Little H takes a road trip

I think I have been writing about Little H the animal lover a few times, but it is amazing to see her connect with manky, smelly pigs, sticky goats, dogs with bad breath and so forth. We try to have activities on her terms and when the opportunity of visiting a zoo and amusement park (Kristiansand) came up, we thought why not? We packed the car with enough clothes to last us a week, and drove the 3 ½ hour to get to Kristiansand. Well, since Pappa Kas drives the Spanish way, we barely spent 3.

At the hotel in Kristiansand the only thing we did, was to sleep and have a fantastic breakfast. The badly behaved H (where does she get it from?) sang out loud and clear in the breakfast room: “Naranjas de la Chinana, Chinana, Chinana” (Oranges from China) with a rather loud voice, to her mums despair.

I do not mind her singing this song every time she gets orange juice at home, but in a breakfast room at a hotel with a high percentage of exactly Chinese and Japanese guests, this was NOT funny. I tried to hush on both Loud H and Pappa Kas, but I think that both of them found it equally funny and continued singing. Kids…

The lions

We got to the zoo park by opening time and decided to prioritize the animals rather than the other activities. Little H was so excited! We saw giraffes, zebras, chimpanzees, lions and tigers to name a few. But H was forever on the search of the crocodiles. I do not know where she had gotten this strong wish to see a live crocodile, but eventually we found at least four and she was happy.

We wondered around to see the animals until it started raining cats and dogs. Basque / Spanish people do not handle rain very well, and I must admit that it was rather sad walking around with a sleeping H in the pram, getting soaked despite rain jackets, so we made our way back to the car and drove home.

I do hope that we were not caught in a speed camera or two as we made it home in 2 ½ hours.

Self portrait in Arendal

Sceptically watching the lions

Touching sticky and smelly goats (as usual)

I can hear your heart beat

Being pregnant second time around has not been a breeze, but as it is coming to an end (well, I am still 10 weeks or so away from D-day),and I have notices that I have started to appreciating the strangest things, such as that I can still see my toes.

I went to see a friend the other day, which I had not seen in a month or two and the words that met me were: “Wow, you’re huge”, quickly (almost) saved by: “In a pregnant sort of way”. The fact is that I feel huge and heavy and spotty and old (my back aches). I want to sleep all the time and crave orange juice with a dash of tonic, which is very refreshing by the way. You should try it.

On Monday Little H came with me to the doctor for a check-up, and I explained her that we were going to check that Little M was fine. Every time I asked her why we were going to the doctor she said: “Baby M OK/baby M ha bra”.

At the doctors Little H got to lie down beside me on the bench, and the doctor confirmed that she did not have a baby in her belly, which H nodded to and agreed upon. Then the doc asked where the baby was. Little H immediately bent over and gave my bellybutton a kiss saying; “there / der”. Ah, a mother’s heart could melt.

The doctor then wanted to check for the heartbeat and both Little H and I could hear it clearly; the fast rhythmic beats. H thought that the sound came from the belly itself and put her head carefully down on my tummy as to listen better.

My heart melted. I cannot wait until these two girls meet in person.

Orange juice and tonic- seriously addictive

Life is a Musical

Do you remember how it was to start school after the summer holidays? One year you were new and the youngest, the next you were older, wiser and more confident.


It seems like the same happens at a nursery. Little H is suddenly one of the oldest in her group and has taken charge from what we hear. Oh, dear…

Apparently she is bossing the younger ones about, taking their toys, occupying the swings (a recurring theme), but also taking their hands and showing them the ropes of the place. Showing leadership skills at the age of two? Or is she just being mean?

But it is not all bad. We have always known that she is a show girl, but for the past week or so she has totally let her talents for musicals come through. Life with Little H has always been like a musical, filled with spontaneously singing and dancing.

We can sit around the dinner table when she takes our hands, sings and kicks her feet in tap-dancing steps. We can sit together reading a book and she suddenly jumps up in the sofa to start singing and going into a head stand. She is never shy of doing a bit of ballet on the bathroom floor, standing in downward facing dog in the kitchen or doing some sort of tribal dancing while using the bin as a drum.

So it comes as no surprise that the staff at the nursery and a few of the parents have started commenting on Little H’s rock ’n’ roll moves when they play music and her eagerness to sing loud and clear both when encouraged and in inappropriate situations as when the others are taking a nap or she is having her diaper changed.

Where does she take it from? And where will this end? Do I have to start making dresses out of old curtains and run down grassy hills? Or will she develop red curly hair and freckles and adopt a smelly dog?

Daddy come home!

Lady B and Little H had the house to themselves last week. Pappa Kas travelled far far away last Sunday only to come home this Saturday afternoon. That was almost a whole week away from his girls. It is not like he went on an exotic safari, but rather working away in the South of Spain – Granada.

Poor pappa Kas. The heat, the tapas, the wine, the swimming pool – it must have been hard for him to enjoy when he knew that Little H and I was sitting with our noses pressed towards the window looking out on the rain singing “Daddy come home!” – NOT.

Putting on mummys make-up

We had such a good girlie time. We painted our nails, we had discos where we danced ourselves silly. We had long lazy mornings with home-made smoothies for breakfast before walking to the nursery. Our dinners were quick and easy with lots of ketchup. When we went grocery shopping we bought everything we wanted, mainly all types of fruit, so do not worry about sweetie overload.

In order to tire out Little H, I arranged some afternoon activities. As Pappa Kas could do nothing to prevent H smooching her favorite boys I arranged some dates:

On Sunday we went to see Funny O, where we had burgers and the kids were giggling and tickling each other and behaving like the funny monkeys they are. There was a lot of hugging when we left, and I had to drag Little H away from Funny O in order to get home.


We went to play with Cool J, which H had not seen for weeks. There were some jealous banter over some toys, but you know Love starts with …. And there were plenty of hugging as well.

I decided that we could not hang with handsome boys the whole week, so we met up with cutie Anna and her mischievous sister Julia towards the end of the week. Anna and Hanna are very similar in age and they had a super time with each other while the mummies could catch up on gossip and have a good chat.

Little H is definitively having fun with Anna

The week ended on a high with half a day at the local playground where Little H did not want to get her cute little bottom out of the swing, making other kids and parents rather annoyed for not letting others kids use it.

By the time we got Pappa Kas from the train H had had such an exciting week that she had developed a fever. Oh dear, a whole week of fun can be too much.

Please Pappa Kas, when you go away next time, do not stay away for a week, BUT bring back as nice presents as you did this time.

How do you activate your kids when you are alone with them?

At the playground, dressed to the nines to impress the boys

Malo, malo!

That Little H is no stranger to bruises and scratches is nothing new. For a time we were so worried that she had poor eyesight since she kept falling over and running into things. The nursery staff and the doctor told us calmly that that was not uncommon in very active, curious 2-year olds.

So when we come to pick up H at the nursery and a member of staff takes us aside and needs to tell us what has happened before we see Little H, we’re calm as cucumbers. What is the worst that can happen? As long as she is not pulling other kids hair or giving them bruises, a bit of “self-harming” can only make her stronger.

Little H is now an expert (she thinks) at walking the stairs, and since her mantra these days are “I can do it myself / klare selv”, and due to her robust nature we let her climb up and down while we watch her with ice in our tummies.

The other day she fell down the front door stairs. It is only two steps down, but they’re made of concrete and stone with gravel at the bottom. I did not see it happen, but heard Little H cry, and it was not a pretend-to-be-hurt cry as it usually is. It was more of an I-am-in-pain-and -shock cry.

I was the first on the scene and swiftly picked her up from the ground. I started scanning her body for outwards injuries and what I found was some scratches from the stones and a rather nasty cut on her temple.  She was bleeding, but rather quickly soothed by all the attention she got from myself and her grandparents.

I cleansed her cut with cottonwool and water and soon she was very into cleaning it herself and the cries of pain had transferred into the moany sniffering she can be so good at. All clear.

Ouch, ouch 

When we got back out in the drive-way, Amama Socco was stamping her ballerina shoe clad feet on the place where H fell and saying: “Malo, malo, malo, malo (malo = bad/ naughty)” to the gravel.  It was rather like a native American  rain-dance for me unknown to such a ritual. Little H quickly got into the game of blaming the stairs and the gravel by shouting the same: Malo, malo over and over again. 

So apparently it was not H’s clumsy feet which caused her to fall, but the stairs and the gravel. It now gives her great satisfaction of stamping her feet and repeating malo every time she enters or leaves the  house. 

  

Malo gravel and nasty stairs

The in-laws are here

Every summer (the last three) since Little H arrived, we have been getting visitors / helpers in July. Amama Socco and Aixite Sebas flies from sunny Spain in the middle of the holiday season to visit for a couple of weeks.

The first summer they helped us tend the garden and carry around a colic-suffering little baby. Last year, they were life-savers when the nursery was closed for two weeks in July, taking H to the playground, to the beach, to feed the ducks etc. etc. etc. while Pappa Kas and I were working. Plus that they were helping around the house. And not to forget that Amama Socco also took charge of the kitchen and my tasks were solely to bake cakes for desserts.

Telling secrets with Aixite

This year they are here again and so far they have: planted in our garden, sanded and painted garden furniture, helped paint the hall and been to Ikea to get more stuff for Little H’s bed. In addition they have of course spent a lot of time with Little H.: walks, visits to various playgrounds, strawberry picking in the garden, playing football, preventing her from eating green tomatoes from the tomato plants, watching Sesame Street in Spanish with her (Pappa Kas has episodes from 1984 and they are a pain to watch – at least after the 20^th time)- basically they have joined in on many of Little H’s favorite things to do.

Having fun

So what if she gets a lollipop, once in a while, an ice-cream a day (we did not think that she even liked ice-cream), a sweetie for breakfast with her milk and goes to bed an hour later than usual?

It is a granparents priviledge to spoil their grandchildren and when it only happens a couple of times a year, we are only happy to see how she enjoys being with her Spanish/Basque grandparents who lives far far away.

As for me, I am just hoping that they will come back next year, but they might not be so eager with two little Castro-Nyhus ladies on their hands. 


How do you survive July? 

From 3 to 4

Little H will no longer be the littlest member of the Castro-Nyhus clan from October onward. She is getting a little sister, and we’re all excited and a bit scared.

Like my mum said: “another baby, this will be interesting…”

I am sure it will. So far we have not really started thinking about the everyday life with two kids, we just know that it will be stressful with two toddlers, but if others can manage, so can we. A positive attitude, that’s important.

I do not really think that Little H understands what is going on. She can see her mums belly getting bigger, she is fond of babies and likes to stroke their hair and hold their tiny hands. And when we ask her where the baby is she points to my tummy and often hugs it. She has also taken to feed the baby by placing strawberries on my bellybutton. It can become quite messy.

What we are doing is to prepare Little H for being a big girl. She is getting a new and bigger room, just now it is just a room with white walls and a window, but she knows that it is hers, runs in there every day, turns on and off the lights and pretends to go to sleep in one of the corners.

We’d better get a move on and buy that bed. 

Thanks to Pappa Kas and Aixite Sebas for the wallpapering job

You know you’re a grown-up when…

You are invited to a concert and you ask “Where will we go for dinner before the concert?”

You arrive early at the airport to enjoy a glass of Chablis before departure

You have hand-cream in your handbag

You wear flat shoes (or trainers) on your way to work, for then to change into heels just outside the door

You don’t leave the house without wearing mascara

You start sentences with “When I was young...”, or “I remember the time…”

You switch from reading Elle Magazine to Red or KK

These are a few of my examples, and I am sure that some of you have others.

Do you have some to share?

PS: I love this blog: http://crabbyoldfart.wordpress.com/ The problem with young people today

Holiday with kids vs. without kids

Pappa Kas, Little H and myself (plus H's fluffy friends Lula, Sophie and Lucy Liu) have just returned from two weeks in Mallorca. We have been on a family holiday before, but not on a beach - relax- do-nothing-in-the-sun-charter holiday. And as this is what proper families do in summer, we thought we should give it a try.

Of course I was prepared that this holiday would be nothing like Ibiza 2009, Venice 2007, Croatia 2006 or any of the other romantic trips (yes, Ibiza without the foam-parties can be quite romantic) me and Pappa Kas have been on together earlier. 
I do not know what I was thinking. Little H is little H and is in charge wherever whenever. 


The following scenario happened several times: 
After arriving at the beach 30 minutes earlier Little H started shouting "Casa Hanna, Casa Hanna", well, then there was no other option but to pack our 3 towels, 2 buckets, 4 spades, 2 float-able toys, 3 extra sets of swimming costumes, 4 different suntan-lotions, 2 bottles of water, various fruits and sandwiches, camera, books (very optimistic to bring books to the beach with a two-year old), swimming diapers, sunhats, sunglasses, first-aid kit and a lot more and head for home (casa).

I found this illustration (borrowed from Clevamama on Facebook). I think it perfectly sums up my experience of two weeks of holiday with and without kids. 

If you've been on a similar holiday. Do have tips that will make it easier next time? Because I am sure that in time we will forget most of this one, and think that it is a good idea to go on a beach holiday with kid(s) again. 

Such a lady

Since little H was born I have been against her having a lot of girlie-girl stuff, such as pink frilly dresses, headbands and hair-clips (on a little girl without much hair- I don't think so) and having a battalion of scary dolls in her room.

For a very long time things were going well. She had no interest in dolls, she tore out any hair-clip and no one dared to buy her baby-pink clothes as they knew I would never let her wear them.

Well, now when she is a girl of two with her own opinions and knows what is expected of a girl her age, this has changed.
She has not turned into a small princess wanna-be, and she still takes her cuts and bruises better than most boys, but there are other things I had not foreseen.

1. Her new obsession with Hello Kitty. H&M has a lot of clothes with the face of the cute Kitty. I have nothing against that as such, but now Little H can spot the cute Kitty everywhere (and so do I), on small buckets on the beach, handbags, hair-clips, t-shirts and so on.
She squeals "Kitty!"whenever she sees her. Poor girl has only one pair of tights with the cat, and I doubt it will be a lot more...

2. Make-up
When I found teethmarks in my Dior lipstick I knew it was time to give it up to the new lady of the house. She does not use it on the lips, but smears it on her eyelids.

The other day I found her with my Touché Éclat (concealer) up her nose. Without the tip on. I am not a professional make-up artist, but can ensure you that neither lipstick or concealer is being used in this way by me.

3. Nail-polish
Her latest beauty-trick is pink Chanel nail-polish on her toes. Got to admit that the girl has taste. Love the colour. I have to confess that it was I applying it for her, but she insisted and her toes were very cute with the polish on. She now goes around wiggling her toes singing :"pink, pink, pink".

I am sure there are more examples.


I forgot to tell about the pony tail. Little H has short blond baby-hair, but the other day she found an elastic band and tried to make her little strands of hair into a pony-tail. Not managing herself I decided to help the frustrated girl. I managed to make a little pony-tail the size of a small make-up brush. To show her I took a photo with my phone.
When she saw herself she said with a wide smile: "Julie" over and over again. Well, she pronounced it: "Julle", but I instantly knew she meant that now she had a ponytail just like Julie from the nursery.

So now the question is: Mamma K, does Julie wear your lipstick as eye-shadow too?

Just asking as Little H can definitely not have gotten the pony-tail idea from myself as the hair is quite short.