Bigna's first shoes ... a not-so-love story

Since Bigna is walking on her own now, we decided that she needed to get her first shoes. We had a family outing planned to mark this special occasion, but I guess we were expecting too much. Bigna was overwhelmed and did not want to put anything else than her owl slippers on her feet. Since we thought that she might have been tired, we decided to take the trip to the shoe store after Easter. Well, it turns out that she most likely was not just tired, but also just not like anything else than the slippers that she is used to on her precious feet. Funny, right? You might expect a girl to behave another way ... but I guess it might change in a few years. So I took her shoe shopping on Tuesday and it was rough and difficult. We were able to go on our own because Andrin was spending some alone time with Oma and Opa (he had to come back because we had an appointment at the pediatrician, but he told Oma and Opa that we would go back home with them after the appointment for more vacation time!). Bigna just did not want anyone to touch her feet, especially not the shoe clerk. We finally were able to walk out of the shoe store after about 45 minutes with a pair of shoes ... I guess I prefer our opinionated boy who tells you exactly what kind of shoe he likes and what color is has to be (preferably pink:).

"Let's just take these shoes out, I think the box is way more interesting to explore ..."

"How fun, I can close the box with the lid and then open it up again ..."

"I think Mami is trying to trick me, putting these shoes back on the box .. How should I open it now?"

"Let's see, maybe I can lay down right next to them and sneak up on them."

"Maybe I can open up the box without touching the shoes ..."

"What do they smell like?"

"Ok, I will touch them ..."

"And then just reorganize them ..."

"But now, it is time to get back to my raisins. What is the fuss about the shoes anyway?"

At the end, Mami was even able to convince Bigna that she was only able to go outside with the shoes on ...I am not quite sure if she is making such a face because of the sun or the shoes on her feet. She kept looking at them ... 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! 

Good thing that we all like chocolate (and eggs) because it will take us quite a while to eat all the chocolate and eggs that we found in our Easter baskets today! As you will see, we had a great time preparing for Easter and Andrin was eager to help the Easter bunny with some tasks. On Friday, Papa had to work, but we took the opportunity (and break in rain) to head to a wild park nearby and enjoyed watching all the deers, peacocks (it reminded me a lot of Jasper and I had no trouble identifying their calls :), baby goats, storks, ponies, bunnies, ... We realized that we have to get some rain pants for our toddler Bigna since she was soaking wet after our adventure. She was such a big girl and such wanted to explore on her own and walked around.
Saturday, we went to town and Andrin was quite happy that he got new running shoes, as he likes to call them. We also got some new water shoes for the summer. Unfortunately, we were not able to find any shoes for Bigna. She was too tired by the time it was her turn and she did not like the idea of having anything else than her usual soft slippers on her feet. We will try again next week to get our girl some decent shoes.
Today, we went to visit Opa Jumbo. There, we were joined by uncle Felix, and Oma and Opa. And of course the Easter bunny had been in Opa Jumbo's garden and had left some Easter baskets. First, it was Andrin's turn and he was so happy to find his Easter basket.

Getting ready for our Egg coloring project ...

Put some rice in a cup. Add some coloring ... 

Add the egg and close it off with a lid. 

Shake it ... 

And here is the egg ... 

Somehow, they kept multiplying faster than we were able to count. 

Happy Easter from our Easter bunny. A man in the tram one day came up to us and handed Andrin this cute bunny. 

No Easter brunch without some bred. Here, Andrin is buy working on his own bunny. 

No visit at Opa Jumbo's without some Legos. 

The Easter egg hunt is starting. 

Some advice from Papa. 

Andrin discovered an Easter basket, but not his own!

Happy Andrin!

Bigna was happy with an Easter egg. 

Andrin even helped Opa Jumbo find his Easter basket. 

Another Easter basket ... this time for Oma and Opa. 

Our big girl on the loose. 

Andrin with another present ... a chicken coop ... handmade by Opa. 

Suddenly, it was quiet and Andrin was underneath the table playing with his chicken and some eggs. 

Change in weather ... it is raining!

It really has been an unbelievable warm and dry March 2012! (I even read something like this in the paper, so it is not just a subjective observation or impression!). But today, we got some rain again. It is good for nature and it give us a break from watering plants (even though Andrin loves to help, excuse me,  do it all himself, because we have a new hose now that Santa Claus gave us (according to Andrin:)). And it also gives us a break from being outside all the time. People have been commenting on our tan and even our pediatrician asked us yesterday if we had been on vacation (I think he was fooled because Andrin looks like a raccoon, but it is from wearing his SUNglasses all the time, and not his skiing googles ...). And yes, we were back to visit our lovely pediatrician again. It seems like we can't get enough of him. Luckily, he is just around the block and we can get in pretty quickly to see him. Andrin has ANOTHER ear infection .... Poor boy. He complained about his ear hurting yesterday and then started asking me if I heard "it" as well. It turned out that there he was hearing a sound in his hear due to the pain and pressure ... I will try to get an earlier appointment with the specialist so that they can check his ears again ...

Andrin could not really believe that it was raining and that he was not able to play outside. He went outside anyway and joined the kids from the neighborhood in building a fort by the play structure. Suddenly, I saw him coming home like this ... He was sent to get some blankets. But it started pouring down shortly thereafter and they all went back home. 

Sometimes, they just crack me up ... I turn around and they are both sitting in the chairs chilling ... 

Our monkey girl is climbing again ... She also not been herself with some stomach bug.