Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Place to Call Home
Alas the much anticipated pictures are posted! Join me on a tour of the place we've been calling home for the last six months. (Note: I just painted Caitlin's future bedroom a couple of weeks ago and when Amy visited we "installed" the vinyl ladybugs.)
Pictures of the kitchen, Caitlin's room, our bedroom, and the dining room still to come!
Pictures of the kitchen, Caitlin's room, our bedroom, and the dining room still to come!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
In Her Own Time
Caitlin's personality has really began to bloom in the last week and it has been such a delight to clearly see her grow and change. She's blabbering on (in her own language) a good majority of the time and it's especially precious to overhear her playing and somehow narrating/conversing as she does. Just a couple nights ago in the middle of dinner she--out of the blue--said pointedly, "Nanananananownownownow....no!" to which she paired the head shake, which she had been doing for some time. So now she's figured that out, although thankfully it's not yet been directed at us parentes...I wonder how long that will last!
She randomly said, "Bye-bye" as she crawled away from me the other day, and as soon as she turned around I got a huge, "Hiiiiiiii!" She'll "repeat" (again, mostly in her own language--which actually reminds me of the early stages of learning German when nothing I said sounded remotely like it was supposed to no matter how hard I tried!) anything we ask her to say, she starts her own games of peek-a-boo by covering her face and then giggling hysterically until someone notices her and plays along, she absolutely loves being chased by Papa or anyone who starts by saying, "I'm gonna get youuuuuu!", and her favorite song is now "Itsy Bitsy Spider" which she also initiates by saying, "Dowwwwww!"' and moving her arms up and down like the rain (second stanza of the song). What are you going to surprise us with next, little girl?
And then there's the issue of walking, which has never been of huge concern (she was a late crawler too and it was so nice to be able to communicate boundaries to a 13 month old who understood what no meant!), but I remember six months ago thinking how obvious it would be that she would walk by my sister's wedding at the end of September because what flowergirl doesn't walk down the aisle?! Well ours didn't. In fact she was so crabby that day we were just lucky enough to have her sit quietly in the auditorium for the ceremony! By then she could have held two of the junior bridesmaids' hands and walked between them, but her stubborn mind was made up that she would NOT do it on her own! We'd ask her if she wanted to walk and just get the clear head shake in return. She wasn't going to do it until she was ready to!
And yesterday she was ready! She's been practicing standing up in the middle of the floor for three weeks now, but would always just plop back down and crawl to her destination after she got her fill of ooohs and aaahs from us. A few days ago she'd started taking two and three steps in a row but easily lose her interest when she'd fall to the floor, still resisting our encouragements with the clear head shake. But yesterday! No more head shakes and no more frustrated grunts if she fell, she would just get right back up and keep going! At 18 and a half months, Caitlin finally decided she wanted to be a walker!
As far as her stubborn streak goes though...let's just say I'm overjoyed when I think about how *fun* it's going to be as she gets older and it only becomes an increasing factor....!!
She randomly said, "Bye-bye" as she crawled away from me the other day, and as soon as she turned around I got a huge, "Hiiiiiiii!" She'll "repeat" (again, mostly in her own language--which actually reminds me of the early stages of learning German when nothing I said sounded remotely like it was supposed to no matter how hard I tried!) anything we ask her to say, she starts her own games of peek-a-boo by covering her face and then giggling hysterically until someone notices her and plays along, she absolutely loves being chased by Papa or anyone who starts by saying, "I'm gonna get youuuuuu!", and her favorite song is now "Itsy Bitsy Spider" which she also initiates by saying, "Dowwwwww!"' and moving her arms up and down like the rain (second stanza of the song). What are you going to surprise us with next, little girl?
And then there's the issue of walking, which has never been of huge concern (she was a late crawler too and it was so nice to be able to communicate boundaries to a 13 month old who understood what no meant!), but I remember six months ago thinking how obvious it would be that she would walk by my sister's wedding at the end of September because what flowergirl doesn't walk down the aisle?! Well ours didn't. In fact she was so crabby that day we were just lucky enough to have her sit quietly in the auditorium for the ceremony! By then she could have held two of the junior bridesmaids' hands and walked between them, but her stubborn mind was made up that she would NOT do it on her own! We'd ask her if she wanted to walk and just get the clear head shake in return. She wasn't going to do it until she was ready to!
And yesterday she was ready! She's been practicing standing up in the middle of the floor for three weeks now, but would always just plop back down and crawl to her destination after she got her fill of ooohs and aaahs from us. A few days ago she'd started taking two and three steps in a row but easily lose her interest when she'd fall to the floor, still resisting our encouragements with the clear head shake. But yesterday! No more head shakes and no more frustrated grunts if she fell, she would just get right back up and keep going! At 18 and a half months, Caitlin finally decided she wanted to be a walker!
As far as her stubborn streak goes though...let's just say I'm overjoyed when I think about how *fun* it's going to be as she gets older and it only becomes an increasing factor....!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Things I Am Grateful For, #459
...people who speak my native language, English!
I just re-re-re-realized yesterday how absolutely wonderful it is (and how for granted I take it) to be surrounded by English speakers since being back from Germany these past ten months. To be able to enter a room full of strangers and converse freely with any of them. To join a mothers group and catch everything that is said, regardless of how fast or random the comments. Or easily reword my question when it's not understood the first time at the grocery store. I thoroughly enjoy the potential I have to engage in small talk with the Lowes employee as he guides me to the plywood aisle, or call a woman I haven't met in person to explain I've been assigned to bring her dinner on the Friday after her surgery and simply ask if her family has any preferences or allergies. Oh the glorious freedom and blessing of language not being a barrier anymore!
I just re-re-re-realized yesterday how absolutely wonderful it is (and how for granted I take it) to be surrounded by English speakers since being back from Germany these past ten months. To be able to enter a room full of strangers and converse freely with any of them. To join a mothers group and catch everything that is said, regardless of how fast or random the comments. Or easily reword my question when it's not understood the first time at the grocery store. I thoroughly enjoy the potential I have to engage in small talk with the Lowes employee as he guides me to the plywood aisle, or call a woman I haven't met in person to explain I've been assigned to bring her dinner on the Friday after her surgery and simply ask if her family has any preferences or allergies. Oh the glorious freedom and blessing of language not being a barrier anymore!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Roommate Revisited
We are so thrilled to have just had the chance to host my roommate/coworker from my time in Dresden! Amy visited this past weekend and we had a great time relaxing and catching up from the two and a half years we've been apart. So much has changed but yet there are so many great memories to reflect back on and laugh about. Memories like eating at the Cuban restaurant, walking through the Waldpark, encountering our landlord in his underwear (numerous times), remembering the view from our apartment, awesome self-portrait photo angles, hiking in the nearby "Saxony Swiss" area, and the like.
Looking through my old blog entries I wonder if Amy remembers our first and only attempt at flying a kite? Or the crazy atomic clock that went berserk for awhile there? Aaah and the time I pretty much made her pee her pants. Not to forget when she didn't ride across the tram tracks at a sharp enough angle (on her bike) and got her tire stuck! I think that time I almost peed my pants! Good times.
Our most notable thing we accomplished this weekend (note: we may or may not have pretty much lounged around the rest of the time) was applying 50+ vinyl ladybugs to the newly painted room-to-be-Caitlin's-bedroom. They look pretty snazzy! Unfortunately I haven't snapped a picture of it yet and it's too dark to get one right now. I hope to also get some pics of the other rooms of our house (something I've been meaning to do for awhile...) so I'll do that all soon and post them. Ooh the suspense!
Anyway, go to Amy's blog for awesome photos of the weekend--I pretty much slacked in the picture-taking department and have none to speak of myself. Hers are totally worth checking out though, she has some mad skills! Caitlin loved having an on-command-book-reader around too, not to mention that we noticed she can really bust a move when more than just crazy Mama "dances" around to Papa's German Club techno mixes. Amy is such an inspiration, even to the toddlers of the world! I think Amy has a new BFF for life.
Love you Amy, thanks for coming!
Looking through my old blog entries I wonder if Amy remembers our first and only attempt at flying a kite? Or the crazy atomic clock that went berserk for awhile there? Aaah and the time I pretty much made her pee her pants. Not to forget when she didn't ride across the tram tracks at a sharp enough angle (on her bike) and got her tire stuck! I think that time I almost peed my pants! Good times.
Our most notable thing we accomplished this weekend (note: we may or may not have pretty much lounged around the rest of the time) was applying 50+ vinyl ladybugs to the newly painted room-to-be-Caitlin's-bedroom. They look pretty snazzy! Unfortunately I haven't snapped a picture of it yet and it's too dark to get one right now. I hope to also get some pics of the other rooms of our house (something I've been meaning to do for awhile...) so I'll do that all soon and post them. Ooh the suspense!
Anyway, go to Amy's blog for awesome photos of the weekend--I pretty much slacked in the picture-taking department and have none to speak of myself. Hers are totally worth checking out though, she has some mad skills! Caitlin loved having an on-command-book-reader around too, not to mention that we noticed she can really bust a move when more than just crazy Mama "dances" around to Papa's German Club techno mixes. Amy is such an inspiration, even to the toddlers of the world! I think Amy has a new BFF for life.
Love you Amy, thanks for coming!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Cutest Lion on the Block
She wouldn't necessarily roar on cue, but she sure made up for it with her cuteness!
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