Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Toby TV

Toby turned 6 weeks old yesterday! Time is really flying... and he is really BIG! He goes to the Kinderarzt (Pediatrician) on Friday, so we'll have some official measurements then, but I had time to video him today, so here's our growing baby boy. :)

PS- I know the video is sideways... I just don't know WHY the video is sideways. I promise I did not turn the camera sideways. Weird.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

the circus came to town!

Last Tuesday we went to the Carl Busch Circus in Darmstadt with the Carley family. We sat in the first row and had a lot of fun! We were DIRECTLY below the guy in the trapeze act that catches the other acrobats... under the net... where a few acrobats fell and we got to see their faces when they let go of the bar (Rob thinks that look was concentration- I think it was fear.)

Anyway, neither Rob nor Charlotte had ever been to a circus before. Charlotte loved the elephants and "lions"-- there were no lions, only tigers. There was even a little baby tiger that really was quite adorable. Rob thinks this circus is better than the "big" ones where you expect all of the acts to go just fine... this one had real potential for people getting hurt. Rob and I both agree that we think it would have been better without the animal acts though- they aren't as exciting as the human acts and we just kinda felt sad for the animals the whole time.

Yay for the European style clown though- way less scary and more genuinely entertaining! He didn't wear a wig and had on similar clothes to the other performers and did neat juggling and audience participation gags.

Here are a few shots--

Charlotte's favorite thing about the circus.

This guy looks about the right size.

I don't think Michael and Charlotte blinked once during the trapeze act. Rob tried to get a picture of the acrobats... but it was hard being directly below the net and he wanted them to be facing us, since the women were in THONGS and we didn't really want a bum shot. ;)


Oh, one last random shot- Charlotte and her new friend Sammy playing "nap time" at playgroup on Thursday. I think Max is there as the chaperone.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

2 years!

Charlotte celebrated her second birthday this past weekend! Boy, it was an interesting weekend too- we have officially entered the terrible twos.

Saturday morning we were getting ready to go for a walk and Rob took some trash out and came back in the house to brush his teeth before we left. The problem with this is that German doors are ridiculous. Our front door automatically locks behind you from the outside, and opens from the inside by just pulling on it- unless you lock it with the key, which we ALWAYS do, except when we're getting ready to leave the house like this. So anyway, I came downstairs and the door was open and Charlotte was gone. She wasn't visible anywhere on our street, so I took off in one direction and Rob in the other. Rob found her in the middle of the road a block and a half away with a woman holding her. She was safe and it was okay in the end... but it was a very scary experience for us.

So, after our walk, she was supposed to take a nap so we could clean up and make her cake, etc. The first time Rob checked on her she had climbed up on the changing table and pulled about 20 wipes out of the container. A while later I went upstairs to the bathroom and found Charlotte, who exclaimed "you scared me!" dipping toilet paper in the toilet and then wringing it out onto the bathroom floor. Are you kidding me? FINALLY we got Charlotte down for a nap in our bed- where there are no toys and fewer distractions.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the big second birthday weekend...




Charlotte loves looking at that last picture of her and Toby and wanted to do it again, so here ya go. She's a cheeseball! And you can see how much they look alike, and how much Toby has chunked up in just one month.

I made Charlotte a Blue's Clues "paw print" cake and blue cupcakes. She loved everyone singing to her and blowing out the candle.






Charlotte and Anna dig into their cupcakes.


After dinner and cake we all went up to play in Charlotte's room for a little while. (William, Jack W., and Charlotte playing in this picture.) Notice in the back all of those toys in "Charlotte's Playhouse." Rob asked her to bring him everything one day- and boy did she ever! Every toy, plus her bedding, and many books.


Since she loved it so much, and since we ended up only eating the cupcakes on Saturday, on Sunday we put the candle back on the cake and sang Happy Birthday again. :)

Charlotte is really her own unique little person. She is stubborn and strong-willed, usually happy and sometimes emotional, very affectionate with her stuffed animals, and loves to sing, dance, read, and do ANYTHING social. She has made our home a much more laughter filled place these past two years and we love our Peanut very much!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

3 little pictures


Charlotte managed to squeeze her head into one of Toby's little hats. Rob and I both had to laugh at how much she looks like a little Mennonite. ;)

Sometimes Toby likes just hanging out on the boppy, sucking on his pacifier, and looking at the world. I'm so glad he takes a pacifier!

Cuddling on the couch. This is my new favorite picture!

Friday, October 10, 2008

video day

We are back online! Woo-hoo!!! :) It finally feels like we are getting settled into our new home here in Germany. Our furniture has arrived, Toby has arrived, and now we can communicate with the world. :)

Anyway, we are still adjusting to being a family of 4. And it HAS been an adjustment for all of us. Charlotte likes Toby most of the time, but has been acting up more than usual... is it the terrible twos??? Is it the new baby?? Probably a bit of both. I hope she gets over it soon.

Toby is a typical newborn I suppose... beautiful, brilliant, and perfect in every way! ;) Except, of course, that he doesn't sleep very well and he screams his head off when he has gas, which is often... especially at 1 am, 2 am, 3 am, and 4 am. Oh well, maybe I'll sleep next year?

Rob and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on Wednesday very simply with Pakistani food, roses, and chocolate. :) I have been especially mindful since we've been in Germany of what a wonderful husband I have: he takes Toby for an hour or two each morning and gets Charlotte her breakfast if she is up so I can sleep uninterrupted, he comes home from the store with little treats that he thinks I'll enjoy, he calms my fears and worries when I have them and yet gently encourages me to be braver and to new things more than I would on my own. And he STILL laughs at my silly jokes and terrible puns. I am very blessed to have such a companion for life's journey. :D

Okay, okay, time for some stories and videos of the kids, since I know that is why you are really here! ;)



I took this video while waiting to pick Rob up from work yesterday. (We had the car to go to a playdate.) It's a little hard to hear Charlotte... I was trying to get her to tell me what Toby was saying, but it didn't happen. (Usually when Toby makes a noise Charlotte interprets for him... "says ehh," "says hiccup," "says cat" etc.) I thought the video was still cute though, and you can hear how verbal she is these days. She talks non-stop!



And this is a kinda boring video of Toby sleeping. ;) He is adorable though, isn't he? He looks very much like Charlotte did as an infant, but I see a lot more of Rob in him somehow. We'll try to get some video of him awake soon. :)