May Day Celebration

Return of the "ghost" looking children (covered in zinc oxide!)

This morning, we went to Bode's school's May Day celebration at Congress Park.  It was nice to mark the start of Spring with a fun celebration.  First, we stopped at Starbuck's for refreshments. Then we walked over to the park, hand in hand. Once there, we parked ourselves under a shade tree to watch the Maypole dance. The lower school (grades K-6) all participated in a Maypole Dance.  Each class got up and skipped around the Maypole, weaving colorful ribbons around the pole while a music group played drums and flutes.  The girls and boys wore wreaths and crowns made of flowers.  (Bode's class had their celebration on Wednesday.)

We participated with the Kindergarten class.  Bode stopped midway through the dance.  I was at a loss as to what to do.  Luckily, one of the Kindergartener teacher's encouraged the children to continue dancing on, around (without) Bode.  Gianna did great, and loved being a part of the big kids' dance. She also seemed to pretend like she was not related to Bode when he stopped the Maypole. (Just kidding.)

It was a nice start to Spring, a nice start to all of us getting out together in the sunshine as a family again.

Happy Friday.

xo

Bode and Gianna: hide and seek

While I was in the kitchen "making dinner" yesterday evening (i.e., setting the kitchen table for our take-out), Bob shot this video of Bode "hiding" under the table and Gianna "finding" him.

Turn your volume up, so that you can hear Bode giggling and Gianna saying "Hi."

Watch Hide and Seek.
Happy Wednesday!
xo

Photo dump

Here are this week's pictures:

On Tuesday afternoon, the owner of  the babysitting agency came by to personally apologize to me about the awful babysitter we had.  She brought beautiful pink lilies!

I have given up on cooking here.  We eat out a lot. There are a lot of Italian restaurants in our neighborhood.  Gianna loves eating pasta. I love her "pasta face" when she is eating. 

This was the view from our kitchen window Thursday night. I really enjoyed watching the sky change from blue to this brilliant pink.

On Friday, I braved the Berlin traffic and took the babies to Legoland.  It was a hit with both of them. This is (obviously) a giant giraffe made entirely of Legos in Potsdamer Plotz.  There are several interesting Lego sculptures inside.  Every Legoland has a "master builder" on site, who just builds all day. Imagine that being your day job!

Bode got a "souvenir" from Legoland. What did he pick? A car, of course.

On Friday afternoon, we picked Daddy up from work early and went straight to the park before dinner. 

On Saturday, we drove to Potsdam.  It is such a quaint, lovely town!  I wish we could spend more time there.  We had a beautiful day there. We spent a lot of time in a park watching Gianna walk and Bode run.  

We stopped at the bakery in our neighborhood before driving to Potsdam.

The leaves were yellow, and with the sunlight, everything had a golden hue. I loved it.

Gianna walks!

This is our last week here in Berlin.  And we've heard that the Northeast has been hit with a massive winter storm.  Since we are headed to New York very soon, I was not surprised by this news.  I can't wait to get home to CA, enjoy our house and some good weather one last time.

Halloween is tomorrow! It is one of my favorite holidays.  There's no sign of life around here, which bums me out.  A few stores have pumpkins, but there's nothing else "Halloween" that I have seen.   Have a Happy Halloween!

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

Walking and the Wall

First of all, Mia Gianna is walking.  Okay, not full-time "officially" or anything but she is almost there. She is still wobbly, and only takes a few steps at a time before crashing to her knees.  She took more steps today than ever. This past Sunday, we were walking around the neighborhood, trying to locate a restaurant that was not Italian (per my request) for dinner.  Gianna would walk using my hands as a guide.  It made our walk twice as long, and painfully slow at times, but it was worth it to see her smile proudly as she strolled along. 

Bode says funny things, like, "I want to learn to walk, too!"

We found a restaurant that was not officially Italian, but we ordered lasagna!  Because I am all about the food, I will tell you about our meal. They had a special pumpkin soup, which I immediately ordered as soon as the lady came by our table. It was fabulous. It was creamy and had roasted pumpkin seeds in it.  Then we ordered pumpkin lasagna and a fish dish.  The pumpkin lasagna had a tomato sauce and mozzarella. That sounds gross with pumpkin, right?  It wasn't. It was perfect.  The fish was a big white fish (something "zander"), wrapped in cabbage, with a stew of French lentils and crispy sweet potato chips on the side. Everything was delicious, and I can't wait to go back there.  Nothing makes me happier than finding good food.  

Bode enjoying the bread.

While we waited for our meal, Gianna practiced walking around the courtyard. We sat outside because the interior was small and quiet, and we have loud, boisterous American children.  It was chilly, but the outdoor area was lovely with vines and plants all around us.  Gianna had a great time moving around.  In fact, she didn't want to stop walking for dinner, and I had to coax her with the pumpkin soup.

Tempting the new walker with food.

Doesn't my hair look fabulous?!!  I can only say, I am so glad that I don't know anyone here, because my hair is on vacation, too.  Oh, let's get real:  my entire self is on "hiatus" right now.

At one point on our walk, Bode stopped in front of Gianna, grabbed her in a big hug and said, "I love you, Gianna."  PING! went my heart strings. I nearly cried.  Bob was walking up ahead and I warbled, "Did you hear that? He said, I love you, Gianna. Get a picture!"  Bob whipped out his iPhone. Yes, I had to capture Bode's first "I love you, Gianna" on film. But by the time Bob got the camera ready, things were leaning back toward brother-sister feistiness. Bode continued to hold Gianna (perhaps a little too tightly),  and Gianna wanted to walk, so she began to squirm out of his reach. Bode started laughing at the "control" aspect of his hold. I was trying to keep Gianna from crawling on the ground...and things spiraled out from there. Emotional scene over, irritated controlling Mommy back on board.

Now he thinks it's funny.

Gianna is losing it and Bode is giggling like a loon. He is wearing Gianna's hat, too.

But enough about dinner.  And enough about Miss Wobbly Pants. We saw the Berlin Wall.  A fragment of the wall, about 1400 yards (I think). It is called the Eastside Gallery, and the grey wall has been painted by artists from around the world.  On the other side, graffiti from other "artists" around the city, I guess. Graffiti is all over this city. I find it disturbing and ugly.  But I guess the graffiti is a mark of what this city has been through.  I was young when the wall came down. I vaguely remember watching it on t.v.  Hey! High five for an "I was young when..." !!! Woot!
But seriously, I can not communicate intelligently about the Berlin Wall.  All I can say is, it was emotional being there, and it is hard for me to wrap my head around the whole thing. I just can't imagine living through that, and coming out...or coming over, to the other side.  Amazing.  

The other side of the wall. 

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. I'm not sure what that means for us three.  Hopefully I can come up with something to do, besides sitting in a bakery and watching the rain fall!

xo

She walked, I cried

This week, this past month, has been absolutely crazy with planning and packing and buying for this trip to Berlin (oh, and our move to New York, too).  This week, Bob has been on a business trip.  It has been raining.  I've been inside purging, cleaning, organizing, and packing.  I feel like I've been ignoring the babies. The babies have been good but not good enough (ha!) (just kidding!).  Bode is getting under my skin, and I know it's just because I'm trying to get.things.done. and he's un-doing all that I've done. I know he's going a little stir-crazy inside.  This afternoon, we had someone in to view the house.  Because that is what I need right now, on top of everything else, is to have to clean this place for a potential tenant.  What other things can be added to my list?  Bring it.

So, because we were "kicked out" of the house, and it was raining, and because I love to gamble, I thought I'd take the babies to Gymboree.  And yes, because I love gambling so much, I figured that I'd just roll the dice on sickness, too. I thought, "If I take them to Gymboree on Wednesday, right before an international flight on Sunday, they are absolutely guaranteed to get sick by Saturday night."  The odds are so good.

Seriously, they needed an outlet. Bode was getting a little wild, and I know it is because he has not had any physical activity.  So we went to Gymboree.  They had a blast.  They both ran around like monkeys.  And because it was raining, there were about 100 other germ-carrying monkeys running around with them.  Gianna is so fearless. It is so funny to watch her, because she just goes and does it all.  And I have to be there to stop her, to say, "No, you're not jumping off that. No, not yet..." She gets so mad! I know I shouldn't compare, but Bode was so different at her age. He would have been  in my lap, clinging to me, content to  just watch everyone else run around.  Not Gianna.  Gianna walks in and owns the place.  Gianna says, "Everybody line up and follow me."  Gianna says, "What is the tallest structure in here for me to climb?"  Gianna says, "Bring it."

I was rolling Bode in a giant tube and he was laughing like a loon.  I just happened to look up for my "Gianna check," to make sure that she wasn't dangling off a light fixture. She was standing, about 5 feet away.  And then she took a step.  And then another. It happened in slow motion. Or it seemed to happen in slow motion, because inside my head, I heard myself screaming as if in a horror movie, "nooo! nooo! nooo!!!!"  She took about 6 steps, and then she fell to her knees and continued "walking" that way again.  (About 10 minutes before this event, a nanny was watching Gianna walk around on her knees and remarked how she has been a nanny for 20 years, and has never seen a baby walk around like that.)

I couldn't believe it.  She walked.  I gave her a big hug, and tried to just hold her in that moment. But we were in the middle of Gymboree, and she had things to do and see. She extracted herself from my arms and quickly moved on.  I started crying.  I didn't know what to do.  It seemed pointless to run and grab the camera.  If I called Bob, he probably wouldn't answer (and probably wouldn't want to hear me warbling about how our baby just walked, and then hear me get angry, because our baby walked in the middle of a freaking Gymboree madhouse, without any fanfare or parental encouragement, no loving parental arms to fall into, dammit.).  I sat there, amid the chaos of 100 flailing, crying, screaming, laughing kids (and their mothers/nannies) and felt very sad.  I stood up and felt unsure of what to do. I had no one to share this with. I told Bode, but his response was only, "Yes. Push me in this now." How to mark the occasion? I went for my phone, but didn't feel like trying to reach Bob (and I knew that his not answering would annoy me).  I grabbed my camera and went to snap my baby, the soon-to-be-walking-all-the-time Gianna.

When we were talking about flying to Berlin last month, I had a thought about her walking.  I (sarcastically) thought, "This is perfect timing for Gianna to start walking."  Because of course she'll want to walk and walk and walk and walk on the plane. No sitting for her! Fun times!
But really?  I am so sad about this chapter closing. Sad! Yes, yes, the next chapter will be fun, too, blah blah blah and all that. But my baby. Oh, my baby!  She is growing up too fast.
xo