Last Names

An update on this - being a teacher is a great way to find out what your name rhymes with - or even loosely rhymes with. Mine happens to rhyme with the French word for cat and with shat. Luckily, very few students make this connection. However, when 17 year old boys decide to call you Mrs. Cat - that can quickly move from innocent fun and word play to pretty blatant disrespect. Add in hissing sounds - well - I nipped that in the bud VERY quickly. The only problem is after that I got declarations of love from said chastised student. I also had a discussion with him about how that was not OK or appropriate... The things I have to deal with. Which reminds me - one of my fellow teachers - who has been struggling - said to me the other day, "What have I done in my life to deserve this treatment." Sometimes that summarizes my feelings exactly.

Now and then I think it would be very helpful to have smaller boobs and a tougher exterior image. I may have to go back to buns and glasses next year.

Visit to the Orthopedist

I visited the orthopedist because my back has been sore recently.

At the orthopedist we learned:
1. One leg is a centimeter shorter than the other (take that Mrs. Copeland, it wasn´t scoliosis, it was leg length)
2. My hip bone and socket do not fit together correctly - too big socket, and the bone isn´t correctly placed.
3. My vertebrae don´t stack up straight, they are somewhat crooked.
4. My pelvic floor isn´t what it should be.

I was chastised for not going to Ruckbuldung Gymnastic - post birth exercise class and I have to start working out. Hopefully this will end in a healthier, fitter me. But when am I going to exercise in the morning and the night! Crunches at 5am...yuck!

Lia Hits the Road

 

Lia is 1 and spring is here

Today on a sunny Saturday morning I have been reminiscing about this time last year. My tiny new born baby was spending most of her time sleeping on my chest. Now that tiny baby is a walking, hair pulling, talking!, cuddling, occaisonal tantrum throwing toddler. In the world of babies, a year is an eternity.

Lia is an incredible joy - she changes by bounds each week. Yesterday at the thermal bath she put her face into the water voluntarily and loved being thrown back and forth between mamma and dadda.

Lia points to her preferred destination, saying da or dat - (German for there, and English that). When her daddy is not paying attention to her, she yells DaDA. She knows that ducks quack. She can wave bye bye but she is most likely to do it after the other person is long gone.

We have spent hours watching our neighbors chickens, ducks, and rooster wander around the yard. Animal watching is the only time Lia sits still - otherwise she is a bundle of action and energy.

There is a box in the corner of the room that Lia has made her private island. She climbs up the box - then down. Puts a toy on the box, climbs up and throws it off. Stands on the box and claps while kneeling on the box. I tried to put the box in the basement and Lia was inconsolable. So the box stays for now.

Spring in Germany is a beautiful time. Flowers blooming, roses everywhere you turn, light and green. Of course that is interspersed with weeks of chilly rain. Lia is lucky to share her birthday with this time of renewal of life and energy.

Back to the theme of reminiscing, we have been missing Jane and Cheryl- The days we spent at an almost empty strandbad lazing around were so lovely. Strandbad is open, and hopefully more such days are ahead of us!

Time Flies and So Does Lia

Happy New Year! We are back in Germany after a very relaxing holiday season in Reading. Lia continues to be an excellent traveler, but I imagine we will be increasingly uncomfortable sharing an airplane seat as she gets bigger and bigger. In fact, Lia fits into her 12-18 month clothes already. (I am a bit of a compulsive Baby Gap shopper - the clothes are so adorable.)

We have hit a lot of milestones including standing (using everything - walls, tables, legs, etc.) She is starting to explore the world and our apartment is as of yet decidedly not baby proofed. We have to get on that, because if you take your eyes off of Lia for more than 2 seconds, she is into something new. Lia is enjoying cheerios and more people foods - overcooked pasta yesterday! She babbles all the time, and we have heard: up, hallo, mama, and dada - although none necessarily were attached to real meaning.

Jan and I are both very busy with school and parenting, leaving little time for anything else. Despite the stresses of too much to do and too little time, we are truly enjoying the adventure of new life and working on taking one day at a time.

Once again - Happy New Year!!

6 Months Old

Lia is half a year old.

Major accomplishments: eating "real" food Her favorite is rice cereal
sitting from lying down
jumping jumping and more jumping
screeching and blowing raspberries

Likes: baths
sleeping in on the weekend
whistling
flirting with men

Disklikes: getting dressed
diaper changing
relaxing or chilling

And here are some cute videos

Long Hiatus - Lia is 5 months old!

But now I finally have a vacation from school. 7 weeks of work with a baby done! And they were tough. Hopefully after this two week break, life will get a little easier.

Lia is doing incredibly well. 5 months old, going on 12 :) She had her first meal last night, in her brand new tripp trapp chair, and ate like a pro. I am now waiting on the result of this meal - the dreaded first solid food poop.

Lia also can get up on her hands and knees, but isn´t quite crawling yet.

Here is an adorable baby slurping up her rice cereal :)

Before


Hey, this is pretty good!


Yum, yum, yum