Today was Fasching, or Fat Tuesaday, or Carnival or whatever. It is like Mardi Gras, only without the “Girls Gone Wild”. Several people have told me to stay home, don’t even attempt going out with the stroller because I will not be able to move. I was going to go just to witness what it is like, but I didn’t want to deal with the crowds.

I did do something very European though. I went to the bakery and bought some bread, then next door to the metzgerei (butcher) to get some garlic salami, then went across the street to the grocery store to pick up some other stuff, then around the corner to Schlecker to get even more stuff. I tried to get my order of pampers but they didn’t understand me really. Again.

In the late afternoon, I went upstairs to visit with Riki and Frederik. It was funny because she isn’t in the “babyproofing” stage, so there was lots of things that the boys could pull at and knock down and grab. I had to keep a close eye on them. Riki got a good idea of what needs to be done when Frederik starts moving! They had bookshelves full of CD’s and folders and books, all ready to be torn apart. She felt really bad that I couldn’t really relax, so next time she’ll just come down to our place. But then now I’ll have to learn how to make tea.

Michael made dinner for us again, and it was as yummy as last time. Very nice! We watched “Identity” with John Cusack, it was pretty good. Didn’t know he was in a horror/thriller movie! Always thought of him as a romantic comedy kind of guy.

A Historic Moment - Elijah learns how to climb up on the couch! Things will never be the same again…

Elijah loves to go under the chair the hard way, up and over the leg bars. He could go the other way where there is no obstruction, but that just wouldn’t be fun.

Today was another stay at home day. How exciting am I? I really need to schedule something on Mondays or Tuesdays (after my class ends, of course) so that I have something to do. But, today is the boys’ 15 month birthday! YAY!

I did meet Michael at Basic to go shopping and it was really cold. The walk warmed me up some, but it was still cold. Michael rode his bike, so he was freezing! We bought a ton of stuff, as usual, but I’m usually proud of the things that we get there, mostly stuff for the babies - they get the good stuff, and of course brotzeit supplies. While we were shopping, I remembered that we had to meet Sebastian (insurance guy) at 8, but we were doing good on time so no worries.

Since Michael was on his bike, I sent him ahead to clean up the living room, it’s a big mess! I changed their toy crate to be a mesh cloth one instead of a wire basket and it’s much easier for them to tip it over and empty it out. Didn’t think of that.

We bought even more insurance tonight. We decided on staying with the public insurance and getting a “top off” private, which won’t kick in until 8 months from now. Sucks! Sebastian is a nice guy and I highly recommend him if there’s anyone out there needing an english (or german) speaking insurance broker guy.

Two daily videos today. The first one is of Elijah climbing under the chairs, and the other one is of them showing their expertise at climbing up on the couch.

Today Michael left early to go on a ski tour. I didn’t hear him get up at all. When I got up, it was snowing! And quite a bit of it too. With the nice warm weather lately, I wasn’t sure if there would be one last dump of snow, but sure enough. At around 10:30, Michael came back, I was surprised to see him. The weather wasn’t all that great and he shouldn’t even have left home, but the cost of renting a car forced him to go out. Oh well, I was happy to spend the day with him!

We didn’t do much, we tried to think of a place to go as a family, we thought about visiting our friend Matt in Garmisch, but he wasn’t home. I would’ve liked to go to a baby store to pick up stuff for the boys, but it’s Sunday! So we just ended up staying at home. I took long naps all day and we just read our books.

I got some books from Amazon.co.uk (thank god there is an English speaking amazon in Europe). I recently have become a big fan of Wil Wheaton, yes Wesley Crusher from Star Trek TNG. He is a really cool guy and a fantastic writer. On his blog, he talks about the times he spends with his family (he has 2 stepsons who are teenagers), and he sounds just like how Michael would be with the boys. He just seems like a really grounded person. Anyways, I got the book “Just a Geek” that he wrote. He got a bum deal on that because the publishers marketed it as a “Star Trek” book, but it has nothing to do with Star Trek at all. Michael read that and it was so good that he finished it in a day and a half. I also got a book that Wil recommended called “blink“, and it is really good as well. Highly, highly recommended!

The boys eating has definitely picked up and they are liking the non-baby food that I’m feeding them. They are also doing fine with the transition to cow’s milk, no reactions or anything. We are now up to 2oz regular milk mixed with 6 ounces of formula. We’ll probably stay here for the week and then up it an ounce next week.

They can now both get up onto the couch pretty easily, so I really have to watch out for our little stereo!

This morning I was very determined to make good use of time. The first thing I did was pack up my studio lights to ship it back to the company so that they can do a conversion to 220V. I’ve been meaning to do this since we got here and just never did it. After I dropped it off at the post office, I went to Saturn to get some stuff. I went with a list and came home with everything on the list. I was so happy! I got a shredder, headset switcher, printer cartridges, new earphones and an antenna for the TV. It turns out that the antenna doesn’t work, so I have to return it.

We had our babysitter come in the afternoon. Michael rented a car for his ski tour tomorrow so we took advantage of it and went to IKEA. We had to return a light that didn’t fit in our fixtures and we also had to get a bunch of stuff. Lots of floor lamps, a desk, a shower curtain (to put on the floor to feed the boys), the missing part for our closet shelves, a padded mat to put behind the couch in case the boys fall, little stuff like that.

We amazingly put everything together tonight, I guess there wasn’t much big stuff to do, just the desk. After the boys went to bed, we rearranged the furniture so that the table is against the wall and there’s more space between the couch and the dining room table to make room for the padded mats. I should’ve picked up more of those rug holder things so that they don’t slide around.

I was so happy today that we got all these loose ends tied up, I only have one more week of “freedom” before my German class starts, so I’m trying to get all this stuff taken care of. I got my shipment of stuff in from Amazon.co.uk, one of which is a DVD of “Extras” with Ricky Gervais, and it is hilarious!

This morning Michael still wasn’t feeling very well so he stayed home and slept. It’s a little taxing on me when he’s sick because it’s like I have 3 babies to take care of. But I can’t complain. When I’m sick Michael takes care of everyone too. So he stayed in bed, but that also allowed me to make a run to the post office to drop off the thank you cards. I can’t believe it’s done!!! I was so happy to get this out of the house. I apologize to everyone that it has taken me this long to do them. And sadly, because postage is so dang expensive, I had to send all of them to my mom in Hawaii and she will send them out from there. It would’ve cost me almost $2 to send each one (about 250 of them, which would make it $500), but instead, it costs $50 to send to my mom and then another $100 for the US stamps.

Anyways, because Michael was sick, we just stayed at home. Nothing much happened today. We were supposed to have the insurance guy come over to talk about car insurance and the “top up” health insurance, but he had to cancel.

Today I was supposed to meet our neighbor, Sharon, at the coffee shop, but I ended up making baby food and getting carried away with the time. Whenever I looked up, it was already 4:30 (I was supposed to meet her at 4pm) and I figured by the time I got the boys together and rush down there, it would be close to 5. I tried calling, but she didn’t have a message machine, so I had to email her. I felt so awful for doing that!

In the evening, I got a babysitter and Michael and I went to dinner at Peter and Paul (restaurant near Michael’s work) with some of his work friends. It’s the same ones as the last time. It was nice getting out and talking to some folks, but we had to cut the evening short because Michael was feeling sick.

When we got home, he had the same symptoms as me last week - fever and chills. So he went to bed and slept. I stayed up and FINISHED MY THANK YOU CARDS!!!! Woo hoo! I couldn’t believe it. These cards have been a big cloud over my head since we left Hawaii and it has finally been done. It’s a great feeling!

The boys like crawling around and “chasing” each other, going under the table, into the other room, etc.

Today we went to Basic, our “whole foods” store. Instead of taking the train, we walked. It wasn’t very warm today, so I had to pull out the plastic cover for the stroller. I was kind of pissed because there is already a hole where the plastic broke off from the stitching. Sucks! The cover costs like $80 and it looks like we’ll have to buy one every year until they outgrow it.

It was a nice walk though, it is one of the very few times that the boys will go where I want them to go without fuss. They enjoy being outside a lot, especially when I don’t have the cover on.

I had a great time at Basic. I made a point to go there and NOT buy any baby food. It’s about time that I stop taking the easy way out and start finding regular food for them that they can eat. Boy, I came home with a LOT! First of all, I’m starting to switch them over to cow’s milk. They have the weird non-refridgerated kind, which creeped me out and then they had the super fresh kind that is only good for a week or two. So I bought the fresh one. And then I also got lots of fruits and veggies, tri-colored macaroni, yogurt, rice cakes, tofu (they love the slimy kind), some animal crackers, corn and of course I couldn’t leave the place without brotzeit supplies for dinner.

I also sent out our kindergeld forms!!! We thought that it was an automatic thing that comes in the form of less taxes in your paycheck, but we recently found out that it’s a completely separate thing that they deposit money into your bank account. So, luckily, our German neighbor upstairs helped us out with sending us the forms and the address of where to send it and also help with some of the translation. She is such a good resource!

This afternoon/evening I really concentrated on getting the thank you cards done. I am so close. But what ended up happening is that I got on the phone with Shari (from Washington) and we spent HOURS talking. Just about whatever. I miss her a lot. I asked her all kinds of questions about what Misha was like at 15 months, the kinds of stuff she was feeding her, if she was walking, talking, all that kind of stuff. So, because of that, I didn’t finish, but I think I only have about 20 to go.

The boys are really playful nowadays. Elijah has learned the power of his voice and kicked it up a notch. When he is mad, the whole building hears it now. He is still biting Rowan, but with less frequency. He sure knows what biting medicine is and starts crying before I give it to him. They still aren’t taking steps on their own yet, but it is coming soon. I’m in no rush though…

Today’s daily video is of the boys playing underneath the dining room table. Sigh…