Sleepy Girl, sleepy girl...

I have to say I'm a little bit proud when I see this photo. (My heart is glowing) Knowing how much I loved escaping into books, and still do, I'm thrilled that the last thing Sophia wants to do before she goes to bed is to have 5 minutes more with a book. It's hard to say no, and doesn't really even make sense to when I go in 5 min later & she is asleep with the light on, books in hand.

Personally, I don't know how she ended up in this position, but she was able to move her fingers.

St Martins Day in Germany

Last week we celebrated St Martin's Day at Sophia's school. The week before we had all made the lanterns, and the kids had special lights (no candles this year), and the singing & walk were done during the day so it wasn't exactly the same as last year... Of course last year it was zero degrees & pouring while we were outside.

Anyway, the kids had prepared a number of songs, and were able to perform them with & without the parents right next to them. Sophia was a bit embarrassed at first & would barely look at us, but it was so great to see all of the kids perform, and to finally hear the actual songs (rather than her interpretation of the songs) that she had been singing for weeks!

St Martin's Day from Moya Z on Vimeo.

Alexandra at 6 months... Check-up

An interesting check-up today to say the least... Sophia is on a 2 day break for Parent Teacher Conferences (ours is postponed because Troy is traveling), and so she had to come with us this morning.

Alexandra was a star. She went thru all of her tests with flying colors (apart from not being able to pay attention to the hearing test because Sophia kept talking & running around the room so the ear attachment kept flying out of Alexandra's ear as her head was spinning). And the doctor felt she has a very good personality because she didn't cry when he was throwing her around in the air to see what her reactions were. (all of those body movement tests that they do to newborns in the US, they still do to the 6 month olds here - I've forgotten if they did it to Sophia?!)

So then we came to the shot. I have to say, one of the best things about getting immunizations in Europe is the combined shots that they have. For the 6 immunizations that Alexandra received today she only had one shot. AMAZING! The other amazing thing, the drugs are from a US company (the doctor keeps telling me that as if to re-assure me that it makes the meds safer for my daughter), why don't we have this in the US?

Anyway, Alexandra handled the shot like a pro. She looked down at her leg, and made a squeak saying "Wow, that hurts." And then looked at me when it was over. At the same time Sophia is in the corner screaming "THEY ARE PRICKING HER!" over & over again with tears filling her eyes.

Then Sophia looked at me & said, "I'm never coming back here."

Alexandra is now 71cm (about 28") and 7,240 grams (almost 16lbs). No teeth yet, but the doctor said it is way to early for that... He was surprised when I told him how early Sophia got hers! Safely above average in both height & weight. Basically a happy & healthy child. And very smile-y (that threw him off a bit...)

We start them early

This evening as I was getting dinner ready I put Alexandra in the entry to play, and Sophia brought her computer to play with as well. Before I knew it, both girls were on their stomachs, enthralled by the screen.

At least they were learning the alphabet in French... ;-)

Take my picture please!

Can you tell we take a lot of photos? We were walking downtown last weekend, on a beautiful fall day, when Sophia saw a very photogenic pillar, hopped behind it & yelled, "Take my picture daddy!" She actually wouldn't move until we took the photo.
As it happens, she picked a good spot. The residence of the Hapsburg family is behind her left shoulder, and Odeonsplatz behind her head.
She's already got a good eye!

Hope for their future

What joy & what a celebration this week! I'm a bit sad to be missing all of the celebrations in the US though - we went to bed on election night late (about 2:30am) thinking it may be another long decision, and after I fed Alexandra at 5:30 I turned on the computer in time to see all of the major networks declaring Obama as the president. What a time in US history! I feel like the torch has been passed once more to a new generation...

I'm so glad hope is more powerful than fear.

What a wonderful gift to give to our girls...

Alexandra at 6 months...

So I'm a few days late, but what a month this has been! Alexandra is now a non-stop babbler, when her big sister lets her get a word in edgewise... Sophia is still the one guarantee to bring a smile to Alexandra's face, and it is amazing to watch the two of them when Sophia gets out of school. Alexandra's whole body starts moving, like she has so much to tell her about what we did that day & how much Sophia was missed. It is so great to see!
Alexandra has almost perfected the art of the perfect sitting position, and when she falls backwards & lands on a pillow she just starts laughing! She is such a happy baby...

Halloween 2008

Although we didn't really participate in any Halloween activities, we did dress up in the Halloween spirit! Germany isn't really big on Halloween celebrations, but Nana kitted the girls out (tatoos included!)

I think that next year we are definately going to have a Halloween lunch. Lots of kids running around & a fun way to spend the day on fall break!

Half Term Break in France

We spent a few days outside of Colmar for Sophia's fall break. I would HIGHLY recommend going to the Alsace region of France. I spent a weekend outside of Strasburg 2 years ago (a child free weekend at an amazing spa in La Petite Pierre), but we had never explored the area.

It is amazing. Tons of wine tastings, rolling hills with vineyards everywhere and beautiful storybook towns. The colors of the fall were on a last shout before fading, and the rain was relentless, but we are determined to go back for another round. None of the villages that we chose were more than a 20 min drive apart, even when we went up into the foothills of the Vosges mountains. It was a perfect place for a mini break.

We wandered from Village to Village, chosing our first one based on the location of the morning markets (one of the things we miss most about Paris is the rotisserie chicken from our local butcher), picking up dinner & snacks for the day, then just wandering thru the streets. We even did a bit of early christmas shopping, and Sophia has quite the eye for gifts this year!

The girls & I loved having Troy around all the time, and the indoor (very Lord of the Flies) pool was just enough exercise for the girls, and we managed to get them out every day without either of them getting hurt.

We're back

Hi there,
Sorry for all of the silence over the past couple weeks. Its been very busy around the Z household, and in the middle of life an eye infection prevented me from doing any work on the computer for almost 3 days... What do you do when your doctor tells you that you can't read, play on the computer, and to seriously limit the amount of TV you watch? I loaded up the iPod with podcasts & put myself to bed for a couple days. NPR has been my escape, and really it was a great way to catch up on things that were going on in the world!
Anyway, we then took off for the Alsace for 4 days to stay at a hotel with no internet access. What were we thinking? Actually it was quite nice to re-connect with my frequent flyer husband, and to not have any distractions after the girls went to bed.
The Alsace was wonderful, and there will be more posts to come on there. We can't wait to go back & to see the sunshine that people keep telling us it is famous for!
The girls are great! Sophia is on half-term break (to use the british terms) and Alexandra is basically sitting up on her own. Apart from a couple of freezing nights in our hotel (the ground floor is really cold) and some teething issues, she is a great sleeper. (PLEASE let tonight be one of those nights!)
More to come, I'll just leave you with a few of the latest of our beauties...