Yeah, that’s how the posts are. Seems like so much is going on and yet nothing gets done. I don’t think I’ve written since before my parents came for a visit and that was in May! Geez! Well, that visit went very well, we all enjoyed my parents’ company, especially Michael and I. It was like our vacation and we forgot what it is like to get up with them in the morning. My mom always slept on the couch (we didn’t force her, she just likes sleeping there) and so she was the first person the boys saw every morning.

We were all spoiled - eggs for breakfast almost every day, they took them out in the afternoons to Starbucks where they had cake and juice and I had lots of time to myself. This year, for our vacation, we went to Zermatt, Switzerland for a week. We were extremely surprised at how much everything costs - Switzerland in general is expensive, but Zermatt is especially. We knew it would be expensive, but not *THAT* expensive. I guess I would be just as surprised if I went to Japan. Luckily we rented an apartment so one of the funnest things we did was cook dinner ourselves and marvel at how much money we saved. For example, the first night there we were exhausted, so we went to the “cheap” pizza place and got four fairly small pizzas - it costed $90. Yeah. And then my mom went to McDonalds and got a large coke and fries - $11. Mmmhmm. The last few days, we grilled on this weird table top grill thing and I perfected the kabob - chicken breast slices wrapped in bacon, then sandwich that between onions, red and yellow peppers and lots and lots of mushrooms. Oh my god, delicious! Too bad we didn’t bring our rice cooker or japanese style rice. They didn’t have a microwave anyways (yes, we cook our rice in the micro, it’s almost as good!). We had to settle for Uncle Ben’s. I love rice no matter what form it is in. I will even eat brown rice as long as there is butter and salt. But my mom is a true blue japanese-only-rice eater and thought Uncle Ben’s was the worse thing ever.

We also took day trips out - we had several good weather days and the view, even from our apartment, was breathtaking! Michael made sure that the boys got out every day. They really got the mountain town experience and called the apartment our “mountain home”. They loved going up really steep uphills and playing around with their dad. They even got a chance to play in snow - their first “real” time since they could walk and just loved it. Elijah loved going to the top of a snow hill then jumping as far as he could and land in the snow. He would’ve done that all day if he could. Hopefully this year we can send them to ski school, I think they would enjoy it. At the very least, we should go sledding, they will like that a LOT. One thing that happened was that their beloved Thomas trains were stolen from the playground. Michael is used to just leaving stuff anywhere and it’s always there when he returns and he assumed this was the case in Zermatt. But apparently, some kid thought it was a forgotten toy and picked it up and took it home. The boys were very sad about losing them and Elijah talked non-stop about Thomas this and Thomas that, and their very generours grandma and grandpa bought them new and better Thomas trains when we got back to Munich.

We had a traumatic time getting home though. Michael misread the train departure time so we missed our comfy train back home. Luckily, there were other trains we could catch, but they were all the slow, regional type trains. In total, we took 8 trains (not including the UBahn) and it took us about 11 hours to get home. The boys did so well, even though we sometimes had to wake them up all the time to transfer. One thing I discovered was Bodensee - it is a gorgeous lake and the towns around it seem so peaceful, we will have to go back there. And also, the BEST trains (even better than the EC trains) was the “Alex” train. OMG, they are AWESOME! OK, it could be because we were delirious from all the train changing, but we had our own “room” and we could lie down and it was so comfy.

My parents were also able to travel a lot this time. Besides Switzerland, they went to Salzburg, Regensberg and Nürnberg. I’m glad that they were able to see more of Germany and Austria this time. They even considered going to Berlin but decided that it would cost too much. It was so funny though, the reason they wanted to go to Berlin was because they have “free tours” of the city.

Other than that we are doing well. Friends from Seattle are visiting. Theron, who actually lives in China now, and Carlos, who we used to work with, came to visit and with Michael went on their 10 day hike/climb in the Dolomites. The weather wasn’t all completely good, but they managed to get in several big climbs. It’s been so nice to see them again, both of which we haven’t seen since we left.

The boys are now going to a German speech therapist and they both really love it. The schedule works out so much better for us too. Elijah goes on Thursdays and Rowan goes on Fridays at 8am. I take them to therapy, and then Michael stays home with the other and then takes them to school. It works out very well, even though we have to get up earlier than normal. Elijah cannot wait to go every week and he’s always mad on Fridays that Rowan goes and not him. It’s all in German, but they speak English to her and she understands enough to know what they’re saying. She never speaks to them in English though. We’re trying to have people only speak one language to them so that they can separate between the two. We have to concentrate on other things like talking while playing - more role playing, do more things with their hands like play doh things and painting/drawing. They are all about trains though and everything else will hold their attention for like 2 minutes and then they run back to the trains.

There is this little Thomas pamphlet that comes with every Thomas item that shows all the Thomas trains/sets that exist. Both the boys look at this every day. Every. Day. Every week, Elijah sets his sights on a new train. A few weeks ago, he REALLY wanted James and Rowan REALLY wanted Toby. They talked about it all the time. So on the day that Michael left for the mountains, we made a little trip, just the 3 of us, to the toy store where we got those trains as well as a cool bridge (man, these things are freakishly expensive), then ate at McDonalds and then went home and played with them.

I thought that would be the end, but NOOOOO. The next week they wanted another train. So, what I have done is created a chart. Elijah wants “Diesel 10″ and Rowan wants “Salty”. They need to get 30 Diesel or Salty points and when they have all the points, then we make a special trip to the store to get it. Elijah understands this concept now and is so excited about it. He only has two Diesel points so far. When he gets a new one, he loves putting the sticker on. He can also get Diesel points taken away for hitting or doing something he knows he isn’t supposed to do. He looks at his chart every day and when he says “Get Diesel”, I refer him to the chart and ask him how many points he has and then he doesn’t nag me about it. It’s working beautifully. I just need to really flesh out how to get points. Right now he can get points by singing a song (seems easy, but they HATE to do it) or reciting the alphabet, or doing something very nice and generous (out of the ordinary). I don’t want to give points for something they should be doing already. I’m sure we’ll hammer out the details soon - I still have to make Rowan’s Salty chart eek! He isn’t nearly as naggy about it as Elijah though.

Other than that, kindergarten is great, their potty training is going well, they haven’t had an accident in quite awhile. They are still wearing diapers at night though. I had the nice dilemma the other day - I need to get diaper wipes, but i didn’t want to get a 4pack because *maybe* I won’t use it all. So I got a single pack. It will last quite awhile.

We have our “Sommerfest” this Saturday - the boys will be in their first “play”, which really is just a song where they have a little costume and they have to sing. They just pretty much stand there and I have a feeling that Elijah will back out at the last second. Elijah is a orange horse and Rowan is a blue horse. It is still cute though. They also have another 2 numbers - one is another song, a really cute one, about a cat who dances on one leg and all these other animals want to dance with him but he doesn’t want to dance with them until another cat comes along and then they all dance together. The kid they chose to be the main cat is just perfect, it really is cute. Then the other number is a story about pulling up a turnip and Michael has the perfect guitar accompaniment. I will hopefully get some video of it.

Other than that, the weather has cooled down some, and today it was downright cold! I hope we get a little bit more warmth before the fall comes!

Sorry it’s been awhile! Here is a video of how the boys eat vitamins - with closed eyes and open mouth. They LOVE doing that, so I do that with everything like strawberries or any little treat. They crack me up!

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone! I had a nice day today with the boys. This morning they made brownies for me, which I had to teach Michael how to do the toothpick check. After we all devoured the whole pan, we just hung around the house. The boys gave me flowers that they made at school - it was wooden spoons that they painted and glued on some felt and paper for the petals and leaves and they drew a face on it. It was so cute!

The rest of the afternoon was just more hanging around the house and cleaning. Michael went to the climbing gym (yeah, uh-huh) for most of the afternoon. The good news is that today for the first time, Rowan peed in the toilet (he never was scared of it like Elijah) and I was surprised that today he just woke up and went. They both still haven’t made #2 in the toilet, they usually save that for the mornings before they get into big boy pants. And also, for the first time, Elijah went to the toilet without me having to ask him if he needs to go. So lots of forward movement with potty training! YAY!

Yesterday we had a great day doing some spring cleaning - my how good it feels to throw away expired food in the pantry! I had stuff in the freezer that has been in there for awhile! After that, we went over to Michael’s old boss’s house to take pictures of his family. That was a lot of fun and I got some really great pics even though their son did everything in his power to not have his picture taken (he wet his hair and put on his soccer clothes). After a stern talking to, he came down and was the most perfect model! The boys always enjoy going over to their house, they have so many toys to play with! And we always have the best Rhubarb cake (made with rhubarb from their garden). It is soooo yummy!

Speaking of cakes, I discovered the cake stand at the farmer’s market. Apparently, it’s some of the best cake in Munich! I always passed by thinking they have the same things as in the bakery, but a friend of mine said “oh no, these cakes are really really good”. So I stood in line with her (it was a LOOONG line) and when it was my turn I couldn’t decide, they all looked so yummy. They are homemade cakes - all kinds of varieteis. I got an apple one and a raspberry one and everyone was right - it was soooooo yummy! I am now addicted to the cakes and will have to get some every thursday! People were leaving with large tupperware containers full of cake. Yep, it’s that good.

Time seems to be flying by and I always mean to post here way more frequently than I do! The boys are growing up so fast - talking a lot and learning new words. They are at a really fun age now (I seem to be saying this at ALL ages) - they have lots of fun doing things and are easier to manage.

We discovered little gems about Munich, and can’t believe it took us so long to find them. One of them is grilling! We loved (and miss) our grill that we had on our back deck in Woodinville. You take these things for granted! One day, we picked up one of those disposable grills - it’s an aluminum pan that has the charcoal and firestarter in it - and it worked so great! Oh how I missed grilled food! We plan to do this a lot, especially when my parents come next week. The only problem is that you have to go to a grilling area, which is usually by water. The closest to us is along the Isar, maybe a mile or two away. The other thing we did was rent a paddle boat in the small lake. The boys loved it so much and mentions it every day. They loved being among all the ducks and going under trees with low branches and saying hello to the other people. It costs 5eur for 30 minutes (which is just enough). I hope we find more things like this to do around the city as the boys get older!

A few weeks ago, we met with the kindergarten teachers - our first “parent conference” and it went great! We could communicate even though it was in German, and I felt more confident about what to do with the boys after that meeting. First, they told us that we shouldn’t speak to them in German at all. I switch into German when I am at the kindergarten and I also used to respond in German whenever they would say something in German. But she said that I shouldn’t do that at all since it will confuse them. It made so much sense when she said that! I wanted the boys to learn German words so that they know more in school, but hearing the teacher say to leave the German learning to them was comforting. And they said that they are learning and saying more and more every day. During lunch one day Elijah was about to eat his food before everyone had food and Rowan stopped him and said “nicht essen!” My jaw just dropped! Not only did he understand that he has to wait, he spoke in German to his brother, who he usually speaks in English to. That was very promising.

We also talked about Elijah’s stubbornness - I learned a new German word - willenstark. We told them how embarrassed we are that they cannot sit down when we are there for the music on Mondays. They said that all the kids are like that when their parents are there. So we decided to try something - instead of us disciplining them during that time (I will take them into the other room), we would have them do it. And oh my god, it worked WONDERS! It took it to a whole new level of seriousness when the teachers took them out. And now they behave and once Elijah sat away from us and didn’t move around or lie down or play with the toys. I was amazed. Rowan sometimes needs to be taken out but when he comes back, he is a perfect angel.

And so, as you know, I have been stressing out over potty training and how they are not. Everyone else has been since Christmas. I pushed it for a few days but when talking to a friend of mine who said “you will never win, you know that right?” I let it go. We talked to the teachers about this and came up with a plan. After the spring holidays (next week), they will put them in underwear after their nap and we should keep them in it until they go to bed. Maybe I didn’t understand something, but that schedule moved up and they started it last week. Something amazing happened - Elijah became potty trained! OK, not totally, but today he didn’t wear a diaper until bedtime! He doesn’t really have accidents at home - maybe a few very small ones. But he will hold it and make those motions like holding his crotch and I’ll take him to the bathroom and he will go. He never used to be so obvious about needing to go, so I could never tell. It took him awhile to be able to pee on the toilet - 2 days ago, he wet himself during naptime (at school), then yesterday he held it but was so scared to go - at least I was there to help him to the toilet. He didn’t go on the toilet but when washing his hands, he just let loose and I picked him up and ran him to the toilet. That was a very defining moment. He looked down and saw what was happening and I could almost feel something in his head go “click”. He has no problems peeing now, but he hasn’t yet pooped in the toilet. That will be the next step. Ugh.

He did have 2 accidents at school today, but I think it’s because they don’t yet know his signals and it’s not like they have someone that can pay attention closely like I can at home. I think he has the idea though and it will only get better as the days/weeks go on. The really big thing that helped was that I bought some Thomas the Train underwear and Elijah likes them A LOT. I would’ve bought more but they only had one package in stock.

Rowan, on the other hand, doesn’t want to wear underwear at all. The first time they put it on him, he cried and cried and asked for a diaper. Now he cries for 30 seconds and then he’s over it. Then when we get home he almost always asks for a diaper. I try to push it back awhile at least to get one toilet sitting in. He hasn’t really had an accident though, but I can feel he is also not quite as ready as Elijah. That surprises me, I totally thought Rowan would be first. The teacher said that the more stubborn the child is, the easier it is to potty train them, which is so weird. But I think Rowan will have an “aha!” moment like Elijah did sometime soon.

So, overall, potty training has been great once I let go and let them choose whether or not they want to wear underwear. It took the pressure off me and it has been some work, but not the hell that I was expecting. We still haven’t gotten to the poop training yet, so we’ll see!

We also decided to go to German speech therapy. We weren’t satisfied with the English one due to scheduling and that she recently moved offices and is now far away. I have a couple of names of therapists in our neighborhood so we’ll see how that goes. I think it will be better for them and will help them to be able to communicate with other kids.

I think that’s all the news fit to print! Parents are coming next week and we are all looking forward to that!

The last few days have been just gorgeous - t-shirt weather without being too hot. I love spring!!! I think winter has finally gone to sleep. Last week it was really cold and it even snowed! Spring/Summer/Fall is such a great time to live in Munich, so many things to do outside. And the gelato!!! Mmmmm…

As for us, we’re doing good. The boys are talking more and more every day. They are up to 5-6 word sentences now, not quite grammatically correct, but close. They say things like “We’re going on the red train”. It is also cute because now, without asking, they will say “school fun, good nap”. Speech therapy has been much more effective because Michael now comes with us. We should’ve done that much earlier.

They are also getting to be easier to handle and more self sufficient. They can dress (mostly) and undress themselves. Still not potty trained but we’re not pushing it right now. They sometimes sit on the toilet and every once in awhile they will pee, but mostly they just sit and pretend. I think we will really push it when my parents are here and it is warmer.

This last week we had a special visitor from Hawaii stay with us - Flat Lexi. We’ve been taking her all around with us and showing her Munich. If you want to see pictures - click here. We have to write up a report about what we did and send her back.

During Easter, we did a mini-egg hunt at home. We had 2 chocolate eggs that Michael hid and they found it and were so happy. Now they always look in that place to see if there are any more chocolate and are always sad that there’s not!

Other than that, nothing really new is happening. We have to do taxes - ugh!

This week was a hard week. Elijah got sick on Sunday with a high fever. At around 7am, he started screaming “ouweee ouwweeee ouwweeee OUWEEEE!” and pointed to his stomach. It was really frightening and he still had a high fever. Our kids have hardly ever been sick like this where they hurt and we can’t tell what it is, so it was really freaking me out. It was also freaking Rowan out too so I had to yell up to Michael to come down and help. I gave Elijah some water, had some tylenol and he calmed down and went back to sleep. Rowan was ok so Michael took him to school and I took Elijah to the doctor whenever he got up. He wasn’t eating and was very lethargic.

The doctor checked him for strep but it came back negative. He said that there is no way to know if it is bacterial or viral, but since he is so lethargic, he should get antibiotics. So we got our prescription and left. It’s so weird to see him like this and not full of energy! We just missed a tram to go back home so instead of waiting 10 minutes, I figured we could just walk home. After a little bit, Elijah wanted to be carried. Ugh. So I put him on my back and we walked to the pharmacy. The pharmacy was out of antibiotics, but could deliver it in the afternoon to my house - cool! Elijah pretty much slept all day and was so out of it. Poor fella!

I didn’t understand the instructions for the antibiotic and was so confused as to why we got a weird spoon with powder. I thought it said to mix it with milk or water, which I did. But then I asked Riki about it and she said that you’re supposed to mix it with water in the bottle and then measure it from there. DOH! The next day, Elijah was up and around so that was a relief. I am so glad that Rowan could go to school because dealing with one was so much easier than two. Elijah is back to 100% now.

We also had speech therapy this week (it’s been 4 weeks since we last had one) and this time I asked Michael to come to and help. That was really what needed to happen. He stayed in the room with Elijah while I watched Rowan and Elijah started talking more and she said that she’s never seen him like that! There will be some changes to the routine because we can’t use the room that we normally use anymore, so I’m thinking to schedule two different appointments in the morning. While one is at school, I can take the other by myself and then that way I can be in the room and she can work with him. I’m starting to get really concerned since we haven’t been going regularly and you can really notice their speech delay when compared to the other kids at the kindergarten.

We had some really gorgeous weather last week (t-shirt weather!) and I thought spring was here, but nope, this week it was freezing cold! It even snowed a bit. We usually have one more big dump of snow before it really becomes spring, so I’m just waiting for that to happen and we can start going outside more.

Oh and Rowan can now spell his name. I was so proud of him the first time he did it!

Steve and De, our good friends here in Munich, are moving back to the states in a week or so. We are so sad to see them leave! We have really enjoyed hanging out with them and they were a really great resource for things to do with kids. I think the boys know something is going on because Rowan will say “Logan’s house” out of the blue every once in awhile. I don’t know when we’ll ever see them again…and that’s a sad thought! Steve will be back here a few times in the year, so we will probably see him again. We’re going to see them one last time before they leave this weekend. …sniff…

Stopping to read

The other day I took Elijah to the heart doctor for his yearly checkup. Let me just say that there is a HUGE difference when I take the boys someplace together and when they are separate. When we only have one, they are perfect little angels, they hold hands, they listen, they walk, they sit still, they are quiet when they need to be quiet, etc. It really sucks that when you put these two angel toddlers (are they still toddlers?) together, they become little tasmanian devils.

Anyways, we had to wait about 45 minutes and I brought along Elijah’s little computer that he could play with. That entertained him while I sat and knitted. Then we went in for the EKG, and I told the lady that his heart is on the right side. And she said “really? are you sure?” And I was so confused as to why she would ask if I’m sure. I mean, I’m his mother, I would know something like that! But I guess my confusion made it look like I wasn’t sure if his heart was on the other side, so she made a call to check. Elijah was the perfect model child, taking interest in every little sticker that was put on him, not pulling or fussing at all, wearing it very proudly. This is not normal behavior for him. Everything was good and then the nurse gave him a little packet of gummi bears that was really great to get him to lie down. That was the only thing he didn’t want to do, but give him a gummi bear and he’s down.

Then the doctor did the ultrasound and boy, ultrasound has come a long way since 2 years ago. I could actually see stuff really clearly and could tell what it is. Usually it’s just a blob moving around, but on this machine, you could clearly see the heart and all the chambers pumping. Elijah liked looking at the “TV” too. He layed down and didn’t fuss AT ALL, I am so proud of him.

The great news that we got is that he is no longer at risk for a heart transplant!!! All this time we’ve been thinking he has a 25% chance of a heart failure, but his heart has since grown strong and while the doctor can’t completely eliminate the transplant scenario, he said the chances are really really low. The only thing he is at risk for at this point is his heart slowing down. His normal heart rate is 120bpm, and it could slow down to 50bpm. He will tire easily and become lethargic. But he said even that, the risk is low, but it is a risk he will have the rest of his life. If that happens, he will have to get a pacemaker put in, but hell, I could certainly live with that! So all in all, an excellent visit and I couldn’t be any happier or prouder of my sweet Elijah!

Other than that, the boys have learned the alphabet and we now have to stop at lots of words we see and they spell it out. It is so awesome to see! I am also doing some word spelling and games at home. Elijah has the alphabet down. Rowan still has trouble with some of the letters, but has it for the most part. It is really exciting to see them point at a word and spell it!

Speech therapy hasn’t been happening for the past month and I’m getting worried at this point. I really want to have it every week, but it’s just not working out that way. We’ve started seeing the therapist from last August, and we’ve had maybe 4 or 5 actual therapy sessions. So frustrating! I am alloted a time slot and if there is a holiday or the school is closed or she is on vacation or we are on vacation, we just skip it, no rescheduling. The therapist told us to just talk to them a lot and repeat things after they say it so that they can hear it correctly pronounced. But I am taking it a step further by making them say words properly before giving whatever they want to them. Elijah will say “nook” for “milk” and I don’t give him milk until he says it right. It is REALLY hard for him to say “milk” properly, but Rowan now says it correctly. I think it is helping. They are actually really patient and will keep trying to say the word no matter how many times I repeat it, and usually they will get it right after several tries. They are able to repeat after me pretty easily, it’s when they are on their own that is hard. Even “elijah” is hard - I let them get away with saying “sha sha” too long, but Rowan will now say “lai-sha”. I’m even considering calling him “ELI” just so they say it!

As for potty training, well, it’s there. It’s more frustrating for me I think. I don’t know if they are just refusing to go in the toilet or if they don’t know they went. I now give them a choice of wearing underwear or diapers. Rowan almost always chooses diapers and Elijah is choose underwear 1/2 the time. BUT, the last time Rowan chose underwear, she told me he had to go and we ran to the toilet but right as I was pulling his pants down, he went. At least he told me 2 seconds before, that’s progress! When he has his diapers on though, he doesn’t say anything.

Elijah hasn’t told me he has to go, he will just pee wherever. But, he does stay dry a long time. I always ask him if he has to go, and he always says no. I make him sit on the floor or on a blanket on the couch when we’re in the living room, poor thing! The last time he was playing around my desk and he likes to climb into my chair and sit or stand behind me. Then he peed all over my back and chair and said “wet wet wet!”. Thanks a lot!

Sorry I have been really terrible about posting videos as well! But here are 3 to make up for it!

Here is Elijah, sitting on the toilet and playing with his computer. They can only play with the computer when they are sitting on the toilet, so they go often and for a long time. We had one victory a few days ago, but he really didn’t know what was going on, so we haven’t had any more since then. Oh well, it’ll take awhile!

Here is Rowan doing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and it really shows his speech delay (but it’s still cute!). He has improved quite a deal since last year, but there is still a long way to go.

One of their favorite things to do is sing Happy Birthday to themselves and blow out a candle, we do it over and over and over. and over.