Guest post by the mother - you know, the woman with the big heart and the clean, unselfish conscience

A parental reflection here, now that the kids are asleep... eeh... [listening to the preseverant exclamations of discontent from upstairs]... in bed at least. For someone with no prior experience of Halloween (don't ask me how me managed to miss it), this night really poses a bit of a challenge:
- Do we want to give treats to the cute ghosts and witches and fairies who come by and shyly just stand there outside the gate? Uh, YEAH!!!
- On the other hand, not having stocked up on treats (due to the mentioned lack of prior experience), do I want to give up the precious box of Ferrero Rochers? Uh, NO! No way! Sorry, no deal.
- But then again, do I really want to have all those Ferrero Rochers to myself (and maybe one or two to Fred)? [yes...?]
- Considering the physical consequences of having too many Ferrero Rochers? [well, I guess no, then...? ... Right?]
- Sure, of course we'll give the goddamn truffles away to kiddos, who probably would have preferred multi-colored lollipops. All I'm trying to say is that it's getting much too late and cold for little ones to be outside. So perhaps we just shouldn't open the door for them at all from now on, ok?
- You know, for their own sake...

Happy Halloween!

Caught you by surprise there, didn't I? If you're a regular here, you've probably gotten used to the one-post-a-day routine? Well, here's a taste of our unpredictablility. A trick, you might say. Or a treat. At school, we celebrated old-style, with pumpkins and costumes. And today, on the very day, Toshia and I celebrate new-style. That is, we've ditched the regular trick or treating in favor of dream-based imaginary ditto. Ok, fine. The trick or treating crowd kinda ditched us. Me, because of my enormous concentration of body-temperature-rising cold viruses.And Toshia because she's too young to go without me. And much too tired to go anywhere.

My favorite game

Admittedly, there are quite a few things that Adam does better than me. He runs faster, uses more word. The guy can even stand on a swing without falling down. It goes on and on. But there is one area where he could never beat me: I'm the number one eater. That one I'll win, hands down.
At Vera's blog, I found this photo from brunch at Belvedere last Sunday. (Ok, I'm not really eating in it. Quite the opposite, in fact. But still. I was having a good time at the table, enjoying the socializing that comes with dining.) The other pics, I don't quite remember when they're from. A mix from this fall and summer, I guess.

On the other hand

Some mornings are more like this.This usually corresponds with us waking up at a reasonable hour (please note that's mom's choice of words - her and dad are very judgemental when it comes to waking hours). On days like that we have loads of fun playing together. Like here, where I'm feeding Adam imaginary Saturday candies. And he accepts, despite the fact that it's the wrong day of the week.

This is more like it

Adam on a car that he's taken from me. And me contemplating my loss. (This is the stage that comes after I've tried to scratch his face and bite his thigh while screaming loud enough to tear down the house.)

Deceptive picture

Last week, when Adam was on school break and I..., eh..., maybe didn't sleep quite as well as one theoretically could and a cold cold October rain kept falling over Warsaw, we had a couple of days when we got off to a slow start. Adam still in his PJs, me still in my (lousy) night mood. Those days we didn't share many smiles with the world, or with each other for that matter. So this is really an exceptional photo. Neither Adam nor I really know what happened there. We must have simultaneously pulled a face that miraculously looked quite happy.

Korean Kinder

Toshia's godma, Jen, sometimes adheres to her Korean roots and calls young and inexperienced people the "little eggs". Those little eggs used to be herself, and sometimes mom. But now, I guess, there are others that are better fit to assume the role of complete and utter innocence.Despite the pic above, I'm actually not talking about Bebba and myself. Oh no! Not when there's a Toshia around! Just look at her! Arms so short that the sleeves of her snowsuit don't reach around her waist, but instead have to be tied on her back. That's a little egg, for you!

And when we're at the topic...

Can you spot the monkeys?Ha ha, very funny! There were really monkeys in there. Little ones. And they were really interesting to watch. FYI!

Talking of animals...

... I noticed at the zoo the other day that some of them look just like us. Or is it us looking like them? I don't know, really. Actually, mom and dad think it's less the looks and more the attitude that makes it impossible to tell us and the penguins of Madagascar apart. (You haven't seen the Madagarscar movies? Big mistake! Big! Huge!)

The animals that make the day

During our long-lasting silence, both Antonia and I had our birthdays.
She had her first ever. And so did I - in a way. You see, this year, as opposed to last (ife-cleam aftel dinnel? that'f jeally dood!) and the year before, I sort of grasped the concept. I totally understood why the parents would offer me me a dolphin balloon in the park, just like that. (Well, actually, originally they bought a giraffe balloon, but I mean giraffe. Come on!) My birthday was followed by celebrations both at school and at home. Fish ponds and all. Alas, mom and dad, preoccupied with serving cakes, forgot to document this, so there'll be no blog post about it.Toshia, on the other hand, didn't get the whole birthday thing at all. She sort of liked it when we sang to her in the morning. But she totally didn't like it when we, inspired by the (Swedish) birthday song, took her for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage later in the day. On the other hand - back then she was just a baby. Not like now when she's 14 months old and completely aware of what happens around her. She too had birthday celebrations after the actual day. In her case, combined with her Christianing. Mom and dad, preoccupied with serving cakes, did not forget to document this, so there will be a blog post about it.

Wawa yogis

If you wanna fit in in Delhi, you better know your yoga. Bebba, who is a bit of a natural, was kind enough to practice with me the other day. Sure enough, she was way more advanced than me, and did the head-stand and all. But Toshia and I, we have time ahead of us. Time and easy access to ashrams and affordable private yoga teachers. Bebba's not gonna stand a chance when we challenge her on it next summer! (This is when anyone who knows anything about anything should say that the practice of yoga is not about accomplishment and comparison. But hey, we don't know a thing about a thing yet, so we'll yield to our competitive instincts that want to give Bebba a match. Look at Toshia! Totally excited she is about the idea of getting a revenge in the Wawa Yoga Open.)

Just to reitterate: this is a fashion blog!

Last week, Grandma and Grandpa were here to take care of me and Adam when mom and dad hung out at their respective embassies (dad was away only daytime, whereas mom stayed in India all week). Adam and I were very pleased to notice that Grandma adopted our fashion-victim blog style and coordinated her own clothings with mine. And just have a look at mom and one of her colleagues at the embassy: Expat Diwali Fashion! Delhi's gonna work wonders for the stylishness of this blog!

Burnt child flees the fire?

In the end, we decided not to brave the rain yesterday, but to instead hang out with our Danish friends in their super-cozy house in Konstancin. Me, I'm quite fond of the idea of opposites. And how better mark that you're not out in the October icy cold rain than to put your hand on the glass that covers the (lit) fireplace? Complete success! My fingers are absolutely not rain-chilled! Plus, I got to go and visit my favorit doctor. AND I'll get to go there again and again this week! And next! Bingo! Here, I'm telling grandma about my adventures.

Good Morning!

No pics today, but a greeting! Have a great day! And remember, October rain ain't so bad after all. It motivates wearing welly boot and welly pants so that you can puddle-jump. And lots of layers of clothes that feel oh so good to remove once they're moist and cold.

That's our plan for today, this second day of fall break: puddle-jump in the well above freezing-point but still freezing showers outside and then go in for hot coco and slipping into comfy sweat pants.

You?

Joy swim

It's not the size of the pool that decides the quality of the swim. It's the number of horsepowers it holds. And whether or not it's a convertible. Ok, most outdoor swimming pools are. So let's just stick with the horsepowers. And the prettiness of the surroundings. Like if there's flowers and quality toys or not.The pool in the Bang family's garden has the horsepowers, the flowers and the toys. It's a first class swimming pool. Just so you know. If you're in Warsaw and looking for one. (Yeah, in case you wonder, the photos are some four months old. We don't do much outdoor swimming these days.)

Never kill the butterflies!

We have a new addition in our household: Pani Danuta. She comes a couple of times a week and mom and dad seem to think that her presence will make it possible for them to go out for dinner together, just the two of them, or something like that. Ha! What wishful thinking! For well over a year now, we've successfully managed to keep them from doing that, and I'm quite sure we'll figure out a way to keep up our flawless track-record. But hey, let them keep hoping. It may be vain, but it's really quite cute to watch. And either way, Antonia and I like Pani Danuta. And her sandwiches.

Portraits

Here are portraits of us, taken in the mid of July this summer. Dad's birthday, to be exactat. Some say we look so much alike that it's difficult to tell us apart. But really, I have a feeling those people have some sort of vision deficiency: Just have a look at the color of our shirts, for example. Totally different. Not to talk about the size of our feet!

We all have our ways of sleeping

This is mine.

Bert Karlsson was here

Ok, no he wasn't. But he could very well have been, considering our backyard entertainment equipment! Theodor and I could not have been happier! (Or had lips of a more clear blue color afterwards - as mentioned in the previous post, the water here at Öland just doesn't reach very high temperatures. And even if it did, the wind would quickly chill you down anyway.)
Now, hold on tight, 'cos here I go!
And here's Theodor. Ooops, he got the balance wrong from the start! Well, good for him. All the more fun!