Ben turned 10

No doubt he looked extremely gorgeous with his hair wild and long, but as his vision has been slightly impaired for quite some time now, it was time for Ben's first haircut. Two months before his first birthday I took him to the village barber. Or should I say butcher? Short bangs, long sideburns. I'm afraid Ben turned into a little trailer buddy, and if he wants to impress upper class girls as well, we need to find him a fancy city hairdresser asap.

Mom's desperate attempt to cover up the hairy mess with gel:

It seems that Ben will live through a bunch of bad hair days, but he's sure to survive. Without the gel he looks a whole lot like Julius Caesar, but be it Beckham or Caesar, that boy is cute no matter what. There are two sides of a cut, just as there are two sides of a coin, and both of them suit him equally well. Even his tough and manly side has recently been softened. I probably shouldn't be writing this, but Ben has been spotted playing with Lia's doll Lotta! Never before did Lotta receive so much attention. Some of what I witnessed certainly needs to be rated PG 13, with Ben drooling all over Lotta's face. Therefore I can't post pictures of this romantic encounter, after all this is the internet! Let's just stick to Ben's tough side. Spikey hair and fuming tires included.

And much, much more has been going on! Ben's two upper central incisors have erupted! Also, the little guy is now standing on his two feet! Totally stable for five seconds before elegantly squatting back down. Not too long before our little monkey will practise his upright walk. In the meantime, Ben uses everything that isn't attached as a walking aid. Chairs and boxes are pushed from one side of the room to the other, and sometimes he will hold on to the back of my pants to walk along with me. He is a content little baby, up until his sister enters the room. The very second he lays his eyes on her, he gets ecstatic! A couple of days ago he did this crazy frog dance when spotting his sister. Dancing. Here we go. Another 'feminine' side that goes along with his Caesar cut and tender loving care for dolls. Ben's got RHYTHM! Nothing better than to fly through the living room in Mom's arms. Or shake his head 'no,no' to the rhythm. Sooo cute. That little baby of mine is developing his own personality. He has even learned to express his anger rather dramatically by lying flat on the belly and stretching out his arms and legs. So don't you dare take his favorite toy away from him! Or Godzilla will surely catch you! In about a month! Getting ready. Ruuuah.

3

Rumor has it that a certain nutty someone turned 3. Can it be true? Has it been a whole year since our little girl had her grand entrance in a fluffy pink feather boa at My Gym? Has it been a whole year since she got kissed full force on her lips by a little Italian boy? A whole year since we packed our bags (or car) to leave the New World and start anew in Germany? I guess so. There have been plenty of changes, pleasant and not so pleasant ones, but all in all, we are so glad to see that one happy Peanut was perfectly coping with all of last year's challenges. Since December 6th a very wise three-year-old proudly raises three little fingers into the air when asked her age!

Presents aplenty at 6 in the morning!

And what a sight to behold when it's still dark outside:

A bunch of girly birthday muffins for the kids at kindergarten:

And the perfect present for someone whose Dad is in Sales: a mini-shop!

Mini-customer inclusive.

"A strawberry for you, sir? That's 350 Euro, please!"

How to lift three candles?

Here is one more for good measure. And good luck!

Happy birthday, Peanut!

Lia's big day

For the last weeks Lia has been painstakingly practicing and polishing her kindergarten skills.

A certain someone is more than ready to leave the house...

And then comes December 1st 2009. Lia picks her pink kindergarten bag (it's all about options), poses for Mommy with a surprise goodie cone, and confidently marches to kindergarten.

Ready? Of course we are. No, not WE, but Lia. I am scared ****less, but that's just me, an overly worried mother who is not very good at letting her baby go. In an attempt to mentally prepare Lia for the new phase of life that is about to start, we have been reading books about kindergarten and talked so much about it, that Lia has started to think of herself as an accomplished kindergarten kid weeks before her enrolment. "Hello I'm Lia and I'm going to kindergarten!" "Ich geh schon in den Kinnagarten!" I think I've brainwashed her quite a bit. I simply wanted her to have an idea of what lies ahead of her. I've also told her a couple of times that the little girl that lives in our street will be in the same group with her. So on the morning of her big day I asked her: "And who will be in kindergarden with you?" And she smiled a big smile at me and answered: "Lorenzo!" And that's when I got all teary and my (still) two-year-old daughter told me not to cry. Quite the opposite of what some other families go through on their first day of kindergarten.

When I went to pick her up after her first day alone in kindergarten, I was so nervous that I was running instead of walking. Of course Lia was happily playing with the other kids and refused to go home with me. And this is her first masterpiece for mom to stick on the fridge: a sparkly nocturnal sky.

Peanut is now a real kindergarten kid. She's all ready to fight over toys and charm her new little and big friends. She is a member of the bear group, and hence a real, proper "group bear" as she calls herself now. "Ich bin ein Gruppenbär!" Hard to believe that our nutty Gruppenbear is turning 3...