Jack and His Best Friend

Here is a picture of Jack and his best school friend, Magnus. They were at Magnus' brother's birthday party (Thaddeus is in Amelia's class), and it was a pirtate theme. They have such fun together. Jack came home the other day and said "Magnus said, 'Nein.' " (They are German.) And I asked him if he knew what that meant, and he said "It means 'No.' " It's very impressive that he can pick up a little German, Amelia is learning a little Polish, and all the while, trying to understand French.

The kids went to a swim class at the club yesterday, and unfortunately, it was only in French, and the teacher spoke no English. But luckily, everyone communicated OK. I think they enjoyed it well enough, but Amelia told me that tennis is her favorite...

And below has to be one of my favorite pictures from Amelia lately. We've been VERY into the Beverly Hills Chihuahua theme song -- I've downloaded it to the iPod and we listen to the following songs over and over: "Pocketful of Sunshine" (Natasha Bedingfield), "Boom-Shaka-Lak" (Apache Indian), "Every Time We Touch" (Not sure who sings it), and "Chihuahua" (DJ bobo). Unfortunately, the movie isn't going to be released here until April of next year, apparently.

But anyway, they love the song, and Amelia came home with this. The words are in a little funky order, but it reads "What can make you move -- Chihuahua." (I'm sure her teachers wondered why she was asking how to spell Chihuahua.) And if you notice, you can barely make out that the kids are being taught cursive first, instead of printing. I wonder if they even teach cursive anymore in the U.S.?



And one more picture of Amelia's favorite subect: zebras.

No News is Good News

I guess it's been a long time since I really blogged. In some ways, that's really good news. That means we continue to settle into daily life, however convoluted that may be.

There was an open house at the kids' school last night, and I had the chance to go. It was interesting to hear a little more about the Montessori program, and we had a chance to "live like a child" for a little while. We went to the classrooms and had to perform one of the tasks that the kids can choose at school. I picked brass polishing, with the French teacher. I found it rather impressive that the kids are polishing brass, shining their shoes, cooking meals, and all the like -- all the while learning multiplication and cursive and everything.

We might have the chance to attend one of the only Halloween celebrations about town. Although they have (limited) decorations in the stores, there are maybe 4 costumes. Clearly, it's not a big deal. So if we go, we'll be wearing last year's costumes, because there is just no way I can make 2 costumes in a day.

Jack has made good progress in the potty training department. We've been using big boy pants during the day for the past two weeks or so, with limited accidents. We've now progressed to him asking for a diaper when he has to do his No. 2 business. And even if wearing a diaper, he'll still proudly announce that he has to pee. It's exciting to cut down on the purchase of diapers and wipes.

We've stayed pretty healthy this school year. Amelia was home one day last week with an upset stomach, but it was gone quickly. Jack started complaining tonight of an earache, but after some Ibuprofen and some eardrops, he quickly drifted off to sleep. Keep your fingers crossed for a quick recovery.

The weather has been nice the past few days. I've started to ride my bike to school at lunch to pick Jack up -- it's 25 minutes each way, so it's been great exercise and a pleasant ride, even with an extra 30 pounds on the back. It makes me sad for the upcoming winter -- I'm not ready for the dark and cold (and wet). So I'm trying to enjoy every pleasant moment -- even if I'm lugging Jack up a hill.

Hope all is well in the U.S.!

Tennis Lessons Begin

Tennis lessons started today, and so far, they're a much bigger hit than soccer (it probably helps that the two of them are in the same class). The teacher speaks English (which is a relief) and there are only 3 other kids in class. They had a really nice time, and it will be a nice activity for them (and maybe I'll get a chance to do some quick exercising).





Things have been relatively uneventful here, thank goodness. The kids will have a week off of school in 2 weeks, but we have no plans to do anything (probably a lot of swimming!). We've all been relatively healthy, too. Our doctor put the kids on a new regiment of preventative medication for the next few months, so we'll see how that works out. Other than that, it's business as usual around town!