hoppe hoppe reiter

 

summertime

Of course, San Diego weather is pleasant most of the year. And we did not even have a bad May Gray or June Gloom period over the past weeks. But in the last couple of days summer has really started:

 

The sky is bright blue from early morning on, the air is already nice and warm right when you wake up, it stays balmy into the evening...




...and the living is easy ;-)

got me something?!

Penny hoping to find some dog treats in the weekly groceries

suppenkasper

Charlotte isst oder probiert eigentlich alles: vom Brokkoli über den Spinat zum Blumenkohl, Möhren, Aubergine, rote Beete, grüne Bohnen, Kartoffelpüree, Erbsen, Linsensuppe, Fisch, Hühnchen, Kalbsleber, Reis, Joghurt, Nudeln, Bolognesesauce, Bananen, Erdbeeren, Himbeeren, Bromberen, Blaubeeren, Kiwis, Mango, Butterbrot und und und...
die Liste ist lang.

WAS auf den Tisch kommt ist eigentlich egal/kein Problem.
WIE gegessen wird ist wichtig um Charlotte in Esslaune zu halten.
Und jetzt bloss nicht selber den Kasper machen Mama & Daddy! Löffelflugzeuge sind doch ein alter Hut... und lenken viel zu sehr ab,
da muss man einfach staunen und vergisst doch glatt beim ganzen Hinschauen zu essen.

Nein -- nicht abgelenkt und bespasst will man werden, sondern BESCHÄFTIGT! Schüsseltürmebauen ist so faszinierend, dass man gar nicht merkt wie ein Löffel und eine Gabel nach der anderen in den Mund wandern.

Und selber (mit Besteck, oder auch nicht...) essen ist in letzter Zeit noch besser: da kann man sich so schön das Ei über's ganze Gesicht schmieren und mit den Butterfingern durch die Haare fahren :-)

nom nom or namm namm?

 Mama and Daddy might have to concede Charlotte's first word to more important things in baby life... Although she can say Mama and Dada, Charlotte does not often and pointedly do so. But when it comes to food and best friends, she can be very talkative! (in both languages spoken in our family)

When asked if she is hungry, Charlotte responds "Nom Nom!" (or "Namm Namm!" if she is speaking German at that moment ;-) and will pull up on her chair with an excited smile. When flipping through one of her favorite books, Charlotte also exclaims "Nom Nom!" upon seeing this picture of a little girl feeding her teddy bear.

A sign of language comprehension: response and recognition.
So to no surprise, Charlotte will also babble "Wau Wau" when spotting a four-legged friend or when asked how the dog or, more importantly, Penny goes.

Other favorite responses: Raising her arms high up in the air, with a big grin, when asked how tall she is -- or, again very important, who Penny's best friend is. Pointing at Mama's, Daddy's and Penny's noses, when asked. Opening and closing doors (asked or not ;-) ... putting things away (we'll see how long that lasts!), bringing and handing over toys, giving kisses, clapping her hands, waving hello and good-bye, pointing at favorite animals (cow, sheep, pig, duck, monkey and frog), hugging Rosa her bunny, heading over to Penny's bed, her wagon and sandbox.

Words define your world -
so it's fun to see what makes up Charlotte's these days! 

happy father's day!

And a happy day it was: After Charlotte started sharing her love for bacon with Daddy over pancake breakfast, we set out on our first family bike ride together.

Charlotte very much enjoyed zooming through the landscape with Daddy. And Penny was surprisingly good about running along!

After a lazy picnic in one of the coastal parks, both girls took a good afternoon nap ;-)


Getting ready: I need to wear this???

Look how strong I am!

Hanging out with Daddy

And yes, I am Penny's best friend!!!

** Your girls love you very much Troy **
 

badge of honor

Charlotte got her first 'battle field scar' last weekend and
has been wearing it proudly.*

 

While speedily crawling away from Mama over the bed - which was fun and fluffy, soft and safe like a dream - reality hit hard when she met the bedside table. But the rude awakening did not really seem to bother her much, more so Mama's attempt to soothe the swelling with a pack of ice - that's for wimps! After all, we are not a baby (anymore ;-)

Looks like toddlerhood will be a big adventure!

* Luckily, Mama just read that latest scientific research fully endorses those bruised exploratory experiences as a fundamental and happy childhood right/rite ;-)

hallo, mein name ist hase

helicopter parenting

Modern day parents are accused of surveilling their kids 24/7...
so Daddy got a little spy cam that allows us to 'hover' and even see what our little one is up to at night.

Good to know that dear friend Rosa, the bunny, stays by Charlotte's side to guarantee sweet dreams!

stilles örtchen

Wenn Kinder ruhig sind...
diese Elternweisheit lernen wir so langsam auch :-)

Charlotte's neuster Lieblingsort zum Erkunden? Das Badezimmer.
Oder genauer: die Toilette!

Da spielen sich schliesslich spannende Dinge ab:

Die Spülung ist schon lustig. Und unsere Hände werden sowieso gerne in allen Wassern "gewaschen" - wozu sind den Hundenäpfe sonst da?! (Anm. d. Mama: Zum Glück reichen die kleinen Patschehände noch nicht bis an den Boden der Kloschüssel)

Deckel und Türen kann man stundenlang auf- und zu- und auf- und zu- und auf- und zumachen.

Ausserdem zieht sich die Jalousienkordel so schön...
schmecken tut sie auch gut.

Und die Klopapierrolle kann man herrlich abwickeln!

tooth fairy, please!

Who says we only deserve some payback for losing teeth???

I worked hard on getting them: 12 in two and a half months! 

[You might recall: After 9 months of no tooth in sight, Daddy discovered Charlotte's first on Valentine's Day - which quickly turned into twelve until her first birthday... 

including upper and lower front molars!]
 

(charlotte) sophie's world

(or pulled her hair...)

kuhl

 

 

 Unsere beiden Mädels haben immer noch (wieder!) Spass beim Tauziehen...
















 


Das neuste Objekt ihrer Begierde: Penny's Quietschekuh*

Als grosse Schwester ist Penny meistens lieb genug Charlotte "gewinnen" zu lassen. (Oder hat ausreichend Angst vor'm Haareziehen!)

* Andere Lieblingstiere und -geräusche: Schwein, Schaf, Frosch und Affe. 

all over the place

You might be wondering why we have not posted as frequently lately... Yes, you can blame it on Mama and Daddy being busy. But also: Our little busy bee is getting increasingly impossible to photograph! 

 

a) It's far too exciting to crawl, cruise, climb and scoot all over the place. Who would rather want to sit still and pose for a picture?!

b) This thing called camera is just too interesting!! 

 
Just once in a while it can go unnoticed in capturing a cute moment...

 

simply charlotte

hanging out

On Saturday, we were hanging out together at a friend's
1 year birthday picnic. For some snapshots of the guests,
Charlotte posed with Mama ;-)

hanging in there

These are some older shots but they nicely depict the morning routine Charlotte still loves: 

 

After peeling out of bed from a hard night of good sleep, our busy bee gets right to working out. Charlotte loves to push her little red wagon (and dear friends, like Mr. Phillies Phanatic ;-) through the house. 

 

 (And to Penny's dismay, she has recently discovered the fun of "running over" the doggie with it - giggling and following Penny when she jumps up to save her four-legged life...)



After some exercise, hearty breakfast, playtime and Penny-walk, it is time to take another nap.


Baby life is hard!

stille post

Na da muss Penny der Charlotte aber... 











... was lustiges
in's Ohr geflüstert haben!

love and *dislike* (big time!)

 Earlier this year, we posted a few dos and don'ts for Charlotte. Now that she is quickly becoming a toddler it is interesting to see an update:







 

Charlotte now LOVES

Penny, (of course!) ... especially crawling into her bed and looking out of the window together

Butterbrot (good German girl!)

Green stuff, especially Broccoli & Spinach (good kid in general ;-)

Strawberries, blueberries

Using a fork

Penny

Pushing her wagon through the house

Cables

Giggling & Laughing, especially with upside-down tickles

Her feet

Penny's nose

Climbing
Leaves

Swimming

Opening and closing doors

Rosa - her bunny

Penny
Taking the dirt out of planters

Giving kisses

Sand

Reading books (and pulling them off the shelf!)

Everything that rattles

Penny

Charlotte now HATES

Sitting down to eat

Getting her teeth cleaned

New situations

Too much happening

Bibs

Sitting still

Not getting what she wants

Avocado

Parachute rides

Falling asleep when she's still too excited

It will be interesting to see what joins and drops off these lists 

as she grows (more opinionated ;-)

run mama run

Kind of a goal: getting back into running (for real)
before Charlotte's first birthday.

And Mama just made it - the La Jolla half marathon on April 29 was the first race after pregnancy and birth. And despite little training and quite a hilly course, Mama loved every step and mile of it! Running in the crowd of people felt great. And finishing in 1 hour 55 was an extra bonus... confirming Daddy's theory of the family's German heritage: well oiled machines always running on time ;-)

After all, Charlotte was also quite punctual when born on her due date (which apparently only 5 percent of babies manage) -- let's see if this trait holds up through childhood!

flower girl

 

muttertag

... ist jeden Tag!

 

 

 

 

Am Muttertag haben wir gemütlich mit Freunden (ohne Fotoapparat :-) gepicknickt... aber an Charlotte's Geburtstag hat Daddy ein paar schöne Bilder von seinen Mädels geschossen.







Ein netter nasser
Kuss für Mama









Grosses Gelächter...










... weil Charlotte SEHR kitzlig ist :-)








Und:

SO GROSS!!!

1 year (wiser?)

 

On her birthday morning, Charlotte demonstrated that she is a big girl now... with a new skill: picking her nose! ;-)

Very pleased with herself...

Hanging out with Daddy...

Opening Penny's gifts...

Big girl again... "I can dress myself!"

"Almost. Or am I supposed to play peek-a-boo now?!"

"Yes, FREE CHARLOTTE SOPHIE!"
(Or, they only tell you cribs are safe places to relax...)