look alike.

One of the first restaurants we visited in Germany was a place that's locally named "The Truck Stop." However, it's really as far as you can possibly get from what Americans would think of when they think "truck stop!" There are huge indoor and outdoor dining areas, a brand new playground for the kids, and pastures all about the area where deer are raised! (Unfortunately, some of them do end up on the menu, but at least they are pampered by visitors until then...) Marius ordered a schnitzel, while I experimented by ordering something completely new to me - sauerbraten! Iris shared from our plates, and was most interested in the fresh pasta that came along with my meal. 


I snapped a few quick pictures of her eating, and of her and Marius playing with her new lacing toy. I laugh every time I see these photos because the two of them look alike so much, and even wear  identical expressions in each photo!

After we finished eating, Iris got a huge kick out of watching and feeding the deer! 

This has been such a lovely summer so far!

a little update.

After many weeks of travel and constant change, we are finally settling into our new home here in Germany. We finally have phone and internet, after a month of waiting for the German cable company to get their act together. All of our furniture and other belongings have arrived by boat, so we finally got rid of the military base rental furniture yesterday. Most of the boxes are unpacked at this point, as I spent the last week dedicating myself to the task. Iris is very happy with our new house, and now that the rental furniture from the military base is gone, a large area of the living room is clear for her own personal play space. We just ordered her this play rug yesterday to soften an area of the tile floor for her. It should be great for the playmobile toys she loves so much!

For your enjoyment, here is a little video I took of her this morning. I will hopefully be more active here now that our PCS is complete. I am excited to share a slice of our life here with all of my readers! 

twenty-one months.

My baby, you are talking up a storm these days! Not only are you now putting small sentences together, you are also beginning to understand the concept of emotions. Remember when you scraped your knee a few weeks ago? You will now point to the little pink scar and say, "all better... happy!" Your use of the word "no," has been toned down quite a lot. If we ask you a question such as, "are you hungry?" you will respond positively with, "hungee, okay!" You are even remembering the lines from certain books, your favorite being "Oh Kiiittyyy, where aaare you??" You are also making observations about the world, for example when it rains you'll look outside and say "all wet!"

You are becoming more adept at actually listening and responding to reason. While we try to convince you to do something you don't want to do, you will usually listen attentively and after weighing the matter, you'll concede. You grasp the concepts of doing something "first" or "waiting a moment," though patience is still an art you're learning! You almost always say, "thank you" after receiving something that you've asked for. You've learned that "at work" means Papa is away, and that "home" is now a constant place where we live (and also where the Kitty is!)

You've finally hit 22 lbs and 32 inches, which still leaves you in below the 10th percentile for weight and height for your age. However, you have a rather large cranium, which runs in the family! Your favorite food by far is oatmeal of any sort, which you eat a whole bowl of every morning. You've started to hold your utensils more with your fingers, rather than a fist and you've also started experimenting with eating with your hands more often. We've discovered that you adore peas and you're also partial to Schinken (German cured ham.) When we do our weekly shopping at the German grocery store Edeka, the ladies at the deli often offer you slices of meat or cheese which is quickly devoured. 

You love other kids; watching them, waving to them, and crying out "hi boy!" or "hi baby!" You can name all the colors of the rainbow, all of your body parts and even recognize and draw different shapes and types of lines like straight or curved. You can name many different letters of the alphabet and count to five, though you tend to only do that for Papa. You sing along to any song you're familiar with and seem to have a good grasp of the timing of notes and words. You are very happy in our new house in Germany; I can hardly believe how adaptable you are.


Your most favorite thing right now is to be outside, usually playing with your new water table or kicking your bouncy ball. I've also taken up walking with you in the stroller, which you adore. Outside, you are all smiles and laughter. You water the flowers, point out different types of bugs and run gleefully around the lawn and patio. You pick dandelions for Papa and gently run your fingers over the leaves of other plants. We take great pride in watching you grow and learn, my little love. Your gentle and passionate personality is a constant joy.