I Know You Missed Me

I missed you, too, My People. It took me a whole hour to catch up on all of your blogs. Looked like I took a busy week off! As you may guess by now, Deutsche Telekom is on my *h*t list. Why they should think that their customers would be okay living without phone or internet for over a week at a stretch is beyond me. Freaking monopoly. The best part was that I had to pay to call their customer service EVERYDAY only to be informed that they hadn't gotten a clue what the problem was, how to go about fixing it, or when it would be fixed. I'm going to conclude my rant now because this is only jacking up my blood pressure.

Wil had a four-day weekend and we were in a desperate need of some fresh air and new sights and decided to head out to Heidelberg. Chaster Baby had a rotten night (more on that later), so we made sure to travel around her nap time, which worked out perfectly. We got to the famed Heidelberg castle just as she was waking up from her 2-hour nap. Yay for a happy, well-rested baby. We couldn't have picked a more perfect fall day to go up there. The weather was gorgeous and the turning leaves were breathtaking. There are no words to do this place justice.







And to think that this majestic castle and ground, which sat atop one of the highest Heidelberg hills, was built without any help from modern technology! The most hilarious thing that happened was in the midst of these amazing surroundings, a group of Japanese tourist decided that the most beautiful thing in town was my baby. We were trying to take some pictures of her with the fallen leaves when a man asked if it was okay for his wife to take a picture with Chase. The next thing we knew, the child was mobbed by a gang of cooing Japanese girls. I was laughing so hard I cried but managed to snap a few pictures of the moment I would forever use to brag about my kid's cuteness.

It started out innocent enough...
Then they came.
And took lots and lots of pictures... They asked if we wanted to charge money. Should have said yes.
Chaster didn't quite know what to make of this.
They really didn't want us to leave.

We spent more time at the castle than anticipated and had to head back home to the boys before getting to see the rest of the vibrant Heidelberg. We definitely will come back, perhaps the next time on our bikes just like all the cool college kids :). Here are some more pics from our day:




This face made me laugh.











I have about a million more pictures of us in Heidelberg, but I should perhaps stop here before crashing this site. Wil is telling me it's time to go. I shall come back after he goes to bed. Must make up for lost time.

Back to Our Cave...Again

We don't have phone or internet AGAIN. It's been going out and coming back briefly this past week, but I think we are out again at least for the whole weekend and possibly the beginning of the next. We are going stir crazy so we'll be driving around a bit this weekend. Will post pictures when we are up and running again.

Vocabulary

Chase definitely knows at least two words that I know of. She knows to stretch out her legs and bare her weight when I say "stand up." I thought it was pretty cool when I first noticed that she actually comprehended what I was saying, and it came in pretty handy when I was carrying one grocery bag too many in one arm and the baby in the other. The other one is "Paddy." I can ask her "where's Paddy?" and she will start scanning the room for him and smile broadly and laugh when she finds him. She knows "Bubu" for Brutus, too, but does not always seem to take the same urgency to look for him consistently. "Momma" and "Papa" also get pretty decent response. I've been paying more attention to her babbling, and my own potty mouth, since realizing that she's beginning to pick up our language. I'm making a real effort to speak to her in Thai, but it's been a crapshoot since I speak to the pups and Wil in English but don't always remember to switch back to Thai when talking to her. The other day I fell asleep on the couch and was woken up by this "BAAAAAAAAAAA" sound. I opened my eyes to see Wil sitting on the other end of the couch and holding Chase, who had both her arms outstretched in my direction while loudly voiced "BAAAAAAAAAAAAA." I'm hopeful that it's the beginning of "Momma" as she's been using it consistently to get my attention. Wil is also convinced that she can say "hi" and "ok." No, we don't have high expectation of our 5-month-old at all :).

This reminded me of a story my friend, who became a kindergarten teacher, told me. She and her colleagues always had a bet going on how many "my child is gifted, so please feel free to give her more work" they would get on kindergarten sign up day. It was always a lot and apparently it took all she could to keep a straight face before replying "of course." I told Wil this story and he said "but our baby REALLY IS gifted." Speak like a true doting father.

Last but not least, her teething is tapering off, I think. Saliva is not pouring out of her anymore, although she's still drooling pretty excessively. She's learned to grab our fingertip and use it like a toothbrush on her gum, especially the top one. She hasn't mastered moving our giant fingers, so most of the time she would just move her head from side to side instead. Pretty freaking adorable if you ask me. And one more picture that I LOVE:

Let's hope for more of that!

Body Image

I find it fascinating that I could weigh just about the same as before the pregnancy but look utterly different. I know vanity really has no place in the wonderfully grand scheme of things that my precious baby brings, but it would be a big lie to say I didn't cry the first time I looked at myself in the mirror (or the second...and third) after coming home from the hospital. My body hadn't changed much at all in the previous 20 years and I had grown to love it. Seeing what a wreck it turned into was very disorienting. Now five months and thirty pounds later, there are still days that I mourn my old self a little. But then I would touch my stomach and remember that my baby was there and feel thankful that I could nurse her with these new boobs. A few weeks ago I packed away old clothes that I knew I would never fit in again but not quite ready to part with. It was kind of therapeutic. It just made me realize that cloth sizes were pretty much like age: they only affected me if I allowed them to. I've been in size zero and I've been a twelve, and I can tell you that I worry just the same that a certain pair of pants would make my rear end look enormous. Good to know that at least there's THAT consistency in my life. That and a sweet and kind husband, who tells me everyday that I look beautiful even while wearing his t-shirt that is covered in breast milk and spit up. I know I'm lucky. Just need to get used to the old me in this new body. Work in progress...

Fall Colors

This time last year I spent most of the time hanging my head over the toilet bowl or a garbage can. By the time I looked up, all the trees were bare and bunking in for the upcoming winter. I didn't even get one single picture of the beautiful turning leaves. So yesterday when we actually woke up to a semi dry weather and sunshine, I insisted that all of the Steinhams go out for a stroll around post. It made me so happy to see the spring in the boys' steps, since the rain had kept them out of the park all week. Nothing is sadder to be around than miffed puppies.

September Redeemed Herself

I'm thinking that when Chase's teeth finally cut, I'll wake up one morning to her sporting all 20 at once. She's still so uncomfortable, fuzzy, and on some kind of napping trike, yet there's no sign of pearly whites to report. Wil has taken to rubbing her gum when she wakes up screaming at night, which apparently works like magic and calms her right back to sleep in no time. I wouldn't know because I've been sleeping through her crying. I have no idea how this happens. The first time I failed to wake up with her, I contributed it to a very delicious glass of Federweisser, my first drink since the beginning of my pregnancy last year. I personally think it's the greatest beverage ever created and have been drinking it by the gallon. Literally.
It's the one in the big container in the front. We have a vintner, who brings this divine drink to our little town in a refrigerated barrel. I'm going to say that trying to consume 3 liters of this stuff in a few days is a little beyond me at this point. It was still really fun to try though...

Last week we had the kind of weather I remembered September to be. We took advantage of it and took the kid out for some fresh air and sunshine. I've kept her inside so much lately it's beginning to feel like I'm growing a mushroom instead of a baby. We went to a farm festival at Hitcherhof on Sunday. There were lots of vendors and farmers selling everything from produce to handmade soap.


Her pooping face.
And this is what happened when papa left her hat in the car and it got windy.

I was especially looking forward to taking pictures of Chaster at a pumpkin patch, and apparently so were 5,000 other parents there. It was hard trying to take a picture of the baby with a stranger's elbow in my face, but at least she was in a very close proximity to at least one pumpkin.




My husband can change diaper ANYWHERE. Is that not porn for a new mom?


She was watching kids play in the hay with great amusement.
We found an even more yummy federweisser there and split a glass. And brought another liter home...
What a gorgeous day to be outside!

We came home and it was the boys' turn to enjoy the weather. We drove out to Frauenburg to let the pups play in the river and run on the bike trail. Fun was had by all!


What difference a year make!

These three are my new favorites.