Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Need Advice!!

On feeding a one year old...

so we've been giving Luna wieners here. We're getting ready to try chicken, but for now it's been all about wieners. We're also trying hard to get two servings of vegetables and fruit a day. But lately Lulu has taken to throwing EVERYTHING on the floor.

I know this must be totally normal. I'm sure she loves the response she gets when we say "No!" So I've tried positive reinforcement - saying "Eat!" with a big smile when she actually does it and responding "Good! Good!"

I know that a baby's diet frequently dips when they hit the one year mark. So I've tried to think, "It's OK, she's just not hungry." But then she's so small...

So, it's been really frustrating me. Last night I put her on the floor with her food so she could eat it from there. :) And today at lunch, I just took it away after she threw half of it on the floor. I thought she would want it after she knew there wasn't any left - but no - she was perfectly happy to get down. And I know if I had given her banana or strawberries, she would have eaten everything...

so does anyone have any tips? Should I just feed her fruit, bread and milk products - or am I right to just put her down when she acts like this? Or is this just a phase that she will get through eventually? I've been trying to give her the veggies before the wiener, since she's most likely to get sick of the veggies first. But today at lunch I gave her cheese first, while we waited for the wiener to be ready - and I wonder if that isn't why she ate only 2 pieces.

Any other ideas for good first table foods to try (that are easy for her to self feed and aren't too messy or hard to prepare?) Right now we mostly do:

1. yogurt
2. bread
3. cheese
4. biscuits
5. wieners
6. steamed broccoli or green beans
7. lunch meat
8. noodles
9. bananas
10. strawberries

HELP!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Luna's New Tricks

Not sure if I have mentioned any of these in a post but here are some of Luna's new tricks...

1. Saying Momma and Pappa (although, she's forgotten this skill as of this week! Now it's just MMMMa - whether she's referring to me or Bas! Sure she'll get it back together soon!)

2. Trying to say "Uh Oh" when we drop something.

3. Pointing to a nose or mouth when prompted.

4. Shaking her head side to side. (So funny!)

5. Giving a kiss when asked for - even directing whether it should go to Momma or Papa.

6. Putting things into and taking things out of (like little drawers and compartments on toys)

7. Walking 6-7 steps all by herself (when no one is looking ofcourse!)

8. Eating all table food and no more baby food.

9. Down to one nursing a day (1st thing in the AM - I can't imagine fixing this one yet, since it's frequently 5AM, although we're close!)

10. Going to bed quietly without a huge fuss, with Papa, after a book, a snack and some milk.

11. LOVES rocking in her car seat. We don't have anyplace to hide it, and she just crawls into it, stands up and rocks - like she's surfing or something. Yes - this is going to be an adventurous little one! It makes me so nervous - I started turning it over so she can't do it recently!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

New Baby Buggy


Here's the "Fahrrad Anhaenger" that we bought today. Everybody uses them. Found it on a sight similar to craigslist w/ classifieds over here. It was only 55E. compared with like 500E. for new! Since I want to be able to ride my bike to the grocery store, this should provide ample space for Luna and groceries!! (Fortunately it's not too far) It will also be fun for picnics and "wandern" as they say here! And will definitely help us save on gas!! (As long as it's not snowing!) We had a lot of fun fitting it into the Micra - had to put Luna into the front seat (yikes!)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Grocery Store Socials...

So I met a woman with a baby at the Rewe in weisendorf today. It was funny, because I couldn't decided whether to go to the one in Herzo or in Weisendorf, and I finally decided on Weisendorf because I knew I could get some filets there. Guess it was providential...

I was finished with my shopping, and waiting in line at the bakery, and a woman came up behind me, also with a baby in her cart, and she was talking to Luna and making "sweet" with her. And so I started resonding, as best my German could afford, and asked how old her baby was (still no idea whether her baby was a boy or girl - but boy I think.) Turns out the baby was 2 weeks shy of 1 year, so I told her that Luna was 1, as of 08/07 and she soon figured out that my German wasn't good, but she was still coaxing Luna to say Mama and having fun with her. So I made my purchase, said Tchuess! and went on my way.

But then I ran into her again in the parking lot, as I was on my way to return the cart, and she told me (in very good English) that she would be very happy to meet again, if I wanted some company (after asking how long we're here, etc.) So she gave me her number and I told her that I would call her next week. She lives in Buch, which is a tiny town, very close to Weisendorf.

Her name is Jana. It will be so much fun for Luna to have a playmate, and for me to be able to have someone to practise my German with!

I also found out that most small towns have a sports center, where the town can go for classes and exercise. Apparently they usually have a kinder-mutter "turnen" which is like gymnasium for the kids - there is one in Herzo at 9:30 on Friday's that I know of, but think that there will be one in Weisendorf as well. Won't find out until September when it's open after vacation again - but I think that will be fun, too! Seems like a great way for Luna to be around other kids, and another way for me to practise my German!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

IWG - International Women's Group

I decided to check out an Internation Women's Group here in herzo which I found about in the relocation information. They have a coffee every month, and so I contacted the woman who was hosting yesterday to get directions - and she said that I was the first person who had RSVP'd - so i was a little woried that the group wasn't what I was expecting, but I just got back from the coffee. It was very nice, and Karin, who is the president of the women's group was there. Sure enough - everybody is on vacation. She said that normally it is around 10 women.

They have an event coming up in September to start organizing a charity fundraiser. The fundraiser will be a ball on October 11th. Think that will be lots of fun! I was just thinking this morning that it was a pity I don't have any reasons to get dressed up anymore. Husbands are invited of course. They also told me about lots of activities for children, such as a toddler gymnasium and swimming lessons - which will be good for the winter. And they also told me about German lessons that you can sign up for which is paid for by the federal government. Since Adidas will pay for lessons at first, I can probably do that twice a week after the Adidas lessons run out!

They also had great resources for finding a babysitter, so that will be a great help, too!

SO sounds like there will be plenty to get involved in - I plan to fill out the registration and become a member!

Here is a link to their website... http://www.womensgroup.de/

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Bamberg and Luna

Hey!

So we went to Bamberg today. It's a town about 40 minutes away. The literature we got from the relocation company included brochures on Bamberg, so we knew it had a nice old town, and that it was the biggest town outsde of Erlangen and Nuremberg in the area. We also knew that there is an active US Army base in the area, and thus alot of Americans. We'd like to start going to church at that base, since it's the only English speaking one around!

But that's about all we knew about it - and boy were we pleasantly surprised - AGAIN! It has one of the largest aldstadts in the area - probably rivaling Nuremberg in size. And since it's history dates back to as early as c. 1000 - when it was one of the archbishopsics of the Catholic church - it was equally as important of a city to Nuremberg during the middle ages and rennaissance. It had at least 8 major churches / cathedrals - they were literally around every corner, and maxmillian the 1st dubbed it "Little Venice" due to the canals and fisherman's houses along the canals. It is also very famous for it's "altes rathaus" or old townhall, which was built on a man-made island in the river.

We also discovered LOTS of good restaurants worth visiting again - and the best boutique shopping I've seen anywhere yet. And more surprisingly - alot of them were open on Sunday! So it will definitely be a nice town to visit on Sunday, and enjoy a nice meal after church!

So here are pics of Luna and our day today - make sure to visit the flickr page for more pics - we're restricted to 30 in these widgets!



Friday, August 15, 2008

I threw together this pasta tonight - and thought it was worth writing about!

Bas doesn't like pasta much, so it's been forever since I made some. I use to eat it once a week - at least, but I spose we're better off without it! But i had a hankering for it tonight, and so decided - while we were at the store, to make it. Finding all the ingredients was again a challenge. Bas doesn't understand why it takes me so long at the grocery store here, and I keep trying to explain that not only do I not know where anything is - I don't know WHAT anything is. It took me 10 minutes to find the goat cheese - just looking on one rack. Turns out it is "frischkase" - figured that out because I finally found a brand with a picture of a goat on it!!

Anyway - thought this was very nice and fresh, and had a nice mix of flavors... and in a normal grocery store would be very quick to grab the ingredients if you don't already have them at home!

1 zuchinni, sliced
1 container fresh mushrooms, sliced
butter or olive oil
garlic paste
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato puree, paste, sauce - whatever you call it or can find...
i can or jar of chopped black olives
italian sausage or soft, thinly sliced pepperoni
penne pasta
goat cheese

put butter or olive oil in non-stick soup or sauce pan with garlic paste over medium heat. Let melt, brown, etc. Add zuchinni and mushrooms - let brown or soften. Add meat and cook through. Add olives. Once heated through - add all cans of tomato - diced, whole and puree. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat. Add salt to taste (I used a lot) and more garlic paste. Let simmer while boiling water for pasta.

Boild water for pasta, add noodles and cook.

Once noodles are ready, and served with sauce, add a dollop of goats cheese to top each plate. Yum!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Pictures of the House and Floorplans




Notice the shutters and the fence out front. It also has a gate. I will likely add window boxes - everybody has them, and they're so Bavarian looking!



Another view - the garage is to the left. Looks like we will have a basketball hoop, too!


And here are the floor plans. I drew them on some free software, so the resolution didn't come through very well.

First Floor





Second Floor



Basement

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Latest Pictures...

Includes pictures of Luna and the cupcake, her birthday party, Nuremberg on Sunday, and her first encounter with a lollipop!


Click here to see them all...




Tuesday, August 12, 2008

We found a house!!





It's as good as ours! Our relocation agent told us that she was just notified yesterday about a new house, from a family that relocated here to work for Adidas 5 years ago. It's in Weisendorf, which is a town that I decided I liked the second day I was here. When I met with our relocation agent the first time I told her that I liked it there, and thought it was perfect - so when she got this call yesterday she was hopeful. But no one had any idea what condition the house was in after 5 years, so she was also cautionary.

Well - we loved it. Told them we were ready to sign up right away. Turns out the landlord is getting ready to go on vacation for two weeks in Australia, and so he was very happy to have it just be done with!

We've certainly seen bigger, but we've never seen one that had everything this one has - and is so close and convenient. It sits right on a lake, too. They said that it freezes over in the winter, and everybody skates on it!! Bas wants to get a little row boat!

It has a great kitchen, with a BRAND NEW dish washer, lots of cupboard space, and nice cabinets and countertops, etc. The windows are all dark wood, and open to the inside like German windows do. It has a nice sized dining room and living room, with a WC with shower on the first floor. As well as a nice sized office with a window facing to the front of the house. Hardwood floors throughout.

Second floor has a large master bedroom, and two good sized kinder rooms, as well as the standard second floor bathroom - finished with nice tile. The kinder rooms both had a full wall of built-in wardrobes - which are huge, and hardwood - and will save us some serious cash.

There was no 3rd floor "studio" (as they say), which would have been nice, but there was a basement "hobbyroom" which will function as an extra TV room / guest room if we need it to be, and like our house in Ohio will stay well insulated throughout the year - instead of costing us extra money to heat! It was finished nicely - compared with most others we've seen, and will be great extra space! There was also plenty of storage space in the basement, as well as in attic space.

There is a one-car-garage and a parking space, a bike room, swing set, garden house and a fully fenced yard - with gates to the street and to the lake.

It didn't have absolutely everything we wanted - but, we knew that it was close enough. And with the location, so close to Herzogenaurach and in the perfect little town, and then on the lake to boot - we just knew it was meant to be. And fortunately - the landlords, just didn't even want to be bothered with finding new tenants, so they just gave it to us!!

The family that is leaving is currently at Adidas, and is American - so they will likely also hook us up with tips on the area, and really seemed to like the house and the landlords, so it couldn't seem more perfect!!

Will try and drive by tomorrow and take pictures, but here is a picture from google earth!

Luna's One Year Checkup

So Luna had her one year check-up today. Went to a doctor in Erlangen who speaks perfect English. It was an adventure. Had to take the autobahn in the Micra again in the pouring rain - but thanks to Brechje (our navigation system) we found it easily. It was in a very residential area, so I was getting worried, but apparently that's normal here with teh way they zone doctor's offices.

She got two shots, and the doctor thought she was doing very well. Although we have to stop the bottle at night. I switched from nursing to the bottle when she goes to sleep, but it's not good for her teeth - or as a habit, so she gave us a method for getting her off. She's not supposed to be getting the bottle at all now - not even a sippy cup (also for her teeth.) So today at lunch she had her first go around with the cup. That will be fun! Mommy certainly still has to hold on!!

She is still only 17+ pounds, and seems to be almost dropping off the growth chart. She was 25th percentile at first, and then 10th, and now 3rd. Bas just told me that the doctors wanted to put him on growth hormones when he was little - but they didn't do it. So I told her that, and she seemed to think that it was probably just genetic - which is what I would think, too. We have to go back in 4 weeks for a booster, so they will check again. She said that they can do screening for growth hormone deficiency to be sure - if it comes to that. I certainly hate the idea of giving her growth hormones!! I will have lots of questions and research to do if it comes to that, but for now we can wait and see. The doctor didn't seem to be worried about it and said that she has several babies like Luna.

So then we drove home, and I stopped at the outlet to try and exchange something Bas bought this past weekend. Got back in the car and drove home, and ended up coasting into our driveway as the oil light came on, and the engine stopped! We knew that the car was low on oil, but I thought we could make it until the next gas-up. Guess the autobahn did it in! I had to enlist our landlady to drive me to the gas station to get oil - b/c the car wouldn't start, and it was still pouring! Fortunately 2 liters fixed it right up!

On our way to look at 2 more houses tonight. We applied for one this past weekend that we didn't get. Probably for the better since it was 50 km away. We ended up in stau on our way there and it took us over an hour to get there - not what we want for a commuting situation for Bas. Seems like good rental properties are quite the hot commodity, though. We are now making sure that we dress nicely, try to speak a little German with the lessors, and are parking the Micra far away from the property when we visit - so it doesn't reflect on how "worthy" we look! I know the right situation will come along, but we're starting to wonder if we shouldn't buy just because it would be so easy to rent it out if we had to leave!!

Have some great pictures - will post as soon as I get the chance!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Little Lulu is 1!!

It's hard to believe that it was only one year ago on one hand, and on the other - I can' believe she's already one!! Happy Birthday little monkey!

Happy Birthday!
Comment Graphics and Myspace Layouts at pYzam.com


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

About Chiemsee

So here's the blog about Chiemsee - long, sorry, but I wanted to share all the details...

we left around 4:30 on Friday afternoon. Normally it would take about 2 hours to get down there, but we had some staus to get through since it was Friday afternoon and all of Bavaria was starting their vacation! We had our first family experience on teh autobahn - which consisted of me constantly using my cellphone conversion tool to figure out how fast we were going in mph - and then telling Bas to slow down, we had a baby in the car. (Yes, me of all people was telling Bas to slow down!) You wouldn't believe how fast people drive, just like it's nothing! We were probably going 170 kph (105 mph), and getting toasted by BMWs left and right. It is a bit different in that everyone drives that fast, and you only do it when there is no traffic in front of you - and people definitely stay out of your way!!

(As a side note - I went exploring to a different town on Wednesday last week, and the navigation system unexpectedly took me on the autobahn to get me there. I was in the Nissan Micra, and felt like the engine was going to fall out if i topped 110 kph - and it was scary for me, because I was getting passed by so many people driving so fast, that I could barely pass the truck in front of me - I had to let all of the population of Nurenberg pass me before I could get around!)

So on our way, we also passed fields and fields of Hops being grown to make beer, just before we hit Munchen. It was very cool. We plan to go to Munich for Oktoberfest this year, but I suspect those Hops won't be in the beer until at least the following year!

When we were about a half hour from where I expected to get off the highway, our navigation system took us off the highway, and what seemed to me in the wrong direction. I got out the map and started insisting to Bas that we were going the wrong way. It was beautiful and definitely the scenic route, but I was sure that it was going to cost us all the time we had saved by driving so fast! Well, in the future, I will trust Brechje (that's what we decided to name the navigation system - not sure if I spelled it right, it's Dutch. It's what Bas wanted to name Luna, and I wouldn't allow it, so I figure it was OK to use it as our name for the Navigon!) Soon enough we doubled back in the RIGHT direction and went over teh highway - and saw the standstill traffic!

We arrived at Prien am Chiemsee about 7:30 and checked into our Hotel the Bayerischer Hof. We had a very nice dinner there - my first experience eating ox steak, and it was very good!

Saturday morning it was raining so we enjoyed a very nice complimentary continental breakfast complete with soft boiled eggs, then headed off to explore the town. It is pretty small, but one of the larger towns on Chiemsee, with lots of examples of traditional Bavarian mural painting on buildings (see pictures.) I can't wait to invest in some lederhosen for Bas! We did find a trachtenmode shop, but I couldn't find the perfect boiled wool jacket - guess I'll have to look again the next time we're there!

After kicking around downtown we walked to the promenade on the lake and enjoyed a pastry and some coffee (we ate way to many goodies on this weekend trip!) It was clearing up a bit by then, so after a lunch of huge schnitzels (Yes, Bas is eating Schnitzel now, too!) we got in the car to explore some of the lakeside towns. We stopped at a little place called Gstadt (I think) and sat by the lake - after eating ice cream. Then we had dinner on the promenade again by the lake.

Sunday we had figured out that the morning fog and rain dries up by noon, so we got ready and checked out before heading to a friezeit schwimbad on the edge of the lake. We had a great time in the afternoon outside, complete with bratwurst, beer and a Bavarian band and great weather. We were sad to pack up around 3:00 to head out onto the road (Bas had alchohol-frei beer, and I only had two.) But we made it home by 5:00 - so it was a quick trip back!

All in all it was a great weekend. We can't wait to get back and explore the mountains, which start right on the edge of the lake, perhaps get into Salzburg, and go out on a boat - all easy to do while there. Since it's so close, I'm sure we'll go there many times. It's nice because it's not a huge tourist trap, it's so close, and there's so much to do!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Pictures from Chiemsee

Well, it was short, but we had a lot of fun. Will certainly go back, especially since it's so close! Maybe next time to ski!

Will post the details later, but wanted to get the pictures loaded so everybody can see!

Go to flickr to see all the pics - this widget only shows 30!
PICS ON FLICKR