Immunizations have been one of the challenges of returning from living abroad. Switzerland requires far less vaccines than the U.S. does. This dispartity has led to an ugly "shot" session for each of my girls. It started with Madeleine last August, when we visited the public health clinic to get her up-to-date for school. She threw the biggest fit I've ever seen. We finally got the four shots done--and then were informed she still needed a TB test and two more shots.
Camille was next on the hit list, with five vaccines. She was extremely sad when we left the doctor's office. She also had a horrible reaction on her leg where she got her chicken pox vaccine.
Finally, Elodie finished the course with four shots (for five vaccines) yesterday. She was a very brave girl. Elodie cried, but she proudly showed off her four different bandages yesterday. (Camille also got another shot yesterday, and Elodie and Madeleine have to return for two more shots in the next few months.)
It's been a painful road to make up for differences in health expectations, but we're thankfully almost at the end of it.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Toothless
An interesting event transpired a few weeks ago--both Elodie and Madeleine lost teeth a few days apart. Elodie lost her first tooth, and Madeleine lost her third. 
Birthday Girls
Birthdays abounded in May. Camille turned two (and celebrated three times), and Elodie turned five. Camille had no clue about birthdays, but she figured out what wrapped presents were by the third celebration.
Elodie couldn't WAIT to be five and told everyone about her upcoming birthday for months. Hopefully the day was as exciting as she anticipated. She got toys (Littlest Pet Shop and a habitat for all the bugs she collects outside), so hopefully that made her day.
Preschool Outings
Elodie continues to have creative field trips at preschool. Last week she went to a fish shop; recently we visited birds at the Audobon Society; one week we took a tour at the Arboretum. Here are pictures from two of her recent field trips.
In April, we visited the Jackson Wetlands, a natural preserve. The mud and puddles made the outing an adventure for all. Some enjoyed the mud more than others.
A few weeks later we visited a pumpkin and Christmas tree farm. The farm features tours and live animals during the off season. The kids got to see a new calf, take a hay ride, and plant pumpkin seeds. The picture of Elodie and the farmer is quite tender. What you don't see is that Elodie stuck her finger in a hole in the farmer's jeans a few seconds later.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Elodie's Mexican Fieldtrip
Elodie had a great fieldtrip with her preschool yesterday. They learned about food in class on Tuesday and visited Chevy's Mexican restaurant on Thursday. The kids got to tour the kitchen, see chips and salsa being made, and explore the enormous fridges. Then they got to handle tortilla dough and watch tortillas being made for each of them. Next the Chevy's cook served them each with a lunch of a bean burrito and french fries. And finally, all of the kids went home with sombraros. We had about fifteen kids with us, and Chevy's did the whole production at absolutely no cost. Wow! I was really impressed. (We won't tell Madeleine about the tour because she'll be mad that she had to go to boring school instead.)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Random Pictures
Camille and Madeleine sporting their green at a St. Patrick's Day parade.
Camille at Easter egg hunt. Elodie with her St. Pat's "green."
Camille and Elodie at a local Easter egg hunt.
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March Highlights
No, we haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I'm just not as good about updating the blog as I should be.
Here are a few of our highlights of late:
-New car: We’ve been renting a minivan since we moved to Oregon, and we finally bought one of our own this past week. We now own a black Honda Odyssey. Russ did all of the research, negotiating, and purchasing. (He enjoys that kind of thing a lot, so more power to him.) I like the van because it has a rearview camera when you back up. The kids like the van because it has a built-in DVD player. They want to watch a movie whenever we get in the van, something we’re going to have to make some rules about. Before we got the van, Camille screamed every time I buckled her into her car seat. Now she climbs in by herself so that she can get the “show” started as soon as possible.
-Spring break: Madeleine and Elodie were both home all week for spring break. It turned into a pretty uneventful week because the weather was horrible. (Insinuation here: the house was a disaster and Mom was going crazy.) Russ took Friday off with the plan that we’d visit the Oregon coast for a couple of days. Snow on the coast (a total rarity) changed our minds, so we opted for some indoor activities closer to home. We took the girls to a very crowded children’s museum on Friday, where they had a great time despite being body-to-body. Friday night, Elodie and Madeleine attended Horton Hears a Who with Russ. And Saturday afternoon, I took the older two to a fun indoor swimming pool with a slide, a huge water feature, and a rope swing. (You should have seen Madeleine climb up that rope swing and then drop to the pool below. I was really impressed and doubt I have the arm strength to do the same.)
Kid Highlights:
-Madeleine has settled into her routine at school. She really likes her teacher and classmates. Waking up at 6:45 is still a struggle, but she often manages to get ready in time for the bus at 7:20. (If not, one of us drives her to school which is less than a mile away.) Madeleine is still drawing all of the time and even made me an enormous 12-panel drawing for St. Patrick’s Day. We also try to go swimming about once a week, which she loves. Despite telling us that “boys play sports,” Madeleine’s agreed to try some tennis lessons this spring.
-Elodie is a total crack-up lately, leading me to believe she may turn into a class clown. She loves to laugh and tease. Elodie has become (or re-become) a huge Nemo fan lately, and she will often quote her favorite (and silliest) lines from the movie. She always tells us who the funniest people are (like her Uncle Steve). Elodie also spends a lot of time playing, especially when Madeleine is home to play with her.
-Camille will be twenty-three months tomorrow. That means this child is almost two-years-old. What? How did that happen?
As an old, wise woman, Camille has a growing vocabulary. Some of her words reflect the fact that she’s a third child: Nemo, Dora, and Barbie are all in her vocabulary. Her fanciest word is “butterfly.” Camille has some interesting behavior, which may also reflect her birth order. Last night, when Elodie was lagging behind, Camille turned around, said “Come on,” and beckoned Elodie with her hand. Later, when Camille spilled her drink at Chucky Cheese, she insisted on helping me wipe it up with the napkins. But she didn’t stop there—she insisted on wiping the glass in front of the prizes as well.
Here are a few of our highlights of late:
-New car: We’ve been renting a minivan since we moved to Oregon, and we finally bought one of our own this past week. We now own a black Honda Odyssey. Russ did all of the research, negotiating, and purchasing. (He enjoys that kind of thing a lot, so more power to him.) I like the van because it has a rearview camera when you back up. The kids like the van because it has a built-in DVD player. They want to watch a movie whenever we get in the van, something we’re going to have to make some rules about. Before we got the van, Camille screamed every time I buckled her into her car seat. Now she climbs in by herself so that she can get the “show” started as soon as possible.
-Spring break: Madeleine and Elodie were both home all week for spring break. It turned into a pretty uneventful week because the weather was horrible. (Insinuation here: the house was a disaster and Mom was going crazy.) Russ took Friday off with the plan that we’d visit the Oregon coast for a couple of days. Snow on the coast (a total rarity) changed our minds, so we opted for some indoor activities closer to home. We took the girls to a very crowded children’s museum on Friday, where they had a great time despite being body-to-body. Friday night, Elodie and Madeleine attended Horton Hears a Who with Russ. And Saturday afternoon, I took the older two to a fun indoor swimming pool with a slide, a huge water feature, and a rope swing. (You should have seen Madeleine climb up that rope swing and then drop to the pool below. I was really impressed and doubt I have the arm strength to do the same.)
Kid Highlights:
-Madeleine has settled into her routine at school. She really likes her teacher and classmates. Waking up at 6:45 is still a struggle, but she often manages to get ready in time for the bus at 7:20. (If not, one of us drives her to school which is less than a mile away.) Madeleine is still drawing all of the time and even made me an enormous 12-panel drawing for St. Patrick’s Day. We also try to go swimming about once a week, which she loves. Despite telling us that “boys play sports,” Madeleine’s agreed to try some tennis lessons this spring.
-Elodie is a total crack-up lately, leading me to believe she may turn into a class clown. She loves to laugh and tease. Elodie has become (or re-become) a huge Nemo fan lately, and she will often quote her favorite (and silliest) lines from the movie. She always tells us who the funniest people are (like her Uncle Steve). Elodie also spends a lot of time playing, especially when Madeleine is home to play with her.
-Camille will be twenty-three months tomorrow. That means this child is almost two-years-old. What? How did that happen?
As an old, wise woman, Camille has a growing vocabulary. Some of her words reflect the fact that she’s a third child: Nemo, Dora, and Barbie are all in her vocabulary. Her fanciest word is “butterfly.” Camille has some interesting behavior, which may also reflect her birth order. Last night, when Elodie was lagging behind, Camille turned around, said “Come on,” and beckoned Elodie with her hand. Later, when Camille spilled her drink at Chucky Cheese, she insisted on helping me wipe it up with the napkins. But she didn’t stop there—she insisted on wiping the glass in front of the prizes as well.
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