XOXO

Ace is a very affectionate boy. 

He loves to cuddle with both of us, he snuggles up every night and he also likes to give hugs.  You might even get a pat on the shoulder! lol

He is not very big into kisses though.

When I ask him for a kiss, there is a 50/50 chance for me to get one. 

Quite often, he will shake his head and say "No!". 

I accept that because I don't want to force anything on him. 

If he doesn't want to do it, I respect that.

It happens even less that he will come by himself to offer a kiss. 

It's a rare treat and makes me feel special.

A couple of days ago though, Ace and I were chilling on the bed and I was holding him.

Suddenly he sat up and looked at me, then came forward and gave me a big kiss. 

It was a surprise and we both smiled.

He can't say the words yet, but I sure felt very loved at this moment. :)

Celebrations

This weekend has been very special for us since it was June 4th again.

Time for celebration x 2.

Saturday was our 3rd wedding anniversary. :)

 

But of course it was also Ace's 2nd birthday.

With Markus' parents in town, we had decided against a big party but just opted for coffee and cake at home.

Checking out the cake...

This year Ace got the idea of blowing out a candle and did his best, but in the end he needed some help from mom and grandma. ;)
(No worries Ace, we made a wish for you on your behalf.. ;))

Then it was time to unwrap the presents...
Let me just say: He got a lot of Duplo. ;)

Eventually it was cake time and since it was Key Lime Cake, Markus was in heaven [insert angel trumpets here], however Ace did not care.

He just picked at his slice for a minute, but didn't even want to eat one bite.

Finally he handed me the plate and asked for an orange instead.

This child is hilarious!

Easter

I hope everybody had a good Easter!

We were planning on hiding some eggs for Ace in our apartment but unfortunately he got sick and was not feeling well at all on Sunday.

Nonetheless he had a few good moments so we managed to do the Easter thing and snap a few pics.

Sporty

When we went to the gym on Saturday, I might have been able to catch a glimpse into the future. Our fitness center offers MMA classes for all ages and while we were working out, I was able to watch their Junior Grappling class. They had a group of about a dozen kids there - ages 5 to 8 years. Most of them were boys, but I could also see 2 girls.

Watching those kids - especially the young boys - made me wonder what Ace will be into in a couple of years. He is so full of energy already that I have no doubt that he will be doing something active. But what might it be? 

Naturally our family enjoys soccer, but Markus also likes to watch American Football as well as UFC and boxing on TV. 

We both run and before Ace we have been known to swing the tennis racket on a regular basis.

Markus really likes cycling and I enjoy inline skating (despite the fact that I haven't been doing it a lot in the past years.. ). 

But of course, there are still a ton of other sports Ace could get into. (I just hope it won't be lacrosse - it looks too much like butterfly hunters gone wild. :P) 

Lacrosse - Too many nets if you ask me.

I can't wait to find out what he will like... :)

Kiddie TV can be weird

Ace loves watching TV.

You can count on it: As soon as we get home from work/daycare in the evening, you will hear his "Tibi! Tibi!"- chant and our little guy will hand us the remote control so that he can watch an episode of his favorite TV shows.

Currently he is into Curious George, Caillou and The Cat in the Hat.

Occasionally he'll also watch Sesame Street or Barney. But not that often.

Markus and I have a love/hate relationship with most of the shows.

I mean I can't deny that we can use them to our advantage.

In the mornings for example. Ace is so not a morning person. Getting him ready for daycare can be such a struggle and the last thing I need at 7 am is whining and crying. But if you turn on Curious George he'll be fine. And before he knows it, he is completely dressed and actually feels pretty good... awake and ready to conquer the world.. So he'll tell Markus "Bye bye", blows him a kiss.. and off we go.

It works in similar fashion if we need to make a phone call without having him yell into our ear or if I need to clean the bathroom with bleach.

On the other hand, sometimes these shows are really hard to stand.

Here are my (and Markus') random thoughts:

Curious George:

What is wrong with the man with the yellow hat?

Why doesn't he even have a name? - All the other characters have one!
Including (my "favorite") Professor Pizza. (Really?)

And what's up with this obession for yellow?

But more importantly: How can he be so irresponsible?

He lets George do what he wants or gives him tasks that will set the monkey up for failure. 

He expects too much.. I mean come on: It is a monkey! 

For once a picture without the hat...

Caillou:

OMG - just stop whining already! I have no idea why Caillou's mom hasn't wacked him over the head already. Or maybe she has and that's why he is bold? I mean at 4 years old? Isn't that weird? I'd see a doctor.. but nobody in that family seems to be concerned.. so I guess they know something I don't...

Don't be fooled: He is just trying to hide the boldness.

But you know, I can't condemn the parenting Caillou's family does in general, cause they show admirable amount of patience with their kids.

However, I have observed some things that I find questionable.

For example, in one episode Caillou and his dad go for a run.

Remember, Caillou is 4, so obviously his legs are a lot shorter than his father's.

I can't say that Dad cared a lot though. He runs off and is ahead without even thinking to ask if Caillou is okay and can keep up. Kind of inconsiderate.

Eventually they have enough and decide to make their way back to the house.

Dad encourages Caillou with a "Last one at the house is a rotten egg!"

Ehm.. yeah.. sure.

Caillou's friend's parents aren't doing much better though:

Caillou is at his first sleepover and gets homesick. He wants to go home.

His friend's mom suggests helpfully to have dinner first and see how he feels afterward.

OK, fine.

At dinner then, Caillou repeats that he wants to go home and mom pulls an amazing idea out of her ass: "Why don't you guys eat as fast as you can, so that you can finish your plates and have dessert? I'm sure you'll feel better then."

Nice.. Let's teach our kids how they can suffocate their emotions with food while they are still in Pre-K! I am sure this way they'll get a future eating disorder for free as well! Yay! - Not... :(

Sesame Street:

I still have to see an entire episode, but there is always one part that creeps the heck out of me: Elmo's World.

First of all the entire scenery... kind of weird all this crayon scribble.. but whatever.. if they like their designers to smoke while work.. Fine. :P

What's really bugging me though is Mr. Noodle. He is such a weirdo! He gives me the creeps.

Creepy guy aka Mr. Noodle

And now recently I discovered he also has a brother - equally strange! Ugh!

I feel uncomfortable just watching them.

(And worse: I just found out you can book Mr. Noddle for your kid's birthday party: http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/RCDS08/catalog_items/83810

AH! SO not happening!)

There is one show I absolutely adore though: The Cat in the Hat!

I love it. So educational. The stories are so sweet and the characters are singing in nearly every episode. I could watch that show all the time. I might even learn something myself! Ha!

Always in a good mood: The cat

But of course Ace has his own ideas of what he wants to watch.. so I can only suggest Dr. Seuss' creations - in the hope he feels more like talking cats and fish instead of monkeys that sell ice cream or ride the subway.. ;)

Toddler brain

Most of us know this already: When you become a parent a lot of things will change and life becomes more interesting.

Ah, no kidding, eh?
For example (and I have mentioned this before), most moms experience (suffer from?) some kind of "mommy brain". So do I.
As a consequence us moms have to write everything down or we will forget it. Instantly.

Here is an example:
The local supermarket around the corner from my office is currently running a promotion where you get a free coffee with your purchase. When you pay for your goods the cashier will ask you if you want one, so that she can put it into her system.
Of course I don't say No to that. (I mean it's FREE coffee!)
Too bad that last time, I had already forgotten about my free coffee the second I had put away my credit card. So I grabbed my bag and left the store.
I realized this 2 hours later by the way.

Why is this happening?
- Because there is so much going on in our mommy brains.

Mine basically looks like this:

Yep, there is a lot happening here...

During the day I am basically hopping from one thought to the next. (No wonder I am always so tired at the end of the day.. lol)

That I always have a lot on my plate at work doesn't help either.

So I am always carrying a notepad around wherever I go. That does the trick for me.

Enough said about that though because what I discovered in the past week is that our counterparts have similar "issues" - only they don't really care that much.

What I am talking about is this: Toddler brain.

Since the kiddos don't think about it and have no worries, it must look pretty much like this:

Don't be fooled by the cuteness...

Just imagine it going a 100 miles per hour.
For 12 hours straight.

Of course this gives them plenty of opportunities to come up with crazy ideas on how to entertain themselves.

Ace's new favorite:
Sticking objects into body cavities.
It started with un-eaten pieces of carrot in his ears. Now he has moved on to corn kernels up in his nose.
The latter he tried for the first time on the weekend.
We had microwaved popcorn as a snack while watching TV and he decided to grab the bag to help himself. Suddenly it got quiet and we knew one of two things were happening:
1. He got tired or 2. He was up to something.
Of course it was number 2.
He had grabbed the corn kernels that hadn't popped and stuck one into each nostril.

Great. Exactly what you need on a Sunday night at 11.15 pm.

We started to think about heading to the ER, when we got lucky. One just fell out and the other one Ace was able to dig out himself. Phew.. good for us.
No 3 hour wait at the hospital.

Well, fast forward to last night.
You know how kids always find everything?
Well, of course we didn't give Ace any popcorn bags anymore, but he still managed to find a single corn kernel somewhere... and of course he stuck it up his nose.
No panic on our side here as we had already been through this before, but when an hour passed and the thing still had not come out I got a tiny bit nervous.
It didn't help that Ace didn't want to cooperate and declined to blow his nose. :/
Eventually I ran out of options, so I did what I always do when I don't know anymore:
I ask Google. (Mommy brain's best friend!)
And I was not disappointed cause apparently there is a CPR-like technique you can try before heading frantically to the ER.
(Read here for more info: How to get that thing out of your kid's nose)

Long story short:
I got lucky cause Ace thought this was a game where mommy gives kisses so he had fun and was holding still.
2 min later that damn thing popped out and passed my cheek with lightning speed while I ended up with toddler snot on my face.
But you know what - I could not have been happier in that moment. The kernel was ginormous. No clue how he even managed to get that in.

I can't wait to find out what he will come up with next.... :P

Not everything goes as planned

When you become a parent you quickly realize that there are tons of decisions you have to make just to get started:

Breastmilk or formula? Scheduled feedings or on cue?

Cloth diapers or disposables? What brand?

Stroller or baby wearing?

Vaccinations? All of them? Some of them? Delayed or on schedule?

Your general parenting style? Traditional or Attachment Parenting?

And those are just a few...

Some were no-brainers. 

There was no question that I would breastfeed and that Ace would wear Pampers. Being a working mom, I was more than happy to hook myself up to a pump every day at work to collect food for my baby, but I was absolutely unwilling to deal with soiled cloth diapers when I came back home. Especially since we didn't have a washing machine, but were laundromat customers... 

Other decisions certainly took a bit of time and relied on trial and error. And adjustments were necessary as time went by. 

For example we bought a running stroller, but Ace was too small to sit in there. 

But guess what, his infant car seat fit perfectly in it, so we would just use that combination to go out.

Or we bought a Snugli baby carrier, but in the beginning again he was too small for it.
So I got a baby pouch sling to carry him around for the first couple of months. 

(By the way that also solved the problem with noisy strangers trying to touch him. People often thought it was just a hand bag... lol)
And eventually when he was over a year old and had gotten a bit too heavy for the Snugli, I bought a sling wrap so that I could hip carry him.

Of course then there was also the sleeping situation...

While I was pregnant I thought I had it all figured out: I had insisted on buying a bassinet, so we got one and had it set up next to our bed. 

My idea was: I am close to the baby when he needs me, but he is still sleeping in his own bed. This will make it easier to transition to a crib later when he sleeps through the night.

Yeah, it didn't quite happen that way.. *cough*

Once he was born the midwife gave him to me and told me to keep him close since he would need my body heat to stay warm and so that we could bond as well. So for the next couple of days I would hold him (except when Markus had him, of course) at day and night time and by the time I was ready to let him sleep in his bassinet, Ace wasn't having it anymore. 

He would be fussing and was just so unhappy in the bassinet that we continued to take him with us to bed. And before you knew it, the Laibachers had become a co-sleeping family.

Something I had not really planned on, but I might have been the one benefiting the most from it since it turns out that breastfeeding while co-sleeping is so much easier than having to get up in the middle of the night in order to feed your baby. ;)

Fast forward to today. 

Ace is 20 months now but our sleeping arrangements haven't changed. 

For a while we tried to get him used to sleeping in the PNP but the results were just so so and eventually we just let it go. And it's not like that we aren't enjoying it. It's really nice to be able to be there for your child the second he needs you... and all the cuddle time we get because of it is just wonderful. Also our bed is king-size with plenty of room for all of us, even now that Ace has grown so much. That is: Usually. 

Cause there are the days when even a king-size bed doesn't seem to be enough - especially when you have a child that hates blankets, but loves to steal your pillow:

Oh, the things we don't mind doing for our kids... ;)

No candy for babies

Sometimes I can't understand people. (Yes, you are assuming right - this is going to be a little rant.. :P)

I am bothered because lately too many people have tried to "mean well" when it comes to Ace.
Apparently we have now reached some magical age where people think it is appropriate to hand out candy.
On several occasions AND in different countries people have come up to us and tried to give him sweets or lollipops.

Of course we said No every time and earned surprised looks.
The last incident happened approx. 2 weeks ago when Markus and Ace were off to buy groceries while I was at work.
It has been reported to me that Ace was not pleased when being seated in the shopping cart, so that he started to complain and whine loudly. In response an elderly lady came up to him and tried to give him a candy to calm him down. Markus intervened and thanked her but said politely No. And wait... here it comes: The woman was offended cause she gave him the look!
Excuse me??

First of all: You are a stranger. And while I appreciate your intention to console my toddler (who will be calming down in 2 minutes anyways) and I understand that you just mean well - I still don't know you! So please don't give him anything without consulting me or Markus FIRST.
Secondly: You are trying to give him candy! And all I can think of is: WHY?

Remember, Ace is 19 MONTHS old. He is barely out of the baby phase, being a toddler now. Which means he has no frickin clue what a candy is. Cause he never had it. (gasp)
Yes, I am one of those evil moms who withholds sweets and other unnecessary crap from her son.
Why? Because he doesn't need it. I can assure everybody that Ace will eat enough chocolate, candy, sweets and other junk in his life. Heck, I do it. I certainly love my chocolate.. but I think a child that age does not need to have those kind of "treats". My motto is "If he doesn't know what it is, he doesn't need to eat it." Cause he doesn't miss anything. I can eat treats at home and he won't ask for any of it.. cause all he wants right now is a third banana or second yogurt since that it what he likes to eat. That's a treat to him. Markus and I feel very blessed because of that.

So I don't understand how people can complain that their children don't want to eat their fruits and veggies when they are okay with grandma letting them feed candy.
(Hint: There might be a connection here... I am just saying..)

So ya.. Sometimes I don't understand people.. but then maybe it's just me being weird again... who knows... :P

Happy Halloween!

I really like Halloween.
And this year I was especially looking forward to it since Ace is now old enough to fit in a real costume.

Not that he wasn't the cutest ghost ever last year, of course...

Remember?


I have to admit though that we kind of cut it short with him and his costume.
For me, Halloween started on Friday when I went to the office dressed up in a Morticia-like outfit.
(Yeah, I know... not much of an effort for me since I had all the necessary clothes in the closet already ;))
But that day we still did not have something for Ace although we had been to several stores already.
And we saw some craziness... at the PartyPackagers store on Orfus Road there was war... the shelves were empty and people were standing frustrated in long lines at the entrance of the warehouse in the back to get one of the last costumes that were still available. I have no idea why the store had not been prepared for this - it's not like Halloween comes as a surprise each year.. Well, maybe for some folks... like winter.. but that's another story...
Anyways, on Saturday we found a lizard costume for Ace at ToysRUs and we were good to go for the big night the next day since I also got some fangs to be a vampire and Markus got a Scream mask to be a killer.

We were able to take some great photos before heading out cause Ace did not like to wear the hood with the lizard head and his complaining made it look like as if he was scared of me. Awesome!

Then we went off to our very first Trick-Or-Treating. It was a first for all of us since neither Markus and I had done it in Germany where it's not very common.
Despite the cold it was a blast. It was really fun to knock on people's doors and of course get the candy. ;)
Everybody was really friendly and loved Ace in his green lizard costume. He even did not mind the hood anymore.
I don't think that Ace really understood what was going on but I am sure he found it at least interesting.
We only did about a dozen or so houses in the neighborhood before going home again since it was too cold to stay outside too long, but for the first time it was good.
I can't wait for next year when Ace should be able to walk and maybe even say "Trick or Treat!" himself! :)

Fun at the playground

Recently Ace has started to climb.
He can climb off the bed and the couch, but not back up. But he is able to climb on the foot stool since it is lower to the ground. And he can climb stairs up and down. The latter he is always doing backwards though - with one foot carefully testing/searching for the next step.
Really cute.
So since we now have a monkey on our hands, we have started to go with him to the playground.
We have a really nice one close by that has a big jungle gym with plenty of stairs for Ace to climb.
It also has 3 different slides, but in the past Ace didn't really show any interest in those at all. Every time we tried sliding with him, he had been totally indifferent. Basically he could not care less.

Well, this has changed. A lot.
I am not sure how it happened, but Ace suddenly figured out that you can slide backwards on your belly as well.
And this is the result:









This is the smallest slide by the way.
It's still pretty crazy for a 14-month old guy and everybody I talked to agreed with me.
Apparently, Ace thinks a little different about that though cause 2 nights ago, he decided it was time to upgrade and he went for the TALLEST slide. I could not believe it when he started to head towards it.
Neither could the other parents on the playground.
1 minute ago they were reminding their kids "to be careful with the baby" since Ace is always the youngest one there... and the next thing you know, the "baby" was at the top of the tallest slide, turned around, stretched his legs and woosh! made his way down that slide while having the greatest time. Crazy!
One of the other moms actually looked like she was going to pass out. LOL.

We definitely have to take a video of Ace and this sliding adventure as well.

Stay tuned...

Being German

Being German is actually kind of a deal.

It certainly comes with its perks like free health care, free college/university education or a social net of benefits that will catch you in case of unemployment (or even if you are just a lazy butt after finishing school :/) so not nobody really "has" to live on the streets. The system will take care that at the very least you have a roof over your head and you don't have to starve.
(Of course, all of this only applies if you are actually living in Germany. ;))
Also, prospective employers tend to look at you benevolently since we have the reputation to be punctual and organized.
(I don't know about others but that is certainly true for Markus and I.)

But it also comes with "responsibilities" as well (and I am not talking about paying your taxes or going to vote, etc).
Like for example you have to like soccer (well, and Formular 1 probably too, given the fanbase this sport has over there, but whatever...).
Soccer is certainly the number 1 sport everybody is into.
I really don't think that I know a single German who does not like soccer.
So obviously at our house the excitement is big as well now that the World Cup 2010 is on.
What that means is that at the moment Markus' favorite piece of clothing is a German soccer jersey. Available in either white (home) and black (away) to mix it up a little. ;)
Myself, I am prepared with a soccer zip jacket and a bracelet in country colors.
But of course the new generation needs to be dressed appropriately as well.
Cause a true soccer fan is starting out young!


So even Ace got an outfit and hey, when you look at him - who wouldn't start liking a sport that has fans that cute?! ;)

Ace's birthday

Just a day after our "special" day we had Ace's birthday party in our backyard and it was awesome.
I really could not have asked for more.
So many people came and everybody had fun.
The weather was great - sunny, but not too hot.
The "main" birthday cake was really yummy.

But even more important: The birthday boy really enjoyed himself.
Ace had a great time getting dirty with his smash cake.


He had fun sitting on everybody's laps, being held or playing with the other babies.
And he also did well with unwrapping his presents (with some help of course ;)).
No tantrums, no meltdowns despite all that excitement and attention.
He was just having a good time until eventually the party was over and he passed out cause he was so tired. lol

I consider it a total success.

Thanks everybody for creating great memories for Ace's first birthday and all the generous gifts we got for our little boy.
Of course this includes our family/friends in the US and overseas who were not able to be there in person - but just know that you were still a part of this great afternoon. :)

Growing up

Ace got his first haircut on the weekend and since that turned out to be quite the experience for everybody involved, I shared the story online with friends on APA and Facebook.
Of course this included the upload of some of the photos we had taken at "Melonhead".
On the camera chip we not only found said photos though, but also some pictures from our trip to Niagara Falls in January.
I pretty much had seen all of them before, except for this one:


This photo was taken 5 months ago and while this does not feel that long ago to me, I look at this pic and I realize how much Ace has grown up during that time.
He is still the cutest and most adorable little boy ever, but he has lost some of his baby face and sure looks more like a toddler now.


That realization couldn't come at a better time though considering his birthday will be in just 2 days!
His first birthday!
I don't know how it happened that the time flew by so fast, but I am glad that I am not really sad about my baby boy turning 1 already. The first year has been so much fun and was really exciting, so I am sure more adventures will lie ahead of us when he now enters the toddler years...


I can't wait to see how you will learn more new things and make this world your own.
I love you.

Waiting game

So yesterday Ace finally had his first pediatrician appointment.

Yes, that is right. It took us 11 months to find one.
It is not like we did not try.
After our extended midwife care was over at 3 months I called every single pediatrician's office accessible. With no success.
They would not even put us on a waiting list - even if we had kind of a referral from friends who are already patients there.
"We have too many patients already." I heard that so many times.
Eventually we had some luck and at one of Markus' job sites he met one of the neighbors who is a doctor at a family doctor's office.
With her help we not only got on a waiting list but also got pushed up so that after "only" 6 weeks of waiting we were able to get an appointment. Yay.
Unfortunately it turned out that this was just some kind of "Meet and Greet". The doctor told us how things at this office work and asked some basic questions about Ace and our medical family history. I also was able to talk to him about vaccinations since we have delayed that so far, but that was basically it.
Ace did not even get measured or weighted.
And now? Guess! Yep, we have to wait again.
4 weeks until the next appointment which will be his 1 year well-baby check. Then he will also get his first shots.

Yes, it is a waiting game.

Consideration

Ace is a very good and content baby, but nonetheless he behaves like all babies do when they are exploring their world: He wants things his way, gets into everything and gets upset when we have to tell him "No" in certain situations. He might cry, yell and complain or get a little angry. Normal behavior.
But he also has a very considerate side which always amazes me.

On the weekends we like to take a family nap.
But sometimes it happens that Ace is not tired yet. But he tries to fall asleep nonetheless.
He can hear and feel him moving next to me... trying to find a position that will help him to doze off. He is very quite while doing that though.. He puts his thumb in mouth since that is soothing to him.. He snuggles up close to me for a couple of minutes until he realizes that this won't work.. Then he moves around again to find another sleeping position.. In general he just tries really hard for up to 20 minutes to fall asleep so that we all can take a nap together.
Eventually though, when nothing had worked, he looks up and with a "Dah!" he announces that he is done trying. In case none of us moves right away, he then touches our faces to make sure we are aware of the "situation".

I really find that amazing.. how such a little guy can already be so considerate to try to do us a "favor". :)

Construction

Right across the street from our daycare they have torn down a building.
For some time trucks came every day to take away the construction waste until the area was clean again. Now they want to build something new there.
The construction area is right at our streetcar stop and this morning when Ace and I got out, I could see that they were going to dig a hole for a foundation.

I stopped at the fence to show Ace the machines. I pointed to the excavators and excavators with grabs and explained to him what they are and what they are doing.

In the past Ace has not been very impressed when I did something like that.
He could not have cared less.

This morning was different though. He looked interested in what was going on and listened to my explanations. When I pointed to the machines he got all excited. He clapped his little hands and even made a "comment" about things in his baby babbling. It was adorable.

That totally made my morning.

Sid the Science Kid

We don't want Ace to watch too much TV. But making sure that he doesn't, is actually an easy task (for now) since he is not that much into it anyways. A couple of shows he enjoys watching though, like Barney or the occasional Sesame Street.
But there is one show he really loves: Sid the Science Kid.
And I have to say that we certainly don't mind him watching that because this show is just awesome.

For those of you who don't know it:

The main character is Sid, a five-year-old boy, who wants to be a scientist when he grows up.
He wants to know everything about everything and with the help of his family, friends and his teacher he finds the answers to questions kids have about how things work and why they are a certain way.

This show is entertaining and educational and I just love not only how (scientific) things are explained, but also how the different characters interact with each other.
It is just wonderfully written in my opinion.
I am sure Ace enjoys the colors and the singing and dancing in every episode more than anything else at the moment, but it still makes me smile a lot when I see how my so active baby boy gets all quiet when we turn it on. He just sits there on the couch, very focused on what Sid has to say.

It is adorable.

We are now thinking of getting him the Sid doll for his birthday. ;-)