Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Aunt Pam and John

I'm sad to say that Aunt Pam and John left Germany this morning. We miss her already. I had so much fun with them that I forgot to take a ton of photos. We did a lot of Berlin gawking, had a Settlers throw down and ate a ton of great food. Abby and Ollie enjoyed all the hugs and cuddles she so patiently gave. Gracie and Beth miss having someone to jump all over and bark at.

We miss you already, Aunt Pam and John!





Proud Mom

Please indulge me while I play proud mom and post another million photos of my cutes. It's been a fun few weeks, but I haven't had the time to write anything substantial. I hope these photos will at least document some of the joy we've been experiencing as our family gets accustomed to sweet Ollie.

Abby is loving her role as big sister. She gets more and more independent every day. From picking her clothes to helping cook the meals, then "Abby can do it."



Sometimes her helping can be a little overwhelming for Ollie. This fun mat experience quickly became not so fun. I could have rescued him, but instead I got my camera and snapped away.


Clearly he got over the trauma.



I wasn't going to take photos on Wednesday because Ollie was shedding some of the baby skin on his face and it was kind of icky, but then he was just so cute that I couldn't help it.



As soon as Abby saw the camera she jumped in for some pics.




Sometimes I have to get creative with Ollie when I am busy helping Abby. He's hung out in her bed, in her toy box, tucked between the microwave and my breastfeeding pump on the kitchen counter, in the laundry basket (with laundry), etc. It's a good thing I never forget where I put him!


Lately she's been throwing some serious tantrums at night. I've nicknamed him The Godfather. Doesn't he look like he wants to call a hit on someone in this photo?


Friday, August 20, 2010

My Big Girl

As soon as we found out we were going to Germany we planned on enrolling Abby in an all-German school. They are pretty hardcore about education over here and children start preschool at age three. The day is fairly structured, but they still allow plenty of time for creative and free play. The children aren’t graded, but parents received regular feedback from both teachers.

We looked at over 10 preschools but didn’t find one that we feel in love with. Jeremy and I definitely had an idea of what we considered constructive learning and what kinds of traits we wanted to see in her teacher. It was nice that we had full control as to what school she attended and who would be influencing her. It’s certainly better to be the interviewer than the interviewee.

Luckily, we fell in love with a preschool that is located 10 minutes from our house. I’m not going to post the name of the school because I want to write freely about her experiences there without them being able to Google my blog. That being said, I will post a ton of pictures J.

This is a photo of Abby on her first day of preschool.

She loves the mini toilets.

I love how they use nature to inspire creative play. For example, the vine tunnel.

This is the main classroom.

The reading nook.

The play center.

This is the art room on one side and the dining room on the other.

This is in the bathroom.

I love all the interesting art around the school.

It's awesome that they eat all organic and local foods. It is all made from scratch every day. They even set the tables with real glass plates and decorate it with fresh flowers. Abby loves the fine dining.

I snapped this photo on my way out the first day. They are having pears and apples for a snack. She immediately made a group of friends and ditched us.

Her teacher is amazing. She specializes in speech development. Let me just say that a HUGE lesson I am learning in Germany is not to judge people. Abby’s teacher is a prime example of why. She is very pretty and looks like Angelina Jolie. She is incredibly thin, has quite the chest and dresses like Peggy Bundy. There is no way they would hire her in the States; she would be considered too cutting edge for the students. But if you look past the one-shouldered tops, skin tight pants and platform shoes you would see a very thoughtful, diligent, brilliant, caring and capable teacher. She is good at what she does and the kids love her. Abby goes to a super competitive school and this teacher must have had mad skills to have been hired.

The teachers here are super affectionate with the children and don't think twice about kissing them right on the lips as they leave. Abby is the youngest in her class and leaves a few hours before the other kids. Her teacher loves to put the other kids down for their nap and then cuddle up in a blanket and read with Abby until I get there. She really puts in extra effort to spend time with each child individually.

It is really nice to have my mornings just with Oliver so I can get some chores done and sneak in a nap. Preschool is the best idea ever.

Superstar

Denna is a superstar. That is the only appropriate word for people who wake up early, go find fresh blackberries growing in the forest, and then come home and make you pancakes to go with them.

She's even got the thorn scratches to prove it!

I think we've eaten about hundred of the plums she's collected.

And what she can't find in nature she'll buy at the store. Lucky us!


My Loves

Here are a few things I love this month....

Abby and grandma making treats nearly ever single day.

Holding a sleeping baby

Ollie's tiny mohawk

Ollie reading

Babies trying to smile

Straight jackets


Doing pilates and yoga with my midwife


Europeans going au natural

My awesome treadmill


Sunday, August 15, 2010

Abs on Camera

Abs loves to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep. She's got the right words, but has no idea what order they go in. Seriously, so cute!


Abs has just started telling us about her adventures at school and her dreams at night. This is her telling the story of a girl at school who bumped her foot on the door and dropped a glass bottle on the ground. It broke and glass went everywhere. Enjoy!

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Best Day Ever – Part Two

One of my best memories from Japan was taking Abby to Tokyo Disney Sea. We both LOVED it. I am so thankful that Abby did not inherit Jeremy's motion sickness. She is fearless.

Berlin has an annual German-American fair running this week. There was no way we were missing out.


Ollie was content to ride in his stroller and take in all the sights and sounds.

This ferris wheel was so awesome.



Here is Grandma and Abby cuddling on the ferris wheel. I'm glad the door locked because Abby rode this puppy standing on the seat.




Ollie was not impressed we put his face in this Aladdin cutout. Can you tell?



I was pretty impressed they had such a huge water ride and roller coaster. They don't mess around over here.

Abby spent the ride home breastfeeding her bear. It's pretty sad to think she's more confident doing it in public than I am. But I digress...