Cats and rain

What a day for Aliya! For a couple of hours she played with a cat and her behavior changed completely. When we arrived to our hosts she was afraid to touch the cats. When we were leaving she was hugging one of them:))) it took her 1 hour to completely overcome this more of a shyness rather than real fear. 

Another uncertainty broken today is by the rain. For some reason she didn't experience until now real rain just a drizzle here and there. In the evening while we were staying in one restaurant, real rain started not stopping till the morning. Aliya was shocked a bit what is happening then she asked for the umbrella we had with us:) 

3 days in Paris

The best of traveling with Aliya is all types of unexpected surprises. You take a turn and then you find an amazing fountain for her to play. Or she pooped and looking for a bathroom to change you end up having lovely lunch in a cool restaurant. Besides the Louvre and Eiffel Tower we had some really good time with Fete de la musique and local boulangerie and shopping on Champs Élysées . We loved Paris!

Non tourists in Amsterdam

We have just spent almost a week in Amsterdam with Aliya:) luckily we didn't have any rain and we used every day to do some sightseeing. Having been here before helps me since I am not way too excited about seeing and I can do activities which are right for Aliya such as the Zoo. Everywhere we go she sees things in a different way. Yesterday we went to Rijksmusem and Van Gogh museum but she enjoyed most the park at the front and putting her feet in the water. I loved it too:)) just love the fact we do the things which are not touristic simply because we are with a 2-year old. She eats chips and mayo (without the mayo) every night for dinner not because there are no other options. just our hotel has the best chips:) 

We visit playgrounds and parks in the area we hang out. She plays with other kids all the time and we have a schedule around her eating and sleeping time. 

We shop from the supermarket her already favourite juices and pudding. 

We went on a boat on the weekend through the canals and loved it. She talks every day about it. We visited friends on the weekend and enjoyed it too. We missed the train a few times as well.

I just saw Amsterdam from the eyes of a normal family rather than the touristic version .

The stairs

Amazing achievement for Aliya a couple of days ago is that she is going down the stairs alone! I am so proud! Not only one step which she was able to do for a couple of months but also keep the balance and go down all the stairs from our apartment to the ground floor. She did it in the morning and reached the street alone and was sooo happy of herself and so am I :) although this means for me a completely new way of dealing with her since now she can go alone to the street and I need to be even more careful, but I will be really happy to do that:) growing up every day, little by little! My tiny sweetheart!