Flying weeks

My quiet, sweet, darling little pink bear

Vin enjoying the bunnies at music class

Another week has flown by, and I am exhausted and in bed at 8:30 at night...do I have enough energy to actually write something?

This past weekend was the Red Bull Flugtag right here on our neighboring alte donau. These crazy groups of folks construct enormous contraptions and then run them across a man made landing strip that ends with every 'plane' crashing into the water. The one that 'flies' the longest, wins. None of them fly :)

There were a bunch of sponsors there and Vin got to test drive this car.

Vroooom

Vin is getting more acclimated to kindergarten it seems. He actually took his afternoon nap there yesterday and I got a super sweet shot of him on his little mat/bed. It was so adorable. They darken a room and lay out these mats in various corners of the room. Each kid has their own pillow and blanket and sheet and they all are asleep in the same room and it is ridiculously cute. Seriously. How sweet and adorable is this guy?

The sweetest boy who ever was

Mondays are turning into a special day for us. We skip kindergarten and go to music class. This week I had the idea to extend the fun into an all day adventure so we, Vin, Sisi and I went to music class and then headed on over to the zoo. Vin loves it and seems way into the swinging monkeys and stalking big cats and burping sea lions. Everytime the sea lions 'roared' he would imitate them loudly for the crowd to enjoy. He is great.

Vin enjoying the zoo playground

This week's mealplan...

More kindergarten

Our 'new' kitchen is going in today and the place is a complete mess again.  See?

Here comes the countertop that has been missing for the over 3 months we have lived here. 

So Vinny is again at the kindergarten, but for about 5 hours today. I drove him there early because I knew these guys were coming. We are still in limbo about how much in total this kitchen will cost us. We requested new pieces free of charge because they did not deliver on the kitchen we first agreed to and paid for...but they think we need to pay for these pieces. It is total chaos.

We also have to watch out for any signs of hand, foot and mouth disease. A kid in the kindergarten came down with it and now there are signs warning us all about it. Ugh.

On a happier note, here are some more pics of our recent days:

Here is Elsie (left) and Amelie (right), both sisters of kindergarteners.
Amelie was born 3 days after Elsie...and look how big she is!?!?

Mr. I-swing-alone is a super swinger. Has been swinging since about May.

Mr. Man

Too cool for school and riding back home after a morning of play

The crazy double kinder car at the park for some ducks and a hot dog

There he is, eating his lunch with Kathryn (his teacher) at his right and from
there (counterclockwise) are Soochin, Layla, some random
cafeteria lady, Souchin and Elena

He was actually eating and feeding himself, it was dumplings
with mushroom cream sauce on this day.

The meal plan for the week. Yesterday Vinny had Brioche rolls with butter and jam and hot chocolate for breakfast. Lunch was potato soup with dumplings in mushroom cream sauce and the snack that he did not eat was whole wheat rolls with butter and chives. Today he will have some kind of soup with fish sticks and potato salad for lunch.
I am envious of his delicious meals.

Off and running, and eating...

Vinny has really started to take off in kindergarten. Monday this week he stayed alone  for 2 hours, Tuesday was 2.5, yesterday he stayed for his first lunch time meal and today I did a real drop off and pick up after lunch and he was alone for 4 hours. No tears and he had a great time. He even came back with his first sentence in German, "fahren auto" (driving car). Yahoooo!!

Elsie on the way to a Vinny dropoff

One cool cat

The kindergarten room

Hey, hot stuff!

Vinny, in his favorite 'Goonsa Gansa Park'

Kindergarten!!

A fuzzy, but complete picture of Vinny's morning breakfasts at kindergarten.

Vin and Ariana playing with magnets

A contemplative owl

A pink bear

Playing hooky

We played hooky today, ditched kindergarden and spent the day doing our own thing. In the morning we visited a new music class, then joined our friends Ellen and Rebecca a the park and ate an amazing lunch together, then headed home for naps all around. It was great.

The weather has turned and it is that delicious cool, wet weather that I love so much, so cuddling with a baby under the covers is just the ticket!

Back to kindergarden tomorrow. I wonder if we will leave Vin in the classroom for a full hour this time...hmmmm????

A break

Why so serious, Munchkin?

Hey there, Buttercup!

We had our sixth day of kindergarden today and I was actually asked to step outside for a full half hour today! Vinny didn't cry at all and it was very easy to leave him. He doesn't even want to say goodbye, I kiss him and say goodbye, but he just continues on playing without even a look in my direction.

At home, we all crashed for about 2 hours and then drew pictures until Andi got home.

Tonight I attended the first parent's night where I learned about food, activities, field trips, etc. for the kids.I also learned that it will take until the end of September for them to let me actually LEAVE Vinny with them for any extent of time. So I have over 2 more weeks of this to go. Packing two kids up, getting out of the house early in the morning and hanging out in the kindergarden until he is ready to go home...adding about a half an hour every day. This kindergarden thing is pretty much eating up all of my time, and will for the coming weeks. But then I will have a break...right?

The beginnings of Kinder-hood

Andi and Robot

A brother's kiss

Vinny at the Goonsa Gansa Park

Vinny on a hike in the Vienna Woods

The kidlet mobile

Dainty little finger

Nice face, Vin.

A very hungry caterpillar we found in our broccoli

We have finally moved into the new house, Elsie is about 3.5 months old now, and Vinny has started his second week of kindergarten. At 2 months shy of his 2 year birthday, he is starting to really talk up a storm. This happened in a flash over the summer. I would say he went from just 'apple', 'frog' and 'dog' to real communication. I, unfortunately, have been too overwhelmed, tired and busy to keep a strong record of his growth, but here is a little glossary for you of the Vinny of today.

Words Vinny says:
Letalo (translation: airplane)
Oblaki (translation:cloud)
Voda (translation:water)
Riba (translation:fish)
Mleko (translation:milk)
Goonsa Gansa Park (translation: Any park with a swingset)
Pasta
Train
Auto
Wamboomboomboom (translation:watermelon)
Bellendindin (translation:belly button)
Coptuter (translation:computer)
Essie!! (translation:Elsie!)
Traktor
Monkey
Gjjaff (translation:giraffe)
Bear
Apple
Book
Puncka (translation:girl)
Fantek (translation:boy)
see comments for more...(Andi and mom...add what words you can remember into the comments)



Sentences Vinny says:
Good Morning Mama (Every single morning when I walk down the stairs, I hear this excited little angelic voice say these words. It melts my heart)
Vinny dinking wata (He said this whole sentence this last weekend when we had a family BBQ in our dirt and gravel 'garden')
No biting (He hears us say this a lot. He is a big fan of chewing on Essie)
Essie cayin (translation:Elsie is crying)
Green shoes off (We have surrendered and yes, little baby crocs are all that little Vinny wears. He has outgrown his blue pair, and we are waiting for him to fit into his yellow pair. Currently he sports his little green crocs every day. I suppose we will change this once winter rolls around.)
I love mama (I say, "I love Vinny", he says, "I love mama". Anyone else says "I love Vinny", he says, "I love mama." It's the best)
Let's go, buddy (About a month ago he completely surprised me by walking up to me, taking my hand and pulling me with him while saying this. I melted. Now he says it all the time, and even the kindergarten teacher uses it to get him to go places)
Ice cream please (a popular sentence this summer)

Kindergarten started last week. I was oh so very excited for it to start. I thought it would mean a break for me, finally. But I failed to realize that in fact, no, my days are actually much busier now. The way this 'kindergarten' (I suppose it is called daycare in the States) works is the parents join the kids for the first few days/weeks of classes until they are comfortable and feel at home. It is only then that the school will 'invite' you to step outside of the classroom for 10 minutes. Then a half an hour, then a couple of hours, then you can move into the regular routine again.

For the entire duration of Vinny's first week, I was not invited to step out. It was only today that I left for about 15 minutes, and he handled it really well. He askes for 'Mama?' 'Mama?' 'Mama?' often, but he isn't panicky or insistent. I think he just likes to say it, it is an easy word for him to say.

So I think it will work well this week, and maybe by next week I will get a few hours a day off. And by off, I mean to take care of just little Elsie and to keep working on putting the house together.

Elsie is a super easy, super sweet little girl. She knows when she is hungry, she knows when she needs a fresh diaper, and she knows when she is lonely. Other than that, she is cool just joining us on trips around town, to furniture stores, to hardware stores and to lighting stores. When we are stuck at home, she is building her patience with her brother, who is so excited to see her, he shakes and must MUST touch her. Touching her can include a gentle hug, a kiss, even a lick on the head while he says, "Like ice cream". But touching can, and often does, include biting her fingers and/or toes or pressing his teeth into her head. We have now established the "No biting" corner. I hope it will work.

Today included kindergarten for about 2 hours, home for pasta and a nap (1 hour) and then legos and homemade playdough until we hit yet another furniture store.

Tomorrow will include more kindergarten, more lunch and in the evening I get to go to the first parent's night at the kindergarten. Maybe I can consider that as a 'break'?