Conversations with Little Old German Ladies...

I've found that many of the elderly German ladies in our neighborhood, love to stop and talk.  When we first moved in here, I found it a bit intimidating, because I didn't understand a word they said... but I just had a lovely conversation with one of our local ladies, and was quite proud of my German skills!

She told me all about how she remembered my mother being here a year and a half ago, and walking Luna around in the stroller.  Then she told me how she had 4 children, and that was too many.  Her jaw dropped when I told her that my sister was about to have her 8th.

She remarked on how Luna was so small, so I told her that Luna was small for her age. Then she told me that her daughter has gone to live in the US, and has gotten fat - because of all the fattening American food.  And that she feels that German children are too "controlled."

This is what I really found fascinating.  I have always remarked on how the German toddlers are so well behaved.  When you see a Mum with her baby or toddler in the grocery store, you NEVER see that child having a temper tantrum.  It's like they're brainwashed or something!  I've never been able to figure out how they do it.  Now the older kids, frequently you see misbehaving, but never the younger ones!  In the states, I almost EXPECT a toddler to be having a tantrum in the store!

So she proceeded to tell me about how she thought the German kids were too well behaved, and how in 1947, when American kids started showing up here, how clear it was that they were always smiling and laughing, but the German kids were so, well, I guess, TOO well behaved!  I told her I really didn't even know how they did it - we're at a loss!

So then she asked if Luna had to take a nap, and said she should go on her way.  But I was so proud that I understood the whole conversation!  I'm sure I was grammatically incorrect when I answered her, but I think she got the point!

Our Little Pony

When we took Luna's clothes off tonight, we decided to let Luna run around naked a while before putting on her Pajamas...  then Bas and I started cleaning up the kitchen, and we weren't paying too much attention to what she was running around screaming.

As I was bringing in the laundry to fold, I started listening to her, and realized that she was running around saying "I'm a little pony!"

Now this alone is pretty funny, but what made the scene even funnier, was that she had stuck a baby wipe in between her "cheeks" and was also saying "Look, I have a tail!, I'm a little pony!"

Why?

I've been wondering when Luna was going to start saying "Why?"  I'd noticed that some other kids about her age were saying it, so I figured it was coming soon.  But "Why" isn't exactly something you can explain to a two year old.  All the words you would use to explain what it means, like "reason" she doesn't understand either.  I mean, "why" is "why!"  We certainly tell her why she can't do things, but she had never made the connection.

So today Luna was in the bath, and the water was running, so I shut it off.  And she said "Why?"  Just why!  SI I said "why?"  And she said "Why stop water Mommy?"

SO here we go!  Now she's asked me "why" about 15 things already!

Luna Reading Quietly in Her Room

Today Luna followed Bas upstairs, while he was up there fixing our towel racks in the bathroom (thank you husband).  She's just started doing this, and she went up and was playing quietly while he worked.  When I came up, this is what I found.

Raclette Dinner Last Night

We had some friends over last night for Raclette.  Had a great time!  And yummy food!

Luna got all dressed up in a new dress that Gramma brought.  Insisted on two bows, and selected matching polka dot shoes herself.  I added the jeans, although with the length of the dress next time we'll go without!

The kids had a blast dressing up in Luna's tu-tus.  Too bad we didn't have one more!

Our new neighbor...

Thanks for the Dirndl, Gramma and Grampa!

OK - so there's a lot of pictures here, but I didn't want to leave any out, because they tell a funny story...

Gramma and Grampa bought Luna a real German dirndl.  And we wanted to put it on one night (just before bed) and get some pictures...  well, she wasn't really happy about that...

She did everything she could to get it off!

Then Papa brought her some candy.  Night became day...

So then she got out her toy laptop, which plays music, and decided to dance.  I knew that such a cute dress deserved some dancing!

Blogging Class

We had our last Blogging class last Thursday.  I think all of the ladies managed to have a good time and learn something along the way!  At least I hope they did!  We were missing Elisa and Kerri on our last day, but I hope to see all of their blogs up and running soon!

I would also like to say THANK YOU to all of my ladies for the gift certificate you gave me!  It was so unexpected and so unecessary, but I will LOVE using it!  Thanks so much.  We are going to a wedding in April so I will use it for a bit of pampering and beautifying before we go!

Mom's visit...

As soon as Mom got here, Luna wanted her to read a book!

Luna pouting over something or other... how can you be mad at such a cutie?

And on of her cute self-designs...  she's doing her ballerina pirouettes.

At the grocery store on Saturday, she always gets her own cart when Papa comes...

Me doing our deposit bottles... you put them in this machine, and then it spits out a receipt that you give to the cashier.

Luna gets to buy the beer!

Looks like a very serious conversation considering it's just about bread or something...

Uh oh - she found the chocowat...

The American section at Rewe, I took this picture for my new expat blog...

The Germans are serious about their pickles...

When we went to Nürnberg Mom got Luna this Schmidts tin.  It has a light inside and a music box that plays Que Sera, as it turns like a carousel...

And you can click HERE , HERE and HERE to see pictures my Mom took...