Sabrina

I thought this was going to be a trip down memory lane.  Not really sure how I feel about this remake even though we are about five episodes in...

Christopher Robin

I am crazy excited about this!

Dance Class

I've always known that if I were blessed with a daughter, I'd want her to go to dance class. Isabella loves dancing and starts every time a song comes on the radio. In fact she used to dance to music in the womb!

Last week she had her first ever dance class. It's here in Leeste and for children between the ages of two and six. It's run by a lovely lady called Kerstin whose two daughters take part too.

It's not a specific type of dance like ballet, it's more like music and movement. They run around a lot. Isabella loves running, copying the moves and looking at herself in the mirror. We're signing her up officially next week.

I'm hoping that she will develop a healthier relationship with sport and fitness than I ever had.

There are both boys and girls in the group and we have since discovered that at least three of the others will be in her kindergarten group come October. I love that we are putting down roots here.

Another advantage to this dance school is that they do fitness classes like zumba and bums and tums for adults too. Unfortunately many of the classes are at tea time or bed time and I don't want to disrupt our routines but I've found a couple that suit me and I'm starting my trial tonight!

Children's Birthday Parties

On Saturday I'll be hosting Isabella's first birthday party with just children (and parents) and I've been trying to remember all of the things we had at parties when I was little.

Pass the Parcel.

Looking forward to this one as it's fun and Germans don't have them so it will be new too.

Party Bags.

We picked some up at Ikea, just need to fill them now. So far I have balloon, sweets, bubbles...

Trifle.

I'll be doing that recipe for the third time this week...

Cake.

If we have both Nico will be in charge of it. I have the candles already.

Dancing.

Hokey cokey any one?

Sweet video

Happy Valentine's Day

As a couple we're not big on Valentine's Day since it's become very commercialised. All the more reason to bring our children up to celebrate love in their own way.

Last night, Isabella and I got crafty and made some little Valentine's favours for her nursery friends and teachers. She stamped some little paper bags with red hearts.

This morning I put a few little red soft sweets in each and closed them up.

It's important to include everyone and Isabella is really good at that. Hopefully, they're enjoying them today.

Funny things she says

Isabella is talking more by the day. She often uses full sentences now and she parrots a lot. I love that she is developing her own character and expressing herself. She's bilingual and often makes me laugh. Here are some of my favourites.

Me: Don't be so bossy.
Isabella: Bossy madam!
(The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!)

Going down the stairs:
Isabella: Mama, halt fest! Sonst fällst du over (Mummy, hold my hand! Otherwise you'll fall over!)

Talking about a TV series storyline over dinner:
Nico: It's all the same!
Isabella: All the same!
Me: (laughing) Is it?
Isabella: (serious) Yeah. Maybe one day...maybe Monday.

Me: You're my favourite girl.
Isabella: And your favourite food is Gruffalo Crumble.

World Savings Day

As I mentioned at the weekend, Friday was world savings' day. I don't remember this being such a big event in England but here in Germany it's especially fun for children.

We set up a savings account for Isabella when she was about six months old. There are only so many toys she can play with at that age and she often receives money as gifts. Since she has all she needs, all this money goes into her money box or her account. One stipulation to the account is that a monthly payment is made so we give her a little something too.

It's really important to me that she has a good financial upbringing and avoids debt. Bringing her up in Germany certainly helps as banks here are much more responsible in not throwing credit cards at you.

On world savings day, children take their money boxes to the bank to be emptied into their account. As a reward they can choose a gift. Isabella picked this cute seal to go with her owl from last year. She also received a balloon animal and discovered the play corner in the bank.

It was really busy but it was fun and a tradition that we will be continuing.

Church

This is our local church. After living here for two years we finally got around to going to a service on Friday evening.

We're not very religious but we both have some roots in the church. We married in Nico's family's local church and Isabella was christened there but now seemed like a good time to move things closer to us.

We'd like to go on Christmas Eve and to take Isabella more regularly but we hadn't managed it on a Sunday yet. Then we looked into it and discovered that they have a monthly youth service with lots of singing and it seemed perfect for our little music lover.

We wrapped up after dinner on Friday and headed over. Isabella was excited as she is with all new experiences. Her little face when the band got going made my week. She loved dancing, singing and flirting with the many teenagers.

It was nice that the youth congregation planned and delivered the service and I really liked the choice of songs and got into it myself - even though I hate singing in public.

Isabella gets excited just driving past the church now and we're really looking forward to our next visit.

First Games

Isabella has been over the moon the past few weeks with some new games.  Nico did a little research online and came across a couple of games suitable for two year olds and older.

The first one was this fruit orchard game which is designed to practise colours.  The very first time we played, she was a bit thrown by the whole concept but from the second time on, she's played perfectly - in both languages.  She finds it really fun.

Inspired by the success, Nico then ordered a farm game to do with counting which has gone down just as well.  She loves anything to do with animals and is also counting in both languages - though not always in order.

It's a goal of ours to start having a regular games night again and I love that she is finally reaching the age where we can do this as a family.  Both the concepts of colours and animals have been big projects at nursery so the games mean that we are reinforcing their good work at home, plus, she will hopefully not feel left out when the baby comes along.

Ponytails!

I've been waiting for this for soooo long - over the last couple of weeks, our little girl has finally started to let me put her hair in ponytails for nursery.  It makes such a difference - she looks like a real little girl.  Of course, she never keeps them in until home time but it's a start!

I remember my mum doing my hair for school and I remember driving her mad because I wanted it doing a specific way or to do it myself.  Of course, you get what you give and my two-year-old is already demanding to brush her own hair which normally ends in tears and knots.

The cutest thing is that she is becoming something of a trend setter.  When her friend Henry came to pick us up for nursery last week, he had also demanded a pony tail like Bella!!

It will be pleats and hair straighteners before we know it!

Typewriting!

Today I am having fun with my old typewriter. When my Mum drove over in June, she brought lots of my childhood things with her and this was among them.

I remember desperately wanted my own typewriter after playing on one at a friend's house. I think I was about eight or nine when I got it but I have no idea what I wrote or when it got put away - I didn't realise it was still in Dad's loft.

Having dusted it off and fitted a new ribbon (thanks Nico), I'm writing a letter to my penpal today. It's fun but hard work for the fingers and oviously hard to correct mistakes but I love the old style look and feel of it.

I'm not sure how much I'll use it in the future but Isabella already loves it so it won't be wasted.

Baking with kids

I went through a long unproductive phase where I felt like I was making a daily choice between looking after Isabella and getting things done.

She's finally at a stage where I feel like I can involve her in things without having a breakdown.

On Monday we baked together. It was fun. She watched everything I did, helped and tasted where she could and then laughed herself silly playing with the egg carton for ten minutes.

She'd done less mischief while I baked than she would have managed if I'd been sat on the sofa and we both got something out of the experience.

So far, I'm loving this stage.

Isabella's First Day at Nursery

Just writing the title to this blog post made me shiver so I am sure you can imagine how I felt yesterday at work while our little baby had her first day at nursery.

Granddad is staying with us at the moment to accompany her to nursery until she gets settled in so she's not alone but after a year of one or the other of us being at home the whole time it was definitely a funny feeling.

She is so social that we weren't too worried about how she would mix.  She's had taster days and been around other children at playgroup and she loved both.

We rushed home from work for an update yesterday and of course, all had gone well.  For her first day, Isabella had breakfast with a classmate and then her main carer spent some one on one time playing with her while the other carers took the rest of the group to play.  Isabella really enjoyed it.  She was there for a little over an hour and then slept all the way home.

She'll go a little bit longer each day and mix more and more with the group.  Granddad will be here for a while and then he'll start to leave her more and more until she is completely settled.

Going back to work has been a huge change of pace for us and Isabella's integration is a key part of our new routine.  One thing I notice already is how much I miss her and how much I appreciate the evenings and weekends with her.

While I know she misses us, she is also settling quickly with other people which is an important part of her development so I am glad that it's going so well for her.  I'm so excited to watch her grow and learn new things in this new environment for the next two years.

Mum's Visit

Mum visited us for a week this month. We loved having her here and (I hope) it was a nice break for her too.

We mainly stayed close to home so Mum could get to know where we live. We spent time in Leeste and Kirchweyhe.

We also had that visit to Osnabrück Zoo which was the highlight of the summer for me.

Despite the dismal weather we also made it into Bremen for lunch and shopping.

The main thing - especially with Isabella - is having time and experiences together and we did that. Mum got to see Isabella dancing, splashing and sliding in the paddling pool (among other things!) and learning to say "mine".

We really enjoyed the visit and we're really looking forward to the next.

Freibad!

One thing I love about German culture at this time of year is the Freibad - or outdoor pool.

There are more outdoor pools than indoor ones in our area and today, with temperatures in the high twenties, I met my friend there for a little picnic with our babies.

In England, we would have maybe gone to the park or sat in the garden. I only know of one outdoor pool and that was in another county! Here, we had a ten minute drive.

At our local pool there are four pools - paddling, children, normal and diving, plus lots of space to sit with a picnic. I paid 3.20 (euros) and Isabella was free.

The water was a little cold at first but ones we splashed a bit, everyone had fun. Even though the place was packed, we had plenty of space.

It was fun and relaxing but I would recommend going with more adults than walking babies because chasing Isabella was exhausting at times. She's so social she wanted to play with all the kids in all the families.

While the weather stays this way, we'll try to go every week.

Under the Sea

So excited that Isabella already likes my favourite Disney film.

She's very musical and loves to dance so lately I've been playing some Disney classics to entertain her.

She goes crazy for Sebastian the crab too! So cute!

Top 5 Childhood Games

Monopoly

This must be a favourite in most families. It's a classic! It could get a little competetive in our house but I can't wait until Isabella's old enough.

Trivial Pursuit

I always remember my parents playing this with their friends and I was desperate to be old enough to play.We had the junior version. We now have it in German and English.

Operation

We never owned this game but Boxing Days were especially magical as we could raid our cousins' collection and play this one.

Hungry Hippos

A real kids game - we used to love this fast and furious entertainment.

Super Mario

Of course we did have Gameboys in my childhood and this was a solid family favourite. It brings back many memories!

Top 5 Childhood Films

1. The Little Mermaid

This was the first film I ever saw at the cinema, aged about 5. It's always been my favourite Disney even though I cried all the way home that day, heartbroken that Ariel had to leave her family for her prince. Already got this one lined up for Isabella.

2. E.T. 

I loved this tale of friendship even though it was another tearjerker. It's such a classic. Some films lose effect over time but not this one.

3. Back to the Future

All three of these bring back such happy memories of fun films that I didn't cry over! I loved all three but especially the second as it hardly ever seemed to be on. The actors were brilliant as was the concept (even if it is disappointing that we have no hoverboards here in 2015).

4. Three Men and a Little Baby

Another fun 80s one with a happy ending. This was also the start of my following the avuncular Tom Selleck. Watching three single men try to bring up a baby...brilliant. Again, the sequel somehow seemed better as it was more elusive.

5. Labrynth

This was one that scared and thrilled me in equal measures. I always wanted to watch the riddle scene again to figure it out. I bought and watched this again a couple of years ago but it wasn't the same.

Special mentions: Flight of the Navigator, Batteries not Included, Crocodile Dundee, Home Alone

Childhood Films

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On Saturday evening I went back to my roots and watched this old classic.  E.T. was one of the big movies of my childhood, it brought me to tears every time I watched it.  Saturday was probably the first time in about twenty years that I watched it and I have to say it's a very different experience as an adult, the movie did still bring me to tears though - the classics will do that to you!  I noticed the music more than ever, not many films have such great scores any more.  I thought the acting from the children was great but was surprised at how poor the mother's character seemed compared to when I was younger and how young the actors looked!  I was also surprised that I wasn't terrified by this film as a child.  I still remember having to run out of the school hall on a snow day so nobody so me cry at the part where he dies!  Classic.

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Here is another of my former favourites - Labyrinth.  I used to love this fantasy tale as it seemed like another world.  I especially liked the bit with the two guys above as I could never figure it out.  It's another one I added to my adult collection but unlike E.T. it seemed more of a let down when watched through grown up eyes.  The effects certainly didn't stand the test of time and I didn't find it as enjoyable but I'm holding on to it for future generations as it's a great kids film.

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When thinking back to the films of my childhood, many Disney ones come to mind but this has to be the top of the list.  Little Mermaid was the first film I ever saw at the cinema.  We were on holiday in Scarborough and my little sister was just a baby so my Mum stayed at the cottage with her while my Dad took my brother and me to the cinema.  I loved the film but cried all the way home and scared my mother to death when she saw me all upset...all because I couldn't believe that Ariel would leave her father and sisters to go off and get married - what a Daddy's girl!!  This one is also in my collection now.

What films take you back?