So Cute!

I love kissing and hugging and cuddling my two adorable babies. They are both the prettiest babies in the world! I know, I'm their Mama. I'm not very good about saying who looks like whom, but I am pretty sure you can tell that they are siblings. I like that. :) Either way, I'm absolutely smitten!

Really? You remember EVERYTHING, Claire!

Each night, as Matt and I put Claire to bed, we do the ritual 'Cover Her with a Million Blankets' routine. She has the "blanket from Jill, the blanket from Grandma's friend, the blanket that Omi made her, the blanket from Amber's Mami (Vicky), the blanket from Grandma Dodge, the other blanket from Jill, the blanket from Molly, and the warm red blanket" (yes that's eight blankets, every night...not quite sure how we let it get that out of hand) and we always tell her who they're from when we cover her up. This girl KNOWS if one is missing. Last week when she was sick with the flu, we had to wash one and she went down for her nap without it. Not that she didn't ask about it, but this time "it's in the wash because you puked on it" sufficed. When Matt was covering her later that night, she reminded him that she was missing a blanket and he came out into the kitchen to confirm with me that, as she explained, yes indeed, one was in the wash. At this point, you might say, "well yes, she remembers all those blankets because they're a part of her routine and she uses them each time she sleeps."

One step farther...she received a purple comforter from Grandma and Grandpa Dodge for Christmas for her "big girl bed" (She's in a toddler bed now, but she wants a twin bed like Sage.) We lay her down last night (and you can see where this is going) and she reminds us that we're missing "die lila Decke" (the purple blanket). I didn't catch on right away, so she told me it's the one from Grandma Dodge. As I was still confused, she was clearly questioning herself and said it's from Grandma Dodge or Grandma Rasmuson (both great grandmas). I go to find a purple blanket and come back with what I thought might be it, which she emphatically tells me is not, and insists that "ich zeig dir" (I'll show you.). She climbs out of bed and toddles her little bum straight to the kitchen, pointing "diese lila Decke" (this purple blanket) right at the purple comforter that hadn't been put away from the Christmas present pile yet. WOW! She remembers everything. Not only had we not talked about this blanket again since opening it, we also didn't have to remind her from whom it was. This, my friends, is just one example of the memory of a two year old! After proving to Mami and Daddy that she was right all along, the grin on her face is always just priceless - she's so proud of herself!

As I type this, Henry is fast asleep in his bouncer and Claire is suppose to be sleeping. Every few minutes though, I hear, "Mami, was heisst das?" (Mami, what's that called?) from her room. She's looking through books and this curious girl wants to know what something is! It's all I can do not to go in there and tell her - I love her curiosity! - but hopefully she remembers when she wakes up what she wanted to know before...I wouldn't be surprised if she does! :)

Disclaimer: If you gifted Claire a blanket and it has not made it into the "blanket ritual" routine, worry not! She'll probably sneak it in there one night and it will never be shunned to the drawer again.

We had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas...

What a busy and fun time of year! I've gotten some flack lately from several of you (the only several who read this blog) about not posting. Well, in my defense, we have been busy, but yes, I could have made time.

On November 12th, we welcomed Henry Matthew into our family! He has already brought so much joy into our lives and we are blessed to be his parents. Just this week he started smiling and cooing. It's so rewarding and adorable! Claire has been a great big sister. She plays independently so well when Mami is nursing Henry or changing his diaper, and likes to help when she wants to. She thinks it's funny when Daddy uses the phrase "Kinder umtauschen" - "trade kids."

Christmas has reminded us how much we have to be thankful for. On Christmas Eve day, we celebrated Jesus' birth at church. Claire thought it was pretty cool to light her own candle and hold it up while everyone sang Silent Night. Then we spent the rest of the day together as a little family of four, complete with a fire and gifts.

Christmas Day was spent at Grandma Dodge's, as tradition insists, with lots of delicious food. Grandma prepares this meal for a week and it is well received! I love going to dinner at Grandma Dodge's because she cooks like a grandma, just like I remember Grandma Diekema cooking. That means lots of butter and cream, but boy is it good! We also had lots to talk about this year because Tom and Amber (Matt's cousins) delivered healthy twin boys, Alexander and Owen, on the 24th! Next Christmas will be so fun with four little great-grandchildren running around and playing with each other!

The 26th was my family's gathering, with more delicious food. Claire, though no longer the only grandchild, loves being the center of attention. She's delightful and full of spunk! Opa did just tell me today that she "knows what she wants" and he couldn't be more spot on.

Well, there's your post (cough, cough...Mark)...I'll try to be better about posting more often and coming up with something good - there are plenty of happenings to make for great stories to record and remember! :)

Druecke die Daumen!/Cross Your Fingers!

Let's Make a Snowball! Schneeball, Schneeball, Schneeball Schlacht!

Mama, look! Our pumpkins! They need to be cleaned off!

Checking Out her Footprints!

And last but not least, the importance of snow tasting. :)

FINALLY!!! It's here! Yahoo!

Claire was so excited this morning because she has been waiting for this day for months. She's been crossing her fingers and "pressing her thumbs" that it would come...and I'm not exaggerating. Anytime we said something casually about crossing our fingers for another reason, she would press her thumbs with such vigor. We'd ask her what she was pressing her thumbs for and she'd always say "dass der Schnee kommt!" (that the snow comes). All because she's been dying to wear her new *used* snow boots that I got a great deal on a couple months back. We brought them home from the store and told her she would have to wait 'til the snow comes to use them. This morning it finally came...the snow! With the anticipation and excitement, there was no time to spare. We ate breakfast and were outside by 8:30. It really was the perfect day to play because it was in the upper 30s and not too cold at all!

To be honest, when I saw the forecast for snow last night, I hoped that I wouldn't go into labor overnight. Then I'd have to be stuck in the hospital and miss the fun first snowfall of the year with Claire! It's so heart warming to see her excitement for life and for the little things...we could all learn a thing or two from kids!

EDD

"Als ich einmal ein Baby war, hab' ich die getragen." = When I was once a baby , I wore these.

(So I don't remember if this is exactly what she said...it was a couple months ago...

but she DID keep talking about herself being a baby. Really, neither of us could remember her being SO small and wearing newborn clothes.)

Claire takes over the baby's basinett! She asked for a pillow, a blanket, and her bunny...

now it's all comfy cozy and ready for her...errr...baby...to sleep in.

Yep, they call it estimated due date for a reason. I think it's 5% of babies are actually born on their due date. Well, November 7th came and is almost gone and we don't have a new baby! As any expecting mama (or daddy or grandparent or aunt or uncle) knows, it's just killer playing the waiting game! Claire was three days 'late,' or past her due date...looking back three days seems like no big deal, but when you're waiting it seems like an eternity.

Well, rest assured, we want this baby to know we are ready for him/her anytime now! Claire has been ready for months (or as ready as a two year old can be), ever since we started gradually getting baby gear out. We took out all the tubs (okay actually just a couple, unlike some people we know with nine already...j/k and you know who you are) of clothes and sorted out the gender neutral from the girly ruffles and leggings. We moved Claire's things around in her room so that the baby has a drawer of his/her own (I'm sure that will last not a few weeks...it all fits perfectly now, but wait until we get a few more outfits!) for clothes and even a whole drawer of "baby toys." We got out the bouncy seat and Claire has been making sure her babies get use out of it before the real one comes. A couple days ago, I got all the newborn prefold diapers washed and prepped and even attached the cosleeper basinett to the side of our bed (Matt has yet to trade me sides, even though I'm squeezing between the bed and wall several times a night now. That's okay, he'll be plenty flexible once baby is here.) We have talked a lot about this new one with Claire...how the baby will sleep a lot and cry. And when he/she cries, we will have to cuddle and comfort him/her or give him/her milk or change his/her diaper. (Can't wait 'til we can definitively say him or her...or better yet call this baby a name, which we're still working on. Have you ever gotten to name a child with someone who has a different idea of the perfect name?) As of yesterday when asked if she wants a brother or sister, Claire wants "ein Bruder so wie Norah" (a brother like Norah). We'll let you know if that works out! Okay, this is me signing off...hopefully next time I blog we'll have a new one to introduce! :)

My Prayer Today

Lord, I'm in awe. You've given me a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter. Her personality makes us smile all the time. You are growing a perfect new life inside of me until he/she is ready to meet the world. Thank you for Matt, for Claire, for little baby boy or girl. Thank you for this weekend together, for our family of three. Thank you for giving me such a heart of gratitude right now...I pray it stays. Thank you for the time we spend together just having fun. Thank you for worship tonight and how it touched my heart. Thank you for allowing me to take the step of faith to stay home and for such a supportive husband. Thank you for the financial situation that allows me to do so. Help us to have faith and to give much. Thank you for this life. Help me to be a blessing to You by blessing others. Help me to bring glory to You in the way that I live. Through all my shortcomings, may You still shine through. Amen.

Tanz Party

In the middle of a twist!

(Actually at a Tanz Party a couple of weeks ago, but always the same dress.)

Taking a bow!

Claire really likes to dance! Our first Tanz Party was the last time that Tante visited...she has smooth moves, amazing props (think socks swinging in the air), and most importantly, loves to dance. We've been having them ever since. Last night we continued the Tanz Party tradition by putting on Claire's "Tanzkleid" (dancing dress, which is actually just a really cute dress she got from Norah), a must for any good dance party. Matt tuned into Slacker Radio on the TV and we were set. The channel, you ask? Electronic Dance Hits, it's called...try it out at your next Tanz Party! That and the moves are all you need to host!

That brings me to the moves...it was so cute! Matt had some pretty wild ones that he'd probably never admit to and never break out at the club. Claire did a great job imitating them...lol. I was watching from the couch at T -3 days from 40 weeks pregnant for the first few songs, but then Claire convinced me that I should join in. After that, no one could get me to stop...especially Matt, who was worried it would throw me into labor (and ruin his big plans for today!).

Anyway, we ended the night of fun on an energetic high...and none of us slept too soundly! Oh well - this Tanz Party was worth it! :)

Our Little Ladybug

First Time Carving Pumpkins - An Unusually Warm Late October Day!

Jeff as Woody and Cory as Buzz Lightyear (neighbor boy friends) and

Claire as the Cutest Ladybug Around!

Beggar's Night festivities were so fun! Matt prepared heavily for the evening, and by heavy I mean he bought 90 oz. of candy...a little overboard, lol. Claire and I prepared for the evening by carving pumpkins a few days beforehand. It was in the 70s and we took advantage of the weather by carving outside. (Matt was detailing the Malibu to sell it.) We cut out the lid and dug in to the gooeyness of pumpkin innards. We had fun discovering what's in the pumpkin and collecting the seeds. I saved the seeds to roast, but Matt asked me while cleaning up that night "Are you really going to bake these?" Usually I'd insist that I would, and with the best intentions, but after laughing hysterically at a recent episode of Modern Family (myself being Cam in the kitchen making a mess and Matt being Mitchell usually cleaning up said mess), I decided I knew myself a little better and said he could go ahead and get rid of them. (Funny how I've been more aware since then and you can ask Matt to confirm, but in my opinion have done a BETTER...not perfect...job of cleaning up after cooking!)

On Halloween Eve, Claire had the option of being a ladybug or a giraffe. After much deliberation (she's indecisive...I'm pretty sure it's usually a stall technique), she choose to go with the ladybug 'heute' (today) and the giraffe 'morgen' (tomorrow) at Lisa's daycare Halloween dress-up day. (Actually she ended up not being a giraffe at all because she refused to put her costume on at Lisa's.) Matt took Claire out first while I finished dinner. She barely whispered "Trick or Treat" at Joe and Jen's house and she knows them well! The other houses she wouldn't even say it...not sure why she was being so shy. Then they came home and though supper was ready, Matt encouraged me to take her out saying that I'd have more fun with it than him. She and I were out for probably close to an hour, and we didn't even make it to all the houses around the block! Claire made out like a bandit with the candy. We ended up coming home early because A. Mami was tired of carrying my 20 lb. sack of sugar; B. Dinner had been ready for a long time; and C. Claire's bucket was full! (She's still working on finishing it, a little bit each day...with some help!)

FYI: She now refers to her candy as "Sussigkeiten" (sweets) half of the time and as "Trick or Treat" the other half of the time. :)

Geh BITTE weg!

As I sit here having my daily down time (have to enjoy it these last couple of weeks!) on the computer, Claire is still talking herself to sleep.

"Geh BITTE weg!" she just said, emphasizing the BITTE! (Go away PLEASE!) Well, I don't know whom she is telling to go away, but I'm happy that at least she's using her manners to tell them to leave. She's even got the kind tone down! ;)

It's the simple things in life...and life is such a blessing! (It's always a blessing, but I'm thankful that God has helped me to realize this even more lately.) I'm so ready to meet our new little one, but am still enjoying this time we have as a family of three. The weather is beautiful today, so I think we'll enjoy another walk as a family when Claire wakes up and Matt gets home.

Claire the Crafter

"Man, we worked long and hard on this!"

"We've still got a few scraps left, but let me try to lay this out so that you can see what we've accomplished so far."

The Feeling of Satisfaction & Accomplishment = Happy Girl! :)

"There we go! Mama helped me lay it out for the picture...just right! Hopefully those pillows she's going to make next turn out just as good as this! I'd better help her with those too."

I've been seriously nesting these past couple of days! Luckily it's just what our house needs - we're stuck as savers (not pack rats quite, but savers nonetheless). I wish it weren't so...I want to get rid of the 'stuff' but somehow have a sentimental attachment to it. But really, who needs to keep their dead cat's fleece blanket when he's been gone for over two years? (Loved Milo...never loved the blanket.)

Anyway, part of this 'nesting' is also redecorating. How you ask? We'll, I'm getting rid of the old decor! Most of it anyway. ;) I made a $30 trip to the second-hand store (seems like a lot to spend at a second-hand store, but I got a lot of decor, including a really retro lamp!) a couple weeks ago and a $7 trip to the fabric store the other day. So out comes the sewing machine! I'm no expert, in fact I have to read the direction booklet everytime I sew (twice a year?) because I always forget something basic, like winding lower spool with thread...I think that puts me at 'novice.' However, I HAVE a sewing machine and that's a start to learning. Someday I'll learn a bit more about all it can do! Yesterday I told Claire that we were going to 'naehen' (sew) and she was very much looking forward to it, even though she really had no clue what that meant. She asked all morning and I kept telling her that we had to do a few other things first, like make room on the table for the sewing machine...lol. Finally after lunch we busted out the Singer! She collected all the old fabric scraps I had kept (again, why did I keep those?) and I figured a little practice with the machine on my part couldn't hurt. She handed me the scraps to sew together and told me where to put them. Her biggest job, however, was lowering and raising the 'foot' (if I remember correctly...right Mom? Mom was a guru seamstress back in the day - think '70s when fabric was cheap - she made all her own clothes even!) with each new scrap. So, as you can see above, here's Claire with her project.

First thing this morning, Claire wanted to sew. She insisted that we needed to do this before breakfast! Unfortunately we had 'problems' right away and I still need to look in the manual on how to fix the spool. I'm sure it's really no big deal, but this bought us some time for a break from sewing to do more important things...like eat breakfast. Check back, maybe I'll eventually get to 'my project' - I'm just hoping (and realllllly crossing my fingers) for good results! :)

Thankful Christian and/or Expert Staller?

I just had to post this because I think it's too funny not to! I could not contain my laughter tonight at some of the things Claire prayed for. We've prayed with her before bed for a long time now, surely before she understood at ALL what we were doing. We want to raise her in a home where we demonstrate through example a commitment to Christ. (We are still working on this ourselves too!)

As of lately, we've prayed with Claire like usual, thanking God for the special friends and family whom we love, thanking Him for daily activities, and asking Him to be with us and keep us and those around us healthy. Then, Matt or I start the sentence "God, thank you for..." and let her finish it. The last few days it's gotten to be quite the list! She says whomever comes to mind, and then she starts looking around the room for what else to be thankful for, like...Tasche (bag), Kreide (crayons), Fische (fish - in a picture on her wall), etc. (Update: She was really thinking on these...Klo (toilet), andere Klo (other toilet), Daddy's Klo, Dusche (shower), Mami heute geduscht (Mami showered today)!) That's all that comes to mind right now, and it's not nearly as funny when I write it out on here, but believe me, in the middle of it, it's too cute and with such a lovable, thankful to God girl, I just have to have a sense of humor about the fact that she's prolonging the bedtime routine! :)

OKOBOJI 2011

We had a great family and friend vacation last weekend in Okoboji. It was our 4th annual trip (though we've only made it three years now because Claire was about to join us in 2009 and we didn't want to travel)! As we enjoyed reminiscing during a photo slide show Saturday night, we all agreed that we must be getting older - it isn't nearly as crazy anymore as it was the first couple of years. In fact, everyone was in bed by 12:00 both nights I believe. Highlights of the weekend included lots of boating, even more food (and at random times), skiing for Matt and the others, swimming for Claire and Annabelle, and showing up Brian in our diving contest for me!

Claire and I also discovered the public sidewalk that runs along the lake. Although we had lots of fun the whole weekend, it's that simple memory that I think was the best for me. We headed down the path while Daddy, Jeff, and John were skiing on Sunday morning before breakfast. Right away, we spotted lots of sailboats and one sailboat that was away from the rest of them. This started a great conversation about a book we often read, Riese Rick macht sich schick. In it, a goat (one of Claire's favorite animals) is sad because the storm blew away his sail. So, Rick the Giant, who had just gotten stylish new clothes, literally takes the shirt off his back to give it to the goat. The goat uses it as a new sail for his sailboat and everything is better. Rick saves the day! We love this book and Claire especially enjoys noticing the feelings of the animals (sad to happy after Rick helps). Later on our walk, we took note of the 'little buildings' that were by the lake near all of the docks. After a while, I asked Claire what she thought was in the little buildings. She told me "Stroh," which I didn't understand at first. After a few guesses on my part of me repeating her, but saying similar words and her saying "nein" and getting that look on her face like "Mami, you just aren't understanding what I'm saying," she told me "Ziegen fressen Stroh." (Goats eat straw.) (Anybody who knows better can correct me, but that's what it looks like they're eating at the zoo and that's always been what we've said.) This sentence helped clarify that she thought that there was straw in the little buildings by the lake. Oh, how I love her logic! :)

Thank you to Claire's adoptive Okoboji grandma Deb and grandpa John for hosting us again!

(Pictures later!...Jen, can you email those during ALL that free time please?) :) :)

A BIRTHDAY in the Life of a Two Year Old!

With Claire's second birthday on Monday, August 1st, I thought I'd have a little fun as a photojournalist. I wanted this day to be special for her especially because it's probably the first birthday she realized it was HER birthday! We'd been asking her for two weeks "Who has a birthday in two weeks...one week...three days...etc.?" and I'd also been singing "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag" to her many times in conjunction with this question. I'd pause at the "liebe" and let her say her own name, which she thoroughly enjoyed! A song with your own name...how fun is that?!? So, without further ado, here's a glimpse into a two year old's birthDAY!

First Request: What better way start to the day than "Loeffel Erdbutter!"

(Loeffel Erdnussbutter = Spoon (of) Peanut Butter)

Second Request: A walk and playing at the park! We even explored a new kind of pine cone (long and skinny) on our walk, and Claire spotted right away the tall prairie grass with the fuzzy tops, to which she requested "haben" (have). Now we're "arbeiten" (working) with the flowers - watering them and picking off the dead ones. She is actually pretty good at deciphering the dead flowers from the new blooms. Here, Claire is examining how HER flower is doing!

Trying out our new finger paints from Tante! She really liked this (and even requested to paint the next day as well).

We invited Sage over for finger painting, and after that and a bath to clean up, we turned on some music. The girls really liked "1,2,3 im Sauseschritt" (song) and grabbed each others hands without prompting to start dancing together! It was so cute. Then, when Sage wanted a turn dancing with Amber (you're welcome, Amber, for not posting the 'embarrassing' pictures) Claire stood there with her hands out insisting that she have her dance partner back.

(I realized for the sake of anonymity, I should take the picture with the license plate number off the blog. Let me tell you - it was a cute one with Daddy and Claire scrubbing the car!)

When Daddy got home, we put on a suit and washed all three cars (our two and her car) together! Now THAT made for a fun in the sun evening! To top it off, Claire invited the neighbor boys, Jeff and Cory, over to draw with sidewalk chalk.

If that's not a FUN birthday, I don't know what is! :)

If anyone knows how to upload more than five photos to blogger, let me know. I had a lot more, but had to pick and choose because of this darn website! Thanks!

Daddy Time = Fun Time

Turns out I don't have a picture of the lego creativity going on - just the exhaustion from all that brain power being put to good use! :)

Matt's had a big task this summer - painting our house. Now normally this wouldn't be such a big deal...hire some college students and they'd have it done in a few days, right? Right! BUT, when you are painting an entire house yourself, and only on your free evenings and weekends, it turns into a pretty lengthy ordeal. Don't get me wrong, he's worked really hard on it and in the most sweltering conditions many days (Remember those heat advisories? Those don't stop him!). All his hard work has paid off because with a new coat (or one base coat and two top coats) of paint and a new roof (thank you for hail damage!) the house looks pretty spiffy!

Now, getting to the title of the blog. Since Matt has been basically done with the house the last couple of weeks, Claire has had more Daddy time! I hadn't realized how much he'd been outside working until we got him back with us. It really makes me thankful for the evenings he is at home spending time as a family, especially because I know not every family is fortunate in this way.

Claire is excited whenever Daddy gets home! I always ask her "Claire, do you know who's almost home?" and of course she knows and anticipates his arrival. Since painting has been done, Claire and Matt have had LOTS of fun playing together again in the evenings. Her favorite Daddy activity, I think, (well, his favorite too!) is building with Legos. Matt LOVED building anything growing up and still does enjoy building on a larger (or smaller H.O. scale) now. Legos are a pastime for him and now that he can share that with Claire it's very special to see. :) It's ridiculous how much more creative he is in building with Legos (giant toddler Legos) than I am. I can build a house whereas he's got a fancy house, car, garage, and landscaping. He's got a knack for it! Long story short, we love having Daddy around again! :)

(Pictures of house and Lego building to come!)

4 Word Sentences!! :)

"Vogel...poopoo...unser Auto. (Bird...poopoo...our car.)" Yes, I had pointed out earlier that a bird went poopoo on our car! I'd showed her a while ago, so I know she was creating this sentence herself instead of just repeating what I'd said.

And that's just the example I was thinking of when I decided to add it to the blog for record-keeping. Claire has been creating these long sentences a lot lately! She also creates plenty of long sentences and stories that we don't understand. I'm sure she's saying something, but I can't ALWAYS understand. Nonetheless, it's so fun to watch and help her develop. :)

Raindrops?

Funny story...I was carrying Claire after bathing her and thought I felt water on my foot (she was dried off at this point). I asked her "Claire, hast du Pipi gemacht? (Claire, did you go pee pee?)" to which she replied "no." "Hmmm...ich hab' gedacht, dass ich was auf meinen Fuss gefuehlt habe (Hmmm, I thought I felt something on my foot.)." She then told me "Regentropfen (raindrops)" and just when I was about to explain that we were inside and that only could have happened outside, she said "draussen (outside)." Guess I didn't need to explain after all! I thought it was great how she was making this connection and maybe even making a joke. :)

(Inquiring minds want to know, I guess...no, she hadn't pee'd.)

Claire's Updates

Here are some fun and things happening with our girl! :) Tomorrow marks 23 months old and pretty soon we'll start talking years instead of months. Does that really signal the end of babyhood?

FYI...this may only be interesting for die-hard Claire fans! ;) Read on if you will!

• Claire has started giving the BEST hugs and you can't ask for this kind! She wraps her arms around my neck like she's never going to let go. I know these won't last forever...I close my eyes with each one and cherish the moment!
• Don't say anything around Claire that you don't want a toddler to say! She is repeating everything these days. They're usually three or four word phrases or parts of our sentences. The most current one I can think of was with Opa... "geht wieder weg (going away again)" in reference to the cat, Mopar, going away again. I think she's a cat lover, though she likes dogs too.
• Some of her favorite phrases to use on her own are "I do dat (I do that)" or "I find it."
• Just this week, she started taking stairs (a couple) very slowly without holding on to anything. She will decline my hand and carefully do it herself. This feels like 'big news' to me!
• She loves to play independently with Legos now! She has been doing this for at least a month, but she'll very carefully choose her blocks that are all alike (tall and slender) and puts them together into a tower. She can do this for about ten minutes, I'd guess, before she needs 'backup' to help.
• Our morning routine goes like this. "Mama!" and then several more times of calling me if I don't answer or come into her room right away. We then take the diaper off because "Grosse Maedels brauchen keine Windel. (Big girls don't need a diaper!)" and cuddle on the couch with a basket of books. She very much likes to choose which books we read and we read for quite a while to wake up slowly (she's much more like Mami in this sense...likes to cuddle and wake up slowly for the day, unlike Daddy who is a burst of energy right off the bat!). After books and cuddle time, it's breakfast.
• This week we've also started talking about her dreams first thing in the morning. Now, I'm not sure she really remembers her dreams at this point. Usually I start her off by asking "Hast du suesse Traueme gehabt? (Did you have sweet dreams?)" and she'll tell me "ya." I will ask her "Was hast du gemacht? or Was ist passiert? (What did you do? or What happened?)" and she'll give me a word. She gives me words here and there an I piece it together and ask lots of questions (like I said...don't know if she remembers anything but it's fun conversation and fun to imagine!). The most "vivid" dream from this week is this... Claire climbed a tree. A cat was also in the tree. There was a goat eating straw. There were some more details that I forgot, but we talked about this dream a long time! So fun!
• We are potty training! I'd say she makes it about half the time. She is getting much better at telling us when she has to go, but sometimes we still don't make it to the potty. I have an "all or nothing" philosophy on this which is sometimes a pain. It means that we don't put her in a diaper unless she's napping or sleeping...no diaper for playing outside, walks, to the zoo, or runs to Target or Trader Joe's or TJ Maxx (all stores she likes to say...lol). We bring plenty of extra shorts and wipes along for accidents. We've tried several different things...we started having her sit on the potty often and for long periods of time, but go figure, that got boring. We have used "incentives" (not bribery, people!) like getting a pea or a grape or a cracker or something (healthy and tasty) for sitting on the potty and trying or succeeding. Now we are on to asking her frequently "Musst du Pipi oder Poopoo machen? (Do you have to go peepee or poopoo?)." She tells us no most of the time, but sometimes yes! She also thinks she's funny and will tell us "no...ya...no...ya...no!" I have to admit it's cute!
• She makes me laugh! It brings a smile to my face knowing she is doing something clever or 'making a joke' or whatever. This evening we were outside playing. She requested a "wasserfall (waterfall)" because we learned what they were yesterday at the zoo. So we filled a bucket and made waterfalls, then she decided she wanted to water the flowers. (Hopefully they're not waterlogged...the soil was definitely still wet from last time! Maybe she has her mom's ability to kill the easiest of plants, but let's hope she has Omi and Opa's green thumb!) We refilled the bucket a couple of times and then she told me we needed more water again. It wasn't empty, so I told her "Wir muessen den Eimer nicht auffuellen. Es gibt noch Wasser in dem Eimer. (We don't have to fill up the bucket. There's still water in the bucket.)" at which point she dumped the water out, showed me, and told me "mehr (more)." Smarty pants!
• I mentioned she likes to read books by herself now. We still read a ton together, but sometimes she gives me a book to read and then takes her own book (that's a polite way of showing me her preference!). I was getting ready in the bathroom the other day and she was in her room, sitting in her new hippo chair from "Grandpa" as she puts it (it's from Grandma too, Claire!), reading books from a basket. She said "krabbeln (to crawl)" and I figured out she wanted her book with the crawling baby. When I was back in the bathroom I heard her 'read' the book "krabbeln...sitzen...weinen...tragen...tanzen (to crawl/sit/cry/carry/dance)." Then it was the cutest thing, she started asking questions like I ask her "tanzen?...no...tanzen?...no...tanzen?...no...TANZEN! (dancing?...no....dancing?...no...dancing?....no....DANCING!)" and I could just picture her in her chair going through each picture until she found the dancing baby! Now THAT was cool! :)

That's all I have time for tonight...I will edit by adding as needed! I had more updates, but they've slipped my mind anyway! :)

Amoosh What?

"Yay! We're here...I am ready to EAT!"

"What? No bread? I'm STARVING!"

"Stoked my food is here! And they're FRENCH french fries...delicious!"

Gnocchi with hazelnut oil, champignons, etc.

"It's our anniversary and we brought the camera. Would you mind taking a picture?"

Yesterday, Matt and I celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary. We both feel like it's been a loooong time that we've been married, okay just kidding...it's gone by so fast! Mark and Brenda came down to babysit, which was awesome for Claire and for us! Matt and I were gone from 4 to 10...that's a long date and we don't usually even go on short dates! Let me detail it a little more...

The evening (okay late afternoon) started out with an "are you serious?" when I asked Matt to grab the camera. We have a big DSLR which is a little annoying to haul around, but captures Claire instantly unlike a smaller camera. We've been pondering also getting a pocket size camera to take out on occasions like this, but for last night, it was the big honker.

First, we to the movie Super 8. Matt loves going to movies. I don't. It's not that I don't like seeing movies, I would just rather rent them because I'm stingy and would rather spend $8 on a really good lunch from my favorite cafe, La Mie. But, I went to the movie with Matt out of LOVE. (Cheesy, I know! And hey, it was a good movie that I'd recommend...and, they wouldn't have taken my theatre gift certificate at La Mie anyway.)

Next, we were suppose to go out to eat. We tried to make reservations for about 45 minutes after the movie ended, but alas, they were already booked. Who are these people that call and make a reservation so early? I mean c'mon, we made them on our way to the movie theatre...that should have been early enough!

So, since we had to wait another two hours, whiny Matt showed up. But, he went to the Arts Festival with me out of LOVE. And, after a few minutes even had a great attitude about it! We walked around and admired art that we can't afford, he got a beer, I got a sugary refreshing lemonade, and we had a great time. We both agreed that this kink in our plans...i.e., the Arts Festival, was much enjoyed!

So back to next, we are heading out to eat at a fancy pants newish restaurant in town! It's a place we'd not normally go, but we had a "Merry Christmas!" gift certificate from Aunt Chris. She does a great job getting us gifts that we would never splurge on for ourselves! We ordered what we thought looked good off the menu, though we didn't completely understand it. Cranky Matt was back now, because this guy gets that way when he's hungry and has nothing to eat. My friend Theresa is the same way. :) Her husband and I have been known to tease them both about it...just a little. All Matt wanted was a basket of bread, but I guess they don't serve that in fancy French restaurants.

Much to our relief, food showed up! It was our "amoo(insert jibberish here)"...our amoo what?, we thought. "Salmon tartar" (with some sort of white creamy condiment that I didn't catch again), announced our waiter proudly. It looked raw. I asked the waiter. "It's salmon TARTAR" he repeated, this time more clearly. (Translation: Didn't you hear me the first time?) We understood at this point that tartar must mean raw. I went to the hostess, who had menus to look at, and, thinking she was a little less intimidating (20ish year old girl), showed her what I ordered, and asked her to double check to be sure that this was not my appetizer. Pregnant women cannot eat raw seafood, I explained. It was not my appetizer...whew!

For those of you who are as confused as were were with the "amoosh boosh", here's what Wikipedia has to say.

An amuse-bouche [amyzbuʃ] or amuse-gueule [amyzɡœl] is a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre.^[1] Amuse-bouche are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons, but, when served, are done so according to the chef's selection alone. These, often accompanied by a complementing wine, are served as an excitement of taste buds both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

The term is French, literally translated to "mouth amuser". The plural form is amuse-bouche or amuse-bouches.

There's a little glimpse into our evening celebrating five years! Our meal finished off wonderfully...the server even brought me delicious carrot-ginger soup once he heard from the hostess that I couldn't eat the original amuse-bouche. For the main course, I had the gnocchi and Matt had a steak with fries. We finished it off with a dessert amuse-bouche (probably actually has a different name) and rich molten chocolate cake and ice cream with caramel. It was fun being out of our comfort zone and treating ourselves to an extra special date! We had great food and fabulous converstion. Happy five years to us! Thank you to all those who made this marriage and this evening possible. :)

Steel Trap Mind

If Claire's anything like her Omi and Grandma Diekema, she'll have a steel trap mind. My mom can remember birthdays and dates like it's none of her business! Lately, Claire has really been showing us how much she remembers of what's happening around her.

Yesterday, we were reading a book that had "der Schwimmreifen" (literally, swim tire, but imagine an inflatable swim ring) in it, which she told me reminded her of Onkel Alex. Several weeks ago, we took Onkel Alex's Fahrradreifen (bike tires) back home for him after Matt had repaired them. It took me a minute to figure out why she was thinking of Onkel Alex, but man, once I did, I thought she had a great memory!

Today, we're reading the same book and we saw "das Klebeband" (tape). I reminded her of rolling the tape down the driveway into the street and then crossing the street to get the tape and do it again. Then I asked Claire with whom she played this game. She told me "Tante" and was exactly right! They played this fun (and don't worry, it's safe, they looked both ways each time before crossing on our very quiet street - "Schau mal Rechts. Kommt da jemand? Nein. Schau mal Links. Kommt da jemand? Nein. Jetzt duerfen wir ueberqueren.") game a couple weeks ago when Tante visited us!

Here's what I found most impressive. She was sitting on the potty today and we were reading books while we were waiting for...something...to...happen. I would say the beginning of the two sentence or two part rhyme and leave the last rhyming word off to see if she could get it. She did so well!

"Draussen ist es kalt und grau. Drinnen gibt es gleich ______ ."

She said kao (Kakao=hot cocoa)!

"Wenn Emma laut zum Essen ruft, gibt es Rappelpamp mit ______."

She said Luf (Luft=air)!

"Wer sitzt lange auf dem Klo? Emma mit dem nackten ____."

She said Po (Po=bum)!

"Alle sitzen in der Runde quietschvergnuegt zur Abend______."

She said stunde (Abendstunde=evening hours, literally)!

"Emma will nach draussen gehen, denn da ist so viel zu ____."

Here she said guck, but it's suppose to be sehen. Both mean to look/see, but I'm thinking she didn't really know this well enough to interchange them here.

Now, I'm the mom and I'm suppose to be enamored with my daughter, and obviously we've read this book a lot. But, isn't that cool?!?

*Disclaimer: Sorry for all you English-only speakers! Many of my posts have to do with what Claire is saying in German, because that's what I hear from her, and that's what I'm most proud of because she's obviously growing up with virtually everyone else speaking English to her and I'm putting forth a lot of effort to pass on to her a language and culture that I love. It makes all my insecurities about my lack of certain language abilities, and raising her non-native bilingually, seem less when I see her doing so well and developing in German just like she is in English! Believe it or not, as confident as I seem in this language journey, it's actually just confidence that I have the DRIVE to do it and move forward. It's definitely not that I think I'm so great in German! On a lighter note, the rhymes really don't translate well in this book...well, rhymes and jokes don't really translate at all. You'll have to petition Matt for his SECOND post of the life of this blog if you want to hear about her English development. ;) Or, maybe, just maybe, I'll have to brag about her English someday too! :)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy for my girl!

Claire and I were driving earlier this week and were having a conversation about Daddy, considering we hadn't seen him in a few days and were missing him. Not even thinking Father's Day was coming up, I was telling her how great of a Daddy she has because he's so fun, such a hard worker, and almost always in a good mood. She agreed with me by replying "mein Daddy," (my Daddy) which I think is so sweet because with that one little word before his name, she's claiming him as her own! :) He really is the best and believe me, he's all hers!

As Promised...

"I've got this."

"Claire, we've got to use two hands. Take it back nice and easy now."

"Keep your eye on the ball and connect."

"And follow through. Look at that shot!"

Onkel Alex got Claire a set of golf clubs for Christmas. She likes to hit the ball around on her own, but he came down in January for her first set of lessons. Alex isn't a pro, but he's pretty good. He will be able to teach her a lot for a while, then she'll start whipping his butt on the course! Watch out Alex! ;)

Prayer

About two weeks ago, we had finished praying before bed and Claire just kept on going. She must have said all the names that she could think of. In fact, it went something like this (on February 22nd - I recorded it).

Ooke (Luke)

Omi

Opa

Omi

Opa

ach (Zach)

Ellie

Omi

Opa

Dada

Flugzeug (As we heard an airplane fly overhead.)

Flugzeug

Flugzeug

Here are some others, not listed above, that she talks about without prompting.

Mama

Claire

Grandma

Grandpa

Matt

Sage

Ross (though other men sometimes get called Ross...for example, Mark, across the street, was Ross yesterday)

Brian (same story)

Amber ("Anner")

Anna

Theresa ("Teesa")

Norah ("Noah")

Cory (neighbor boy)

She can also name lots of other people with reminders and all the kids at daycare. In fact, Lisa said that one day last month she was going around and saying "Hi xxx" accurately to everyone there! Amazing girl! :)

For the Record...

Claire is such a talker! The past week or so, she answers many of our questions with "ja" or as Matt says, "yea." We'll also get a "nein" here and there. For example, yesterday when I asked her if we should give her pancake to Speedy, the neighbor dog, because he clearly wanted to eat it. :)

Here is the list of newer words (within the last month or two) that I can think of right now of what she says on her own without prompting. Many are nouns, but she's also got a few verbs in there and even an adjective or two! These are in no particular order, but I'm just recording them as they come to me. Also, most of the words I'm recording are in German, but I'm sure she has an English arsonry as well. However, I think she already knows that she uses German with me, so that's usually what I hear unless she doesn't have a German equivalent. (Language researchers, feel free to disagree with me on this one. These are just my observations.) Disclaimer: This is probably not as interesting for you unless you're madly in love with Claire like us (Omi, Grandma, Opa, Grandpa?) but I want to do this for our own records, especially because I love language development!

Tuer (door)

auf (up)

aus (off)

besser (better)

Duerst (thirst)

Wasser (water)

Milch (milk)

Hunger (Let me guess, you can get this one? 35% of words are cognates in German & English...it may sound a little different, but it's very close!)

Essen (eat)

schreien (scream - Claire likes to scream!)

gehen (go)
Bauch (stomach)
Arme (Got it?)
Nase (nose)
Feet (Yes, that's already English.)

Beine (legs)
Mund (mouth - Don't confuse this with moon!)
Augen (eyes)
Ohren (ears)

purse/Tasche

Pancake

schaukeln (swing/rock - We saw the pendulum of a clock the other day and she noticed it was schaukeling! Good job Schneckele...you're generalizing! :))

dirty

Haende (hands)

waschen (wash)

Bus

Auto

Ball

Buch (book)

Vogel/bird

draussen (outside)

aus (out)

rein (in)

Haus/house

Decke (blanket)

Nudeln (noodles)

kochen (cook)

Gabel (fork)

Loeffel (spoon)

Messer (knife)

Amen

Staubsauger (vacuum cleaner)

Mond (moon)

Sterne (stars)

suchen (to look for something)

finden (find)

steigen (climb)

Ni-Night

yellow (for any color!)

window

Maus (mouse)

Baum (tree)

"Bit du?" (Bist du? - (Where) are you?)

Buddy (Opas Hund - dog)

Now, if you got through that list and you're still reading, congratulations! I know I don't have all of them, but this paints a good picture at least.

And for reading so long, you now get a cute story. Lately Claire talks a lot about "Mond, Opa, Vogel" (seeing the moon with Opa and seeing a bird and if prompted, also a squirrel - Eichhoerchen). Last week we were coming home and I pulled into the garage only to hear Claire say "baum" (tree). I told her that there were a lot of trees outside. She told me "see"..."baum"..."maus." I was putting two and two together and realized she saw a 'mouse' in the tree while looking out the back window. It was actually a squirrel, but Eichhoernchen is a really tough word to say. She understands it, but can't say it. So anyway I asked her if she saw a squirrel in the tree and she was so excited I had figured out what she was trying to tell me. I was also just in awe because I'm thinking, man, my 19 month year old just communicated to me that she saw a squirrel in the tree, and that's a pretty big step, especially without any gestures! Oh the wonders of development! I love her! :)

Maybe someday I'll get around to posting some pictures on here. That would mean we have to start taking them...hmmm, better get to it!

Friends

Claire continues to amaze me at what all she understands and words she picks up on. This week, after coming home from Lisa's, I asked her "Was hast du heute gemacht? Was hast du mit deinen Freunden gemacht?" (What did you do today? What did you do with your friends?) To this she replied "Anna, Sage." Now it's clear she didn't know exactly what I was asking and that I was referring to her daycare friends (Sage is with her all day, but Anna goes to a different school.), but the fact of the matter is she knew I was asking about her friends and she knows that her friends are Anna and Sage. Then again, yesterday, I said something or other about her "Freunden" and she told me their names once more. Technically, Anna and Sage are her Freundinnen, but we'll let the gender changes slide at this age. :) She also still points to the doors where we displayed our friends' Christmas cards and looks for Anna, Sage, and others. Maybe we should have left them up for several months. :)

Leaps and Bounds

I've been meaning to post this for about 4 weeks. You can see how well I've followed through! ;) I have been so impressed by the language development of my 16/17 month old. I love this stage. Language is so interesting to me, and not just foreign language, but all of it!

"Bist du muede? Willst du ins Bett gehen?" (Are you tired? Do you want to go to bed?) I asked her. I got the MOST ardent head shake ever! I could hardly keep from laughing. It was so fun to have her answer my questions and to know she understood exactly what I was asking!

Fast forward 4 weeks...we've gone from fervent head shakes to this...

We can ask her ANY question, and the answer will almost certainly be "nein" or "nein, nein" if she really means it! Now, sometimes she knows exactly what we're asking. But other times, she clearly doesn't. I would say that she at least knows it's a question, but today she may have proved me wrong. I'm not sure. We were on a lengthy car ride home from Lisa's (daycare) which was taking longer than usual because of traffic. I knew she was getting impatient and told her "Du bist so ein braves Maedel Claire, weil du so geduldig bist." (You're being such a good girl Claire, because you're being so patient.) At this point, I'm just trying to talk to her to keep her mind off of us being in the car for too long. To this, she replies "nein, nein." So one of two options - 1. she understood I was calling her patient and replied that she's not really that patient, more like on edge, or 2. that she had no clue what I was saying. At first I was thinking 2. for sure, but then I thought of other times. If we're driving and I ask her if she wants to sing or if I start singing a song she doesn't want me to sing, she'll tell me "nein." Then, if I ignore her 'no' and keep singing, she'll adamantly say "Mama...Mama....Mama!" until I stop. So, she doesn't just tell me no when she is answering a question, but also when she does not like what I am doing. :)

A couple times a day, by the way, we do get a 'yes' (which is not a word she actually says yet, but just nods). We also get a lot of "peas" (combined with sign language) for please and just recently "bitte" for please. And even with all those no-s, I'm still having such a blast with my girl at this stage in her development! :) Matt and I are both so proud of her and pretty much think she's really smart (remember, we're her parents)! ;)