Sorry it's been so long since our last blog. But we've been trying to stay out of trouble and keeping busy with a few trips here and there. We've been to Montreal twice, London twice and Domenic has been to Singapore, Zurich, Rome, and other cities within Germany (Frankfurt and Siegen). So, where shall we begin?

Montreal in the Fall
As expected, our fall trip to Montreal was quite hectic. We only had two weeks and since most of our friends and family hadn't met Kaleia yet, they were all eager to see her (not so much us, we soon found out ). Our days were booked....breakfast with so-and-so, lunch at this one's house, supper at that one's place. Although it was great to spend time with our family and friends, it was a stressful two weeks. We tried to escape for a beautiful autumn hike in the Laurentiens, but we learned fairly quickly that it's not always easy turning beautiful moments we imagine into reality. The reality was: we drove 20 minutes, Kaleia was crying for 18 minutes, so we decided to turn back and abandoned the trip.

Before we knew it, our vacation was over; we were back in Berlin feeling like we really did not have much of a vacation!!

London London
The two trips to London were short, but sweet. The first was the three of us, and we were there for 5 days.We tried to see as many of the main attractions as you possibly can with a 6 month old (Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Eye, Big Ben, to mention a few). It felt like we were spending half our time looking for/at attractions, and the other half looking for a Starbucks (for Kaleia's next diaper change). There's nothing better than having a warm grande Latte after changing a dirty diaper. As Dom was in Derby for the last two days for work, Kaleia and I explored the city on our own. The second trip to London was in December with Kaleia, my mom and I. My mom came to visit us in Berlin for two weeks. Again, it was a short, three-day trip, but we certainly made the most of it!

Life in Berlin
While at home, we've been keeping busy going to Baby Moves, Mums and Bumps, long walks, coffees and suppers at friends' houses. We explored numerous WeihnachtsZauber (Christmas markets) around Berlin, and discovered Glühwein (red wine, combined with spices and typically served warm). I also had my first "Moms' night out without baby"! Although it was only supper at a neighbourhood restaurant with three of my friends, I had a really nice time. Kaleia, on the other hand, was not at all happy with the situation, and she was not holding back on letting her daddy know exactly how she felt! When I came home that night, I've never seen Dom so happy to see me (…or my breasts?…).

Kaleia is doing great! She is such a wonderful happy baby! She's growing up and changing so quickly. Everyday she surprises us with something new. Her sweet sounds, beautiful smile, adorable giggle, delicious little cheeks.....we are so in love!!!!! Not to mention, she's also become quite the little traveller. Flying with her has been a non-issue (knock on wood), and she has impressed us with how well she's adapted to every new location we've taken her.

Kaleia's greater independence has allowed me the opportunity to focus on myself (somewhat). I started going to a gym, Mrs. Sporty, that opened right in our building! I also try to go running twice a week (notice I wrote TRY). And since carrying my 20-pounder is taking its toll on me physically, I also started going for regular massages. Getting a massage in Berlin is a whole experience in itself. Email me if you want to know the details…I had mentioned to Dom that I would only restart my German lessons if he found a teacher that would come to our home. Well lo and behold, he actually managed to find someone to come once a week. So in addition to everything else, I'm back to studying Deutche - a language I'm convinced I will never learn. But it's definitely handy in our day to day lives.

Montreal During the Holidays
Our second trip to Montreal was during the holidays. We were there for four weeks and it was pretty close to perfect. We spent the first week in Montreal, basically Christmas shopping which we hadn't started yet. Then we spent two weeks in St-Denis-de-Brampton (Eastern Townships), where we rented a cozy log cabin by the lake. Some of the highlights included snowshoeing in the woods after a fresh snowstorm, skating and playing hockey on the frozen lake with some locals, chats by the fire (indoors and outdoors), introducing our little niece and nephew to s'mores, and quality time with friends and family who came by to see us. What more can you ask for? Domenic was also thrilled that we were only 20 minutes away from the Bombardier museum in Valcourt, so of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go for a visit! Our last week resembled our fall trip. We were back in Montreal and every day was booked with several visits. Poor Kaleia…it seemed like every time she opened her eyes following a nap, she would be in a different place.

The only lowlights we can think of are that we didn't get the chance to see everyone we wanted, and it was -100 degrees Celsius for the last part of our trip. But besides that, it was perfect!

We've been back to Berlin for 2 weeks and our heads have just now stopped spinning from loads of laundry, piles of mail to sift through, paying bills, making purées, and paediatrician, osteopath and follow-up appointments for Kaleia. It already feels like we need another vacation!!!

Have a quick look at the photo album. We've tried to keep it to a minimum (which I think every parent finds difficult). Bye for now!

All our love,

Chantal, Kaleia and Domenic
xoxoxo