Ice Cream

Ah, ice cream! For Tara, spending the summer in Germany is synonymous with going into the city centre for an ice cream. Every day. Twice, if it was up to her. It's a huge step up from the commercial pre-packed ice cream we've been having in England so far. Thanks to lovely Italians that evacuate their home towns and villages in the summer to flood to Germany and run one ice cream parlour next to the other, there's plenty parlours to go to, and plenty flavours to choose from. Of course, if you're Tara you go for the one with Marshmallows in it. (Actually, the waiters are hugely grumpy and stressed but then who wouldn't be after swapping a sunny Italian town for exile in a rainy one?)

German-Italian ice cream with marshmallows

German village ice cream with friends, banana flavoured (the ice cream, and no posh choice there).

German-Italian ice cream with aunties. More marshmallows.

English ice cream with sugary waffles.

Just out of curiosity and for the historical record: One scoop of German ice cream in town centres (ca 30 flavours to choose from) and villages (about six flavours), 60ct. One scoop in the city (about 12 flavours), 80ct. One scoop in England (ca 12 flavours), GBP1.50, sugary cone add 50p (which is why we'd been having commercial pre-packed stuff so far). Quite a difference, isn't it?

Three

Three years can seem a long long time... actually they are a long long time! (Also, this entry would be a lot longer if this nasty tummy bug hadn't knocked me out last night...) We're eating cake, blowing candles, maing wishes, and thinking back.
Ah, my wonderful big pretty girl!

Cousins and Siblings (or News thereof)

"Ok, everybody! Watch me!" as Tara would say: Watch me and my cousin "Baby" Maja and tell me if you can see any similarities between us!
Honest, if you find one I'll blame it on the photographs, because I really can't see one at all, and it's nothing to do with the fact that Tara is twice her age now that Maja has come over to spend the summer (or rather two weeks thereof) with us.
Hang on, they both like baby dollies... and the cars... and the dolly pushchair... and, well, everything that the other gets to first, really... or maybe it's more a case of Tara spontaneously realising how much she likes and needs this very instant the things Maja has just decided to want to play with... oh, I'm not sure... I think I'll just stick with: my, how different they are; it's amazing!



Still, the occasional little struggle or pinch can't hurt their overall affection for each other. Maja screeches with delight when she lays eyes on Tara in the morning, and Tara is wanting to know exactly where Maja is when she gets up in the morning or comes home from nursery. Maja likes to express her fondness for Tara in spontaneous big hugs (Tara's not fond), while Tara keeps an eye on Maja and tries to make sure she does not hurt herself: "No, Maja you can't go outside, there's no grown-up outside, come back inside!" (Maja is not impressed).


Tara will make an excellent big sister! (And I realise how glad I am there's a significant age gap of over 3 years!)
Talking of which, we've been to our 21 week scan at which an elderly scan lady went over every layer of baby she could get hold of to confirm that our baby was of perfectly average appearance, of perfectly average health, and of perfectly average size - I didn't need her to tell me that I was having a perfectly average preganancy with perfectly average levels of discomfort, weight gain, mobility issues and slightly above-average skin problems. Tara in turn didn't need the lady to tell her that our baby is a perfect baby boy. Just like she knew I was having a baby before I realised, she knew she was having a baby brother, and had told us so matter-of-fact when asked on the way in.

Waiting for baby's 21-week scan

I guess that means noone will fight her for her dollies and dolly push chairs on a regular basis in the near future. Great news, isn't it?

And on that note we're off to Germany for the next two weeks, to eat a fresh Italian ice cream every day, and of course, to check out Maja's toys. Bet you there'll be something worth fighting over!