Schutzengel

Im Moment gibt es leider einige Menschen, die einen Schutzengel brauchen. Andrin hat sich deshalb entschieden, seinen Schutzengel mit ihnen zu teilen. Er hofft, dass "sein" Schutzengel ihnen Mut, Kraft, Liebe, Hoffnung und Schutz bringt.

Weekend in Portland

Thank you, Annie and Brendon, for your hospitality!

This past weekend, we spent another wonderful weekend with our friends, Annie and Brendon. We experienced a lot (Portland Zoo, Annie's lab, the Swiss air tram, IKEA, visit with Christof and Ursina, walk in the neighborhood, coffee shop stop, Woodburn Outlet stores ...), ate wonderful food (Clemens especially loved the Biscuits and Gravy), and had a great time relaxing with Annie and Brendon. The time flew by and we are looking forward to our next trip together ... to the Deschuttes River in May.

Waiting for the Swiss air tram to take us down to the river after we visited Annie's lab at OHSU
.

At the Portland Zoo ...
Andrin just graduated last week into the big boy stroller (without the car seat adapter)
and is liking it so much better.

Brendon and his elephant ear ... He almost lost his own ears to hypothermia waiting in the line for it ...

Papi is tired and was trying to take a nap with Andrin ... Andrin clearly was NOT tired.

What is Andrin doing? Mami was trying to feed him, but ...

Andrin discovered his new-found love for fans ...
This one was at the coffee shop, but there already was a nice one at the Zoo.

Annie never carried a baby around with the Baby Bjoern and wanted to experience it.
Andrin liked it and took a long nap with his Godmother.
Andrin with his Godmother Annie in the morning ...
(Yes, we got him a new pajama since his toes are sticking out of this one :)

Working permit

Today, I got my new working permit in the mail! No questions, no problems, just a new working permit until 1/10/2010. And then we will have to see again ...

Impressions ...

Andrin has been rather affectionately lately. He made my day on Wednesday .... I went up to daycare to pick him up after seeing my children for individual therapy and he was asleep. Since we know how precious every minute of sleep can be, I did not even attempt to take him and just waited until he woke up. He woke up crying (he slept in one of the daycare provider's arms) and I was able to take him over right away and he stopped instantly and went over to a smile! But Andrin also has enjoyed being cuddled by his Papi ... (He does not want to be carried around all the time facing forward anymore.)

Look what I found in the laundry today!

This is what I found today in the laundry ... all clean, sweet, and just beautiful!

Protocoll of Andrin's last night :)

1. 6.45 pm Papi starts the bedtime routine with me consisting of putting me in my pajama, changing me into new diapers, and playing with me (I especially enjoy the game with the light switch on and off).
2. 7.00 pm Mami takes over and fills my tummy with delicious milk.
   
3. 7.30 pm I am asleep and Mami gives me a last kiss good night and puts me down in my crib.
   
4. 7.50 pm I wake up once again and Papi sings me back to sleep (Mami believes that I fall quickly asleep because of my Papi's singing talent:)
5. 3.52 am I wake my Mami up with loud smacking noises because I am hungry.

YEAH!

My favorite new thing ....

Just wanted to let you know that I have a favorite new thing to do: sticking out my tongue. Last week, I could not stop blowing bubbles, but I am done with that! Also, I really like when Mami takes me for rides on our beautiful wooden floor through the house. I especially like when I am swirled around, it just gives me the giggles. And I am proud that I am able to take my naps in my own bed now. Mami still is close by (and works on the computer which lulls me as well) if I wake up, but I feel so much like a big boy now.

Jungle sounds

I discovered today that I am actually from the jungle. My parents always tell me that I am their monkey baby, but I think they are wrong ... It took them quite a while to figure out what kind of animal I actually am. Suddenly, my Mami realized that it must be a tiger, especially since I was wearing my Tigger pants again. What do you think? Do I sound like a tiger, a lion, or ...?

It is all about the little joys of life (with Andrin)

I know, it might sound like I am gone totally crazy now to be so excited about a thing that happened today ... but believe me ... it is BIIIIIIIIIG! As most of you know, our little, most wonderful and precious boy is not big on sleeping. Today, he slept for 45 minutes (!!!!!!) in his crib in the afternoon! I was able to just put him down (that means: no crying) and he once woke up with a little cry, but went back to sleep right away again! That's what I call a progress! So far, Andrin never would sleep more than ten minutes by himself (on the floor, in his crib) and we always had to hold him in our arms or keep him in the Baby Bjoern. Our little boy is growing up ... and we welcome this change!

Baby slippers

During her last visit, my Mom brought me the white baby slippers that I used to wear when I was a baby. I just pulled them out of the drawer the other day and they are the perfect size for Andrin now. He grew out of his booties and the new slippers that I made for him from leftover yarn are a little bit too big. I am just waiting for Andrin to wake up from his nap (he is napping in the Baby Bjoern because he feel asleep in there when I was vacuuming ;) so that we can go to the store to look for some new slippers. Our little boy just grows way too quickly. He already is able to wear some jackets that are sized 6-12 months! This past week, he discovered the joy of laughing out loud (sometimes to my astonishment since I have no idea what he considers to be so funny). He also has developed a lot of strength in his head so that tummy time is a lot more fun lately. Sometimes, he feels like rolling all over the place, but our baby boy clearly has a mind of his own and does not like to perform on cue!

Cookie monster

Yes, we have a cookie monster in our house. And since Andrin is not yet eating any solids yet, there is only one other person that could qualify for this position! He is rather picky about the kind of cookies (M& Ms' being the favorite)... but he also tries to tell his wife that she makes the best cookies. I think he sometimes is a little bit afraid that he might not get enough cookies ... but see yourself what I discovered the other day after I bought him some cookies:

News from my grandparents

I talked with my mother today and she gave me the newest information on my grandparents. She just returned from the Netherlands where she was helping out. My grandparents are at the moment in assisted living. They have two rooms right next to each other and whenever there will be a bigger double room opening up, they will move there. This "vacation" will last for six weeks and then they will be reassessed again and they will decide where they will go from there. It seems like my Opa is doing well. According to him, his check at the hospital was fine and they did not find anything wrong with him (but we also know that he tends to play everything down). It seems like taking care of my Oma was overwhelming him and he was not taking care of himself at all. My mother shared that he has been sitting the entire day right to my Oma and is ensuring that she is getting the best treatment and care possible. He seems to hold on to the hope that she is doing better now. My Oma seems to have severe dementia, confusing people, not recognizing them, and has only short moments of being present. My mother got the impression that she would have died if they would have not taken her somewhere. My Oma refused to eat and drink for a long time and her doctor did not really seem to do her job. My Oma still tries to convince everyone that she is doing great, but hardly gets out of bed and is not able to take care of herself at all. We all would be surprised if she would be able to return home again! We will see what the next six weeks will bring.

Celebrating Andrin's four month birthday

All week long, we celebrated Andrin's four month birthday! He is growing up so quickly. At the moment, his favorite thing is to blow bubbles and droll all over the place ... and to fly like an airplane with Papi.

Andrin also has been able to hold up his head for extended time periods and he loves to play on his tummy ....


Now that he officially is four months old, he also has been able to wear his Tigger pants for the first time (thanks to Gotti Sara who got them at H&M in Switzerland:)



And even bath times are a lot of fun nowadays!

And no, I have not written about his sleeping patterns lately ... We are still getting up in the middle of the night, but well ... that is just our little boy! He is doing better though with taking naps during the day. His favorite spot is the car seat at the moment!


And we still carry him around in the Baby Bjoern for our walks which Andrin is enjoying more since he is not sleeping whenever we go for a walk!