starting out early

Following
in
Daddy's
Footsteps

Splish splash, she was taking a bath

It’s a miracle. For the past three weeks, Stella Has willingly jumped into the Bath tub.

No more rolling up the rug and throwing towels all over the bathroom.
No more Stella standing on the side of the little tub
No more flood waters as we and she dump water all over the place

The only caveat?

Daddy has to jump in with her.

Ogres are like Onions

Well…they like them too…

…and little girls

Did you know that Onion Juice is supposed to help with coughs?

I certainly didn’t but Maja did.

So over the weekend as Stella and daddy had their horrible coughs, mommy decided to give us Onion Jiuce.

This isn’t something that you go to the local supermarket and buy. She made it.

And it really wasn’t too bad. Smells bad, but the brown sugar in the drink made it relatively tasty.

That isn’t the remarkable thing about this story.

What is….is that you are supposed to drink it by the tablespoon through out the day.

Stella however, drained it by the cupful and then asked for more.

Needless to say, she has been tooting out the other end too .-P

jibber jabber

Growing up Bilingual is so cute.

eins...zwei...THREE!

I jinxed us...

That's what Maja would say.

They don't call them snot nosed kids for nuthin' and I was remarking to Maja this afternoon that we have been extremely lucky with Stella. In her almost two, while all the other kids in the daycare seem to be chronics, our little one has been really healthy.

Even now, as the domino effect took its hold on our family; from mom, to dad to kid, the snuffles and coughs passed, Stella was in a really good mood, her runny nose and raspy cough not withstanding.

Before she answered me, Maja said "quick knock on wood".

Then our child woke up from her nap. At first normal and happy then all of a sudden the look of terror as she grabs her diaper and whines then screams in pain.

I definitely jinxed it I think to myself.

Stella is definitely in some sort of pain, the only thing we can think of is bladder infection and we race to the child doctor on call for Sundays.

But first we had to find the place. The uni medezin klinik in Lübeck is big. Maybe not as big as Johns Hopkins or the University of Michigan campuses but big enough to keep you guessing. As we drive around and follow the sings for the child emergency room we find that there is no parking. So I sweep into the regular emergency room parking, luckily glancing at the sign stating that this is only for loading and unloading of patients. I'll have to re-park as soon as we find where we are going.

As we walk in we're looking for any kind of sign to tell us where to go. Do we go to the emergency room or do we go to the emergency doctor? I figure that there is no limb hanging off that needs to be reattached so we probably have to go to the doctor and guide us in that direction.

Then we turn the corner and my heart sinks. The entire hallway is full with parents and their sick kids.

Much to our surprise though we were helped quickly and within an hour Stella was examined, diagnosed and we were out the door.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Once we put our name in and were told which door to wait by, I went to move the car. When I came back I could hear Stella's cries echoing down the hall. I walk in the door just as the nurse is leaving.

How do you get a urine sample from a toddler that doesn't seem to want to pee?

You attach a bag, sealing it around her skin and put the diaper back on. From the looks of it, it was attached with superglue. It made me cringe just looking at it. We waited about ten minutes in which we tried to get Stella to drink and calm down through her fits of pain.

Luckily she did pee a little bit and the bag was able to come off. Then came the doctor. What a cool experience. First I have to start by saying that he reminded us of the "lars" character from serendipity but instead of brown hair he had curly blond hair like Hammy Haggar.

With the gentle demeanor you need to work with kids, he asked daddy to hold Baby while he did an examination of the doll. Stella stood nearby, clinging to mommy and the doctor let Stella look into baby's ear and mouth as he did so, so she was comfortable with what he was doing.

I'd read about this but haven't experienced this before. It had a good effect.

Then it was Stella's turn. She looked at him very skeptically as he probed but she was a bit more at ease than I expected. It was only when he wanted to look in her mouth that she started to have a fit.

The good news is, the urine was fine and from the gurgling sounds of her stomach the Doctor thinks it is a bit of a stomach bug.  And it seems that the worst is over.    

And yes, I take the blame, I jinxed us.

 

 

A Battle of wills

Friday Stella spent the day with Opa.

Stella has her baby puppet.

There is a slightly oversized stocking cap, not made for the puppet, that Stella would ask Opa to put on Baby.

As soon as it was on, it would half fall, half be pulled off.

After about the twentieth time, Opa had an idea.

He pulled out Oma's sewing box and with great effort attached a strap to the hat to that it wouldn't come off.  

Opa was really proud of himself and his clever idea.

Stella on the other hand was not!

After a huge fuss, Opa relented and took the strap off.

From the point on, Opa ignored Stella's requests to put the hat on.

Who won?

I give Stella 1 point and Opa 0.25 for ignoring her after the fact. 

Ode to the Tired Tantrum

I know I should not laugh.
But it’s really quite a sight.

Her knees just buckled
Hands hide her face

Does she even know what she wants?
The opposite of what I asked!
At this moment
Nothing makes her happy

I pick my tired daughter up
I hold her at arms length
Just far enough to be safe

Like a mechanical Doll gone haywire
The head flies back and forth
Arms flail from side to side
Legs pumping back and forth
A droning wail threatens our glass

Then I give her a big hug
Keeping her close again for protection
As she twists and writhes to get down
Good that I have super dad reflexes

Feet on the floor
And off she goes

Hiding behind the door
Hands hiding face
Repeat

Damn, I wish I had a video camera rolling

Luna Lovegood & the HAT

Stella has an aloofness to her. She does what she wants regardless of what others think. In good luna lovegood fashon (for those that aren’t familiar with the harry potter series, check here for a definition) Stella has a unique fashion sense. In the last few days, she has refused to take of her froggy pajamas, insisted that the houseshoes are put on over the top and that she under no circumstances will take off her HAT!.

Her Hat!

This is a strange phenomenon. She understands a lot of English. When prompted she’ll even speak it like “please” and a few other key words. But she primarily speaks German. One word however has stuck. The word “HAT” and her hat she has to wear. For days now she has refused to take it off. Insisting that she wear it in the house, eat with it and even sleep with it on.

She accepts no alternative, it has to be the pink one shown in these pictures. There was drama when We had to switch the pajamas after sauce had been spilled on it. But rest assured, the house shoes went on over the new pajamas.

As frustrating as it is, trying to get her to change into “fresh” clothes, I hope this thick headed aloofness sticks when she is faced with the peer pressure that is sure to come.

The snow has stared to recede and we were able to get out about this weekend. Rediscovering the slide and swing and her tractor.

The experiment

True Love