Wallpaper?

We are thinking of getting this wallpaper for a portion of Finlay's room.

Source: www.berlintapete.de

Goose Lunch

This week Finlay "attended" at the Embassy of the Nordic Countries* in Berlin for Wednesday's roast goose lunch. Finlay had a small amount of goose, a bit of dumpling and some red cabbage, and then a great deal of pumpkin cream dessert. However, during lunch, he frequently became distracted by the snowflakes falling outside the window and had to be taken outside. The cafeteria at the Embassy is frequented by embassy staff, tax advisors and lawyers, accountants and clever people from the German Council on Foreign Relations. It is extremely rare than children under the age of one ever participate in lunch, and Finlay was perhaps not on his best behaviour...

Nonetheless, aside from a spilled water class and perhaps some pumpkin cream that ended up on the table, all was well that ended well.

* In Berlin the Scandinavian countries Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway pooled their funds and built a combined embassy. Smart idea.

The Sweater!

Finlay has a new sweater which his godfather gave to him as a present! The sweater is from Argentina, where Dean was on vacation visiting an Alpaca ranch (or something like that). We don't think it is a coincidence that the sweater would fit very well in the decor of Dean's home. So would Finlay, as a matter of fact.

The sweater is a perfect gift for the past few days of cold weather we have been having. And extremely tasteful!

Thank you Dean!

Advent!

Here is Finlay waiting outside of the door this evening to see if Nikolaus brings him anything and Finlay helping Chistine to light the Advent candles. Note the cookie box next to the candles (the box is starting to become a very important part of our household, now that Finlay has determined that he likes cookies) and the Christmas Cat coming out of the apartment. OK, she's not a Christmas Cat. She's Puzzle, the other roommate who Finlay lives with. Puzzle and Finlay generally get along - there have only been a few scratches and pulled whiskers. Since Puzzle is equally interested in anything food-related, she also wants to see what Nikolaus will bring her. Perhaps a small bowl of Sheba - Empfehlung des Saisons...

Tomorrow morning we will see whether Nikolaus remembered to add Finlay to his list! Just like our tax returns, thank you notes and other important paperwork, we might have been somewhat late in filing the Antrag/application...

More snow!

Finlay in the snow, and snow falling near Finlay. Later, Finlay made a (very small) snow angel!

As a small Canadian, it is important that Finlay become exposed to snow as early as possible. Snowballs, snowshoes, snow forts and snowmen (and snow shovels, for the winters where he wants to earn his allowance...).

Teeter-totter

Yesterday was a "snow day". Here are Finlay and his father on a teeter-totter at the playground nearby. Finlay's mother took the picture. The snowsuit is a recent gift from Finlay's Canadian grandmother, Cathy.

Oma!

Finlay's German grandparents were in town two weeks ago for the big Ella-tea-drinking ceremony. Here are Finlay and his "Oma" at the kitchen table with a bicycle lock. Finlay's mother says that his Oma bought him a little flute and (almost) taught him how to play it!

A magic bird flew in at the birthday party

Only Finlay and his grandmother could see it!

A Birthday Party!

Finlay was invited to Ella's birthday party two weeks ago! Ella is one month older than Finlay (and has much more hair!). Everyone attended Ella's little party where everyone had to drink pretend tea out of little cups. That's what happens at little girls' birthday parties...

Somebody doesn't want to go to sleep...

Maybe there was banjo music playing in the other room...

Update

Hi,

It's been almost 3 weeks since we've posted here. No-one is on strike. However, we have recently experienced issues involving long-distance travel, visits by relatives, enhanced work demands and battery shortages in the Finlay household which have been responsible for the test pattern here on this blog in the past few weeks. We expect to resume regular service very soon. Upcoming programs will feature:

- Finlay wearing a delightful Argentinian sweater

- Finlay dressed better than his parents, thanks to his godfather

- Finlay outside (today) during a snow day

For those of you interested in developmental news, Finlay likes gingerbread, he claps and waves, he is learning to effectively express displeasure with things (waving his arms around and shouting), we're still working on progressing beyond the word "da!" and he can stack blocks on top of one another. Strangely, he seems equally happy putting his blocks back in the box as he does spreading them all over the floor.

For people thinking of upcoming birthday or Christmas presents, we recommend lemons. Finlay loves playing with them, throwing them at the cats, and rolling them across the floor.

All the best!