We Are No Longer Aliens

Last night we set our alarm since we had the appointment with the Immigration office this morning.  We did not want to miss it since it is hard to get an appointment.  Ours was scheduled for 8:10 am.  We had an hour walk ahead of us (5 km one way), so that meant we had to be up early in order to feed and get CD ready for the adventure.

Well, we didn’t need the alarm because CD woke up at about 5:50 am.  I fed and changed him and then put him back down since it was too early to have him be awake for the adventure.

Once it was time to get him dressed, he of course puked on himself so that delayed us a little bit.  When we were all ready to go, C wore CD and I pushed the empty stroller (would be used later to carry CD on the way back from the appointment) and we started on our merry way to the appointment.  It was a long walk but CD thought it was great to look at everything around him.  He eventually fell back to sleep for a little while and woke up just in time for the meeting.

The walk was a little rough.  I have not exercised or done any real activity like that in a while.  Even though it was just walking, it made me tired but I just kept moving.  At one point on the walk, I looked down where the sidewalk met a fence and there was a cassette tape string all pulled out but no actual plastic part of the cassette that would say what the cassette was.  Why is it that every city has this?  Is this a right of passage for cities?  In order to be a city, must it have this cassette tape string (I don’t even know what to call it, but you know what I’m talking about) somewhere in it?  My next question is: how long has it been there?  Because when is the last time you saw someone pull out their cassette player as they went out for a walk?  It has been there for a LONG, LONG time.  Now, back to the story after that rant.  We got to the building shortly before the woman who was going to serve as our translator.  She was very kind and really nice.  As we entered the building I wondered what all the people were doing who were standing in line as we made our way to the back of the building.  Later on I found out that they were waiting in line (for hours) in order to get a number to wait in another line (for hours) to get the paper application that we already had filled out, in order to wait in line (for hours) to get an appointment to be where we were in the immigration process.  I was very thankful that we did not have to go through all of that.  Sheesh.

We proceeded with the paperwork and everything ran smoothly so I was happy.  We are not aliens anymore.  🙂  CD was entertained by a dancing snowman that was on the lady’s desk who was completing my paperwork.  Thank goodness for this because he was starting to get restless and no one wants to hear a crying/screaming baby as you are waiting in line for HOURS.

When we left the office, C and I decided to stop for breakfast and we grabbed a pastry before continuing our walk.  CD eventually fell asleep after a long time and took a short nap in the stroller.  As we got closer to where C works, we saw a pug walking down the street.  I couldn’t help but miss Brother Bear S when I saw the pug.  I of course said that Brother Bear S is WAY cuter, because he is.  Miss you Brother Bear S!!!  When we made it to where C works, we stopped at the Starbucks and I got a hot chocolate since I have been craving it but wanted to save it for an acceptable time like this to have one.  C and I both enjoyed sitting after our LONG walks (10 km total).  CD of course was eavesdropping on the group’s conversation that was sitting next to us.  He is just nosy sometimes.  See a note about this later in the post.

We said our goodbyes to C as he went to work and CD and I continued our walk to the apartment.  On the walk we saw our first German squirrel.  I almost didn’t know what it was because it was a good distance ahead of us and something looked different on it.  This is what German squirrels look like:

German squirrel Look at the EARS!

It was weird because it is also red.  AND THOSE EARS!  It was enough for me to wait until it climbed the tree and then CD and I raced past the foreign beast.  🙂

We made it back to the apartment and of course I just wanted to crash, but CD had another thought.  His thought: “No naps today!”  Even though it looked like he napped a lot this morning, it was probably only twenty minutes total.  So we did not nap (like I would expect anything else from CD).  Instead we watched new people move into our building.  CD thought it was great because of all of the activity and I would talk to him about all the things that the guys were taking off of the truck.  It was funny because CD, who is really young, had a great time watching this and so did the old people across the way.  I guess not much changes.  Everyone loves to people watch…or everyone is just nosy.  You be the judge.  I guess we are no longer the newbies here.  

A little later the doorbell rang and it scared the you-know-what out of CD.  He shook and then immediately reached up his arms for me.  I picked him up and comforted him until the DHL delivery guy showed up at the door with a package.  CD held on so tight that I think he thought the guy was going to take him or something.  It was crazy.  Even after we said goodbye and the door closed, CD clung to me for dear life.

By the end of the night, CD was exhausted.  When he gets like this and is crying, I really think I can hear him say “momma”.  Not sure if he really is saying it, but it sounds like it.  It is funny how it only comes out when he needs something…like food.  I fed him and then gave him a bath, which he loves now because he can splash like crazy and he thinks it is hilarious when he either kicks his legs or slaps his hand in the water and the water goes all over everything.  Needless to say, after a long day he went to bed like a champ.  I just hope he sleeps most of the night since I need a good night’s sleep.

From yesterday’s post:  Here is an example how CD sits now:

New Sitting Pose

Two Days Worth of Material

We have been having some problems with the Internet, so I will be posting when I actually have the capability to post.

Yesterday we did get back our passports.  I was very happy to hear that C had them in his possession and that no one stole our identities…so far.  🙂

As I was unpacking more of our…I mean my things yesterday, CD was begging to be put into his Jumperoo.  He basically said, “Please put me in it or I will do it myself”.

I want my Jumperoo

Also, when I do something that I think is HILARIOUS and CD finds it not so amusing, I usually get a face similar to this one:

Not amused

CD now can get around to some extent.  His one mode of transportation is to be sitting up with his legs in front of him and then to bounce until he moves forward.  This is a slow means of transportation, but he can still move around a bit.  His legs are in the position of the picture in the bottom left when he does this.

Moving with legs in position like bottom left picture

He also is now up on his hands and knees and won’t put one knee forward and then the next, but he will use his abs and pull both knees forward at the same time.  Whatever works, right???

We had to go and get another passport picture taken to apply for our immigration so we went today.  We had the iPhone to show us where the location of the shop was that took the pictures.  When we were standing on the road where the shop should have been, there was only a bookstore.  C went in to ask them and they told us we had to go below the street to find the shop.  WHAT??!! I had walked on this street before and had ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE that there was a whole other world BELOW ground.  When we went down below ground level, it was bustling with food stores, fresh produce, drug stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, etc.  We found the little shop and got our pictures taken.  C and I both agree the CD’s picture turned out better than either of ours.  I hope that they are the right size for the immigration office.

After our outing today, when I thought CD would nap, I put him in his crib and turned on our monitor to see how he was doing while I prepped dinner.  He was obviously complaining the whole time since he didn’t see the reason why he should have to nap.  I, on the other hand, knew he had a short morning nap and a non-existent afternoon nap so I knew he needed one.  Well, I flip on the camera and there is CD sitting up in his crib.  The little bugger is now sitting when he doesn’t want to nap.  So instead of flailing about on his back or stomach like a fish out of water, he now can sit himself upright and decide to look around the room…or more like stare at the door as if he was sending a mental message to me of “COME GET ME!  I’M NOT SLEEPING!!”  I heard loud and clear and went and got him.  CD is the kind of kid that the “let them cry it out” method would and has not worked.  He has the stubborn genes from both his mom and dad and will scream for five plus hours if you let him.  Ugh.

Once I got him, we listened to the radio.  C found a good military station that plays all American music so it is nice.  We heard a good song and of course we had a dance party in the kitchen while I cooked.  Now, who would want to miss that??  🙂  Especially if you know my dancing skills.

After the dance party we had some quiet play on his blanket and CD likes this too.  We played for a long time with his ball.  This is now his new favorite toy because he can control it- throw it, roll it, shake it, snuggle it, etc.

My ball

We now can roll his ball back and forth to each other and he also sits sometimes with his legs out- as if you were doing a stretch like the bottom right picture so it makes it easier for him to “catch” it.

Sitting now like bottom right picture

While he was on the blanket and we were rolling the ball and having a ball (ha ha) I noticed that there was blood coming from his mouth.  AHHH!  I couldn’t remember him hitting anything and he was having a good time.  Then it hit me…he popped another tooth.  I will admit when I just typed “popped” I actually first typed “pooped”.  So easily to confuse it. Ha!.  He now has his front top left tooth through the gum all the way.  Yippee!

Dinner did turn out to be good.  It was one of the first real meals I made here I guess.  It was Swedish Meatballs.

Tomorrow we are off to the alien office.  Yes, that is right.  C, CD and myself are ALIENS!

A Day in the Hands of CD

CD loves to spin toys in his hands so C and I thought it would be interesting to record a spinning toy.  Well we gave CD one of our iPhones and let him spin it.  Here is the result of it.  Hold on if you get dizzy or car sick.  🙂  Spinning iPhone – YouTube.

C returned the pink car seat today.  It is finally out of view and our apartment now and I hope it actually gets to where it is supposed to go.  We are now a little worried with the mail system.  We are still waiting on two packages from the States that were shipped a while ago that have yet to show up at our doorstep.    I keep annoying the concierge every time I see him by asking if there are any packages.  Hopefully they will show up one day soon.  It may be like the book that I shipped to Uncle T.  The book just took the scenic route and about 3 months later showed up on his doorstep.

A reason I love C:  he kills bugs for me without hesitation.  Only the bugs I don’t like.  Most bugs I try to save and free back into the wild. I’m a lover if you know me.  Aunt C can tell stories to confirm this.

By the end of the day today CD had gone through five to six outfits due to pooping and puking.  Mostly pooping.  He would never poop when he was in the right position for the diaper to ACTUALLY hold it.  No, he would wait until I sat him down and then he would hold his breath, make his face turn bright red and out would come the poop…up his back and all over his clothes.  So then we would go and change him.  CD does not like to have to waste time by getting dressed or undressed.  He thinks this is pointless in life.  But I continue to tell him one day he will get in trouble if he refuses to wear clothes.  So the clothes would go on him, we would play and roll around and then the second I put him down to sit, out comes the poop and the need for not just a new diaper but a totally new outfit.  Ugh.

Another Day

Today we had the new fix-it guy show up to look at the leaks we have in the apartment.  After I showed him the tub and faucet, he turned to me and asked if I would be around next week since he would need to order parts.  I told him yes, but just to call in advance.  Now we are in the same place that we were with the other fix-it guy, but just a few days behind.  I just want it to be fixed and as long as someone is working on it, that is okay.

We had to hand over our passports to the one company who is handling our paperwork for the Immigration office.  I cringed at the thought of handing over our life-basically with handing over our passports- to someone I didn’t know.  Anxiety.  All.  The.  Way.  We were supposed to get the passports back today, but of course, we didn’t.  More anxiety.  Ugh.  I will hunt the lady down who took them if something happens, don’t you worry.

On a lighter note, if anyone ever wants to Skype/FaceTime, CD is all game for it.  He believes that the computer and the iPhone are his and that he should get to play on them all the time.  He loves chatting with N on FaceTime and the second I turn the phone to actually speak with N, he complains that he is not getting N’s full attention.  Then of course the phone goes back to him and he does some cute pose and we decide the phone must stay on him because in all honesty, he looks better than I do.  🙂

We have been seeing Brother Bear S through FaceTime and it makes me happy that I can see him and I know he is happy and loved.  It does hurt to know that he is not here with us and that CD is not growing up with him, but I know I couldn’t put him through that flight.  He stresses out being separated from people so could you imagine me throwing him into a crate all by himself to be stowed away in an airplane for 9+ hours??  No. Not going to happen.  I just hope he will still remember and love us when we go back to the States on visits.  This is pretty much what Brother Bear S does all day…sleep, just in different areas of the house.  Well, unless he is eating or playing, but that only takes up about an hour of the 24 hour day.  Ok, I may be exaggerating, but you get the point.  The pug sleeps a lot.  He will always be my snuggle pug couch potato.

Sleeping at N and GP's

CD and I went to Rewe today because we needed groceries.  While there, I decided that I was going to try to get some sort of lunchmeat.  It is different here because there is no Deli counter like you have in the States.  Everything like that is prepackaged.  So as I tried to find something that I would actually eat, I had to use the translator on my phone.  I picked up a package that looked close to turkey and popped the word into the translator.  Well, it didn’t help because it translated the type of meat into “gauzy”.  Who wants to eat gauzy meat???  I know I for one do not want to eat it.  I put that package down and found turkey and quickly tossed it into my bag.  It is weird because a lot is LOST IN TRANSLATION.  You can use a translator and you end up getting something like that which completely doesn’t make sense.  I know that there is no meat out there called Gauzy.  I hope at least.  🙂  You could also ask someone to translate something for you and they could tell you “they don’t know” since there is no real translation for it.  It is frustrating but you figure it out as you go.

All in all we had a good day.  CD is starting to get ready to pull himself up in his crib.  Right now he pulls himself, but his feet slide through the bars so it doesn’t work.  He also puts his hands out at chest height instead of up over his head so the leverage isn’t quite there.  One day he will get it and I will be so proud of him.  But then I will have to look forward…or more so worry about this because I can already tell he is going to be doing this:  Twin Escapes From His Crib – OFFICIAL VIDEO – YouTube.

And from that link I just kept looking and these had me crying with laughter.  There are so many more possibilities of funny kid videos if you just keep searching.  I’m sure we will experience some of these situations with CD, but the real question is will we be able to capture them on video???  Hope these put you in a good mood.  It worked for me!

1. Top 10 Funny Baby Videos! – YouTube.
2. Best Funny Video Ever – YouTube.

Pictures and Videos Galore

The past few days my computer and Internet have not been friendly.  I can’t quite tell who is mad at who (or whom…I never really understood the correct grammar…I must have missed that lesson).  So I have a few days of pictures and videos of CD.

The first video is of CD playing with a toy that he got for Christmas from his Aunt A and Uncle T.  He now realizes that he can make it play music.  He loves it.  The book at the end is from Aunt C and he loves it because it is the only book that we have that I will allow him to really hold.  Most of the other books we have are for older kids and he can rip the pages.  I need to invest in some plastic books like this one or fabric ones since he loves to read and wants to help turn the pages all the time.  Please excuse that he is busting out of his clothing.  I feel like he is The Hulk.  Lantern Play – YouTube.

This picture is of CD playing with his tool set that my friend CK gave to him.  He loves them too, especially the little tags that are on each of the toys.  He is going to grow up to be like his GP and build something amazing.  It is in his genes.

Tool Time

This is probably my favorite series of pictures.  CD has this tendency that when he is tired to want to snuggle with something.  If he has socks on, they become the object of his affection and he MUST snuggle with them.  It is the weirdest thing, but I absolutely LOVE it every time it happens.  Enjoy the progression of pictures!

Snuggle Sock #1

Going for Snuggle Sock #2

Snuggle Sock #2 is Putting Up a Fight

Snuggle Sock #2 is a Strong One...But...

The Hulk Wins!

The next video reminds me of the punching balloons we used to have as kids.  I don’t really know what they were called, but when I searched for it on the Internet, I definitely found them when I typed in “punch balloons”.  If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, it is a balloon attached to a rubber band and as you punch, the balloon keeps coming back to be hit again.  Here is a picture of one:

Punch Balloon

Now here is the video of CD.  It isn’t exactly a balloon, but you will see what I mean.  “Punch Balloon” – YouTube.

We continued to play with the “punch balloon” today and CD loved it.  It is one of those collapsible containers like this:

Storage Containers

The following video is CD trying to find the right toy.  He had been doing it for a while and then the second the camera comes out, he stops doing it.  I think he takes after his Brother Bear S.  Every time you try to catch him doing something cute, he always stops.  UGH!  He had been peering into the storage container and then looking for a toy.  The video only has him doing it at the beginning so watch carefully or you may miss it!  What is in the bag? – YouTube.

We took CD’s 8 month picture today.  I know we are off by a few days, but still.  He is still 8 months old.  🙂  It was so hard to get him to sit still.  Kermit had been in the empty corner of the chair but CD decided that was not going to happen.  And you see that paper that is on the back of the chair?  I decided to put it there since during his 7 month picture shoot he continuously went after it when it was on the seat of the chair.  Let me tell you though, the paper lasted on the back of the chair this time for about 1 minute before CD spotted it and decided he was going to crumple it.  And that folks, ended our photo shoot.

8 Months Old

After all of the excitement and craziness of the past two days, CD decided that it was okay that he feed himself.  I gave him a teething cracker, since he is teething (could have fooled all the teething toys we have here that CD refuses to acknowledge exist) and he actually did chew on it for a little bit.  I think it helped that he saw me eating one too.  It wasn’t that bad.  He enjoys sharing meals with me.  We shared a banana the other day and he thought it was the coolest thing.  There goes my food source for the rest of my life…my son will be eating my food and his.  🙂

Feeding Myself

Now even though CD looks like he is on a slant, I assure you that the floors in Germany are level.  No concern that he is going to slide into the wall at any time!  🙂

Side note of the day:  We hung around the apartment because a different person was supposed to come by and look at the leaking faucets we have in the apartment.  We waited all day and no one showed up to the apartment.  We will just have to wait to see what happens next.  Also there was construction (pipes banging….I think in Morris Code for “We won’t let the baby sleep”).  CD didn’t really nap today because of it.

 

Shipment/Birthdays/New Tricks/Apartment Life

On February 20th we received our things from the US.  It was great to get our stuff, but then I realized that it all needs to be unpacked…and put somewhere.  I really wished that we had lived here for a month and then got to pack what we wanted from the US.  There was SO MUCH that I packed, thinking I would use it, that is now going to end up in our storage unit.  Thank goodness for the storage unit, because as I mentioned before, there are no closets in Germany so there is no where to stuff our unused things in the apartment.  One example: I brought my favorite winter coat from the US.  It is bright red.  Remember how I mentioned that everyone here wears black????  Completely not going to be wearing it.  EVER.  It was also funny how I have just had a suitcase of clothes to get me through this month and a half and I have seemed to do okay with it.  Now I have about four boxes of clothes that probably won’t get worn.  Even with all the stuff that we packed that we won’t be using, it was funny to see the moving company arrive.  They pulled up and I said to C “Our stuff fits into a minivan.”  Then we both laughed.  So even though we brought a lot of extra stuff, it still fit in a minivan.  Ha!

Minivan Movers

I know I would have packed differently I would have used the space that I took up with my clothes to pack baby wipes, baby diapers, some good English language books and some deodorant they don’t really use it here- it hasn’t been that bad since it has been cold but I fear the warmer months with no air conditioning.  

When the movers were finished and we had all of our boxes in the apartment, I had to take a picture because it was funny.  Half of the boxes are things we won’t use (like the red coat) and the other half are things for CD…like toys.  Funny how your priorities change when you have a baby.

Moving Boxes

There were things that just melted my heart as soon as I had seen them.  The stroller was one and it does seem to be doing better on the cobblestone sidewalks.  We tested it yesterday and today.  CD also likes the fact that he faces out so he can see all the interesting things that are happening on the street.  Another was the chair and ottoman I had in CD’s nursery in the US.  I basically could have napped there all day yesterday except CD would have found it strange.  C is also happy that we have these things since I believe his motto is: “Happy wife, happy life”.  Or something like that.  🙂

CD was on the same page as I was yesterday.  He was happy to see all of his toys and I believe that he played with every single one of them.  His Jumperoo was the one that I was waiting for but there was a bit of a scare when the movers were bringing in our things.  We found out that one of our boxes fell apart and they had to re-pack it.  In came the top part to the toy and as the boxes slowly made their way into the apartment, C feared that the base of the toy didn’t make it.  In the end it showed up and CD was as happy as a clam to be able to play in it again.  I now wonder why I protect his baby brain from the jostling of the cobblestones when this is what the Jumperoo has to offer:  Jumperoo Toy – YouTube.

The whole time I was unpacking CD was either playing with his new found…or long lost depending on how you look at it…toys.  He was great during the whole experience.

Helping Unpack

Paper Boy

Here is a video of all of the help that I got unpacking our things:  UNPACKING.  More like playing huh?  🙂

Along with our shipment that arrived yesterday, CD turned 8 months old.  We will have his picture up to show you when we can finally take it since he goes to bed so early.  Happy 8 month birthday CD!  With him being older there are new things that he is starting to do.  Along with popping more teeth in his mouth- ugh the diaper rash that came with this was fierce.  We had to go to the Apotheke to get some heavy-duty diaper cream.  The Apotheke is where you get prescriptions or things like Tylenol.  This is when I wished we had a pediatrician already lined up.  That is my next task since he needs a 9 month appointment soon.  CD has also learned to go from a laying down position to a sitting position.  It takes a little bit of momentum to get the big boy going but he can do it.  We also played with his ball today and he would roll it to me and then I would roll it back to him and we would do this for a while until another toy became the interest point.  I feel like there have been so many changes in such a short period of time that I can’t believe it is happening.  Wasn’t it yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital and he was swimming in his car seat??? And now we couldn’t even squish him in it if we tried.  He is so special.  Ok, my gushing over my son is over…for now.  🙂

Another birthday happened today.  Happy Birthday GM from CD!  Hope you had a great day!  Love you and miss you!

One last rant for the day and then I must rest because I know CD will be up in a few hours and we still have a lot to get unpacked and organized tomorrow too.  I know, even though there were so few boxes, you are  saying to yourself, “she isn’t finished yet??”  CD still demands a lot of attention so we play a lot during the day, go for walks, stop to eat, etc.

My rant is about apartment living.  I haven’t done it in a while so it is weird to get back into that mindset of “I don’t fix things here”.  We have had a water leak that I reported about 2 and a half weeks ago and they just started the process to get it fixed.  It has been kind of funny because if it was my house, the problem would have been fixed right away.  But since we can’t do it, it is interesting to see how long it takes them to fix things and the process they go through to do it.  Along with these things getting fixed, there is construction happening below us (I believe) so there is hammering, drilling, etc. at odd times during the day.  It always seems to be when CD is just about to fall asleep for a nap.  I always cross my fingers and hope that he doesn’t hear since naps happen only in a blue moon for CD.  I know he hears, but luckily most of the time it doesn’t bother him.  I’m sure I hear it more than he does, and that is why we go for walks…to get away from the noise some days.  🙂

Now you are caught up on all that is German and where we are in our journey.  Hope you are still having a good time because I know we are enjoying it!

Frankfurt Carnival Parade

We all headed out to grab something to eat before going down to the Carnival Parade.  We went to a local place that we like, Upper West Side, where we got something to eat, CD got to flirt with the waitress and we got to chat a little with the nice owner of the place.  The owner loves CD and talked about him being so happy all of the time and that he must be a good eater since he has thick ankles and fat rolls.  I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.  Really nice staff, always somewhere to sit comfortably and good food.

On our walk from our apartment to lunch, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and it was a perfect day.  As we walked out of the restaurant, it was hailing.  It was such a quick change in weather.  We quickly continued on to the parade since it was getting close to the start time.  Once we got closer to the parade route, all we had to do was follow the crowd of clowns, tigers and angels.  This let me know that we were in fact headed in the right direction.  People were dressed up for the parade and enjoying themselves.

When we got to the parade route, we put CD’s parade outfit on him- his frog hat.  (You can see it in one of the pictures from yesterday’s post).  I had figured that we didn’t need to buy him a costume since no one here dresses their children in blue bear outfits or hats that have ears on them.  They just use practical winter clothing for their children.  So CD had the perfect Carnival costume and it didn’t cost a penny.  Case in point:  Last weekend we were at a restaurant and in walked a couple with a small child.  C asked me if I thought they were American.  I laughed and told him without a doubt I knew that they were American because the child had on a bear hat.  After a short while we started to talk to them and wouldn’t you know, they were from the Washington D.C. area!  So easy to spot the Americans.  🙂

The parade started on time and it was all a lot of fun.  They had floats, bands, music, inline skaters (very big here), they threw candy to the crowd and they would yell out “Frankfurt” to which the crowd would yell back “Helau”.  It kind of reminded me of a St. Patrick’s Day parade back home.  People on the floats were drinking and people in the crowds were drinking and just having a good old-time.

After about an hour and C protecting CD from being pelted with flying candy from the parade, we decided that we would head back home since the temperature had dropped significantly and again we were a bit chilly.  As we started our walk home, we didn’t have to concern ourselves with CD being pelted with candy, we had to worry about him being blown away in the small snow blizzard that had sprung up on our walk home.  We all made it home safely and had a great time while at the parade.  It was fun to partake in something German and can’t wait for the next event to happen!

Here are some pictures from today:

Start of the parade - the Polizei (police)

Jester float

Another float

Large headed people

More cannons

Clowns from yesterday

Aloha from Germany

More masked people

Parade band

CD's parade candy

 

Children’s Carnival Parade

I made C go with CD and myself to the children’s Fastnachtszug carnival parade today.  It is one of the events that is part of the Fastnachtszug Carnival festivities in Germany.  This is kind of similar to Mardi Gras/Halloween in the States.  People dress up and party before Ash Wednesday.  The Carnival signifies the end of winter and the beginning of spring (warmer weather).  We had a great time besides the fact that it was freezing.  We wanted to stay until the very end when the town hall is stormed by the carnival guards and the mayor hands over the keys to the city for the next day (the real parade), but it was too cold for CD.  Here are some of the pictures we took. It was all just a mass of people so it was hard to take good pictures.

First Parade

Prince Felix & Princess Dana

Cannons at City Hall

City Hall

Pretty Buildings Near City Hall

Parade Outfit

I also started a YouTube account to post some videos since I’m sure there will be some interesting things happening in the future.  The one that I posted now (fingers crossed that you can actually get to it and see it) is of some music that we heard at the parade today.  Children’s Carnival Parade Music – YouTube.  If it doesn’t work, you can search for my username: bestwurstinbetween and hopefully the link will come up with the video and the music.  Enjoy!

 

Pink Cadillac

We needed a new car seat for CD since he was above the weight limit in his old one and he was also so squished in it every time we tried to buckle him.  The hard part was that he was actually not old enough to be in a forward-facing car seat.  We searched the Internet for one and if you know C at all, you know he is really good at this and we found one that will work for CD.  When we ordered it, we ordered the gray one.  The car seat arrived the other day and I was so happy because when we travel now, CD will not be uncomfortable.  I then proceeded to rip open the box and when I pulled out the car seat, something didn’t seem right.  Here is why:

PINK Cadillac

Yes, the car seat was pink.  I looked back at the shipping slip and saw that we ordered the gray one.  Hmm.  Somewhere something went wrong.  I told C and we re-ordered the gray one.  Now we just have to get the PINK one back to the company.  That means we have to now learn how to navigate the postal system here.  A new adventure awaits me!

We got the right car seat a few days later.  I was thankful because I didn’t know if another pink one would show up at our door.  Then I would have to lug two car seats to the post office.  Look at how happy CD is in it.  He is not cramped one little bit.  He loved it and can’t wait for his next car ride.

My new ride

What is nice about this car seat is that it will grow with him.  It will be rear-facing until he is old enough for us to turn it around.  I wonder why I worry about this because here in Germany, there are car seats in the front seat, kids not in car seats, you name it, I’ve seen it.  It is funny too because Germany is so child oriented that you think they would have stricter regulations on this.  They even have signs posted at crosswalks to remind you only to cross when it is the right time because “the children are watching”.  Makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.  🙂

On a side note, even though CD will not be riding in a pink car seat, he will be wearing purple diapers.  I am still on the hunt for diapers that I like and so I picked up a bag of Pampers Active Fit (30 diapers for 12€ or about $15-16 ugh) to see if I liked them.  When I opened the package, they were purple.  Well, they are diapers, no one sees them-except you now- and they were purchased so I will use them until they are gone.  If they work, I will buy them again too.

Purple diaper

This is the first diaper that I have seen from the Pampers line here (we only have the dry max and the active fit) that actually had American characters on it.  That is Ernie from Sesame Street if you can’t tell.  All of the other diapers just have sheep, dogs or some other animal that you can’t really tell what it is on them.

It was another glorious day here (5° C or around 41° F) so we went out for a quick walk to the Reve.  On our way out we chatted with the concierge.  He now loves to interact with CD and act all silly with him.  Lately the concierge has been overly nice to me.  I’m not quite sure why.  Is it like we are in high school and the more I ignore him, the more he wants to be around me???  Who knows but I’m going to keep playing it cool and that way he will be nice.  OR maybe he is reading this and knows my inner most thoughts about him!  Oh well, whatever it is, we are actually sort of getting along now.  I still can’t say we are friends, but it is a step in the right direction.

CD loved it outside because he did not need to be bundled in twelve layers like Randy from A Christmas Story.  Love that movie!  (I tried to put a link to a clip from the movie in here but I can’t tell if it is being blocked by Germany or what.  Sorry!)  As we walked, it was like CD never had been outside before.  He continuously sat up in the stroller and wanted to watch all the pink Cadillacs, no I’m just kidding, all the cars go by.  So we did.  And he loved it.

Watching the cars

Yes people, those are the cobblestones that shake little American baby brains in Germany.  Ugh.  On the upside, our shipment has arrived and it will be delivered to our apartment this coming Monday.  It contains our other stroller that I am hoping and praying will work better for the cobblestones.  It should be fun to see all the stuff that we packed that we don’t need here or that we forgot we actually did pack.

CD also had a big change this week.  We moved him into his real crib and packed away his portable one on Tuesday.  It took some getting used to since now he can move and hit his head on wooden slats versus hitting his head on the fabric sides of his portable crib.  Once he got over that, he settled in quite nicely.  He actually slept from 23:00 (11pm) to about 8:00 this morning.  That has not happened in a while.  It was nice to actually get some sleep.  And trust me, I was knocked out completely.  Along with me getting some rest, I think there is some magic with that smooshy baby mattress.  Maybe Germans are on to something.  Ever since CD has been sleeping on it, he is actually taking naps.  The one day he had 2 TWO hour naps.  Today he had 2 one hour naps.  This is unheard of with CD.  He hates to nap.  Never does nap and I thought he never would until I found the magic in the smooshy mattress.  I was actually able to clean up the house and myself the other day.  Again, amazing.  I hope this continues because he needs his rest and so do I.  Now I’m glad we purchased the mattress that I was so worried would suffocate him.  Instead it must sing sweet lullabies to him at night.

Signs of Spring?

It has been so cold that we have had to bundle CD up to go outside or just stay in the apartment which is no fun since we run out of things to do.  We haven’t quite hit the Cabin Fever point because we usually go outside every day for about an hour or so.  I think that truly helps.  Yesterday was the first day that it was actually warm enough to snow.  Yes, I said WARM enough to snow.  CD saw some flurries while we ran errands and then it turned over to rain- another sign it was getting warmer.  Today, I was able to open all the windows/doors for a little bit since it was about 5° C (41° F).  It felt so good to be able to get some fresh air in the apartment and not have to be bundled up to do it.  It was drizzling a little but we decided that we were going to stay in the apartment today since I wasn’t up to pushing CD in his stroller in the rain.

CD the Snowman

Who turned out the lights?

So Cold