Fuzzy Bee

Fuzzy Bee and Friends - that's Lia's newest book, which swarms with bees, flies, and worms. Quite brave to try and eat a bug ... Lia's first test of courage.

Books are fuuuun, especially those that do without words (which only distract from the actual plot). A promising career in Literary Studies lies ahead. You can always judge a book by its cover. And its pictures, as a matter of fact.

Our little bookworm, wriggling on her blanket. "Tall but petite" as the nurse at the doctor's office described Lia. Or as Thiemo put it: "It's like one of those rare occasions when you open a peanut shell, and instead of getting two big nuts you are presented with one slim peanut!" A pearl oyster peanut.

Exploring North Carolina Part II



Lia decided that sleeping through the night was a total waste of time. Exploring the world and finding out what holes and slits North Carolina has to offer is much more thrilling to our little girl. Especially at night...

Exploring North Carolina

It's Memorial Day weekend, a good time to get away from the normal course of life, pack some bottles, a blanket, and your offspring and go for a ride.

And that's what we did!

We had a picnic in the North Carolina Arboretum, surrounded by the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Cutie ...

kissed and ...

burped.

On our way home we drove down Blue Ridge Parkway which offers a breathtaking scenery. Actually, we drove 'up' Blue Ridge Parkway, into the wrong direction... It took us hours to get back home - a lenghty roadtrip that was worth every mile.

Our second excursion took us to Lake Norman. Same thing: bottles, blanket, baby! Plus some sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, and a baby tent (that comes with UV 50 protection and overprotective parents).

Lia slightly bewildered,

then dozing off.

Thiemo trying out our new American folding chairs.

Yes, we are adjusting.

No wonder, after all that excitment, Lia FINALLY decided to sleep through the night!!! This is an absolute first. 12 hours in a row. Did I sleep? Of course not. At four in the morning I sneaked into Lia's room and checked her breathing. And then crawled back into bed, pretty amazed. And could not fall asleep again. YAWN.

This picture was taken after Lia's afternoon nap. The little athlete was upside down, pressed neatly against the bed's short side. We only recently bought a crib bumper. Obviously just in time for Lia to practice gymnastics in bed. PHEW!

Baby Steps

Every day there is a little bit of progress in Lia's development, as for example in the growing number of inches that Lia is able to move about, butt in the air, face on the floor, pushing herself with her feet along our carpet. Looks like she is hunting for truffels. Her nose even gets red from all the truffel snuffel.

Also, Lia is now able to read. O.k., not quite. It's the caterpillar that she's in love with, which is growing bigger and bigger with each turning page. A pretty good example to follow.

A little pit stop once in a while, snuggling against her duck, helps Lia to regain her strength for more inches she has to cover on her tummy. This looks more like 'schnuffel' than 'snuffel'.

But nothing compares to the love units Peanut spends with us.

We hope.

Music on the Lawn

Promenade on Providence is the shopping center that is within walking distance and thus offers itself for some quick stroller strides and a bit of leisure time. Also, every Friday and Saturday evening the neighborhood gathers at Promenade on Providence to enjoy an evening of live music. Blankets, lawn chairs, screaming kids and a content Peanut are scattered on a neatly trimmed lawn.

Lia's cute pink hat offers only limited view, just enough to pluck some blades of grass and strike up a conversation with an ant.

The hat is still too big and leaves Lia slightly disoriented. "A bit like Fuzzy the cowboy," says Thiemo. An extremely adorable Fuzzy, though.

This Little Pirate

is tired from wrestling with bear!

Since Lia is able to reach for desirable objects, nothing and no one is safe. The leaves of her 'flower mobile' have been torn off, strands of Mommy's hair are enthusiastically pulled (and I'm already shedding like a dog) and blankets are tugged and vigorously wrapped around the body and over the face. We've got to pay attention and keep more than one eye on our daughter. But when she looks at us like that, we willingly surrender to our pirate.

Belly Guru

The back is no longer in style. It's her belly that Lia is now infatuated with, more so by lying on it, rather than filling it with milk. (Drinking obviously takes up too much of her precious tummy time.) The belly offers a great vista, but makes it hard to move about. Lia can either support herself on her arms, or pull the kness to her belly while falling on her nose. And thus she inevitably rolls onto her back again (when someone comes to her rescue and flips her over - the tummy is still a one-way street, once you've rolled from back to stomach you are actually stuck). On the back Lia can at least hop forward by pushing herself with her feet. But as you can't see whatcha hittin', this form of locomotion is no long-term solution. It becomes especially annoying when you hit the top of the stroller, although it's quite fun when Mommy uses the back wheels to shake her daughter down. But lying on the tummy is simply the best. The view is just so much better than blue skies and an occasional cloud. And off we go with a queen's wave...

A quick power nap on the belly is a must.

Princess Peanut is 5 months old!

Happy Birthday,

Lia!