Mom's Diary

This section has been included, so that I may write a few notes along the way as a type of diary for myself. For those of you who are interested, you're welcome to read along, but the purpose is to try and capture the things 'you have to write down before you forget'...maybe something like a written scrapbook.

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12.10.2008
Lucas and Connor are sitting on the bed looking at a toy airplane when Connor asks,
"Papa, wo ist der Triebwerk?" [Where are the engines?]

Liam is getting so big, so quickly. He is now grabbing and moving objects, mainly his toys, and is reaching out to touch my face or hold my hand. He also seems to be discovering his voice and quite enjoys it. Squeals of joy can often be heard when he is enjoying the sailboat mobile above his changing table, while playing with his hanging ducks or when he gets a chance to meet up with his best friend in the mirror... or when playing with Dad, Mom or of course Connor.

09.10.2008
Connor recited his first book in entirety. Knowing him, it's just the first time I've given him a chance to 'read' the whole story out loud. He knows most book by heart...

08.10.2008
Connor saw Liam lying on the bed and decided to entertain him. He got Liam's grab-triangle-toy and stood it so that Connor and Liam could play with it together. Enough to make my heart melt!

07.10.2008
"Connor doesn't go to Minikindergarten" Connor told me a few times, so I said we'd walk over and if he still didn't want to go, he didn't have to...so he didn't.
I must admit it made I felt quite honored that he just wanted to "hang" with Liam & I.

Just looking at the main picture on this website and realizing that Liam looks extremely different nowadays....I need to update very soon!

23.09.2008
Cuddle-time with Connor - awesome!
When Liam smiles, his eyes tell a story of their own!

22.09.2008
I asked Lucas to bring home some items for dinner. I told him I wanted some coldcuts, tomatoes and English muffins...he said are you sure??? and then decided not to press the issue...tonight he came home with the coldcuts, tomatoes and chocolate and vanilla muffins...

20.09.2008
Liam is starting to want to move forward with an early 'crawling' / pushing forward motion. When given the opportunity to ground his feet against something, he can actually move forward on his belly...my question is: where is he going already?

Also, Liam has identified a really cool chap in the mirror in his playpen. While we ate breakfast this morning, Liam played, chatted and laughed with his "friend" for over 50 minutes! I couldn't believe it!

Tonight, Lucas asked Connor if he wanted a tissue to clean his nose, to which COnnor replied, "Nein, ich habe keine Zeit [No, I have no time!]

In an effort to prolong having to go to bed, Connor was at least 20 minutes on the potty and then requested to sit on the toilet. He then politely asked Lucas to get him his crown [I'm not joking - he has a book about a little boy on the toilet who wears a crown]...and then proceeded to ask Lucas to get him a magazine. Lucas grabbed the nearest magazine, one I received from Lufthansa marketed for the 'business woman'...Connor then flips through the pages and literally after a few minutes of concentrated 'reading', looks up at Lucas (down the other end of the room, filming Connor with a video camera) and says, "sie ist hubsch" [She is cute!] Had I not see the footage with my own eyes, I would not have believed it myself :o)

18.09.2008
Liam, Connor and I started to sing "Old MacDonald had a farm..:" and when I asked Connor what Old MacDonald had on the farm, he said, "a llama"!!

Liam is also getting quite chatty...I guess he figures if he doesn't start soon, he won't be able to get a word in edgewise.

Today, Connor was sick with a fever and cold and the works...so we had in-bed entertainment from 7am until 6:30pm...at which point Lucas came home and Connor was allowed out of bed because he was feeling better and getting antsy....and we actually had a lot of fun and remained pretty creative with the activity program! And to top it off, they both only slept about one hour during that time!

11.09.2008
While eating breakfast, Connor turns to me after a quiet moment and says "Con-stant-nople"...I, being one who takes a while to wake up in the morning, ask to repeat and then I realize what he's saying and almost fell off my chair. Constantinople is mentioned in one of his books...along with the next city he mentioned thereafter...Timbuktu!

Liam is [thankfully] growing like crazy...I can't keep up with his wardrobe fast enough...he's worn some things only once and then he grows out of them. Also known as Smiley, he's a really gorgeous and fun boy.

02.09.2008
While straightening up this afternoon, I put a Teddy Bear back in Connor's room. Connor, who was slowly waking up from his nap and enjoying listening to some music said to me very matter-of-factly 'Dankeschön Mama'. What a heart-melter. :o)

Liam is so cute and aware of his surroundings. He's now beginning to 'play' with the toys in his playpen and smiles and even laughs when he gets a chance to hang and watch his big brother...Very cool and very fun to be with!

At some point I realized why there are tons of pictures of your first child and very few thereafter...Once you have more than one child, you don't have the time to find the camera :o) !!!

24.08.2008
A friend told me he checked out our website today...in particular this page...but said he was disappointed that there wasn't too many stories in here yet. I laughingly replied, 'I'm happy there's something in here at all!'

21.08.2008
A very cool outing with the boys was had - we went to Schlosspark (park in downtown Stuttgart) and had a fantastic time at the newly renovated playground...until within minutes the beautiful sunshine was covered dark clouds and the threat of a major thunderstorm was confirmed...we got caught in a MAJOR THUNDERSTORM...it was hailing...and while running like crazy with Liam in the stroller (with a raincover) and Connor standing on the attached Buggy-board (no cover much to my dismay, Connor and I got DRENCHED. (As Connor had a baseball hat and didn't have to run through the puddles, he managed to stay a little driver. Nonetheless, Connor didn't want to leave the playground and cryed all the way to our first shelter-possibility that he wanted to stay in the park - it was raining cats-and-dogs. Even at that moment I had to laugh.  Then, as I decided we needed better shelter, we bolted across the park and I was literally running as fast as I could...Connor broke out in hysterical laughter because it was probably the best stroller-ride he'd had in ages....So we get on a train and then get to the required bus stop and take a seat...then Connor turns to me, very seriously looks me in the eyes and says in his cute voice, " You're all wet!" I broke out in laughter (hair was still dripping) and though I have no idea where/how he knew the expression, could only smile and laugh with my heart.

15.08.2008
I can't believe how quickly the boys are growing...
Connor is scaling new heights (such as tall sliding boards) and his vocabulary (words such as scaffolding, stethoscope and reflex hammer) and sentence structure is very advanced. He already can recite the alphabet and identify about 50% of the letters. Thanks to Connor my vocabulary is also improving (1 year ago, I didn't differenciate or identify car transporters, diggers and concrete mixers...).

Liam with his ripe seven weeks is getting so big...He went through a growth spurt this week and even I can see that he's getting bigger and has a healthy baby glow to him...his Wiche thighs are now clearly recognizable and he's getting cute little chubby cheeks. When I was a baby, I was told that I was so pudgy that my Grandfather called me 'porkchops'. I am proud to note that our Connor and Liam have also earned the nickname :O)

Last night Liam slept through from 10pm to 5am...WOW! How much did I appreciate that???!

14.08.2008
After Connor finished his lunch he said,
"Mama, kannst Du bitte (Mittagessen) aufräumen...in den Kühlschrank?"
[Mom, can you clear my plate...and put it in the refrigerator?]

Today, we watched the video of a caterpillar developing into a butterfly (in fast time) and Connor was so amazed and excited that he talked about it for a good part of the rest of the day.
He became interested in the topic through the story "The Hungry Caterpillar" from Eric Carle.
"the beautiful butterfly", "it comes out of the cocoon", ...