A peanut among pumpkins. What a sight! And not very hard to fall in love with! So thinks Lorenzo, who took Lia to his favorite pumpkin patch today, where he made a very bold move at her. The atmosphere was perfectly orange and romantic, ideal for throwing yourself into the arms of your sweet pumpkin pie. Err, peanut pie, of course. Lia was still playing it shy, but her flawless doll-appearance did not keep Lorenzo from wildy hugging his love.
Lia's and Lorenzo's love story is not a cute invention. It is in fact love, passionate and true. And a bit rough. A small pumpkin might easily get in the way of it. Here are not only pictures, but also a video to prove it.
"Oh pine straw! An invitation it is!"
"Come here, sweetheart!"
"Wait! There's a spot. Wipe, wipe."
"And let me scratch that booger off, while I'm at it."
"Give me a kiss, amore!"
And here is a cute video of the little Italian's advance:
Good job, Peanut!
Who would have guessed that such a tiny nose can produce such a great amount of boogers? Our poor little peanut got sick with a nasty cold and an eye infection. Life isn't pleasant when your nose is running and running and running, yet sticking around to plague you. Of course, we will get through this in no time (tfutfutfu), and then we will have produced a great amount of antibodies that'll beat the number of green men by the millions.
This video's action lies in its sound. So pump up the volume and listen to Lia sniffing and snoring.
booger men are somniloquists
Sorry, Bernd. It's time to step aside.
No, this is not our cleaning lady. It's messy Peanut in an adorable set of clothes which she got as a present from our friend Sandra. The shirt reads 'Peanut' and perfectly matches the do-rag (cool expression for the cleaning lady's scarf). Luckily our wriggly Peanut is anything but a doll. But sometimes it's nice to pretend. Sit still, will ya? Oops, there she goes... always busy making a mess. Halloween is just around the corner, another great opportunity for some fancy outfit. What costume will Lia be wearing?? Neither bee, nor doll. But I shall say no more.
It's way too early to call Lia a toddler, but Lia has been trying to walk for quite a while now. It's really more the desire to walk than the ability to do so, but I'm full of pride when Lia manages to wobble two steps into my direction before sinking to the floor. If she is anything like me, Lia is surely working on a ladylike (versus apelike) presentation of her new shoes. If she follows in her father's footsteps, she is probably practicing body control so that she will never be too drunk to walk. But I think she is trying to find her own way of heading straight for the good stuff. Like the endless abundance of presents and love her Auntie Dana has in store for her. 
Choosing your baby's first pair of proper footwear is not only a question of style, but also of substance. As a mom you want your child to wear good and comfortable shoes. But when you are a mom and a style freak, you want your baby to wear good looking shoes. Period. So forget substance. In our case, style is the only answer. And so Peanut and I refused to compromise our style and thus did not buy the orthopedic shoes that looked so, ugh, ugly. Instead we decided to go for dressy. I refuse to feel bad, because our support group (that includes Thiemo, Brandy, and Lorenzo, who tried countless times to crawl out of the orthopedic shoe shop) agrees that Lia should not take her first unsupported steps in ugly shoes. Because none of them wants mommy to avert her eyes and forget to hold out her arms when her daughter comes wobbling towards her in a bricklike pair of flashing pink shoes. After all, safety comes first. 
Lia critically examining a 'comfort shoe' Our decision to buy a stylish pair of prewalker shoes with soft soles found unanimous assent. Luckily, these shoes don't only look good, but taste good too. It's hard to beat style and taste!
Our baby girl is ten months old!
A great reason to dance and party! (Video)
See who else remembered our little devil's anniversary.
Fall has arrived! Finally! And with it the warm season we have waited for all summer long. It's October now, and temperature has dropped below 30 °C. Just perfect for a walk in the park. No longer do we walk to the car to drive to the next airconditioned place, but we now drive to a nearby park to take a walk outside. Via the Starbucks drive-thru. Oh, we have become such Americans. All stripes and stars and totally proud of it. And thus it's not a big surprise that our favorite destination is called FREEDOM Park.
Here Lia can look at dogs of all colors and shapes. But she is not very fond of them, and that's probably because of their funny name: 'adogwoofwoofeinHundwauwaukelevhavhav'. I guess I should stop addressing them in three different lanuages and let my daughter grow up in a normal linguistic environment. Now with the ducks and their international 'quackquack' it's much easier. I guess that's why we spend so much time feeding those (despite the sign that reads 'do not feed the duck quack quack').
P.S. Walking has significant exercise benefits and can also be practiced at home. Here is how it goes:
Lia wobbling around the table, no vodka involved.
(Video)
