Post-Guest Attempts to Amuse a Baby

With friends and family absent for the time being, Will and I were astonished to realize that we would actually have to keep the baby happy last weekend. Oh the indignity. We were equally flummoxed to learn that when a baby has been held, played with, and otherwise engaged for all of her waking hours for the majority of the past three weeks, she is somehow not more happy to play alone than before. Curious. You'd think she'd enjoy the peace, finally get back to that novel she'd been meaning to finish. Babies are strange creatures, indeed.

Rising to the unexpected challenge, we ventured downtown to a small English language bookshop on Saturday. Before we left, we checked to see if there was a football (i.e. soccer) game that day which would have impeded our train ride home. No game, so off we went. We forgot to check the schedule for massive anti-nuclear energy protests, the epicenter of which would be exactly at mouth of the escalator that one would emerge from if one were to venture to a small English language bookshop. It took us 20 or 30 minutes until we finally got to a break in the crowd. On the bright side, my German is improving enough to understand many of the jeers and criticisms I got for bring a stroller into the center of a protest. Thanks for that, helpful citizens!

On Sunday, we forewent the stroller and opted for the hiking carrier that Aunt Omi got us, as E is finally big enough to sit in it. And off we went to the zoo. Not much to mention here except that 8 mo. olds aren't terribly amused by anteaters in the distance. Again, who would've expected that? Next week we'll take her to a wine tasting or the movies. I'll figure her out yet.

Travel Series #3: Starnberg & its See

Our latest excursion was to a little town called Starnberg, home to the fourth largest lake in Germany, Starnberger See (See = lake). The sunny, warm days of summer - of which there were roughly six total this year, I think - are numbered if not over. So we took advantage of perhaps the final lovely day by visiting a new place while our friends were in town.

Starnberg was picturesque and the lake was as fourth-largest as we could've hoped for. E gave two sloppy thumbs up for raspberry sorbet. As you can see in our family photo, Will is wearing the baby while I am pushing an imaginary baby, one who would deign to remain in a stroller for more than 30 minutes. The real baby is cuter, but the imaginary baby gets much higher marks for not making me look like I stick pins in it when actually I am just trying to give it a ride in its stroller. I'm not naming names. But someone in our family is guilty of this.

Party continues with Mark & Kate!

We have been so incredibly fortunate to have so many visitors these past few weeks! When friends and family are here, it converts Germany into a more familiar and hospitable place, and it is always a time when we enjoy the bounty around us that much more.

Our friends from California, the newly-engaged Mark & Kate, stayed with us for five days after the Italy portion of their vacation. As long as we didn't make them eat any more pasta, they were game for anything. We had a lot of fun, and for us baby-rearing folks, did a lot activity-wise. From Oktoberfest to downtown shopping, and museums to lake excursions, we covered a lot of ground. As cute and friendly as Ms. E was during all of this, however, her demonstration of the sheer power that a babe wields over the lives of her servants/parents may have pushed Mark & Kate's procreation timeline a little farther into the future. (If this is true, M&K, just remember - you have a dog. If you'd truly known how much work that was, you might not have done it, because you couldn't have understood the joy it brings. That is true time a bajillion for babies, both on the work and joy end. Plus, I'm told that babies do stop teething some day. Some day.....)

They left early this morning, though this exhausted family didn't even stir in time to say good bye. Happy travels, friends, and thank you for brightening our Autumn with your presence!

2/3 of One Year Old! (8 mo. for the fractionally challenged)

E hit the 8 month mark just a few days ago. Since she's got all of the stuff she needs, we decided to celebrate with an experiential gift instead: a trip to the pediatrician. Actually, it was just an unfortunate coincidence and not a mean-spirited present. Edie rang in the new month with the first illness she's ever contracted and an itchy chin rash as well. Nervous new parents that we are, we lasted about 4 days of sniffles before we thought professional advice was in order.

Our regular pediatrician was on vacation, so we had to see someone else. New guy walked into the exam room and, not terribly surprisingly, started speaking German. Will asked whether he spoke English. He looked at Will seriously and said in German, "How is your German?" to which Will replied, in German, "Not very good. I speak a little." Then doctor said "Okay. We will do this in German then." And after an awkward pause, the doctor said in perfect English "Just kidding!" Everyone's a comedian, eh?

Will and I tried to sound very serious as we described Edie's symptoms, symptoms that seemed less and less severe as we said them out loud. "Uh. She sniffs. I heard her cough this morning." They also seemed less severe as E proceeded to roll over again, and again, on the exam table, while babbling at and reaching for everything in sight. After listening to her lungs and checking her throat, he concluded that she had a little cold. Not exactly the stuff of medical journal publications or House episodes.

As for the rash, it was chalked up to her messy eating. Doc threw me a bone and said that it was itchy, and since there was a small chance it could get infected if it didn't heal, it was good I brought her in. Quite charitable of him. And so, with a Rx for some low-dose cortisone in hand, somehow our little patient survived the trip home and still soldiers on today.

The picture was done with my webcam, capturing E's favorite hobby: sock removal and attempted consumption. There are many soggy socks about these days. The sepia tone gives her sock chewing a quaint air of nostalgia, doesn't it?

Oktoberfest: E don't need a reason to go to the Wies'n

I sing a lot of dumb songs to E. A lot. But she's not the only victim of my life-as-a-bad-musical delusion. Before her, I made up songs for the dogs all day long, and before them, the burden fell on Will alone. Speaking of Will, after 6 years of marriage he's finally gotten in on the song invention and now regularly composes very silly tunes. What's this set-up got to do with Oktoberfest? Well, the Bavarian term for der Oktoberfest is die Wies'n (pron. VEE-zin). And thus, Edie's first trip to this grand tradition of an event was proceeded by a little ditty: "She's gotta get dressed for Oktoberfest, 'cause E don't need a reason just to go to the Wies'n." Pick any tune. It will probably be better than ours anyways.

Oktoberfest is essentially a huge state fair, complete with rides and games, coupled with prodigious beer drinking, Liederhosen and Dirndl's. Liederhosen are made up of leather pants with leather suspenders, checked shirt, wool socks, and sometimes a fancy hat. Dirndl's are "St. Pauli girl" dresses. Our friend Sarah is wearing hers in the photo above. You can get cheap tourist versions of these, or you can go for broke and spend 1000 euros +. We opted out of any such attire this year, but if we can find an inexpensive tiny Dirndl next year, Edie might be decked out.

The crowds are tremendous and comprised in no small part by American study abroad-ers. It was a lot of fun, but after 90 minutes, I'd had my alkohol-frei fill. Will stayed on and returned twice more to the mayhem with visiting friends. It's over now, which is okay by us, but it was a special event to share in for sure.

Change your perspective, Change your life

I don't know about Will, but Edie and I needed a weekend away. Sure, she had a cold, gave me her cold, and also cut a tooth while we were there, the sum total of which made the nights less than restful. But the experience was still therapeutic overall.

One of the best things was seeing her light up when in these new situations. And they did not need to be exciting. Just new. Sitting on the hotel bed with a single rattle while I got ready in the morning made her happier than sitting on her in-home activity mat, which is outfitted by countless toys, books, and stuffed animals. Want to drink a soy chai in peace? Aim your baby at crowds walking by and let her practice her arm flapping hellos and sip away. By day, Edie was a happy, happy camper.

The nights involved lights out by 8:30, Will and I watching The Sopranos on his laptop with headphones like fugitives in the corner of the hotel room, and many many minutes turned to hours of pacing with a teething, stuffed-up baby. But there are no photos of that. So enjoy the far cuter images of Miss Baby Congeniality.

Travel Series #2: Leipzig (aka I heart gritty cities)

A medical imaging conference brought our little family to Leipzig, Germany last weekend. It's not what would usually be considered a tourist destination. And the fact that we went their during Oktoberfest, when we live in Munich, makes the whole thing that much more backwards. But, as Will succinctly put it when I pointed this out; "That's just us." And it is.

Munich is lovely. Lovely, lovely, lovely. It's clean. The scenery is picturesque. The citizens are impeccable. And all of this is great. But there is something in me that loves a bit of the rough. That part of me moved me to downtown Detroit for two years where it was well-nourished. Leipzig was part of former East Germany, and as a result it bears the scars of those lean years in the form of abandoned buildings, graffiti, etc. The flip side of such misfortune, however, is that there are fertile grounds for new growth once the environment changes. And so there is an air of modernity, experimentation and- yes - gorgeous grittiness that I don't find in my own fair town that I so loved to breathe in for a few days.

Leipzig is also home to a large university. And what do you get if you have a downtrodden city, mix in some higher education, and shake well? Vegans, of course! You see, we can live on forest scraps, book learning, and patchouli vapors, so such places are quite ideal. I found as many as two fully vegan restaurants there and several veg or veg-friendly places and I was in heaven.

It was fun to blend in a bit more, as I did in Leipzig, and eating vegan gyros was no small event either. All in all, a great change of pace for our clan.