Out like a lamb?

Wow.  Who would have thought that it is already the end of March?  I, for one, can’t believe that tomorrow is April 1st.  Time flies.

Yesterday CD and I had to return all of our glass and plastic bottles to Rewe since they were piling up in our kitchen.  I filled my rolling cart and another big reusable bag and lugged CD and the bottles to Rewe.  The weather was cold so I had CD bundled and on the way out the concierge said something to the effect of it being cold outside.  I now think that he may be just giving me the daily weather report when I leave the building, but he still tells me CD is cold when we return from trips.  At least it is 50/50 now- only half of the time is he telling me that I’m not dressing my child properly.  More on this later in the post.

We then walked down to Rewe only to find out that an old lady had already informed the staff that the bottle return machines were not working.  This is very common with the machines- either they are full or they just don’t work some days.  I took a deep breath because I had planned of ridding my rolling cart and reusable bag of the bottles and then filling them up with groceries for the weekend.  I REALLY did not want to have to lug the empty bottles back home.    I was able to get the one machine to work while the old lady went to get another employee to see if they could help, so I got rid of all of the glass bottles at this time since there are separate machines for glass and plastic.  When the lady came back, the employee emptied the machine and we were all able to recycle our plastic bottles.  When it was my turn to get rid of the plastic ones, the employee went to empty the glass bottle machine.  When he pulled the cart that held all of the bottles in the machine out of it, bottles fell and smashed on the floor.  I was just happy that CD was facing the opposite way because believe you me, I would have thrown a fit and screamed at the employee in any language that came out of me if CD was hit with flying glass.  Luckily, for everyone, CD was not hit by any flying glass, but the loud noise of the bottles crashing to the floor threw him into a terror screaming fit.  At first his eyes got wide.  Then his mouth opened with NO sound coming out and then his face turned red when he finally was able to scream/cry.  I was able to calm him down quickly and I gave the employee The Stink Eye.  Thanks Uncle T for introducing us to that one….not sure if it was used in the right context here, but the employee SURE got the point.  After all the bottles were gone, we shopped and then headed home.

I wanted to be home since I knew we were going to be out later for the weekly lunch play group.  My wonderful plan was to play with CD, work up his appetite, feed him and then put him down for a nap before we had to leave.  Well, three out of the four happened.  Can you guess which one didn’t???  No nap.  Well, I wasn’t too concerned since he will usually nap on the walk to the restaurant.  I thought for sure he would nap then since this week we walked by ourselves. Most of the time I walk down to the restaurant with one of the other moms who lives close to us, but she was gone away this week.  Well, as we approached the restaurant, CD was STILL wide awake.  At this point we were going on 5-6 hours of being awake.

The play group ended up being just the boys and their moms.  There were three of us and we had a good time.  CD was a bit of a handful since he was very clingy (no sleep makes this happen for him) but he was very interested in watching the ten-month-old boy. They became friends and usually have a good time together.  When it was time to go, the mom of the ten-month-old knew I wanted to go to one store to see if I could find CD an Easter shirt.  She came along with me, but we didn’t find ANYTHING at all that was the size for CD.  There was stuff for newborns and then toddlers.  We were both confused and left the store laughing.  I now know I can cross that store off my list until CD is a toddler.

Since the mom, M, knew I was pretty bummed that I didn’t find anything, she suggested another store that was a little farther away.  I agreed and we headed out to that store.  When we got there, I was very happy that we trudged all the way there because I found pajamas, an Easter shirt and cardigan for CD.  Plus I wanted to buy so much more, but I told myself “no”.  Everything was inexpensive and I couldn’t contain myself as to how happy I was with the store and being introduced to it since I didn’t even know it existed.  M told me then that she was a little nervous to even recommend it to me because she thought the other moms and I had a bit more expensive taste.  Remember me being brought into the baby boutique with J by another mom and almost fainting at the prices??  Yeah, not really my style.  I told her I’m not like that and she seemed to be a bit more at ease once she knew…and saw that I really meant it.  At this point she asked me to explain to her the Easter bunny.  This all came about because one of the moms is having an Easter tea party at her house next week (yes, we are going) and she wasn’t really sure about the whole Easter bunny thing.  I had also mentioned about the US having Easter bunny pictures when I told her I wanted to find something for CD to wear for Easter, so it was perfect that she now felt comfortable with me being more like her and since I had previously mentioned the Easter bunny.  Hopefully I explained it well enough.  🙂

Again, by this point CD is STILL NOT SLEEPING.  Going on 7-8 hours of being awake.  We then said goodbye to each other since I had a long walk ahead of me and she was right near the bus station that would take her home.  At this point I was a little envious since she had a ride home, but I’m still terrified of the public transportation system since I don’t know how to do it.  J and I told each other that one day we would try it together.  🙂  Were are so silly.  I know it isn’t tough, but still.  At least then if we get lost we could have a drink together!  🙂

Our walk was about 45 minutes and it was in the windy, cold with a slight drizzle.  Even more reason to wish I knew how to use public  transportation.  Ugh.  The walk was agonizing because CD refused to keep his socks on and when he would pull them off, he would throw them on the ground.  I eventually took them from him.  Then, he refused to keep his legs inside his blanket.  So we would stop about every 10 strides (if you know me, I’m short, so this happened very often on the walk) to re-wrap his legs in his blanket.  Then, he did not like having the rain cover on his stroller so he was grabbing and pulling it all over the place.  Now, normally this would not be that big of a deal.  Except I know he was WAY over tired and also we would be seeing the concierge when we got home and he would tell me that CD was “so cold”.  UGH!  Ha.  We finally made it back to the apartment and wouldn’t you know, the concierge said NOTHING!  How ironic.

CD then stayed up until dinner.  I was still amazed that he had no nap during the day.  I, myself, had been exhausted.  After he ate dinner, he went to bed, but it was a rough night.  He was up about 5 or 6 times.  I lost track.

And then we started today.

CD wanted to read when he first woke up so we read through a few books and he had a great time.

Reading Books

And then when I thought a nap would happen…nope, he didn’t want to nap.  So we hung out in the living room and CD decided that he was going to take apart his ABC puzzle mat.  He started at the end of the alphabet and got rid of “z” and then played with “y” and just ripped “v,w and x” out like a zipper.  I’m “glad” he finds joy in destroying things.  🙂

The Letter "Y"

Here is the video of CD playing with “Y”.  The letter “Y” – YouTube.

Again, today we moved into the afternoon with NO nap.  I had tried once more after he had gotten a meal to put him down and he was drowsy, but he only wants to be held to sleep right now.  Ugh!  The second I put him in his crib, the crying starts…and since he is very good at sitting up now, he pops up before I can even leave the room.  The thing he is not good at now?  Is being able to lay back down after he sits up…so he then just pulls himself up to stand, which by the way he thinks is cool.  I do not think it is cool since I know it is not getting him closer to sleeping.  When I went in to get him, just as I opened his door, the doorbell rang and it scared the living daylights out of CD.  He began having a hissy fit and almost climbed out of his crib and into my arms to “safety”.  Once he calmed down, the second doorbell rang and he threw another fit until the DHL man appeared at the door.  After the packages were delivered, CD realized that his voice hit an extra high note during his scream fest and he wanted to try it out again.  When we were in his room right after the DHL guy left, CD kept practicing the note.  It was similar to the quick scream he did in “The Letter ‘Y'” video above around the 45-46 second mark.  Again, CD thought this was fantastic, I did not.  Considering I am just recovering from a 2-day migraine.

So the afternoon continued with no nap, but more play.  CD has been playing with his Jungle Gym a lot lately, but not how it is intended to be used- with a baby laying down under it.  He sits in it and under it.  He is my Jungle Giant since he doesn’t quite fit in the Jungle Gym.  I love how he won’t let go of the blue elephant! He is also cute playing with the giraffe tail…even though at one point he bites the giraffe’s neck. Ouch!  Jungle giant – YouTube.

Jungle Giant

CD does this funny thing that I couldn’t figure out why he did it for the longest time.  He will squint his eyes and he thinks it is funny.  I realized about a month ago that he is mimicking me when I squish my nose to push my glasses up on my face.  He is such a cute little guy.  Usually he will “wink” at you and then you “wink” back and it goes on for a while.  I just got a little clip of it today and wanted to share it.  Eye Squint – YouTube.

Hopefully everyone had a March that is going out like a lamb.  I know we are all not looking forward to April showers…but we all know what comes after that- May flowers!

 

Two Day Update

Yesterday we started our day by doing some laundry and straightening the apartment.  And yes, again CD was amazed at the washing machine.

Laundry Time

Laundry time – YouTube.  By the way, those are nine month pajamas on him.  Do you see them busting at the seams?!?!  HA.  It is funny because now CD will follow me around the apartment.  As I move from room to room, he crawls from room to room.

We then started our daily outing by lugging all of the things that we needed to return to DHL.  I already knew that it would be interesting, but I wasn’t really sure how it would be interesting.  I packed up the four boxes that we needed to mail into my very handy Vera Bradley large duffel bag.  This made it easier to tote them to DHL, otherwise I would have had to made two trips.  When we got there, I thought that they would have a counter to fill out the forms and pack your boxes like a US post office has, but they don’t.  So I had CD next to me as I filled in addresses and sealed two of the boxes on the floor.  When those were ready, I had to purchase boxes for the other two items so I went and stood in line.  Now here is the weird thing- there are lines for buying items at DHL, like paper, markers, etc. and there is a line for mailing things and then there is another line for I-have-no-idea-what.  Well I stood in the one line and of course it was the wrong one.  So I had to move over to the other one.  At this point I was able to mail the two packages.  Then I had to go into another line in order to buy the boxes that I needed for the remaining packages.  Next, I had to get back in the other line to mail those packages.  THEN I remembered that DHL was the only place that I had seen an Easter basket that I liked for CD.  It will be his first Easter and even though the basket they have will not last through adulthood for him like I wanted, it will work for now.  It is so tiny but it is cute….and really, the Easter bunny can’t leave candy for him, so he doesn’t need a big one I guess.  Side note: I’m kinda bummed since there will be no Easter bunny pictures.  Come on Germany, you INVENTED the Easter bunny!  They don’t have pictures like that here.  Anyway, so I picked up the Easter basket and stood BACK IN LINE only to find out that I couldn’t use my card because they only accept cards for purchases of €5 or more…the basket was €4.99.  Ugh.  So I had to go and find something else to buy since I did not have cash on me.  After the whole DHL ordeal I think I left with about 50 receipts and had NO CLUE how much I actually spent in there.  But, the good news is that all of the things are on their way to being returned and CD now has his FIRST Easter basket.  🙂

We then had some time to spare before meeting C for lunch so we went into a different grocery store that is near us called Penny Market.  It is known to have lower prices than some of the other grocery stores.  Well, when you go in the store you have to go through a gate to get into the store.  That should have been my first clue to TURN AROUND.  Once in the store, I could barely fit down the aisles since there was just STUFF piled everywhere.  And as in “stuff”, what I really mean is JUNK!  It was disgusting and then when I tried to get out of the store, they had all the unused register lanes (since no one was really in there, rightfully so) blocked so you could not leave.  You had to purchase something to go through the open register lane.  Well, I started to feel claustrophobic and I kept apologizing to CD that I had subjected him to this AWFUL MESS, so I went back to the gate that let you into the store and I ripped that thing open and probably broke it, but I didn’t care.  And then we were free!  THANK GOODNESS.  It took me about five minutes to recover from the HORRID place.  I will NEVER go back there again.  I only went because every time we passed it, there were “normal” looking people coming out of it, so I assumed it was like a discount store similar to something in the US.  I was DEAD WRONG.  And yes, this paragraph did deserve ALL of the capitalized words.  🙂

We then went and met C for lunch and had a good time.  CD was happy to see C and he ate his rice cake while C and I chowed down on our lunch.

After we finished and C went back to work, it was another nice day out so CD and I went to the park.  We walked around for a little and then settled on a bench where we could watch everyone walk by us.  I took a picture of this tree because it was so pretty.

Park Magnolia Tree

This pretty much was all of our excitement yesterday.

Today our day started with lunch with C.  While C and I had our lunch, CD didn’t want his rice cake, he wanted something different to chew on- his sock.

Lunchtime Snack

On our way back to the apartment, we spotted Peter and Prudence.  We didn’t see them yesterday, so we stopped and chatted with them for a little while.  They were not interested in what we had to say (they napped) so we kept our conversation short as we don’t want to annoy them.  We want them to stick around so we see them more.

Peter and Prudence

The weather had changed and gotten a lot colder and was pretty windy today so lunch was the extent of our outside time.  No matter how many layers I put on CD, the concierge always tells me “so cold”.  I can’t will CD to keep his hands tucked under his blanket or keep his socks on…we all know I try SO hard, but CD has his own ideas, as you can tell from the picture posted above.

While we were inside the apartment, we cleaned a little more and did some laundry.  Since CD follows me around, I figured I might as well put him to work.

Helping Clean

He needs a little more instruction on how to ACTUALLY USE the vacuum, but I’m sure in no time he will get it.  🙂  Helping clean – YouTube.  CD figures he might as well learn how to clean so he won’t have to be put back into Baby Jail while I do all the work.

Baby Jail

Baby jail – YouTube.  He had actually pulled himself up to be standing in the Pack ‘n Play, but I was unable to get that recorded.  You can also see how he is biting the rail.  I hope those teeth are tightly in his mouth.  He now will also bite my shirt and pull with his teeth and he does the same thing with his sleeve.

Another CD update is that he does the “So Big” now.  I haven’t gotten in recorded but it is really cute.  Look for that video in the future!

Another Lovely Day

Today we decided to meet C for lunch and then we were going to meet J and any other moms who would show up at a park a little closer to J’s apartment.  This all meant that CD and I needed to be ready for the day.  We played in the morning and when it looked like CD was tired I thought that I would put him down for a nap and get myself ready for the day.  Well, CD didn’t want to nap so he helped me straighten the apartment and still then the only way I could get him to fall asleep was by rocking him and stroking his face.

When CD woke up from his nap, it was time to go out and meet C for lunch.  On our walk, I had to stop and take pictures because when CD is in his stroller, it is basically like he is in a big comfy chair.  He relaxes and stretches out that he sometimes looks silly while we are walking along the street.  Here are some pictures of what he does while in the stroller.

Stroller lounge- Crossed ankles and holding one sock

 

Stroller lounge- Hanging my leg off the side

CD has been enjoying meeting C for lunch and again today when he saw C he got really excited.  Upper West Side, the restaurant we went to for lunch, was pretty busy since it was nice outside and everyone was out for lunch.  We ended up getting our meals and C was able to show CD off to a few co-workers who were there for lunch.  CD had a little too much energy so we kept passing him between C and myself and when our food came, I gave CD a “rice cake” and he enjoyed investigating that for a while.  He actually enjoys them so that is good.

After lunch, C went back to work and I ventured down to meet J.  This time I did not have to use the GPS on my phone (I’m slowly learning my way around).  We had two other moms show up- one we met before and a new mom.  I had brought our blanket so we put that down on the grass and let the kids play for a while.  Here is a picture of CD on the blanket playing with a toy from a 10 month old boy, who is pretty possessive about his things but let CD play with his toy.  CD was so thrilled to have this new toy that he didn’t really care about anything else.  He wanted that toy and didn’t give it up until the other boy left to go home.  And this only happened because I made him give it back.  🙂  Otherwise I bet it would have come home with us.

Hanging out on the blanket at the park

After we left the park, J and I went to grab a drink at Starbucks and then we said goodbye to each other since J is heading home for Easter.  On my walk home I was a little sad since I won’t be seeing her for a while.  We are pretty much the constants in our play group and we also hang out together when no one else can.

When we got home CD played for a little bit since he was awake because he slept on the walk home- about a half and hour.  While we were playing he starting making his “poop face” and then I heard it…and then I smelled it.  When I went to change him, I gagged.  This has not happened in a while, but this was bad.  I had to immediately give him a bath since it got all over everything and throw his clothes and changing mat cover in the wash.  As I was filling the tub for his bath, I had him on the bathroom floor and he didn’t have a diaper on because it was just going to be taken off for the bath.  Well, as I looked over at CD, he decided he was going to pee and he thought it was the coolest thing because it actually went somewhere!  I had to laugh because he was so intrigued by how far he could pee.  Once the bath and the floor were cleaned, CD had his dinner and headed off to bed like a champ!

I then cleaned up and organized the apartment a little and awaited C to come home from work.

Weekend Recap

This doesn’t really fit into this post but I LOVED the Jammies and so did C so I have to show everyone.  N bought CD Jammies to sleep in and these are great because the legs don’t rid up into shorts during the middle of the night…or when he plays.  I guess they do fit into the post since it is titled “Weekend Recap” and he did wear them Friday AND Saturday night since I loved them so much….and yes, they did not get dirty so it was ok.  🙂

N Jammies

Now to the rest of the post:  We have some exciting news from the weekend.  Well, I think it is exciting so here it is:  We went shopping on Saturday and were able to pick up the last large pieces we needed for the apartment and a few other small things.  We ordered our couch, and we picked the color that they had so that it will only be about 2-3 weeks before we get it versus the standard 10 weeks.  Remember in Germany they MAKE the furniture once you place the order.  We also picked up CD’s changing table, a rug (which I love- it is brown of course and SO soft so it will be good for CD when he is crawling on it) and a coffee table.  When we drove home in the car we borrowed, we were all a little cramped, but it was well worth it.

When we got home, we…I mean C, unpacked the car and brought everything up to the apartment.  He then went off to buy a guitar that he has been patiently waiting to do for a very long time.  He bought one that he won’t have to worry about CD getting and slamming his hands/toys/mouth/feet/etc. on without getting upset over it.  Remember how CD played with the guitar stand???? Guitar stand fun – YouTube.  We all know what is going to come next…playing with the guitar itself.  We all like the guitar.  I like the way it looks and I believe that C is just happy that he has a pastime that he enjoys back again.

While C was out pondering what guitar could withstand the daily bashing it will get from CD, I did my best to put the changing table and coffee table together with CD wanting to eat every screw and help by holding the tools I needed.  Let’s just say it was a LONG process.  I started with the changing table since this was the one I really needed.  My back and knees were getting sore from changing him on the floor and then lifting him up afterwards.  It was basically like putting together Ikea furniture (directions just being pictures, all those funny connector pieces) BUT step 1 was about 10 steps in one and the picture was not that clear, there were missing connector pieces and wooden pieces had extra holes drilled in them that in the end were not used.  I gave up on putting it together multiple times and returned to it with determination since I needed the table to be put together.  In the end it took about 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) to get it together and C’s help.  Now if this is how furniture is “made” in Germany, I think there is a problem.  🙂  I just hope that it doesn’t fall apart while I’m changing CD.  If it does, you better believe I will SUE them.  🙂  On Sunday, when I tried to finish building it, I put CD in his Pack ‘n Play and he HATES it.  It is his baby jail.  It prevents him from putting things in his mouth, crawling all over everything and taking my things.  He doesn’t last long in it because he seriously hyperventilates when I put him in it.

I was able to make the Ikea coffee table during the night on Saturday, so I was happy that I accomplished putting that together at least before I went to bed.

Sunday morning is when we turned our clocks ahead here and lost an hour of sleep.  When I put CD to bed on Sunday night, it was 18:00 or 6:00 pm which really to CD was 17:00 or 5:00 pm.  He is crazy.  I couldn’t believe that he wanted to go to bed that early…and also it was light outside so I did not think he would go to bed/stay asleep when I put him down, but he did.  Monday morning, he got up at 6:00 am, which really to CD was 5:00 am!  Ugh!  He did go back to bed but it took awhile.

Now, not really the weekend, but the first day after the weekend- Monday-today, when I was putting CD’s clothes in his changing table, I had left him in his crib because he was content there.  Tell me what the difference between a cream-colored crib and a fun, bright-colored Pack ‘n Play are…who would want to be in a boring crib when you can have all the fun in the world in a Pack ‘n Play???  Seriously, sometimes I just don’t get CD.  🙂

Non-fun Crib

 

Pack 'n Play

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, at one point I looked over, and there is CD STANDING UP IN HIS CRIB while holding on to the crib rails!!!  It near blew me away because I did not expect it.  It does beat his CHEWING on the crib rails when he was only able to kneel in the crib.

Shortly after I got his clothes put away and we played for a while, our cleaning lady showed up to start work today.  She is very nice and CD warmed up to her pretty quickly.  It must mean that she is a good person.  She worked during the morning and has actually been able to get my stove to look clean.  I had asked her to let me know what products to buy to ACTUALLY clean it since everything I buy doesn’t seem to work…or be the right product.  She actually purchased them for us so I didn’t have to go out and get them.  It was SO NICE to not have to use what little time I have to clean…even though I was straightening and doing laundry.  All the big tasks were done by her- bathrooms, kitchen and minor housework like floors and dusting.

We then went to meet C for a quick lunch since it was nice outside today.  After lunch CD and I headed to Rewe to get groceries and then headed home for a quick CD nap.  After the nap we played until he went to bed- again quite early.  Here is a clip of CD playing music.  Notice how happy he is while shaking the toy.  You can see our new rug and the corner of our coffee table- the baby monitor is on it in the bottom right corner.  Later on he ventured into the room that has the bikes (behind him and will be the dining room when our dining table arrives around 18/4/12 or April 18th).  Music Time – YouTube.

Happy Birthday!

We want to wish Uncle C a Happy Birthday from Germany!  Hopefully you have a great day and weekend!

Yoga Day

So I had been waiting for this day for a while and then it was finally here.  CD and I met the girls for yoga and when we got to the studio, we had to climb stairs, which made it tough for some of us with car seats.

When we all settled in, one of the girls told the instructor that we speak only English and so the instructor did the class in English, even though there were two German girls there for the class who did not come with us.

I had such great memories and times at the Mommy and Baby Yoga in the States, but this was something different.  The class was a beginner level- we opted for this since two of the girls never did yoga before, and let’s face it, I haven’t really done anything in a LONG time.  Well, thank goodness that we picked the beginner level because this was tough yoga.  In the Mommy and Baby yoga in the States, you use your baby in moves.  Here, the baby just lies on the mat next to you while you do really tough yoga.  In my case, CD was crawling ALL over.  He wanted to visit J and her baby on their mat and then he wanted to visit E and her baby.  Then he got courageous and wanted to show us all how to be flexible and traveled to the instructors mat.  I wasn’t sure if she was going to discipline him or let him go.  She smiled and encouraged him to move about.  Whew!  Thank goodness because I was exhausted from chasing him around the room, let alone from doing tough yoga.

CD was not really into the yoga so he had to find other things to keep him busy.  This is why he just went to visit everyone else.  Also the studio was warm.  We were all sweaty and if you know me, then you know CD.  We don’t like being hot.  CD had on a onesie and a pair of cotton pants.  Well, he was warm so I did what any mom would do…I took off his pants so he could crawl and roam around in just a onesie.  He cooled down and all the moms and the instructor LOVED his chunky thighs.  They were all happy to see his fat little legs.

At one point, CD started to crawl to the back of the room and I thought, “ok, he isn’t going to be in anyone’s way, he should be fine.”  right when I said that I heard THUD.  He doesn’t realize that his head is about half of his body weight and after he tips so far, that he will fall forward.  Well, he busted his upper lip and there was blood, but after the initial shock of it, he was fine.  All I said to myself was, “he couldn’t have waited even a week to let the last disaster fade a little in my mind before he did it again.”

When we returned to the class everyone was doing a swimming motion, which is actually pretty tough.  I am renaming this yoga from Mommy and Baby Yoga to Tough Yoga.  And the instructor said to us, “keep swimming and do it faster.  You all want to return to your pre-baby bodies.”  I think we all laughed and then got really serious about it.  We all swam the English Channel in about 3 minutes.  During the whole class I kept mouthing the words “I’m sorry” to the girls because it was nothing like what I thought it would be like.  We would be doing a pose with our leg in the air and then the instructor would come around and lift it higher.  Ugh!  I’m not sure if the girls will go back.  🙂

Once the class was over, we were packing up our bags and the instructor came to talk to us.  She was actually very nice, but I think we all were a little afraid of her in the class.  She turned to me and basically told me to get used to CD coming home bruised or with a new cut.  She spoke from experience since she has two boys.  I keep hearing this from everyone who has boys and even though I don’t want to believe that it is true, I know that it is.  All the moms who have girls don’t get to experience it because girls just aren’t like that.  I am also one to not really play into gender roles, and it is happening with my own son.  He is falling into the rough-and-tumble boy versus the calm and laid back girl….except when he wants his “mama”…and then he is a “mama’s boy” which I guess is ANOTHER boy stereotype.  UGH!

Anyway, back to the day after that short rant.  🙂  We then decided to go and grab lunch since it was so nice outside.  E took us to a French place, La Maison du Pain, and we had a great time.  It was relaxing once we rearranged the patio to suite our needs (moved tables to fit the prams (strollers), moved and put up umbrellas) and the kids stopped crying.  It took a while but we were able to settle in and enjoy our lunch.  The food was really good.  Later on when I spoke with C I found out that this was a place that someone had recommended to us, but I didn’t know it.  I now would recommend it to anyone else.  It was very nice.

We then all headed our separate ways and on my walk home I decided that I would stop into the Apotheke (pharmacy) to see if there was something that I could put on CD’s head from his fall.  As I tried to get the stroller up the step and push the door open, a very elderly lady stopped to help me.  This is when I wish I spoke German because I wish I could have expressed how thoughtful and helpful what she did was.  Except in true German fashion, you wouldn’t express your gratitude.  She didn’t have to stop and help, yet she did.  And yes, age doesn’t matter, but she was really up there that I felt I should be helping her, and yet there she was holding a door open for CD and myself.  It really made me warm inside.

As the pharmacist came forward, I told her that I speak English and told her what I was looking for in a product.  In the end, I left with nothing because they couldn’t convince me that what they pulled from the shelf actually did what I wanted it to or that I could actually use it on a baby.  I was looking for something like Neosporin- what a weird sounding word.  Say it “Neosporin”.  Weird, huh?  I wanted something to heal the cut, make sure it is clean and also help it to not scar.  One of the mom’s told me that they don’t really have anything here like that and even when she told her husband, who is German, about it, he thought she was crazy…”why would you have that???  Just let the wound heal”.  Germans are not very big on “extras”.

We then came back to the apartment to rest and stretch a bit.  CD should have napped, but he didn’t so we went to Rewe to get some groceries.  As we were walking out of the building, the concierge asked if we were going to the market and I told him yes.  He then led us to the secret back door and let us out that way.  This saved us from circling back around the building if we had gone out the front door.  I thanked him too since he did not have to do this and thought to myself, two really nice things happened to us today from two different people- the old lady and the concierge.  🙂

We shopped and then returned to the apartment.  At this time it was almost time for CD to start his bedtime routine.  He must have known because he pooped another really stinky diaper.  I again had to air out the room and change his clothes.  He thought it was hilarious.  I did not while I was pinching my nose and trying to rid the room of the dirty diaper.  He then had his dinner and I gave him something similar to a rice cake.  He thought it was interesting but just held it for the most part.  I am going to keep a stash of these in my bag while we are out because he finds them interesting and they don’t make such a big mess as some of the other “crackers” I had in the past for him.

After he ate, he got a bath and he loves this.  He kicks his feet like crazy and we all get soaked, but it is fun just seeing him feel the water and enjoy it.  I can’t wait to see him in the ocean/pool.  I wonder what he would do.  When it was time to go to bed, he fell asleep after another great day with friends and a ton of fresh air.  I’m so happy it has been nice weather lately.  It makes it so much easier because we can be outside exploring our surroundings instead of inside staring at each other.  🙂

Here is a video of CD playing with shape blocks.  You can see his Buddha belly in it.  He likes to hit things against each other now and he does that in the video.  He also will fling toys across the room and then go after them.  You can experience his “odd” crawl too.  Playing with shape blocks – YouTube.

Mid-week Play

CD was able to see C this morning and was really happy about it.  What this meant though was that CD was really tired really early in the morning…about 8 am.  I held him out to 9 am and then started his nap routine.  He fell asleep and was so happy to be napping.  When he woke up, I didn’t even know it because he was happy and content in his room sitting up in his crib.

When I went in to get him, I was SMACKED IN THE FACE by the smell coming from the room when I opened the door.  Yet another very strong scented poop diaper from CD.  We are on day 4 of this.  They are so bad that you have to open the window and need to get the diaper out of the apartment, not just put it in the Diaper Genie.  Right as I opened the door to his room, the doorbell rang.  There was not enough time to change him so I left him in his crib while I signed for the packages.  As I stood at the front door, I could smell the diaper…so I think the delivery guy could too.  (CD’s bedroom door is right by our front door so it wafted over to it).

We then unpacked all of the packages.  We LOVE you Amazon.  Wherever we are, we will need to have Amazon.  It has saved me a few trips to the DM, which is great.  Now that we know what we could get on Amazon, I am happy.  C can’t order clothes on it though, it is just too hard to do that.  How he could even do it in the US, I’m not sure, but whatever.  It isn’t like it is in the US.  Not everything is sold on Amazon, nor are there many reviews or information of the product.  Anyway, enough about Amazon…. As we unpacked the things, CD wanted to hold and touch EVERY SINGLE item.  So I let him and he was happy.

Investigating the toaster

And then after we check out all of the new stuff that has entered our world to make sure it is ok, we then have to play with the cardboard boxes.

The best part of the packages- the boxes

We then got ready to go out and meet our friend, J and her daughter since it was such a glorious day.  Of course CD fell asleep about fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave.  He was such a good kid even though I woke him up from his nap.  We met J and grabbed a small lunch and then walked to the play group at a park near our apartment.

The park was packed and we had to texted the other moms to find them.  What was interesting about the park was that there was a little stand where you could get snacks, like ice cream, and drinks like coffee and wine.  It was odd, but I liked it.  We stayed for a while and watched all the kids play.  Here is a picture of CD and me with my friend J and her daughter.

At the park with J

It was nice and when it started to get cool, we came home.  I kept CD awake since C was coming home shortly after we got home.  CD was again excited beyond belief to see C.  He wanted him to hold him and needed to give him kisses.  These are a little weird now because it is mouth open to your mouth or nose.

CD went to bed and hopefully will have a good night’s sleep before we do Mommy and Baby yoga tomorrow with the girls!

 

Happy 9 Month B-day & Spring

I did not post yesterday because there was a tragic moment.  CD fell off the bed.  I nearly peed, pooped, puked, had cold sweats and hot flashes, a heart attack and a stroke all at once.  I take it back, I didn’t “nearly”, I “DID”.  He is fine, I am not.  AWFUL, AWFUL mother.  All night I couldn’t sleep.  At one point when sleep somewhat overtook me and C rolled over, I grabbed him because I thought he was CD and I thought he was falling off the bed.  Still today, I have an upset stomach from the whole thing.  Moms are not supposed to let things like that happen.  AWFUL mother.

Today, we wish CD a happy 9 month birthday.  There is no picture posted yet, because I am trying to figure out what to do with the scratch on his head…how to pose him.  When I have the picture posted, I will let everyone know so you can go back and see how much he has grown.

* Update: Picture posted:  Check Post from April 2, 2012 for more information on pictures.

9 month picture

9 month picture- professional

We were able to chat with a few family members today and CD loved that he was able to steal the phone and soak up all of the attention from everyone.  Once you take the screen off of him, he whines until you put him back in front of the camera.

We also had all the windows/doors open since it was nice outside.  CD played with everything in the apartment while I straightened up since we were going to have the cleaning lady stop by to see the place to let us know what she would charge and inform us of when she could come by to clean.  Yes, I know.  Why “clean” before she comes?  My theory was I wanted her to see what I would like the place to look like…not what it ACTUALLY looks like 80% of the time.

While I was straightening up the apartment, the doorbell rang, and yes, CD is still terrified of it.  But the mail was for him.  He got some nice books that I will let him eat, shake and do whatever else his little mind decides to do with them.  Thanks N for the good books!  It was almost like a birthday present.  🙂  As you can see he dove right into them.

New Cloth Books

And yes, you can see his scratch.  AWFUL mother.

Here is an action shot of CD flinging the books around.  He loves them and loves that he can do this with them.

Book Action Shot

After we played with our new books, we did take a short nap, but CD must have known that it was such a nice day and the first day of spring (Happy Spring!!!), so he didn’t nap a lot.  Instead we played ALL DAY LONG.  We spent time in our Jumperoo, which CD almost bounced through the ceiling and the floor.  I feel sorry for whoever lives below us, because he bounced like he never bounced before and like his life depended on it.  He was happy the whole time because he could look out the window/door and see everything that was going on in the courtyard.

Jumperoo Time

All I can say is poor, poor person living below us.  There only hope was that they were already gone to work for the day. Jumperoo Fun – YouTube.

By the end of the day, CD had found C’s guitar stand and thought it was cool and a new toy for him to explore, so I let him.  I told him once the guitar is in it, HANDS OFF!  Hopefully he listens, but all signs are pointing to “No”.  Anyone willing to take bets????

Guitar Stand Walker

As he was playing with the guitar stand, there were times that he reminded me of an old man with a walker.  You can actually hear me laugh on the video because I thought it was funny.  You can also see my foot at the end to try to get him to stop eating it.  Guitar stand fun – YouTube.

Hopefully you have had a better yesterday than CD and I have had, but we did have a good day today.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day for weather and another playgroup in the park.

Rainy Reading Sunday

**  I was informed by GM (thanks for the info!) that the leaf video in yesterday’s post didn’t actually work.  It is up and running now so if you want to check out CD playing with a leaf in the park, return to yesterday’s post.  **

Today C got CD this morning and hung out with him while I slept in a bit.  We then all played for a while in CD’s room.  It was fun, but of course CD eyed the electronics and wanted to play with those instead of his toys.  At one point C went down the hall and I couldn’t believe how fast CD moved to follow him.  It was so cute!

In the morning CD did not want to nap, so he finally crashed around 12:30 or so.  When CD woke up, he practiced pulling himself up in his crib and he did it all by himself!  He thinks it is so much fun and now wants to stand all the time.

In the afternoon we played a lot and tried to stop CD from getting the computer or iPhone.  He is SO strong that it is at times hard to stop him.  We also read some books.  He is in love with the Where is Baby’s Belly Button book.  He gets so excited when you flip one of the flaps to reveal the hidden body parts in the interactive book.  Here are some pictures of us…I mean CD, reading.

Reading Where is Baby's Belly Button

The next picture is CD reading the only book that we brought with us on the flight over to Germany.  It fit perfectly into one of the pockets of his diaper bag so it was the obvious choice.  He loved the book also and I have memorized it since we read it SO many times until our shipment arrived with all of the other books.  Good thing I know the whole book, because any time I start to read a book, CD insists on holding it and flipping it upside-down, closing it, turning pages out-of-order, etc.

Reading our Grover book- upside down

After we read our regular books, we read our recorded books.  They usually scare CD at first since he doesn’t know where the “other voices” are coming from in the apartment.  They don’t scare him as much as the doorbell though.  Today was the first day that after the initial scare, CD wanted to keep hearing the stories. He loved them and was so excited to hear the different voices tell the stories.  I’m glad we did this for him.  Deep down inside I know I enjoy hearing family voices too.  🙂

CD was happy to see C return from work and they hung out with each other after dinner watching sports on the computer.  The best world for both of my boys!  Sports and computer.  🙂  When it was finally time to go to bed, CD went to bed like a sweet little angel.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Kiss Me, I’m Irish!!!  And so is CD.  This day was all about CD…since it is his holiday.  Lucky name.  🙂

Since CD knew it was his holiday, he wanted to wake up EXTRA early to start celebrating.  He woke up at about 2:30 am and would not go back to sleep until about 3 hours later.  Then he was awake around 7:15 am.  Needless to say, I did not get much sleep. Once we were all awake, we decided that we would go and get breakfast.

When the time came, we set out into the BEAUTIFUL weather and headed to Upper West Side.  Everyone was dressed in the St. Patrick’s Day green.  I even had my Irish socks on under my boots!  I was very excited to be out on the holiday.  When we got to the restaurant, it was still a little before they opened so we decided to walk farther down the path and sit on a bench.  We were followed there by Prudence and Peter (we named them).

Prudence and Peter

We then went and had breakfast when the restaurant opened and had a nice and relaxing time.  After breakfast, C went into work and CD and I went to the park that was nearby.

When we got to the park, we claimed a spot on the grass an opened up the blanket so that we could sit and explore the new surroundings.  Well, CD wanted to explore…everywhere that was NOT on the blanket.  After awhile, he settled in and we were able to read, watch people, play and just relax in the sun.  We didn’t stay too long, since I don’t want him to be in the sun too much right now.  Here are some of the pictures that I took while we were at the park.

Watching people

Watching the birds

Playing with toys

Here is a video of CD playing with the toy and also watching the people go by on their bikes on the trail.  At the park – YouTube.

Enjoying the weather

And then the wind blew…and along came something new to investigate.  So we did.

The leaf

So happy to have a leaf

And here is a video of him examining the leaf.  Notice that he uses his legs to move things out of his way when he doesn’t want them near him.  He doesn’t like things touching him that he isn’t focusing on at the time.  Also he does the SAME move with the leaf that he does with most of his toys.  He kind of moves his fingers back and forth.  The only thing that could break his concentration is someone going by on the path.  At the park- the leaf – YouTube.

I hope all of you were able to have a great St. Patrick’s Day.  We had a great time outside today.  I know this is short, but I still want to enjoy my holiday too.  Until next time, enjoy the post!