Things I discovered

I think, I just have to accept the fact, that I am the mother of a charming, but strong-willed child, or to formulate it in a positive term: a very persistent child. We're still having around one tantrum a day, and if young mister doesn't wanna do something, he just doesn't wanna do it, e.g. walk up some stairs (those couple of stairs took us around 1/2h instead of 1 minute) or if he wants something, he WANTS it, like an apple today. Unfortunately the apple-want coincided with dinner, so we didn't want to give him the apple but rather pasta (which he normally really likes), but no, offspring wanted apple and complained loudly. In consequence he spend the next 20 min in his room screaming his head of while we had our pasta. Then we got him out again to have another go with the pasta, but no way, the only thing offspring wanted was apple, so he ended up in his room again for another 20min or so. Well, after that we got him out again, and he was very cute and cuddly, so he sat on my lap in the kitchen giving and wanting affection when all of a sudden he said one single word again: APPLE!!!! Ben and I just started laughing, it was too comical, and we decided he wasn't strong-willed, but only VERY persistent and single minded. After that one word though, he actually he devoured the pasta (I guess screaming ones head off makes one really hungry), had one or two bites of an apple after that and wasn't interested in that stupid apple no more.

Tantrums make me feel aweful. Sometimes I'm able to stay totally calm and relaxed (like with the apple incident) or I start of calm and relaxed (like with the stairs incident). I just sat down on the stairs and let him rage for a while.... but after some time without getting anywhere and having to get home to make lunch I slowly lost my rather limited amount of patience. And by the time I reached home (and discovered that I'd forgotten my keys inside) I was dissolved in tears. Luckily I had my mobile phone with me and I could call Ben and he knocked off work a bit earlier, but while I sat outside the door, I still had screaming kid in the pram. We'd managed to walk up these particular stairs, I put him in his stroller which he wanted the entire time, but it didn't make him stop screaming, so he was still screaming when I sat outside the house waiting for Ben (actually one neighbour walked down the hill just to check if everything was okay, or if some accident had happened). I was in a rather murderous mood, which made me feel really aweful. I know being enraged myself doesn't help neither me nor Ned, but still, that's what I was feeling. I try to work on staying calm and relaxed, but I guess I'm a bit stubborn myself (oops). Once I look at those happenings once I "cooled" down I can actually have a good laugh and I hope I can learn SOMETHING of it..... I just hope that those tantrums will belong to the past by the time baby arrives.... I don't know if my nerves can handle two screaming little once :o)))

Another thing I've discovered is the importance of backing up pictures and stuff on an external hard drive. I have been rather slack with it, and unfortunately our laptop crashed about a week ago and all pictures of the last two months or so have disappeared into cyber space, bummer!! Ou well, hopefully I will learn here as well :o)))

Another thing we discovered is that Ned is old enough to spend a weekend without us at Hotel Oma and Opa, they were happy, Ned was happy and an angel and WE WERE HAPPY, although we did miss our little trouble maker:o))))

I guess it is time for a new update :o)))

Ned enjoys our new IKEA bookshelf while it was still on the floor

Well, I have been a bit of a slacker lately, I do admit, and although I'm "just" a housewife presently, somehow time just slips away.

3 weeks ago, we have moved back into our old flat from 3 years previously, which has been a tremendous blessing. The flat has 3 room, a spacious kitchen, a little bathroom and a store room in the basement. Ned just LOVES running around, obviously enjoying the space to be able to run around. And although it still looks a bit like a mess and there are still boxes standing around, it slowly starts to look like a home again. (For those of you who knew our flat before: It isn't as colorful anymore, and all the walls are rather boringly white). We also do have a phone now and wireless with is really cool..... compared with the ship our connection is soooooooooooo fast (although it isn't the fastest there is, but I don't complain:o) ), I almost feel like a normal German citizen:o))).

Unfortunately, to be a normal German citizen you also have to do quite a bit of a thing we call "Burokratiekrieg" in German... which means, you have to run from A to B to get yourself registered and stuff like that. I hate it!!!! Unfortunately I not only hate it, but dread it. Seriously, I AM afraid of it, and that fear sometime immobilizes me. It is such a silly fear to have, I know, but for me just to pick up the phone and call one of those offices to get informations or whatever is almost a nightmare. Well, Ben made me do it (bless him), and although I overcame my fear this time, I still hate it:o))), but I'm also "proud" of myself for fighting this silly fear.

Spring has moved on as well. Now everything is sooooooo green and pretty. My friend Heike once said: "Looking at the grass don't you wish you were a cow at times???" and I heartily agree. The grass looks sooo vivid green and fresh, you just want to bit into it (although I'm sure the taste isn't the best). And not only the grass, there are so many pretty flowers around and the blossoms of apple trees and cherry trees... ahhhhh.... I love spring!!!

Ned continues to be a little cuty and charmer. Our landladies living on top of us (they are around 60 and 90) just fell in love with him, although they also can hear the not so nice side of him. Well, one tantrum a day presently. Yay!!! I just LOVE being yelled and screamed at, especially in the supermarket. Somehow you would think that he realizes that it doesn't help him whatsoever, but no, here we go, almost day after day a major meltdown which always end up with him being send to his room until he's okay again. The advantage of it is, that afterwards he is always very cute and loves giving kisses:o)))

Thanks to Emirate airlines and frequent flyer points Ned's also now the proud owner of a "bobby car". I don't know if that's a German thing, but most kids have a bobby car at some point of their toddler-hood. He loves it, especially he loves unscrewing the little nut and bold with holds the steering wheel on the bobby car, no idea how he always manages that. And thanks to Emirates again, we also have a DUPLO zoo which included a Mama giraffe.... which obviously made him VERY happy!!!



His favorite word is still BAGGER (digger) closely followed by MAMA, which can be quite tiring at times, if you get called a thousand times a day. It's also rather cute when he says: "Oh no" or "uppa", when something goes wrong.... I guess i say those words quite a bit:o)))

Spring, spring, spring....

... I just LOVE it!!! I feel like a flower myself and just suck up the beautiful sunshine, which isn't stinking hot but just soooo wonderfully nice. The air smells of new beginnings (if you ignore the tar smell from the freshly re-done road) and new possibilities and every day the buds peak out a tiny bit more, you can literally watch everything grow. And now that we have bikes it is even nicer. Every day I go for a bike ride with Ned and in the evening with both my boys again. I don't feel so pregnant on the bike, and my butt got used to the bike saddle, so it isn't so painful no more:o))) although my legs still feel like jelly and going up a hill I can forget, but still, it is sooooooooooo pleasant to ride along in God's beautiful creation.

And this weekend we'll be moving, AGAIN!!!!! But hopefully it'll be the last time for a couple of months. So once again I have to pack our multiplied STUFF in boxes and bags, to finally unpack them for good... at least for now!!! My memory has never been very good, but now it is even worse (baby eats brain??). I don't have a clue what we actually have and where it might be.... our possessions are spread around in different boxes and different places. I should have written down what I stored in which box and what place, but, like so often before in my life, I'm only smarter afterwards. And I do try to be organized but somehow it always backfires on me (e.g. I forget where I put the lists or I just quickly add something to this box and promise myself to write it down later, which never happens).... ou well, maybe next time I'll do a better job, but to be honest, I don't even want to THINK about packing again:o)))

Well, Ben has finally written our long over-due prayer letter, so it should be send out in the next couple days. If you'd like to get it, just let us know:o)))

Well, I'll go outside now and soak up the sunshine:o))))))))

ou my butt!

Sometimes it amazes me how spontaneous we are. Yesterday morning we didn't even think about it and in the afternoon we were the proud owners of 2 "new" second hand bikes plus kid's seat plus kid's helmet. Off course we took the first opportunity to take them for a little ride. Well, the last time I sat on a bike was in Scotland almost one year ago (for Ben it had been even longer) and I wasn't pregnant back then and just a tiny wee bit fitter:o))). BUT it is great to do something again, although my butt quite hurts after only 1/2h riding. Ned loves it, or should I better say: Ned LOVES(!!!) it???? He loves riding on the back (who wouldn't, you can enjoy the ride without any work) and he LOVES his new bike helmet. In fact he loves it so much, that we aren't allowed to take it off (seems to be a habit of his.... shoes... sunnies.... bike helmet)

He doesn't even take it off for eating:o))

Eating is a other funny little thing with him. Obviously he enjoys eating and he even enjoys eating LOTS of vegetable: corn, pickles, tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum (we are VERY grateful for this!!!). Well, now the funny thing is that he's so extraordinarily random, compared with him I am not random at all (and honestly, I am rather random). Well, every day for lunch I make him a lunch plate with said vegetables and cheese and cold cuts. One day he devours the corn and doesn't care a bit for the capsicum, the next he's hot for pickles, but tomatoes?? eagh!! The following day again he can't get enough of tomatoes but corn....??? What do you want me to do with that?? So every day is kind of a lottery: What will it be today???

P.S. I made those buns myself... they are SOOOO yummy!!!

Talking about funny habits, he has another rather random habit: he loves taking off socks. I know kids love doing that in general, but he just loves taking off OUR socks, so if you're not careful, you might go barefoot:o))))

Well, Ben just managed to take off the bike helmet without offspring complaining, so now we can put him to bed, yay.... night night!

Fridge....

... man, can you believe it???? We got offered a fridge and a freezer for free... without even asking!! YAY!!!!!!! How can you put gratefulness in words??? For me it is IMPOSSIBLE, but my heart is overflowing with it.... to GOD first of all, but also to many kind people around us!!! Thank you!

I love spring!!!!

And flowers... and trying to take nice close ups of them :o)))

We almost survived....

... the 2 weeks without Ben. He's having a marvelous time on his survey trip, although I haven't heard much of him. He called last Saturday, and I had the phone on loudspeaker and Ned watched the phone fascinated but refused to talk with his daddy. Only at the very end, when I told him to say bye bye to daddy, he waved to the phone, kissed it and even said "bye bye"!!!! I guess he was wondering how in the world daddy fitted in this little thing and why he didn't come out:o))).

It has been good, although Ned had quite a few "tantrum" days, but somehow I felt like I had a wee bit more patience, who knows, maybe even I learn how to be a bit more patient. Feeding ducks isn't a problem anymore, now it actually is a "trigger" to get him going for a walk. He likes watching those quack quacks and even shares his biscuit with them... that must be love:o))) He also found a new friend. This time it's a boy and his name's Silas (dad is German and works with teenstreet, mum is El Salvadorian) and he's a bit older than Ned but they like digging in the sand pit together. They don't even mind it if they throw sand at each other... the mums do mind though (DON'T throw!!!). It's nice to have people his hight around again, and this time even a boys. There is also another Silas who is 3 already.... so Ned forgets all about dolls and pink doll strollers and is SOOOOOO much "boy" (he hasn't forgotten Tessa and Sienna though, we looked through some photos and he got really excited when he saw those two:o) )

As a true boy he also learned a very important boy word: Bagger!!!!! Don't worry, I don't teach the kid swear words, but bagger is actually the German word for "digger":o)))) And he truly loves diggers and trucks and stuff.

Isn't it funny that such a small person can be so precise and determined and full of character??? Well, I wrote earlier about his red shoes, which are still very much loved, but now he has another new article he was VERY persistent to have: new sunnies!!! We went shopping the other day and I saw those kids sunnies, and as I had to throw away his old once I thought to try some on him.... well, he wasn't so excited about the yellow one nor the red one, but then I put on a blue and white one and he liked it very much.... when I took them off him, he let the entire shop know that he was VERY displeased with me. I had to put them straight back on, inclusive the big price tag thing and a little booklet which hung of it (I was able to remove these once we were back home). Well, and then yesterday we went for a walk... it was raining, so he was dressed up in his wellingtons, rain jacket and rain pants... AND his sunnies!!!!! He would NOT take them off, even afterwards inside the flat.... now the sunnies are an item to be hidden from his sight while we don't need to use them, or else they might be the reason for one of his wonderful tantrums:o)))))