Laowai

Aaarg – will it ever stop raining here in Zurich? The dreary weather is seriously getting me down and making me feel trapped in the house. 

 

We’ve been doing some crafts to try to keep busy – here’s a cute puppet theater that we printed out.

 

And Bea started drawing people the other day. This is a picture of Bea, Daddy, Mommy, a clock and a wall. She very carefully drew her toes at the bottom of the page. If you click on the image you can read the labels I put on it.

Bea on the left, Claire on the right

Well she’s one month old today. I feel like we are on a big roller coaster filled with moments of misery and then moments of quiet joy or laughter. All I can manage right now is a list of things:

– Things like how nice people around here can be. I hauled myself and the girls to the other side of Zurich the other day and had two very nice encounters. The first was when we were waiting to get on the bus – I was trying to stuff some things in the pocket under the stroller when I noticed that the bus was coming – so I began to frantically stuff things in there so I could manage to get the stroller and a toddler loaded on the bus before it pulled away. Well an older lady was also waiting for the bus. She didn’t speak english but she managed to ask if I was getting on that bus that was coming down the road and I managed to say yes – or ya. She grabbed a few of the random things that were lying on the ground waiting to be stuffed into the stroller – a raincoat, a stuffed turtle and another toy of some sort. I was able to make it onto the bus and she gave me the stuff back when I had the stroller settled and I had taken a breath. Then later on the train a man sweetly showed a lot of interest in Claire – smiling and guessing her age and then wishing me all the best as he got off the train.

 

– We’ve traded one mode of transport for another. I’m still sad about having to sell my MINI but hopefully we can get lots of milage out of our new vehicle. I was treking across town the other day to get a used bike trailer – big enough for two kids and some groceries. And yes it seems that the new vehicle has about the same capacity as the last vehicle. 

 

– Bea has recently learned to think up rhyming words and today while I pushed her on a tire swing we discovered that Claire rhymes with lots of things. Brian likes to call her Claire Bear.

 

– Brian is gone most of this week so I am toughing it out. The worst moments are trying to help Bea into her pajamas and read her bedtime stories while holding a crying Claire. Or feeling so, so guilty that I have to constantly tell Bea to wait a minute whenever she asks for something. My hands are just so full. Or the reverse situation – when I have to let Claire cry her little eyes out while I do something that requires two hands like washing Bea’s hair.

– Also feeling guilty that just in time for Brian to come home from work I am feeling completely depleted and grumpy. By that time of day Bea’s little habits are grating on me. Claire’s crying is overwhelming me and the messiness of the house is driving me nuts. Sorry honey.

– The good moments are seeing Claire sleeping peacefully. Watching her stretch – arching her little back and showing her funny little turtle-like neck. Also, seeing Bea with new eyes and being so proud of all the grown-up things she can do. And watching Bea gently taking an interest in her sister. When she sweetly asks “where’s Cwaire” (that’s how she says Claire) after she looks around and doesn’t see her nearby. 

 

– I feel blessed but tired.

– Here’s our first calendar girl photo. Poor Claire did not enjoy it. Maybe we’ll try again tomorrow.

They’ve been building a bus stop shelter at our bus and train station. It’s held up with big letters that spell BUS. So of course we had to get a shot with our B: 

 

Claire was not impressed:

 

And here’s another not-great-photo but it shows a moment that I want to remember. I was cleaning my room and Bea was keeping me company by making messes as fast as I could pick them up (uhg – will I ever have a clean house again?). Then she decided she wanted to read a story to Claire. She went and got her chair and a book about a lobsterman and sat down to read to her little sister. It was really sweet.

 

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone back in the USA. Hope the weather is great for your start of summer.

Mom and Dad are gone and the house feels quiet. A couple lessons have become very clear: 

1. Riding in the stroller on cobblestones is great for getting the poop out. Yup, every time we go out for a bumpy walk Claire has one of those squirt out of the diaper baby poos.     

…sorry – I had to share that.

2. You never outgrow needing your mom.

Here’s Bea and Mom on the way to the airport:

I think I put a hex on our weather when I put this up on the wall above Claire’s bed:

 

We have had day after day of rain and clouds and fog since the day I went into the hospital to have Claire. And then finally over the last two days it has been simply lovely. Finally we have sun and warmth and we can see the mountains off in the distance.

We took a little walk near our house – Claire is liking the stroller.

 

Saying hi to the chickens.

 

 

 

We sat out on the patio – basking and watching over 100 sailboats go by. There was some sort of big sailing event going on – all sizes and shapes passed by.

 

Today we took Grandma and Grandpa to nearby Rapperswil. 

 

Fussing over Claire – we had to keep the sun off her.

 

A paddle boat ride – faster Daddy, faster

 

Trying Grandpa’s hat.

 

 

Riding the ferry – it actually felt hot.

 

Mom and Dad have to leave in just a couple days – hopefully we can finish their trip with more sunshine.

Brian took took some garbage down to the dumpster late last night and then came back with a big grin on his face. He insisted that I come down and see “something that is really quite funny”. So I went down and saw this:

 

It took me a second to realize that it’s a vacuum cleaner box. What timing – this is exactly what we need during the nights lately – a magic baby silencing machine. 

What in the world am I going to do when my Mom is not here and I need to do some laundry or make a meal or take a shower or…

Ah well – at least she’s a cutie.

 

 

 

Our house is so full of love the potatoes turn themselves into hearts: