Friday, June 3, 2011

Margit Sziget - Margit Island


In the center of the Danube, in the center of Budapest, there is an island. The whole island is a big green space that is so refreshing just about any time. Great for picnics, wandering, playing. There are playgrounds, but we enjoy just being in a big field more. It is more relaxing for me because there is no pushing the swing, spotting under the slide etc. I like to let Szonja run pretty free, and I like that she gets a sense of boundaries this way. She can get pretty far, but know when to come back.

Szomszéd ünnep - party with the neighbors!


The neighbor's eldest granddaughter - she idolizes her a bit. "See my socks?" "Help me down the stairs!"
There was some rain. No problem for this umbrella loving girl!

How exciting to see real snails! She has a "thing" for snails. Too bad she stepped on a bunch of them, though she didn't notice.


We are lucky to have a few kids who share our back yard.
Coloring station! 6 months seems like a big difference, but in a year or so they will seem so close to the same age!
Hugs from Emma

"Szia Kokusz! Szia Kokusz!" over and over. I think she enjoyed the two dogs at the party more than anything else.
If only it could be like this everyday...

Cool swing!

My child would never try to feed a dog, and then after put it in her own mouth, oh no!

The district sponsored a day for neighbors to get together, have fun, and eat! What a great idea! We live so close to so many people, many whom I have seen on the street or in the store, but never realized we live so close. Everyone cooked together, drank together, some of the old ladies were quite drunk even. So nice to see them let loose and dance! Oh if only it could be like that all the time, like a little village. Of course, as someone who has lived in a village, it seems natural to me to know and see the people who live around you. I think for people who grow up in a city it is more difficult to give up that privacy. But still, I think the advantages of being close with your neighbors far outweighs what you give up with privacy. When we had to call the ambulance when Szonja had a febrile seizure I didn't think twice about running to the neighbors in my pajamas. Yes, sometimes they give advice I don't want to hear. Yes, sometimes it is annoying to hear them walking up and down the stairs. Yes, I wish we had our own private back yard. But still. The day after this party I was walking down the street from the playground and could say hi to one of our neighbors using his name and get a big smile in return. These little things make living it the city much easier for this village girl!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Golden Hair


I love the way she gets a golden halo when the sun shines on her hair.

Our Doll House




After painting we added stickers, cut out a couch and chair for the people, added a plastic box bed with tissue paper bedding and played for a good 45 minutes! Yeah! This will be sort of a test run to see if it would be worth getting her a dollhouse for her birthday.

Painting a House


So for some reason I couldn't figure out how to get these photos to go in their proper order. But I bet you can figure it out! This is not a kid who minds getting messy. I think she doesn't really see the point of paintbrushes. THIS is what she wants me to let her do every morning at around 7 30, when I am just waking up and pouring some coffee. Oh, if only I could just let her go at it.




She did briefly try the paintbrush...
The paint on her body actually looked pretty cool. She also enjoyed how the water turned blue. We now have a slightly blue ring around our bathtub. Nice, it matches the green one from the last time I let her paint with this paint.









Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Up Up and Away!


Does this picture make you nervous too? In general I am a very non-nervous mother. I let her be pretty daring, but these stone steps in our back yard always give me visions of her tumbling down. The things is, that she has actually started walking up them, alternating feet, without holding on to anything! Ah, bite your nails! I am impressed, and happy she can practice this skill. But could we put some kind of padding on these?! Her trips up to go on the slide also foil my plans to sit on the swing daydreaming. Ah, maybe next summer.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Dandelions: the most unappreciated flower






Dandelions are really the best flower as far as I'm concerned. The grow plentifully, you can let kids pick as many as they want. You can draw on your skin with them. Their leaves are edible. You can make crowns. They turn from suns, to moons, to stars. They grant wishes. When we walk to and from the playground, or around the city, we often stop to pick dandelions. If we're lucky, there are ants living on them.

Monday, April 4, 2011

MONDAY











I love the dirty fingernails.




We have missed Finny! Szonja loves to play with plasticine these days.


The usual end to the day.