Say goodbye to the fab four

No, not that Fab Four (the Beatles are no longer, in case you missed it).

These fab four:

These four little teeth.  These four little teeth that make up his sweet baby smile.  Oh, they aren't going anywhere.  But they are soon to be joined by another tooth. Or possibly two more teeth. Or possibly four more teeth.  Because Nico has a lot of business happening inside of his mouth these days. Last night, I spied one tooth making its way in up top, and a hint of another on the other side up top.

I'll miss his little 'fab four' smile. To me, that's Nico.  And Nico's "dada" loves his four little toofys, too. (Just so you know that I'm not the only one.)

Does anyone have any secrets on how to get a baby to stay a baby a little longer? Bind his feet? Swaddle him all day?  Anyone???  Help!

Last night, I dreamed that I had decided that I was ready to have another baby!  I was all set and informed RWF of my our plans. Ruh-roh!  (I was soooo disappointed when I woke up and realized that it was just a dream.)
Happy Wednesday.
xo

Nico: 16 months

Dear Nico,

Tomorrow you turn 16 months old.  You are growing, growing, growing...but in my mind, you're still my little baby!  Lucky for me, you're happy to go along as my little baby.  You don't mind being carried and you don't mind snuggling in the chair with your mommy.

You are always smiling.  You charm so many people when we are out and about, just with your happy smile.  It makes me happy to see that you bring a little joy to others.  It's like I'm carrying around the lucky charm, bringing happiness everywhere we go.

Your obsession right now is shoes.  You love putting on your shoes. If you don't have shoes on, you'll go find a pair and bring them to me. "Nah?" you'll ask or state emphatically.  I'll put the shoes on your little feet, but sometimes explain that we aren't going outside.  

Your other obsession is going outside.  You love getting dressed in your jacket (and your shoes!) and going outside. You walk around, sometimes on stilt-like legs, looking at everything. March, march, march. You go around, getting in more mileage every day. You're interested in all the different surfaces: grass, gravel, dirt, wood chips and concrete.  At first, you were naturally cautious about any new surface, and would pause before making the step onto something new.  But now, you pretty much keep moving no matter if the terrain changes. On steps, you are wary and will not step down anywhere (thank goodness!).  

You love playing games with your brother and sister.  Or, they love playing games around you.  A favorite game is "The Nico Monster."  Bode and Gianna will be doing something ordinary, and suddenly, one of them will announce, "Oh, no! It's the Nico Monster!" Then the two of them take off running and shrieking.  You'll follow behind slowly, Frankenstein-walking after them, while they run through the house as if you are a terrifying beast set on devouring them in one gulp.  Another game is the vacuum cleaner.  This is a game that I have played with Bode and Gianna since long before you.  I chase them with the vacuum cleaner, or they will slowly creep around me while I'm vacuuming, and I'll try to suck them with the hose attachment of the vacuum. They shriek and run away, and then come back for more. Well now, you're in on the action. You'll walk right up to me as soon as I get the vacuum out, smiling broadly, daring me, just waiting for me to put the hose attachment up to your tummy and 'get you' before you start running off.  Bath time is always a favorite with you. I'll ask you if you want to take a bath and you'll respond, "Bah? Bah?" while toddling straight to the bathroom.  And of course, baths are even more fun if your brother and sister are splashing in the tub with you.

You eat a lot of different foods these days but cereal and Goldfish crackers are your two most requested snack foods. You know to point to what you want, and I won't refuse anything you want.

"Shey shey" is your special name that Gianna calls you.  I think it is fitting that it sounds like "xie xie" in Mandarin, which means, "thank you." At least, that is what I think of when she says it.  You are a gift to me.  You'll never know how much your presence helps me through life right now.  I'm always thankful for you, a wonderful little addition to our family...our little "xie xie."

Love,

Mommy

xo

Babylein

This morning at the bakery. Injury-free and happy.

One of my fears happened today.  One of those fears that almost stopped me from taking this trip. "Injury to one (or both) of my children" was top on my list of reasons not to go.

Gianna fell and and busted her mouth while we were at the park. She was on the boat, and had turned to  slide off the seat. She misjudged where to put her hand (I guess?), and she fell. It was one of those hard falls where the baby's mouth is wide open but there is no sound coming out. One of those injuries that hurts so much that there is a delay until the brain activates the other reactions of screaming and crying. And there was blood. A lot of blood.  Strangely enough, I remember reassuring myself, "It will be okay, it's not as bad as it looks..." as I grabbed a baby wipe and tried to stop the bleeding. But she kept bleeding. Then, I was panicking because I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. And was that blood in her nose? A couple of German women came over to look. They both looked at each other and spoke German. One pointed to the offices across the street, and said, "Kinder..."  I snapped Gianna into the stroller, screaming and bleeding.  Bode was already in the stroller. I guess I had already yelled at him to get in because we had to leave NOW. 

I remembered that there was a pediatrician's office across the street when the lady pointed and said, "Kinder." I remember that I saw it in the early days of our trip, and had made a mental note of its location.  

I ran across the street and busted through the door.  "Sprecken sie English?" I asked.  The lady behind the counter shook her head No, but pointed to a man with a baby.  He looked at me expectantly.  I told him that Gianna had fallen in the park.  He translated. The lady gestured for me to take the stroller and babies, and led us into an examination room.  She disappeared and a few seconds later, a man came through the door.  He was wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans (not like a doctor, with a white coat, for example). 

He nodded, and immediately took Gianna out of my arms and laid her down on the examination table.  Of course this made Gianna scream more.  The receptionist (?) came  back in and held Gianna down while the doctor looked at her mouth, her neck, her nose.   He got up, grabbed some other implement and went back to examining a still-screaming Gianna.  I stood by helplessly and said, "She fell. In the park." 

He looked up at me and nodded toward Gianna, like, "you can take her now."  So I held Gianna and tried to soothe her.  He told me that Gianna had ripped her frenum.  He showed me Gianna's top lip, causing her to scream again. "Uh...frenulum is all I know..." he said after I repeated, "Frenum? This?" and gestured toward my own top lip.  He said that it does not require an operation.  He said that her teeth look intact and everything seemed in order.  

Gianna was still crying a little bit, off and on. I was crying a little bit, because of what had happened and for his reassurance that everything was going to be okay.  The receptionist tried to soothe me, patting my back, while I held and soothed Gianna.  Before he left, he stopped and told me that we could "rest" in this room for 20 minutes, before we set out again. 

We had to wait to get a shot and medicine (to clean her mouth).  I had gone to the restroom and had seen a noisy roomful of children and parents waiting. I was grateful that we could wait in a private (quiet) room.   We sat together in our private room, playing with the iPhone and camera. 

The receptionist was really nice about checking on us.  She gave Bode packages of Gummi Bears and chocolates. He was happy to play with them (not knowing that they were actually treats to eat).  He was so good about waiting. It is funny how you think that something so dramatic is unfolding in your life, while your (injured) child screams, cries and bleeds, and your (other) child is calmly observing things around him and playing happily. 

And poor Bob! He wasn't at his Berlin office, but in a meeting in Dresden. I texted him with one hand while I was trying to clean Gianna's mouth at the park, to see how bad the damage was.  My text?  "need to take g to the dr she fell and is bleeding"  My phone rang like 5 seconds later.  By then, I was running across the street and didn't have the patience to hold my phone to tell him what had happened.  We communicated quickly as I was being led into an exam room with our bleeding child.  (I texted him later when the doctor told me that she was okay.)

Danke! Danke! I am so thankful.  I am thankful: that the German lady reminded me of the "kinder" office across the street, that there was a pediatrician's office across the street from the park where Gianna fell, that Gianna didn't suffer any injury worse than she did, that the doctor and receptionist/nurse were so helpful, that we could wait in our own private room, that Bode was so good about waiting and sitting, and that I had enough Euros to pay the doctor.  Thankful! It is always so scary and traumatic when your baby is hurt.  Gianna has huge swollen lips right now. Her top lip is about 20x bigger than normal. Hopefully that is the extent of this drama. She is napping.  Bode has now consumed all the Gummi Bears and chocolates (I caved when we got home, and let him eat them as a reward for being so good at the doctor's office).

Ouch.

Hope your Thursday is injury and drama free!
xo

Leafing

Yesterday we went to the Charlottenburg Palace early, and the morning sun was beautiful. The leaves reminded me that we missed "leafing" in New York.  I have it on my "to do" list for next Fall.  I know that the leaves shown here are nothing like what we will enjoy next year!  But it was a beautiful morning.

I am having a lazy week.  Here are some pics taken from the park (at Schloss Charlottenburg) while I contemplate what to do today.

Happy Thursday!

xo

Mia Gianna: 16 months

Dear Gianna,

If today had a theme song, it would be "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers.  At least, that is the song that was running through my head while I watched you walk around Potsdam, among the yellow leaves and sunlight.

When the day that lies ahead of me seems impossible to face

And someone else instead of me always seems to know the way
Then I look at you and the world's alright with me

Just one look at you and I know it's gonna be -

A lovely day - lovely day
lovely day lovely day
lovely day

I guess today you woke up and decided that you were done with crawling.  You walked all day, everywhere we went. We took a drive to Potsdam, and there couldn't have been a better setting for you to begin walking.  We stood on a square by a park, and your daddy put you down on the ground and you took off. You started walking and you didn't stop.  We stood and watched you, and Daddy put his arm around me and said, "Well. That's it."  And then he kissed me on the forehead. He knew that I was sad to see you walk.  We both knew that you had turned a page.

You charmed a lot of people while in Potsdam.  Everyone would stop and watch you walk. People would stop, smile, cheer you on, and chuckle at your (obvious) new found skill.  Daddy saw one couple watching, and overheard the man say, "You've got to love that. We never got to experience it, because we didn't have kids." And it seemed like a profound statement for him (for us) to hear.

Today, you also got a new tooth. Number 5 has finally made an appearance.

Whenever you drop something, or whenever you want something, you say, "Nah!" or "Nah-nah."  I thought this was your way of saying, "Mine!" or "Pick it up for me, please!"  But I discovered this week that is your way of saying, "Gianna." One night this week, you woke up and I went in to pick you up. I turned on a lamp, and I held you while walking around. We stopped in front of a mirror and I said, "There's Mommy and Gianna. Say, Hi Gianna."  You waved at yourself in the mirror and said, "Nah-nah, nah-nah."

You also have your own way of saying "Bode."  You love your brother like crazy. You always  have a big smile and a wave or "Hi" for him.  You two have a special "shrieking" game that makes me crazy and hurts my ears. But I know that it is your special thing with Bode.

You love eating oranges, pasta (we've eaten a lot of pasta while in Berlin), and hard-boiled eggs. Since there are no Goldfish or equivalent in Berlin, your new special snack to eat is Liebniz Butterkeks.

When you are finished with something, you throw it down. Whenever this happens, Daddy and I turn to each other and say, "Well, I guess she's done with that!"   I only packed two of your favorite bottles for this trip.I was told by several people, and adopted the motto, "whatever you need, you can buy." This I learned early on, was not a good idea.  We lost one of your bottles immediately. Then, on a walk last week, you were drinking from your bottle and I guess you decided that you were done with it.  It wasn't until we got to our destination that I discovered that you had lost your beloved "bah-bah."  We had to run to the store and buy replacements, and it wasn't the same brand as your favorite.  You knew this, and you didn't drink as much milk as you normally do.  I felt so bad for not bringing more of your bottles to Berlin. The area that we are in has limited  selection of baby stuff. I couldn't find your bottles anywhere.  Then, I went into my favorite Apothetek (chemist) this week, and asked them for your brand of bottles.  Luckily, they had (only) 2 of your bottles. We bought them, and I raced home to sanitize them and fill them with milk.  You are now happily drinking your milk again.

You have done well with the transition to Berlin. Sleep is a still a big issue though. I hope that when we get back to California, you will sleep well again once you are in your room, and sleeping in your crib.  Everything else here has been fine. But, as I said to your daddy, all you really need is your parents, your brother, your milk, and your penguin. 

Congratulations on walking, my lovely G.  It was a very lovely day. 

I love you.

Mommy

xo