Holding the baby

Needless to say Bluet and Ilona's lives have been slightly disrupted by the arrival of their baby brother. This mainly manifests in getting to spend less time with Emily, as Wilder just eats and sleeps. Otherwise, they seem quite happy both that he is here, and that they don't have to spend every minute with him, but can still run around the garden etc. They have also both on occasion asked to hold him - Bluet is very keen to hold him whilst standing up. We are not so keen on this.


  





Oh, and Ilona with the help of Veronika decorated his door before Wilder came home


and speaking of coming home, here he is packed in his car seat ready for the first journey home.

developmental stages

Wilder, today; reaching a milestone (reading), aged 7 days



Bluet, 26 April 2011, aged 9 days, same book



(Sorry Ilona, we don't seem to have taken photos of you with this book)

Wilder in the hospital

His first starring role

In between all that

it was Bluet's last week of Kindergarten this week - after the summer holidays she will be in school. Last Friday we went to her Kindergarten Circus fest, where Bluet took centre stage as one of the clowns that were the glue that linked the performance together. Unfortunately it was interrupted by a monsoon, and our view was obscured by other parents heads, but aside from that the clowns were very funny, as Bluet had promised (especially when she had 4 hands). Here is a poor quality video of the whole event.

Bluet and Ilona meet their baby brother

Ilona and Bluet got to meet Wilder at the hospital two times before he came home. Here is some exclusive footage of their first meeting. Important questions from Ilona at the hospital:

before the baby was born: "Mama, why do you have 2 pairs of flip flops?"
after the baby was born: "Mama, was I a girl baby?"



And the kids back home, waiting for the return of Emily and Wilder

New Baby Alert!

He's finally here. Wilder Corse Collins was born on Monday (10th July) at 8.11AM, here in Zurich, weighing in at 3.14kg (6.9lbs) and 50cm in length (20"). As with both other kids, he was born in the middle of a rainstorm. The name was inspired by the American authors Laura Inglles and Thornton. At the moment he seems impossibly small. Emily and Wilder returned from the hospital yesterday morning, and so far everything is going swimmingly. Bluet and Ilona both seem delighted by their baby brother.

ballet

for the last year Bluet has been doing ballet at the local ballet school. That meant it was time for a large production. So last weekend Gran Helen, the biggest ballet fan in our family, flew over from the UK in the main to watch Bluet's performance as a fish. This involved numerous dress rehearsals and kept Bluet up late every night over the weekend. And then in the end she was only a small part of the performance as all the other kids in the school also got to perform in 'Rot Blau Gelb'. Still, a tired Bluet seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and it was fun for all of us to see her perform on stage. There were no photos during the performance, so this is what I have:





walking back from the dress rehearsal eating a much needed banana



Meanwhile, whilst Bluet was out dancing Ilona for some reason decided she needed to dress up in her by now far too small zebra costume



Other popular activities whilst Gran Helen was here included colouring masks of animals



and here is Bluet's photo of a rainbow