Little Update.

1. These little playdough and toothpick hedgehogs were made by Talmage in Muki-Deutsch.  I can’t remember if I mentioned before, but Talmage, Orrin, and I go once a week to a German class.  (Muki= Mutter und Kind, Mother and Child).  It is so fun!  I really enjoy it AND… get this, I even study!  Are you picking your jaws off the ground?  You should be.  I did embarrass myself the other day though, when we were reviewing numbers, and we all took turns saying a few out loud.  And I said ‘once’ for eleven instead of ‘elf’.  Ooops.  Just a throwback to my Spanish highschool days.  :) 

But anyway, Talmage and Orrin adore it.  They are in a different room with only two other kids, and a really fun teacher and all kinds of toys and things to do.  Including speaking in German.  It’s two hours, and in the middle we students come in for znuni- a snack and coffee and it’s been so good.

 

2.  Orrin can say ‘wah’ (meaning yeah), up, out, hot, bubble, more, and Mama (still says that to everyone).

3.  Ethne has been learning to read.  I was thinking about it, and decided it might be easier on her to learn to read in English BEFORE she gets to first grade next year and starts learning in German.  Just so she’ll have English as her base.  So I bought the book ‘Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons’ and we’ve been doing them when I remember to.  (Consistency is my downfall.)  She’s doing really well but man that book can be boring.  But it’s getting better now that we’re a bit farther along.

(and that was the only picture of Orrin being even moderately cooperative)

4.  Talmage doesn’t wear a diaper to bed anymore!  Yahoo!  We bought a Malem bedwetting alarm and put it on his underwear and then a diaper on top  for a few weeks (and it was awesome because he would wake up when the alarm went off and go to the bathroom himself, we didn’t even get up with him, lazy parents that we are) and now he’s all good!

5. Talmage has actually said a few phrases in German, since being in Muki Deutsch and Waldspielgruppe.  I have heard him say ‘Luege mal’ meaning, ‘look’ and ‘Achtung, fertig, los!’ which means ‘Ready, set, go!’.  But, he’s still a bit confused.  The other day I said something about someone-- I can’t remember the context actually now—but anyway, he said, “Do they speak the other English that we don’t understand?”  Ha ha.  He also says things like, “Do they live in the other world?”  Meaning, the U.S. or places where they speak English.

6.  I have been scouring a couple second-hand stores for baby clothes because 1-I thought I was only going to live in Switzerland for 2 years, so after I had Orrin I got rid of a lot of the clothes I had, 2- what I did keep I lent out to someone in my ward who may or may not ever give it back, and 3- buying teensy weensy cute baby clothes is FUN!!!  They’re so teeny!!

7.  The other day we had the historic event of our first game of Rook with Jethro and Hazel.  My brother mentioned something about he and his daughter getting two 300 hands in a row, and I thought- hey, I bet Jethro and Hazel could start playing.  It was awesome.  The tradition shall live on!