The fifth sense

It is an intriguing world out there. And in here. Really! It keeps amazing me with all its unexpected visual effects, tactual sensations, sounds and smells. The only thing that can really be trusted, according to my lifelong experience, is the taste. It's milk and it's good.

Divided attention

We're often being asked to look into the camera. Good thinking, dear parents! That's really the best way to catch the moments! Anyway, we have decided to partially follow their directions. One of us looks into the camera, the other one doesn't.

We take turns.

In the background you see the super decorated Christmas tree. It's full-blown Manila style, mom says. Adam has already checked if the fragile-looking birds really are as breakable as they seem to be. They are. Me, I'm looking forward to next year, when I'm old enough to test if the delicate capice angels can fly for real.

Visitors! Visitors, everyone! Visitors! (Part 2)

This past weekend, it was mom's turn to get Sally excited. Her friends from a trip to Japan, which took place over nine years ago, came to visit.Annemie is from somewhere in Belgium. Or should I say Germany? At least she's posted to Berlin right now and her children (Jasper, who is one, and number two, who is due in May) are half-German. Sanne is from Rotterdam. She's some hot shot TV profile and our claim to fame when in the Netherlands (apart this blog being a smashing world success, of course). Mom has promised me to post a link to one of her shows when she finds one.And Lisa is Milanese. Like mom, she works with development, but as opposed to mom, she's doing it largely in the field. Right this very second, however, she should be climbing Mount Kenya. I guess that's hard work too, even if it doesn't count like it. As you can see, Antonia was the one who got to hang with them. It was something about it being a girls' weekend. Thus, dad and I did boys' stuff instead, like recovering from that horrendous fever. Chickenpox fever, you may ask. And the answer is no. No poxes in sight. Just fever, fever and fever again. But not anymore. That all boys weekend did the trick!

Visitors! Visitors, everyone! Visitors! (Part 1)

Hmm... Perhaps you didn't get that pop cultural reference? Oh well, I'll help you out. It's from Cars and it's a travesty on Sally's (the Porsche) excitement about some travellers coming by Radiator Springs. Duh! The town along Route 66 where the film is set!

Anyway! We had Niklas and Emely here last weekend, and it made me excited enough to act like Sally. And I'm not saying that it's not because of the Hummer they brought me. Or the catalogue which markets different tractors.But not only. It was also because it was really nice to see them again. For Antonia it was the very first time. Alas, I was unwell all weekend, and couldn't show them around like I had planned to. I guess I'll instead show them around when come to Stockholm for vacation in a couple of weeks. Oh, you think they know Stockholm already? Better than I do? I don't think so! From a toddler's perspective, I'm actually quite sure they don't! Junibacken, here I come!

A helping hand

Dad has had a couple of busy weeks at work. Loads of incoming visitors to be tended to and reports to be written. Adam and I are keen to help out and make things easier for him. (Mainly because we like when he's home before we hit the sack in the evening.) However, our proposal to assume responsibility for Mr. Bildt's visit in Warsaw, you know, show him to the playground, etc., was turned down. I think it may be because dad has such a high confidence in our writing skills and wants to make sure we use our comparative advantages optimally. Thus, I've helped writing an economic analysis on Poland instead.

My homies

I keep talking about school, and yet, I haven't shown you a single photo from there. Well, I will immediately rectify that error. Here we are, the Bumble Bees of the English Playhouse. In the pic, I'm sitting next to Carla, who is like me in many ways. We're the exact same age, she lives on my street, goes to school the same hours I do. And her hair looks like mine, but longer. My favorit, Austin, is the dark-haired guy in the back.

It's a matter of principles

I don't encourage stupidity. Thus, despite being asked not to just yet, I do touch the advent calendar. Several times a day, actually. What do they expect when they bring something like that out before December 1?

But I do look forward to Monday, when I will get some help in putting an ornament on the tree. As it is now, the ornaments tend to drop to the floor every time I try and it's exhausting to climb up and down to fetch them. Especially now that I'm running a substantial temperature.

Quarantine kid

As a courtesy to families who don't want chicken pox just before Christmas, I've been kept home from school all week. Now, I don't have any poxes yet, but I am anticipating them and apparently they are the most contagious a couple of days before they appear. Annoying decease, really! Do you realize how boring it is not to get to play with the other kids despite being fairly well?

Piece of cake

Oh, Puh-LEASE! Give me a challenge! This belly-to-back, back-to-belly thing is getting old already.There!See! Can I start on the next work book now?- Ok, here's a challenge for you, Antonia: Try to stay awake for longer than an hour at a time.
- Are you really sure you want me to try that? You know how I sound when I get tired...
- You've got a point. I'll think of something else.

Colorblind Christmas Elf or Baby Boss

I think I know why the Christmas elves are dressed the way they are, also when indoors: they probably too live in houses with substantial draught along the floor.Another thing I've been thinking about is that the size of my chair really doesn't match my position in this family. Adam and I should each have a huge leather piece behind an intimidating dark wooden desk. After all, this is Poland and hierarchies are upheld also by artefacts.

Snowface

My first ever snowman looked really good, with head, belly and base. Alas, mom got carried away with the facial decorations and managed to tip him over. The face on the base was an imperfect substitute, nothing more, nothing less.

In case you didn't know it already

Ducks don't live in houses, not even when it's winter. But they still don't freeze, because they have feathers and are fat from all the bread we're feeding them. As for us unfeathered creatures, we do live in houses and it's our age that decides whether or not we get fat or not from the bread we're baking.

I don't.
Others do.

The meeting point of our litterature tastes

The average story we're reading in this house definitely appeals more to Adam than to me. But then we have this animal book, which squeaks when you poke it. It says that it's recommended for 1-year-olds. Half-way between us. I like the sound and Adam likes that it lets him practice colors. A very constructive compromise, in other words.

Norton and Pitt did it better

Sometimes you have to check the durability of your parents' hearts. I did so with mom on Friday, by falling head first into a the corner of the swing platform at the playground. Mom passed the test, although just barely. My eye did as well, although just barely. At first I got this magnificent swelling over one eye and between the eyebrows. Then the swelling turned black and blue and further added to my fighter look. But now, just two days later, it's barely even visible. It just looks like a well-applied eye-shadow, not at all in line with the fight-club look that I'm seeking.

A seat without a view

I've gathered that grown-ups like big seats (provided that seat doesn't refer to their own behinds). For us kids it's the other way around. Our stroller has one large and easily reclinable seat in the front and one substantially smaller and not easily reclinable in the back. The latter is the popular one, of course. All snug and cozy. And since I have a more developed ability to convey messages beyond "hungry", "tired" and "in the need for a diaper-change" (plus I'm stronger and faster), I get to sit in the back every single time we're out and about these days.

Great strides towards the future

Last week, I think, or the week before, when mom and I were over at the Hedlunds for a morning tea and chat, I took the defining steps towards becoming a big child. I really wanted to play with Viktor and Filippa and in order to do so, I figured I'd level with them (again we're talking in the litteral sense of the word - Adam and I both tend to be very litteral in our way of expressing ourselves). With some assistance, I successfully did, and now I feel more or less like one of the one-and-a-half-year-olds. Actually maybe a bit more less than more. My legs are still substantially shorter.And when I was at it, I figured I could just as well take some time off from mom (they say that's what big kids do) and let the twins' mom Jennie watch me. Yup, I'm practically there, in the grow-up future.

Before dad starts respecting that I'm entitled to my own opinion...

... I'm a fan of Modo. And a big fan too, apparently. Adam used to be one as well, when he was around my age.

Time zone trouble

Warsaw is located very far east to be in the GMT-1 time zone. The implication is that it gets dark really early in the afternoon, despite the simultaneously southern (that's relative, of course!) location. And after dark, you're not supposed to be in the parks. And all the play grounds are... Tricky!

Yes, we can!

Mom and dad haven't said it in so many words, but we can still sense that November is not necessarily their month of choice. Now, how better address this than by initiating changes? Thus, today was my very first day in life with no nap, yet no afternoon crankiness.
AND Antonia has done her best to contribute to the silver lining by turning several times from belly to back.
AND we have successfully inaugurated the stroller in its double seat position.
AND the Americans started the month by (finally) showing that they could.
November rocks!

I don't mind the coming of age

I'm three months and a bit now. In other words, really very big. So big that I get to sit in the high chair.At the table with the rest of the family. (Which, by the way, is a lot more fun than being placed in a baby sitter at their feet!)And on Adam's lap when he watches Shrek.

Afternoon activity

I know you're not supposed to compare hands if you're superstitious. But fingers should be ok, right?

They call me the bookworm mechanic

My teachers have told mom and dad that my favourit activities at school - by far - are playing with cars and reading books. I see no reason to act in a way that makes them question that statement. At home, I read books and play with my tractors. And read books. And when I have a playdate, like with Simon yesterday, I introduce my friends to my books and tractors. And then I ask them, in a more or less courteous manner, NOT to touch the green Valtra.I play with Duplo as well. The Duplo tractor, to be more specific.I used to play a lot with the Duplo racing car, but then I parked it under the fridge and despite promises, no one has helped me get it out of there just yet.

Supper Sounds - Scream, Slurp, Snooze

There is a wide range of food related sounds. Let me introduce you to a selection of the most commonly used ones.
The scream: An intense sound, indicating that the service is unsatisfyingly slow. You may think that it also expresses a disapproval of the monotonous menue, but that's actually not the case.
The slurp: Actually not just one sound, but a combination of suckling, swallowing and grunting sounds, sometimes broken off by little exclamations of joy, that together indicate that food has been served and found to be of just the right taste and temperature. The snooze: A barely audiable sound (at least when it comes to me - I'm not a snoorer) that follows shortly after many meals. It's actually not uncommon that the snooze co-exists with the slurp. The ability to eat and sleep at the same time apparently disappears with age. Perhaps that's why attempts to do so at the dinner table are widely frowned upon - older folks simply don't know how to slurp-snooze gracefully.

Just to let them know they're loved

Grandma and Grandpa were the first people I met in life (apart from mom, dad and the hospital staff). Nonetheless, we're still in the process of getting to know one another. It's a process I really like and at the end of their stay, I awarded them with a long sequence of giggles and laughs. Because they're worth it!

Same, same, but different

Grandma and Grandpa have been here for a long weekend. Along with a suitcase full of diapers and tights in size 86/92, they brought with them some pretty chilly weather and loads of sun. Maybe that's how winter is in Sweden? Either way, I like this whole layered clothes thing that comes with the weather getting colder. It makes falling down a lot less painful than it were in the Philippines. Or in summer, for that matter. We spent the weekend the way we usually do: by going to the Odynca playground on Saturday.
Playing under the supervision of grandparents is of course a lot more fun than normal every-Satuday playing, so I wouldn't say same old same old, despite the same old activity.Also, we don't always go for Turkish lunch after the playground visit. But we should! Great food for everyone. Including Grandpa.And Antonia. And on Sunday, like always, we went fancy walking in Lazienki Park (pronounced Washinki, in case you're wondering, and no, mom and dad aren't making much progress with their Polish. None, to be more exact.).But despite the same old destination, this wasn't any Sunday walk. Grandpa was the one pushing the stroller and my attention was not on the squirrals, but rather on the colorful, and pretty friendly peacocks.