First Smiles

For the last couple weeks Caitlin has delighted us with her pure sweet smile and we couldn't be more thrilled! We can barely be around her now without trying her to give us a demonstration of her new skill. She especially smiles while we change her diaper, we figure it's a kind of "thank you." What a cutie!with Grandma Cindy

Poolside Party

Caitlin "went in" for her first swim in Tenerife--we were lucky enough to find a time of day when the pool was empty and Papa could float her around for a few calm minutes. The brim of her hat kept blocking her view so Grady finally just turned it up making her into "Pirate Caitlin"! I'm sure I sensed her wanting to say "Arr, matey" a few times but she held back on account of propriety. Watch out, soon she'll be sailing the high seas plundering for treasure!

She also enjoyed some poolside relaxation, but got a little annoyed when noone came by to refill her drink. We're still working on teaching her patience. :)

Tales from Tenerife

What a great vacation! And thanks to everyone for your well-wishes!

We had a nice time with my parents on the island of Tenerife and I can't believe how quickly the week flew by-! Some of the highlights were relaxing on a black sand beach (near Los Gigantos--note: black sand gets HOTTT when the sun is out!), driving on a steep, narrow, winding mountain road (to the town of Masca), jet-skiing on the Atlantic (but talk about rough waters and loads of salt water in the face!), eating authentic fish and chips at a British Pub (nowhere to be found in Dresden), discovering the peak of Mt. Teide after a few cloudy days (it's a dormant volcano and the tallest mountain in Spain), lounging by the pool at our resort (with a bit of swimming too), go-karting, and playing a paddle game on a golden sand beach (with a little Spanish boy racing me to get the ball whenever it'd hit the ground!).

It's already been a challenge compiling the few pictures we have so far off of every phone and camera and I hope to get even more off my parents' cameras too, but for now here's a collage of some of our adventures. The island was blooming with such colorful blooms and was such an interesting mix of cactus and palm trees, evergreens and flowering trees. God is so creative with the way he designed the various landscapes around the world!Caitlin was a great traveler, sleeping most of the time on the plane and being a super-trooper as we hauled her along on all our journeys. She even started sleeping 7+ hours through the night which gave us an extra holiday bonus with the unexpected additional sleep! We're now home for a couple of days before heading back out, this time to the east when we'll drive with my folks to meet up with our Polish relatives for a week on the coast of the Baltic Sea up north. I love this time of year with its much needed change of pace and a chance to be reunited with dear family!

And They're Off...

It's finally here!

For months we've been planning a vacation and it's always seemed so far away. But now we're packing up our beach gear and heading out tomorrow for a week in the Canary Islands! The best part about it is that my parents flew there from Canada last week and they've been enjoying a few days alone before we all meet up. The occasion for this trip is my parents' 30th wedding anniversary and I'm thrilled that we'll get to spend it together in such an exotic place. Congratulations Mom and Dad!!

I'll write and post pics of our trip when we're back at the end of next week!

English Woes

Let's face it -- English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't grocer and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?
In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike?
How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another.
Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent?
Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.

*~*

I received this as an email a while back and got a kick out of it as I read over it again recently. Hope you enjoyed it too!

Knut Ears

Last year a polar bear was born in the Berlin zoo and they named him "Knut" (pronounced k-noot). Knut survived against huge odds and got an incredible amount of press in the process. He's pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Another thing I think is cute is Caitlin (nice segway, huh-!). I get alot of time to just look at her (well, the side of her head mostly) while breastfeeding the 7+ times a day I do and I've noticed something very interesting...

Can you see it?

From a certain angle the middle part of her ear (both actually) looks like a polar bear! Isn't that cool?

How nice of her to show such German spirit in light of all the Knut hub-bub of late! :)

Sweet Memories

I was transferring some pictures from our camera to the computer today and it occured to me how blessed we are to have photography in this day and age, much less digital photography. It's so easy to snap a few shots and then send them around the world or even just save them on a hard drive to look back at later. No need to even buy film anymore or pay for developing, how nice! Caitlin is growing and changing a little every day and I desperately want to hold on to the memories of these first few weeks while she's still so small and new. Here are a few of my favorite "photo-memories" from the last week!

in Randy's arms at church

looking out over Dresden from our skylight

belly playtime
fun with bright toys!

Lights, Camera, Action!

For anyone interested, here's the link to our YouTube site to see videos of Caitlin.

WARNING: high grandparent-only interest factor (don't say I didn't warn you!) :)

More Faces

I had some more time this morning and after a bit more editing wanted to post an expanded version of Caitlin's and my "conversation" yesterday. She's trying out new expressions every day!

Six Week Thoughts

After her morning feeding today I took a few moments to ask Caitlin what her reflections were on the last six weeks of life. She was her usual thoughtful self and instead of describing in words how she felt, decided instead to make a few faces. Good thing mom had the camera ready-! That's my life these days, trying to be prepared for every unseen situation and react with lightening speed! :)
So as you can clearly see she has mixed emotions, although the picture on the top right seems to capture her general attitude--"I'm having a pretty good time but am not quite sure how much I want to let on yet." Her subtle smiles really are super cute.

You know you've been in Germany too long when....

I regret to inform all of my faithful readers that yes, although there is a new post, it is unfortunately not original material. I read my friend Tina's blog today and couldn't resist posting the hilarious list myself! It is directed mainly at those in the military, but still, sooo many of these describe me and Grady! As a side note, we are continuing to do well as a threesome and mom and baby are headed to the six-week checkup at the doctor's tomorrow. Six weeks already?! (and another recent picture at end) Enjoy!

1. You refer to other Americans as "they" or "Amis".

2. You REALLY think AFN (Armed Forces Network Radio) is quality entertainment.

3. You realize that Ausfahrt isn't the biggest city in Germany.

4. You forgot how to use round doorknobs.

5. 100 MPH seems like you're really driving slow.

6. You start converting prices from euros to dollars in your head (Yeah, but that cup of coffee is FIVE U.S. DOLLARS!!)

7. Even at home you don't put ice in your drinks.

8. You never leave home without your keys, ID card, license, and passport.

9. You answer the phone "Hallo" instead of Hello.

10. You need a power drill and sledgehammer to hang a picture on the wall.

11. You're used to the fact that there's a crane outside your house.

12. Sunshine actually becomes a topic of conversation.

13. You play "guess what town" the driver in front of you is from (HD, MA, KL, PS), based on their license plate.

14. You are incredibly careful about being loud during the "quiet hours" of 7 p.m. – 10 a.m. and 12 – 3 p.m.

15. You don't drive anywhere that you can take a bus/tram/train to.

16. You get excited about the great deal of paying under $4.50 a gallon for gas.

17. When visiting the States, you think you will buy something that costs $0.99, it'll cost that much.

18. Pay toilets for you mean there's another woman standing outside the "public restroom" with a change dish, glaring and demanding her 50 cents.

19. You know David Hasselhoff was a singer, and think "I've been looking for freedom" is quality music.

20. You can wear black socks and nothing else that's black… and it's okay.

21. The only contact you have with other Americans is through Myspace.

22. Nature becomes its own entity for you (I went out into "the nature").

23. Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Presidents Day fade in favor of Tag der Deutschen Einheit, Nikolaus, Erster Mai Tag and Heiligen Drei Königen.

24. You start writing the number 1,000.25 as 1.000,25 and your ones look like sevens and your sevens are a molestation of a 7 and a T.

25. Finger food ceases to exist. There's a utensil for EVERYTHING.

26. You know the lyrics to American Oldies in German – i.e. the Beatles' "Komm gib mir deine Hand".

27. You start to refer to hip hop, rap and R&B as "black music".

28. You've gone back to calling clubs discos.

29. When you think of fast food, Döner comes to your mind quicker than a burger.

30. The sauna doesn't scare you anymore.

31. You start introducing yourself with a German accent to your name.

32. You refer to your friends with the word "the" in front of their name. As in "the Valerie" and "the Leah".

33. You catch yourself putting verbs at the end of sentences in English.

34. You watch German T.V. and GET the jokes.

35. When people come to visit you, and you start telling them historical facts about the things you drive by.

36. You know that every black man you see is in the US Armed Forces or afri…. uh, an exchange student.

37. You crave cake at 4:00.

38. You start saying things like "I'll meet you at sixteen o'clock".

39. Bread, cheese and cold cuts constitute dinner.

40. You can name more German politicians than German actors/actresses.

41. When purchasing presents you prioritize them as useful over being enjoyed.

42. You heat each room in your house separately.

43. When you talk about a two room apartment, the living room counts as one of those rooms.

44. Everything you eat needs to have nutritional value and you justify fatty things with "it's healthy".

45. Driving half an hour to go somewhere is a hassle.

46. $1,000 a year tuition seems like a lot of money.

47. You think soccer is the best sport ever invented.

48. Aldi satisfies all of your shopping needs.

49. All of your shoes are sensible.

50. You call your cell a "handy".