It's advent!

Happy December, everyone! The kids are very excited about their advent calendars; this is the first year I have bought them some. They each got a Playmobil one, and can hardly wait to open the windows every morning. My normally grumpy-in-the-morning Finn comes flying down the stairs right into my arms now, shouting "Good morning, mama!". And then, of course: "Can I open my door now?!" :)

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We also got the Christmas decorations out and Finn and Lily were so excited to help decorate the living room. Finn found a Santa Claus hat in one of the boxes that he took an instant liking to. He wears it around the house a lot these days saying "HO HO HO HO!". Then he took my Christmas lights that I bought in Sweden (and usually put in the kitchen window), a Merry Christmas sign and an angel and decorated his own little table. When he was done we were told to all be quiet, because he needed to "talk to God". :)

And while Lily was at it, she decided to put some decoration on her Lenny too.

Those cats are so laid back, it's amazing. I mean, they still run when things get too rough, but our old cat Aimee would not even have let those two wild kids within 10 feet of her, I'm sure! Finn has gotten into the habit of carrying Blue everywhere. I am trying to make him stop doing it, but I'm up against a grinning boy and a purring cat, and so far have not been very successful.

Forest Fun

Last weekend we went for a walk in the forest. After Finn learned that Grandpa shot a deer he HAD to bring his water gun, just in case we would see a deer, too. Surprisingly, we didn't. :)

We found some empty bee hives, though!

Saw horses,

made spears,



and found mushrooms, plenty of them.

And here is a little video!

P.S. And Neil DID lose the snail shell, or "shnail sell" as Finn says.

November pictures

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Here are some pictures of what we've been doing in our neck of the woods.

Lily is absolutely certain she does not need ... a ... naaaap ... :)

So we tried without a nap. She lasted until about 4:30pm, then she landed with her head in the bananas at snacktime. We let her sleep for an hour and now it's back to bed after lunch, even if she complains.

A Saturday morning in the city: chasing pigeons

watching them build the Christmas market booths (already!?)


having a good healthy Bavarian breakfast

and feeding the rest of it to the pigeons.

A much-loved classic in our house: the puppet show!

Just hanging out together on the swing. They really do play together nicely now. (Sometimes.)

Mama and Finn after a (much needed) haircut.

Finn's arm is doing well, we think. He does not complain that it hurts and now that the stitches are out he can finally enjoy bubble baths again. We will have another check-up at the hospital next Monday.

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And - we will have to go to the Munich University hospital to have his hearing checked. After he failed the routine hearing test at his 4-year-check and then again a month later we saw a specialist yesterday. They did more tests and there really seems to be something wrong with his left ear, although the eardrum is o.k. He passed his newborn hearing test, has never had a severe ear infection or any of the childhood diseases that can cause deafness, so we don't know where this could be coming from. The doctor said we might look at profound hearing loss or even deafness, but it could be something as easily fixed as fluid build up behind the ear drum or something as severe as nerve damage. They might have to put him under again to find out. It never ends, does it?

Finally, no bandage!

I thought you might be interested in seeing his arm as it looks right now. We took the bandage off for good tonight and washed his arm for the first time since the accident. It was starting to smell pretty interesting. His stitches have healed good; in the picture you can see the biggest incision. What bothers us a bit is that his arm still looks slightly swollen and bent, even with the two pins in. Nothing like it looked before the surgery, but hopefully it will straighten out more as it is healing.

Cast off, stitches out

Finn got his cast off and his stitches out this week. He is starting to use his arm again, which is great to see. We will start physiotherapy soon and in 4 weeks another x-ray will show how his bones are healing. The pins are not bothering him, but there is a chance that they will, especially on the elbow end. If they start working their way through the skin they might have to come out before the projected 3-6 months.

Finally able to wear jackets and long sleeve shirts again! Here Lenny had his annual (or rather: daily) vet check with doctors Finn and Lily. Somehow the poor cat always ends up getting a needle. :)

We established a nightly "family time" where we are doing something fun together before the kids go to bed. It can be a highly competitive game of "Dotty Dinosaurs" (see picture), a puzzle, craft, story or whatever we can come up with. The other day we made cut-out cookies, which was a big hit with Finn, Lily and Blue (who stole one).

4 months old and SOOOO big and scary! Floor length windows can add to the excitement sometimes. Charlie, the neighbor cat, hopped on the window sill to say HI to Lenny and Blue. They were absolutely terrified and jumped at the slightest sound for the rest of the day. I guess there's a reason why British Shorthairs are usually indoor cats. :)


Nothing that some cuddling with their favourite little boy couldn't fix, though.

Doing better

Finn's arm is still sore, but it is getting better! His fingers are not so swollen anymore, and his stitches can come out next Monday. Here he is having breakfast (and not sharing it with Lenny, poor cat :).

Yesterday we took a little walk to pick Lily up from Zwergelpark (playschool). When we walked past the Kindergarten the kids were out playing and we said hello to Finn's friends. He wanted to run and play with them, but that will have to wait a little bit longer. The risk of re-injuring his arm is still too big.

On the walk back home Lily told Finn about the cookies they had made at playschool that day.

And being a good little sister she shared hers with Finn.

Back home a surprise was waiting for Finn: a present came in the mail! He was so excited to learn it came from Switzerland! He started colouring right away. Thank you Anton, Annika and Thorsten! :)

My new room

On Saturday daddy built our new bunk beds! We helped him by mainly staying out of the way. Then we took my old bed apart and put it up in the attic. This is what my room looks like now.

New bunk beds being built:

Done! When Mama lifts me up I get to play up top already, but for now I am sleeping on the bottom bunk and Lily is still sleeping in her own bedroom. When my arm has healed I can move up top and Lily can sleep on the bottom. Mama says we will have to do a good job not waking each other up or we can't sleep together, but I think Lily and I will have a lot of fun! :)

This is where my old bed used to be: more room to play now!

My new reading corner by the window:

Mama put a matress under my bed that she pulls out at night. She is afraid I might fall out and hurt my arm. So far I haven't though!

We went to the doctor again today where they cut my nice blue bandage all up. The doctor looked at my arm and said the blisters have disappeared and all looks good. I saw a black thread coming out of my wrist and wanted to pull it out, but they told me not to. Next Monday all my stitches will come out. On Wednesday we will go to the hospital again where they will take another picture of my bones. Hopefully then I will get a blue bandage again. Imagine, they only had white ones at the doctor's office today. I was pretty upset about this, but the doctor said I could take a marker and colour my cast!