This is the toy that we borrowed from the Knipples. They love playing with it, although the initial fascination with it is wearing out. Now they’re finding new things to bang on with the wooden pieces.

The last couple of days I have been feverishly working on the new knitting site. I am quite pleased with the layout! That means that I hardly got any knitting done on Michael’s new socks. Oh well.

Michael joined us for gymnastics class today and it didn’t go over very well. Elijah tends to be very clingy when he is around and he pretty much threw a tantrum during the entire class. He wanted to go in the “exit” part of a course or didn’t want to do other things, or didn’t want to wait his turn. I wish Michael could participate more in these things because I think then they will calm down in his presence. Rowan did fine though.

They are talking a lot more. Rowan, especially. Elijah has always been talkative and now he saying things in what seems like sentences, but it’s mostly gibberish. He has the intonation down though. Rowan will say things in the most unlikely times. Like if he sees something that remotely looks like a horse even from far away, he will say “horse”. We have to look around and notice that on a poster on a wall far away there is a horse. Or some stranger will be looking at their watch near us and he will say “watch” and I get confused. Then I see the person that he’s talking about. He is really great about pointing out the things that he knows.

Does this look like Michael?

They are also getting really creative with their playing. They don’t play with legos in the traditional way, they take the people and animals only, maybe a car, and create their own scenes. We have one woman who is “mama” and one man who is “dada”. They will dig to the bottom of the lego bin to find them and hold them up and exclaim “mama”! Then they make them walk all over everything. Elijah also likes to point out things that look like us. If there is a picture of a woman with a child, he will point to her and say “mama”, then point to me and say “mama”. So we found it hilarious when reading the book “Heedley pecked me in the eye” that he thought the worm looked like “dada”. Now that I think about it, the similarity is uncanny.

Our friends Steve and De introduced us to a phenomena called “Sandwich Mountain”. What that is is 2 sandwiches, cut up into square quarters and arranged on a plate like a mountain. I built up a lot of hype for the mountain. They didn’t have any opinion of it, like they weren’t in awe of the mountain (like Steve’s kids), BUT they ATE IT ALL! And they ate it without taking it apart and making a big mess and there were absolutely NO crumbs/crusts/leftovers, and that is a first, out of the hundreds of times I’ve been making them sandwiches. I usually have a handful of leftovers to throw away and messy faces to wipe up. So even though the actual mountain wasn’t very exciting to them, it changed the way they ate it. Thanks Steve and De for that suggestion!

This past Sunday we went over to the Knipples for a big breakfast. It was very yummy, nothing like scrambled eggs and lots of sausages! Elijah wasn’t a big sausage eater that day, but he sure did eat a lot of eggs. Steve and De loaned us this wooden toy that is several “ramps” and these triangular wood blocks go down them. The boys were so fascinated by this, so we took it home. Every day, they play at least for 20 minutes straight watching the pieces go down. I’ll have to get it on video. I’m trying to keep it out of their reach for now so that they don’t get tired of it too quickly. We really enjoy going over to the Knipples’ place to hang out. They are a lot of fun and the boys enjoy playing with all of Logan’s toys. Between all of us, we have a wealth of information about stuff to do in Munich with kids. So much so, that De is creating a great website (hosted by mountainwerks), to be unveiled soon!

My grandpa’s funeral was on the 24th (Saturday). Wish I could’ve been there. It would’ve been nice to see all the cousins, aunties and uncles that I don’t normally see. My mom said that her, my Uncle Milton and Lori did a really nice eulogy. And the picture that they used was from one that was taken in San Antonio with me. I was in the original picture, but they cropped it out so that it showed just him.

On the Kindergarten front, we have an open house coming up this weekend, as well as one on Monday. They are our #1 and #2 choices so I hope they get into either one!

Hello dear readers! I have decided to seperate out my knitting posts from this blog because my knitting “public” doesn’t want to hear we whine about the joys and horrors of parenthood and I’m sure you guys don’t wnat to read about all my knitting pursuits, as interesting as they may sound. So I just thought I’d let you know, the location is at http://www.BockstarkKnits.net. I’ve decided to name it “Bockstark Knits” - go to the site to find out what it means.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post a couple of things. First, the boys have been on some kind of growth spurt because they have been eating a lot, A LOT! Rowan’s favorite word is “mo!” He likes to bring his empty bowl into the kitchen and say “mo! mo!” Especially with cereal. They used to just play with it and throw it around, so I give them little bits at a time. I’ve had to really increase it the past few days because Rowan always comes back for seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths! What really happens is that when he gets more, Elijah trades bowls with him so then he has to come back again. Sometimes I’m like “there’s no way you ate all that” and then I go out and inspect if they just were throwing it around and sure enough, no food is to be found. I’m sure years from now I’ll find a “food pit” somewhere in the house filled with cheerios, pretzels and sandwich pieces. It really is shocking at how much they can eat and how fast. And they’re only 2, geez!

The other thing is that now they can lift their own butts when changing diapers so we no longer have to grab them by the ankles and lift them up with one hand while we position a diaper with the other. They were getting really too heavy for that. So now when we change diapers, I just pat them on their bottoms and say up and they lift up with their legs. It’s so awesome! Such a little thing can make a big difference. And they also think it’s a game so diaper changes hasn’t been too much of a fight lately.

They also can throw their diapers away, put dishes and what not in the sink, get their own forks and/or spoons.

Rowan likes to say “buh-bye” (not “bye bye”) and leave a room. It always cracks me up.

I had no idea today was Fasching Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday to all you Americans). There was people everywhere wearing all kinds of costumes, confetti everywhere, lots of kids in strollers. I knew it was “Fasching” time, but forgot that there’s a specific Tuesday for it to go with. I wanted to go to Hertie to pick up supplies to make stuff for Michael’s birthday tomorrow, but because of the holiday, everything closed early. At least Tenglemann’s was open so that I could get my normal supplies. I have to go to Hertie to get the special chocolate cake mix and taco supplies.

Michael asked for cupcakes for his birthday and I decided to embellish it with chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and tacos for dinner. What a feast day!

We had a funny incident coming out of the train station. I was waiting for the escalator with the stroller - it’s one of those two way ones and right as I was about to get on, these two guys get on coming down (I was trying to go up). I was waiving my hands telling them not to get on, and they obviously saw me with the stroller, but they decided to get on anyways. This guy behind me was so mad at them for getting on and even yelled at them and pointed to my stroller. The guys were like “whatever, we have just as much right to be here”. They didn’t even try to quickly off the escalator, they just stood there. So the angry guy pulled the emergency brake to force them to walk down. Kind of shocking. And then he scowled at them as he went up. But then, I didn’t know how to turn it back on!!! So now I couldn’t even go up, I had to go up another escalator across the street. The guy felt kind of bad, but he meant well. People are usually courteous with me and the stroller and don’t usually get on, so I’m thinking these people are tourists who don’t understand the system. One of them even stood on the left hand side, so they’re probably American!

I’ve been having a fun time with the boys. For a few days, especially since I was sick last week, I haven’t been able to pay much attention to them, so they’ve been kind of cranky and demanding. But the last two days have been pleasant for the most part. There have been several small breakthroughs. One is that they are starting to get really good with using utensils. They always insist on having a fork even when they are eating cheerios. When they were eating rice, I noticed that Elijah has learned that he can get more food if he holds the bowl with one hand and scoop with the other. Big milestone!!! They also say some words really cute like “rice” is “wice” and “cereal” is “so-we-o” (or maybe it’s cheerios). “ear” is “oer”. “hair” is “hoer”. I’m trying to do less “free play” since that seems to make them frustrated more than anything. This morning we went down to the basement and they rode their cars. They haven’t done that in awhile so they really enjoyed it. Other days we play with water - scooping it out from one pot into another. They are getting good with drinking it as well from a normal cup. Only minimal spillage. Although AFTER they’re drinking is when the problem is. They get all nonchalant with the cup that still has the water in it and spill it all over the floor. So I only give them little bits of water in the cup, and I make them stay in the kitchen when they drink it. It really is improving their drinking skills. We also watch TV every day, sad to say. They really love the Baby Einstein “Neighborhood Animals” DVD. They love all the animals and repeat the words. Every time the DVD is finished, they both clap!

I also introduced them to the world of PEZ! I bought a couple of dispensers - one of Nemo and one of Buzz Lightyear. I figure since they’ve seen the movies, they might like it. Well, they LOVED it. I make them “pet” Nemo and say “hi” before they get a PEZ. And for Buzz, I make them say “To infinity, and beyond!” That one’s harder, but they are oh so willing to say it. I give them like 3 pieces a day, after they’re done with a meal. The first time Elijah was so mad that I took it away, but now he knows that he’ll only get one or two at a time and is ok with “Nemo” saying goodbye. It’s so cute to see their faces light up when I say “I think Nemo’s coming!” It’s weird though because they’ll say “Mo-Ne” and not “Nemo”. They both do it.

In knitting news, I’ve started Michael’s socks, but had to “frog” it (take it apart) 3 stinking times now. I’m so mad! First it was too big, then it was still to big, then it was too small, now hopefully it will be big enough but not too big. The problem was that I wasn’t knitting enough of the pattern to see if it will go around his heel. The ribbing is very big and stretchy, but the pattern kind of condenses everything so you have to knit a good ways before you know if it will be ok or not. Bummer. I did do a swatch too, but because of the way the pattern is knit, I thought it was out of whack, but it wasn’t. Arrrgh. This happened the last time too. The red socks I made for Michael a few months ago I had to re-do like 3 times. I hate this pattern!

This morning I made pancakes, as per my as-yet-to-be-established tradition. This time, I made 1.5 times the usual amount. It’s a good thing too because the boys could not get enough. They have a bottomless pit for stomachs whenever I make pancakes. They ate them as fast as I could make them! By the end though, we were all rolling from too-full-pancake stomachs.

We didn’t really do much today, just hung around the house. And boy, the house is messy. Michael has been so busy with work and is exhausted when he comes home and I’ve been sick the last several days so almost no clean up has been going on. We’ve been doing “emergency bottle washing” the last I don’t know how many times. The dishes are piled up everywhere. Coke cans and various food containers are stacking up. Disgusting! I hope to be back to 100% this week.

I did, however, promise to go to Stitch ‘n Bitch. It was pretty crowded, maybe 10 people or so, which usually it’s 6. I met a couple of german knitters, and they were really nice. One of them, Dorothy, kind of explained the whole German mentality about knitting and knitting shops. It’s something your grandma does, and the shops reflect that. She thinks there is a big interest, but everyone kind of does it behind closed doors. A shop with imported yarns could possibly do well here. Or at least one with a good website (because most of them suck!). Ah, if only I had the money and/or knowledge of what to do.

I had a hankering for Indian food tonight, so I went to Jeeta’s to pick something up. I realized that I haven’t had indian in quite some time. Now I’m crazy for the spice, I sure did miss it. Since I haven’t really been eating the past 3 or so days, my stomach shrunk (yay!) so I can’t eat as much as before. That’s a real big plus when getting a stomach sickness! :)

Here are the boys saying they have been good boys. Notice Elijah matches my intonation. Usually this goes on forever and they laugh a whole lot more, but the camera was distracting them.

Valentines day this year was not so happy in the Stanton household. Someone gave me a stomach bug! In the morning I was ok, but by around 12pm, I wasn’t feeling all that great and I was pretty much tied to the toilet. I had to call Michael to come and rescue me. I put the boys down for their nap at 12, called Michael, then took a nap myself. Fortunately, Michael could take off of work in the afternoon. I pretty much stayed in bed all day and all night, with many trips to the bathroom. I can’t believe how much I slept and I STILL was so tired. I couldn’t even knit. Well, I did knit a little, but not as much as I thought I would be able to. I also couldn’t eat anything. I just wasn’t hungry. I tried, but every time I ate something, my stomach would go crazy and make all these gastric noises. So I figured, just water, Sprite, and a few nibbles here and there. I can always eat a few Thin Mints!!!

So, Michael, my hero, took care of the boys in the afternoon and from what I heard they had a grand time. They were so busy doing so many things, going so many places, their dad really knows how to keep them busy. After he put them down to bed, he even made a trip out to Subway because I mentioned that I THINK I would be able to eat a sandwich. It ended up that I couldn’t, but I did manage a few bites.

They are really getting the hang of words now. They both like to rapid fire name things. When Elijah is in your lap, he’ll point to your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, ears, neck, shoulders, elbow, wrist and name them all really fast. They are surprising us with words that we didn’t know that they knew like “rabbit” and “butterfly” but they still don’t want to say “cat”, even though we repeat it a hundred times. Words are also getting more enunciated. Like “water” is “watoe” and not “wawa”. Michael wrote up some great posts about them here and here.

I am better now, I am functioning, I can get out of bed, but only marginally so. Enough to take care of the boys. I am praying that they don’t get this because it’s bad for me, but worse if I have to clean up their diapers/clothes/bedding/etc!!! So far, they’re ok.

The Kindergarten search is continuing. Our 2nd choice has responded and seems interested in us, so I’ve been working with our neighbor Riki to write a letter to them (auf Deutsch) about us and why we want to go there. Es ist sehr schwer zu schreiben!

On the knitting front, I decided to take apart and start from scratch the Baudelaire sock that I finished. It was too big and I wanted to try knitting two socks at one time. It was a hard thing to do, but I’m glad I did it. I am now knitting the two of them at once, and they are perfectly fitted for my feet. I am past the heel turn, I’m just working on the leg/cuff. Should be done in a day or so.

Today we got together with the Knipples. We picked up some goodies at the bakery and came over. Steve and De are really fun to talk to and I think we stayed there about 4 hours. The boys turned their house upside down in that time. But it was so cool to just hang out and all our kids got along really well, no one is aggressive and Logan is not possessive of his toys at all. He was happy to share everything, which is really nice! We talked about all kinds of stuff, kindergartens, staying in munich, how draining kids are, what we can’t really do anymore (like travel around), great english TV shows, you know, whatever.

After that, we went home and the kids had a much needed nap. I snuck out of the house and went to Stitch n’ Bitch. I was at the end of the table, so didn’t get too involved with the conversation, but it was good just to hang and knit. It was a little stuffy there and I almost left because I couldn’t breathe well, but after having something to drink, it was ok. Or maybe I just got used to it. On the way home, I talked to Evangeline and she mentioned that I can find work helping students with their papers - thesis and stuff like that. She also mentioned that I should do something like “creativity classes” because Germans want to be more creative. Sounds interesting, but I don’t know how I would go about doing something like that. She is just full of ideas for work for me, it’s kind of refreshing to hear. I’m still not ruling out teaching English, I’ll have to call the place and get more info.

Then, to top everything off, I got the motivation to look into more kindergartens. There is a page that lists almost all of the parent initiatives here in the city. A parent initiative is a kindergarten that is run by the board members and parents, everyone has to chip in. Doing maintenance, administrative tasks, maybe website stuff (hopefully for me), preparing food, lots of things! It keeps the costs down so that it’s more affordable. I devised a point system where I have 10 criteria for a kindergarten. It’s “weighted” so that the most important criteria (how close to us it is) is worth 10 points and the least important (includes lunch) is worth 1 point. Here are our criteria by importance order:

1. (10) Near?
2. Montessori?
3. Teacher/child ratio under 7?
4. Garden?
5. Cost under 250?
6. Music/art?
7. bilingual?
8. Gymnastik weekly?
9. ubahn accessible?
10. (1) lunch provided?

I am looking at 20 kindergartens, which sounds like a lot, but they only have a few places so getting in is really hard. If you consider all of them have about 12 - 15 places total, only 2 or 3 places are free per year. So really it’s a matter of where will take you. BTW, in case you didn’t figure it out, the kindergartens here are what preschools are in the US. They are for kids from 3 - 6 years old and then you start 1st grade at 6 or 7.

Needless to say, researching this on the internet took a few hours and I went to bed really late, but I was satisfied with all the work and not so worried about finding a place for them. There are a lot of cool options when it comes to kindergartens and I hope we get into one of our top 5 places!!! Wish us luck.

Michael has had a busy week this week with having guests from everywhere at his work. So for the past 3 days, he hasn’t seen the boys hardly at all since he leaves before they get up and come home after. So it’s just been me and them. We’ve also been kind of sick, mostly lots of snot, but I also feel really tired. It’s also due to my late night knitting sessions. I’m currently working on a new sock for me (toe up), but I digress. The boys are also tired, they take extra long naps and get up maybe 8 or 8:30. I hope it goes away soon!!!

Elijah is really cute. I’ve been asking them all time “have you been a good boy?” and Elijah’s answer is “a boy! a boy!” So he frequently says out of the blue “a boy” when I have something he wants. They’ve also been very bad about jumping on the couch and standing on the table. They are almost constantly in timeout sometimes. They are really starting to say a lot. Elijah is starting to say 2 words together like “mommy’s shoes”, but strangely, they both can’t say their names. “rowan” is especially hard. They are getting really good at sharing. When they are fighting over something, I just say “did you ask nicely?” and they immediately back off and mumble some words, then I say “ok, he asked nicely, can we share”, and they both give up whatever they have without another word. Quite amazing, actually. Of course, I also reward them with “sharing cookies”. Elijah likes saying numbers, he knows 1, 2 and 5, and is now learning 4. When I taught him that 4 was just putting your thumb in, his face lit up like he “got it”. It’s really fun watching them learn things. Today they played with my retractable tape measure and they learned “pull”, “push” and “press”. Endless entertainment.

OK, so now onto more important things, my new socks. I originally was going to do another Pomatomus sock, but after looking around, I decided to do Baudelaire using Wollmeise Dani colorway. This is my first toe up sock yet and I really like that pattern. I’ve been feverishly working on it. I love this new yarn that I got, the only thing is that I don’t like that it knits up into stripes. It’s ok, the rich colors make up for it. The pattern is easy too, I really like toe up socks. I had to rip the beginning part out several times (just a couple of rows), but I finally understood it. The heel turn was fun too. So different! I’m almost done with one side (almost a record I think), and I can’t wait to start the next pair. I’m already planning…