The status of the house

Vin and I took a walk to go visit our land yesterday. As we were approaching I saw some orange bricks and thought.whoah. They have already started to build something. Boy have they!

Above you can see our neighbors houses. To the left is our closest next door neighbor and to the back there is our furthest neighbor. That pile of rocks up front there is where our house will be.

This house is taller and bigger than ours. You see that third floor that is going up there? Our house will only go to that second floor. But this is the stuff our house will be made of. Bricks. Is that good or bad?

Our driveway will be to the far right there by the fence you see here. Imagine a cute little house with a cute little gate and a sweet little green lawn.

 

So this is a pretty good view of where our house will be. To the right of that first house there. It will be little, but cute. We meet with the builders next week to finalize some of the inner house fittings like staircase, toilets, sinks, walls, etc. Am I nervous? Yes. But excited too. :)

Tdtdtdtdtdddd

This is me tongue. It soft and warm. It lives in me mouth. Sometimes I give it vacation. A chance to visit world outside it mouth cave home.

It feel nice on me lips. My sore gums like it too.

Me can make it long.

And me can make it short.

 

But it kinda hard to do. Make me brain tired.

Fasching

Spiderman, Spiderman. Does whatever a Spiderman can.

Tuesday was Fasching here in Europe.  The European Halloween. Where the kids all dress up to scare away the winter.

Vinny dressed up in his Spiderman costume and frightened the other little boy in the mirror. Come to think of it, I can't recall Spiderman dressing in a beenie, a bib, diaper covers and booties all with the same print of little spiders on it. I imagine something more lycra, stretchy and water resistant would be needed to fight crime while flinging from building to building on strands of your man-made spider string. 

And exactly how is a crime fighter supposed to intimidate the winter season? Isn't Spiderman a good guy? Wouldn't winter welcome any advice or assistance that Spiderman could provide? Or are we trying to say that winter is the bad guy? Cause if that is the case, we have some other issues to discuss.

Baby club group

The baby club boys

Here we are at last week's baby group meeting. We made it to one of the member's apartments for tea and rolls and some of that great stinky French cheese that you cut with one of those circular cutters...you know what I mean, right?

Well, V was not super into it. He would lie down with these kids for just a few minutes, but then kind of lose it and need to be held the rest of the time. Pictured here are three of the baby club baby boys. The girls far outnumber the boys in this club so it is good to see the boys together. Plotting. 

As you can see, Vin is the baldest of the crew.

 

Last week was still a cold one. Ahh the barren look of a winter park. These trees were just cut back and we seemed like the only people in town on this day. I had to explain to Vin that in just a few short weeks, these trees will be blooming with green and the grass would be green and there will be dogs frolicking and people on blankets with picnics and books. I have to explain to him that in this world, we aren't always covered in blankets and hats and snow suits. That at certain points in life the world is warm and bright with a big orange sun. He is reluctant to believe me.

Stroll'n around

Whatyoutalkin'bout Willis?

I am almost completely finished with my 'Fit nach der Geburt' class. Next week is the last week. I think it was well worth it. During the first week, we were all whining and moaning when we had to exert any kind of abdominal effort. And now we are able to do those exercises, and then some.

I am not sure if it was just waiting for nature to take its course or if it was the class, but over the past 5 weeks there was certainly a change in the existence of deep belly muscles. Two months ago I could sink my finger past the third knuckle into my belly blob. Now I can only get to the second knuckle and then you hit what seems to be a layer of potential belly muscles. Niiiiice.

Vinny has been a really good kid regarding these classes. As I have said before this class has babysitting available for us to use for the hour while we are in the class. You just drop off the baby in one of the warmed up therapy rooms where they put a bunch of mats and blankets on the floor and leave them to roll around on the floor with the other babies. It has been a good introduction to the outside world and socialization for the Vinster.

When the class first started, there were about 4-5 babysitters in the room, so just about one sitter per infant. It was wonderful. They were all young and sweet and organized with a sweet, soft blanket and toys for the kids to look at. But something happened about halfway through the class - an argument between the sitters and the gym owners - and one day they were all gone. It was just a mat on the floor with a stained white sheet and a couple of cleaning personnel to watch the babies. All the moms were a bit nervous about this, but it worked out. Turns out one of the cleaning guys has 5 kids of his own, so is very experienced.

Vinny is pretty unpredictable when it comes to this class. Getting to the class seems to be no problem for him, but the trip home seems to be where he can be super happy pants, looking around at the world, OR super angry pants, not happy with the weather, not happy with the stroller, not happy to be moving, not happy to be standing still.

But we still love him.

Oohs and flips

The boy is trying to talk and practicing his rolling in every waking moment. Welcome to a snapshot of our days!

While he is sleeping

As I have said before, Vinny likes to sleep. He is a very good sleeper and it has become very easy to know when he needs a nap and if you time it just right, and take his cues, it is a very calm and pleasant experience to put him down for a nap or for the night.

The cues include simply knowing how long it has been since his last nap, knowing what he did that day, and paying attention to his voice and body language. When the coos and ooohs become a bit longer and louder, that is a cue. If he puts his head on the ground or on a shoulder, that is a cue. And of course if he rubs his eyes or grabs for his face or is frustrated with simply sucking on his hand, that is the easiest cue of all.

At that time it is very easy to snatch him up, sing to him while you walk to his bed, place him gently into it, give him a binky if he needs it (this is about a 50/50 necessity), exchange a couple of grins and coos, and then walk away. He is usually asleep within 5 minutes with no crying. The smiles he gives you when you have placed him into his bed are just heaven. Its like he is saying, "Hi you! Thank you for putting me in my soft, delicious bed. I like my bed. And I like to sleep. And I like you. Good night."

For a few weeks now he has taken to 2-3 hour naps in the morning and another 2hour nap in the afternoon. When this first started to happen it was such a relief. To have a routine. To know when he would be down and to take advantage of that time to do other things like clean, shower, blog, read.

Usually that first hour is a very welcome reprieve. We both get a break from each other and get to reboot for the next bit of play. I usually get to catch up with a bit of other stuff and then can sit down to read some emails or news or blogs. Then when the second hour rolls around, I start to look around for other things that I could be, or should be doing. I go to check on him every so often and am surprised to see him still deep in sleep. When that third hour starts to roll around, I begin to hear phantom stirrings and rustlings. I check on him every 5 minutes, certain that he MUST be awake by now - but no. He is still deep in dreamland.

I sit, twiddling my thumbs on the couch in the living room. Willing him to wake up and join me. I start to miss him and resent the sandman that takes so much of his time away from me :)