in the land of the red sun and a grumpy princess with a shiny balloon

Ah, the princess is meant to be smiling, but somehow she looks a bit grumpy. Arts and crafts with my daughter is one of my favourite things in life at the moment. She is mainly drawing cats but sometimes it's a whole story. Children's imagination, it's so amazing it almost makes me jealous that I'm trapped in this boring adult role :)

The circle with a line above the castle is a nine (not a tree!).  Odessa loves nines!

a little bit of magic from Cracow

To explain the whole story I need to take you back to the summer,  when Odessa and I went to the Southbank festival and took part in the "machine of visual delights" - where children were writing down their ideas and wishes (with their parent's help). A group of artists in a little bungalow drew them (I never met them - just posted the peace of paper with our idea through the letter box). Odessa wanted a little girl with cat ears flying with a balloon and that's what we got...

A few months later I was browsing some Polish blogs and I found this charming lady meryselery and her lovely blog. She had on her site a doll that looks very similar to Odessa's cat-eared girl.  There she is, I thought wow she does exist, sitting there and smiling at me from Cracow. I called Odessa, we admired the images of the doll for a bit and than we decided we just needed to have a doll like that. So I wrote to Marysia asking it there is any way an amazing doll like this one (with cat ears and lot's of character) could come and live with us - she said YES, I will make one for you. So once again I would like to say 'THANK YOU' or I should say 'DZIEKUJE'. You really did a very kind thing Marysia and put smiles on my whole family's faces. 

The evening before we gave the doll to Odessa I talked to her and said that she was very good recently and very brave and the doll will fly on a balloon to her from Poland. And then we caught a magic, imaginary gold-fish (it's a little thing we do) and she told the fish she wants the cat-eared doll and set the fish free. Later on and she made a drawing of her wish, so there is no doubt about what she wanted 

Next morning she looked through the window and there she was:

Odessa called her new doll... Odessa - as Odessa is not Odessa any more but Black Cat (yes, she still refuses to be called by her own name - I know all the children go trough different stages but why does my kid always go through the strangest ones?).  At least there is one Odessa at home now. 

Marysia's lovely gift arrived at our house during Christmas time but we waited a little bit before giving it to Odessa, as she already got lots of Christmas presents. We didn't want to over do it. And one snowy Sunday morning with Dad at home seemed to be a perfect moment.   

Odessa has joined my daughter's pantheon of favourite toys. She was chosen to pick her up from the nursery. It's a privilege for the best, from the best (which finally means I don't have to carry Marie the cat everywhere - her previous favourite). And when people ask me where did I buy it I proudly say it was made especially for my daughter by a Polish artist! 

walking back from nursery

Hello snow! 

family

'Dante, Dante Alicante...' - says Odessa when she sees our cat. It's like she was reciting a magical spell. Those two are very close, it has been a love/hate relationship for a long time. Let's just say Dante is not always happy with all of Odessa's ideas for playing with him. However every night I check on her there he is, sleeping on her feet (I gave up trying to forbid it). She cuddles him when he she is sad, she also makes up plenty of stories about him - he simply makes her laugh when everything else fails. And for that I love my cat even more. 

Dante, Dante, Alicante... 

When Odessa is in the Nursery

I'm running a bit behind with my blog, but since Christmas I have felt very nostalgic, not really in the mood for a computer session,  more reading a book with a cat on my lap. Plus we are experiencing some technical drama with my camera - I won't bore you with that one (nothing Tim couldn't handle though). 

Things are generally good and calm. Odessa is back in nursery, and she was so happy to see her teachers and friends again. She actually has got a (kind of) boyfriend - a little boy with curly hair called Alfie who runs to her moment she enters the nursery. They hold hands and play together and it's really adorable (I was spying on her through the window as usual).  She is going though such an amazing stage now, suddenly she understands everything around her (in either language), she talks all the time, and her writing and drawing are  getting good. Her memory is amazing, she actually memorised 30 pages of a book, every word perfectly! The list doesn't end - she surprises us every day. It really feels now that her being bilingual is paying off. It wasn't an easy  path to take -  so I am very glad. She is my little friend, she makes me laugh all the time and I have to admit I do miss her sometimes when she is in nursery. I don't care what all the cynical people say, being a parent rocks! 

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a magical new year - one full of little pleasures and big adventures! A calm but still exciting year.  And as for myself, I wish I would stop drinking so much coffee - it is surely not good for me...

Love Aga.