the ABCs of Toby

Affectionate- Toby loves his mom. He loves his dad. He loves his sister. He loves his froggy 'Guy.' He loves his doll baby 'Lisa.' You get the idea. :)

Boy- He is 100% male. From leaping off the couch to torturing his older sister.

Cuddly- "Tuddle me mom." One of my favorite things to hear.

Daddy's boy- He watches everything Rob does and does his best to imitate him.

Eater- He ate 4 pancakes and a yogurt for breakfast yesterday and would have had more if we hadn't cut him off.

Forgiving- He will hug his sister and accept her apology 2 seconds after she shoves him down.

Giggler- His big belly laugh often takes people by surprise, since he is otherwise pretty mellow. (see Quiet.)

Handsome- and perhaps a little vain, since I tell him how handsome he is every single day.

Impatient- He is 2 and a half after all.

Jumper- He will attempt to jump off of anything... preferably into someone's arms, but not necessarily. (see Boy.)

Kissable. :x

Laid back- It's true. My little man likes to be carried, cuddled, and lounge around whenever possible. He is not stressed out-- ever.

Mechanically minded- Toby excels at doing things with his hands. Building, taking apart, working the DVD player, getting dressed. He's a hand-eye coordination whiz. (see Puzzle man.)

Not nocturnal- Thankfully, Toby sleeps from about 7 pm to 7 am. No matter what time zone we drop him into.

Obstinate- What can I say? He comes by it honestly.

Puzzle man- He will sit and do puzzles for hours... the more challenging the better.

Quiet- He doesn't say a lot, but when he does talk, it is because he has something worth saying.

Runner- I can't wait to have a yard for Toby to play in. As it is, I have him run laps in our house to burn off some of his energy. (see Boy.)

Stud- He's already a lady's man. ;) We're going to be in big trouble one day. (see Affectionate.)

Traveler- He is ready to go, anytime, anywhere. We are soon going to add 4 countries to the list of places he has been in his short life... and the fun part is he LOVES it.

Understanding- Toby is surprisingly empathetic and aware/considerate of other people's feelings.

Violence abhoring- He rarely (not never) resorts to violence. Even when I think he ought to sometimes. (Like defending himself against a tyrannical older sister.)

Water lover- Whether in the bathtub, the pool, or the ocean. He loves getting wet.

Xenophobic- Not really. I just couldn't think of any other x adjectives.

Yummy- At least I threaten to eat him all up on a regular basis, so he seems like he would be yummy.

Zen- see Laid back.

a Charlotte story in 3 parts

Morning:

Rob is getting Charlotte dressed and can't locate clean underwear for her so he asks her to wear Toby's Lightning McQueen underoos. (He isn't really wearing them yet anyway, but I like to be ready in case he decides to potty train one day.) Charlotte points out that they are for boys and they are "kinda funny," but okay, she'll wear them.

Afternoon:

Charlotte is at a birthday party for a girl in her Kindergarten class. I take her to the bathroom and notice her interesting underwear.
Me: What are you wearing?!
C: Lightning McQueen panties.
Me: Do you know those are Toby's?
C: Daddy put them on me this morning.
Me: [laughing] Okay.

Evening:

Rob is getting Charlotte ready for her bath.
C: Daddy, I don't want to wear these panties again. They scare Mommy.
R: They scare her??
C: Yeah, they scared her and then she laughed at me.

Note: I was not SCARED, just surprised. Good heavenly days.

a video valentine

It's a little early... but enjoy! ;)

The point is MUTE

Okay folks,

Thanks to a nasty case of strep throat and a very scary German doctor... "YOU, don't talk. You don't whisper. Or you will permanently damage your vocal chords." I have been rendered mute for the weekend. But I can still type! Bwa hahaaha. So here is what I have learned in the first 24 hours of my silence.

1. When Rob insisted he had to go to work for the afternoon I felt panicked. And sure enough, within 10 minutes Charlotte had woken up from her nap crying (she is also sick, but with an ear infection) and was asking for more medicine- which I didn't know when she had last taken and couldn't call Rob to ask. So I just shook my head 'no' and put in a movie and we cuddled up until Toby woke up to play with her. The afternoon ended up being okay.

2. Charlotte is a smart cookie. She immediately understood that I would not be talking and has done her best to interpret my guesstures and baby sign language and has repeatedly told Toby 'Mommy can't talk about it!' She has been extra cooperative and just keeps telling me, 'I love you mom' which I appreciate immensely.

3. I feel a bit like Lassie. 'What is it girl? The old barn burned down and Timmy fell in the well?' Unless I actually go get paper and pen to tell Rob something, we go through a 'conversation' like this every fifteen minutes or so...

Me: holds up two fingers

Rob: 'Two.'

Me: Points to pancake recipe

Rob: 'Double it?'

Me: Thumbs up!

4. I had no idea I liked chamomille tea this much. I have gone through 3 pots all by myself.

5. Rob is wonderful. He has cooked, cleaned, and chidcared his heart out the past few days and it has not gone unnoticed. He is currently at the grocery store with BOTH of the kids... an activity I know he does not adore, but that he volunteered to do so I could rest and relax. I love him.... and I would shout it from the rooftops, if I were allowed to speak. ;)

highlights from Paris

This past weekend I went to Paris with two of my fellow mommy girlfriends here in Germany. It was the FIRST time I have gone somewhere overnight without my kiddos! We had a great time, ate LOTS of food, and packed a million things into 2 1/2 days. Here are just a few of my favorite moments.

Sitting by the Eiffel Tower on a quiet Saturday morning.

Though this was my third time in Paris, there were still a lot of firsts to experience. We toured the Rodin Museum, which I loved. This is his "Cathedrale"-- a man's and a woman's hand just touching, with Harmony in the background. (We also went to the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre.)

Oh the food! We had crepes with Nutella (my favorite European vacation treat.) We also dined at a FANCY French restaurant, and gorged ourselves on french pastries... see below.

Bring on the French pastries!!!

However, I'll pass on the stinky cheese.

Julie, Aubrey, and Harmony are....

Mommies on a mission!

Another first for me was visiting Shakespeare & Co. bookstore.

It's an English language bookstore near Notre Dame that I have almost-but-not-quite made it to on my last trips here. It has a rich history, and made my bibliophile heart sing. ;) I picked up a book for Rob called Translation is a love affair, and one for myself of Jack Kerouac's poetry. I could happily spend a day just hanging around here.

Aubrey finds one of many little nooks to read in.

We took a quick trip out to Versailles to admire the decadence and demise of the French monarchy. Aubrey and Harmony in the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed.

We also squeezed in a visit to Napoleon's Tomb and the Army Museum before heading to the airport, which was a first for me. All I have to say about that is... the French sure thought highly of Napoleon to bury him like this.

In the Army museum... now THAT'S a gun.

Overall Paris was exciting, and exhausting. I am glad that I went, but I am also very glad to be back home with my family. :)

Trier and Metz

As we near the end of our time here in Germany, we are realizing there are some places nearby that we'd still really like to see. Over the weekend we checked two of them off our list. :)

First stop was Trier, supposedly the oldest city in Germany.

This Porta Nigra (Black gate) is left from when the Romans ruled the town, about 200 AD. It was later used as a church for a time, but is now just ruins.

We had way too much fun tromping around the BLACK GATE in search of the dragon with fiery breath and pink polka dots. hee hee

The view of downtown from the Porta Nigra was classic medieval Germany. We noticed dates from the 1600s on many of the buildings as we walked around.

We checked out this cathedral in Trier. It is (again supposed to be) the oldest cathedral in Germany. (I thought the one we went to in Aachen was as well, but I rechecked- and apparently that is the oldest cathedral in Northern Europe.) At any rate, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Constantine commissioned its building back in the 300s. I hate to sound jaded, but we have seen SO MANY old cathedrals in the past 3 years, and we agreed this one seemed kinda unremarkable to us.

Karl Marx was from Trier. We skipped the Marx Museum, but found this 'Modehaus Marx' kind of amusing. It takes guts to use Marx's name for a capitalist endeavor. ;)

This is the Konstantinbasilika in Trier. It has apparently been turned into a church as well?? It used to be the seat of government for the ruling Romans.

After spending the afternoon in Trier we drove into France to visit Metz. Metz is not a major tourist destination, but some of my Kaufman ancestors come from there and since it is only 2 hours from our house, I have really wanted to visit.

The cathedral of St. Etienne in Metz is very central to the old town. My ancestors were Catholic, and while I don't know if they ever attended mass here, it was fun to imagine they did. It has been here since the 13th century, so they certainly could have.

Anyway, I loved this Madonna and child above the door. You rarely see Mary and Jesus portrayed as smiling at one another so warmly, but I'm sure it happened. :)

Inside the Cathdral of St. Etienne.

Outside the cathedral.

There was a flea market and open air food market going on outside as well. We 'perused the merchandise' and bought the kiddos a soft pretzel for the ride. It was a fun, simple little trip. :)

What was I thinking?

Last night I thought Charlotte might like to watch While You Were Sleeping with me. It's a "clean" movie I thought- no swearing, no scary action, kinda funny moments. This should be fun, right? Well it was... but not for the reasons I expected.

The entire movie was a stream of questions from my inquisitive little one.

"Why is he sleeping?"
"How can he still be sleeping with all of those people in his room?"
"Why is she talking to him when he's in a coma?" (Yes, I was answering all of these questions.)
"Why doesn't she have a family? That's sad."
"Why is she dipping a cookie in the cat food? That's gross!" (I agree.)
"Does she love that guy?" (Joe Jr.)
"Does she love that guy?" (Jack)
"Does she love that guy?" (Sol)

"At the beginning she said 'I love you' to Peter, so she is going to marry Peter."
"Why did she kiss Jack? If you kiss someone you have to marry them." (Mistletoe.)
"Why didn't she marry Peter, Mom!?"
"She has to marry somebody so she isn't lonely anymore!"
"I don't understand why she married Jack."

"Can I marry Toby?" (No.) "When we're grown-ups?" (No.) "But Toby is my best friend, and I want to marry my best friend like you and Daddy." (Awww.)
"When I go to bed, will I wake up again?" (I promise.)

I probably wouldn't have been amused by having to answer questions for an hour and a half if we weren't watching something I practically have memorized... but as it was, we both had a good time. I look forward to watching many more chick flicks with my little chick-- when she gets a bit older. ;)

kids in hats

Our friend Felicity knit the kiddos these ADORABLE hats....

Where's Toby?

This "Mr. T" is my little heart-throb. ;)

This girl cannot keep from being silly in front of the camera.

I can't believe how grown-up my baby Charlotte is. :(

our angelic little lamb

Charlotte has participated in TWO Nativity plays this weekend. On Friday evening, her Kindergarten did one with all 80-100 of the 3-7 year olds. (Ambitious, huh?) Charlotte's class were the sheep and other animals. We thought she did really well, and she was VERY proud of herself. :)

Performing their first of 2 songs.

ALL of the Kindergarten children during the finale.

(Charlotte is on the lower mid-left of this photo.)

Charlotte and her best German buddy, Paula.

Singing "Hei und Stroh"

which as far as I can gather translates to "safe/warm and straw." I guess the animals would think a bed of straw a very good place for the infant Jesus to be placed? This is just the last minute of the song, I HAD to show you how Charlotte dances along when she isn't quite sure of the words. Awesome. :)

The Nativity at our church Christmas party was somewhat less successful. Charlotte (an angel) decided to have stage fright. Rob and I couldn't figure it out, but we think the difference was rehearsal time. At school they practiced all week, so Charlotte was prepared and knew what to do. At church, it was a much simpler production and the kids were just told to "act" their parts.

Now we know... Charlotte does not do improv.

An ode to Rachel

Well, Rachel is feeling quite left out of our blog after having a glare on her face on my homemade for the holidays post, and we mustn't have that! So I decided to give you your very own post, Rachel. ;)

(A little bit of) Tom, Becky, Rob, Rachel, and Allyson in an old Anderson family photo.

We often mis-call Charlotte "Rachel" for some reason... partly because the letters are similar and partly because the people are similar we think. :)

Toby loved having private Yoga lessons from Aunt Rachel while we were in Utah.

Rachel with Toby, the Yogi Bear.

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa Claus,

I was a good girl this year. And Toby thinks he was naughty [Toby yelling in the background "Nonny! Nonny!" in the style of Animal from the Muppets,] but he tries to be good. I would like a flashlight ["FLASHLIGHT TOO!"] and Toby does too.

I love you Santa. And I like your reindeer.

I want a pink flashlight and Toby wants a blue one.

CHA

Homemade for the holidays

I decided to be ambitious and do an "all-homemade-ornaments" tree this year. That way the kids can rearrange the ornaments all they want, and if stuff breaks I don't mind so much. We already had pine cones and gingerbread men we made last year. So we just did a couple more crafts to fill it out.

These are our family tree ornaments. I picked up these mini frames at Michael's when we were in the US and cut, or printed, photos of all of our family. Then I just attached some ribbon to hang them. The kiddos really love pointing out all of their "friends" and grandmas and grandpas. I love that we managed to get everyone, and Allen is the only one repeated twice... and Newel, Karolina, and Jack's photo is a drawing done by Karolina. (Sorry Rachel, there is a major glare on your face in this photo, but I promise you look great!)

These yarn ornaments I saw on Homemade Mamas and they were super easy. Charlotte helped me do them, but she didn't like the sticky glue. Sigh. We just tied on ribbons after popping the balloons and hung them on the tree. Cheap and cute, and kinda old-fashioned looking. I like it. ;)

Shhh, don't tell Toby!

This is the quilt I made him for Christmas this year. I turned the corner down so you could see the orange backside. I wanted it to be a little bit grown-up looking for the Little Man of the house. I think it turned out really cute with the quilting done with orange thread in diamonds.

One more secret photo!

This is the quilt I made for Charlotte this year. It's hard to see in the pic, but the quilting in the center is a square spiral that "twists" a bit.

The front has ladybugs and daisies, and the back is a blue/white checked gingham & white block, checkerboard pattern. I'm sure there will be many stuffed animal picnics happening on this one.

Charlotte enjoying our Pyramiden.

The heat from the candles makes a fan on top turn and the wise men and shepherds go around the mini-nativity scene in the center. No, I didn't make this!! I just loved the photo and wanted to share it. :)

Julie's travel tips

In airports and hotels, and at tourist destinations, we are constantly asked "How do you do it?" We are also greeted with comments like, "I'd die before traveling with 2 little kids." "I don't understand how they are still standing." and, my favorite, "Better you than me." And considering that we have been in 9 countries and on 17 airplanes in the past 2 years, I've decided to take a stab at writing down a few things that have worked for us. Here goes:


* Each kid gets their own backpack. In it they have their favorite stuffed animal for cuddling and comfort, snacks (healthy ones like fruit and crackers) and treats (unhealthy ones like lollipops and M&Ms,) a NEW book, a NEW sticker/coloring book, a small box of 4 crayons, a pair of headphones (for airplane movies,) and a few other toys (Toby usually gets cars, and Charlotte some little ponies.) They carry their own bags and they cannot open them until we say so.


* I carry a diaper bag with the diapers, wipes, sippy cups, snacks for grown-ups, and also a complete change of clothes for each kid. And sometimes also pajamas for each kid, cuz you never know.


* In airports we like to: ride the escalators, have the kids race from one spot to another (over and over again,) give the other passengers silly names (like Harriet and Tornado Man- nothing derogatory) watch airplanes, and discuss workers and what jobs we see them doing.


* On road trips we like to: make up stories (everybody can add in bits,) read books, look for things out the windows, and do the backpack thing. We don't have DVDs or handheld games in the car at all, though Santa may be changing that soon. ;)


* In hotels we like to: play ball (we bring a soft one with us,) have hot chocolate parties with the provided cups (bring some packets from home in your suitcase,) watch TV (we do rely on this pretty heavily in the evenings when we are exhausted,) jump on the bed, and let the kids look through photos on the camera.


*When waiting in lines we like to: give people funny names some more (I don't know why this is so amusing, but it works for us,) put the kids on our shoulders or backs to give them a break and a change of scenery (I'd be bored looking at people's knees for 30 minutes too,) have a snack, talk to strangers in line with you (I know, I'm a bad mom, but you can tell pretty quickly if people are toddler tolerant or not-- some really enjoy passing the time chatting with Charlotte or tossing a ball with Toby, and that gives us a mental break too.)


* At tourist sites we like to: play 'I Spy' and have the kids look for something (like 'pictures with horses' in an art museum, or 'blue flowers' in a garden,) celebrate when they are good at a "boring" place with an ice cream cone or fruit snack reward afterwards, and make sure to visit parks and playgrounds between destinations to burn off energy.


So those are a few things that we do. We are not completely meltdown-free on all of our adventures, but for the most part we have a good time together, and the kids enjoy it too. We hope they will have happy memories of all our family adventures together some day. :)

Waiting in the airport in Zadar, Croatia.

Nice playground in Bruges, Belgium.

There was a band playing in a pavilion nearby, so we got to listen to music too.

Bedtime stories in Grindelwald, Switzerland.

New York, NY

After Utah, we flew back to JFK and had 24 hours before our flight to Germany. We checked into a hotel, got some sleep, and decided in the morning to have a mini-trip into the city for some holly, jolly fun. (And to wear out kids- very important before a red eye flight, stay tuned for more of Julie's travel tips.)

First stop- Rockefeller Center to see the (in)famous Christmas tree. This place was insane! Silly me, first Saturday after Thanksgiving. The kids were not terribly impressed by the Swavarski crystal star, and it was daytime so the lights were not thrilling either. But oh well, we tried. ;)

After Rockefeller Center we peeked in shop windows and strolled to the Carnegie Deli.

Here we had a traditional New York lunch.

Rob and I shared a Reuben the size of my head and a meat knish, while Charlotte and Toby split a foot long hot dog. Then we decided we all needed a little cheesecake topped with chocolate mousse.

Oh. My. Goodness. This place is good.

(No wonder it is so dang crowded.)

After lunch we had to work off those calories by trekking back (via Subway, train, and shuttle) to JFK airport for the long flight home. It was a good little mini-break though. :)

(Really, for the cheesecake alone I would do it again.)

Utah is the place...

... to see Nichols/Anderson family and old college friends!

We had fun visiting in Utah as well, but I'm afraid I didn't take very many pictures here either. We just enjoyed relaxing and spending time eating, and playing games, walking in the park and Big Cottonwood Canyon, and talking with each other. I have a few photos to share though, and Rob's cousin-in-law(?) Marissa put some on Facebook if you're just dying to see more!

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson were enlisted to read many, many books to Charlotte and Toby. "One more, peease."

While we were in Utah, we all went to the dentist and had cleanings.

Charlotte gets the gold star for best dental patient under 5 years old! Turns out her baby teeth have "malformed enamel" and she will have some problems with them (including 3 cavities filled on this trip.) Thankfully, the pediatric dentist assures us we are doing a good job with brushing and her adult teeth should be fine.

We spent a day at the Children's Discovery Museum in Salt Lake, thanks to Cousin Annie. The kids loved playing here in the pretend construction zone, house, grocery store, and farm.

Annie's little girl Emma is done grocery shopping. We went to church with the Wolfes as well, and Toby loved being in Nursery with Emma while Charlotte was in Sunbeams with Annie for her teacher. :)

Can't make a trip to Utah without showing the kids Temple Square.

They were still in the process of setting up the Christmas lights, but we saw all of the Nativity scenes and talked with Charlotte and Toby about families being together forever.

Thanks to everyone that we got to spend time with...

and we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!