Ostern bei der Oma

Schneebilder

Der Schnee ist da....

Another year ... another bittercold February. After we were lucky for the longest time with a very mild autumn and early winter, the cold has finally hit us. We don't mind so much. We had fun making several snowmen on the one day the snow came (and the next day it was gone anyway).

We skipped Christmas 2011 at Oma's, instead we went to Oma for a long weekend in early December. Christmas we actually spent at home which was nice... we had a tree for the first time ever and Jessie waited patiently for Santa Claus ("ho ho ho" she calls him) to bring her the much awaited pink camera.

Then for New Year we went to Lisbon ... it was beautiful. It was nice and sunny and there was lots to do. We met a very nice couple with a 5 year old girl who became Jessie's friend. They were great, we had a really good time.

Now Rod has been laid off from Rim and spends lots of time at home studying and applying for a new job.

It was quite good in a sense that Rod's mum finally came to visit us from Mexico and of course, Rod had plenty of time for her. It was great and I think she liked it very much. She was here for two weeks at the end of October.

Jessie has just joined the German Saturday School, it was our second session today. We're hoping to make some German friends and hopefully it will give us more reason to speak German.

n to speak German.

Oma war da!

The new house

I haven't written anything about our move, I realized. It was very stressful, as expected, especially with Jessica around (and with Rodrigo deciding that the first thing to disconnect in the old house is the TV). Now it's all done though and we're more or less happy. Unfortunately, there is always something that isn't right. But we've settled well. The new nursery, St. George's Day Nursery in Hanworth, was a bit of a struggle in the beginning. It's just nowhere as nice as the old one. At the end of day 3, however, Jessica didn't want to leave when i picked her up and this Monday she wanted to go although it wasn't even the day to go.
We still go back to our old neighbourhood a lot and meet with friends and go to playgroups. I've arranged that we still meet with her old nursery friends so that she doesn't lose touch completely. However, on Monday we met with her good friend Sasha, but they didn't really play with each other as expected.

Finally summer

It's June and the weather is finally better and we're outdoors more. Last week I was away in New York for a full week, leaving Jessica and Rodrigo all to themselves for the very first time. I think they did well and had a lot of fun. I on the other hand had a great time at the offsite in Atlantic City as well as meeting some old friends in New York (Griff, Heike) and later Beatris up in White Plains were i got to meet Sophia and Xavier for the first time. It was a great trip.

In less than three weeks we are off to Greece. We haven't had a proper vacation in a long time, hopefully it will be nice, it's a low budget trip to an apparently unspoilt part of Greece with not much there except beach, sleepy fishing towns, tavernas and some ruins. I bought some pool toys for Jessica as probably she will spend the whole day in the water.

Endless winter

It's early March and although there are signs of spring, it doesn't seem to improve significantly. We're depressed ... can't stand another damp and cold day on a muddy playground and we're fed up with all the indoor play options as well.

The big news is that we're going to be moving at the end of the month. We're leaving our house in Morden and rented something in Sunbury-on-Thames. It's closer to Rodrigo's work, so his commute will be more pleasant. Also, we needed to leave because our street was so noisy. So all good things. The bad thing is we need to find a new nursery for Jessi - a shame since she likes this one so much - and we're also further away from our friends. Not too far though, so we won't lose touch completely.

We haven't taken many pictures lately as we're so uninspired by the weather and we haven't had any holidays either because of the impending move. Once it's all done and over with we can start the planning though.

Jessica is talking more and more ... she still loves her piggy, she is doing well in nursery and apparently has a talent for painting as she does it all the time. She also like cooking and tries to help whenever we let her (it's messy though, let me tell you!)

Below some pictures ... from softplay, one of Jessi's pieces of art, the gang...

Happy New Year 2011!

We had a fabulous Christmas vacation in Germany and Switzerland with Oma Rosi and Aunt Margrit. The first white Christmas in a loong time - it was picture perfect. We went sledding with Jessica and even though it was quite a fast ride, she enjoyed it very much and wasn't scared.

Iggy Sam & Lelli

Jessica's favorite TV show these days is "Iggy Sam" ... as she calls it(=Fireman Sam). Dont know why she loves it so much, but it's the first word she says when she wakes up. Maybe it has something to do with her favorite toy, her little Piggy. Also she's been cooking jello with Papa ... she calls it Lelli.

Today first pipi in the potty!

This evening Jessica said to me - as so often recently - "pipi!!".... I had to run downstairs to get the potty, so I told her to hold it. I came back ... she sat on it .... and then she made her first pipi ever in the potty. Hurrah!

Jessica videos

... is hot ....

Jessica's trademark expression these days ... wheather it's hot or cold ... "is hot" she says in a whiny voice - all the time. Of course, at the moment we have Rodrigo's family over from Mexico which is great fun. We've done a lot of sightseeing, went to Brighton, Windsor and Central London.

Socks ... and Mickey Mouse

Jessica is most concerned with wearing "socks" these days. She doesn't go anywhere without socks, no matter how warm it is.

She's also become a TV addict (have to change that!). She loves Mickey Mouse and Peppa Pig (which she now says with a pig snort like the pigs do in the cartoon).

We've had some warm days but we've also gone back to winter a few times ... :-(

Some old links from Youtube

Gracias, Mami!

Jessica is very polite these days and says "Gracias, Mami", "Gracias, Papa" all the time. She says it weather she gives or receives something.

The weather is finally sunny and we're enjoying being outdoors in the garden - we've waited long enough.

The news of the moment is that a volcano erupted in Iceland and the ashes prevents airtraffic in almost all of Europe. And there seems to be no end! Amazing. We're scheduled to fly to Munich on 7 May - let's hope it's all over by then!

Easter holidays

Tomorrow we're off to Germany to spend the Easter holidays there with "Oma". The weather's supposed to be awful so there will probably be no Easter egg hunt. Jessica is feeling fine again after being a little unwell last week. She doesn't seem to enjoy nursery as much - she much rather watches TV these days. She can say Mickey, Minnie and Daisy. And Mouse. Being away for a few days will be a nice change.

Last week we went to Chessington World of Adventures and it was indeed an adventure for Jessica. She couldn't go on many rides, which was just as well, as she was scared of most of them, but she did do the carrousel, the mini truck ride, a train ride and the parrot walk-through.

Oh no! What's this ....

Jessica's favorite sentence these days. She sees her soft toys lying on the floor and she goes "Oh no, what's this!". Other than that so far we've also heard "look at this", "Ducky! Come!", "Papa, go!" and of course she knows all the names of her favorite cartoons. Micky, Handy Manny, and Winnie Pooh.

At Wimbledon Park Playground

Ferien in Lanzarote