Happy Halloween!

If ever kids wished for weather on Halloween, this would be it.  It was sunny and cool today!

We started our Halloween activities by visiting C at work.  CD’s costume was The Incredible Hulk.  Yes, I didn’t know it was a HUGE costume for kids in the States…as I don’t live in the States.  I had picked it because he is so strong and wants to lift things up and put them down.  Ha!  Anyway, it fit perfectly and he looked awesome!  P.S.  The side view didn’t show off his fit abs, just showed a protruding belly!  So cute!

The Hulk

After the visit to C’s work, we headed to the playground.  CD didn’t really want to play so we just stayed for a little bit and then headed home for lunch.  I wanted to show CD’s costume to the concierge and got a chance to do it.  CD was proud to show him it as he walked into the building.  He continually gave him high-fives and had a good walk to our building with the concierge.  Since it is Halloween, I made sure we had pumpkin for lunch as CD likes it.  He of course ate all of his lunch and then he headed off for a nap.

During CD’s nap, I got word from a new friend we met at the park a little while ago that there was trick-or-treating happening near us tonight so we said we would go.  Another chance to wear the costume!  I started to realize that Conor is really starting to fall into the pattern of taking just the afternoon nap.  This is good and bad.  It is good because he sleeps for a longer stretch of time (today was from 12:30 to 3:15) and this is the normal progression that kids take with their naps.  The bad thing is that this means if I need to get anything out, I have to be ready to go in the morning and have the timing JUST right so that we get everything done and back in time to eat/relax/nap.  The other bad thing is that this is going to alter my friendships.  Not really, but just seeing people.  CD is one of the oldest kids (besides the siblings that are in school and we don’t see them anyway) so this means that everyone else is still on a morning nap and can still go out in the afternoon.  O is the only one older than CD and he is on the afternoon nap and we have only seen them 1 time this month…and that is because I forced CD to miss his nap so we could actually have the kids play together.  We will see what happens as we only have about 3 weeks before we head back to the States.

When CD woke up from his nap, we decorated his pumpkin that we bought.

pumpkin decorating

pumpkin decorating stickers

We did what any normal kid would do…pile the stickers on top of each other.  Why would we spread them out all over the pumpkin?!?!?  That doesn’t make sense.  🙂  Thanks for the stickers N!  Much less messy than markers!

We watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  Side note- I had actually first wanted CD to be Charlie Brown for Halloween as he has a musical toy that is Charlie Brown and he liked it when I had been thinking of costumes for him.  But then he would just lift things in the apartment that I couldn’t imagine him being able to lift, so I went straight to the Hulk.

watching the great pumpkin charlie brown

Throughout the day CD likes to sit by himself in his nursery chair while I hand him books to read.  So today we made sure we read the Halloween books we have.  We read them every day as he loves to read and we cycle through them, but I made sure we paid attention to them today.

Halloween books

When CD woke up from his nap he wore his daytime Halloween outfit.  N and GM had the same idea.  Love that I had a duplicate outfit, so if CD spilled something, I could just take one off and put the other one on him.

Halloween outfit

N had sent CD a play phone a while ago.  I had made the executive decision to wait until Halloween to give it to him as a present.  I had just left it on the table for him to “discover” and he seemed to enjoy it.  We took it trick or treating with us as I couldn’t get it out of CD’s hands.  He would actually put it up to his ear to listen.  🙂

phone

At least with this one I know he can’t phone the States at unGodly hours like he has done in the past with my phone.

Yes, it is true.  I inhaled all of the Smidgens that were sent.   YUM!  Thanks!

At the end of the day we put our Halloween costume back on for one more trip outside- to go trick or treating!  We trekked to an area I had never been before but had always wanted to explore.  It was funny because you knew everyone was American due to the location and for the fact that Germans don’t celebrate Halloween.  When we got there, we never met up with our friend so we didn’t stay long.  It was a weird area, not scary or unsafe, just different.  You knew EVERYONE you encountered would speak English perfectly.  There was also an area where armed guards checked cars…like checked IDs, had them lift the hoods and used mirrors to check underneath the cars.  We may investigate the area again…in daylight.  Here is a picture of our trick or treating.

trick or treating

Overall it was a fun-filled Halloween for both of us.  Again another day under our belt as a “Best”.  We hope everyone on the East Coast are fine and safe!  This time last year, there was a snowstorm?  Remember Grandparents????

I Had A Great Post Title, But Of Course I Can’t Remember It

We had to sneak in the marathon post and we are glad we did, but there is a lot that has happened since the post prior to that one and this one…about 2 weeks.

Since I don’t remember the order of events, I will just post them how I want.

First, for a little while we didn’t have our concierge.  It was quite upsetting as the replacements again were not that great.  They tried, but nothing compares to our concierge!!!  Aunt C had pointed out that in the beginning I was not sure if we would like him.  I think about that all the time.  It is funny how time can change things for you.  He is finally back and we are so happy to see him…since he will actually open the door for us…the others would just sit in the office doing God only knows what.

CD has been teething like crazy.  I have gotten him in the morning on multiple occasions to find blood all over his pajamas, snuggle sock, crib sheet, etc.  NOONE ever told me that could happen.  But for a few days that was the scene.  I think he was telling me that he wanted to be a vampire for Halloween instead of what I decided for him.  It has been a bloody mess.   HA!  Good ole England humor!!!  🙂  At this point I also don’t know how many teeth he has as CD thinks I am trying to kill him if I try to look in his mouth.  The fight in that kid!  🙂

We had spent some time with our friend O at the park on 18 October.  It was nice because it was one of the last warmer days in October.  The boys had fun and they tried to copy what each other was doing.

Swinging

CD turned 16 months old on 20 October.  Happy Birthday CD!

16 months old

On 21 October we went to the Newcomers Festival in Frankfurt.  Well, we really aren’t newcomers anymore, but I didn’t know if they would have any good info that I was looking for at the Fest.  I had thought that the Fest was going to be in the square, but it was actually in a building that had 2 sets of steps to get in and then a bunch of different levels inside (meaning more and more steps).  Since I had thought it was in the square, I brought CD in the stroller.  Um, not a wise choice with stairs.  We managed as I am strong and made our way through the VERY crowded area.  Surprisingly, no one helped anyone with strollers.  Huh.  Something else interesting that happened?  CD and I got up on stage to participate in the kids music group.  If you know me, I wouldn’t necessarily be one to volunteer right away for being on stage, but I am now.  Being shy doesn’t work in another country where you don’t know anyone and need to make friends or find out information.  Now I’m not that obnoxious girl that everyone is staring at, but I do know how to be friendly.  Anyway, we had a blast on stage.  CD wanted to become friends with the little girl next to us who was 2 and about HALF CD’s size!  He then took it upon himself to show off his spinning around in circles skills on center stage.  I was SO proud of him!!!  Unfortunately, there are no known pictures of this.  🙂

On 23 October, we met up with a friend for brunch before they left for holiday.  It was good to see them before they left and we already have a play date set up for when they return.  We also went to a music class on this day.  Yup, it was the one that we went on stage for at the Newcomers Fest.  A few of our friends attend these and we have been trying to go, but it just never works out with schedules.  Well, we finally made it.  It took us about 40 minutes to get there…I think.  I’m not even sure exactly WHERE we went!  HA!  It was an U-Bahn ride, then S-Bahn (yes, we have this too!) and then a walk.  When we finally arrived, we were late but ready to start some singing and playing instruments.  It was hard to get into it as we were just visiting and it was the middle of the semester.  But we had fun.  CD had more fun exploring the far off regions of the room rather than participating in the class.  But it was all good for us.  He heard the music and got to explore somewhere different.

Out in left field

Yup, that is CD in the white shirt across the room.  He did however come over to the group for some hugs, but then would scamper away to find something more interesting.  When it was time to clean up, CD was right in the thick of things to help with that.

Cleaning Up- CD on left side in white shirt

All the toys! Why did I wait to join the group?

Clean up crew

At the end of this night, when we were home, CD finally pointed to his nose when I asked, “Where is CD’s nose?”  (Update:  He rarely does it again.)

CD now “jumps” up and down.  It is really cute as he sometimes is over exuberant with it and will not quite get his balance when he comes “down”.  He thinks it is great and so do I.  He says “up” when he jumps so I don’t know if he is really saying “up” or a shortened version of “jump”.  He has shown his skills to a few people so far and they love it too.

He also loves to snuggle on the floor with the hippo pillow the concierge gave him.  He just in general loves to roll on the floor.  Doesn’t matter where it is or when so I must make sure the floors are always clean.

Mealtime has become very interesting lately.  What makes it interesting you ask?  CD now does not like when I hold his bowl or plate.  I only do this so it doesn’t go crashing to the floor and break.  But he is his own little man and doesn’t want me touching his plate/bowl anymore.  So what does Mama do?  You guessed it!  I don’t touch his plate/bowl.  Also, I used to let him have a spoon/fork to practice eating with and I would also have one to either eat my food with or to feed him in between his spoon/forkfuls.  Well, if I am holding a fork/spoon now, he must have both fo them.  Here’s proof!

Double fork

I absolutely have no recollection of what happened on 24 October.  I think that was the day that I had set aside to be a “me relax” time, but I don’t think it happened.  I think I ended up doing housework.  I do know that my absentee voting ballot was processed!  Yippee!  So glad I voted.  Now it is just a waiting game.  

On 25 October we had a late start and some confusion with texts.  My phone is not communicating with my friend J’s phone so we keep messing up plans.  Ugh!  Anyway, after a LONG time of waiting, we finally did meet up and headed to an indoor play area for kids.  This constituted of a small area for toddlers.  We paid the hefty price to go in and J had to stretch the truth about E’s age to get her into the place.  In the end, we all had fun….besides the “older” nasty girl who messed with our babies.  You had best believe I gave her the butt block multiple times to stop her from getting to CD and E.  I so wanted to do more but I’m the adult, right MODG?  We were furious with her as she pushed and shoved her way through kids knocking over their Leggo creations.  I have a right to not harm other children, but I also have a right to protect my child.  And I did.  🙂  This day was also one fo the first COLD days.  I had CD bundled up as we had to keep darting into different stores to stay warm while we waited for J and E.

cold weather stroller

There is my little burrito!  All toasty!  I have yet to get out my winter coats from storage, but will do so soon.  I do have my gloves out which is most important when pushing a stroller.

I still just can’t get over how cute CD and E are together.  They are so sweet together and it brings me great happiness and a warm fuzzy feeling inside when I see them together.  I know that CD and E recognize each other since they react differently to each other than to other kids they just meet.  I know CD is forming a little friendship and learning how to socialize.  He is doing such a good job!

Ball Pool

Hanging out with E

CD and E

Aerial View

You’ll let me play in the nasty, dirty play area? I know, I cringed.

I just like this picture for some reason

Spin the wheel, push the circles

Strike a pose

26 October we went to the regular play group meet up at our restaurant.  It was myself, J and H.  We had a good time but H had to leave early and so J and I hung out for a while.  We were going to go to this place that I had found where they have an actress come in on the third Friday of every month and act for the kids.  It also has a play area for the kids.  But since it was raining and we would have to travel, and it was just J and myself, we decided not to go since we were just at a different indoor play area yesterday.  So we just hung out and let the kids roam.  The place seems to be fine with the kids and actually some of the workers will stay near us to play with the kids.  CD however took it upon himself to go behind the counter and help the guy who makes the drinks whip up some concoctions for the restaurant patrons.  CD was sitting on the counter with the guy while he did this and everyone had a blast (CD, the employee, myself and the person getting the drinks).  CD also wanders around and greets every single person until they acknowledge him.  This time E felt safe enough with CD to follow him.  E usually doesn’t travel far from J, but she was having a blast following CD’s lead and roaming the restaurant.

Vapiano with E

27 October had me taking my German lessons which were a bit more practical now.  I felt like I was back in the States in a kindergarten classroom where everything is labeled with index cards.  We did the same thing to our living room.  Now I know some house words!  I also did Rewe and DM shopping and then cooked a beef stew for dinner since it was freezing.  We actually had snow falling all morning.  In the late afternoon I took some time for myself.  It was nice but weird at the same time.

We also had our time change- dropped back an hour.  So it darker even earlier now at night.  Messes with you a bit.  I’m usually ready for bed shortly after CD goes down for the night.  Also it is a good reminder to get home if we are out a little later than usual.  Must be in before the street lamps turn on!

28 October was the Marathon Day Around the World post about Aunt C’s marathon (she did fantastic!!!) and the Frankfurt marathon where we cheered everyone on as they ran in the frigid temperatures.

29 October we had CD’s second half to his doc visit where he got his vaccines.  By the time we got home and got a meal into him, he was exhausted and slept from 14:00 to 17:00.  I was fearful that he would not go to bed at a normal time, but he did wonderfully.  We got some more creams and whatnots for CD’s skin.  So far it has been improving, but I just need to stay on top of it.  He has a bit of dry skin/eczema.

For fun at dinner we had spaghetti.  CD had a blast with it once he figured out how to eat it….he has an issue with food being on his hands….he doesn’t like it.  Once I slurped it up though, he thought it was funny and went at it himself.

Spaghetti – first time – YouTube

first time spaghetti

After mealtime, CD likes to do this:  Clean up – YouTube

And one for fun:  CD self video – YouTube

On a side note: I have been searching for shoes for CD here since the last ones I had were sandals and now don’t fit with socks on his feet.  There really isn’t a big selection as I need to try the shoes on his feet prior to buying them.  This cuts out all the ideas of Amazon etc.  My friend had given me a suggestion as I had tried all the major stores near us.  Hopefully this week we will find something for CD to wear on his feet.

Needed to post ALL of this before I post our Halloween one!  Happy Halloween to all…since it is now after midnight our time!

Marathon Day Around the World

Today is Aunt C’s marathon.  It is also Frankfurt’s marathon.

We are sending our wishes and will be along the Frankfurt route pretending that we are standing there and watching Aunt C run.  How we DESPERATELY wished we could be there for Aunt C.

Anyway, here is my feeble attempt to get a picture of CD with the sign we made for Aunt C.

To all the runners out there including Aunt C:  Congrats on such an accomplishment!  Hope the road rises up to meet you and the wind is always at your back!  LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

 

Hi (or High) Again

Just found out something great to do…not tomorrow but later this month.   so EXCITED!!!!

 

From Highs to Lows

Today was a bit of a low.  I had been planning on going to a story telling with CD today.  It had high expectations since it wasn’t just someone reading from a book, but they actually acted out the story.  I invited friends, but either they were out of town or they had stuff planned with family because it was a weekend.

Well, I had to map out our route since it was going to take some time to get there (walk, U-Bahn and then walk some more).  We needed at least a 1/2 hour to complete the journey.  Well, we were running behind schedule since CD refused to get dressed, but I figured a few minutes late wouldn’t be too bad.

Then, as soon as we walked out the door, it started to rain.  Ugh!  Out came the rain gear and on with our journey!  I should have called it quits there as I am still sick and just can’t afford to relapse into becoming sicker.  But, this sounded like a cool thing and there was only one show in English, so I continued on the path.  That was leg one of the journey.

Leg two was the U-Bahn.  I made it to the second biggest station in Frankfurt and bought my ticket.  I then waited for the next train.  Good thing it was coming soon as we were behind schedule and couldn’t afford to waste much time.  Well, when the train arrived, I tried to get the new stroller on it, but it just didn’t fit.  Between the doors that opened were poles and the wheels were wider than it.  I had to get off as we couldn’t even get on the train.

I thought, “I’ll just wait for the next one and try that one.”  Well, that was the same kind of train and it didn’t work.  At that point, the U-Bahn security guards came up to me to tell me that I have to look for the doors that have the yellow stickers on them since they are the doors that don’t have the pole blocking access to the train.  Who would have known?!?!?!  Not someone who has searched the U-Bahn website NUMEROUS times searching for random information like this….or which stations have lifts since it is illegal to take the strollers on the escalators.  (I did do it once as there was no other option.) But then you ask anyone a question like this and they direct you to the Stupid website…thinking it is easy to figure out, but it isn’t.  Ok, that rant is over.

At this point the story telling has begun at some far off location and the next train is in 10 minutes.  I sit down on the bench defeated, but then find some hope thinking that if I call the location, maybe they let in people who are late.  I called up and asked how long the program ran (approx. 35 minutes) and then did the math (next train in 10 minutes + 5-7 minute U-Bahn ride + another 10-15 minute walk to the place).  I asked if they had plans to do any more and the person said they were not sure as of right now.  Then I was defeated as I realized it was just not possible to go.

I sat there and cried…in a major U-Bahn station with people.  Aunt C asked if anyone said anything to me.  Told her no as Germans don’t approach people on a regular basis, they for sure would not approach me then.  After she asked me that, I thought, what if someone would have approached me????  What would I have said?  It’s so much more than just missing a story telling event.

We did our walk home in the rain and played at home.  Another day inside.  It is still raining.  We are going to try to go out tomorrow somewhere- not the park as the ground will be muddy from the last 3 days of rain.

To tomorrow: A new day.  A new start.  A new attitude.

Picture Day

Here are a bunch of pictures from the day.

pj time

A pair of hand-me-down pjs from my friend.  I thought they were SO cute!  CD loved them!  He looks like a little old man in them.  🙂

hair and teething tool

This is what happens to CD’s hair when it actually gets washed…the next morning, his hair stands up.  Yup, and that is MY toothbrush.  ;/

We did our running around this morning and then headed to the park.  It was cold out and CD actually wore his hat.  Now that tells you something about how cold it was.  He usually refuses beyond belief to wear it…most of the time.

park

merry-go-round

CD has his favorite things at each of the parks that we go to on our outings.  At this particular park, he enjoys the merry-go-round (much like his Mama with carousels).  He is strong enough to move this without any help.  He also started to ride it by himself with me pushing it a few trips ago.  The panic sure did set in the first time I decided I would stand in one spot and let him rotate around on it without me standing behind him the whole time.  Our…I mean my comfort level has increased with this but still…Ugh!

merry-go-round 2

merry-go-round 3

merry-go-round 4

Our park trip ended when CD found the trench that was full of mud (since it rained yesterday).  Yeah, that ended quite quickly when CD could only think of the mud and refused to play with anything else.  To his defense, it was also about lunchtime and we needed to get home to feed the hungry beast.

Um, hungry beast????  More like ravenous, starving beyond belief, would eat anything I put in front of him so hungry baby.  WOW!  He could pack the food away like a champ.  🙂  He ate so much and then I had to make more to satisfy his hunger…kind of like the Snickers commercials.

The amazing thing was that after the fresh air, playing outside, a good warm meal he then had an afternoon nap.  He slept long enough for me to paint my nails, clean up the apartment, figure out why my computer was having problems, watch the USA vice-presidential debate AND the best part????  Go to the bathroom by myself!!!!!!!

After his nap, we played and I was able to get more pictures of him laying on the floor.

laying on the floor

laying on the floor 2

Yup, there is one of my slippers.  CD is mastering walking in them now.  🙂

mama slipper 2

On the wrong feet again, but whose counting??  🙂

When dinner time came, CD was more interested in drinking his milk than actually eating a lot of his meal.  He did have some, but one thing I do practice is I don’t force food on CD.  If he is hungry, he can eat as much as he wants and if he is not hungry, he does not have to clean his plate.  Well, he ate some but he hid a lot of the food in his high chair while eating.  After I got him down from the chair and started to clear the plates, he decided he was hungry just enough to try the morsels of food that he hid during the meal.  🙂

meal clean up

Overall, today was a “Best”.  From being able to sleep in all the way through the day to putting CD to bed it was wonderful.  I feel like he is growing up so fast now.  From him wearing old man pjs to the plaid shirt- that had a Temple Owls t-shirt underneath- and jeans (which was SO adorable but reminded me of a teenager/early 20-something) to being able to communicate more (without as much screaming as before).  I cherish every moment I have with him as I know one day I will look back to remember what I am living right now.  How I wish I could freeze time and never make him grow up, but I then would miss the wonderful older person he will become.

I hope all of you have had amazing days also.  Hopefully this “high” continues!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday!!!

Just wanted to wish GP a very Happy Birthday!!!!  Hope you have a great day!

Just a quick update:

We went to CD’s doctor on Monday for his 15-month visit and here are the stats:  Weight: 12.3kg  Height:  85 cm

She said he is a healthy, happy and smart boy.  We will need to return at the end of this month since he was sick and could not get his vaccines.  We are also trying to work on clearing up his eczema that he has.  We have a special bath product and a fat, yes fat, that we rub on him.

We are still both recovering from being sick.  CD is still popping through a bunch of teeth and his face is still swollen.  And the kicker???  He refuses to chew on anything that is meant for teething.  Instead he insists on my toothbrush (because the handle part is that grippy stuff- and it is no longer my toothbrush after this) and the end of my hair brush (as this also has that grippy stuff on it- ugh!)  Other than when it really hurts his mouth, he is pretty happy and content.

We did find out sad news the other day.  We went to visit a friend and found out that her husband lost his job and they will now have to move by the end of the year.  It is really sad because when you are put in a situation where you don’t know anyone, don’t speak the language, and things just in general are different, you form some pretty close bonds with people to help you get through it.  I still can’t believe it happened.  :*(

On a lighter note, since you never want to end on a sad thought, some pictures from the last two days:

Conor eye mask

CD found my eye mask as I was desperate to try anything to get some sleep.  He had a blast running around in it and playing peek-a-boo with it.  Figures.  I can’t get the kid to wear a hat when he needs to outside, but stick a silly litte mask on him and WHAM! all is good.  I hope this will work for Halloween as there is kind of a “hat” involved in his costume.  Fingers crossed!!

Mama slipper

Lunch time

For once, CD doesn’t go after the bread first.  HA!

CD has been trying so hard in the last few weeks to be able to put on his own shoes and socks.  He knows all the things that need to be done to complete the task, but he just isn’t quite old enough to be able to perform them.  Well, he does have some success if Mama helps him.  He loves walking around in my slippers so I let him as he is getting quite good at it.  I do notice that he has the left slipper on the right foot, but shhhh, he doesn’t need to know yet.  😉

I know this is an odd video, but it covers some of the fun things CD loves to do now.  He got some hand-me-down clothes and toys from one of my friends and a few of the toys are little cars.  He loves to push them and also “fly” them off of the coffee table.  He now is also into laying on the floor.  He does it quite a bit now.  Doesn’t matter if it is the nice carpet or the cold tile, he will lay and roll around.  He also loves to slide backwards while in the crawling position.  He thinks it is funny.  He likes to spin in circles too…until he gets too dizzy.  The oven is a key “toy” in the kitchen as it is like a mirror for him.  He also still loves to dance, but I wasn’t able to get it in the video.  Flag Flying & Fun – YouTube

Now off to watch some DVDs that a friend let me borrow.

 

It is official…CD is sick…and I’m following behind

Every time I make a doctor’s appointment for CD, he always manages to ACTUALLY get sick for it.  UGH!  We had been doing so well for the upcoming appointment (tomorrow), until he got sick yesterday.  UGH!  Well, he has a stuffy/runny nose and a really tough time breathing.

The other fun part of the equation?  CD is also breaking through about 4 (from what I could tell) new teeth.  His little face is swollen and he has HUGE bumps in his mouth that look like major water/blood blisters just waiting to pop.  

Poor little guy.  It got to a point that last night…well, actually this morning, I ended up climbing into HIS CRIB and falling asleep with him there.  I  know, weird, but it actually worked for about 30 minutes.  And I found out that his crib is actually pretty comfy…or I was just too exhausted to care.  🙂  I had also raised the one side of the crib to help him stay elevated, but that doesn’t work with a baby who flops all around in his crib.

Today was tough due to the sickness/teething, but we made it through the day.  I knew we needed to get out otherwise we would probably drive each other crazy.  We headed to get something to eat at the Palmengarten.  I picked it because I knew it was opened (last Wednesday- the holiday, every restaurant I wanted to eat at was closed so I had to keep altering my choices and my walking route).  But that was a BAD decision because it was PACKED!!  Sunday at the Palmengarten equals tons of families.  

We had to sit in a booth and 2 times other people asked if they could sit with us.  In true German fashion, I told them yes.  Well, both times after about 5 minutes, they opted to sit elsewhere.  It wasn’t me…I will just leave it at that.  🙂  CD is just a very exuberant young guy.  He can’t help it.  I had one of the best meals I have had while in Germany, so the trip was well worth it.

We then headed home and about 2 minutes into the walk, the inevitable happened:  CD fell asleep.  I was first bummed because I thought he will only get a 15 minute nap (the walk home if I went slow).  Then I thought this is actually great because he WILL be able to sleep because he was tilted upright in the stroller.  I reclined the seat a little and he still slept….that NEVER happened in the other stroller.  Well, my plan had shifted a bit and I zig-zagged my way home through all the quiet streets to give him a longer nap.  It only lasted about 30 minutes, but that was more than he would have gotten.  I felt like the people who drive around in their cars to get the baby to actually sleep.  Except my version I was burning calories instead of fuel.  I also realized at this point that I too am getting sick.  I had thought it was happening on Friday night, but I pushed the thought out of my head.  And today CD was FULL of giving kisses…and we all know with a sick baby there are liquids leaking out of every opening, so snot was wiped all over me along with tears.  Luckily, all the diapers I had to change today (and there were a ton since he is teething and sick…which makes for messy diapers) didn’t get on me.  At multiple points on my walk, I head a woman walking in high heels.  Every time I heard it and looked around, there was no one near me.  That is when I realized I have been missing some sleep.  

When we got home, he was miserable.  We tried cuddling, reading books, looking at the new kid apps I downloaded on my phone, everything…and nothing was working.  I did end up giving him medicine and right away he was a different kid.  I’m glad I gave it to him.  I had given it to him prior to this but it didn’t seem to help.  I had also been alternating the medicine for his teeth and his nose so I did not want to overdose on the medicines.  

He finally ate some food at dinner since he could not really breathe and struggled to eat.  He enjoyed his green beans and sweet potato.  At that point I just wanted something in his belly.  He enjoyed every last bit of each of them!  🙂  He is sleeping now in his crib, so we will see when he wakes up.  My fingers are crossed for 7am tomorrow morning, but whatever happens, we will make it through the night…even if he needs someone to sleep in the crib with him again.  🙂

I’m also heading off to bed as I need to try to get some sleep.

Tomorrow is CD’s doctor’s appointment and our cleaning lady comes!

Happy Birthday!

Today was J’s birthday.  Happy Birthday J!!

J (British), L (Australian), E (French/Polish) and I (American) went to celebrate at a Greek restaurant.  HA!  SOOOO International.  Anyway, we had a blast and it was such a wonderful day as J gave us other good news today.  It all made up for the POURING rain that we had to travel in to get to the restaurant.

Celebration time

I had mentioned to J awhile ago that I miss American brownies.  You can’t find those in the shops here.  I did find a shop (run by Americans, I think) that sells them.  I haven’t gotten to it yet.  Well, after J’s birthday lunch, E suggested to go and get cupcakes…..WHAT?!?!??!   Cupcakes in Germany?!?!?   That doesn’t really exist either.  So J, E and I trekked there, only to find out that it is closed and being opened by a new owner in a few days.  She was really sweet (no pun intended) and had sample cupcakes.  We took them and they were good.  She told us she may just do cakes and bigger things, and I told her to make cupcakes….she has no other choice.  🙂

We then headed to another restaurant that J knew and continued the celebration there.

Hanging out with the owner

Needless to say, I am wiped and exhausted and have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow as we are going shopping with L!!!  I can’t wait to see what I will find tomorrow!!!! Oh, the excitement!!!!

 

Happy Holiday!

I found out yesterday, when I met up with a friend, that today is German Unity Day – Wikipedia.  Well, that meant everything was closed today.  I had to stock up on the items for a recipe that I wanted to make today.  Thanks for the yummy meal idea Aunt C!!

This morning when I went to get CD from his nap, this is how I found him:

Undressing

Apparently now he likes to take his shirt off- to show off his ripped abs.  I have caught him a few times tugging at his sleeves in order to do it, but he never quite managed to get his whole arm out of the shirt.

And then we spent about 10 minutes trying to put on Mama’s shoes.  He is actually pretty good at it.  He looked hilarious because the shoes were too big and then he wanted to walk around in them.

Anyway, we enjoyed our day today by going for a walk and taking in the beautiful day, before it turned to looking like it was going to rain.  It never did rain though.  We went to the park again.  And yes, I am the mother of the kid who LOVES to play in the wet sand and water.  Adults were getting a kick out of all of his funny antics.  He was covered in it.  At one point he was playing by the water barrel and then he ALMOST fell in…head first!!!  UGH!  Well, he did accomplish that last night when he was waiting to get in the tub for his bath.  He just leaned over the edge of the tub and in he went.  It is amazing how well babies can “fall”.  He didn’t get hurt but it did startle him.

Here are some pictures from the park today.

Water, Sand, Bucket

Playing in the water

I know this is a short post, but I want to “enjoy” the night so have a great day and celebrate Unity Day!