One last thing - the moon. I can see it out the window and it just doesn't look real. It's out over Lake Geneva, real low, orange with a some cloud in front and it looks three-quarter (although I think cloud is obscuring it's real shape). It's so beautiful. Goodnight Moon.

Four years today

Since Michael arrived in Switzerland. Amazing. And he hasn't been back to Australia once in that time. The girls and I celebrate our four year Swiss anniversary in October. And we did visit Australia for the first time in Feb/March this year.

Jumping on the bandwagon

The blogging bandwagon that is. Even though I don't personally know anyone who blogs, I have read a few...and it seems like fun. So tonight I decided to get myself one. Good way to record some of our life here in Switzerland and stuff with the kids if nothing else.

Speaking of, the big issue at the moment is Charlotte and her excema. Not that we knew it was excema last Wednesday when she first came out in a rash. Dr thought it might have been Scarlet Fever (scarlatine in French, I think) but the mouth swab test came back negative. She had a shocking night Wed, vomitting and itching, miserable all night (3.5 hours sleep for me) so took her back to the pediatrician (unfortunatley not Dr C, our regular, but Dr T her colleague who just isn't as nice). Once again she ruled out Scarlet Fever as she had no fever and her mouth didn't have the white dots. Allergic reaction, was her tentative diagnosis. Towards what, who knows (although after we returned from Prague last Sat night I did use a new washing powder, one that's been stuck in the back of the cupboard for yonks, which turns out, Michael tells me, not to be washing powder. Not sure what it is as it's all in French - something to help with washing your colours??).

Anywho, she had another terrible night last night (Fri) with Michael and I taking turns holding her nearly the whole night. When she woke before 6am I thought 'bugger this, we're going to the Children's Hospital (hopital des enfantes, or something similar). Dr T had said on Thurs that if Charlotte wasn't better by Sunday to take her to the hospital. Based on Fri night, I didn't want to wait an extra day.

Well, the dr at the hospital was very thorough and kind. Asked all the right questions and said it was excema. Poor kid, she hasn't been able to stop scratching and has been miserable and all we've given her is Fenistil drops (anti-histamine) and pain killers. With this diagnosis she was prescribed a liquid for the bath for calming her skin, cortisone cream (morning and midday) and a thick unguent cream for prevention (night). And she recommended we go back to the Dr's on Monday to check the medication is working.

I started the regime this morning and so far she hates the cortisone cream and doesn't mind the rest. Unfortunately tonight has started off like most other nights this week with her crying and miserable and me holding her. I wasn't able to put her into bed till after 10pm. I really really hope she sleeps the rest of the night. I so need a good night's sleep.