Holy Man Jay

I've mentioned many times that Jay is freakishly good, and he really is. Of course, he has his usual preschooler-like spells of whining, crying, insisting on TV NOW!, but for the most part he takes what we say pretty well. He gave up his pacifiers on his own ("I don't need it anymore"), was potty trained within days, was fine with no treats or ice cream on Good Friday. Oh, and he didn't want any of his Halloween candy, even right after he was done trick-or-treating! (He's also forgotten about the candy the Easter Bunny brought just yesterday- lucky me!)

It makes me wonder if we have waited too long with certain things. I know we waited too long to take away the pacifier, but we had no real problem with it since it was really just a sleep thing. But still, could we have taken it away sooner? How bad would one or two tough nights be if he was done with it a few months earlier?/>

Jay, like every preschooler, had a big why? phase. I say had because he got out of it after a month or so. I was trying to answer every question patiently and to the best of my ability since he has also had a hard time spitting his sentences out lately. This is common at his age, especially with bilingual children. But the best way to get over it is to give your child your complete attention and make him feel as if what he has to say is very important. And never interrupt. Of course, why? is pretty easy to spit out...

After about a month or so, it got really tiring. And creative answers were more and more difficult to find, especially ones that would put an end to the why?s without "I told you so!" or "because." Until Michael one day just told him that constantly asking why? is a bad habit and he doesn't want to have a bad habit like that. Voila! No more why?s. It does make me a bit jealous that Michael could end it with just one sentence. Maybe he is a super parent and Jay really isn't the freakish kid.

Happy Easter! I'll be posting again later or tomorrow with some amazing train photos. :)d

A Good Friday

We're trying to be good and teach our kids manners, good behavior, values... you know, the stuff that all sounds good. So since it's Good Friday, we don't just give up meat. We also give up alcohol, sweets, treats, and so on. We started Jay on it this year as well, explaining that "Jesus had a very bad day today, so we're letting him know that we feel bad for him too." (Just saying "no meat today" means nothing to Jay since he's not so into food anyway).

We went to the playground (that's still allowed), but we explained that he couldn't get his usual ice cream. It was a lot easier than I thought. Jay just said he couldn't have it "because Jesus is having a tough day today." So maybe we're doing well raising our kids with values. Or maybe Jay is freakishly good.

Michael washed all the windows, inside and out, today, so he has done his good deed for the day. What's mine? I'm still not sure. Does sharing our day via blog count?

Here's a video of Nils playing with his digger at the playground. Listen carefully for the humming sounds. That's Nils making digger noises!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2020413889

Musical Morning

Jay is on Easter holiday from school right now. That means I have to keep him busy myself. You don't realize how much time those three school hours a day in take up until you have to entertain your kids yourself, all day long, when the weather is bad and all your kid's friends are either out of town or sick...

This morning we had a little music time before we headed out to the weekly Farmer's Market. Nils and Jay both love music, so we had fun singing songs (the current favorite is the "Alley-Alley-O" song), clapping, and playing instruments. We even had a mini parade with drums and a whistle. The house next door is under construction, so I think the jackhammers and drills drowned out our noise, so no complaints came from the neighbors or passers-by.

I've attached some videos of the two of them during this time. One of the videos, Jay too cool, was Jay refusing to dance for me. But he finally gave in and did his knees dance for me (after a hefty bribe, of course!)

Nilsa on the xylophone: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2019878597

Jay too cool: (sorry, it's sideways!) http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2019878089

Jay and the knees dance: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2019879343

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday and Germany has a special tradition to celebrate this day. I am used to simply gettting a palm frond at church and tucking it behind the crucifix on the wall for the year. Here, there is a bit more involved. For the 11 am service (Kids' Mass), we met at the imperial ruins (ca. 700 A.D.) and the mass started there. The children were all gathered in the front, each holding a Palmstock, or stick with leaves and crepe paper. Most of the children probably made these sticks themselves, in school or with parents. Since Michael and I are rather irresponsible, we forgot to make one. Luckily Oma was here for the weekend and arrived with a homemade one for Jay to carry.

After the first reading, there was then a procession to the church. First went the childern about to receive their first communion (not today, but in the coming month or so). Then the preschool children (in the church program), then the rest of us. There was also a brass quartet playing as we went along.

Jay and Nils both seemed to like the service, especially the outdoor part. I don't have a photo of the Palmstock that Oma made. Unfortunately, Jay ate the apple on it as soon as Mass was over, so it's not quite the same as before. But, this evening, we got a surprise phone call. Nils' godfather, Andi, and his family made a stick for their daughter Emma and one each for Jay and Nils as well! I've attached photos here of it for you to see, as well as of Jay's "eggman" from last week (see http://stuehrenbergs.blogspot.com/2007/03/family-day.html )

Oh, Calcutta!

We have never really needed a dryer since we had plenty of drying space and not so many people. But now, as a family of four and with the arrival of sandbox season, I feel like we live in Calcutta. (I credit my friend Liz for giving me this expression) We have laundry hanging everywhere- on the two drying racks, over the hallway banisters, on hangers, you name it. I can't really blame it on the sandbox. Since winter is so wet here, it can take three to four days for a single load to dry. And that is if I space it out. If I cram it on the racks, then add another day!

But the sandbox is now my scapegoat. We've been going through at least two tees, pairs of pants, and socks a day per child. And if we make it to the playground twice in one day (bonanza!), then add another set. How is it that, although we are never in our house when it is warm out, it gets dirtier so much faster?

I'm not complaining. I am very happy that it is finally warm enough out to go out with only a spare sweatjacket and a sand shovel. Okay, add two diggers, a bulldozer, two buckets, two shovels, a rake, a dump truck, snacks, and drinks for two kids and I feel like a dromedary (not Bactrian, Linda!). But I'm still happy we can spend our afternoons outside running around, even though it means I spend all my home time vacuuming sand and hanging laundry.

Enjoy this photo of our cherry tree out on the back terrace. I took it Sunday. Since them, it is in full bloom. Our Nashi (Japanese pear) tree is showing its first buds, along with our deep-red magnolia. And Michael has started sneezing. Ahhh, Spring!

Check out Mar 16!

We have a new old post. I started this post a week ago, but finally got around to uploading the video onto MySpace. Check it out.

http://stuehrenbergs.blogspot.com/2007/03/nilsa-at-mall.html

Family Day

Today was beautiful again, so we decided to take advantage of the good weather. Of course, so did everyone else- especially since today was an Spring Festival here in our part of town. The pedestrian area was full of booths with food (sausages, crepes, soup, Alsatian Flammkuchen) and drink (beer of course!), as well as arts and crafts for kids to do. Jay made an egg man. Basically, it is an egg for a head on a stick body with all sorts of pipe cleaners and other stuff glued to it. I was pretty impressed. I'll have to take a photo and upload it. Here's a video of Nils going down the slide. He is not the kid you hear crying in the film. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2017692981

Before we went to the festival, we took a walk along the river to get some fresh air and a nap into Nils. Of course, since there were so many sights to see, it took a while before he fell asleep! Today was the first time we let him out of the stroller to play on the riverbank, so he was pretty excited. He got to throw pebbles into the water, just like his big brother. He also got to see a lot of river barges towing cargo, a ferry, and a lot of airplanes flying overhead. Overall, a pretty exciting day for a 15 month old.

At the festival, we met up with our good friends Marijo and her husband Sherin. We let the kids play a while on the playground before heading home for the traditional Sunday Kaffee und Kuchen (exactly what it sounds like) and more Lego train track extravaganza. Overall, a great day for everyone!