Medical Update

I know that lots of family reads this blog - including two about-to-be first time Great Grandmas! So I wanted to give a quick update on how baby and I are at this late date. Due date is January 30, as you may know. We had our 38 week scan and a CTG yesterday, and baby was healthy and active with a couple spells of the hiccups. The doctor thought that baby was a tiny bit on the small side, but provided I don't deliver for another week, s/he will catch right up. My levels are good and I feel well, all things considered.

As far as prep goes, baby is packed for the big birthday, new snowsuit included! I still need to pack myself. And this weekend, Will and I are hunkering down to do some organizing/cleaning/cooking in preparation for a chore hiatus. Even the poodles have to make sacrifices: they'll both be groomed this up coming week.

This kiddo has been a trooper so far, accompanying me on an intra-and-inter continental move, a 10-day silent meditation retreat, 3 weeks of sleeping on the floor, and now intensive language classes two train rides away during our last month attached! We're feeling positive that we've got more good times to come.

Love to all, Rachael, Will and Baby

School Is in Session

Today is Day 3 of my 4 week intensive language class. I thought it was going to start last week, but it turns out that was 100% a figment of my imagination. The group is very international, comprised of representatives from Estonia, Serbia, India, Taiwan, Ireland, Croatia and the good ol' USA. While international, I cannot say that it is very sophisticated (Exhibit A: the "Guten Tag Rap" from our educational audio cd). The instructor is a hopelessly adorable 26 year old German lass who manages to keep her energy up in spite of all of the forehead slapping and terrible accents. Yesterday was a banner day for me. We worked on numbers, and I had to admit that I didn't know my own phone number and then I confidently told the class that I was 29 years old. But I'm 28, you see, which I realized 5 minutes later and for some reason felt compelled to correct aloud. They say a woman's IQ actually drops at the end and just after pregnancy - to buoy later, of course - so let's go with that for the reason behind my performance. But I am trying! And Will reviews my coursebook every night to keep up. Competitive man. I'm not sure if fate will keep me in the class till it's natural conclusion, but I'm glad to be in it now. Ich bin ein Muenchenerin!

Happy Birthday, Will

Who would've guessed that I'd be sitting here today in Munich, sharing my life with the 18 year old hippie electrical engineer with all that hair in his eyes who I met in 1999 at a University of Michigan bus stop. Today, this dad-to-be doesn't have so much hair in his eyes, still listens to a lot of Grateful Dead, and is spending his 29th birthday with his slow-moving wife by going to see Avatar in 3D. If you have a moment, don't forget to pass on a birthday greeting his way.

A Humble Offering

Billy, our larger dog - a "Schnoodle" as it were - recently landed the final death blows upon his friend, Crazy Eyes Skunk. Crazy Eyes was a stuffed dog toy that has persisted in our family for about a year now, which is pretty amazing considering that the only thing that stuffed dog toys are used for is tug-of-war, fake neck-breaking head-whipping, and de-stuffing. Billy prefers the latter of these activities, but Crazy Eyes had crazy-strong seams and so it resisted his evisceration scheme for some time. After the skunk met its end, Billy did a funny thing with it, leaving it seemingly as an offering in the nursery inside of the baby's bathtub. He hasn't touched it now in days. The nursery was just used as storage when we first moved in, and we kept the door shut because we didn't bother to heat it. Lately, we've kept its door open and the radiator on and it is now fairly organized in there, filled with clean baby clothes and blankets, changing table and books. The dogs definitely sense that it is a peculiar place and they enter it very hesitantly, making a slow, gentle tour of sniffing its contents at least once a day. And I like to think that Billy, in his simple canine way, has just given his stamp of approval on its future inhabitant. On a related note, that baby bathtub is going to need to be resanitized.....

Loving the German Holiday Schedule

Happy Epiphany Day! At least that is the reason Wikipedia gives for Will having today off of work. It is a Catholic holiday, and though we're not Catholic, we are happy to celebrate in solidarity with those who are. The only caveat is that, apparently, children carol for cash on Epiphany. Singing, begging children. Not cool. What's a good Epiphany tip, anyways? I'm still wildly insecure about what to give bathroom attendants here. Yet I don't want to go broke trying to appease off-key German youths.

Assuming we survive the little tykes, this will go down as a very nice first Epiphany Day for us. We slept in, drank homemade lattes, and got more work done on the house. Will painted the nursery last week, and today we organized the furniture in there. It's far from done, but should baby make an early appearance, it won't have to sleep on a pile of broken down moving boxes. Though I would suggest it wait until the bassinet mattress from ebay arrives...

Wishing you all many epiphanies this fine January 6!

Will's Corner: Midway Through

Can you spot the poodle mix in these photos? The first one was taken the day we moved in, the second tonight. Since I started vacation last Wednesday, all of our things have been delivered and unpacked, we have purchased and built furniture, painted a wall (behind me), and installed a light fixture (just 4 more to go, woot!). The light fixture installation is especially fun, since I get to drill holes in the ceiling and fantasize about creating a treacherous environment for our upstairs neighbors' stomping. Gruesome fantasies aside, in the third picture of this series my tools will hopefully be put away and we will have a new couch! But unless the fireworks cause him to lose it and take off for good, the poodle mix will still be there.

Prosit Neujahr! (Happy New Year!)

We hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve and is now enjoying a day off. Ours was fun, though safety was an issue. We went to S & J's apartment in Haidhausen - which is a happening little neighborhood in southeast Munich. S & J are parents of a very sweet 9 week old - named Will, incidentally - so between two new parents and a 9 mo. pregnant lady, you just knew things were going to get w-i-l-d wild. After we ate dinner off the coffee table, we spent awhile oohing and aahing at Will while he kicked and punched on his activity mat (Little Will, that is; Big Will just sucked his thumb and pouted about being asked to get out of the bouncie seat). Then, on to a life-and-death stakes game of Skip Bo! I tease, but I had a very good time. Once the new year was upon us, Munich went up in smoke. For real. Germans are generally orderly and whatnot, but New Year's Eve is an exception. The country turns into a giant "How Not to Play with Fire Works" show. And undoubtedly the ERs convert into Finger-Reattachment Centers for the night. Between fireworks very nearly coming through S & J's windows and the soundtrack of ambulance sirens, the husbands took to the street to join in on the festivities. Their heart was in the right place, but (fortunately for our unborn child) they had not exhibited the fearless constitution of the Germans in their firework purchases. So their particular display was quite tame. They still had to survive the rocket fire coming from every direction on the very narrow street where they were positioned, of course. And I'm very happy to say that they not only survived, but came back only marred by ash on their faces. Thus we begin 2010, grateful for new friends and with all of our digits in tact!