U-Bahn Master

CD woke up a bit last night, but pretty much kept to his schedule today.  We woke up around 7:00 am and awaited our cleaning lady to come for the scheduled time.

When she arrived, it was hard to keep CD with me since he wanted to be “nosy” and see what she was doing and touch everything that she touched.  So I basically had to close the doors to our living room so he could not follow her.  He then took a very short nap, which meant that I had to keep him fenced off from getting in her way.

When she was getting ready to leave, she said something to the fact that CD was having a rough day.  Yeah.  I then texted C to let him know that I don’t think we will be able to be in the apartment when she is here.  It was just WAY TOO exhausting trying to hold him back.  She is VERY kind to him and he likes her, but she is on a schedule (since she has to be at her next job right after she finishes our apartment) and I feel bad if she really would have to stop to rip CD off of the vacuum cleaner because he just can’t be separated from it when it is out in the apartment.

After she left, I was actually able to get ready to go out to meet up for a little play group.  I almost thought that CD passed out in the chair that I put him in when I get ready because he wasn’t screaming.  He was just in a lull and it was wonderful.  What now normally takes me over an hour to do only took 20 minutes!  It was amazing and it meant that we were actually able to leave at the correct time.

We had timed our leaving the apartment so that we could ride the U-bahn by OURSELVES!  Yes, you heard me.  I wanted to go to the play group meetup and I knew I would not go if I had to walk 40-45 minutes there, hang out- which includes walking, and then walk home for 40-45 minutes.  The U-Bahn made the trip be about 10 minutes.  CD got scared on it and I think it is because he doesn’t know what is going on- like when he is in a car now since we don’t do it very often.  We did a wonderful job of navigating and now feel pretty comfortable using this form of public transportation as long as I know the stop I’m going to has a lift (elevator).  Some don’t and then you have to find a KIND person to help you lug the pram (stroller) UP the stairs.  I’m not too keen on that yet.  What if they drop their end of the pram (stroller)?  This is how my mind thinks.    I’m sure they wouldn’t, but you never know!

We met along the Main (sounds like “mine”) for the play group and walked along the river until it started to rain and then we headed into a little coffee shop.  This was my first time on the “other side” of the river in Sachsenhausen, and it was quite cute.  Towards the end of our meeting, we headed to Noa Boa, a baby shop which was very nice.  In our group today, there were 2 boys and 2 girls and the mom of the boy said how it is hard to find good clothes for boys- there are all cute clothes for girls and always a bigger selection of girls clothes.  I completely agreed with her, but Noa Boa had a good selection of both.

We returned to the apartment, played for a little bit, ate and then CD went to bed because he was exhausted.

Hope you all made it through your Monday!

My Son is a Chipmunk or Guppy. You Choose.

So I now have a child who is acting like a chipmunk in fall.  He must think that he needs to store food because he is eating everything that is going in front of him and then some!  I usually make too much food for him, but now I have to ADD more to the bowl to feed him. It also happens when he has a rice cake.  He bites it, stores it in his cheek and then bites off some more.  I keep telling him he needs to bite, chew, swallow and then bite again.  He doesn’t think that is the best way to eat the rice cake.

He also realized that he can open the door that is behind our couch when he is standing on the couch.  He thinks it is fun.

Opening the door

He usually has a patch of hair that is sticking up as you can see in this photo.  HA!

In addition to door handles, he likes to play with hats and everything else that I so neatly put away.  It takes about twice as long to clean up because as soon as I put something away, CD is right behind me pulling it out again.  🙂  CD playing with hat – YouTube.

Today we woke up to an overcast, rainy, windy, cold day.  I had to go to Rewe to get some things for the house (water especially) so we timed our outing perfectly.  We waited until about noon and headed out to the store.  It had stopped raining and the sun came out, which made it a bit warmer, but it was still windy.  We then shopped and headed home.  On the walk home, it started to rain and turned back into the blustery cold day it had been in the morning.  And then CD took a one and a half hour nap.  We are doing great with sleep!

When he woke up, we played a little and then he got really tired around 17:00 (5:00).  I thought, “Oh, gosh, how am I going to keep this chipmunk up until 20:00 (8:00) when it finally gets dark outside???    Well, I didn’t.  I fed him, which luckily for me took about half an hour, since he was eating everything and storing other rice cakes in his cheeks.

Then we had a bath.  This is where I found out that he must be half guppy too.  I filled the bath, but the water was too warm for CD to go into it.  Well, he wanted to be in the water right away and complained that I was not doing what he wanted and dunking him in the warm water.  As soon as he got into the right-temperature bath, he was happy as a clam…I mean guppy.  🙂

And by 19:20 (7:20) he was asleep.  Maybe now he is hibernating for the “winter”.  🙂

Happy Birthday!

Today was CD’s 10-month birthday.  Happy birthday to him.  He is getting SO BIG!  And he loves to do that too- you say “how big is CD” and he lifts his arm in the air to show you.  He is shy, yeah, I can’t believe I said that because he will make loud noises in the store to GAIN attention, so I don’t have a good clip of it on the camera yet.

I have to get the paper made that we use when we do his picture, since Germany is different and uses all different paper sizes.  Ugh!  Once I have that, I will post his picture.

You know how you make a wish when you blow out your birthday cake candles?  Well this is my wish for CD and I guess me too:

Sleep

Yes, sleep is what I wish for.  He has been doing such a wonderful job through the night.  Last night he woke up only once for about 5 minutes.  (This still keeps me up for an extended period of time though, but we are all getting better with it).  He now sleeps on his tummy with his bum shooting directly up into the air.  It doesn’t look like the normal way kids sleep like that- he is all crunched up and all.  It was such a good night and he woke up happy.

Also yesterday he took a 2 HOUR NAP in the morning!  I couldn’t believe it and I was TOO SCARED TO MOVE.  I had showered and my hair was wet, which made me cold, but I didn’t DARE move from the couch for fear of interrupting that precious sleep.  I didn’t move because while on the couch I was able to finally read my baby book and it was talking about how important sleep is and good habits start young and how they usually sleep as a baby carries over into adulthood so if you don’t help your baby sleep “nicely” then you have RUINED them for life.  UGH!  C and I are in trouble but I must say CD is working on it, along with me.  🙂  He just doesn’t want to miss anything.

He now just says “mama” in his crib and ALL DAY LONG and it is so sweet that I love him, but the baby needs to sleep because he tires me out during the day.  🙂

On another note, CD has a funny face that he does ALL the time now.  Thanks N for actually being able to capture it on your iPhone!  Even though he makes this face a lot, as soon as I go to take his picture, stops.

Ohhh

He makes a perfect little “O” with his mouth and then either thinks it is funny or continues to do it.  What a goof!

Today we had our regular lunch play group and then after that we went on a hunt for a bathing suit for me.  I was 50% successful, as J had said, and found a top but no bottom.  I bought the top since there was only one in that size and said that I could pick up a brown-colored bottom in any store.  Ummmmm, yeah, that isn’t going to work since all of the bathing suits are neon green, yellow, black, pink, etc.  No brown bottoms so I will have to see what I will do.

Anyway, I promised myself that I would go to bed early while C was gone and so far that has not happened.  I plan to do that tonight, or at least relax to help me fall asleep sooner.  So goodnight and sweet dreams to all!

Interested in Kermie

Shaking Kermie

Now I will go after the paper

I couldn’t get him to sit still.  First he went after Kermie and then he went after the paper.

Luminale in the Frankfurt Palmengarten

I was inspired to find out about this event because a few weeks ago there was some construction near C’s work creating this:

Glowing geese

And they made geese noises!

So I did some research and found out that it is the Luminale.  Angioplasty in 2012   I know everything is in German, but if you click on the third yellow arrow below the map picture that says “Zum Ausdrucken: Das komplette Luminale 2012 Programm mit allen Informationen” it will open the full brochure for the event and under each item is a section that is in English.  ENJOY!  And then I found out that it is not called “Glowing Geese” but is actually “The Wave”.

I wanted to go to every sight, but it was going to be a little difficult with CD in tow, so I chose to go to the Palmengarten location since there I would be able to see a few lighted pieces in one place that is pretty close to home.

CD and I both ate a good dinner and then got ready to head out the door.

Full belly

We planned to leave and get there around 20:00 since it kept saying that sundown would be a little after 20:00.  Well, on our walk there it was bright as day.  UGH!

Out like a light...but off to see the lights

As we got close to the Palmengarten, I saw a bus pull up and it was PACKED.  I hoped that we could beat the people to the door since I didn’t know if I was on borrowed time with CD or how long I would have to be able to see the sights before he would wake up and realize that I had dragged him out of the house when he should have been all snuggly in his crib.  We beat them and that was my first sign that this seems to be a big event in Frankfurt.

We bought our ticket and entered into the world of lights!

I am going to break down the pictures by each creation.  I was able to see all the ones at the Palmengarten, some you weren’t able to take pictures (Living Light 2 – Interference) and some I was not able to get close enough to get a decent picture once it got dark outside (Engelstrompete – Datura and the Nachtgarten).  There was a “party” type thing that we didn’t do either since you had to register for it (PLDA Celebration of Light 2012).

I took the info from the brochure for the description sections of this post.  OMG I hope that is not a copyright issue.  

I am not claiming that I’m a pro at picture-taking, so I hope you just enjoy the pictures instead of critique the angles I picked.  Remember, I was also with a stroller and awaiting a waking child at any moment.  Well, here goes with the pictures!

Schöner Schein – Beautiful Appearance

(Plants often attract with their beauty and the fragrance of their flowers.  But one or other of them knows how to use its charms and then it is too late …)

 

Those are paper flower lantern lily pads

 

Luminale Palmengarten – Schöner Schein – YouTube.

Tanzende Wasser – Dancing Water 

(Frankfurt and Lyon have been twin cities for 50 years. For this anniversary, the city of Lyon made Frankfurt a truly shining gift to express their bonds.  Lyon lighting designer Jacques Fournier has designed a lighting concept for the 25-year-old Octagon fountain in the Palmengarten. Against the unique backdrop of the Frankfurt Palmengarten he shows what magic light can caste in conjunction with water.  The new fountain illumination is state-of-the-art in artistic and ecological terms. It could be implemented thanks to the City of Lyon, Philips Lighting and Mainova. The lighting consists of 64 small and 6 large LED spots. This new technique requires a much lower voltage, which is a great advantage for underwater constructions. In addition, the power consumption is significantly lower – and the service life of lamps therefore longer than traditional light sources.)

Luminale- Palmengarten – Tanzende Wasser – YouTube.

Luminale- Palmengarten – Tanzende Wasser 2 – YouTube.

Engelstrompete – Datura  

(The Pavilion is made of renewable raw materials, such as willow, leather and wool. 15 abstract palm leaves create a poetic space with
superimpositions and intervals. An interactive light and sound space is created in connection with new technologies.)

Remember I couldn’t get good pictures of this so you may want to look at the brochure or search for it online for better photos.

BROKEN HEART

(Our heart is not broken, but dismantled into its individual parts.  As in real life it depends on choosing the right point of view – and then the individual parts fit back together into a single unit and the heart shines in its original form. This light sculpture consists of intercrossing, transposed LED strips which compose different forms at different angles.)

Fraunhofer: OLED – Light Installation

(Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are vapour-deposited in very thin layers on glass or film. This enables a completely new generation of light sources. Applied to large areas, they will be used to illuminate e.g. car interiors, living rooms, furniture, windows and much more in an energysaving way in the future.)

Loop.pH Archilace

(Loop.pH is a London based art and design studio intervening at an urban scale to re-interpret public space, handcrafting technology into speculative futures. They are internationally recognised for ephemeral space-crafting, creating large scale luminous, living environments.)

Luminale – Palmengarten – Loop.pH Archilace – YouTube.

FLYLIGHT by Studio DRIFT

(FLYLIGHT is an interactive light installation composed of a minimum of 180 glass tubes. The glass tubes that light up and respond to the viewer are inspired by the behavior of a flock of birds and the fascinating patterns they seem to make randomly in the air. Actually this behaviour is not as accidental as it looks; birds have to keep a safe distance from each other. What will happen if an intruder interrupts their flight? This is what the viewer will experience when approaching the FLYLIGHT. We converted this bird-behaviour into a digital DNA and translated it into understandable visualisations with light. Each light is controlled individually, but the behavior is not programmed to a repeated pattern. Time after time the birds have to choose their way within the borders of the installation.)

They handed out papers for their other designs that I really enjoyed.  Here is their website.  Welcome to Design Drift.

The next one is the Shylight.  It resembles how flowers attract bees.  And then when there is danger, it closes and retracts to safety.

Luminale – Palmengarten – Studio DRIFT – YouTube.

Luminale – Palmengarten – Studio DRIFT – YouTube.

The next ones use actual dandelions!  They are I think called Fragile Future 1, 2 and Dandelight.

Snail trail

(A laser snail is projected 360° around a pillar, which the viewer must go around to follow the course of the animation. The projection surface is made of phosphorescent material, so the snail leaves a glowing light trail.)

This one was really difficult to get a picture.  The really bright green glowing light is in the shape of a snail and it moves as it leaves it’s trail behind it.

Luminale – Palmengarten – Snail Trail – YouTube.

Living Light 2 – Interference

(Living micro-organisms in an artificial habitat. These are specifically stimulated by spatially distributed impulses so that visitors experience their bio-luminescent capabilities in the form of momentarily flaring luminous interference.)

There are no photos of this since you went into a tiny tent that blacked out all the light and crowded around a small box that contained the organisms.  It was pretty interesting but you did have to wait in line for it.

PLDA Celebration of Light 2012

(This year’s PLDA Luminale event ‘Celebration of Light’ is the international lighting designers’ event of the year. The inspiring venue offers an opportunity to socialise with up to 700 colleagues from the lighting design community from around the world. Drinks and snacks will be provided, as well as the opportunity to celebrate light in the Palmengarten, 800 m near to the fairgrounds of Light+Building.)

We DID NOT attend.  I missed out on that…I think I saw a few “business people” who were feeling fine with the drinks that they were provided though.

Makoto Azuma: DAMNED IKEBANA

(With his extravagant, purist plant art, Azuma examines the unique and mysterious appearance of flowers and plants, transcending traditional Ikebana with unusual combinations of blossoms, leaves, tubers and entire plants that create new, magical forms of expression. The resulting botanical sculptures exude the poetic beauty of haikus, while simultaneously playing with Western concept art and minimal art in a skilful way. Makoto Azuma’s clients include fashion houses such as Hermès, Issey Miyake, and Maison Margiela. He documents the creative process of his predominantly ephemeral art in photographs and videos.)

This I would call “Wallflower”  Ha!

Night Garden

(This media production blends projections, sound, poetry and prose to shine a light on a magnificent world that is normally invisible – by providing insights into the fascinating world of ’Nocturnal Nature’. Together with Atelier Markgraph, Viennese projection artists 4youreye use a mapping installation to transform the Music Pavilion at Frankfurt Palmengarten into a theatre of light. The sound artist is Frankfurt’s DJ Pierre (Pierre Blaszczyk); poems and prose were selected by Sigrun Höllrigl, the initiator of the project from ’Art Visuals & Poetry’, and includes works by the Austrian Sound Poetry Artists Jörg Zemmler and Georg Trakl, the Salzburg poet who was born 125 years ago this year.)

As you can see this picture didn’t really work.  

 

 

 

And now some random things from the Palmengarten that had nothing to do with the Luminale:

Plant life

Most of the flowers are tulips.

And cherry blossoms

And daffodils in a field

And some bamboo that when I stopped to take a picture, had some sort of wildlife in it that made us move on quickly.

More tulips at night

Animal life

I was walking with CD and I just happened to look to my left and saw a FOX shoot across the path we were walking on at the time.  I tried to hurry and get the camera but it was a fast little thing.  By the time I got ready, it was farther away so I had to zoom in and it made the picture blurry.  Those ducks above kept honking when they saw the fox and rightfully so.  He was just out to give us something to look at though.

Bird Squawk – YouTube.

Structures

Aripuca structure

This head reminds me a bit of LOST.  Just a random piece of a staute somewhere.

Frankfurt TV Tower

You could see this in the background of some of the fountain pictures as well.

City Skyline

You can see the red Marriott hotel letters in the back

As we left, we were glad that we got in early since the line was out the door, down the sidewalk and curved around to the bus stop.  

When we got home, I decided it would be best to unbundle CD from the layers that I had him in to stay warm.  This was the first time he roused so I just changed and fed him and put him back down.  He was such a good boy and I was happy we were able to see the sights…I mean…lights.  🙂

 

I really liked the stuff from Studio DRIFT.  Let me know what you enjoyed.

 

And we can’t have a post without a bit more of CD to leave you smiling and coming back for more.  This one is for C.  I hope you enjoy!

CD Happy with “Da” – YouTube.

Off to bed now!

Furniture? ✓

We now have all of our major pieces of furniture into the apartment.  We were told that delivery would be between 12:00 and 17:00 today, but they actually came at 18:00.  Good thing we were home!  When the guys came to bring the furniture into the apartment, the concierge came with them.  I’m not sure if it was because he didn’t get to see CD today, since we were waiting for the furniture to be delivered or if he was going to help translate if there was any confusion- there was none.  He was very happy to see CD.  He also had on his winter coat and I thought it was a little odd since he didn’t really have to go very far to get to our building, but then I opened some windows to let air in while the guys worked at unpacking the furniture and I realized that it was FREEZING and really windy.  Good thing we had to stay inside today.

We now have our couch.  Not really sure if you can tell, but the upper part- the lighter fabric area is almost the same material as our old couch in the US….it is just brand new.  🙂  I have already claimed my spot…by the window.  C just doesn’t know this yet.  Ha!

Couch

And dining room table.  We got a bench, two leather chairs and then two regular wooden chairs.  There are also two expander pieces so we can make the table bigger if we have company or lots of food….or for C and CD to build their Legos on it.  🙂  I left the papers on the table since they are all in German and I will not be able to read them until CD gives me a chance.  I think it is something about how to care for the wood table or something.  Who knows!

Table

The pictures of the Frankfurt Luminale are coming.  This is just going to take some time since I can only do it when CD is sleeping…and he did NONE of that during the day today.  No naps means he is now sleeping for the night, even though it is still very bright outside at 19:45 in the evening.

To Sleep or Not to Sleep?

So CD slept through the night last night!  All the way from being sound asleep in his crib at 19:00 (7:00) to 7:00 am!  It was amazing.  The only thing is now I have to train myself to do the same.  It took me a long time to fall asleep, but I woke up refreshed in the morning.

We didn’t really do much today since I wanted to rest.  CD had a morning nap, we got a package from N with some goodies in it and then CD didn’t nap until he went to bed for the night!

Now this was a HUGE stretch of time since I kept him up a little longer because I wanted to go to the Palmengarten at night.  CD fell asleep at about 19:30 (7:30) and I then tossed him in his stroller and we headed out for the Frankfurt Luminale.  Details will be in tomorrow’s post along with pictures.

We had a great time and CD slept through the WHOLE thing so that was good.  He only woke up when we got home and I had to unzip the many layers I had on him so he wouldn’t overheat in the apartment.  He woke up happy, got a diaper change, ate and went right back to bed in his crib.  We will see if he does ok through the night since it was a change from his “normal” bedtime routine.  🙂

MAJOR EXCITING NEWS:  We get our couch and dining table delivered tomorrow.  I wanted to warn the concierge so I wrote what I wanted to say to him in German and practiced it and then when CD and I went out to Rewe (since he wouldn’t sleep- I guess all the sleep at night filled him up!) I told him it in German…and I asked him if I pronounced it right and he told me “Ja” (Yes)!  Yippee on the furniture delivery and yippee on the German!

Goodnight to all!

Scary Movie Scene?

Another post with a few days of info.  All the fun!!!  🙂

On Wednesday (April 11) I had the TV on and then at 10 pm a message came up on the screen, that I’m guessing said that it had been inactive for a while so unless I hit a button, it will automatically turn the TV off.  That is how good my German is.  I was able to understand that!  HA.  So it turned off.  I’m not sure if it only does it at night or if it does it when the TV is on for a longer time since I haven’t really had the TV on a lot.

CD woke up about 4 times during the night but went back to bed pretty quickly.  He is doing better with his teeth.

Thursday (April 12) I went out with MB, who is a wife of someone who works with C.  She is very nice and is learning English so we spoke slowly but were able to understand each other.  She knows German so that will be good for me.  She can teach me German as I help her with her English.  It is funny because the English language is SO HARD.  A word spelled the same way (live) can sound different and have different meanings.  And then you get into tenses and how words change there, and there is even more confusion (go, went).

When we came home the concierge carry CD up to the apartment.  There was no reason since I didn’t have any bags.  I now must have the apartment clean all the time since he comes up quite a lot now.

At dinner we had our first “food fling” onto the wall.  Luckily it was only oatmeal so there was no real color to it.  It was hard to get off of the wall though since you can’t really wipe down our walls.  They are almost like a textured paper- really weird.  We will just leave it at that.  🙂

Friday (April 13) SPOOKY DAY.  Did anything weird happen to anyone???  Nothing was weird here.  We had our regular  play group at the restaurant.  C actually stopped by because I had to give him some clothes before he flew out to Brazil for a week trip for work.  When we all left the play group, most of the moms have little ones so they got into cabs to go to a baby store.  CD and I were not able to do that because he is in a regular stroller now.  Since it was nice outside we decided to just stroll around and do some people watching.  We were pretty bummed that we couldn’t go, but it all turned out ok.

It is weird because CD can MOVE SO QUICKLY now.  One minute he is far away and the next minute he is right under your feet.  Here is proof:

SO FAR

'Sup- Here I am

These are overalls that are hand-me-downs for C’s boss.  They are still a little too big in the mid-section, but the length is almost right for him.  He looked so cute in them!

Overalls

When return to apartment, there was a DIFFERENT concierge man.  Maybe this was our Friday the 13th moment of weirdness.  I was nervous something happened and CD was upset that he didn’t get his usual happy greeting.

When it was night-time, since C was gone, we worked on having CD put himself back to bed at night.  This night was rough- he is very stubborn…I wonder who he gets that from?????  I think it is both C and myself so there is no hope for CD.  It was very nerve-racking since when he would cry, I didn’t know if he was overheating, had a bubble in his tummy, hurt himself, etc.  But I had to let him know that it was ok to put himself back to sleep.  It is amazing with the baby monitor because I can watch him and after a while of him walking the perimeter of his crib, he finally fell asleep.  Thank goodness.

Saturday (April 14) We met up with some new people who will be moving to Frankfurt in June.  I filled them in on a little of the stuff that I know.  Basically the husband was worried that the mom and baby wouldn’t have anything to do during the day or any contact with people.  I put them at ease that there are TONS of things to do, even if they don’t stay as part of our group.

We also got a package from GM and G-D with some outfits for CD.  They are cute and I can’t wait until it is warm enough for CD to wear them.  We were also able to chat with GM and G-D.

Since C is gone for work, I made a great meal that C would never eat:  It was kind of like an eggplant lasagna casserole.  I used the eggplant and zucchini (2 things C will not touch- not sure which one he dislikes more) as the noodles and then filled in with some other veggies, cheese, etc.  It was mighty tasty, but I’m not sure I would be able to make it exactly the same way again, since I didn’t measure anything and used what I had.

When CD had his dinner, I told him that he didn’t need a bath tonight since he had one the other day, and lets face it, I was tired and he was tired and I just wanted him to go to sleep since he was a little cranky.  Well, CD heard this and had other plans.  He scarfed down his food, which rarely happens, but I thought he might have been hungry since it had been a while since he had food.  And then it happened….he puked up his dinner.  Which leads to a bath.  And then CD was happy to be in the bath splashing in the water.  I think he planned it.  Can babies puke on que?  Who knows.  🙂

Sunday (April 15) CD did much better sleeping at night, so I was happy.  I had him in a mix of clothes, but I thought he still looked cute.  🙂

Mix-n-match Jammies

We had lunch with MB and her husband (who works with C).  It was nice and we had a good time.  When we got back to the apartment we chatted with Aunt C for a little bit and then had a relaxing rest of the day.

Today (April 16)  On our way to meet up with J for lunch, we stopped near the Alte Opera where I had spotted some pretty cherry blossoms the other day.  Of course, I didn’t have the camera with me, so I made a mental note to stop here on my way to the lunch today.  I just had hoped that they would stay as pretty as they were the other day.  They lost some of their luster, but I still liked them.  These pics are for Aunt C.  Happy 100th Cherry Blossom Festival!

CD with CBs (Cherry Blossoms)

Alte Opera Cherry Blossoms

We had lunch with J and bought some things for our upcoming travels.  We will be heading out towards Berlin for a little bit.  It was weird because I now have to have certain things so I can have food for CD.  It was easier when he was smaller, but now I need to make sure that I can heat food, etc.  I did buy CD a pair of shoes to wear when he is in the stroller so he can’t “rub” his socks off of his feet.  It was SO HARD to actually find a pair to fit on his foot since they are wide and he curls his toes every time you try to put the shoe on him.  We will only use them if it is really chilly out or if we will be out for a long time.

It had been very cold today and so we headed back to the apartment before it got too late.  When we saw the concierge, he gave us the package that arrived for us today and then said hello to CD.  CD didn’t want to JUST say “hello”.  He wanted to be picked up…so the concierge picked him up and carried him to the apartment.  HA!!

Since C has been gone, CD has been into EVERYTHING that is C’s.  Ugh!  He has managed to go after his guitar, headphones, belts, coat hangers, computer, video game controller, packages and I’m sure there is more that I can’t think of at this moment.  He actually managed to turn on the video game system.  This is something I’m not even sure I know how to do.  🙂

I want the computer...Do you see the package I went after? I left the paper on the ground. 🙂

More good stuff on the coffee table

Oh, hello

 

So I made you read that whole post to get to the end to really find out about the title of the post.  There is the famous shower scene in the movie Psycho.  Well, I have my own in the apartment.  We had the stove cleaned last time our cleaning lady was here and as soon as she left, CD and I were in the kitchen since it was time for his lunch.  Wouldn’t you know he took his drooly hands and streaked them down the oven?  You can see the hand smears below the glass section of the door.  Right away it reminded me of that scene.  Ha!  Now it is funny.

Psycho Oven Scene

 

I have traveled the U-Bahn

Yes, I have conquered the U-Bahn(subway).

CD and I went with one of our friends and her son to a shopping plaza NordWestZentrum – Das Shopping-Herz Frankfurts  I had to put in the link for you, even though it is in German, because you have to watch the people in the top banner part- they freak me out because they “wink”.

The only way to get there was by U-Bahn.  That is how she got me…she asked if I wanted to go…but then told me we had to use the subway.  I let the panic set in, and then I got over it since she was going to meet me and walk me through how to do it.  Once we did it, it was so easy and now I feel ok riding it!  Yippee!

The plaza was more like what we would call a mall in the US.  It was EXTREMELY PACKED with people everywhere.  Some of the stores we went into couldn’t keep merchandise on the shelves before people would be picking it up to put in their bags.  At one store, there had to have been at least one hundred people waiting in line to pay for their things.

I thought that this was worthy of it’s own post.  🙂

Easter from Germany and Heidelberg

(Happy) Easter from Germany and Heidelberg (E F G & H).  Crazy.

Yes, I know it is late on posting about our Easter weekend, but C had off Saturday, Sunday and Monday which was nice and we actually used it to travel some and enjoy the weekend/holiday.  So here is a recap of the past few days.

SATURDAY (April 7) – We were able to borrow a friend’s car and we took advantage of it to go sight-seeing.  We headed out to Heidelberg, Germany.   Heidelberg – Wikipedia  We went there on a suggestion and had a good time looking at the castle and grabbing a quick dinner in town.  On the ride to Heidelberg, there was some construction so it took a bit longer than expected.  CD ended up taking a nap in the car.  (It has been weird putting him in the car because he FREAKS OUT and has a crying fit every time since he doesn’t know what is going on at the time.  It has been 3 months since he had been consistently in a car and since I have ACTUALLY DRIVEN a car.  Weird feeling, I know.)  Once we start moving he thinks it is the coolest thing.  Check out his hair!  I did not do anything to it or put anything in it…maybe just some saliva from his hand 🙂 to do that.  Usually it sits against his head because it is so fine.  I guess he wanted to be like C for the day.

Oh the excitement...Can't wait to see the castle!

Quick cat nap before all the fun

When we finally arrived in town, we saw the Galeria that had an outside elevator.  Pretty interesting so I took a picture.

Galeria elevator

We weren’t exactly sure how to get to the castle besides “go up the hill” so we took a route that we seemed would lead us to the castle.  At one point we saw the following sign.

No Heidelburg

We continued on the road because we thought that we could wind up the hill and come out behind the castle…and we were RIGHT!  We did make it to the castle on this road.

There were so many good pictures, so I will have to edit it down to a few so the blog won’t be too long.  Here is a picture of the castle door…with a little door in it…maybe it is like a doggie door that people have now???  🙂

Double door

Once you go through the castle door(s), you end up in the courtyard.

Castle courtyard

So happy at the castle

Sun clock

We then went through the German Pharmacy museum at the castle and it had so many bottles and glass jars that it was interesting to look at all of them.  German Pharmacy Museum

Pharmacy museum

I feel like the statues are saying “Ta-dah!”

There was also the wine barrel in the wine cellar.  It was HUGE!  I had C take a picture of me next to it.

Wine barrel

There is a walk around the castle that we took and at the far end, we took a picture looking back at the castle.

The castle

The bridge is pretty famous too so we took a picture looking down into the town and got the bridge in the photo too!

Bridge

Group pic

After we explored the castle, we headed down into the town to grab dinner before we headed home.  We ate at a restaurant called Schmidts.  On the way back to the car, I took a picture of the castle from below.

Castle on the hill

When we got home, CD put on his Easter Jammies and got ready for bed.  He would not sleep since he must have known that the Easter bunny was coming.  (Really, I think it was teething since it has been a few nights now that he has not slept very well and has been uncomfortable, poor guy.)

SUNDAY (April 8) was Easter and we did some shrink wrapped eggs.  We only ended up with a few that were decorated since the eggs we have were too fat for the shrink-wrap!  Ha.  CD picked the wrappers for the two to the right.

Easter eggs

Those are CD’s Easter Jammies.  I tried to get a picture of him in them, but he just wouldn’t sit still.  They have bunnies and carrots on them.  Yes, Aunt C, I said CARROTS!  🙂

A short time later, CD and C found their Easter baskets that the Bunny left for them.

I found it!

Bunny basket

This was my best attempt at taking a picture of CD in his Easter clothes.

Easter clothes

We all headed to the park to enjoy the nice weather- it was sunny but cold- for a little while.  It was nice.  After we got back home, we chatted with GM & G-D and Aunt C.

Our Easter dinner actually turned out well.  I must admit, I was a little afraid because I wasn’t following a recipe, but in the end it worked.  We had a pork roast, white asparagus and potatoes.

CD would not sleep again and this was because of his teeth.  He had been up for 2 hour chunks of time during the night.  UGH!

MONDAY (April 9- Uncle T’s birthday) was rainy and overcast so we had picked the right day to go to the park yesterday).  Today we just hung out and organized the apartment.  C hooked up our television and after CD went to bed at night, we  watched a few episodes of LOST.

I prepared myself for being awake during the night and as I had thought, I was right.  CD didn’t sleep for long before he was awake and up for 2 hours during the night.

TUESDAY (April 10) we had our cleaning lady come today since yesterday was a holiday.  CD likes her and so do I.  She is really nice and can clean like crazy!

After she left, we headed out to mail stuff from DHL and then to Rewe to get some things.  CD started to cry and some lady wanted to feed CD chocolate.  She actually opened her candy bar and broke off a piece and held it up to his mouth.  I quickly pulled out one of his rice cakes and shoved it in his mouth so she couldn’t give him chocolate.  UGH!  I tried my best to be kind but STERN to her as I did NOT want my child having chocolate.  She finally left us alone.  

When we got back to the apartment, the concierge carried CD up to apartment.  They have so much fun on their walks through the courtyard.  The concierge lets CD pull leaves off the trees and then tells him “yuck” when he tries to eat them.  CD has tried to share some with the concierge and he for sure tells him “yuck” then.  I was very happy to have him carry him up to the apartment this time because for once it was spotless because our cleaning lady had just cleaned.

When I went to empty the dishwasher, I had some help.  I had to get a picture because this is EXACTLY what Brother Bear S does.  The only difference is that Brother Bear S likes the dirty dishes and tries to get a lick in every now and again.  🙂  CD liked playing the dishwasher like a drum.  Future musician???

Dishwasher drum

CD was up again for the night.  I just want him to feel ok.  Poor teeth.

 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Uncle T!  Hope you have a great day!