So Totally G-I-F-T-E-D

Okay, I am so ready to identify and make fun of giftedness (is that a word?) in Nils that I have gone to new extremes... As you know, Nils knows the sounds of his letters. No big deal, he's just parroting a Leap Frog song from one of Jay's DVDs. But he was playing with his bottle and kept saying a, a, a. And I looked and he was pointing to an a! I then asked him what another letter was (n) and he couldn't tell me. He just kept saying a, a, a. So he was just making sounds, like any other toddler!

Why would I make fun of it? Okay, if he were truly a genius I wouldn't. But so many parents are willing to believe that the sun rises and sets over their children that you truly wonder if they need their eyes/ears/reality checked. We are happy that we have two normal, happy boys. Okay, one loves pink and Abba and the other is a drooling daredevil, but what's not to love? I once called Jay average and I swear I heard one mom in the group gasp. So, truly gifted is a (ha ha) gift. But normal and healthy is even a greater gift.

Bicker, Banter, Bump

Okay, I paraphrased the title from Linda's Blog...

But I am so tired of prying one boy's hands off of the other's throat, toys, hair.... you name it. When can I expect that they at least begin to work it out themselves? I know they can't yet since Nils can't even really speak. But, man, they sure are rough. What I meant is that Nils is rough on Jay. And Jay certainly can be overly sensitive.

Aaahhh... a moment of relative peace!

The Boy Wonder

Ha ha ha! N knows the sounds up to y.... Whe the only letter doesn't know is z, I cannot tell you. I think it's to annoy me. You know how I like things complete and in order. And he has his first word in both English and German: digger or Bagger. It's an excavator for those of you who are a bit more technical. As a kid, we called them steam shovels. So no Abba worries for him. At least not just yet.

We re-arranged the living room yesterday. It took about four hours, but somehow there is a lot more space than before. And we don't have to sit so close to the TV anymore.

Oops, gotta run. Nils is beating up Jay again.

TGIF

The kids are finally over whatever had them sick in the first place. Well, almost. Jay is fine, just a little more tired than usual. Nils had to be carried all week. For a newbie, okay. But for a 13kg (28.6 lbs), it's not so easy. But it's Friday, and a long weekend too(Pentecost).

Anyway, I wanted to break the news that Nils is the most gifted child since Mozart. (Those of you who know me, know the sarcasm in that...) He knows that the a says aah and the b says buh and so on until g. At g he got distracted. It's only because he gets his older brother's TV shows as well. I mean, the kid doesn't even know what the alphabet is or even the ABC song.

As for Jay, he decided that Abba's Waterloo is his new favorite song. And his friend Emma left her pink handbag with hearts on it- he says it's now his (while carrying it around). Are we worried? Ask me again when Waterloo is still his favorite song, he's still carrying pink handbags, and he's thirteen.

Crash!

Jay fell asleep standing yesterday. Take a look---

Sleep! Sick! Sleep? SLEEP!

What a weekend! Thursday was a holiday, so we had friends visit us Wednesday night and stay over. So of course we went out and, therefore, had less sleep that night.

Thursday, Jay (who is never sick) had such a bad stomachache that he stayed on the sofa all day, crying over the pain. He rarely cries (I've unwittingly drilled that out of him because he would wake Nils too often). And when the pain migrated from his bellybutton to his right side, I got nervous that he had appendicitis. It was only that I felt like I would look like an irrational mother freaking out over gas in the ER that made me stay home. Another sleepless night.

Friday Jay was all better (phew!). Then Nils got his first big fever: 40C/104F. He didn't even want to read or play animals. He just wanted to sit on my or Michael's lap and rest like a rag doll. He was in and out of sleep all night too, so another sleepless night.

Saturday morning Jay threw up a little on me. Later on, both decided to have fevers and Jay decided to have an upset stomach again and threw up on me again. I am running out of clothes and have not really had a chance to do any laundry.

Basically, we are ready for some sleep! They seem better, but then again, they seemed better yesterday too. Sleep, please!

Don't I sometimes wish...

that it was this easy to contain my kids and the destruction that they leave behind in their wake??

Instead, I get this....

Open House

You all know how much Jay loves trains. Well, today was the public transport's Open House. We went to the center where the streetcars go to get repaired and "sleep at night" as we put it to Jay. It was a lot of fun. Jay got to ride a mini antique tram, go on a huge elevator in the spare parts hall, paint a bus, and pretend to drive a bus. He said his favorite part was getting gummmibears.

Of course, Nils got the worms again.... poor guy.

Suddenly Speaking

Nils has finally gotten that specific sounds mean things. For a long time, mama meant Give it to me NOW! or Pick me up! He makes all sorts of speech-like syllable sounds, but this past week he's actually started speaking words we could interpret. He now says ball, car, cuckoo, tu-ta (the onomatopoeia for sirens), bird, plane, and tick-tock.

Of course, he still does his animal sounds and has learned even more. He makes all the sounds as we read Dr. Seuss' Mr Brown can Moo, can You? He went crazy today in the city, pointing at all the pigeons and shouting BIRD! BIRD! BIRD! or looking at the cars and shouting car! in much the same way. I won't get into how excited he was over the planes when we went back to Jay's preschool to pick him up.

Maybe we're projecting a lot onto what comes out of Nilsa's mouth, but Michael and I swear he announced poo poo right after he did the deed and needed a new daiper. (Linda, you would appreciate our obsession here. We are looking forward to the end of daipers!) Can the end be near?

Expat vs Emigré

I guess it's normal that if you socialise in expat circles that your friends will come and go, a constant cycle of change. This time of year always has the most upheaval. Families wait until the end of the school year and the next day, the moving van shows up and they're gone. I've been to a lot of going away dinners lately. Some are good friends, some are acquaintances, and some fall between.

I was at a play group this morning and we were talking about home and what it means. One of us, an American married to a Brit, said she no longer has a home. After five years in France and a bit over one here, they do not even know which continent, let alone country, they would go to next. They have no permanent address or home to go back to.

This feeling of no roots is a hard one. I have previously written that I am in between roots. I pulled them out of the US, yet they are not yet firmly in place in Germany. This is my home, but I am still missing that bit that makes me get it. Jokes about TV shows or culture are lost on me. It would be as if I joked about the required Catcher in the Rye or The Facts of Life with a German (I tried it last week- the thud that the cultural reference made when it hit the floor was LOUD).

However, I, unlike my play group friend, am already home. I have no real US address, other than some mail going to mom & dad. I never thought I would become an immigrant since, to me, an immigrant is someone who goes to another country iactively searching for a better life. At least that's what we were taught about the "American Dream." Although I left the US because life in Germany could be better, I didn't leave searching for a better life or knowing it would be better here. And it is. We get six weeks vacation time, guaranteed health care, and if you are sick you still get paid (forget sick days!). Most importantly, I can have the luxury of not working the first few years of my children's lives.

As for so many friends and acquaintances leaving, it's hard not to circle like a vulture in order to buy (cheap!) their barely used appliances and electronics that won't work in the US. When will someone with a gigantic plasma TV move???

International Day

Saturday was International Day at the International School here. Since we live close by, we went to check it out. It was great. There were booths set up from all sorts of different countries selling food and souveniers. They also had all sorts of contests, like state capitals for the USA booth or a ball toss at the Netherlands booth, for kids as well. There were soccer games on the new pitch, song and dance performances of various countries, bouncy castles and face painting. Of course, Jay and Emma were a tiger and princess (respectively!) again.

Poor Nils, we were there for a few hours and not a single photo of him.... Maybe today at baseball we can get a few of him.

A Visit from John

One of my former colleagues from Nordstrom, John, lives in Amsterdam. He usually visits us once a year or so. This past visit, he brought one of his neighbor's children. He has done this before, he is kind of like a godfather to the kids in this family. He spends a lot of time with the kids, giving them exposure to conversational English and bringing them places like Germany or Belgium for a day to show them something different from what they know and practice their English. In the past, John brought the eldest, Pim. But Pim is now 17 and probably has cooler things to do. (I know I would think that way if I were 17!) So John brought Pim's younger brother, Siep.

Jay and Siep got along beautifully. Siep kept an eye on him, made sure Jay didn't do anything dangerous (like run into traffic) and held his hand on busy sidewalks. I think that Siep was happy not to be the youngest for once. I have to say that Siep and Pim are terrific kids- very well-mannered, polite and friendly. Siep is also pretty talented. He acts in a lot of musicals, once even performing for the Queen.

Jay was so dead at the end of their visit that he fell asleep on the tram ride home. I had to carry him and push Nils in the stroller- not easy! And Nils was pretty done too, after a day of riding around with not so much playing.

May Day

Happy May Day! Today is May Day, Germany's (and most Europe's) version of Labor Day. Down the street from us was a festival, complete with a May Pole and everything. Jay's friend Emma stayed over last night, so after a leisurely (and filling!) brunch, we went over to watch the pole get raised with Emma and her parents, Andi & Maria. The kids rode ponies- Nils too- and got their faces painted- not Nils. Enjoy the many photos I am attaching today.

Video Link: Nils dancing to the music http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2026271154

Video Link: Jay and Emma dancinghttp://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2026272146

Video Link: Raising the May Pole http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2026276862