Ski Week 2011

This year for ski week we actually did go up to Crans Montana with the school.  It was a far cry from what I was doing just one year before! Still, after a busy Christmas break traveling I wasn't sure how ready we'd all be to pack up and head off for another week of living in one room, but overall it was quite a successful week.  Liam did well enough with his sleeping.  On good nights he sleeps through from 6:30pm to 7:30am these days, and on off nights he'll wake up and cry for a little while and may need resettling.  We chose to stay in La Moubra where the kids are, because we thought it would keep us a little more in the loop and we'd have easier access to meal times and potential babysitters.  As it turns out, we struck a deal with the Ulku-Steiners and managed to have a shared babysitter 3 nights we were there.  It wasn't too much for the babysitter because Liam is sleeping all that time (except for one night!)  Amazingly Liam was still somewhere between Swiss and English time, and that actually kept him sleeping till right about 8am.  Quite luxurious for us, I can tell you that!  

As non-skiers we spent the week hanging around town, with a few ventures up the mountain on the best weather days.  During our stay Liam became super confident with his walking as he had long hallways to tear up and down as well as a lovely empty assembly hall.  All the space to run around was great for him.

Here he is pushing his stroller around the halls.  He was actually pretty good at it!

We were thrilled to be able to get out some of the evenings and join in the socializing that happens among faculty.  We made it to the Apres ski fondu dinner on Monday night, to the faculty dinner on Thurs, and a lovely evening out for Beril's birthday on Friday.

Here's one of us at the fondu dinner - it always becomes a little too much cheese, but it's a fun event.

Ilana and Jen at the fondu dinner

I can't say enough about this age with Liam.  In fact he last few months have bee so much fun and seem to get better every day.  It has a lot to do with him beginning to communicate more clearly with us, and he really is a funny guy.  

This photo is of him deciding to try on his dad's shoes.  As you can see, he thinks it's all pretty funny!

On another occasion we were in the room and he had his little bear cloth (Bertie) who he sleeps with.  He walked over to us and James took Bertie and gave him a kiss.  Liam kind of snickered, took him back and walked away.  And then a few minutes later he walks over to James, shoves Bertie at him and goes "MWah".  Making the sound of James kissing Bertie.  He so clearly was telling him to kiss him again.  It was so cute!

A weird picture of us bending to fit in the frame, and Liam looking cute and snuggly at the "Olympic games"

Liam's first time out in the snow in his brand new snow suit.  He's hanging out with Keenan (Michael and Beril's son) and looks quite surprised!

4 days in we finally got some beautiful sunny skies and decided to venture up the mountain.  So this is Liam's first time up on the slopes!

The view

Hanging around downtown we spent an afternoon having a drink at a cafe.  Liam was happy as can be when he discovered the planter box full of dirt.  I love this expression on his face.  It sums up the joyous squeal of delight at the texture between his fingers.

On Friday we had the most beautiful weather all week.  We went up the mountain to join others for lunch to celebrate Beril's birthday.  It must have been about 7 degrees C and so stunning.  We had a lovely lunch outside with gorgeous views all around and good friends to chat with.

Lucy (Michael and Beril's daughter) entertains Liam with pieces of spaghetti.  He's been in love with it ever since.

Beril and I after a plateful of pasta

Although still fairly new to walking, Liam was determined to master it on snow.  He struggled some, and decided that holding a hand wasn't so bad after all.

I'm not sure who placed him on this pile of snow, but these pictures were some of the sweetest of the whole week.  I love this pensive look.

And another sweet discovery moment

Family portrait in the Alps

Liam is such a love that he is quick to win others over.  During ski week there were so many people who were happy to watch him or play with him for a few minutes because he is so willing to engage with others.  As a mom I couldn't possibly think things could be any better than this.  

Liam's First Birthday

Unfortunately Liam's birthday fell on the day people were returning from Christmas vacation and the day before people were leaving for ski week, so it seemed too complicated to try and orchestrate an actual party event.  So instead we had a quieter day at home and enjoyed playing and hanging out together as a family. During the day we received many sweet birthday messages for him from family and friends, and there were a number of cards and small gifts for him in the mail.  Mostly what I felt was deep gratitude to have him in our lives, and to have so many wonderful people in his life who love him.  It means so much.

We did also bring back a gift for him from England - a parking garage with a few cars.  Here are a few photos of him first playing with it.

 James and I don't really buy into the whole feed your kid cake on their 1st birthday thing, so we gave him what he loves most - I delicious fresh fruit and yogurt smoothie.  With a candle of course.  And we sang happy birthday.

England for New Years

After spending a week in a developing country (Morrocco) without any trouble, we arrived in freezing England to find that poor Nassim and Erfan were without power most of the day.  Though the power turned on again in the evening, it was back off in the early morning making for a very cold start to our first full day in England.  This continued for the next 2 days so we had to be pretty creative coming up with ways to get out of the house with our 3 little ones, and keep them warm and entertained.  Our adventure to a mall was more tiring and less fun, so the next day we opted for a sweet soft play center closer to home.  Here are some cute pictures of the little ones play.  This trip I feel like there was more playing together and awareness of each other than our last visit, and it was all so much fun.
We also got to see Sonja, despite the cold, when she met up with us 2 days in a row.  It was a lot of fun despite the external circumstances.

Liam sitting on the machine that blew out air 

Cuteness - Lua bean

 

Lua and Liam trying to climb up a slide - Lua has her hands full! 

We were trying to get a sibling non-candid shot and this is the best I could do!

Leo and Lua 

On Dec 28th Liam officially became a walker.  We have some film footage of the event, but unfortunately I can't seem to upload videos on the blog these days.  It was such a fun moment and he was only wobbly for the first day before he became quite confident about it all.  The best part for me was that his hands would be up and in front of him and flapping like little wings as he walked.  So so cute.

Here are a couple of photos from a lunch out in Stratford.  

Liam about to draw a masterpiece on the menu 

I had a nicer picture of Erf and Nass, but Lua looked worse, sorry nass! 

Leo practicing a sad/funny face

We were also lucky to have a day with Keith, Charlene and Otto because they made the trekk up to Ettington from London.  It was lovely to see them and catch up again.  We miss them in Switzerland!

Otto and Char 

Char, Otto and Lua  

The family - Otto not looking so happy! 

The six of us go for a group shot!

We had a really nice week despite the power issues, and love that the cousins got another chance to play together.  Here's looking forward to February!

A Marrakech Christmas

We have finally returned (more permanently) home after what feels like a long time traveling.  Rather than go through the ordeal of flying long distance, we opted to take a trip to Marrakech, and from there spend a little time in England visiting Nass and co.  With some aprehension of what we might be getting into, we dove in and off we went.  And all turned out fine! 

We had a great 6 nights at the beautiful Dar Beija Riad.  There we were taken care of extremely well by the manager and housekeeper, and as the only guests for the first 4 nights, we had a run of the place.  Our room on the top floor was exquisite, with a beautiful balcony and views of the city around us.  The location of the riad was perfect for twice daily walks to the main square - Djemaa el Fna, and from the all the intricate winding streets of the Medina souks.

Liam on the bed in our beautiful suite (the Tasslite suite)

We managed to keep Liam's schedule in tact and after we put him to sleep we were able to have a wonderful quiet dinner downstairs at the riad.  The food came from their restaurant (Kozybar) and was delicious!  Despite sleeping in the same room as Liam and hearing the call to prayer at 5am, we had pretty decent nights.

 

Wandering the streets of the medina 

Self portrait at the orange juice stand 

Liam and James in the Souks 

Liam loved heading out in the stroller or ergo and watching all the colors go by.  There was so much stimulation in sight, smell and sound!  He was also motivated to practice walking independently as he was without his walker.  He took his first few steps multiple times in those days.  An all time favorite for him was the fresh squeezed orange juice sold all around the square for just 4 Dirham (the equivalent of 50c) a glass.  The first time we gave him a taste with a straw he sucked it back like his eyes might pop out!  

Liam sucking back a glass of some very tasty orange juice

 

Finally a family picture at the Bahia Palace 

An incredible full rainbow over the entire square 

More oj 

Liam loved the Berber pillows on our floor.  It made for good climbing and walking buffers! 

For some reason Liam was terrified taking a bath, so we started showering with him and he adored the gorgeous rain shower we had!

At the Majorelle gardens - Liam points out the fish

Christmas day - they even put up a Christmas tree for us

Najia (the housekeeper) and Rachid (hotel manager) were so great with Liam, and so often just taking him from us so we could have a moment to eat breakfast etc.

James managed to find candyfloss, and a lot of it, somewhere in the heart of Marrakech

 

View from our room terrace.  The tree in the distance is a giant Eucalyptus tree that towers over the 3 story buildings of the Medina

We also managed to find a few bits and pieces to bring home as memorabilia, since we realize that we travel so much but have no sign of it in our lives.  Along with candlesticks and pillow cushions, we ordered a cedar mirror and camel skin small trunk.  Now we wait to see if those arrive!  

Liam comes undone

Yesterday James and I left Liam in the bathroom on his own for about 4 mins.  I came in to check on him and this is what I discovered:

We are very excited about this age.  Liam has, in the last week or so, tried out his first independent steps.  I won't say he's walking yet (though his daddy thinks he is), but he's so so close and definitely gaining confidence with each time he lets go of something and stumbles forward a step or two.

His first top tooth has now broken through the skin and with it, we have broken down and succumbed to magical anti-teething pain solutions.  We have been told by a few reliable sources that amber necklaces worn by babies help with teething pain.  Though Liam is a brave fellow, a few nights this week the pain got the better of him and we were just desperate to help him out.  So amber necklace it is (along with more traditional pain killers and gum gel)!

We're off to Marrakech tomorrow morning.  Here's hoping we have an easy trip!

My 30th Birthday Weekend

I know that turning 30 is supposed to be some big deal, so it might come as a surprise to hear how tame my birthday weekend really ended up being.  There were no crazy parties or late nights but I'm not sure how many people can claim they built a house on their 30th birthday.  So what if it was just a gingerbread house, and if, in fact, it was less house looking and more bombay slum.
The weekend celebrations started with great food at a newly discovered Indian restaurant in Lugano - Degli Amici.  What a great find!  All 24 or so of us were pleased with the food.  (We were responsible and had a babysitter so Liam could stay home).
Saturday morning was the TASIS Gingerbread house building competition.  I have no idea which group one, but our team of Andy and Emily Abell and James, Liam and I sure were creative!
Sunday evening Beril and Courtenay had a small girls dinner for me at Beril's house.  Delicious Thai food and no worrying about the baby since James was home with him.

Anyway, here are few pictures from dinner on Friday night, and our Saturday morning Gingerbread house competition. 

Normal us at my birthday dinner

 Normal Matt and Jen 

 Leigh and Gavin

 James with his leg of lamb

 Emily and Alli

 Sat Gingerbread house dream team - The Abells and us

 Design team hard at work - oh wait, James is feeding Liam!  Just Andy hard at work

 The finished product - please note the licorice and jelly head person hanging from the front of the building in a Mission Impossible stunt to break into our building!

Thanksgiving

November really was quite a remarkable month for Liam.  Along with becoming a 10 month old he suddenly (since our trip to England) stopped crying before bed and naps.  It has made such a difference in our world and I think all of us are happier for it.  The decision in mid October to switch him to 1 nap a day was probably a big part of it, and ever since then he is almost always happy to go to sleep around 12:15pm and then his bed time is pretty much 6:30pm.  He usually sleeps till around 7am, sometimes a bit later, and seldom earlier, and his naps have increased from their usual 30 mins to often around 1 hour and sometimes even a bit more.  This is all quite a huge deal in this house.  Truly a reason for thanks giving!

And speaking of thanksgiving, this year for Thanksgiving we once again found ourselves in Lugano because James was on duty all weekend.  We made the most of it by having our own little Thanksgiving get-together with the Walsers and Leigh and Stirling.  We waited till Friday for our late afternoon meal since by then most kids had left, and then we went to town with all the fixings.  Homemade pumpkin and pecan pies, cranberry sauce, a green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, salad (and that's just what we made!).  Eric and Kat brought the turkey, gravy and stuffing, and Leigh came with mashed potatoes.  It was a lot of food and a lot of excitement.  The three little ones fared well despite it getting close to bed time.

Our dinner table - we moved it into the living room for space

 Liam's thanksgiving meal

 Drake and Kat 

 Leigh, Stirling, Kat, Drake, Eric, Liam and James

 The Children - Drake, Stirling and Liam

So much else seems to be changing and happening with Liam these days and we're so busy living in it that I forget to write it down.  I have to say though I feel like this age is my absolute favorite and I wish he'd stay this way for a long time.  It's so so fun to hang out and play with him and he's so interactive.

Some stuff that's been happening: Liam's first top tooth is coming in right now, that'll be his third tooth altogether.  He's also becoming more and more confident in his standing, walking and running around, and is letting going of things and standing steady for a few seconds before putting hands back out.  He's been eating like a champ, and by Nov was down to 2 milk feeds a day.  (Now it's just 1 before bed time.)  However, he has shown no interest in formula and very little interest in cows milk, so he's just pretty much been a water guy.  He talks ALL the time.  And I mean really talks.  Just because we don't understand him doesn't mean he's not saying meaningful things!  He is constantly standing up in his highchair - my mom considers this karma since I did the same thing - and he's climbing the staircase completely unassisted (and sometimes unaccompanied if he can manage to dart off while we are unawares!)  Anyway, just wanted to get it all down to remember some of this great time.  He's really a love.  My favorite of all favorite things he does has to be the slobbery kisses I get from him all the time.  What a little huggy love!