Back at it!

After a little more than 4 weeks back in the US, Claire and I returned to Switzerland last Saturday with big plans.  Fortunately for me and our fellow passengers, Claire was an angel on both flights, sleeping most of the first flight (8 hours to Denmark), and quietly playing with my iPad on the second flight (2 hours from Denmark to Switzerland).  Even though these marathon flights are becoming bizarrely commonplace for me, I am still unable to sleep on the plane, so I was exhausted upon arrival.  Claire, however, was full of energy and ecstatic about seeing her daddy after a month away, running past customs and out into the arrivals area to find him and give him more than a few loving hugs.

Jet lag got the best of me again this time, causing much stress and anxiety.  For the first four nights, Claire slept a few hours, then got up and played for a few hours before sleeping through until the morning when I had to literally drag her out of her bed at about 8:30 a.m.  On that fifth night, though, she slept all the way through the night, surprising and delighting both Gordon and me and allowing us all to get some much needed sleep.

On Tuesday, Claire and I headed to IKEA to get some things for the apartment and as we walked in, she said "Oh, we're going to Target?" to which I replied "Only in my dreams, Claire."

On Wednesday, in a fog of jet lag induced fatigue and grumpiness, I stupidly had my iPhone in my pocket while using the bathroom when the phone fell out of my pocket and into the toilet.  Despite my best efforts to revive it, the phone is now completely broken, never to be used again.  I am going to miss that phone, but really, I should count myself lucky that it worked for a year after Claire put it into the kitchen sink last year while I was washing dishes!

On Thursday, Claire and I went to visit a potential preschool for her.  In our part of Switzerland, these are called "jardin d'enfants", which translates to "kindergarten" in German or "garden of children" in English.  About 6 months ago, when we first considered sending her to preschool, Gordon and I visited 2 other places, neither of which seemed to be a good fit for Claire.  After waiting 6 months and going through the search process again, I was cautiously optimistic about this new place after communicating via email with the director while we were in the US.  Claire was excited about the visit when I told her we were going to look at a school.  As soon as we walked into the jardin d'enfants on Thursday morning, I had a good feeling about the place.  The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, the toys were plentiful, and the kids that were finishing up their mornings were happy.  After talking to the director/teacher and seeing how she interacted with Claire, I was sold.  This place seems to be a great fit for Claire and Gordon and I decided that she will start going there 2 mornings per week beginning November 2.  I have requested that the teacher speak French with Claire unless it is necessary that she speak English.  I am very curious to see how that will play out and I can not wait to hear the French words that Claire will bring home with her!