Our biggest news of this year is that we became dual US-Swiss citizens at the end of November. In fact, we actually had the chance to vote in the last popular referendum. We were impressed at how efficient our new adoptive country was in sending us voting papers just three days after notifying us of our new Swiss citizenship.

In addition to Kenneth's artwork, we've included a more recent family photo which was taken during the Kim family reunion in Minnesota this summer. Currently, we are in the mountains, in the dinky town of Sedrun, enjoying our Christmas holidays with a family reunion on the Michels side. Zurichtimes has been a bit dormant this year, but we hope to update you with more news and photos in 2010. We wish you and yours a blessed Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year.

Love, Kevin, Nina, Kenneth, and Elise

Kenneth isn't afraid of much, except sometimes the dark and that particular breed of monsters which likes to scare little kids in the dark. So, it was a big surprise to come face-to-face with Scully, his arch-nemesis, in real life and in broad daylight. Fortunately, Scully (the big blue guy in the picture) turned out to be pretty tame. Kenneth even shook hands with him, before scampering away from this photo op. Elise, meanwhile, hung back at a safe distance.

According to Wikipedia, "A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch".

Here we have Kenneth and Elise assuming supreme power jointly. The serfs, formerly known as parents, are left to look on in awe.

King Kenneth couldn't get enough of the throne and posed separately here.

1. Drive your car (I can only assume he means his dad's car when he says "your")
2. Go to the office
3. Make money (Its all my fault that he is so materialistic. He once asked me what I do at the office and the obvious answer was simply "make mullah, kiddo".)
4. Shop at the supermarket by himself
5. Use the computer whenever he wants
6. And the number 1 thing to do when grown-up: drink juice straight from the bottle.

Imagine a crowded pediatrician’s office full of sick or injured patients. Then, you’re finally called by the receptionist to see the doctor. The doctor asks you what the problem is. You answer "stomach ache". He then puts his stethoscope on your stomach and then suddenly stabs you in the stomach with a shot (actually a toy thermometer but Kenneth wants it to be a shot…). Then the doctor suddenly shouts, “next patient!” You ask the doctor meekly, “Can I go home now?” The doctor shouts “No! Next!” Puzzled, you ask again, “But do I really have to stay here?” The doctor impatiently shouts, “Yes! Next stuffed animal!”

This pediatrician hell, with a never-ending line of patients, is now Kenneth’s favorite make-believe activity. The dialogue above is exactly how each patient visit goes, except the dialogue is usually in Japanese or English, depending on who the patient is. Right now Kenneth is really into doctors, body parts, illnesses, wounds, dying, heaven, etc. I don’t really know why (except that he really loves it when I read a Japanese book that I got him about children getting their vaccinations) but the things he says and does regarding these topics are pretty hilarious! One thing is clear -- he definitely wants to be a doctor for this Halloween.

Unlike her brother who is always on the go, Elise seems to be content with taking life as it comes. The first remark that everyone always makes about Elise is “now this little one is so happy/easy/quiet/good/etc…” The second remark is that she looks very non-Asian with her lighter hair color. Due to her size and still bluish eyes, a lot of people say she looks like her Grandpa Michels. Of course we love her easy-going temperament, but we were slowly starting to worry whether we had taken her for granted and hadn't given her enough time on the floor to practice being mobile (since she didn’t complain, we always just kept her in baby seats, loving arms, etc.). Since Kenneth was crawling all over the place by eight months, we cautiously started to let Elise have more floor time over the past two months. It’s worked! After turning ten months old in early June, she started to get a lot more mobile. Just like her brother, she started by rolling herself around the room. Sometime during the 2nd and 3rd week of June she started embarking on real crawling and now there’s no stopping her!

We may have been subconsciously holding Elise back to prolong babyhood of our precious and most likely last child. I realized this again when friends from the Japanese play group asked me today how many teeth Elise has now. I answered, “one and a half.” Puzzled, they asked me, “One and a half? Don’t you mean two?” “No, it’s not two, it’s only one and a half,” I responded emphatically. Anyway, thanks to these two veteran mothers I also realized that I need to start feeding her more normal (finger) foods now instead of baby mush…it’s sort of sad, but will definitely be more convenient than making sure that I always carry along the appropriate jar of Hipp Bio baby food.

Food, by the way, is something that is very important for Elise (this is a widely known trait of Kim family males). People are amazed at the quantities she eats and at her size (especially in comparison with her skinny brother!). Although they share practically the same birthweight, since then Elise has consistently weighed at least a half a kilo more then Kenneth was at the same stages. To the delight of the parents, both kids are not picky eaters and will eat almost anything. The difference is that Elise will just sit still and eat forever, whereas with Kenneth, it was sometimes hard to get him to sit down long enough to eat a huge meal since he never wants to miss any action. We have learned one thing about Elise -- even though she is easy-going and good natured most of the time, if you get between her and her dinner, you will have a very angry baby on your hands!

A wise old friend of Nina’s (Maridel, are you still there among our readers?) once told her, “Be careful what you wish for because it might come true one day.” One Sunday night about two weekends ago, a stressed out Nina was up late busily preparing for the week ahead. She had to pack because the next day she was leaving for leadership training with the company, leaving the kids for 2 nights 3 days with Kevin for the first time since Elise was born. Nina was also stressed out thinking about her sister struggling with breastfeeding a new baby and her parents in Germany who came back from a trip to the US to a flooded basement and needed help cleaning and translating the German insurance documents. Envious of a friend who at a very opportune time got laid off from her job and was able to use the extra time to finish building their house, Nina rashly exclaimed to Kevin, “I really should be helping my family now but am so busy with work and life in general, I wish I would get laid off with a severance package so I can take time off to do things just like our friend, A.”

Famous last words…next day, after saying goodbye to kids and with bags packed for the training, Nina sets off to work. One hour before she was due to drive to the training, she gets called to her boss’s office. To her surprise, the HR Director is also there. Her boss then starts off with, “Today is one of the saddest days in my career because I have to inform you that your position was cut…and of course, you don’t have to leave to your leadership training now” or something like that. It was a complete shock and everything that happened the next two weeks was a blur. Is this a dream? Is this really happening? Yes, after seven and half years of dedicated service to the company, it was really happening. Not only did she really like her part-time job as Financial Controller in charge of compliance, (perfect for a working mom), she also really liked and will miss her colleagues who she’s known for so long...

Long story short, Nina is now in transition as she takes advantage of the time to finish much-needed family projects and to think about what she really wants to do next professionally. There are a lot of other activities to keep her busy in the mean time: This year she’s serving as the vice chairperson / treasurer for the Japanese playgroup that Kenneth attends twice a month. She enjoys experiencing “Japan” in Switzerland by attending the play group sessions and as treasurer she can also maintain her financial skills in addition to her Japanese. She’s also in the parents' committee for the church program for young children (“Müslichile”—literally church for baby mice) that Kenneth has been attending since he was small. Finally, she is taking her third Swiss German course on Thursday afternoons. She has a lot of fun trying to speak Swiss German and learning about the Swiss culture. On top of all that, she wants to do a better job of keeping this website up to date. If anyone has some ideas for a flexible business venture or leads on part-time jobs that can combine well with raising young children—Nina will be more than happy to hear from you!

Nina has always admired (and envied!) Kevin’s ability to lead a balanced life. He is busy as always but exudes calmness and control. He is the quintessential Renaissance Man—somehow self-regulating his stress level by making sure he enjoys his career, hobbies, and family equally.

By no means is it easy for Kevin to take time out to pursue his hobbies and be there for his family this year. On the work front, he has been nominated to serve on a couple of important committees with the company in addition to his “normal” job. In addition, he is also training in Six Sigma by implementing a process improvement project. But still, somehow, (even though Kevin is working 120% vs. Nina’s 50%), Kevin’s gym entry card is well worn since he tries to go to a combination of Karate & gym at least 3 times a week unlike Nina’s new gym membership card which is still nice and shiny due to infrequent use. Nina used to resent this and blame it on the fact that her time was taken up because she does a lot more for the children and family. Although that is still true (according to this author), that’s not the whole answer. The real truth is that Kevin is very disciplined, organized, and self-aware of his needs.

As proof of his Renaissance Man status and zen-like discipline, Kevin recently accomplished some important extra-curricular achievements: 1) With dreams of retiring in this paradise of skiing and chocolate, Kevin finally pushed Nina to complete and submit the family’s application for Swiss citizenship in March. In fact, Kevin was instrumental in obtaining the numerous documents that we needed to submit with our application to prove that we were law-abiding and tax-paying good citizens-to-be. 2) He’s joined Exsila where he “sells” our old dvds for points which he can exchange for other people’s old dvds. We have profited from this venture almost every Friday evening. 3) Not only is he regularly updating his marketing blog, he is also helping the Georgetown Alumni club of Switzerland revamp their own website (hey, Hubby what about revamping our website?) 4) Last but not least, he single-handedly planned the route and drove the family to our first European family vacation by car in the spring. Along the way, Kevin fulfilled his childhood dream of riding on a tractor while kids enjoyed a nice petting zoo in France.

A trip around the world involves frequent time zone changes and arduous long-haul flights, but also moments of zen-like relaxation and togetherness. Lest we give the impression that travelling to distant lands with two little ones in tow is a cake-walk, let's note that one has to be quick to capture these precious moments of tranquility, because they usually last only nanoseconds.

Our round-the-world-in-21-days expedition is over, but beautiful memories remain. This picture was snapped from the deck of Kahua ranch on Hawaii. More memories, pictures, and notes from the trip will be posted soon.

If Kevin's tired face in this picture does not convince you of having more kids, maybe the following examples from our own experience might help:

1) Nina, after having a fast but furious (drug-free but not by choice) labor with Kenneth two years ago, had a dream labor with Elise (a classic Epidural success story). It was so nice that, during the whole week after the birth, she secretly thought about trying to get pregnant right away and having at least two more kids. Of course, after returning home from the posh hospital, she realized how crazy that idea was.

2) Kenny, after having a tough adjustment for the first two months after Elise's birth, is now loving the fact that he's Ellie's big brother. The first thing he wants to do in the mornings is see his little sister. It's really cute to see him talking to her and "helping" Mom & Dad taking care of her.

3) Kevin, after having to be convinced by Nina to go for the second child, has gone completely baby gaga over Elise. He is always going first to kiss and greet her as soon as he comes home from work, much to the annoyance of Nina and Kenneth who have to wait patiently for their greeting.

It's not as hard as the picture makes it seem--although it is still an adjustment. The biggest two things that we had to get used to is the increase in laundry (new baby combined with toilet training toddler = daily washing) and not being able to "tag team" to get some "me time" (before, Kevin and I took turns bathing or reading stories to Kenny while one of us could rest. Now, one of us has to take care of one child and the other one has to deal with the second child.)

Whew! That explains why I couldn't post any blogs in the past almost 4 months. Good thing I passed the last of my Certified Management Accounting exams just 5 days before Elise's birth. It's just unthinkable to try to do that with two children now! Thanks partially to my mother's help during her long visits (Kenneth and Elise' Grandma, or "Oba-chan" in Japanese), our lives finally are not just about child-rearing. Kevin still manages some time off for Karate and the gym, while I am getting out of the house for some intensive Swiss German lessons.

P.S. I think this picture would make a great Nike commercial...normal people going the distance in their sportswear.

I just realized that our daughter will turn 4 months old next Saturday and we really haven't written about her that much since she's been born. I guess that's a fact of life for second-borns--parents just don't have the time, luxury, and sense of urgency they had for their firstborns. For our sake (so that we don't forget these early months with our baby girl) and for those of you curious about what kind of personality she is taking on, and how she behaves most of the time, here is a brief summary about Elise:

Personality: Laid-back and content most of the time; punctual--seems to appreciate a routine, especially when it comes to nursing on clockwork; enjoys the finer things in life--like a good meal; social--likes company, especially in the evenings; hygenic--does not like having dirty diapers

Activities: Gurgling, smiling, and cooing; splashing around in her bath; looking intently at bright lights; sucking her pacifier and fingers; playing with and trying to eat her soft toys and rattles; watching her big brother's antics

Looks: She was born with and still has blue eyes, which will most likely start to darken soon just like her brother's did. Enlarge this picture and you can see her baby blues before they change forever. Her hair is much lighter than Kenenth's, but her eyes have much more of an Asian shape. Although they were born at practically the same weight, Eilse is huge--much larger now than Kenneth was at this age (see above comment about enjoying a good meal). Who do you think she looks like more---Kevin or Nina?

In general, Elise is easier to deal with during the day and a much better eater than Kenneth was. However, she spits-up a lot and had problems with reflux (which thankfully is getting better). I never had to deal with the cluster feedings every two hours with Elise that I had to do with Kenneth. On the other hand, each feeding, though 3 to 4 hours apart, is longer since she needs to be burped properly and kept upright longer. Kenneth, while more high maintenance when he was up, was (and still is) the better sleeper--he slept through the night already at 8 weeks! Unfortunately for her tired parents, Elise has yet to master this feat...

After over 27 months at the same daycare (Krippe in German), November 28th was Kenneth's very last day. When Nina's maternity leave ends at the end of January, he will be starting at a new Daycare that is loosely based on Montessori principles. We've been very satisfied with his old Krippe, but, unfortunately, it was too full to accommodate Elise so we had to change Kenneth to a new Krippe too. Although it is sad to leave a place he's been at since he was 6 months old, the new Daycare is bilingual (English - German) and will also have Kindergarten possibilities in the future. On the last day, Kenny got to pick the lunch menu at the Krippe (pizza--his favorite!), took from home and served a snack to everyone (crocodile shaped bread--since his symbol at the Krippe was a crocodile!), got his face painted, and received a gift from the caretakers and one from his playmate. Nina and Kevin had also made many parent-friends from this daycare, so it was sort of an emotional day--as if our son was already "graduating" from preschool and moving to another chapter in his life.

In a strange turn of meteorological events, we received a light dusting of snow the other day. By the next morning, this little guy had shown up on the backyard bench. His origins are unknown, but we suspect that Kenneth and grandma had something to do with him, from all their whispering and giggling. In any case, he seems blissfully unaware that November snowmen tend to have very short lifespans.