Don’t ask me how you pronounce that word above. It’s a Swiss German word, I’ve tried to pronounce it, but I’m sure I have it all wrong. I think it means radish light. It’s really more of a turnip though… I think. Anyway – it’s all about this traditional harvest holiday where kids parade through town with hollowed out turnips. Some towns really go to town and have huge floats and displays all made out of illuminated turnips. We went to a town accross the lake on Saturday and saw a charming small town version. It was very dark. Just lots of kids coming down the street holding open flames. The weather was pleasantly cool and there was a band that filled up the old square with music. Then tonight Bea had a little Rabeliechtle celebration at her playgroup. The kids and parents walked around a bit and stopped at an old folks home to sing songs. So we’ve experienced another Swiss tradition. I carved my first Rabeliechtli. And we enjoyed the feeling of learning about something that is so familiar to the people around us and so very new to us.
Here’s a photo that our friend took. I didn’t really get any good photos but those last ones show Bea with her new Welsh friend Owain. They are thick as theives.
Kathy’s mom says “babies bounce”. I thought I knew what it was supposed to mean, but I never really understood until yesterday.
We had just finished some Christmas shopping in downtown Zurich and were looking to find something to do for an hour or two before heading to a friend’s to enjoy a local festival called “Rebenslichtli”. More on that from Kathy I’m sure. We were walking around the Zurich Kunsthaus, looking for a place for a coffee and a quick snack. We changed our mind, turned around to head back and in the process of hopping the stroller up a step to the museum, out tumbled Claire. I remember looking down by Kathy’s feet and thinking that a blanket had fallen off the stroller. But it was not, it was a six month old girl instead.
Of course we panicked – you would too. Through Kathy’s mind is, “What have I done to my baby?” and through mine is, “This is just the same thing that happened to my brother. What if she turns out like Mike?” She cried almost immediately, and I was thinking clearly enough to know this is a good sign. She was kicking her arms and legs in Kathy’s arms, also a good sign. Into my Blackberry (not such an evil vessel of Satan anymore, eh Kathy?) I typed, “Spital” and the kind folks at Google allowed us to choose between the University Hospital 11 minutes away and the Kinderspital 18 minutes away. The friendly blinking blue dot followed our rapid footsteps. Claire quickly fell asleep in Kathy’s arms.
We got to the nurse’s station in emergency and Kathy says, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” to which the snotty response was something like, “You speak a little German.” Now was not the time to get uppity about whether or not we speak German. We have encountered so little of this – the Swiss are so often friendly and helpful – it was amazing to see it now of all times. I explained that I spoke some German and we successfully communicated the situation and answered questions. Although I have been trying to slowly improve my German, I have never been so thankful for two years of high school German in my life.
They asked questions, checked her heart rate, oxygen, felt all over her body for bruises or breaks and could find nothing. If she didn’t throw up or show any signs of a concussion, she was fine. What a huge relief.
Bea was a superstar. She stood quietly on the trolley behind the stroller and stayed there while we checked in. She didn’t mess around or need any attention until the whole ordeal was basically over when she informed Mommy she needed to go potty. We couldn’t ask for better from a brave big sister, especially one whose need for attention and constant competition with the little one is already well-documented.
So in the end, when we think about what happened and how it came to pass, we know she fell. It was not a tremendous height but she did fall face first. All I can think is that those cheeks saved from harm. And no Marla, she didn’t bounce. But we know what you mean.
We are so tired from our weekend in Luzern. We took the train and spent the night at a hotel before Brian ran in the marathon. I can understand why Brian is tired but I’m not sure why I’m dragging. Anyway – we had fun and I’m very proud of Brian for completing his third marathon.
This is not a great photo but it reminds me of how excited Bea was to stay at a hotel. Being confined to a room with our munchkins makes Brian and I groan, but Bea was just smitten with everything about our budget accommodations.
We headed out early to see Brian and wow – we actually had some luck this time. We saw Brian run by us twice. All the swiss kids had signs that said Hopp Papi! but ours said Go Daddy! There he is in the green shorts.
The alphorns sound so cool and I think they put Claire to sleep.
We spent some time at a playground while Brian was running and running and running.
This is the view from the playground.
Back to watching for Brian – there he is in the bottom photo by the inflatable white thing. Bea wore her Halloween costume.
And here’s Brian with another 26.2 miles under his belt. He’s ready to go home and relax… after he helps put two kids to bed.
We walked into a toy store and saw a few Halloween decorations and I heard a kid behind me say to his mom, in German, “look mom Halloveen”. Tee he hee. That makes me laugh. So they don’t do Halloween here. They have a few unimpressive costume things and decorations in the bigger toy stores, but really Halloween is not on anyone’s radar.
Of course that didn’t stop us from carving our pumpkins and making a costume. At the last minute she decided she wanted to be a pink kitty. I knew whatever she decided on I was going to use some of the cardboard that I saved from our IKEA packaging. So she ended up with a slightly unconventional costume style. Kind of a sandwich board kitty that I painted. I think she liked it.
First Dow Chemical made an appearance on Mad Men and now I see that Midland was ranked #4 on a list of the best small cities to raise a family. We’re looking forward to being back in good old Midland for the holidays.
I finally got my new stove. We’ve had enough roast chicken dinners for a while. I made oatmeal for breakfast and I think we’ll have a big pot of chili for dinner.
Here’s the oatmeal with our 7 pound bag of brown sugar. Thanks to my brother-in-law, Dave, we have enough brown sugar for a few more batches of oatmeal. Yeah that’s right – Dave carried that huge Cosco size bag of brown sugar in his carry-on luggage and gave it to us when we were in Michigan this summer. Thank you Dave!
This is one of my most exciting posts isn’t it? Well you try going without a stove and microwave for a week and a half. It was so exciting to have our stove back that Bea asked to have her picture taken with the stove.
And there you have it – that’s what passes as thrilling in this household – big bags of sugar and a new stove.
I can't help it – the combination of sunlight, clouds, and mountains outside my windows is mesmerizing. I am so grateful. Next summer we must get into the mountains and get to know them better.
When I give her a toy she looks up at me like I just gave her a diamonds – she’s smiling, she’s saying wow, she’s saying thanks mom.
Those legs – made of rolls of fat and they are so kicky. When she’s feeling relaxed and happy and paying attention those legs are going, going, going. With the toes splayed out and feet wiggling.
She’s that perfect size now – she can nuzzle into my neck and chest when she’s feeling sleepy. Before I know it she will be so big that she’ll have to crank her head to the side to rest her head on my shoulder. Poor baby who has a height challenged mommy.
She sleeps with me often when Brian is out of town – and I sit there staring at her and time flies by even in those little moments. And I think about how no matter how hard I try to I will never be able to capture the feeling I get when I look at her sleeping chubby body. When she’s asleep and relaxed and cozy I relax and my heart feels satisfied. I guess on the flip side I will blessedly forget exactly how miserable and frustrating it feels when I’m trying to get my fussy baby to go to sleep when she is over-tired. When she is tortured and crying with her eyes closed and her voice gets so sad and hoarse. I’ll forget those details.
I think in ways these moments are sweeter with my baby number two because I know a little bit of what is ahead of us. I know about the hard parts – the frustrating parts that are around the corner. The difficult moments that come with each age. I’m less ignorant but no less blissy because I am trying to soak in all these moments of complete dependence. These moments where I am her one and only and I know all the easy tricks for getting her to smile.
I am lately thinking about the pulling away that kids do and I’m shocked that I’m thinking about this so soon. I look at Bea and I can see the space between us now. Not bad space – she’s just turning into her own person. I naturally start thinking about the future and how I will ever let her go off and do the things that she needs to do. And where will I be when she has her own full life – the full life that I want for her. Who will I be when I no longer have my little shadow at my side. Ironic that I’m so sappy about this stuff when I just about lose it six times a day when I’m overcome with a feeling of being smothered by my children. I guess I’m just feeling things that most mothers feel – it’s such a tornado of transformations.
OK – that’s enough – enough being emotional – enough over thinking – enough staying up too late when Brian is away. Good night.
Here are my latest sewing projects. Don’t be fooled into thinking these summery clothes mean that it feels anything close to summer here. It’s feeling blustery, chilly and crisp. Every night we step out onto the patio and that fresh Fall air hits me and then I instantly have a yearning for the smell of singed pumpkin. You know that smell you get when you put a candle inside a pumpkin – oh I love that!
These are Bea and Claire’s first matching outfits. The shirt is the 2+2 blouse pattern from Oliver + S again. And the little dress for Claire is that easy peasy lemon squeezy pinafore pattern. I’ve had the flower fabric in my stash for a long time and the pink fabric is an old maternity shirt. Bea has been wearing her shirt but Claire will have to grow into her dress.
And here’s a photo from this afternoon. Don’t tell my Dad – that is snow on them thar hills.
Laowai 