La vida española
At the end of August we drove down to Spain, where we met my parents for about two weeks for a vacation in Barcelona and on the Costa Dorada and the Costa Brava. It was so nice to spend time with the whole family, and I had never been to Spain before. Now that we’re stuck in the middle of the coldest winter in over 40 years — it’s currently -15 C outside — looking at these pictures has made me really nostalgic.
On our way down, we drove through France, spending the night in Strasbourg, which is always a pleasure. The next day after a long stretch of driving we decided to try a beach picnic somewhere near Perpignan. Even though the weather was gray and not even all that warm, the beach was absolutely crowded and we were extremely lucky to find a parking spot quickly. Then we found it was also too windy for a real picnic, but we were undeterred by the sight of the Mediterranean! Here is Emanuel taking his first dip in the sea. He needed a little encouragement at first….
what's all this wet stuff?
…but once he figured out there was splashing involved, he was a true enthusiast.
more wet stuff! more!
Then we drove on to Spain, where we met my parents. I generally did a bad job of taking pictures, since I was busy, you know, enjoying my vacation, but here are a few photos. Below is us visiting a wine cellar. Just some random guys we found while exploring the area, and they invited us for a tour and tasting.
cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese
And here are my men outside exploring the vineyards.
now can I eat the grapes?
Here is E and his grandmother doing some early morning story time out on the balcony.
story time with the pro
And another new grandmother experience: stickers!!!!!!!!
boyohboyohboyohboyohboy!
If you ever need to conduct a scientific study on how many times a sticker can be unstuck and restuck before losing its stickiness, I know a couple of field experts.
Unfortunately, as with all vacations, it was over much too soon. But it was a nice, relaxing trip — and, as another snow plow drives by — warm! Can’t wait to see what next summer holds in store for us! On the way back home we took the route through Italy, spending the night in the charming city of Cremona and eating some very fine food. Here is the little man once again showing off his innate talent for eating by showing a mussel who’s boss. Photographically not a great picture, but I just love the look of pure concentration!
open up!
Bavarian boy
Hi everyone. Been quite a while, so I’m at least trying to catch up with some pictures. By special request, here is Emanuel in his Lederhosen. Not the greatest of shots, but I just wasn’t thinking of the kitsch factor at the time.
where are the pretzels and bratwurst?
There’s quite a backlog of photos, and I will do my best to catch up over Christmas. Thanks for your patience!
hang on, let me go get a weissbier first
Happy birthday, Gramps!
Happy Birthday!!
As a belated birthday present for his grandfather, I wanted to post some more pictures of Emanuel. But the little guy is so active these days, it’s hard to get a decent shot!
He’s tall and smart, which means he is now a master of the door knob, so he can be hard to corral these days.
I'm outta here!
Fortunately, he is still an incredibly good natured, sweet little person, so it’s easy to forgive the occasional camera shyness. The other day we went to a festival and stayed out pretty late for Emanuel — 8:45 pm! — and we noticed that he started waving at everyone, even strangers. He’s not generally a waver, so I leaned in a he was cheerfully yelling out “Bye! Tschüss! Bye!” So I asked him if he wanted to go to sleep, and with a big smile he hollered “Heep!” (sleep!) and so off we went to bed. No fussing, no crankiness, just the well-founded logic that if he said goodbye to enough people, maybe we would finally get to leave and go to sleep!
He also has developed a wicked sweet tooth, so even with mean parents like us who don’t give him much sugar he still finds a way. The other day E’s daycare had a festival, and we noticed he was spending most of his time with the adults and not with the other kids. Turns out he was pimping himself out from lap to lap, knowing that everyone would offer him some of their cake.
E’s very talkative for his age (and clearly already persuasive, at least in the cake department). He’s started using two-word sentences and now calls himself something akin to “Mammal”, which is also not inaccurate. He’s also getting a hang for this whole bilingual thing. The other day he pulled a clothes pin apart, then came over to me and reported “Broken! Broken!”, then ran over to his father and told him “Babutt! Babutt!” (Kaputt!). And when he REALLY wants something, he’ll start begging for it in both languages, just in case we didn’t understand him the first time!
Back in business
Hey, everyone! Due to some technical difficulties we haven’t been able to take pictures as usual, but now we’re back!
So this is a big picture post to get us up-to-date! There are also links to some videos near the end, so keep an eye out for those, too.
Let’s go all the way back to Easter. This was E’s second Easter, but the first time he got to eat Easter chocolates! Actually, one of the first times he ever ate chocolate, so he wasn’t sure what to make of it at first.
friend or foe?
But he didn’t take a lot of convincing, and soon enough he was shouting “More! More! More!” (a lot) (and very loudly).
Emanuel also got a couple of small gifts, including a book and this present here.
what can it be?
hmm... still not sure what it is
At this age, unwrapping is usually more fun than the actual prezzie inside. And unfortunately the weather has been too cool and wet to get much use out of these little sandals yet! Even though E is half German, socks with sandals is a bit too much.
E is still a very enthusiastic about food of all kinds, so he is well practiced in all of his eating and drinking skills. He drinks from a regular cup without any problems (at least most of the time), and here he is wielding an adult-sized fork. It requires a surprising level of concentration!
fully focused
When Emanuel gets hungry at home, he runs over to his high chair and starts trying to climb up it, all the while hollering “Up! Up! Up!” (usually in German).
feeeeeeeeedmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Even with advanced feeding skills, meal time can still be something of a mess. This was jam and yogurt.
who's next for the yogurt mask?
Emanuel’s eyes have also continued getting darker. His right eye is still noticeably lighter than the left one, as you can also see in the picture above, but I think they would both classify as hazel or brown now.
Emanuel’s favorite pastime is now imitating what the big people do. He loves to water the plants, wipe down the table, and help wash the dishes. He is especially passionate about brooms and will shout “Bes! Bes! Bes!” (which is his approximation of the German word for broom, Besen) any time he sees a broom… or a rake… or a shovel… or anything vaguely broom-like, such is his passion.
Of course we couldn’t resist getting him a broom of his own, given the enthusiasm.
cleaning is fun! (for now....)
Here is a video of him showing off his mad janitorial skills.
And finally, here is a video of E showing off his bilingualism. And his smile!
Forward, march!
Emanuel has been retreating from babydom to invade toddlerhood, which is an exciting transition. He is now very big into imitating what the big people do.
One of the cutest things he does is to take a tissue and hold it up to his face and then blow a raspberry. It sounds a lot like someone blowing their nose, even if it doesn’t have quite the same effect. Couldn’t get that on video, but here he is talking on the cell phone.
hello? who's there?
I do have two new videos, though: first, here we are going through the barnyard animals. Animals have been making quite an impression on the little guy, even if they get a bit scary up close. Second, here is Emanuel initiating a game a peekaboo, and then showing off his mad mad walking skills. Sorry for the lighting, but we were getting ready for bed!
Helau!
Like many Christian countries, Germany has a big celebration before Lent begins, called Fasching (at least where we live). It’s like Mardi Gras and Halloween rolled into one, except there is less nudity (hey, it’s cold out there!) and the parades often feature political humor (it’s just the German way).
Since Emanuel didn’t have much of an opinion about costumes, I decided to dress him as a cowboy. Yee-ha!
howdy, pardner!
hat tip for the ladies
Playtime!
Every week or two we visit with Emanuel’s first girlfriend, Johanna. Johanna is two days younger than E and we shared a room in the maternity ward, so they’ve known each other about as long as two people possibly can. They’re finally getting to the age where they can sort of play together, even if it mostly to take a toy away from the other one. But sometimes you can get them to cooperate!
hey, who's steering this thing?
Emanuel has also proved himself to be quite the gentleman. At the moment, he is a very passionate waver, waving often and enthusiastically, with full arm movement like a Chinese lucky cat. He starts waving at everybody when we put his jacket on, knowing we are about to go somewhere. He even waves when I put his pajamas on, since that’s also a sort of goodbye.
When you go to a baker or a greengrocer or a butcher in Germany, they give the kids something, like a cookie or a banana or a slice of sausage. Emanuel always accepts very gratefully, first taking what is offered, then looking at it like with big eyes he can’t believe his luck, before looking back at whoever gave it to him and flashing his most charming smile.
His gentlemanliness also extends to the fairer sex, as you can see here where he is chauffering his favorite lady around.
all aboard!
I’m sure if that thing had a door, he would have opened it for Johanna!
26.2
Ladies! Hello, ladies. I see you looking at me, looking at you. Oh yeah. I’ve been busy lately, you’ll have to forgive me, but you know I’ll always make time for all you hot lady-babies out there. There’s too little love in this world as it is.
So what have I been up to lately? Well, here I am training for the Boston Marathon. I’m practicing my victory pose for when I cross the finish line. I’m number one, baby!
SWM seeks jogging partner
You can see I’ve really worked up a sweat. It’s not like, you know, I was trying to drink from a cup and missed or anything. Ahem.
Speaking of running, look at me go! Here is a training video of me taking several steps before falling over! My coach says I have great form. Boston, here I come!
What’s that? You like a man who takes care of himself? Hang on, let me turn off the light, make things a little more intimate so we can continue our conversation….
Alright, sugar, you were saying?
Navel officer
Emanuel has discovered that marvel of the human anatomy, the belly button. Fortunately for him, he still has a pretty poor long-term memory, so he gets to rediscover the wonder of navels again and again! Here is Inspector Torseau in the course of his exciting investigation, and yes, Mommy has a belly button!
well well, what have we here?
Tomorrow’s exciting chapter: Does Mommy still have a belly button? The suspense is killing me!
Bad hair day
So I guess Emanuel’s hair wasn’t quite dry when I put him down for a nap after his bath…..
stop laughing and hand me a comb!
