Let's get Physical

Yesterday evening, after school, I took both the girls for their annual wellness checks with our favorite Chicago-raised pediatrician Dr. Kinga. It was a funny experience and energetic, entertaining, dramatic Mia was in full form. While, Ali was a bit more curious, unsure and shy.

Mia passed with flying colors and surprised us all with her 20/10 vision. She could read all the numbers on the chart - including the bottom line (below the 20/20 line) which seriously had me, the pediatrician and the nurse in giggles. They both explained that it is very rare to have such vision. So, I told Mia that she better be a pilot like Papa with vision like that!!! She was flattered and happy with the compliments.

Other tests (blood pressure, urine, etc) showed that she was in great form. Her height is now 129 cm and her weight is 28 kg. We are waiting until she hits 140cm to go back to either Legoland or EuroDisney as this is usually the height requirement for the more serious rollercoasters that T was introduced to about a year ago.

Ali also did quite well with a height of exactly 100cm and weight 18kg. Dr. Kinga marked them both on the charts and we learned their heights were in the 95th percentile and weights in the 90th. So they are in good proportion.

Ali's heart showed a murmur which I remember Dr Kinga pointing out when she was a baby. Just to be safe we went over to the cardiologist to get a better look. It turns out she has a 3mm opening between 2 of her heart's chambers. The ultrasound machine was incredible and had Ali, Mia and I entranced. Her heart was so beautiful and we could see all the valves pumping, the chambers, the entire thing so clearly. The 3 mm gap is not something we should worry about is what the cardio explained. For extra measure they hooked little Ali up to an EKG machine which I wish I could have captured on film but I didn't have my camera. She looked so cute and was so good at holding still on the table while they got what they needed. Mia finished the appointment with 2 very opposite comments: 1. Ali is so lucky! I wish they could look at my heart too. 2. She then said to the doctor (a very nice older lady who sounded like ZsaZsa Gabor but spoke Hungarian to the girls), "Thank you for looking at my little sister's heart". We all smiled as it was very sweet, sincere and not rehearsed at all.

The only difficult parts of our appointment was getting a peek into Ali's ears. She loves when I clean her ears with qtips but hates having a doctor look in or even take her temperature with the ear thermometer. She just covers them up and shakes her head no. We had to hold her to have a peek and I tried to reassure her that it didn't hurt at all. She still cried. I do remember once when she had an ear infection the other pediatrician hurt her by poking around in there. It was a while ago but she obviously remembers it and is a bit scarred by it. In time, she'll recover.

Oh, she also passed with flying colors on the hand-eye coordination tests. Especially her skill for drawing circles, squares, plus signs, etc. Kinga was very impressed and explained that these were part of the 4 year old's test but she often gives it to the 3 year olds to see if they can do it. Ali loves her drawing so it was nice to see that all her scribbling has enhanced her skill.

Lastly, we finished with a few vaccinations. This ended in big, big tears but not for long. They both were lucky to get a biscuit, sticker and balloon at the end of the trauma.

Sorry for the boring details but had to record for myself. Otherwise, I'd forget by next week.

Shorter Hair

As you have seen from our blog that not a lot of photos get taken of me as I'm the one usually behind the camera. T was nice enough to take this one of me as I was getting ready to go out last night to meet up with some girlfriends for dinner. I thought I'd share it so you can see that I've had quite a few inches of locks chopped off (seems to be the topic of the month). I especially love having shorter hair as it is so much easier to wash, blow dry, style, etc!

My Little Rapunzel

One of my 2009 resolutions is to get Ali's hair cut. She is now 3 years old and never had a pair of scissors on even one piece of hair. The biggest challenge is that she's not crazy about having it done - braided, put in pigtails, etc. It is beautiful and everyone compliments the healthiness and waviness of it but it is time to shape it up before she is truly a little Rapunzel.

We hope to go next week and are now even thinking about going for the 8 inches required to donate it to Pantene so that it can be used to help someone (probably a child) going through cancer treatment with a wig.

The Girls' Favorite Books

Every evening at bedtime the kids get to chose books that they'd like read to them. Right now the girls are picking these three repeatedly. They love them and never seem to get tired of them.

The have several of the Fancy Nancy books

The have the first edition called Knuffle Bunny but here the little girl is older so I think they can relate a bit more to her.

This is about a girl learning about fire safety at school. They love the Stop, Drop and Roll.

They also both like Dr. Seuss books and a lot of the Disney classics but currently the above three are being requested most frequently.

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music came on TV today. I've always wanted the kids to watch it as it was one of my childhood favorites! Absolutely love it and know all the songs by heart. I still often sing Edelweiss to the kids at night or when they are sad. They love this song and also the Carpenters song, Close to You, that I sing regularly to them.

Anyhow, I wasn't sure how the kids would react to an older movie (made in 1965) like The Sound of Music. I was thrilled to see that all three of them were completely entranced by it. It's such a classic and still captures the hearts of their audience! Julie Andrews is just great in this film. I think we'll be downloading it and watching it regularly!

PS T thought it was cool that the movie took place in Salzburg which he remembers from his recent train journey with Papa and Aunt Lisa.

Birthday Thanks

Thanks for all the birthday wishes over the week. Thanks for the cards for Curt, Mia and Ali which were all displayed together (see photo below).

For Curt's birthday, each of the kids decided on their own to make him something. Mia woke up on his b-day morning and put her heart and soul into a great design. I had no idea what she was going to make and didn't offer help as she knew exactly what she wanted to do. All she asked me for were 3 sheets of colored paper - red, white and green - some tape and scissors. She concentrated while putting it together and was proud to show her work of art upon it's completion. I was very impressed with her heart trio.

I took this photo today and as you can tell, she wasn't very happy to be having her photo taken.

As if this weren't enough, Mia wrapped it and put it in a gift bag along with another gift: money! Her own. She raided her piggy bank and decided money would be a good addition to her gift for Curt... Very sweet!

T made a great card and wrote a message on it. I love it that he can now read and write!! He still needs quite a bit of help in English but is really trying hard.

Ali drew a picture and stuck animal stickers all over it.

I was very proud of my trio's thoughtfulness!

Aquaworld on Ali's birthday

Finally got the photos and 2 video clips posted for you all to see. This is the new FAB Aquaworld that we all love. Ali chose to go here for her b-day and everyone was happy that she did because it was our 2nd time back and we all had another great time.

Mia and Terence. I think he was trying to do a funny stand here and was entertaining Miss Mia.

Ali loves this bathing suit. Not sure why as she always gets a weggie when she wears it!

The first time we went to Aquaworld T was very brave and went on the high dive. He came off and said that it was a bit scarier than he had imagined but he probably didn't want to chicken out as there were people waiting behind him. He now loves the high dive. When Mia saw him do it she insisted on trying as well. T took her and she did it without hesitation and even jumped up and down on the end a few times with THE biggest smile on her face. You may have heard me mention before but she's a pretty incredible, natural athlete. Anyhow, here she is on the high dive at Aquaworld last weekend.

PS Apologies for the guy standing behind her! After 12 years of living here I still cannot get used those tiny men's bathing suits!

The wave pool. Mia's practicing her lifeguarding skills on T.

Ali Dressing Herself

I wanted to post several photos from Ali's birthday at the newly opened Aqua World (a giant indoor water park with many water slides, a wave pool, a surfing wave, etc) but I'm having trouble loading any more at this time. She asked to go there for her birthday so we went. She was so excited to go that she got herself dressed and ready all by herself. I walked in on her putting on her boots with nothing but her bathing suit and a scarf (made by Lisa!) on! She had trouble understanding that she needed a few more layers to go out in January.

Happy Birthday Curt

To my husband, my best friend, my soul mate, to the man who always knows when to make me laugh and still makes me laugh even when I don't want to, to the man who is smarter than any other person I have ever met, to the most generous man I have ever known who helps so many people in this world without even having to be asked, to the person who I want to spend every minute of my life with - every day, to the person who I never thought existed but luckily came into my life and made me the luckiest woman alive, to the man who always makes me want to be a better person, to the man who is the best, most patient, kind dad ever to our 3 kids, to the man who protects us and keeps us safe and secure, to the most confident person I know who never brags or takes anything for granted.... I better stop now before I have to add 'to a very vain and arrogant man'.

Happy, happy, happy birthday my dear husband who is now 40...something. I will always love you!

Curt's birthday started with coffee in bed followed by his favorite breakfast (or at least one of) of homemade cream of wheat with fresh blue berries, pears, chopped almonds and honey. We met at the office as he always rides his bike and I drive. We then escaped for a while to enjoy a lunch together at a new spot in town.

At 5pm I rushed home to make a fantastic new dish called Stir-fried Noodles with Singapore Lamb Curry. Curt managed to get home to join us for dinner (he was home by about 6:45pm) as the kids wanted to have a birthday celebration!

Dinner turned out great. Just the right amount of spice and flavor. I only added one hot green chili instead of 2 (the way we'd both prefer it and what the recipe calls for) as the kids were going to be eating it too. What was great was all 3 of them pitched in to help make dinner. Ali stirred the sauce, Mia peeled the garlic and ginger, Terence made the Chinese Udon Noodles. It was a great group effort and every one thought it turned out great. T also helped me make Curt's favorite cake for dessert - Angel Food Cake. Actually it's probably everyone's favorite cake. It was so delicious and our family ate almost the entire thing in one evening! Here are some pictures of cake time.

Birthday Breakfasts

On birthdays, the kids get their favorite breakfast ... with a candle in it. Mia chose on Thursday soft boiled eggs and toast whereas Ali chose a pancake souffle that she loves. The also wake up to their presents on their table and a decorated house (balloons, streamers, etc). Here are some photos of our birthday breakfasts this week.

Ali this morning

Mia on her birthday morning (Jan 22)


Their presents from us

Mia's birthday videos

Here are 2 short video clips from Mia's ice skating birthday party. I have another great one of cake time where the kids sang Happy Birthday in French then Hungarian then English. It was fantastic! They are all such little linguistics (for those of you that may not know, Mia attends the French Lycee here which is 100% French speaking. She grew up speaking Hungarian from the day she was born as our nanny is Hungarian and she also attending Hungarian nursery school for 2 years before starting at the French school). I'll have to try and figure out how to send you the video of the birthday singing. I can do You Tube but sometimes feel that's a bit too public... so, we'll see.

Anyhow, for those of you that may not have read my earlier post about her birthday party, we had 4 ice skating instructors helping the 5 and 6 year olds out on the ice.

In the first video, the boy at the very start of the clip is Gauthier. He's a French boy in Mia's class that she really adores. She calls him her boyfriend. I'm not sure if she likes him as much as he likes her. Everytime I see them together he just stares at her like he's in a trance. I guess she likes it... ;-)

Anyhow, the videos are funny to watch. The kids are just all over the place and falling on top of each other. You can easily spot Mia as her ice skates are pink (most of others are blue from the rental shop).






You may notice all the kids had one of these on their necks. Erika (our nanny) helped make these for each one with their name on it. We used my laminating machine (I love my laminating machine, by the way) to make them stronger and a bit more special so they can keep as a memento.

Thanks Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter

ALL three of your birthday cards arrived in the mail yesterday.

Here are the 3 birthday Clements getting ready to open them....