Uncle Alan comes to town

30. April 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Daily Life

It has been a slow couple of weeks around here mostly because I was out of commission for a good deal of that time with some digestive unpleasantness. Sucky, suck, suck is all I am going to say about that.

In the middle of that though, there was a ray of sunshine in the form of our old friend Alan!! He dropped in for a couple of days on his way to Italy for a wedding. Unfortunately we were not at our best, but fortunately, Alan is awesome and is fabulous with the girls so it actually went well, considering.

One Wednesday, Alan and I were chatting and reminiscing about some old adventures. He was talking about how he’ll be going back to Florence for the first time since he and I were there over New Years many years ago. Ironically, his memories of that city are extremely limited because he got food poisoning the day we arrived. After seeing how I was feeling, he remembered how miserable he was at the time. As if Karma saw an opportunity, I kid you not, Thursday morning, I woke up with what seemed a lot like food poisoning (on top of the end of a stomach virus)!

So, just to clear the Karma, Alan, I hereby deeply, deeply apologize because I should have taken a LOT better care of you while you were sick in Florence rather than letting you suffer and enjoying myself with everyone else!!! :-) Even before Karma knocked me upside the head, I reflected upon that trip with some regret over how I reacted to the situation. I hope you can forgive me dear friend, seriously.

Anyway, before the Karma kicked my ass, we had a few nice hours.

Alan had the very important job of seeing and playing on ‘Clair’s’ playground, the one near our house.

swinging with the girls

Clair showed Alan how to throw stick in the Danube, and he tried to teach her how to skip stones.
Clair shows Alan the Danube

He played a lot with Clair, especially. She took to him immediately, which is very unlike her when it comes to men she doesn’t know well. When she woke up Thursday morning and he was gone, she put her head on the bed and whined, “I love Alan.” You are missed, Alan.

Alan the nannie

Matthias and I also had a great time catching up. Alan was going on and on about a book called, “You are your own gym”, which we not have on the iPad and are checking out. I am far too weak to do any of the programs yet, but in about a month, I may try it. In th mean time, Alan and Matthias are virtually training together and commiserating over sore muscles.

We are so, so lucky to have so many awesome people in our life like Alan.

While waiting for Wurst

13. April 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Daily Life, Holidays

On one of the few days where the weather was passable for grilling, we had some Wurst and beer. While the Matthias did the grilling, I watched the girls play.

Waiting for Wurst

Waiting for Wurst

Waiting for Wurst

Waiting for Wurst

Waiting for Wurst

“What grass? I’m not eating grass….. I don’t see anything hanging out of my mouth.”

Waiting for Wurst

“OK, I was TOTALLY eating grass! LOL!”

Waiting for Wurst

Not quite there but getting a helping hand.

Waiting for Wurst

Clair and mommy (and mommy’s wonky right eye)

Waiting for Wurst

When babies attack

Waiting for Wurst

All of the hard work was totally worth it. Hoepkerwurst are the BEST sausages ever.

Waiting for Wurst

While sitting and digesting all of the goodness, Opa took over baby-sitting duty, and I could relax and actually finish my drink. Then it got to cold, and we all went back inside – sigh. Really ready for some sun.

Waiting for Wurst

Easter 2012 – Part II

10. April 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Daily Life, Holidays · Tags: ,

It was freezing on Easter, literally! But, it was sunny so the Easter bunny hid the eggs and put out a great lego zoo for the girls. There were also lovely baskets with chocolate hiding inside on the table.

Since it was so cold, the easter egg hunt was expedited. Lily had no interest, which was great because the grass was wet and cold. She was happy to hold her basket while Opa carried her.

Easter 2012

Clair did all of the hunting, and she even spotted one out of the upstairs window a few hours later (the Easter bunny didn’t count correctly).

Easter 2012

She requested this photo to be taken (she is getting the idea of documenting her life).
Easter 2012

A short swing ended the outdoor activities before we headed in for a nice breakfast.
Easter 2012

Lily was up for a game of football and some legos inside.
Easter 2012

Easter 2012

And princess Clair (as she has become) enjoyed her dress all day. Actually, she has worn this dress everyday since. I think I need to hide it tomorrow she she doesn’t make a mess of it.

Easter 2012

She said this was NOT a princess face, but I disagree. I think it is an awesome princess face.
Easter 2012

On the subjects of princesses, Matthias’ mom has some antique children’s’ books of classic fairy tails. It is interesting to read them and see how they differ from the Disney version I grew up with. For example, there was no magical kiss in Snow White. As the dwarfs were taking the body of Snow White to be buried, they tripped over dopey, and as her body flew out, the poisoned piece of apple flew out freeing her from the curse. The prince just happened along around that time but was kind of secondary to the story. Also, in Hansel and Gretel, he is imprisoned by the witch, and she single-handedly puts the witch in the oven and rescues him! Who know these feminine archetypes were so much more kick-ass in the older versions!

Easter 2012 – Part I

07. April 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Holidays, Travels · Tags: , ,

Clair is starting to be able to do things in a much less chaotic way so things like coloring eggs is actually fun! As opposed to dye being thrown all over the place and many tears falling. We didn’t even invite Lily to the festivities because she wasn’t interested, and we find it’s better not to disturb a calm, happy baby by inflicting new activities that they aren’t ready for. This allowed Clair to focus on her own thing and have fun. It also saved my sanity!

Here is the 3 years old learning patience. It takes five whole minutes to color an egg! (OK, it mostly took about 3, but that is still a LONG TIME to wait)

Easter 2012

I love this gorgeous child! I need to get her more bright blue clothes. In this case, she is wearing an old hand towel (Oma’s brilliant idea), but a shirt in the color would look fabulous. It is her color.

Easter 2012

Lily did drop by to catch the end of the fun, but mostly, she just tortured her daddy by trying to slide out of her high chair. The expression on her face captures her mood quite well.

Easter 2012

More waiting while Lily tries to kill herself and daddy attempts to prevent her.

Easter 2012

Success!

Easter 2012

Just need to add a few stickers. Note, the activities were moved to the floor after the loss of three eggs due to slippery fingers.
Easter 2012

My favorite egg – since we couldn’t actually wait until the color tabs dissolved before adding the first eggs, the first batch came out with some nice variations. This was my favorite.
Untitled

Now, we are ready for the Easter bunny to bring some goodies and hide those eggs. There may be an indoor egg hunt tomorrow. The sun is out now, but it was 7 degrees today with a cold eastern wind that had a bite. Tomorrow, it is supposed to rain as well, so we’ll leave the door open for the poor bunny to come in from the cold.

some new firsts and some new bruises

03. April 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Daily Life, Travels · Tags: , ,

I needed a haircut, badly. Usually, I go to a friend who has done a great job, but at the last minute on Saturday, I just decided to head to the mall. I had Clair with me, so I decided it was time for her first haircut in a salon. it ended up being a great way to distract her long enough so that I could get a trim. She was bouncing off the walls until the lady came and asked her to go get her hair washed. As soon as she left my side, she behaved beautifully!

By the way, the brown you see all over her face is not dirt. She decided that she was a monster that day and colored all over her face with a brown crayon. I asked her if she wanted to leave the house with a brown face, and she insisted. I must have explained that she is a monster about five times at the mall. Everyone agreed that she was very scary.

First Salon Hair cut

First Salon Hair cut

Another first for the big girl is advancement to peddles! She has shown very little interest in her Laufrad (what is the English for a bike with no peddles?) until very recently, and she has pretty much outgrown it at this point. So, I got some training wheels last week to see if she might like trying a proper bike. She LOVED it. I think she liked not falling over the best.

She is getting used to peddles, and we even made it to Kindergarten today on her bike (a very frustrating hour of her mother’s life but sometimes you have to suck it up). With a lot of whining and a lot of help, she proudly made it “a lll by herself”.

Training wheels!

Baby girl is also having lots of new firsts. I have to watch her now because she loves getting up on stools. We have a lot of stools to help Clair get to things, but once in a while, I walk in a room and see Lily up on the stool looking a bit shocked to be up there. Once she get up, I think she doesn’t know what to do or how to get down. She is a little like a cat that way.

We headed to Nuremberg Zoo over the weekend. Sunday was beautiful but a bit chilly, so the zoo wasn’t too crowded. I like that place more every time I go. This time, the train was working. It was closed every time I have been there because they were building a huge exhibit for the dolphins, sea lions and mane tees, and it cut into the train tracks. Finally, the really nice lagoon is finished, and the train takes you from the entrance of the park directly to the big playground (the place we generally end up going to first anyway).

This was the first time Lily could walk there. I think it was the first time she really got excited about seeing animals too. We were there on an awesome day because a bunch of the goats just had babies – as in, we missed a few births by a few minutes. The petting zoo was closed to give them space, but crowds were gathered watching.

Here are a few photos from the day:

Lily getting excited for animals
Nuremberg Zoo

Lily is giving a monkey the stink eye. She wouldn’t take her eyes off this one
Nuremberg Zoo

Tired, grouchy toddler getting put into the carrier to calm her down. SOmething about my body or my posture there reminds me of my grandmother – that can’t be good! Maybe it is the shawl.
Nuremberg Zoo

Lily was blown away by the pigs. It doesn’t take much at this age.

Nuremberg Zoo

Out exploring on her own two feet!
Nuremberg Zoo

With a little help from daddy
Nuremberg Zoo

Walking is so much fun!!!
Nuremberg Zoo

Finally, Clair is over 12 Kg so she could jump higher than she has every jumped before!!!
Nuremberg Zoo

FInally, after a long day, one loop on the train before kiddos passed out in the car.
Nuremberg Zoo

Here are a few photos from an afternoon at a local petting zoo. It is one of the easiest things to do when you are at a loss for somewhere to take the kids on a nice day. A few friends from Clair’s dollar skating group were there with us, so there was lots of playing to be had. I just like the series of photos at the end of the day. Lily’s red jacket is just fabulous.

Petting zoo afternoon

Petting zoo afternoon

Petting zoo afternoon\

Lily has a new love. Her name is Micha, and for the past few weeks, every time Lily sees her, she puts her arms out looking for a big snuggle.
Petting zoo afternoon

Physics of falling babies
When Clair fell, she ALWAYS fell on her knees. Her knees still, generally, take the brunt of her falls. For whatever reason, Lily’s poor face seems to take the brunt her her falls. I suspect we will have a lot of bloody lips and noses with her. She has three nice bruises on her face today (I only know where two of them came from). Maybe it is her gigantic head that makes her prone to face plants.

OK, I have been blogging while the baby is here, and she is done being patient and is trying to attract my attention by climbing on things and throwing food on the floor. I should do something about that (proofreading? what is that).