just me and my little dude

Paul is in the states now for a conference which leaves me with a lot of time on his computer to get things done- including this blog and pictures.  :)  (*Maybe next time I'll have pictures of things other than just my precious child. ;) *)

Trying to get China visa pictures ourselves...

Not too much has been going on but I have been taking a ton of pictures (as usual).  Kindermusik started again and it has been a lot more fun this time.  More kids to interact with and better games/songs.  Although it is becoming more and more of a workout for me since Jakob has got to be about 30 pounds.  He has his 18 month checkup in a couple weeks.  We went to the pool that is right down the street from us on a great Saturday and it was a lot of fun.  Very relaxing but the water was a little too cool for Jakob's liking.  We'll go again on a hot hot day.

We threw a little housewarming/thank-you-for-helping-us-move party a couple weekends ago and it was a lot of fun.  We wanted to do an American bbq (well as close as we could get) with pulled pork, coleslaw, mac and cheese, chips and salsa, veggies and dip, and other snacks and we thought it turned out great.  We had WAY too much food though so by the end of the week we were ready to see it all gone.  I really wish I had taken pictures that night.  A few of our friends are moving away and that was one of the last times we'll see them.  Jakob will miss his friends but he had so much fun with the adults too. He attached himself to a few and would not leave them be.  He was even taking food off other people's plates and feeding them to random people- never would eat it.  He is such a social butterfly that I had to chase him with food to get him to eat something.

^ Bedtime routine- not holding the bottle and playing with his hair.

We've had a few terribly hot days/nights which makes sleeping not good.  It's these few days a year when we ask ourselves why we have not bought a fan or SOMETHING.  A few more hot days are coming up and I really hope the nights stay cool.  Here's a picture of Jakob before his haircut and after a nap.  That huge puddle on his sheet is sweat.  gross.

Blowing kisses to daddy and harmonicas

The next weekend we had a few things we wanted to get done but Jakob and I went to the zoo with some friends Friday when it was really hot and I don't think that settled well with him.  He didn't have much of an appetite and vomited in the grocery store later.  Poor guy.  He had a fever all weekend so we missed a goodbye party and his first haircut- no worries we rescheduled!  And Father's day ended up being pretty low key but at least it got Paul out of having to shop for better outfits for China.  He did babysit Saturday afternoon though and I got in a few hours of shopping and I found some new favorite stores!  So happy I finally have a couple places to shop.  But after the fever he had a slight cold and gave me a massive dose of it.  I don't feel well at all and this is the worse I've felt in a LONG time and now Paul is gone in the states.  All I want to do is lay down and rest and Jakob is either getting into trouble or sitting on my head (literally) not to mention we HAVE to get out of the house and meals have to be made and dishes need to be cleaned.  Not a super fun time right now so it's probably a good thing Paul's not here to catch it!

He climbs right up and turns it on all by himself ^

^ What happens when you go to get dinner plates. Jakob on table->Cup of water everywhere

Anyway, Jakob got his first haircut!  His hair was all in his eyes and he was getting a rat tail.  I wanted him to look nice for our China trip and Adam's wedding so we decided to pay the 27chf (holy cow!) and get it done right.  They did an awesome job!  He watched some tv and sat in a car while the lady worked her magic.  It was so cute and sad and now I have a big boy.  They gave him a little certificate with some hair and a toy and he didn't really care the whole time even when she brought out the buzzer.  Paul wasn't able to be there so when he got home he was sad too to see a big boy.  We still think he looks cute as ever though!  And if we ever had any doubts who he looks like the most... this haircut has officially made him Paul's mini me.  :)

Before                                                               During

After! :)

Paul and his mini me                                           Before haircut morning bed head

life long friends

Hello, everyone!  Life has been fun lately.  Hope things are going well with you.  Living so far away definitely does not help us keep in touch and lately I have been wishing we would do better.  We don't talk enough to a lot of people and miss you all greatly!

 

Our friends (who we've both known for over 10 years) arrived for their visit safe and tired but surprisingly stayed up for most of the day.  We had an awesome visit!  Our boys became brothers and giggled with each other and seemed to be connecting on a level just between the 2 of them.  It was so adorable.  We toured around Zürich, went to the zoo, Luzern, and Lauterbrunnen and then enjoyed a short stay in Milan.  We took the family car in the trains a lot and the boys enjoyed it tremendously.  We even celebrated mother's day together and Jenny and I got a few hours to ourselves to shop while the husbands babysat.  It felt amazing.  The visit went by so fast and we miss them already!  I love having a reason to get out and visit places and having my best friend here made it SO much more exciting!  And as the post reveals, I take too many pictures (or don't update enough for my amount of pictures ;) ) so I've done a slideshow of their visit.

        This is where Jakob decided to step on a peacock. I can not even express our level of fear...

The day after they left our new couch arrived!  Talk about poor timing on IKEA's part but at least it is finally here and we love it.  The apartment finally feels and looks like home (even more so than our last place!) and I am SO incredibly thankful for the space.   Soon we'll look for a few more pictures or frames of something to hang but for now we're enjoying it!  The one big change has been walking.  I thought we walked a lot before moving but since living here we have a much longer walk to tram stops which means lugging groceries much further.  In the scheme of things though, I would much rather get the exercise than have the highway noise outside my apartment!

                                                           Jakob's desk that he loves!
Our 4 year wedding anniversary was last week!  4 years married but almost 8 total years together.  Holy cow how time flies!  We said Milan was our celebration trip so at home I made us chicken enchiladas for dinner which was a huge feat.  I had to make the sauce from scratch and I've always been afraid to but finally did it and am so glad I did.  I made enough sauce for three 9x13 dishes of enchiladas.  The third batch of sauce is resting in the freezer til we have a want for more enchiladas.  :)  Paul made his awesome guacamole for our side dish with chips and for dessert I made chocolate souffles since I've been craving them and found an easy recipe.  I made a batch of those enough for 16 souffles in my muffin tin.  I was in heaven eating those for days!  Jakob loved our anniversary meal minus the dessert obviously- no need to give a crazy child more sugar.  :)

Jakob is growing like a weed.  He is being stubborn with words so I'm teaching him a little sign language.  We understand all his pleas despite no words (besides 'mama') but I really want him to start learning to ask for things without the whines.  So his first sign is please and after a few days he has finally started trying it.  Now I just have to get him to use it on his own.  We do others but this is the first one to stick.  Kindermusik ended while our friends were here but we signed up for another 5 weeks starting in June.  He loves it and any music a lot and this class will start later (so he'll be more awake) and have older kids to interact with which he really likes.  He's a busy kid and is on the verge of running and right now his favorite food is grilled cheese sandwiches.  He can't seem to get enough of them and eats a bigger one than me!