The Kitty Goes to Germany, Part I, Long-winded Limericks.

There once was a cat named Kitty
whose adventures inspired this ditty -
a preposterous tale
which may become stale
as I recount and attempt to be witty.

In North Carolina it started,
the attempt to get this cat charted
on a plane to Deutschland,
though we hadn't planned
on such incidents as to make us faint-hearted.

He went to the veterinarian
(in his opinion, completely barbarian).
Many papers were signed;
we were officially inclined
to endorsement from the USDA Authoritarian.

For an hour and a half we drove
with a screaming young child, we strove
for an autograph and stamp
to officially replant
this cat to our new German grove.

We stopped at the local maze
(an airport - they cause such a craze,)
to gain the green light
that for shipping, he'd be all right
however his crate they did not appraise.

Another afternoon running around
but there was nary a cat crate to be found
At least three different shops,
all of them flops,
though we eventually bought something sound.

There was also the need for an expensive scanner
to display Kitty's microchip identity in a manner
that allowed the EU to read
that he was who he seemed,
and customs could wave the approval banner.

Throughout this somewhat hectic adventure,
which was already a real jaw-clencher,
we were dealing with movers
and all related maneuvers
to progress in our Germany-bound venture.

We dropped Kitty off with a friend,
for on our own flight it was time to ascend.
We had no clue
of the many jobs she'd accrue -
what would follow was surely not intended.



The End of Part I

nineteen - twenty months.

My little love, I am really amazed at how well you have adapted to the changes going on in our lives right now. I believe you were most upset and confused when the movers took all of our belongings, leaving us with an empty apartment. You seemed frightened of our old home then; not comfortable with being by yourself in those empty rooms which used to house your routines and comfort. After a few emotional days, you seemed to accept that everything was different and that we would often be in-and-out of different cars and sleeping in different places. You have adjusted to having only a few toys to play with for now. You've had to watch more movies than we find desirable, but they have also provided a sense of familiarity for you throughout our jumping from place to place.

Oblivious to the whirlwind of change, your development has soared even further skyward.  You have started putting more words together, for example saying "nurse baby!","hi Papa!",  or "bye Meow!" You are fascinated with birds and as you see them streaking overhead, cry out "tweet-tweet!" You know all the parts of your body now and can name most of them. Today, you learned what "ow" really means and how to use the word. We were playing on a paved surface, bouncing your ball, when you fell while running and skinned your little knee. For an hour afterwards, you pointed to it and said "ow!" while crying intermittently. Since I put your pajama pants on for the night, you've luckily forgotten about it. On the bright side, you've also learned what "counting" is and you try your hardest to count to five! You'll hold your fingers up and with a grin say, "one....twooo...free...fou...whee!"

Nowadays, you love swinging at the park and will even go down slides by yourself! Your pretend play has really taken off too. Before your play kitchen was packed away to be shipped, you would pretend to cook soup in the little wooden pot, then spend twenty minutes pretending to spoon feed us and your stuffed animals. Your stuffed animals all have names that you've given them - most noteable right now are Baah (your lavender stuffed sheep), Pooh (from the books/movies), and Mau (a little mouse in a red dress).  You're also becoming much more interested in other children, not only observing them but interacting with them. After spending a little time with another child, you will willingly give hugs and follow them around, smiling.

You can name the colors: red, orange, yellow, white, green, blue, purple and sometimes black. If I lay out a row of crayons, you can point out specific colors when asked. While we're out and about you often alert us to your favorite color, exclaiming, "more blue, more blue!" You hum almost to the tune of the ABC song and the Ponyo theme song. You're very adept at peeling stickers from their sheet and placing them right where you want them. You know about a quarter of the alphabet now, including the letters O, I, A and P. We taught you last week that "O" is also what's called a circle and after a few demonstrations, you could draw a circle of your own!

You love all types of food, and are usually willing to try just about anything. You love schnitzel, lemonade, pizza (which you've eaten too often on the run, since our busy PCS time began) and eggs. Last night, you devoured three fresh cheese tortellini, a slice of tomato, a big floret of roasted broccoli, half a fingerling potato, two bites of pork chop, three strawberries, four blackberries and a German butter cookie. You like to snack on yogurt, raisins and cinnamon cheerios. If not presented with a fork or spoon with your meal, you will not touch the food until the problem is rectified - you really dislike 'dirty' hands! You also still nurse a few times throughout the day and night. You have grasped the idea of nursing when we first wake up, and then saying "no more mee-mee!" when it's time to go eat breakfast. 

You're very good at sharing your food with us and your stuffed animal friends, and surprisingly, it has only gotten messy when you were given a lollipop at a restaurant. The Germans apparently love to give children candy... in addition to the lollipop, you've tried a little package of gummy bears and I've had to refuse a number of other candy offerings. 

It is truly hard for me to grasp the idea that in just a few short months, you will be two years old. 

our new home.

Remember how I mentioned that although we had found our dream house, we were still looking for something better to present itself? Well, as it so happens... something did. 

After pouring through the books of house and apartment listings for the hundredth time, I marked off a couple of homes in a town very nearby to where we are stationed - a town we had never been to before. We looked at the two homes, unimpressed by the 70's style decor in one and the very heavy smokers on the first floor of the other. As we took a short tour through the town on foot, I spotted the peak of a handsome looking little house on top of a hill we were passing. Cute white lace curtains peeked from the two windows I could see, and there was a "home for rent" sign at the base of the driveway. "We should call! We're right here anyway," I mentioned to Marius. He agreed and we met the landlord shortly thereafter. 

You may think this odd, as the house is just about the complete opposite of the last one I posted photos of. It's very small, recently built and located on the outskirts of a more populated town. It's really lovely both inside and out, not a potential fixer-upper like the other one. It has a real yard, a patio and garage. It is a two minute walk from a Kindergarten and a grocery store, where while Marius is gone I can buy fresh food for myself and Iris (in case I haven't mentioned it before, I don't drive). The town has a train station, numerous bus stops, and a couple of restaurants and shops. 

The bedrooms are absolutely tiny, but the living room is a good size for the three of us and that's where we spend the majority of our time anyway! Living in a smaller house will keep our acquisition of "stuff" to a minimum, unlike at the other house which was massive and we felt we'd have to buy more furniture and such to fill the hugely open space. Our new house is cozy - the other made me feel almost uncomfortable considering its size. 

Our shipments of belongings haven't arrived yet by plane or by boat, but we will be loaned some basics from the base until they do. We did feel a bit of uncertainty and even sadness at the decided loss of our other potential home; its charm and all the many things it had to offer us. However, we feel we made the best choice possible and this house also has much to offer us, and especially Iris. I'm really looking forward to our move in date this week!

The view of our house from the driveway.
I plan to add potted flowers and the land lady is putting in a garden for us too!

The view from our patio and yard!

The front hall with marble staircase and tiled floors throughout.

sneak peek.

Here is a small preview of the house most likely to become our home for the next four years!

The first floor includes a modern kitchen, dining room, living room and laundry room which leads to a one car garage. Upstairs there are three bedrooms, a walk-in closet/dressing room, and a large main room at the top of the staircase which will serve as our library. 

In addition, there is a lofted attic as well as a full cellar. A stone driveway leads all the way behind the house, allowing for a small outdoor play space for Iris. There is also a huge stone staircase behind the house, leading up to a grassy area. The cellar will be perfect for food storage and for aging beer and wine. It will also accommodate our intent to delve into the art of brewing beer on our own.

The oil heat is being replaced with a wood chip burner, almost guaranteeing cheaper heat (which is included in the rent anyway.) The windows and shutters are fairly new, though considering the house was built in the late 1700's, it will probably be a bit drafty in the winter. 

The house is in a perfect location; right down the road from a Kindergarten, public park, butcher, bakery, and bus stops to the city. We are still keeping our options open and are actively looking at other houses, just in case something better presents itself. However, we are so excited about our find that we have made an agreement with the land lord already. The agreement legally promises the house to us for a period of five days - in other words, the land lord can not rent the house to someone else. If all goes as we foresee, we should be moving in this month!

currently.

Iris and Pooh bucked up for safety on our flight to Germany!

Located... in Germany! My family arrived in Germany about three days ago after a long 24 hours of traveling from North Carolina. Little Iris did a great job considering the circumstances. None of us got much sleep that day but transitioning to the +7 hours has since been fairly easy.

Reading... a new book called How to Raise Your Spirited Child, which I often found referenced online in relation to conscious parenting techniques. The author describes a spirited child as being one who seems, in one way or another, more "intense" than their peers. While Marius and I haven't exactly experienced trouble with parenting Iris, her mature emotions and personality can be baffling. Her fine motor skills and comprehension skills seem beyond the typical range. By picking up How to Raise Your Spirited Child, I hope to learn more constructive ways to understand and interact with her by letting her be herself, rather than inadvertently dampening her spirits.

Watching... Winnie the Pooh. This is Iris' new favorite thing in the world. After one viewing of the original movie, she knew to ask for "more Pooh!" We surprised her with a big Pooh stuffed animal when we boarded the 8 hour flight over the pond to Germany and she's just smitten with him.

Listening to... the sounds of the country; the breeze shifting leaves, foreign bird song, the all-around lack of urban drivel otherwise known as Quiet. We are currently residing in a hotel like place (which is actually more suitable to call an apartment) where Marius is now stationed. It has a full kitchen and living room, two bedrooms and bathroom. The living room has massive screened doors and windows. It's in the low 60's right now, but all of them are wide open to let us bask in the aura of this country, even whilst inside on a military base.

Anticipating... moving into our own home. We went house hunting for the first time yesterday and may have found our dream home. We were given two huge books of housing information by the housing office and I must have spent a collective three hours trying to sort through the hundreds of places listed there. One particular place called out to me as soon as I read it, and I kept going back to it, double starring it to denote that we needed to visit it. We called to make an appointment and got no answer. Later that day, after visiting two other duplex-style houses, we were about to call it quits for the day when they called us back! We arranged a time but due to road closures, the GPS routed us through the mountains on a logging road which was almost dangerous and ended in a dead-end. After an hour of trekking through the woods and other detours, we made it there. The house was built in the late 1700's next to the town's church. It was originally a parsonage, but is now owned by the church and rented out. It has two main floors with 3-4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, living room, dining room, and a kitchen with new appliances. There is also a huge attic space, as well as a full cellar. It has that Old House Smell I love so much, creaky staircases, vastly high ceilings, some ancient looking tiled floors and an atmosphere of history. We are going back today and will very likely be making an agreement with the landlord!

Enjoying... some great German food! We went to our first German restaurant last night with our tour guide from yesterday (a coworker of Marius') and his wife. I ordered schnitzel with peppercorn sauce and cheese, while Marius ordered it with sauteed onions, tomatoes and cheese. So delicious and Iris loved it too! The food here is so much better than what is generally found in the States. I am unsure whether is has to do with the difference between normal and GMO food, or the land on which food is produced, or what have you... but the difference is profound. Marius thought I was crazy the night we got back from the commissary with some local strawberries and I said, "yes! Some real strawberries! They will be better than anything we've had in years!" He voiced his doubt over my exclamations, but upon my placing of a strawberry in his mouth, the marked expression of delight on his face was enough to prove my point.

Concerned about... our Kitty. He is still in North Carolina, having been unable to get on the flight that was supposed to bring him here two days after us. He is staying with a trusted friend, though I still miss him and worry about the stress that all of this change is putting on him. Dealing with his situation of having to be imported to Germany has been an absolute nightmare for us and our friend caring for him, between the regulations causing time issues and the expense. I will write more on this later, as it is a long story. As of this moment, he should be here next Thursday. We are all hoping that plans are not altered again by any other unforeseen circumstances.

Now that half of our moving process has been completed and we are finally overseas, I will have more time and attention to devote back here. I have missed writing and I surely have some updates about Iris to catch up on!

meow music monday.

This is Iris' preferred music in the morning and after nap time.

It makes her grin and giggle like only kitties can (and freaks our cat out!)

eighteen months.

It hasn't been long since my last update about you... but you are learning and growing so fast I can hardly keep up at this point! Already, you can put your own sandals on, hold your arms out to catch a ball and throw a ball with surprising strength for such a little girl. Amazingly, you can point to and say the words "elbow", "knee", "hair," and "toes." Sometimes you confuse elbow and knee, which is truly adorable. When asked, you can point to almost every part of your body. You are learning to say and distinguish between the colors blue, green and red. You have also started recognizing and saying the sounds or names of animals and objects (other than kitties) all on your own. You say "biiiig huuug" while hugging us or your stuffed animals, and exclaiming "pretty!" to describe things that you like. Every time you see a tiger, lion or dinosaur, you "rawr!" with glee. 

You love to eat Chobani yogurt, scrambled eggs with cheese, all types of rice and dark chocolate. If I forget to give you a fork or spoon, you seem rather offended and try to grab mine. Almost every little bit of the food goes in your mouth these days, except for when you're eating rice, which gets sprinkled all over the floor beneath you! And of course, you're still nursing voraciously. Your second bottom molar is finally in and you're now working on the eye teeth! You will only try new foods while sitting in my lap. 

You have started humming and singing when the music of your musical seahorse plays. If we hold out a bubble wand, you can blow the bubbles all by yourself. You've learned to enjoy your weekly manicure (nail clipping), because I say the "This Little Piggy" story about each finger and toe. I've recently started putting your hair into a tiny ponytail that shoots straight up from the top of your head; you love it.  You do the hand motions of Patty Cake all by yourself (the clapping, rolling, patting and "marking with a B"), as well as The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

You have begun showing real interest in dolls now too. You carry your toddler-aged Disney Jasmine doll around the house yelling "doll!", and naming and pointing to her body parts. Yesterday, you even used a tissue to "blow her nose" without any sort of prompting from us! You'll also put your doll in bed, cover her eyes and say "nigh-nigh!" as though to put her to sleep.You dislike swings and touching grass with your hands. You love to play with stickers and dance, especially to anything with a catchy, deep bass line. You are very particular about your likes and dislikes, especially in terms of showing affection, which you do on your own terms. 

Almost every day is something new, exciting and astounding for all of us together as a family. I've loved watching you grow from helpless newborn, to curious infant, to precocious toddler. I look forward to what tomorrow will bring. 

It is such a joy to be your Mama. 

snapshots.

Strawberry Chobani yogurt for breakfast.

Good morning! 

Me and my little Meow-Meow.

Marveling at how pressing the buttons changes the Twilight ladybug's color. 

Another breakfast shot - scrambled egg with cheese.

Lunch - pasta topped with butter, parsley, diced avocado and parmigiana cheese. 

Iris' sweet half mohawk! 

The kitty's expression just after being woken by Iris.

Me with my baby!

Iris with her Papa.

Tickles!

Smiling kissy face.

Love.

18 month old nursling.

wordless wednesday.

puddle splashing.

Yesterday, I brought Iris outside to walk and play in the rain. We got to see her very first rainbow! I'm not sure that she really acknowledged it, but she did discover a large muddy puddle in the road at the base of a hill.

seventeen and a half months.

My little love, your Papa and I have been astounded by your development lately. Your personality shines out more than ever before. You are curious, though still as tentative as you've always been. If you can imagine a sarcastic child, that is you. You are quite serious, but still playful. You certainly do let out peals of laughter when tickled. You delve into activities that require fine motor skills or problem solving, but you will not (yet) run off across the playground by yourself or climb anything other than the couch or a set of stairs. You seem not to like getting dirty (unless it involves smearing food on the table). You are also very observant of people. Once you have stared into their eyes for a time, weighing their intentions, you slowly open up and become more social.

You really enjoy watching youtube videos of animals making noises, and love to imitate all of them. You can meow, woof, neigh, baa, moo, caw, and a whole host of others. Your favorite animal sound is "roar!" You've also taken up a certain high pitch shrieking which is a sound all your own. You can use your words with intention to get your needs met, most notably: more, chair, bye bye, up, back, no and thank you. In the last two days, you've learned to recognize and say the letter "I" and can even pick it out of the group of 26 alphabet magnets on the fridge. 

You can point to almost every part of your body, now including your forehead, cheeks, chin, neck, and knees. You have taken up balance exercises on the edge of the coffee table - you plant your hands on the surface and lean your hips forward on the edge to suspend your legs in the air. Sometimes you'll do this for a good twenty minutes at a time! You can take your own shirts and jackets off (with some squealing and frustration) and you are working on learning to put your own shoes on.

You love to eat roasted asparagus, corned beef, yogurt and snack bars made from a mix of figs, nuts and other fruits. You adore mandarin orange slices, but we think you may have an unfortunate sensitivity to them since your skin has broken out in a bit of a bumpy rash. You are still nursing and love your "memems" as much as ever. You usually want to feed yourself now and have become very adroit with your fork and spoon. 

Your hand-eye coordination has also developed to the point that you can attentively and easily hammer the balls through your "pound and roll tower." You can kick a ball, throw it forward and behind, and you are amazed when we throw it up into the air and catch it. You will tell me when you've gone "poo poo" or have a very wet diaper, and will point to the wipes and lay down for me to change you. You will also tell me if you've made a mess. You'll run to come get me and show me where it is, usually coconut milk on the carpet, and announce, "ohhhh! mee! mee!"

You have started helping me "read" books now, by excitedly starting or finishing sentences with memorized words. Your favorites to read are 'On the Night You Were Born', 'Bear Wants More' and 'The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear'. You love to dress up in my clothes while we're folding laundry; you prance around the house with a sly smile as you try not to trip on the draping fabric. You play with the kitty rather roughly these days, and you've received a few swats from him because of it! 

One of your favorite things is when your Papa and I kiss. You will grab one of us in each hand by our shirts or hair and push our faces together over and over, with a look of solemn approval on your face. You do get upset when we hug each other, though - maybe you feel left out or like we could be hurting each other somehow. You've also discovered that when you cover your eyes, you can magically 'disappear' from our sight, and you become quite gleeful at surprising us when you reappear with a "boo!"

You are expressive, sensitive, loving and strong. You engage life with delicate attention to every detail of what you can perceive (which is rather a lot.) You are a joy to behold and we are privileged to be the parents of your unique vision. We love you! 

home.

Marius came home to us on Tuesday of this week!

Iris was a little bit nervous at first, but that didn't last long. Even before we left the airport, she was already reaching for his hand and asking for his kisses. By the time we got home, she was sitting in his lap and hugging him. There is no doubt that she remembers her Papa and greatly missed him while he was away.

Marius will soon have two weeks off from work to spend time with us and to relax after his deployment. I've breathed so many sighs of relief since he returned happy, healthy and as much my loving husband as ever. 

Our family is whole again. 

teething woes.

The last few days haven't been much fun around here. Poor little Iris is still getting her second bottom molar. She has always taken teething very hard and becomes extra sensitive, easy to cry and needing of me. Her teeth also take ages to come in and cause her occasional fevers. The molar looks like it should cut soon, but has been terribly swollen. She has barely been eating solid food lately on account of how sore it is. One thing which does seem to help is cold coconut milk from her sippy. On top of the teething, I was quite ill the other day and still haven't entirely recovered. We had to cancel some fun plans we had with friends, though I will say that it was nice to sleep for twelve hours that night and Iris was very patient with the fact that I was confined to the couch for 48 hours.

So needless to say, we have done a lot of movie watching and couch cuddling over the last few days. I'm just grateful I got sick before Marius gets home! We went out for a walk today, but it was chilly and very windy. Iris fell down in a puddle and was perturbed that her leg got wet, then promptly fell again and scraped her hand a tiny bit. She barely noticed though, thank goodness. We came inside and she cried for a while, wanting to "go go go bye bye bye!" I changed her clothes again and we colored some pictures and played with stickers for a while until she felt better, She then gave the kitty some good kisses and played with him while I cleaned and planned meals for this week. I also took some photos of Iris today, though this little girl would not crack a smile no matter what I tried. 

We are all very ready for Marius to come home soon!

an instagram slice of life.

Making my toast and coffee, while the Kitty waits impatiently to lick the butter knife.

Going down the big slide together!

Sunkissed.

A snack of sliced strawberries with unsweetened coconut cream.

My Baby.

Ginger and garlic bok choy, vegetable dumplings and hoisin barbecued tofu on rice.

Snuggling with my teething baby.

news.

I got some wonderful news from Marius last night... he should be coming home in a fortnight! 

I am so overjoyed to know that he will be home so soon; I've been positively giddy. 

When I told Iris this morning, she grinned and pointed to her Papa doll and squealed, "Papa!" 

She also gave his picture many kisses today!

We can hardly wait to see him again after these long months apart.

in our family...

...every day is Valentine's Day.

finally, some new photos!

Happy baby.

"Heyo!" 

Sweet baby playing peek a boo!

"Okay, it's time to STOP taking pictures."

"Stop, please?"

Her super adorable "no" face.

sixteen months.

You turned sixteen months old on the 10th and oh, how the time has flown! The word "determined" no longer fully describes the intensity with which you dedicate yourself to your desires and ideas. You really are a little girl now, no longer a baby, though I can't help but continue to call you My Baby. I ask you, "who's my baby?" and you still point to yourself gleefully and reply, "baby! baby!"

You are very vocal now, a far cry from the often silent infant you once were. You scream, shriek, howl and use words with joy, frustration, anger and excitement. When you scream, I remind you to "use your words" and you patiently try to communicate to me as clearly as you can with words and gestures. One thing you love is washing your hands. You announce, "ah duhn!" when you are all done with your meal and immediately reach over towards the sink. You whine, "geh duhn!" to tell me you want to get down from your chair. Then, I hold you up and you wash your little hands at the sink, then dry them and wipe your mouth all by yourself!

You love to color with markers and crayons while I'm making dinner. I also finally get kisses from you! When you decide it's time for me to have them, you purse your little lips and run to me. You love to watch me kiss pictures of your Papa and will even grab me by the hair or shoulder to push me at him! You also love music, most especially your new discovery... Elvis. 

You love raisins, chai spiced oatmeal, rice and Annie's mac and cheese. Your favorites are still avocados, strawberries, and coconut and Mama milks. Every morning when you wake up, you have a nice long nursing session while I attempt to doze. When I finally get up, you grab me by the hand and run into the kitchen to pull at the refrigerator door, and ask for your morning drink of kefir. You are now eating pieces of food out of bowl with a spoon, all by yourself. 

You've recently mastered the use of the word, "no" and use it often to declare your thoughts. You've finally learned to "please sit down" on the couch when I ask, and for some reason reply with a, "meeeow!" However, you still think it's funny to make me ask, dozens of times. Speaking of meows, we play with the kitty every day and he is warming up to you more and more, though your loud vocals are not his favorite. He does love when you feed him cheese and pasta!

You say so many different words and do so many new things now, I can't possibly list them all! You become smiley and bashful when anyone blows kisses to you. You especially love when I pretend to bite your hands and feet while you nurse. You like to play with hair clips and headbands (which you prefer to wear as necklaces), and have started showing interest in picking out your own clothes. You're very social and outgoing and while we're walking around outside, you sometimes run after people to say "heyo!" I can hardly believe you are already sixteen months old; you look and act so grown up now. You amaze me, little one. Mama loves you!

a look back v.6