Kids Update Nov 2011

We have been BUSY! Since August we have had a constant stream of visitors and while I'm happy to say I've finished blogging the visits, I do want to record how much the kids have changed.

Kevin
Our chill little guys is still chill, but getting so much more active.

• He still normally does his arm crawl (which has gotten faster), but yesterday he also did a could normal crawl moves.
• He loves to stand himself up on anything. His current favorites are the toy parking garage, his car seat and any big boxes.
• He likes to 'help' unload the dishwasher...definitely not very helpful when we're trying to load it. He clears the diapers and wipes off the bottom two shelves of the book case then gnaws on them.
• He LOVES the power cords that are under the computer and no matter what we put in front of them to block him from them, he manages to find a way around.
• He is good traveler. He usually just falls asleep in his car seat when we start going which make it really easy (crossing my fingers the same is true on a plane).
• He is not a huge fan of purees, but loves bread and expects to be eating whenever he sees you eating.
• He has been sleeping horribly at night...so not cool. He sleeps awesome from 9pm-midnight, but then after that he's up on and off until the morning.
• He like his voice - he lets out random happy squeals every now and again

He had a check-up today and here are his stats (so he's about 7.5 months old)
Weight: 7.4 kilos (16.28 pounds)
Height: 72 cm (28.3 inches)
Head: 44 cm (17.3 inches)

According to the curve in the back of the "carnet de l'enfant" (the book every child has here to store all doctor info), he is still slightly below average in head, is now above average (moved from about 15th percentile to 60th percentile) in height and is still trucking along around the 15th percentile in weight. I guess that makes him long and skinny.

Kherington
Oh Kherington. She is a very active, sweet little girl who usually drives me crazy by the end of the day (sometime I don't make it to the end).

• She is into EVERYTHING - she just pushes the chairs around to help herself to whatever she wants (it drives me crazy)
• She loves to give Kevin hugs and kisses
• Her current favorite animal is George (as in curious George). Brown bear has gotten the boot, but Bruce (formerly Rainbow Bear) still get to go places.
• She loves story time and cycles through the books she likes us to read. Recently she has been on a 101 Dalmatians and Sesame Street's Perfect Picnic books. Previously it was Princess and Curious George.
• She could (and sometimes does) eat noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner..sometimes she helps herself and eats them dry just like her Dad (yucky)
• She loves (and expects to be able to) help me bake/cook/mix
• She loves water - sometimes she disappears and then I hear the bathtub going (and sometime that happens multiple times a day)
• She also travels wells thanks to our DVD player. The only gotcha is that she must be the one to find and put the DVD into the player. This is fine, but it causes all our DVD to get scratched.
• She is sleeping awesome at night. She goes down more easily. We read her a few stories then leave her to read to her animals and she actually stays in her bed and does it.
• She is a chatterbox. She loves talking on toy phones to all her friends, family and animals.
• She runs around in just her underwear way more that she should...I never thought I'd be like this, but I feel like it is a success when she make it back into her underwear after using the potty...My current motto is as long as the underwear is on correctly I just don't care.
• She does not like coats...she will put it on when we leave, but then remove it as soon as we get outside (kinda defeats the purpose)

Ryan and I and doing well too :)

States Bound

It's been less than a week since my last visitors left and I only have 2 days until I leave for the States (for the holiday's that is). Every other time I've gone back I have been ready to go, but this time I am just wanting to do nothing, go nowhere, see no one...I want to stay home all day in my sweats and read or channel surf (well i guess that would only be possible if we had a TV, but you catch my drift). Anyways, I'm excited to go, but at the same time I just want to chill...so I decided to make a list of what I'm looking forward to (in no particular order...just what crossed my mind first):

• Unlimited supply of Frosted Mini Wheats
• Full-size washer and dryer - I can wash AND dry my clothes in 1.5 hours instead of just wash half a US size load (in that 1.5 hours) that would then need to hand dry for at least a day (usually 2 in the winter)
  
• Grandparents to watch my kids so I can do whatever I like at normal human speed
  
• Shopping after 8pm...in fact I could shop 24x7 if I really wanted to
• English - I can now ease drop of other conversations, read the ingredients on labels or even orders something on a menu and know exactly what I'm getting
• Costa Vida - not Cafe Rio, but this will do...there is one in Kennewick (where my sister lives)
• Pay in the dollar (so much cheaper!)
• Black Friday - aka kids outfitting day for the next year
• Costco
• No Sunday School teaching - I'll admit I have learned a ton teach the adult gospel doctrine class, but it will be nice to have a break
• Nieces & Nephews for my kids to play with
• A non-powersaver stove that stays on while you cook instead of cycling off and on
  
• Cubed butter (a break from the 500 gram blocks I buy here)

Now if I can just finish packing and have a peaceful flight with the two kids and no Ryan.

Aachen Christmas Market 2011

Since the kids and I are leaving for the States so early, we thought we might end up missing Christmas market season in Europe. Then I found out that Dusseldorf and Aachen Christmas markets open really early. Aachen is closer so we opted for that one (with all the driving we've been doing I didn't want to put the kids in the car for any longer than necessary).

Each time we go to Aachen we seem to find something new. Last time we found a slide inside a toy store, this time we found a 3 story high slide right next to the parking garage we parked in (our normal garage was full so we tried a new one and it was cheaper plus had the slide at the exit). The best part is that the slide is right off the main pedestrian shopping area so in the future if one of us wants to shop the other can take the kids to the slide. Kherington even climbed up the stairs and went down all by herself after a couple runs with her daddy (Kevin did one run too).

If going to a Christmas market doesn't get you into the Christmas mood, I'm not sure what will. Lights, food, shopping, people and street performers...so much fun!

Last year we did the normal long bratwurst, so this year we went for the really long (aka half meter) bratwursts. While they are fun, I think I prefer the normal long ones. We also got a delicious crepe. This year we passed on the mushrooms (they are amazing, but at 4 euros a bowl they cost more than the bratwurst). We avoided the german cookies which have a black licorice flavor that ruins them for me. We also tried some apple cidar. It was apple/strawberry and was also way expensive plus I didn't care for the taste. Live and learn :).

Kherington sweet talked her daddy in to not one but two rides on the carousel. She is funny. She LOVES riding them, but as soon as it starts moving she gets a frown on her face like she doesn't want you to know that she likes the ride. Then when it stops she begs for more.

Each of the booths is filled with different gift type products including leather goods, stuffed animals, wood work, ornaments, cookies and more. It is fun to see what everyone is selling, but I don't typically buy anything.

I can't wait to try out more Christmas markets in the years to come :).