Happy Holidays from the Coyles!

We had some issues making a decision on the best photo for our holiday card photos this year...so I'm including both versions! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Move Over Thomas - It's M.I.C.K.E.Y

I have to admit before becoming a parent, I always thought it was over-the-top how it seemed like parents catered to their kids whims when it came to new toys, fads, etc. I especially didn't get how people would go crazy at the holidays to get their kid the "it" toy. As a parent of a 2 year old, now I get it. When Brady first started showing interest in Elmo for the first time, we got him Elmo PJs, Elmo books, Elmo toys, etc. He LOVED Elmo and loved this stuff. It made us so happy to see his face light up when he saw Elmo that we were happy to get these Elmo items for him.

And then Brady moved onto trains. He LOVED Thomas and everything Thomas related. He still does...but when it comes to what show he'd like to watch in the afternoon when he's allowed to watch some TV, it's no longer Thomas & Friends, it's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I'm a little sad when I see that we have 20 new & unwatched Thomas episodes on our DVR waiting (sad & lonely) to be watched by Brady. Meanwhile, we only get 1 new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode every 2-3 days, so Brady has literally watched some of these episodes that we keep on our DVR 4-5 times. And the Mickey Mouse thing was a total fluke. I was scouring ITunes before our US trip this summer. I was looking for some shows to let him watch as I was worried about entertaining him myself for 9 straight hours in close quarters...with tons of other peace & quiet-loving people around us in the plane. I found Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and downloaded a couple of episodes. That was it. Brady has been mesmerized ever since. It's actually pretty cute. So, this Christmas he will be getting a few Mickey Mouse toys to go along with his collection of Elmo & Thomas toys. But still, I feel a little sad to think he'll be moving onto something new soon. I guess it's good to try to document these phases. They are all cute and allow him to learn new things.

An Addition to "A Cold in Any Language"

Back last February after a bout of nasty colds, I blogged about how some "sick" words are more fitting in the German language. (http://thecoyleconnection.blogspot.com/2009/02/cold-in-any-language.html) I have recently learned a new vocabulary word due to some issues we've been having with Brady. Once again, when I looked up the translation, I learned that the German word is much more fitting than the English word. Here is my new vocabulary word:

die Verstopfung - constipation or blockage

We Like to Move It

One of Brady's favorite songs is "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real. He sings it everytime he hears it and often dances. Although I didn't get the best parts on camera, you can get a glimpse here of some of his patented moves.

Brady's Rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy"

Popcorn & Haircuts

Ever since I decided that Brady didn't deserve the inadvertent bowl cuts that I was was giving him when I cut his hair, we've been biting the bullet and paying the 40 CHF (approx. $40) to get his haircut at the toy store downtown. (See previous posts about haircuts.http://thecoyleconnection.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-in-front-party-in-back.html) The woman there is wonderful, does a great job, and Brady will actually sit still while watching videos (Thomas and Friends auf Deutsch) and eating popcorn. In fact, the first time Brady ever had popcorn was while getting his hair cut. He loves it.

The other day, Bill had a haircut for himself scheduled for Saturday morning. When he came home afterwards and sat down to eat breakfast with us, Brady said, "Daddy has popcorn." Bill and I looked at each other because we were not eating popcorn with our breakfast. I actually thought maybe Brady was confusing Bill's scrambled eggs for popcorn. Then it dawned on me. Bill had just gotten back from a haircut...Brady thought Daddy also gets popcorn when he has his hair cut. The present tense Brady had used in "Daddy has popcorn" had thrown me for a loop. So, we spent the next few minutes telling Brady how he was the only one who got popcorn with his haircut. It was so cute, and we were pretty amazed with the connection that he made. He continues to astound us.

Brady actually had a haircut yesterday and got his much beloved popcorn. He was also photographed to be used in potential marketing materials for the salon. They are supposed to send me a copy via email, so if I get it, I'll post it to the blog!

From 12/16/09 -

Here is the photo from the salon:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Christmas spirit struck us early this year. We've had the tree up for a week and Brady was very serious about decorating it. We've also been listening to Christmas tunes for a few weeks too. The Christmas cards are done and last night Brady and I finished his letter to Santa. By request, here is the letter we are sending to Santa:

December 2009

Dear Santa –

My name is Brady and I am two and a half years old. This is my second year writing you, and I am very excited every time I see Santa or Sami Clause around town. I also have learned how to sing “Rudolph, The Red Nose Reindeer” and “Frosty The Snowman”. I think I have been a good boy (at least my parents tell me that I am). I love Thomas the Tank Engine and Mickey Mouse and hope I get some Thomas or Mickey toys for Christmas. I hope I do not get coal. I hope you have a good flight on Christmas. Say hello to the elves and reindeer for me. I have included some snowflakes that I made for you. I will make sure to leave some cookies and carrots out for you to snack on during Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas!

Brady

I drafted the letter and checked with Brady to make sure he felt it reflected what he wished to convey to Santa. In a show of agreement, Brady made his mark (by writing in yellow and green marker on the letter) and Brady mailed it this morning. We also included a snowflake for Santa that Brady decorated with glue and glitter. I think Santa will be impressed. Brady has had a blast spotting Santa across town on advertisements, store fronts, etc. He has also almost memorized "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" entirely - pretty impressive given that we just started singing it with him a few weeks ago.

Santa also visited our Moms & Tots last week. Although Brady was very excited to talk to Santa, he wouldn't get near enough to take a photo unless I was sitting with him. Maybe next year, we'll actually get a photo of Brady sitting happily with Santa. :)

I'm Sending out an SMS...

Aside from the normal communication issues we experience living in Zurich (read...different language), I have unfortunately stumbled upon another communication problem in the last few months as I've developed some friendships with Europeans outside of my Expat circle of friends.

Most folks living here have a cell phone (referred to as a "Handy" or "Natel") and text profusely. Given that I'm not a teenager and grew up at a time when my first cell phone was in a big black bag that was neither convenient or useful, (Only to be used in emergencies and it was stashed under the seat of my car.) I'm not really a big texter. In fact...I HATE texting. I find it ridiculous to be using one button to type 1-4 different characters. I'm also not up on my shortcuts, like CUL8ER for example. (I don't even know what these things are called...so I'll continue to refer to them as shortcuts.) I usually email or call my friends when I want to meet up with them. But here...some folks I know don't even have email accounts. They text (or SMS as they refer to it) people.

Now, there have been a couple of big obstacles to me using SMS'ing as a communication mode:

1. As I've already expressed...I HATE Texting
2. My cell phone is a Swiss cell phone and because my presets were all German, any shortcutting or prediction tools that my phone may have were not working for me and my English texts. So, before I realized that I could disconnect the setting, every time I typed anything, the predictor would put some weird German word in for me.
3. I'm super slow at texting and don't like using non-gramatically correct sentences/wording, etc. As some of you may know, a big pet peeve of mine is incorrect grammar in emails. Same goes for SMS'ing.
4. Since I quit the working world after the birth of Brady, I have avoided cell phones like the plague. I had to have a Blackberry for work and was TOO connected. So, I've enjoyed only having a cell phone for emergencies and the occasional meet-up phone call.

But one big plus SMS'ing has going for it, is in the case of Brady's spielgruppe teachers and some of my friends from German class, I'm just not as comfortable with my German speaking and so I've taken to texting. So, if Brady is sick or if I have a question, I just text.

For the longest time, friends from German class would send me SMS messages and I would have no idea, because I hardly ever checked my phone. But now, I'm slowly entering the world of an American teenager. ;) (Emoticon included!)

Here it is...your moment of zen

So, I've been trying to figure out how best to blog my feelings about Switzerland's 57% vote in favor of banning minarets. While I was pondering, I ran across the following clip from The Daily Show. I've decided to let them speak for me. So, without further ado...here it is, your moment of zen.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

Clearly from the looks of it, these are all toothpaste tubes, right? Nope!!! Here in Switzerland, tons of stuff is sold in tubes. In the US, mainly toothpaste is sold in tubes. From left to right, we have: condensed milk, mayonnaise, toothpaste, mustard, tomato paste. And I forgot that I had a tube of liver pate that I could have taken a picture of as well. (Note...the liver pate is NOT for us...it's a gag gift for a friend.) The odd thing is that everything BUT the toothpaste is in a tube that holds its shape when squeezed. The toothpaste tube does not hold its shape which makes getting the last half of the toothpaste out of the tube very tough. As I mentioned before, the product packaging her in Switzerland is funny. (To be honest, the mayonnaise in a tube is a nice development - wish we had this one back home.)

On an unrelated note...I have not BLOGGED in ages. (As you probably have noticed.) In order to not feel stressed by the backlog of posts I need to do, I figured I ease back in with this easy post. Enjoy and hopefully more posts will be on their way shortly.