Fun in the water and a naked German girl

The last several weeks have been colder and pretty rainy, but before that, there were a couple hot days that felt like summer. It is crazy to me that it is nearing the end of June and it still isn't warm enough to wear shorts. Ok, back to the couple of days that it WAS warm enough.....

We had our friends over and figured it would be fun for the kids to play in the sprinklers and in the pool. My kids have been dying to get in the water and play. My friend Sara and I sat in my dining room, where we got to hang out, talk and watch the kids through my big glass sliding doors that look outside. The kids were having a blast.









After a little bit, there was another little kid in my backyard. A german girl kid. Remember Dahlene from one of my previous posts? I saw here talking with the kids and then she disappeared on her bike. I turned to Sara and said, "Watch, she is going to show up again in her swimsuit". Sure enough she did, however the she was still fully clothed with a swimsuit Adeline's size in her hand (she is also 4 but maybe over 100 lbs?) and then the tiniest string bikini top I have ever seen in my life. All the kids just stared at her as she started stripping of her clothes in my back yard. After some struggles to get her shirt off, she started to take her pants off. This task was not so easy. After a couple of minutes she was laying on the grass leisurely trying to get them off, while taking long breaks. Eventually, she did get them off and was butt naked. She took a big leap and landing right in the kiddie pool. Adeline's friend Chase immediately jumped out (in shock perhaps?) and Adeline ran to grab Dahlene's swimsuit that she left on the side of the pool and handed it to her. Dahlene tried to get that on with no avail and completely tried to bag it. Instead, Adeline went over to her and tried as hard as she could to help Dahlene get it on. Oh my, Adeline has such a tender heart and that act of kindness towards Dahlene made me really proud of her. They did succeed to get it over her bottom, but it was impossible to get it over her shoulders. Dahlene then picked up the string bikini top, looked at it for a minute and realized that she didn't know what to do with that either. So, she ended up staying completely naked and ran and jumped back in the pool.



Remember, my friend and I are still viewing all of this from inside the house and just about peeing our pants. Chase at one point came to the door to get our attention and we had tears running down our faces from all the amusement. He asked what was wrong and Sara replied,

S- "Oh, Nicole just told me a really funny joke, what's up?"
C- "Mom, DAHLENE is here"
S- "Oh, that's ok. Are you guys being kind to her?"
C- "Uh, ya. But mom, she's naked" (trying to be serious but has a smile on his face)
S- "That's ok Chase, be nice"
C- "I want to go home. I don't want to go in the little pool"
S- "Just go jump on the tramp then, you don't have to go in the little pool"
C- "OK"

So we watched from the window and he just made sure that he kept his distance. I loved his facial expressions. Dahlene decided that she didn't just want to play in the pool, so she was also jumping on my trampoline naked. Then when she was done with the tramp, she would go and roll around naked on this huge bouncy ball I had in my yard.

Oh my. I really had no idea what to do, so I just decided to let it be and let them all play outside. I did decide to call Michaela (my German friend) to let her know that Dahlene was over again and that I would probably have to get her to come with me to speak with her mom about getting permission before she comes over. I really don't mind her coming over and playing outside with my kids, but she just shows up and
a) I can't communicate with her
b) Sometimes we have to leave or go somewhere
c) Sometimes I don't want to babysit someone else's kid
d) I don't know her and I don't know her parents
e) She helps herself to EVERYTHING (and remember we can't communicate)
f) I worry that her parents don't know where she is (even though I have heard, and noticed, that they don't care for her at all.
.......the list goes on and on.

As I am talking on the phone to my friend telling her this, Dahlene falls out of the one little hole that she can fall out of of my tramp and hurts herself. She is crying, I run outside to help her, and my friend hangs up the phone and rides her bike over. The same time Michaela shows up, so does Dahlene's mom (first time ever she has come over to get her). I had Michaela tell her that she can come play, but that she needs permission so I know it is ok with her parents and that it is a good time for us. The mom just said that Dahlene just runs away all the time and she doesn't know where she is and that she is sorry.

So, kind of a crazy (but fun) "summer" day. So does Dahlene's mom come over and ask permission if she can play the next time? No. A couple of days later she come peering in my big glass sliding door and starts knocking. Hmmm... this could be a long 2.5 years :)

Amsterdam

I am so behind on the blog is seems that these posts are old news and all out of order, but that's ok Several weeks ago Abe's friend Rick from Boston and his girlfriend were making a stop in Amsterdam when they were traveling Europe and had us meet up with them for the day. We are in such a great location because there are some really cool places not too far away. Amsterdam is about 2.5 hours away from where we live. So we set off early in the morning to go and meet them. This was our first time going and probably our last time driving into the city. We paid 5E per hour ($7 per hour), so ended up paying $42 for parking. Oh well, we are learning :)

The city was so walkable and I thought it was really pretty. Probably the dirtiest city I have been to thus far though, which is a shame. Paris was way cleaner.




Just some random dutch clog












Rick being Rick. He was a good sport and actually volunteered to push the stroller throughout the day.



Adeline and her gymnastics moves all over the city.






The city is full of bridges and canals. I loved the bikes everywhere lining the bridges.



All 4 of us with the famous sign... minus Meika. She was asleep in the stroller.



Taking a break in the shade because we were dying of heat.



These two were hot and restless, so did this the entire time in the stroller



Happy baby.









Anne Frank House. Couldn't do it with all 3 kids. I'm sure we will be back there again and can go inside!











The day was ended with some much needed ice cream to cool us off!

German kindergarten Struggles

I was pretty excited and nervous about getting Adeline into German Kindergarten. I had heard from other moms that their kids loved it and picked up the language extremely quick. I had also heard not so great stories and others struggles. When I started looking in to getting her a "slot" in a kindergarten, I looked at 3 different ones around our town that we were going to live in. When you pay for kindergarten, you have to pay for a 25hr, 35hr, or 45hr slot. I only wanted to send Adeline the minimum amount of time (15 hrs/week), so did not want to pay for anything more than a 25 hour slot. There was one kindergarten very close to our house, in which I heard was AMAZING, and I went to go see it. I LOVED it. I loved the teachers, the classrooms, the play areas and the overall feel of the Kindergarten. I was pretty upset when they ended up not having any open slots. The next one was about a 8 minute drive from us and I really liked that one too. They really wanted Adeline to go there, but they only had a 35 hour slot. I debated sending her there, but I found a Kindergarten in our town and it was walkable distance. I was also happy to hear that they had a 25 hour slot for Adeline. Only problem was that I was not in LOVE with it like I was the other ones. It was smaller, darker, older (seemed like boring) teachers, etc. I never felt like it was unsafe or bad by any means, just didn't get the same "fun" feel. We decided to send her there anyway because of the perfect slot and we could walk there.

When Adeline first started, she was really excited. We had been here for almost 3 months and Adeline didn't have too much of a social life. She was a really good sport and stayed excited about it for the first couple of weeks. Some days she would come home and tell us a german word she learned. Some days she would be excited and say, "I learned someone's name today!" I think after a couple weeks is when the frustration(?) possibly hit. She would hide from me in the mornings and would refuse to go to school. I even had to carry her to the car a handful of times. Every time though, she would pull it together when we got there and would walk right in without any hesitation. She is such a brave girl! When I picked her up, she always seemed and seems like she has a good time.

A couple of months ago Adeline started getting a little defiant and had a HUGE attitude. I was driving me insane. I was thinking she was just going through a horrible stage. She ended up having Spring break, we went on a couple of trips and she was missing a lot of school. Magically, her attitude mostly disappeared. Then it dawned on me that she is taking all her frustration out from Kindergarten on us when she comes home. I really thought, and hoped, that Adeline would pick up on the language quickly. She has learned some words here and there, but can't speak it and I don't think she really understands it either. One of the problems is that one of her teachers speaks English. She doesn't speak to her in German very often and I feel like Adeline followers her around a lot because it makes her feel comfortable. The kids like Adeline a lot, but maybe because she is more of a novelty, being the only English speaking kid and all. I have also been disappointed because it is more like a daycare (which I knew in advance) but I figured they would do fun activities, crafts, etc with them. I have heard that the other Kindergartens do. Well, this one doesn't. She colors everyday by choice, but then it is mostly just doing whatever they want. For Heaven sakes, the paintings behind all the kids in the class pictures are from EIGHT years ago!

I helped my German friend with her little girls birthday party that Adeline was attending. It was a good eye opener for me. The kids are not mean to Adeline, but she is a big outcast. The kids didn't ask her to play with them, she was always by herself and she was completely quiet and on edge. I think she cried 4 times (from being stepped on, hurt, frustrated, etc). That is not Adeline at all and she normally just acts tough. My heart hurt for her a little bit.

So, Adeline has a couple more weeks of "school" left and we are pulling her out. Adeline is SO excited to be done... which again is NOT like her at all. We will be sending her to the DOD international school in August and she couldn't be more excited that they will all be speaking English. It's pretty funny because when Adeline wakes up in the morning she will say, "Is it Kindergarten today?" After we tell her yes, she replies, "DANG IT!" She is a trooper and goes without fight though even though she is uncomfortable and pretty bored since there is no structure at all.

I wish that it had worked out better, but it hasn't all been bad. Because of it, we have met several other German mom's and kids in our little town. If we hadn't put her in, there is a good chance we would have NEVER made friends with other Germans (they don't open up very easily I have found). We will walk around town or be at the store and the kids will say, "Hello Adeline". I like that we feel apart of our community.

Pig's visit

Several months ago, my best friend from high school informed me that her and her husband were coming to travel Europe and were going to stop and stay with us a couple days at the beginning of their trip. I could not be more excited about her coming! It has been years since I saw her and haven't been able to see her since she got married. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to her wedding due to just giving birth to Norah AND completely moving ourselves to Boston. It was horrible timing :( Before they arrived, Adeline kept repeating Lindsey's name because she wanted to make sure and remember it. She clinged to Lindsey and Joe immediately.

The first full day they were here Abe had to work, which was a complete bummer. So, I ventured off with all three kids and the two of them to go somewhere I had not yet been to. Like it or not, they both got a lot of practice in the parenting category! The did a great job too!

VALKENBERG, NETHERLANDS We randomly parked somewhere by a "Casteel" sign and started walking to find the Castle. We ended up going on a nice little stroll through the forest and saw a really neat castle and old town. We also stumbled upon a fun park where we ate lunch and Adeline enjoyed Joe running around with her, pushing her on the swing, etc. It was so nice I could just sit and enjoy watching for a change. After our fun little walk and picnic, we drove into the town of Valkenberg and toured a broken down castle on top of a little hill that overlooks the city.




COCHEM, GERMANY The second full day they were visiting my friend was gracious enough to take Adeline and Norah for the day so we could all go to Cochem without the kids. Well, we had Meika, but she is much easier! It was so nice. I loved this little town. It did rain off and on, but luckily we didn't get too drenched. We had such a blast with Lindsey and Joe. I wish they could have stayed even longer, but they headed off to travel Europe :) The girls completely fell in love with the both of them. Joe and Linds got them both little unicorn stuffed animals for them to remember them by. I miss Linds so much and hopefully we can get together with them again sometime in the near future!

Meika at 4 months

I wish I could just freeze the time. My life is flashing before my eyes and it is scary! We have been in Germany for almost 8 months and that is just unreal. I can honestly say that was the fastest 8 months so far in my life. Little Meika just turned 4 months old. I think that officially means she is a "baby" now. She has turned into a happy little thing and is a joy when she is awake and fed. She smiles so hard all the time and it is super contagious. Definitely my most smiley baby. She is not holding objects and playing with toys. She loves bathtime. LOVES her sisters... especially Adeline because Adeline pays special attention to Meika. A month or two ago she started sleeping about a 5-6 hour stretch at the beginning of the night and then would be up every 3-4 hours after that. Not sure what happened, but she has completely digressed and is now waking up every hour. Sometimes 2x and hour. I am completely sleep deprived. I can't even imagine what it would be like to get a semi decent nights sleep. The transition to 3 kids for me really has not been that bad. The sleep aspect is what KILLS ME! She used to scream while she would breastfeed, but no longer does that. I am thinking it is due to the fact that I begged the doctor to put her on Zantac. She is a little peanut, so we decided that we would start introducing rice cereal. We've only given it to her once so far and she just slurped a little bit.


I took her to the doctor today for her 4 month checkup and am super frustrated. For some reason, there is not a pediatrician on this base, so we have to see our family doctor (who is a young single guy). After the tech weighed and measured Meika, I waited in the room for the doctor FOREVER. I was thinking to myself, "I bet the doctor is on the computer trying to find answers for me since he has no idea....". When he walked in the room he said, "Sorry you had to wait so long, I was on the computer trying to find some answers for you"! Awww, so annoying. He (of course) is very concerned about her weight gain. She has only gained 11 ounces in one month. She is smaller than Adeline even was at this age... however she also started out smaller. I am pretty annoyed because I already dealt with this with both my other kids. MY KIDS ARE JUST SMALL! I would definitely be more worried if Meika never wanted to eat and wasn't eating enough, but she is!! She is also meeting all her milestones, is happy and looks healthy... just small. He wan't to talk to a pediatrician down at Spangdahlam AFB to get their opinion. She is wondering when/if he should get a nutritionist and a specialist involved. On top of all this, he didn't really even look at Meika which is the point of a well baby, right? I ASKED him to look at her ears to make sure she didn't have an ear infection and then he did listen to her heart. He never felt her soft spot, looked at refluxes, checked her diaper, eyes, etc. Once I left the doctors office to head home I realized on the 4 month old chart that she was supposed to get immunizations... yet he never told me!! I am pretty annoyed about the whole situation.

Here are Meika's 4 months stats:

10 lbs 11 ounces (0%) She's gained 11 ounces in one month
don't know her head or height (but know she is 50% for height?)

Meika also got her first haircut. Her hairstyle was just a little too crazy :)

Before


After