Tag, I'm it

Also trying to catch up on blogging, Melania has tagged me to do a meme. She wrote the following on her blog:

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
   
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.
   

So here goes with the random and/or weird facts about me:

1. I'm so impressed with Melania, tackling law school and motherhood, and am making every effort to not be inspired to attempt the same.
2. I used to use cake mixes. And an Easy Bake oven.
3. I thought I had three pet hamsters during my childhood; in fact, I had four.
4. Every time I see a rower, especially on still, clear, crisp days, I feel a longing to be out on the water.
5. I've had celebrated my birthday in three countries other than the one in which I was born.
6. I can only eat eggs if they're cooked overhard or scrambled dry, but can only eat turnip or cabbage if completely raw.
7. Although I haven't been posting here, I have been blogging. I've been working on a new blog, but being the pedantic academic that I am, I didn't want it to 'go live' before I'd drafted, proof read, edited, proof read some more, and perfected the layout, and then reviewed it all from top to bottom. I'm still not satisfied that it is perfect, but am finally succeeded in reminding myself that it is not a thesis, it is not an academic paper, it is not any sort of peer-reviewed publication, and I do not have to face an exam panel. So, here goes: Three Bears and a Cat!
   

Oh, and I'm going to follow Melania's lead, though, and tag only one person: Melanie, because we share a name, a love of musicals, and a friendship.

In case you were wondering...

Or, for that matter, still checking for updates...

I haven't abandoned blogging. In fact, I've got an overwhelming stash of half-written blog entries, not yet ready for posting. What with the travels in Newfoundland, the packing up of our home, and then the move to Germany, and then holidays with Werner's family, and now about to go up to Kiel, I just haven't had enough undisturbed time to finish writing the entries and upload photos. In fact, I thought I'd uploaded a bunch of photos already, but they aren't there. Not sure if it was wishful thinking or technological malfunction...

In any case, please stay tuned.

Playing like the big kids

Jakob's had his first turn on a baby swing and loved it!

(I know that we have photos of this, but neither of us can find them...)

Random cuteness

So much adorableness!

Another attempt at finger foods

This time, finely diced watermelon:

So we went to church

Having not been since Easter Sunday (Jakob has agreed to nap, but only between 10:30 am and 1:00 pm), and about to disappear for a year, we thought we should attend church one more/last time.

To make sure we had a chance to say our good-byes, we stayed for coffee after worship. While we were chatting with someone, I spotted a certain member of the congregation and her pregnant daughter pawing at the Cameleon. (This is the same woman who sniffed at me, "What, you don't already have a Christening gown in your family?" when I complimented her on the one worn at the Baptism of one of her copious grandchildren.) Jakob sat in the Bug, looking up at them, expecting some interaction. His smiles and babbles went unrewarded. All the duo was interested in was the stroller. Who cares about the cute baby, right?

The last I heard was the daughter telling the mother, "You can buy me that stroller for my birthday."

Charming.

I wish I understood what he's saying

Because Jakob is babbling up a storm!

I think I can, I think I can

As I've whined previously, my body is not what it used to be. My shoes just don't fit. Happily, I have witnesses - Mom and Gord, Joan, and of course Jakob - to Werner's promise that I can replace all my shoes. I bought a new pair of Blundstone chisel-toe boots a few days ago, but I'm bound and determined to still wear the leather boots I bought during our Roman holiday.

Now, cleaning out one of our closets, I came across the spiffy hiking boots I bought the summer before last. Not quite as expensive as Blundies, but not cheap either. And, since I was too pregnant and exhausted to hike last summer, they've hardly been worn.

Add those to the list of shoes I'm determined to squeeze into, blisters be damned.

Already attracting the girls

Yesterday, feeling guilty that he'd already watched Baby Einstein's sign language DVD twice while I packed, I popped Jakob into his stroller and headed for the coffee shop. He was due for his nap, and I fantasised that perhaps, just maybe, he'd fall asleep in his stroller and I could enjoy a decaf "Canadiano" and my novel.

What was I thinking? No chance of sleep, to much going on that he just had to watch.

So coffee in hand, I wheeled him to the park and spread out a blanket. Almost immediately, two little girls came over and asked his name and said he was so cute. They wanted to know how old he was and how much he weighed, and kept him entertained by blowing on his pinwheel and touching his hands. He loved the attention!

I wish I'd seen this!

On Sunday, Werner took care of Jakob while I ran some errands. As usual, when he put Jakob in his crib for a nap, Bärchen played for a while before giving in to sleep.

What wasn't so usual is that he must have fallen asleep while playing. When Werner checked on him, he was still sort-of seated, but flopped face first. Too cute, I bet!

A first attempt at finger foods

My aunt mentioned that she offered her kids rice as a finger food. Now that we're back in our own house (and therefore not messing up someone else's home), I thought I'd give it a try.

Jakob seemed to enjoy exploring the rice, but not much made it into his mouth. It was also the first non-organic food he's ever been offered.

We have a new nephew!

Noah was born just over an hour ago. A little heavier and longer than Jakob, he was born just a few days shy of his long-awaited due date.

Congratulations, Johannes and Katja, big sister Hannah and big brother Jonas. We can't wait to see all of you and to meet Noah in a little over a week!

A musical interlude

Even while I was pregnant, I meant to get out my flute. It didn't happen (and I regret that). Now Jakob is nearly 9 months old, and we're about to move away and I'm down to my last chances to play my flute for him.

I finally did this morning. I put him in his crib and (since my music stand got lost in the move from apartment to house) propped the lullaby book up on the change table. I started - as always - with a scale. He was transfixed. I started playing lullabies, and Phoebe joined us in the nursery. Both fascinated with the unexpected sound from the strange silvery tube.

I wish I had done this months ago. I wish I had tried it while pregnant. I wish I had space to take my flute with us.

Good-bye, size 12 months

I'm packing away Jakob's 12 month-sized diaper shirts. They've been on the snug side since around the time we left for the east coast, but I didn't have enough in the next size to get him through from one on-the-road laundry opportunity to the next.

So, now he's restocked, both 18 month and (gasp!) 24 month sizes. When I compared the sizes, the 24 month didn't seem that much bigger, and I decided I'd rather have them a little bulky on him for a start and get more use out of them. Sure, they're only a few dollars each, but we can always find another way to spend those few dollars. Besides we won't have extra capacity for shuttling our belongings to and from Germany.

Sure, blame the mother

From The Globe and Mail's Social Studies page, Tuesday, June 19, 2007:


Ha-ha v. allergies

"Famed for its restorative powers, it now seems that laughter also helps breast milk to fight allergies," reports New Scientist magazine. "Breastfed babies with eczema experienced milder symptoms if their mothers laughed hours before feeding them, according to a study by Hajime Kimata at the Moriguchi-Keijinkai Hospital in Osaka, Japan. He showed breastfeeding mothers either a feature-length Charlie Chaplin movie or bland footage of weather information, and took samples of breast milk at regular intervals afterwards. Two milk feeds later, he also measured their babies' allergic reactions to dust mites and latex. Those infants whose mothers had laughed had markedly reduced reactions.

Food, fast and furious

I've been wondering how I'd ever bring Jakob up to the level of table foods if we continued to hesitate three days between each new food, and the nurse who runs the mom and baby drop-in advised me that I should start introducing even more foods, and at a faster pace. (Of course, she also told me that, with my tendency toward allergies, he should still be avoiding some foods, but these bits of advice seem irreconcilable. Besides, my allergist's office told me not to worry.)

So, with that in mind, he's getting lots more foods. There are only a few foods that I'm still holding off from (corn, strawberries, dairy) for the time being, but other than that, I've let down my guard at least a bit. On Tuesday, he tried egg yolks for the first time (still avoiding egg whites, though, because of allergenicity), Wednesday it was wheat cereal, and on Friday he had canteloupe for the first time.

Taking it down a notch

Now that Jakob is pulling himself up with confidence, it was time to lower the crib base to its lowest setting.

It seems too soon...

I feel so bourgeois

Since Jakob was born, I've longed to have someone in to do a thorough clean of our home. To be honest, I wish we'd done it even before he was born. What with him being in such a rush to be born, I lost the opportunity to go through the 'nesting' phase. Although I did do lots of cooking, I didn't get to the point of cleaning the house from top to bottom. My parents were sweet enough to do that for us while they were visiting, but after that all hope was lost. I lacked both time and energy to do more than the superficial, essential cleaning. It is not how I like to keep my house, and I'm embarrassed by the state of the place.

One of my fantasies has been to have two consecutive days to myself. On the first day, I'd go out. Have a nice lunch, maybe go to a spa (!!), whatever. Just something relaxing and pleasant and a genuine treat. While I'm out enjoying myself, the house would be scrubbed clean. The whole thing: windows, walls, floors, light fixtures, all nooks and crannies. Everything. Then, the second day I'd have the freshly-cleaned house all to myself. With every surface sparkling, I would be able to rest, read, and relax without any hint of hausfrau-ly guilt.

That never happened, of course. That's why it was a fantasy - the land of make-believe.

Now, though, we're struggling to finish all that needs doing before leaving for Germany. We've got to pack what we'll take with us to Europe, pack other stuff to be sent to my parents for the second half of the sabbatical (and that needs to be further sorted into what is to wait for us in Ontario and what will need to be brought over to Germany when they visit us), put everything else in storage, and clean the house. Most of that we have to do by ourselves, but that very last point, we could certainly outsource.

And we did. On Wednesday, two women came here and cleaned for 3.5 hours. They got through most of the list I'd provided, but not quite all. In any case, our house is finally clean.

I only wish we were the ones who would have the opportunity to enjoy it.

Which came first?

In Jakob's case, it was the chicken, but today's new food was egg yolk. He wasn't sure about it, perhaps I'll mix more breast milk in with the mashed yolk next time I serve it to him.

Eeeek!

He's pulling up and cruising!