What We've Been Up To

Things are getting kind of crazy here as we prepare to move back to the U.S. In addition to the practical things that need to get done (like unloading, one way or another, the contents of our apartment!), there's the constant fluctuation between thinking about what we'll miss, and thinking about what we're more than ready to leave. (The weather. We are more than ready to leave this weather. It is simply inexcusable.)

We've had some nice times too, of course, and David just gets funnier and funnier. I'm amazed at how old he all of a sudden seems to be. I can't even put my finger on it, but this week in particular I feel as if he's had a developmental growth spurt. It's really fun, and of course good, but also the tiniest bit sad. There's very little baby left in that boy! (Ever-present pacifier to the contrary.)

I realized that I never write much about his little accomplishments, so here are a few David-brags: he loves counting, and can count (with some prompting) to 20. He can count to 10 with no help, and loves counting objects---which he can do up to about 6 or so. He seems to know his left from his right, which we can only assume comes from Dr. Suess's "The Foot Book." He has demonstrated the ability to go to the bathroom both in the potty AND on the floor.

My favorite: He can tell us when something is too spicy. "Too 'picy! too 'picy!" This doesn't necessarily mean he'll stop eating it, mind you. Often he'll just wait a minutes, and then start chowing down again--with watery eyes. It makes us very proud. :)

That's all I can think of for now! My plan for this blog was to just post pictures, but as we all know I never can manage to do a short post. In any case, here are the pictures of what we've been up to lately.

There are really no words for this one:

Or this one:

David is still sort of obsessed with all things vehicular:

Anja introduced us to a new playground, and it's awesome! It is at a school, and there's a blacktop and a great play area AND the streetcars drive by--which, if you're a toddler boy, is just about as good as it gets.

This big ropey climbing structure actually spins! I think it's pretty cool.

David: "If I stare long enough, maybe she'll come and sit on the other side?"

The difference between a stay-at-home parent and a working parent, I've discovered, is this: a stay at home parent would never take one of the very few things that a child plays with, happily, on his own and turn it into a game that requires a lot of parental work.

But it was still fun to watch them zipping around like this. :)

David throwing rocks, with his beefy arms that we love so much:

And here are those beefy arms again, with what was, I think, supposed to be a camera smile:

And finally, more snuggling with Franz:

Trucks, Tractors, Cars and Ice Cream

That basically sums up David's favorite things in life. About 6 weeks or so ago, David decided that cars (or motorcycles, trucks, tractors, busses, or street-cars) are the best things in the whole wide world.

When he wakes up, he runs to find his toy cars as quickly as possible--as if the night had been far too long to be away from them. Then he putters around, vrooming all over the furniture, lost in his own little world. It's adorable. (It's made my life unbelievably easier, actually, since these are the first toys that David's really shown and sustained interest in, and he happily plays alone for the first time in his little life!)

Even better than toy cars are real cars. He's forever claiming cars that he sees as his own. ("David's car! David's car!") Michael has told him that we're going to have a car in a few months, and he cannot wait. He talks about it all the time, and his first plan is to listen to Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) in the car--like he does in Oma's car. David thinks we should get a Police Car, or at least a car with lights and sirens. He's thought about it, and that's the car he thinks we should buy.

So, here are some photos of David that capture this newfound love of machinery. (Not just automobiles, mind you, but also lawnmowers, jackhammers, construction equipment of all kinds.)

A few weeks ago, there was a wood-market/festival downtown. David couldn't believe his luck.

(David and Michael watching the chainsaw sculptor.)

We also watched this for a while. It chopped wood and shot the wood into the trailer. David thought it was pretty awesome.

David liked this wooden train...

...but the real tractors were his favorite, hands down. He kept trying to climb the fence, saying "David in there! David in there!"

They even set-up David's favorite carousel, which they had for the Christmas Markets.

He LOVES this thing. He cried so hard when he had to get off, it broke my heart. His little face looked absolutely betrayed. (OK, it mostly broke my heart and also made me laugh a little inside...he's a very dramatic little guy, and it's hard not to find that a tiny bit funny.)

We ended the day, as we often do, with ice cream. My (ill conceived) plan was to get one for Michael, and one for David and I to share. David wanted nothing to do with sharing, and he took one of the cones and ran off with it.

So, Michael and I shared and David got to eat his cone.

A few days ago, we took David out to fly his kite. The kite flying was a total flop, but we did find...

more tractors!

Here we have David trying to find a way to get INTO the tractor. He kept asking me for help, and I couldn't help but wonder what on earth he thought he would do if he could just get into that tractor.

One last picture, taken yesterday morning--David's new car. (Best 14 Euros I ever spent on Ebay. :)

This picture was taken in the bathroom, oddly enough, where he was driving Elmo and Baby Lamby around in his PJs. (Yep, he is still wearing those Christmas PJs. Yep, he was driving his dirty car all around the house. It was pouring outside, and freezing cold, and I pretty much let him do whatever he wanted to while we were stuck inside.)

David LOVES this car, and we love watching him drive it all over the place!