January 2011

A sunset view from our balcony. View while hiking above the Greifensee.

Is it really February already?

Andy and I visited Munich in early January. How we love Munich! It's our home-away-from-home while here in Europe. We went to the Andrea Bocelli concert and the kids stayed with Oma & Opa. It's been a dream of Andy's to see Andrea Bocelli live, so when I saw he was performing in Munich, I realized I had stumbled upon the perfect Christmas present. It really was amazing. He sang in a small venue, 2500 people. It was incredible to hear him live! We were also able to catch up with one of our former KPMG colleagues, Kazuko, and her family. It was so great to spend time with them. And, they introduced us to a great Indian restaurant that will now be on our list every time we visit Munich. We finished up the weekend at my favorite restaurant in the world, La Fiera, and enjoyed some time at Mr. B's jazz bar too. Perfection attained!A little music at home.

Every day, Sara is more and more communicative. She says a few words, "Hey, mama, ball, yea" and finds other ways to express herself. If she's eating and doesn't want any more, she'll shake her head "no." She will say "shush" and put her finger to her mouth, or more often my mouth, when I'm trying to get her to be quiet as we sneak down the stairs if she wakes up before Jonas. She loves reading books and brings them over to me and crawls up into my lap. So sweet! Animals are her favorite thing at the moment. We went to to zoo a couple of weeks ago, back when the Spring-like weather was still here. Both kids had a great time. Sara will growl if she sees a lion and moo if she sees a cow. She takes my finger and points to anything in a book that she wants named. When she's done with her snack, she likes to feed it to me. Sara loves to "feed" her baby dolls too and even pretends to be eating and drinking when we have tea time with the tea set Grandma gave her for her birthday.

Sara starting cutting her first molar in January. Thankfully, teething has never been an issue with our kids. Today, at 14 months exactly, she stood on her own for the first time! She was so pleased with herself that she started clapping once she sat back down :-). Won't be long now before she takes her first step. She loves to climb! The other day, I caught her trying to climb onto her little piano. And, she spends a lot of time under the kitchen table climbing around it. Bouncing/rolling all over the couch is great fun for her too. She has almost catapulted herself off a few times. I really have to watch her!

Jonas was glad to return to preschool after the long Christmas break. Last week, Sienna was moved up into his class. So, he's a happy boy! He spends a lot of time with his best friend, Jack. So glad to have him around! This month we also joined KinderCity, a scaled down Discovery Place. It's only 2 exits from our house and is a great way to spend a cold winter morning. They offer a variety of classes there, so Jonas will soon learn how to make chocolate, repair cars, etc.

Jonas also wrote his entire name for the 1st time recently. Caro & Daniel, you're the lucky recipient of the Valentine documenting this feat.

We added another country to the list of places we've been: Liechtenstein. We enjoyed roaming around one Sunday and Jonas and Andy went sledding while Sara and I played in the car. We also booked a summer vacation to Italy with Andy's mom and step-dad. Can't wait! We'll be staying 10 miles outside of Florence, my favorite city in the world!

I've been trying to cook a little more. It's taken me a few years, but I'm finally hitting my stride with home cooked meals and all the house chores :-). Thank goodness for Jamie Oliver and Giada. Jamie has become such a household name that Jonas recently asked, "When can we go visit Jamie Oliver in England?" Also, thankful to have met another American in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. She showed me where to find cheddar cheese and hummus!

Before busy season kicked in, Andy had been coming home at a normal time (6ish) more often and was able to eat dinner with us and help get the kids to bed before continuing to work from home at night. That was so nice! Good for me and the kids. Hopefully, he'll be able to do that again once year-end work slows down. Tonight he's going out for dinner with a client. I'm so jealous! Somehow, meals taste better to me when I'm not the one that had to cook them :-).

I took the kids to their first music class here this week. Mini-Minstrels. It's similar to KinderMusik and Jonas was so excited to be back in music class. Sara loved it too. I could just see the awe and excitement in her eyes as she explored all of the fun instruments. So, we have a fun Tuesday activity lined up now.

Andy & Jonas got geared up for winter sports last weekend. Jonas now has a helmet and goggles for sled-riding and future skiing. Andy picks up his skis this weekend and is super-excited about hitting the slopes with Oma & Opa later this month. I'm not a snow-skier, which is a good thing since we have 2 toddlers that need to be watched anyway. But, I told Andy I could use a spa day sometime soon!

Uncle Toby found out that he was accepted to a study-abroad program in the States. He'll be heading to Appalachian State University in the fall. A little bummed that he'll be there while we're here, but excited for him to have this opportunity. My family is looking forward to seeing him too :-).

I'm still trying to figure out how to operate our new camera so I get the amazing pics I see some of you all posting. Might help if I would sit down and diligently read through the user manual :-).

A few quotes from Jonas:

1) When he heard our neighbors were going on vacation in Canada: When can I go to Canada? I want to go to lots of countries: Canada, Ireland, Winston-Salem, Austria, India...

2) When I grow up I'm going to grow horns and be Ramses (UNC mascot).

3) In the car after visiting a new friend, who has 4 kids: J: Mom, why don't I have 3 brothers? M: Because God gave us you and Sara. I think that's enough, don't you? J: No. I want more. A few seconds later he enthusiastically cried out, "God!?" (Before he had a chance to finish that prayer, which I assume was for more kids, he got distracted by Sara. Whew!).

Hope you all are doing well. Let us know when you'd like to come visit!

April