Zahra is getting big

Guess what? Zahra is big enough to sit in a high chair now! She sits with us at the table sometimes, at least when she is awake. The only problem is, she REALLY wants to eat food like us too. Not long to wait now though. She is 5 months old and she can start when she is 6 months.

The flowers in Switzerland are really pretty at the moment.

I saw these ones and said "Mama, I can't stop looking at these flowers! I think I won't be able to go home because I want to look at them all day!"

My cousin Thomas came to stay!

We had the best time just after Easter. My cousin Thomas and my Zia came to stay for 2 whole weeks. It was soooooooooooooo much fun having them around and I was very, very sad to see them go. I still get upset if I hear songs that remind me of them. Here is a photo of us 3 red-headed cousins together.

Thomas was very, very sweet with Zahra. He was so gentle with her and gave her lots of kisses. Zahra wasn't so sure about him at first. This is the first time they met!

Zahra loved her Zia though.

Thomas was the best fun to play with. We had lots of fun in my playroom and also when we went out. He has the best laugh and likes doing funny things with me.

Here is a nice photo of Zahra from when we all went to the Sports Club.

And one of me with Dada and Zahra on the swing.

Zahra got her passport

Well, it was a long time ago now, but Zahra got her passport! We had to go to Geneva to give the papers to the Australian Consulate and then later they sent us a passport for Zahra, with her picture in it and everything. We went to Geneva on the train. It was Zahra's longest ever train trip, but we stayed in the same country! Funny, hey?

Of course going to Geneva was a good chance to catch up with our friends there. Here are Alison, Maitreyee and Kanti with Dada and Zahra. They all seemed to like looking at Zahra. I was too busy playing in the playground with my friend Sohini to be in the photo.

My black eye

Look what I got at Judo yesterday! Well, it looks worse in real life, it was hard to get a good photo, but I got a nice black eye. A boy landed on me when he was doing a technique. It hurt at the time but it is OK now, in fact I am quite proud of it!

Zio came to visit

Zahra met her first family member other than me and Mama and Dada last week. Zio came for a quick visit and Zahra liked him a lot. I liked seeing him a lot too, and I cried when he left, sobbing "this is the saddest day since Noni left".

A ski holiday in Adelboden

Last week we went on a ski trip. We were very lucky because it snowed lots the day we arrived, and then was sunny for the rest of the week. We were also very lucky to get a room upgrade and stayed in a great big apartment with this awesome view.

I had ski school every day, which was lots of fun.

And Zahra even took a gondola to the top of the mountain, so that Mama could do a little bit of snowboarding while she slept.

When Zahra wasn't doing apres-ski, she used her time to practise new skills, like pressing up on her arms. She is getting strong.

Fasnacht 2009

Another Fasnacht is over and I loved it just as much as ever. This time Dada took me to the Morgestraich at 4am on Monday morning. That afternoon I went in to see the parades, first with Mama and then with Dada. I dressed up as a bear, as you can see!

In the parades, wagons with these clown kind of guys called Waggis come around and the Waggis either throw out lollies or cover you in confetti.

On the Tuesday, the day for kids, my friend Zoe borrowed my bear costume and I was a Chinese princess.

The kids' day is great, because then we get to throw the confetti.

I also gave out most of the lollies I had got from the Waggis to other kids.

Here I am, hanging out with my friends.

It was Zahra's first Fasnacht, and here she is hanging out with her friend Lyn too! Well, they are there somewhere under those green hoods.

Out and about

Well, it's school holidays here and we've been having lots of fun. Here are some photos of what we've been up to. This one is just to show you how Zahra has to get rugged up to go out in Winter.

But last weekend was our first warm weather. It was a whole 14 degrees and we loved it and took the chance to take off all our coats and hang out in the sunshine on the Rhine.

For the first few days of the holidays Mama and Zahra and I went to stay with my friend Emilie, who has moved to a village in Alsace called Truchtersheim. Her dad was born there and now she and her family have moved back to live in a house on her grandparents' farm. I love it there, and so does Mama. She says she could move there tomorrow, but I think that has a lot to do with the French patisseries.

Truchtersheim is very close to Strasbourg, so we spent a couple of afternoons there and of course I had to go on the merry-go-round again. And again and again.

Here is a nice photo of Zahra at a birthday party last week. She is with Lilith, my friend who loves her a lot, and Serap, Lilith's mum.

This photo is just to show you how much fun it is having a little sister to dress up and make look silly.

Zahra crosses the border

Not last weekend but the weekend before Zahra crossed her first international border, when we drove to Germany for lunch. It only took about 15 minutes to get to the restaurant (and 5 minutes to get to Germany), but still, it is her first visit to another country, so we had to take a photo to remember it.
This trip reminded us that we needed to organise her Australian passport. This involves us sending lots of paper to Berlin and them sending it back, and then sending it all to Geneva, then us going there in person, then maybe one day we get the passport. But the first problem was getting a passport photo of Zahra. It went much better than we thought it would, and could you ask for a cuter passport photo?!?

Meanwhile, we have just been growing and playing. Here are Lyn and Zahra starting to get interested in each other.

Here am I dressing up as my favourite again - Pippi Longstocking. This was just to wear to kindergarten today.

And me doing crazy Pippi-ish things.

Life rolls on

Well, I never really got to have a twin, so this will have to do I suppose. Zahra's not looking her best really, going through the non-teenager pimply phase of life. But I like her jumper...

Last Saturday my kindy friend Joshua had his 5th birthday party. I was pleased to read that it was a pirate party, as then I could wear the pirate costume Nana sent me last year. I even found a parrot to sit on my shoulder, which is quite pirate-y.

Meanwhile Zahra has started giving off smiles, which we all love. We haven't quite managed to capture a big one with the camera yet, but here's a sample. I find her very cute at times, although at other times I block my ears so I don't have to hear her crying.

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year from Yasmin, Zahra, Steven and Janet! We wish you all a very happy and peaceful and healthy year. I made sure our little family partied on New Year's Eve, with a party bomb that explodes lots of toys and streamers and hats and noisy things. I stayed up to watch the fireworks from the roof (they started at 12:30am), and was very happy to see a smiley face firework. Even if it was upside down! Anyway, here I am cuddling with Zahra, which I am sure I will do a lot of this year.

We had Zahra's first car ride the other day. She seemed to like it. We went to the sports club for lunch on a nice sunny day and it was very yummy.

Introducing Zahra's first little friend - Lyn! She was born on December 27 and is the little sister of my Swiss friend Zoe. We were so excited to meet her, and so shocked to see how big Zahra was in comparison to her! Lyn weighed more than Zahra did when she was born, but as you can see, there is a big difference now. Could she have grown SO much in 4 weeks?!?

Zahra has been a busy baby

Well it has all been happening for Zahra in the last few days. On Friday we celebrated her 1 week birthday. Serap, who was there to look after me at the birth, came to eat cake with us, and brought her daughter too - my friend Lilith.

Then on Saturday Zahra had her first bath. Of course being the big sister I had to test if the water was OK.

Zahra actually seemed to like the bath. She was crying when she got in, but soon settled down and relaxed in the nice warm water. I got her a warm towel afterwards and she liked that too.

Later that day she had her first outing. It was only 2 degrees outside but luckily she didn't have far to go - just to the apartment underneath us, where they were celebrating finishing the renovations and getting new tenants. Because they have a different entrance to their apartment, it meant Zahra did have to go outside.

Here she is with Mama at the entrance to our building.

To celebrate Zahra's arrival, our landlord decorated our front door with these beautiful flowers.

They are to welcome Zahra to her new home and give her strength. Isn't that sweet? We feel very special coming home to our decorated door now.

More Zahra

I really wanted to have my photo taken with Zahra on my chest. I think it turned out very nicely. You can see her in her sleeping bag too. It is a bit big for her, but she will grow fast. Especially now that she is getting lots of Mama's milk!