Swiss Family Mac

Guest poster

2009-11-13T01:56:00.003-05:00

That's me today over at Swisstory Blog.

Jess is moving to Australia soon and asked for some guest bloggers to help her out during the transition. So head on over and read my post about Räbeliechtli!

Mount Pilatus

2009-11-09T07:45:00.000-05:00

Please bear with me as I catch up on travel posts from this summer. Sorry for the delay!

After our trip to London in June, my cousin came back to Zurich with us.

We did a couple of day trips while she was in town. Our first stop was Luzern and Mount Pilatus.

We decided to take the boat from Luzern to Alpnachstad and then the cogwheel up to Pilatus Kulm. For our way down, we opted to take the cable cars from Pilatus Kulm to Fräkmüntegg and Kriens. If you have some time during your trip to Pilatus, I highly recommend taking the boat on Lake Luzern at least one leg of your journey to the top of the mountain.

Cogwheel station at Alpnachstad.

I had read that the Pilatus cogwheel was the steepest in the world but was tickled pink to find a plaque from the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's certifying it as so.

The ride is beautiful and the incline is prety impressive.

What can I say? I'm an engineer at heart and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Once we reached the top we were saddened to find the views obstructed by clouds. Again.

Throughout Europe I find scaffolding and clouds in my way.

Anyway, we walked around anyway and found ourselves next to a storm cloud. The thunder coming from right next to us was impressive. Despite that, we decided to sit outside and have a snack. Lo and behold, the sun came out.

And then the clouds went away.

We enjoyed the views for a bit and then decided to catch the cable cars down. That's when we saw this.

Switzerland's longest toboggan run. Looks like fun, right? Well, we thought so too. So Tricia took Marion down the 1350-metre long run.

Then they enjoyed the ride back up.

Wish I could have gone but Betti was with us. Darn baby!

Anyway, after our trip up Pilatus, we walked around Luzern for a bit. Luzern is one of my favorite Swiss cities. On a lake, beautiful Old Town, great restaurants, gorgeous Chapel Bridge... It's a fantastic city to visit.

We decided to eat dinner there before heading home. And that's when Tricia snapped this picture of me.

I was telling Marion to sit in her chair. I love this picture because it shows in a nutshell how I spend most of my time these days: hanging on to Betti, telling Marion to stop doing whatever she is doing. Hopefully, in a beautiful European city.

I can't complain.

Anyway, Pilatus. Fun in the summer and I hear it's a blast in the winter as well. Go!

Mish Mash

2009-11-04T04:46:00.004-05:00

Cinderella celebrated Halloween by pulling herself to standing.

I am now convinced she is trying her best to make my flight home in December, alone with the two monkeys, as miserable as possible.

After trick or treating we went out for dinner with some friends. We came home to some vandalism.

It wiped right off. Those Swiss kids are baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad ass.

Today is November 4th. It has now rained 3 out of the 4 days in this month so far. Looks like it will be another rainy November here. Yuck.

Still behind on my pile of travel posts from this summer. My goal is to get through them before 2010!

Happy (dry wherever you are) November!

World Blog Surf Day: My favorite Swiss holiday

2009-10-31T00:05:00.000-04:00

This year I'm taking part in World Blog Surf Day. The short explanation: a bunch of expatriates blog on a common subject and then link to another expat blog, thereby creating a chain of posts from around the world.

Sounded like fun so I signed up, voted on this year's topic, and anxiously awaited to be informed what I would be writing about today.

The topic for this year's Surf Day is... *drumroll*

Holidays & Celebrations--What is your favorite new holiday and how is it celebrated?

I voted on this one so I was thrilled. But still a little stumped. The Swiss celebrate everything. They will throw a party to celebrate a new tunnel opening. How was I going to pick just one?

I asked Brian what his favorite holiday or celebration was. He didn't even hesitate: Oktoberfest! So he wasn't any help; I haven't made it to Oktoberfest yet.

After weeks of going over my choices in my head, I picked one. And then I struggled with my decision because it really isn't a new holiday. But screw it, I'm going with it anyway.

My favorite holiday is Christmas. Or Christmas season. Or the entire month of December.

See, not really a new holiday. However, the way the Swiss celebrate Christmas makes it new to me. Because they start early here and go big right up until the 25th.

It all begins December 6, when Samichlaus comes to town to give sweets, nuts, and fruit to well behaved little children. His arrival is celebrated with parades in towns throughout the German part of Switzerland. But he doesn't arrive alone. Schmutzli, Samichlaus' sidekick dressed in brown and carrying a switch and a sack, and a donkey accompany him.

Schmutzli helps Samichlaus hand out his goodies these days. However, in the past, Schmutzli was rumored to kidnap and beat children who misbehaved. According to this article, some Schmutzli's still take their disciplinary role seriously.

After the parade, there is usually a small market in the town center. Markets, ahhh. Another Christmas season favorite of mine.

Christmas markets abound throughout Europe and I love them. Zurich Hauptbahnof and Einsiedeln were among my favorites last year but I plan to vist a few more this year. But let's be honest, any market out there that has opfelchuechli's will be a winner in my book.

Then there is the Singing Christmas tree, located just off the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich.

It's a great way to spend a December evening, sitting around, listening to carols, and drinking gluhwein or tea. Check out the website to schedule a visit this season.

Those are just a few of the things I love that make Christmas season in Switzerland so magical for me. They take the season and turn it up a notch. There's always something to do and, chances are, you'll have a blast checking it out.

Oh, and did I mention December is the only time of the year that shops are open on Sunday? What's not to love about shopping on Sunday?!

Thanks to Karen over at Empty Nest Expat for being the Twitter reporter for today! Karen is an American expat blogger last seen in Prague. The Wall Street Journal said, "Her blog makes a fun read for anyone looking for reassurance that change can be a wonderful thing--and also for anyone interested in visiting the Czech Republic."

Now, feel free to surf! Go see what Carla, over at Who'd Say?, has to say!

As you surf, if you hit a blog that hasn't posted yet, feel free to check out the list of blogs participating so you can get back on track!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T00:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween from DJ Lance, Princess Alexa, and their silly faces!

They are going to have a great time trick or treating this evening!

And can't forget about Cinderella!

Daylight savings time is here

2009-10-23T09:57:00.001-04:00

Daylight savings time is here to screw with us again. We turn back our clocks at 2 am on Sunday. But don't panic if you are in the US, you guys don't have to fall back for another week.

At least we are prepared for it this year. We weren't aware that the US did things differently from the rest of the world last year. As a result, Brian missed checking his fantasy football team before kickoff.

The HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank God we won't have to experience that tragedy for a second year in a row.

Reminder: Bern BärenPark

2009-10-22T03:14:00.003-04:00

Reminder: The new Bern BärenPark opens up this Sunday, October 25!

There will be a festival to celebrate the opening (the Swiss celebrate everything, love that). So go celebrate the new bears, Björk and Finn!

7 months.

2009-10-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

Betti is seven months old today and celebrated by completing her fifth airplane trip.

In total, she has been to six countries and on twelve flights. That doesn't seem like a lot to me some days. There are so many places to go here and I feel like we haven't even gotten past the tip of the iceberg. Then I remind myself that we are traveling more than some people do in a lifetime. We are so thankful to have this opportunity and to expose our children to different cultures; we've definitely been bitten by the traveling bug!

And we are making a game out of this, sort of. Think we can hit twelve countries by the time Betti is twelve months old? We're gonna try!

Now, the birthday girl.

Betti went through the security check point in Vienna today asleep. And, for the first time, the man behind the scanner line told us we needed to remove her from her baby carrier, take the carrier off, and put it through the scanner.

I wish we had a picture of Brian's and my face at that point. We looked at this man like he was insane. Take this sleeping baby out of the carrier!? What are you smoking!?

A woman on the other side of the metal detector noticed our discussion and told him it wasn't necessary. Which we knew from the other trips we've taken with Betti. So sleeping Betti stayed sleeping, thank God!

In other news, Betti is trying to eat everything in sight. I think after a few short weeks on pureed foods we will be going straight to soft solids. Yay! (insert sarcasm here- this is where the mess begins)

Betti's also trying her hardest to get on her feet. Girlfriend's not even crawling on all fours and she wants to walk! I also think she might be working on her first tooth (been saying that for three months now). But I thought I saw a fleck of white where her lower right incisor would be (right as you look at the picture above). Do you see it?

Add in grabbing for everything in reach and army crawling as fast as she can and you have one tired Mrs Mac. I'm considering a play pen to avoid baby proofing my flat.

*Breaking news: Betti just sat herself up from laying down on her belly. Noooooooooooooo!

And the lightbulb goes off

2009-10-16T03:20:00.003-04:00

I am not good with foreign languages. I never have been.

Last night I was running the days of the week in German through my head, proud of myself that I now know all of them.

Then I realized that Wednesday, Mittwoch, is actually two words combined. Mittlere, which means middle, and woche, which means week.

Which makes sense because Wednesday is in the middle of the week.

And it only took me 16.5 months of living here to put that together.

Like I said, I'm not good with foreign languages.

More Swiss run ins

2009-10-15T07:13:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we were walking home from the train station when we met an older couple. They started speaking to us in German so we quickly apologized and asked if they spoke English. They did and we had a lovely conversation for several minutes before walking away and wishing each other a good evening.

Brian and I walked away from this encounter stunned. It's gotten to the point where I expect to be yelled at when someone stops me. This meeting was a breath of fresh air. Nice people who just wanted to say hello and compliment me on my kids? Where am I?!

I have replayed that encounter in my head multiple times in the last few weeks, even telling some friends about the nice older couple I met.

And then I was yelled at by an older woman at the grocery store that reduced me to tears.

The woman started in German. And when I stared at her blankly, shocked by this woman's outburst and meanness, she switched to English.

I walked across the parking lot (distance of 15 feet or so) 5-10 feet away from the crosswalk, with kids! How dare I, I was told, I should walk in the crosswalk when with kids.

I could draw a diagram or take a picture when at the store the next time I go to really illustrate just how out of line she was. But it doesn't matter. She thought I made the wrong choice and felt the need to point out to me what a bad mother I was. I felt I was doing the safest thing for my kids.

In the end, if someone here thinks you are doing something wrong, they will tell you. I just haven't gotten used to it yet. I want to remember the nice couple we met walking home from the train station, not every person who tells me how I am a horrible parent (no hat! no umbrella! walking five feet away from the crosswalk! disciplining your kids too loudly! your 3 year old is yelling! etc)

Expats, how do you deal with Swiss 'policemen'?

Percentage of Sun

2009-10-09T10:14:00.003-04:00

I noticed something while checking the weather forecast for this weekend, something I very rarely do since the weather can change in an instant here.

Instead of listing the chance of rain, the chance of sun is listed. How depressing is that? Pretty darn depressing but not as depressing as the 0-5% chance we will see sun tomorrow. Ugh.

Have a great weekend! We will be having a wet one.

Rigi on a clear day

2009-10-06T06:15:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine has been visiting so we've been seeing some Swiss sites this past week. We dragged the kids to Rigi Kulm yesterday and my luck with this mountain changed. It was clear! And gorgeous, of course.

My friend is looking through this nifty viewfinder.

You can spin the ball to put the pointer on a bunch of different location names and then, voila! That's what you see when you look into the eyepiece. The Swiss really do think of everything.

Basically, our day was nothing like last time. Gorgeous!

Bern BärenPark

2009-10-05T12:54:00.003-04:00

Mark your calendars everyone: the new Bern BärenPark opens October 25.

Two new baby bears are currently in quarantine in the old Bärengraben, or bear pit. And they are super cute! They were playing together when I was there this past weekend.

Note the security fence around the Bärengraben to keep people away from these new bears. High tech quarantine devices ;)

Marion's already bursting to see these new bears so we will definitely be making a visit to Bern sometime in November. Make sure you go to see these adorable little bears!

Bigger in the US?

2009-10-02T02:01:00.000-04:00

You know the saying, "Everything's bigger in Texas", right?

Well I have a feeling that here that saying is "Everything is bigger in the US."

Here is the American sized toast we purchased.

Here's the comparison to the bread we typically buy.

Wow.

Crap

2009-10-01T09:59:00.000-04:00

She's moving way faster than I expected and would like.

Are you a Cool American?

2009-10-01T03:47:00.003-04:00

Brian found some Cool Ranch Doritos on Migros' online shop, www.leshop.ch, and ordered them for me. Love those! And yet, they are a little different here.

I have two theories on this.

1- Ranch flavors don't exist here. Therefore, the ranch flavor is American. Easy substitution.

2- A ranch is a place where cowboys hang. And hey, aren't all Americans cowboys?

So there you have it. I will be enjoying my Cool American Doritos this evening and wondering if that makes me cool by association. Yum!

London: Day Three

2009-09-30T02:22:00.001-04:00

We turned back into tourists on our last day in London.

First stop, the Tower of London.

Marion in a dress, dancing in the castle. What a surprise!

We, of course, took the Beefeater tour. Because that's what you do when you go to the Tower. So don't miss the Beefeater tour when you go, k?

Traitors' Gate.

Where Anne Boleyn's head (among others) rolled.

Marion got a smile out of this guy outside of the crown jewel building.

After our tower trip, we took a boat down to Westminster Abbey. Saw Big Ben and Parliament on our way to a pub for lunch where we grabbed some fish and chips in a pub (hello yumminess). Then we made our way to the Abbey.

That was enough for us. London was packed with tourists. So when we were done with the tourist thing we headed back to the hotel, rested a bit, then went out for our last dinner of the trip.

London, it's a great city. Three days isn't even close to the amount of time needed to see it all. But we enjoyed our time there, however brief it was.

It was also nice to not have to mime my way through a conversation. The downside to speaking the same language as the locals was the realization that my conversations could now be eavesdropped on. There are benefits to living in a country that speaks a different language!

London: Days One & Two

2009-09-28T02:30:00.001-04:00

Shortly after my whirlwind trip to Malta, we all packed up and went to London to see my sister Colleen graduate from university. And to see a bit of the town of course.

The day after arriving we decided to spend some time in Kensington Gardens. My dad thought it would be nice to rent a paddle boat for a bit. So we found the rental area and got Marion suited up in a lifejacket.

And then we found out why he wanted to rent the paddle boat. Look at the pure joy on his face at getting out of hard labor.

Of course Marion loved the ride. Dad enjoyed his relaxtion time.

And my sisters, Colleen and Erin, worked up a sweat trying to chase the ducks per Marion's instructions.

My mom and I did a bit of shopping during their boat ride and found food for the geese. So that was our next stop.

This goose didn't seem to understand Marion's technique. We realized why later; most people were feeding the geese from their hands.

We continued our walk around the gardens and found our way to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

We spent some time there relaxing.

Some more than others.

During our walk we saw some signs advertising a Peter Pan play.

We called and got some tickets for it for that afternoon, mentioning that we had a three month old infant with us. "No problem", the ticket agent said, "she doesn't need a ticket."

So we killed some time around the gardens until it was playtime. We walked over to the play tent, got our tickets, and went to find our seats. One person checked our tickets and waved us through. Then, we were stopped by a second person.

"Excuse me, I need to see a ticket for the infant", the woman said, motioning to three month old Betti asleep in her baby carrier.

"I'm sorry, what? She's three months old?!"

"Everyone needs a ticket."

Dad stepped in, "We were told she wouldn't need a ticket. She's three months old. If you aren't going to let us in, we want a full refund."

So yes, the people running this Peter Pan play expected us to pay for a full price children's ticket for a sleeping infant.

Now I know what you are thinking. Big deal Meghan! Why didn't you guys just pay for the ticket? How bad could it possibly have been?!

Ladies and Gents, here you go. They wanted us to pay 35£ for Betti to sleep through the performance on my lap. 35£!?!?

Yea, we got the hell out of there. And then the manager tried to sell that this was something typical in England.

I've checked with my English friends and that is baloney! I understand everyone needing a ticket, but you don't need to force people to buy a ticket. Just print out a ticket for infants! It really is that simple. But they wanted none of that- 35£ or no show for you! Silly really, they lost a total sale of six tickets because they wanted a ticket for Betti.

Ah, their loss. Marion was sad for a bit but we sold her on swimming at the hotel. She really is pretty easy to please.

So off to the hotel we went for some swimming and resting.

The next day was my sister Colleen's graduation day.

Marion wanted a hat of her own.

Then we settled in on our balcony (aka the children's section) for the ceremony.

They started off the ceremony with the following:
We welcome all of the families here today. However, parents, please mind your children. If they become disruptive or loud, please take them away.
Which basically meant we spent the entire ceremony in fear. Marion has not mastered her indoor voice yet and is a social butterfly who loves to talk and play. Therefore, disruptive. When this didn't work,

Brian took her to the hallway where he spent most of the ceremony.

I found all of this quite funny considering a lot of the guests (including graduate's parents) spent the ceremony in an adjoining room watching the ceremony via closed circuit TV. Concern about the kids getting out of control but you aren't going to make sure that the parents who paid the bills get to see their kids graduate in person?

Anyway, we did our part and I'm pretty sure we didn't piss anyone off!

We were all able to see Colleen walk despite being on "Operation Keep Marion Quiet". She graduated, mission accomplished!

Celebration was that night with Day Three in London the next day.

To be continued...

We have forward movement people.

2009-09-25T23:24:00.000-04:00

I was able to record a bit when she started doing this yesterday.

I see any me time I had disappearing in my future. Just this morning Betti managed to get to one of Marion's toys; she took one chomp on it and screamed. Uh, yay?

Seriously though, glad she finally managed to do it. She's been so upset trying lately! Maybe she'll sleep at night now? Please universe?

Flashback: Starbucks

2009-09-25T04:08:00.000-04:00

While going through my draft posts this week, I stumbled upon this gem that I wrote a year ago. Things have changed a lot in just a year. Anyway, I'm sharing my flashback with you. Enjoy.

or, the only place I can find a stinking blueberry muffin in this country.

Blueberry muffins hold a special place in my heart. They are on a short list of foods that help my morning sickness. The others are Kraft mac and cheese, fast food, and fried chicken.

So I'm basically in hell. None of these foods are easy to come by here. For the past week I've been surviving on McDonalds and Burger King. Somehow I have still managed to lose 2 kilos. That is a mystery.

So this morning, after I had puked in the sink, I said enough is enough! I pulled myself together, put Marion in the car, and headed for the Starbucks located a couple of towns away.

We arrived and I got four blueberry muffins. Pregnancy does weird things to women. I no longer cared that the muffins were 3.90CHF a pop. I just needed them.

So I got one, and it was good. And now I can't figure out what to eat for lunch.

Malta: Take One, Day Two

2009-09-24T04:50:00.001-04:00

Day one can be found here.

My second day in Malta was a bit rushed. My flight was scheduled to take off around two so I figured I'd try to squeeze in Valletta in the morning. I spent most of the morning running around Valletta so I don't have as many pictures as I do of Gozo.

First up, walk/run from the hotel to the ferry to take the boat over to Valletta. I made it.

Next up, wander around Valletta.

I had some time to see the sights until the movie I wanted to see, The Malta Experience opened for the day. It was obvious to me that there was a massive amount of history in Malta from only one day on the island. So I definitely wanted to see this movie to get a better handle on it all. Unfortunately it didn't start until 11am so I had some time to get lost in Valletta.

I finally found my way to St John's Cathedral.

Mass was going on so I decided to join in. When in, uh, Malta, right?

Well, this church was just gorgeous. I'm glad I stayed for mass, it really gave me a sense for the cathedral. Minus the men completing restoration work in the church. No tourists during mass but work is okay?

But back to the church. The lighting sucked so pictures were hard to get. You get the idea though.

And the detail?

Amazing.

I found my way to St Paul's Shipwreck Church. St Paul is widely considered to have brought Catholicism to the islands and is the patron saint of Malta. The church is home to St Paul's right wrist-bone and part of the column on which St Paul was beheaded. No pictures allowed, so you'll have to live with this.

Fort St Elmo was next on my list of stops for the day. I walked all the way there only to be told that it was closed; the police academy now use the fort for training.

So I walked down to the Lower Barracca Gardens to enjoy the views and relax a bit.

Finally it was time to see the movie. Worth it as I learned a ton about the island. I'm sure I could have learned all of it from Wikipedia or a quick Google search, but it was nice to not have to squeeze Googling in on my vacation.

However, I needed to book it back to the hotel after the movie in order to catch my flight back to Switzerland. So as soon as the movie was over I ran out of the theatre outside. No cabs, but there were some guys with horsedrawn carriages who I thought might be able to get me to my ferry (located on the other side of the island) quickly.

So I, with a baby strapped to my front, ran across the road and ask them, "How much to get me to the ferry, fast?"

"Miss, would you like to take a tour of the island?"

"No. I need to catch the ferry, now. Can you take me there quickly?"

"Sure. 50 euros."

"Ha! Are you crazy? No. I'll run." I turned around and started to leave.

At this point I was chased by a younger guy, looking to make a deal.

"Miss, how much were you thinking?"

I told him 10 euros, tops.

He responded with, "How about 20?"

This people obviously did not get the urgency of the matter so I laughed, said no for a last time, and started to book it to the ferry. And while I walked away, I could hear behind me, "15????"

I missed my ferry and had to wait for the next one. However, I ended up making my flight. And that's all that matters!

It was a good trip and I expected Brian home from his short business trip to Malta the following week. Little did we know that was not going to be the case and we would be coming back to Malta for a second time to visit Brian almost six weeks later.

Ballet, now with all the accessories

2009-09-23T02:48:00.001-04:00

I had to tear her out of these clothes after the class. I swear, she would go anywhere and do anything as long as she was wearing a skirt, a dress, or anything with sparkles/feathers/bows/etc.

Urnäsch Alpabfahrt

2009-09-22T02:29:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it to Urnäsch for the Alpabfahrt this past Saturday. It did not disappoint!

Urnäsch seemed to be the hot destination on Saturday. The train was so crowded, we sat in the bike room on the way there. We were fine with this, better to not disturb the others with our excited kids.

When we arrived, we waited for the cows and let the kids splash in a local fountain.

Pavel got a little adventurous. Sadly, it ended with him butt first in the water.

Around the same time Betti got a bit hungry. Luckily, I can feed her without using my hands now.

Finally, cows!

The first two were decorated.

They were followed by four men who were singing, smoking cigars, and dressed in traditional dress.

Then came a large amount of cows.

Followed by one very lucky car.

Which was followed by the baby cows, one herder, and one rambunctious dog. The bus was lucky enough to get caught up in all of this.

Bus schedule messed up by cows? Only in Switzerland.

After seeing all of the cows, we walked around a bit admiring the town and the gorgeous views. The grassy hills surrounding the town looked like velvet. Must come back to the Appenzell region.

I'm glad we choose to go to the Urnäsch Alpabfahrt; there was a market and activities for the kids. Things to keep Marion busy is enough to make my day a success!

The kids would have spent their entire day "milking" this cow.

"Mommy, we're not done yet!"

But there was a pig race and Mommy had some money on some pigs (3 and 5 baby!).

As luck would have it, pig number 3 won this race. I won my money back, woo hoo!

Someone tell that other pig which way the slop is.

After the race, we let the kids run around while we enjoyed some beverages.

"Hey, Daddy, what are you holding??"

"No more pictures Mommy!"

"I mean it!"

On our train ride back, we saw many more Alpabfahrts. None of them were as big as the one in Urnäsch but they all included traditional Appenzell dress and police escorts. This one was lucky enough to get stopped by our train; the men just continued to enjoy their cigars.

We had a fabulous day. Great weather, great cows, good beer, and a lucky number 3 pig! Really, can it get any better than that?

Boys Trip: St. Andrews Golf

2009-09-21T02:00:00.000-04:00

Since I doubt Brian is going to have time to update everyone on his trip to St Andrews in April 2009, I've decided to post some pictures from the trip.

Brian and my dad went to participate in the Father and Son (son in law in this case) Tournament that St Andrews hosts every year. They didn't win. :-)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing -Video Sharing - Photo Printing

6 months.

2009-09-19T10:18:00.005-04:00

Half a year already. Geez!

Well, Betti is working on sitting up now and almost has the hang of it. She first attempted it at the park the other day. She has since gotten much better.

This is a full two months before her sister was sitting up. Does that mean she'll walk sooner? Oh boy.

Despite only rolling from her back to her belly and only on her left side, Betti is trying her hardest to scoot and crawl by pulling her knees up under her body.

She is also constantly looking for Marion and wants to be with her. I wonder how long that will last?

In other news, I'm going to attempt to feed her solids any day now. I'm a little hesitant for several reasons:

1. I enjoy making baby food but that takes time and money. It will be cheaper than purchasing baby food in Switzerland, but it will still be more out of my pocket at the grocery store.

2. The mess. Oh the mess. At the beginning it isn't so bad but it goes downhill pretty fast from there.

3. The diapers that result from eating solid foods are nasty. Ugh, Brian may be on diaper duty soon.

Despite my hesitation, Betti is ready. So full steam ahead!

And to celebrate the half year mark, another comparison.
Betti at six months.

Marion at six months.