Laternefest - a year gone by

Today Emma celebrated Laternefest* with her kindergarden for the second time. Only last year she was sitting in her buggy because she was not yet walking, not really standing much and certainly not singing.

Emma holding her paper lantern at Laternefest* November 2008:

Emma at Laternefest* this November (due to the rain it was held inside) with friends Marie (left) and Isabella (middle):

*Laternefest is celebrated in Catholic Germany (and Austria it seems) on November 11th, in commemoration of the burial of Martin of Tours who ripped his cloak and gave half of it to a beggar. In celebration of this act of kindness children participate in paper lantern processions while singing about St. Martin and their lanterns.

This date is also the first of a fast period of 40 days which was later called "Advent" by the Catholic Church. At St. Martin's eve and on the feast day, people ate and drank heartily for a last time before they started to fast.
In kindergarden this celebration is also an opportunity to talk about sharing and kindness.

Beyond packaging

Had the below not been strongly recommended to me, I would not have given them a second glance. Wrapping does matter.

What are they?
Although they look like chubby sausages and are often found next to the skinnier sausages, they are in fact freshly made delicious soups. Indeed.

You can freeze them or pour them right into a pan, warm them up for 5 and serve with crunchy bread. They have all sorts; potato, pumpkin, goulash, bean, mixed vegetables, chicken... And every one is scrumptious!

Find them at your nearest "Radatz"

Ever since I can remember, every evening I sing Emma a good night song which actually wishes a good night to all family members. Well that's how it started anyway.

The idea was to overcome one of the challenges of expat-life and keep grand-parents, aunts, uncles and cousins living around the world "alive" in her mind in between visits.

So I sang "bonne nuit" (good night) while pointing to pictures around her room and naming "Grand-maman", "Nonna" and "Gogo" "Deda" and "Tallie" "Grand-papa François", "Pata", "Tata-yéyé", "Aka et Bruno"... (Talk about stimulating! here it's simply "Opa und Oma" while Emma has a totally different name and language for every grand-mother and grand-father!!!)

Anyway, gradually, we started to include friends' names (both hers and ours) in the "bonne nuit" song as well as objects like dolls' names, the swing at the park, flowers and leaves, the sun and the moon, the ducks and the cat and any new vocab. we had come across in the day...

Now Emma not only adds on names to the song and sings it to herself when she does not fall asleep right away, she also sometimes sings it in the middle of the day pointing to photos up in her room and wishing them good-night.

So if you occasionally feel slightly drowsy in the middle of your dinner or tea, think of Emma wishing you a very good night...

Thyroid Schmiroid

For the first time in 10 weeks* my dose of thyroid medication has not needed to be adjusted - and I've being going for blood tests every 2 weeks. That's a BIG Yay!

Next check up in 3 weeks time!

For more info on hypothyroidism and thyroid regulation click here


*my first check this pregnancy was during week 6. I have been taking thyroid medication since February 2007 following discovery of hypothyroidism at the end of the first trimester of my first pregnancy.

The "terrific" in terrific twos

So while we are still in the midst of the terrific twos and Emma does still spaz out (stomp feet, growl, lose her temper, pout and run away) some truly wonderful things are happening too.

Emma is a huge chatterbox! Talking is incessant at dinner, in the car, at breakfast, while playing - Emma is telling us about something or more likely how to do it or not. In fact on top of being a pipelette she is a bit of a dictator too; she often tells me to stop singing "arrête maman!" so she can listen to the music, tells me to finish my meal or asks us if we want more "encore salade Papà?". During the day, she'll command "c'est Papà/Maman qui fait" depending on who she wants bathing her, dressing her, etc.

On the upside of this, she is quite happy to chatter away in bed to her doll and animals if she awakes before we get her up and frequently does a solo repeat of our goodnight song should she not fall asleep right away. She gets very creative with this and once she has run out of names she wishes all sorts of things goodnight. Quite funny and freakin' fantastic as far as I'm concerned!

Another relatively new trait - or maybe it is appearing more clearly now - is that Emma is incredibly possessive; "meine Mummy!" "meine Papa" and "meine caca" are favorites. And, yes, "caca" is "poo" in our house.
She actually gets into verbal fights with "colleagues" from kindergarden where each one shouts out "meine Mummy" or "meine caca" (both have happened but with different friends) and it was incredibly intense. The mummy part was easier - both children's Mummies were present and so we could explain that each one had "meine mummy" but the caca? Why on earth?
On the same subject, although Emma is still utterly disinterested in using the potty or loo, she now asks to see her "caca" in her nappy. Mmm. I wonder.

And what about the baby? Well, she understands that there is a baby lurking somewhere and most of the time she understands (or at least indicates) that it is in a belly. Only, she points to hers... So now, when we say goodnight to every family member at bedtime, she also says goodnight to Mummy's baby and to Emma's baby. Oh, and she also attributes one to her good friend Isabella on certain days, a sure indication of true love.


Yesterday was Tata yéyé's birthday and although we had quite successfully practiced singing "happy birthday to you" during the afternoon, when the time of the evening phone call came - no cigar. Below the filmed version over dinnertime just before Daddy got home.
Tata yéyé, I hope you will not be offended by the association with the "tomate" (tomato) and "assiette" (plate). As I mentioned above, Emma uses all sorts of vocabulary in her creative singing.

Enjoy the movie!

Terrific twos?

Morning sickness relief recipes

In order to celebrate us moving into the second trimester of pregnancy - supposedly the best of the three - and without wanting to jinx the hardly missed departure of morning sickness - I thought I'd share some of the tips others shared with me and that seemed to help.

Here's what I found helpful:

• a non-menthol toothpaste (children's Elmex worked for me) if you're finding it hard to brush your teeth without gagging every other second
• apples, apples, apples! (I kept at least one in my handbag at all times) they help relieve the acidity that makes you nauseous
• ginger (in whatever form you find palatable)
• grilled almonds and cashew nuts (a good snack to combat hunger which increases nausea and in my case the salt and proteins helped with the low blood pressure)
• some kind of salty crackers or tortilla chips (I had soletti a lot) a friend kept some next to her bed and nibbled on some before getting up
  
• peanut butter on toast
• salty noodle or chicken soup - very soothing!
• chamomile tea with a dry biscuit just before bed-time stopped hunger pangs from waking me up
• small meals or snacks frequently to keep hunger at bay
  

Avoid whenever possible:

• feeling hungry (makes nausea worse)
• cooking (or being in the kitchen when someone else is cooking or making coffee)
  
• the smell of coffee, fried food, meat and fish, mushrooms... and basically anything with a strong smell (changing nappies was torture - surprisingly pee filled ones were worse for me)

Second trimester here we come! Yay!

12 week ultrasound and combined test

This week is an important one for us. We've just ticked off the 12th week of pregnancy (yay! yay! yay!) which marks the end of the proverbial three months or first trimester during which the risks of, well, issues are the highest. Also, hopefully, the end of "morning" sickness (yay! yay! YAY!!!!).

It is also in between week 11 and 14 that you can do the so-called "combined test" (a blood test and a very complete ultrasound which enables us to thoroughly check the baby for risks of chromosomal abnormalities without being invasive).

And so we did.

As I write, we know that our baby has a nasal bone (70% of Down Syndrome babies don't) as well as 10 fingers and toes, a bladder and liver, a stomach and a brain and spine that look just as they should. His (or her) heart beat was 167 per minute (fast is normal) and the arteries and blood flow were all fine. The little one measures 7cm and jumped for us which made me laugh and recall that Emma had done that too.

Here are some of the pics from this morning's ultrasound:

don't these look like Christmas stockings?

head, arms and hands from above

feet, legs and head (or bum?)

frontal view of head (moving) arms and crossed legs

Well, it does make things more real. And in a way, easier.

I keep marveling at how I cannot remember being worried in the slightest while pregnant with Emma. Carefree and confident is probably how I felt most of the time, especially once I knew we had a good Obgyn in Izmir and in Geneva, and simply happy to be pregnant.

This time around (since week 6) I have found it much harder and felt like it's actually something that needs dealing with (as opposed to a time to be enjoyed).

It's been hard not to make idiotic and superstitious parallels; I was happily pregnant with Emma, eating heartily and feeling great (until the last trimester anyway) = Emma is a happy, healthy, beautiful girl with a healthy appetite for food and life. Is this little one going to be a skinny, pale picky eater with a sulky mood? Oh, noooooo!

Although, according to hubs, my moods are much more even and rational this time (indeed, no hysterical laughter or mystery tears so far means he's finding it easier this time around) my lack of interest in food due to morning sickness and low blood pressure have made me feel weak and tired and really quite awful some of the time. Not something you remember with a smile. But oh! how I wish I could remember this pregnancy as happily as I do the previous one!
The good news is, there are still 6 months ahead and so, who knows, I might end up loving this pregnancy too.

The blood test results (the other part of the combined test) are due in this afternoon and I'm also getting my TSH levels checked again before seeing our Obgyn on Thursday for the 12 week check.

False alarm and imperfect muffins

Today shortly after I dropped off Emma at kinder garden at 9h and pottered off home to recover from a week-end of toddler-induced activity, I received a call from kinder garden telling me Emma had thrown up and was probably ill.

Emma on her way to school this morning

I immediately went to pick her up and was pleasantly surprised when she greeted me with her usual loud "Meine Mummy! Meine Mummy!" (my Mummy) just in case someone else were to claim me.

Her teacher informed me that she did not have any fever and admitted she did not seem ill (not in the slightest) but since she had thrown up...
After a few questions I gathered Emma had in fact thrown up while running around on the roof after breakfast in her fleece jacket in the sun (she apparently paused in her running to do this). I figured she probably got hot and choked up but just to be sure she was not coming down with the "abdominal flu" already contaminating some of her fellow kinder garden-goers, I took her home.

After a light lunch of soup and yogurt and a nap (still no fever nor vomiting) I decided we would stay in and try and make some muffins (enough walking to and around and from the Imperial Zoo on Sunday).

Admittedly, I had one of those "quick mixes" in the cupboard but I figured as a first cooking-at-home-with-Mum-experience it would do.
Emma's Stargroup class now cooks on Thursdays but so far, Emma had not been interested in the slightest -surprise, surprise- unless she can eat the ingredients...

I got her tiny table and chairs set up in the kitchen (there is no table in our kitchen) so that she could actually participate properly, got out the mixer, figured out the instructions in German , measured out the milk and checked that we had eggs and instructed Emma to lay out the muffin paper cups... Then, I realized I did not have the required amount of sunflower oil (we use Olive most of the time). Preggie brain = a lot less organized!

Off we went to the shop on foot.

... So about one hour later (once we had named the colors of all the cars on the street, done some standing somersaults, tested the temperature of the shop windows -she literally touches them to see if they are hot due to the sun and announces "c'est chaud Maman" or "non, ça va", walked down a zillion stairs, collected some more chestnuts, sung Incy Mincy (wincy?) Spider and Frères Jaques) we finally got home and back to the muffin mixture.

Here are the pics. The muffin making actually went ok.






Emma

• did inevitably eat some of the mixture and especially the chocolate chips
• managed to get some of the dough mix in the paper cups (although she kept losing patience when it took a while to blob off her spoon resorting to waving the spoon off in another direction predictably leaving traces of the dough mix across the table and floor)
• alternated ordering me to stop ("arrête Maman!" when I tried to scoop more mix on to her spoon) and complimenting me ("Bravo Maman! c'est bien!" when I successfully blobbed some dough in the paper cup)
  
• enjoyed helping with some of the cleaning up (handing me the spoons and wiping her table) and being picked up to watch the muffins rise

However, when we finished eating dinner tonight and it was finally time to taste them,
she took one bite and said "gâteaux pas bien" (i.e. cake not good - although the correct form in French would have been "bon" and not "bien") and asked for yogurt instead. (Note that this is the first time ever that Emma has turned down a cake, biscuit or muffin and although I'm sure she enjoyed dinner I somehow doubt it was all due to a full tummy.)

After having tried them myself, I have to say; Emma definitely knows a home made cake from a "quick mix".

Child rearing and politics

Sometimes getting to school (read kindergarden) can take ages. That's part of the reason why I drive there although it would only be a 15 minute walk at a normal pace but I think we could at least triple that with Emma.

Emma's curiosity (a wonderful trait, yes I do realize) means she is still prone to stopping and checking everything and everybody out (the beggar on the corner, the man raging at the trolly that won't come undone from the row, the gardener watering the plants, a moving van...) and what seems like stalling (I think this is part of her trying to make the point that "I'm the one to decide what I do, Mamââân" phase).

During her observations she is so totally absorbed that her brain filters uninteresting appeals "Emma, on va être en retard à l'école" (Emma, we're going to be late for school) like a person turning down the volume of their hearing aid so as to read in peace. But then sometimes we see a familiar child from afar (or a teacher or a garbage truck, which she loves, or something else interesting in the right direction) and I can say "Emma, regarde qui est là" (Emma, looks who is here) and luckily for me it usually works.

Sometimes I even find the right words to convince her that putting on her jacket is a good idea - "comme Maman/like Mum" doesn't always work nowadays, but "regarde, il y a des poches!" (look it has pockets!) is a winner!

Who knew child rearing taught you about politics (as in telling them what they want to hear so that you get what you want)?

Hello belly, good-bye feet & Emma update

I recently ordered a belly book on Amazon so that I could chart this pregnancy's progress and have something to give the little one later in life. (I also did one for Emma but it was sent to me from Singapore from my sister and hence a slightly different format).

I realize now how easy it is to forget certain details - like, who knew that my tummy was already this big at nearly 10 weeks?!

and I am sure all of us will enjoy reading up on bits and looking at the (by then) out-dated ultra-sounds just like we already love looking back at pics of Emma and exclaiming at what a big girl she is.

Speaking of which...

Emma constructing a lego house

Emma on her way to school for her first day in the bilingual bigger kids class

Emma at the breakfast table in her bilingual class with her doll Nicky next to her

How is Emma doing in her new kindergarden group? Well, it's been a week now and the first few minutes are still a bit heart wrenching because Emma always asks me to stay and cries a bit when I don't but it thankfully only lasts for about a minute and then she dives into the activity at hand.
She still goes back to the younger group to take her nap after lunch and they all come together after that for tea-time and play. Every afternoon when I pick her up she yelps with joy and is happy to show me what she has done (baked a muffin, made a puzzle/collage, etc.) and some new toy she has discovered.

The other day she even said "Emma, sit down" (in English!) before sitting down to put her shoes on to go to school. I think she really enjoys languages - nearly as much as she likes music!

Next week we go to our first trial music class... I'll keep you posted!

Week 8 and 2 days

Today was a big day.

I had my first preggie pilates lesson on the reformer (= revolutionary Pilates machine) and although I felt slightly pooped at the end of it, I survived.
Admittedly, it was rather uplifting to be told by the 6 month pregnant mother doing the class with me that at 8 weeks all she could manage was to sleep in between kindergarden drop off and pick up of her 3 year old.

We had our second ultra-sound today and actually saw baby's heart beat! Pretty amazing especially considering that he/she is merely 13mm big!



Everything is just dandy except my blood pressure (90/60) which is perpetually making me feel like I am about to faint (not nice when you are driving). Yay! to salty crackers and fruit smoothies (I have out on 1,5 kg since pregnant). Hopefully only 3 more weeks of this before I feel totally boosted by all the 2nd trimester hormones - yay! yay! yay!

And uh, I've taken to drinking chamomile tea in the evenings - helps calm the tum before bed-time. Bananas and Weetabix are my new best buddies.
No, not feeling like a gran in the slightest... especially not when napping after lunch, dragging myself to the car and needing help carrying groceries. Oh, and wanting to climb back into bed at 9am (but I don't 'cause I have loads of more interesting stuff to do and anyway, I nap after lunch remember?!).

Finally another piece of good news: Emma is moving to a bilingual (English & German) bigger kids group in her kindergarden as of Monday. Yippee!

Morning sickness goes on

I am in the throws of morning sickness and it's really REALLY horrible! I feel like I am hung over without even having had any of the night before fun.

Whatever I smell, taste or swallow in the mornings seems to make my stomach heave. Luckily the intensity of the nausea seems to abate as the day goes on... as long as I don't let myself get hungry. Hunger pangs = nausea.

Problem is, I get hunger pangs about every hour and some foods I usually enjoy make me feel even worse. So far I really need to avoid: tomatoes/tomato sauce, cucumbers, vinegar, some yogurts, white cheese, blueberries... Agh! Basically anything acid. Don't ask.

On the contrary, white rice, corn, salty crackers, peanut butter, (it's been decades since I last had peanut butter! ) chips, white bread, walnuts, almonds, raspberries and bananas make me feel better. But uh, how healthy is that? Tomorrow I'm going to try potatoes.

As for proteins (on top of nuts) ham, minced meat, and eggs are neutral if I eat something nice and dry with them.
This is going to be one gastronomic first trimester!

(to help with morning sickness here are some diet tips

some more and a few more)

Emma's first haircut

At 25 months, we finally took the plunge and decided to take Emma to the hairdresser in an attempt to even out what little hair she has and make her look a little less like a mad scientist.

I think she quite enjoyed the experience and the end result is much prettier than expected.

Trampoline fun - Emma's new passion

Emma is not so hot on "swimming" in the sea, but the "popoline" has totally won her over... No matter that she hasn't quite figured out how to jump on her own yet.

At any rate, it means that by bedtime we're both totally beat and sleep like logs.

Emma's hearty appetite & morning sickness

Our first night was a bit rough due to Emma feeling uneasy in an unfamiliar bed (luckily I was asleep just an hour after her so I patiently managed the repetitive waking later in the night - self-complimentary tap on the shoulder ) but last night was smooth.

Emma's appetite is more varacious than ever after an afternoon on the beach and jumping on the trampoline (pics of that in a next post). Luckily for us, she is currently sleeping in so we enjoy a morning chat and tranquillement reading the Economist as we watch the occasional boat pass by. The good life.

The salty breeze and yummy tomatoes are a hit.

I just wish brushing my teeth didn't make me feel so sick... not sure my lovely family would be charmed by all-day morning breath, but I might consider mints if this goes on.

Tomorrow our Tata-yéyé (a.k.a Annabel, Emma's beloved auntie) arrives!

Everything is relative...

Everything is relative. A concept my Dad explained to me when I was a child by asking me to choose between a Rolls Royce and a glass of water and then repeating the question after having asked me to imagine I was in the desert after a full days walk in the sun and nothing to drink.

When I was pregnant with Emma nearly three years ago, I had expected to have morning sickness and was pleasantly surprised when it was in fact quite mild and short lasting.
These days, because of those memories, I feel a lot worse than I thought I would feel the second time around.

Expectations can be as much of a context as a real life situation.

Here we go again

We're off to Croatia to prolong the summer for a few days.

This morning as I closed up my suitcase in 18° C Vienna, I figured I might as well wear jeans to travel so I have a pair of "warmer" trousers just in case, but lo an behold they felt tight. I kept them on for ten minutes (just to make sure it wasn't the after wash effect) and then hopped on the scales: I have gained 2 kilos! Already!

Luckily I found a pair of post-preggie baggies that fit wonderfully and should still be ok in 10 days on the way back.
It's no wonder though, since I am absolutely starving all the time and eating (dried fruit, walnuts, salty cracker...) about every 30 minutes to avoid feeling sick (on top of three hearty meals a day!).

Here we go again.
I am now really glad that I got back to my non-smoking, non-pregnant normal weight before getting pregnant again - I guess if I did it once I can do it again.

Other than that I'm feeling just fine; slightly woozy and breathless (can't remember feeling this way so early on last time...) and I definitely need to nap after lunch if I want to hold up with Emma all afternoon. Certain smells have also become unbearable again (coffee, fish, smoke...). All normal.

If you're curious about what our little tadpole looks like right about now go here.

Well, we'd better get going...

Pregnant again

I have a secret that wants to explode out of me so although I'm writing this on Thursday August 13th, I'm pretty sure you won't be reading it for a while. Never mind! I have to let it out.

I think we're preggers again!!!

Not sure yet - still very early days- and the Clear blue test was not 100% clear so I'll have to redo it in a few days. But...

Much more reliable are the facts that:

• I'm peeing more often
• I wake up starving
• My boobs are tight and feel like I am a teenager once again
• I'm totally pooped by the time I get Emma into bed at 8pm.
  

All symptoms I recall from nearly three years ago when I was in the early stages of being preggie with Emma (who at that time had no name except "bebek" i.e. baby in Turkish since that was where we were living in the second half of 2006).

So exciting!!!

Anyway, I've booked an appointment with a gynae in 10 days time so by then we should know more.

A part from it being very exciting news in itself I am over the moon with the fact that the timing would be (is?) perfect! A Spring baby, just in time to enjoy the nice weather in Vienna without having to go through summer pregnancy. Plus, if my last pregnancy is anything to go by, I will be a lot less cold this winter. Yay!!!
And the age difference in between Emma and N° 2 is good too - by then she will be getting dressed on her own, speaking much more clearly and hopefully will not feel kicked out of the crib as it were.

I wonder... boy or girl? I was petty sure Emma was going to be a girl but right now, I don't have an inkling (yet).
Steph is in favor of another girl, having declared after an afternoon at the park watching some boys play, that boys were silly. (In actual fact, I'm quite sure he likes having a little Princess and finds the frequent teenage power struggle in between boys and Dads a bit daunting. Plus, he is convinced girls are easier and gets depressed at the thought of not re-using all of Emma's tiny clothes. ) As for me, I don't think I have a preference, as long as he/she is healthy and happy and it all goes smoothly.

Ohhh. I can barely sit still I am so excited! HOW am I going to be able to wait for another 10 days before knowing for sure?!!!


Oh, and yes, this was planned - or rather we had decided that we wanted to have a second babe as of Emma's 2nd birthday. Pretty quick ey?


Saturday, August 15th

We are definitely expecting N° 2!!!
After the not so clear result on the previous test I decided to
a) wait a couple of days until my period was officially due
b) use a digital test that actually tells you whether or not you are pregnant in so many words... and ta-da!


We are preggers! 2 weeks since conception and 1 month since my last period. 1 month preggers and 8 more to go!

My feelings?
Im-pa-tient! However did I manage to wait 9 months before meeting Emma?
Can't wait to see the gynae next week so I can meet her (hope she's nice and good and will see me through the whole bit) and basically be reassured everything is as it should be (I am 36 you know!)
Can't wait till the second trimester when I will feel boosted by all the hormones and stop feeling tired!
Oooohhhh. Im-pa-tient!

Friday 21st

Well, we've told family and close friends and though it was great doing so, now I wonder if we should not have waited until Monday. The Monday (meeting the gynae) just around the corner!

Today, I can't help thinking I was much more excited when I found out I was expecting Emma... Maybe 'cause she was my first? Maybe 'cause I saw the doctor right away and hence could rejoice knowing everything was ok? Maybe 'cause now I know the pregnancy is only the beginning, whereas the first time round the birth seems like your goal (end)? Maybe 'cause I was so focused on her (the belly) not having a child to care for in the house?
I don't want to feel blasé about this pregnancy but I am so relaxed about it I often forget about it entirely. Hopefully once I start seeing a belly, I will feel it is more real.

Sinon...:
I'm still feeling tired but my hunger is less voracious.
I think my jeans feel tighter already. Oh-oh.
I've ordered some kaki colored Croc boots in case my feet swell again and I can't get anything else on - perfect for the park!



Saturday 22nd

Today we are 6 weeks pregnant! (counting from the first day of my last period i.e. Gestational pregnancy) Only 7,5 months to go!!! Yay!!!
Oh, and I found some interesting reading on feelings during a second pregnancy


Sunday August 23rd

We're thinking of names already, seeing as it took us forever to find a name we both liked for Emma... and I found this gallery of popular names by country which could come in pretty handy. It's nice 'cause it has a small selection of boys and girls names per country instead of the zillion or so you find on most sites. Tomorrow is D-day: we meet the gynae and hopefully have some more information etc. From what I have calculated on my own, next Tuesday we reach 6 weeks of Gestational pregnancy whereas Fetal age is just over 3weeks. (Usually there is only a two week difference in between the two, but my menstrual cycles tend to be on the longish side at 33 or so days so there you have it). This probably means we'll have to wait until we return from Croatia to hear a heartbeat and start talking dates. Oh well.



Monday, August 24th

I've just come back from the gynae's and am over the moon to be able to say she was professional and nice and reassuring - Yay!!!! and Pheew! I feel a lot better now that I know we are in good hands!
As for the babe, well, all is as it should be. Estimated due date for now is April 20-21st. We'll know more in a couple of weeks after our next ultrasound.

Foot picker

Emma's interest in her feet continues.

Before she was only bothered if they were dirty or had something stuck to the bottom of them, but now she checks them out quite often with special focus on the area between the toes searching for some sock fluff or sand.

Her favorite times to do this are when she is in the stroller while I do a quick errand or while she sits in her favorite chair as "Petit Ours Brun" is loading in the DVD player.

Go figure, some toddler stuff I guess.

Emma's feet

Emma's interest in her feet continues.
Before she was only bothered if they were dirty or had something stuck to the bottom of them, but now she checks them out quite often and picks at her nails (yuck!) when she has nothing better to do -like if she is in the stroller while I do a quick errand - or while she sits in her favorite chair as "Petit Ours Brun" is loading in the DVD player.

What the...(2)?

Sharing your bedroom with a tree anyone? (in the centre of Vienna)

What the... ?

Hairy motorbike spotted in the first bezirk of Vienna. Maybe the rider misses his, uhm... camel?

Welcome Sasha

Emma's third cousin was born on July 11th at 7h43am in Singapore.

He is reported to be healthy and handsome. Stats are: 3,030kg and 50cm

His Mummy said it was the easiest of her three births! Proving that it doesn't necessarily get harder with age - or maybe to him being the first boy?

Below a pic of Sasha's sisters (Emma's older cousins) Tara (2004) and Lana (2006)

Congrats to his Mum, Dad, Sisters and Grand-parents!

Potty training - back to nappies

We're changing strategies.

Emma's kindergarden teacher told me that Emma was "not comfortable with being in underpants" (without nappies) to the point of not playing and participating as she usually does. Also, when they "put her on the toilet seat she seemed stressed". (this broke my heart, really...)
Her teacher told me that she was probably so concentrated on what was going on between her legs that she could not freely take part in the activities.
After two accidents, they put her nappies back on. They reassured me that she might be ready in a couple of weeks and that they will gladly have her in undies again when she can say she needs to go.


When I was told this I immediately thought "ok, back to nappies and we'll take it slowly. We can use the underpants and potty at home and she'll get the hang of it eventually without the stress. There's enough stress in life as it is, and it's not like potty training now is life defining." As Steph puts it: "Emma is a diesel; she needs a while to get started but then she is hard to stop". After all, she did walk at 19 months!

But when I picked her up this afternoon, what a contrast to this morning when she was casually waking to school wearing her underpants and stopping to proudly show passers by her new sandals. She was whining, crying, cranky. Gosh! Is this all due to being without nappies at kindergarden!?
Since then, I noticed she actually has a fever, so she's now safely tucked into bed having skipped dinner, hopefully sleeping it off.
Come to think of it - I'm not feeling that great either. Maybe we're both coming down with something... As long as it's not the H1N1 Virus.

Potty training tribulations

A lot of the stuff I read said that one of the main reasons potty training dragged on for ages or became a nightmare was because the parents needed to be ready and dedicate time. Apparently, you need to be 100% committed and really observe your child every second, show no emotion when an accident happens and praise them to the moon when they finally do something in the potty. Sources differ on how long you should leave your child on the potty; some say until you get something from them, but most say for 5 or 10 minutes at a time but initially every 20 minutes and always after food or drink. Many say success lies in making them feel good when they pee/poo in the potty.

So after a couple of weeks of putting Emma on the potty first thing in the morning and when coming home from the park (keeping her in nappies the rest of the time) we took the leap and put her in big girl undies on Saturday. The potty was familiar, she had seen her poo before (in the potty and seen us empty the nappy into the toilet) and the prize sticker board was stuck to the bathroom window with a sheet full of colorful stickers ready to be used.


Well, as far as I'm concerned this has been the hardest most frustrating time with Emma ever.

I think she got bored with going to the potty, although we were reading books and singing songs and watching nursery rhymes on YouTube while on it, as recommended by many. After 2 days full of far more accidents than successes (there goes the positive reinforcement) I think she no longer knew what the potty was for. (Too much entertainment on the potty perhaps?)

Often, she would pee about 1 minute after we got up and had finally pulled her pants up. (A word of advice here, get undies that are as big as can be without them falling off your toddler. Emma got fed up trying to pull her undies up over her bum and kept wanting to walk off with them around her ankles. By the time we had the undies back up it was nearly time to go back to the potty!)

Despite having a garden, it's also been really hard staying in for nearly 3 full days (instead of going to the park and seeing friends as we usually do. We even kept her home from kindergarden yesterday figuring it wasn't really fair on Emma nor the staff to send her off while she was still having so many accidents.

Mostly, I have found it supremely annoying to have to ask Emma a zillion times a day to get on the potty, only to be told "Neeein Mamâân, Neeeiiin!!" and then having to find all sorts of motivating tricks to get her off, only for her to pee on the floor 30 seconds after getting up. That's the terrific two's for you I guess.


Mornings are particularly difficult: we get her up about ten minutes before her usual waking time so that her nappy is still dry and go straight to the bathroom. If her nappy is dry, she pees in the potty, no problem. We wipe her and put on some dry (not clean or dirty but wet and dry) big girl undies, empty the potty into the loo (she likes that) and stick a sticker on the board (she likes that too!). Then off we go to get dressed.

This is when things go south. While we head off to make breakfast or while she is running to the kitchen she actually pees again, and again and again - within 5 minutes. And lots too. Then today she peed again during breakfast. Every time we rush to the potty in case we can catch some pee, change undies, clean up the mess without any fuss.

I think we went through at least a dozen of undies-a-day during the first two days.

Initially, when pee landed on the floor, Emma would get a bit upset, look very worried and call me. Now she looks like she couldn't care less and comments that the puddle needs to be "nettoyé" ("cleaned up" in French). Is this "no reaction" attitude to accidents really helping?
We tell her that it's ok, that she is just peeing and that next time she should do it in the potty. But she doesn't seem to get the going to the potty part yet. Although she participates in the applause when our plastic duck toys pee in a potty (tupperware) during bath time.

Might she be too young, you ask? Indeed, I have wondered. According to my book, not, since she mostly wakes dry from naps and her nappy is even dry if we wake her in the morning which indicates some bladder control. She can also follow simple instructions, is "aware when doing a poo", is "eager to participate", can "point to the different parts of the body when you name them", has "the ability to sit and occupy herself for 5 -10 minutes"...


The one thing most sources seem to agree on is that you should be totally consistent and never put your kids back into nappies once you have removed them, however tempting (and it is, believe me!) all the while letting them sleep in their nappies until they have been dry in the day time for a couple of weeks.

My friendly neighbor whose son is 4 - 5 months older than Emma, said she waited for her son to tell her and just lets him run around naked and pee in the garden during the day (he doesnt' ever go to kindergarden). If he tells her he needs to go, she takes him to the bathroom. According to her, no training is necessary and children will learn all by themselves when the time is right, all this "training" is coercive, ruins children's "souls" and dates back to the 70's when they had no idea... This said, her son (at nearly 2,5 yrs) goes to bed in between 9pm and 11pm, sleeps in a bed attached to hers, is still breastfed, will only ride in the car if she sits in the back with him, throws all the couch cushions on the floor and jumps on them (to name but a few)...so I'm not convinced about letting the kids lead the way.

Having said that, Emma had a great time with us on this long week-end full of attention, applause, reading and stickers. So much so that she was not that eager to go back to kindergarden today. On the positive side, she made it from home to kindergarden in dry underpants. I left her with a stock of undies and trousers and hopefully the fact that other children are using the toilet will help.

Despite all the "never go back" advice, I think if we haven't made any significant progress by the end of the week, I'll give it a rest and try again in a month.

If you have any suggestions or have spotted something in our tribulations that you think I might have missed, or have any constructive advice drop a comment please!