Silent Sunday

Goodbye Sun!

Yesterday

Today

I Like To Move It, Move It...

A friend of mine used this song in her Facebook status yesterday and I have been singing it since...

So, you're welcome! ;)

Baby is not yet turning or crawling, but she is definitely moving:

Three minutes on the play mat and she is out...

*****
Vaikka Baby ei vielä osaa kääntyä tai ryömiä, liikkeessä hän on kuitenkin! 

From a German Detective Story

An apartment building in Wiesbaden.

Someone presses the buzzers of all apartments.

Two men enter the building and talk with the lady from the entrance floor apartment.

One of the men: "Guten Tag! Where can we find Frau W*?"
Lady: "From the second floor"

The men take the elevator to the second floor.

A doorbell rings.

One of the men: "Frau W. Please, open the door. Hier ist die Polizei!"

A door opens.

To be continued... (or not)


Oh, I really should be studying for the exam I have later today and not be spying on my neighbors, let alone writing weird blog posts...

*) for the record: Frau W in this story is not short for Frau Welle. Thanks for pointing this out Citymami! 
(added at 14:35)

*****
Tenttiinlukemisen sijaan olen tänään päätynyt salakuuntelemaan naapureitani. 
Mutta lausahdus "Hier ist die Polizei!" loi kyllä jännän dekkaritunnelman! :)

The Great Surprise - And Disappointment

This is just cruel.

When you are living as an expat in another country, you are sure to miss some things from your home country. For me one of those things are pick & mix candies. You cannot find them here in Germany!

Last Saturday we visited Ikea in Wallau. We were actually heading to the Toys R Us, but stopped by for some meatballs.

On our way out we noticed something great: pick & mix candies!

And I was delighted to see a wide assortment of liqourice and some Dajm look-alike chocolates. Yum!

But no, it wasn't yummy at all. Both the liqourice and the chocolates tasted like cheap copies of the originals. Yuk.

How cruel of Ikea to give me first a great surprise and then such a huge disappointment!

I guess I need to add pick & mix candies to the shopping list, which I am preparing for my mother. She will visit us next week!

*****
Piipahdimme viime lauantaina Ikeassa lihapullalounaalla. Samalla huomasimme iloksemme, että Wallaun Ikeaan oli tullut myyntiin irtokarkkeja! Niitä ei yleensä löydä täältä Saksasta.

Valikoimassa näytti olevan erilaisia lakritseja ja Dajmin näköisiä suklaapaloja. Nam! Mutta ei, karkit olivat suorastaan kammottavan makuisia. Mitä iloa on pahanmakuisista karkeista? Mikä valtava pettymys irtsarien ystävälle!

Almost!

The summer arrived quite quickly, but nature has not really been able to keep up with this change.

One year ago, the magnolias were in bloom already in early April.

This year we are now almost there!

*****
Viime vuonna magnoliat olivat kukassa jo huhtikuun alussa, mutta tänä vuonna luonto ei ole ihan pysynyt nopeasti saapuneen kesän mukana. 

Getting To Know Sophie

It feels it was just yesterday when Fräulein was teething. But now it is happening with Baby.

It is time to go shopping for the anesthetic gel and let Baby meet Fräulein's former friend Sophie*.

*You can learn more about Sophie here: sophiethegiraffe.com 
This post has not been sponsored - we just happen to love Sophie 

*****
Babyllä alkavat jo ikenet kutista, joten nyt on taas aika hankkia "hammassalvaa" ja ottaa ystävämme Sophie esiin :)

The Shortest Spring Ever

As you might have noticed from the photos of my Easter post, the weather was very cold here in Wiesbaden. Fräulein was wearing a woolly hat!

After Easter the spring finally arrived: it was rainy and around +10°C. It lasted about a week - conveniently the time when Fräulein was ill.

But now it is summer!

This was taken yesterday. Luckily I didn't have to spend much time in a car.

The one kilometer long walk home from the Krippe took three hours!
A lot of clothes on for +28 weather,
but somehow it seems impossible to change from the woolly hats straight to bikinis!

*****
Täällä Saksassa siirryttiin melkein suoraan talvesta kesään. Jee!

Flying Lawn Mover

Yes, I had a pretty tough beginning for this week, but yesterday I thought I had really lost it.

For the record: we live in a first floor apartment and our house is placed on a quite steep slope. So, when I'm sitting on our sofa and look out through our balcony doors, I only see tree tops and (during winter, when there are no leaves) some houses far away on the opposite hill.

So, you might understand that I was really surprised to see a lawn mover (or similar machine) out there.

Fortunately, with closer inspection I could see a crane holding it.

Phew!

*****
Tämä ei taida vaatia suomennosta - kuvat puhukoon puolestaan!

What a Week! (Or One Third Of It...)

Last night, when I first started writing this post, I typed "What a week!". Then I realized it was only Tuesday evening...

Fräulein has been a bit ill since we got back from Finland. The sneezing and coughing started as soon as she was back in the Krippe. And last weekend she had some fever.

But early on Monday morning she started vomiting.

I was a bit worried. First of all, we had eaten brunch with friends on Sunday. One of them is 9 months pregnant and I really did not want her to have caught a stomach bug from Fräulein (I have first hand knowledge how it feels to be vomiting just a couple of weeks before the baby is due).

Secondly, Herr Welle was just leaving for a four day business trip, so I really didn't want Baby or myself to get sick.

I was certain it was a stomach bug, but luckily Herr Welle insisted on taking Fräulein to see a doctor, as it turned out to be an ear infection. That is not a nice diagnosis, but at least she could take antibiotics for it and she wasn't contagious.

The Monday evening alone with the girls was a bit demanding. Fräulein was whining about everything and it didn't help that I had to make her drink her antibiotics, wash her hair (because of the smell of vomit) and give her a suppository for sickness...

On Tuesday, the antibiotics were clearly working and Fräulein was full of energy. But because she hadn't really eaten anything since Saturday morning she was a bit cranky. Poor Baby, who had to tolerate Fräulein's whims...

Today we had another check-up with Fräulein's doctor. Her ear seems to be fine, although the virus causing the sneezing and coughing is still present. But we got the doctor's permission to go to the Krippe tomorrow.

These photos were taken at the doctor's office.
Today, I might add... :)

But now Baby is coughing... I hope we can still make it to her first play date tomorrow, because I would really appreciate some adult company!

*****
Fräulein on ollut Saksaan paluumme jälkeen nuhassa ja yskässä ja maanantaiaamuna hän alkoi oksentaa. Pahoinvoinnin syyksi paljastui korvatulehdus, johon saimme antibiootteja. Tulehdus alkaa nyt hellittää ja Fräulein on taas oma itsensä, tosin ehkä vähän kiukuttelevana versiona. Mutta nyt sitten on Babyn vuoro yskiä...

Silent Sunday

The Easiest Way To Learn German

Yes, I have found the perfect recipe for learning German! This is based on a comprehensive empirical study*.

1. Spend daily (Mon-Fri) 4-6 hours in a German speaking group
2. The group should have simple routines, which are repeated day by day
3. There should be a couple of teachers, who speak simple, clear German language and are willing to repeat themselves patiently
4. The daily program should involve learning basic skills such as the use of scissors and toothbrush.

And where do you find these groups?

They are called Krippes. Unfortunately you must be under three years old to attend.

Unrelated photos of Fräulein playing the piano...

Six months in the Krippe and Fräulein understands and even speaks German!

As a prove, here is a discussion that took place last week, just after we got back from our three week holiday in Finland.

It was noon and I was picking up Fräulein from the Krippe. Outside we saw a lady.
Fräulein: Morgen! (Morning!)
Lady: (in German) Is it the right time to say that?
Fräulein: Ja! (Yes!)

If this conversation would have taken place in Finnish, I would have been a bit embarrassed (it was noon). But now this made me so proud!

It is nice that at least one of us is learning the language...

* the study population included the members of one family, which has been living in Germany for 2.5 years...

...and Baby listening.

*****
Olen löytänyt täydellisen tavan oppia saksaa! Oppiminen edellyttää päivittäistä osallistumista saksankieliseen ryhmään, jossa toistetaan samoja rutiineja ja opetellaan perustaitoja. Ryhmässä tulee olla pari opettajaa, jotka puhuvat helppoa, selkeää saksaa ja ovat valmiita toistamaan itseään kärsivällisesti.

Fräulein on nyt osallistunut tällaiseen toimintaan puolen vuoden ajan ja ymmärtää ja jopa puhuu saksaa! Valitettavasti Krippet ovat vain alle kolmevuotiaille...

Easter Lamb (And Other Animals)

On Easter, you should eat lamb, right?

Well, this year we didn't eat any, instead we fed them. In a couple of occasions, actually.

First we visited Fasanerie here in Wiesabaden.

The map of Fasanerie

Fräulein really looked forward to seeing the wolf.
Fortunately we were able to spot one, but she was a bit disappointed, when it didn't howl.

And later, we visited Tierpark Mainz-Kastel for the first time. It was a lot smaller place than Fasanerie, more like a domestic animal farm. But what was important was that we got to feed the animals again*!

It was actually a bit difficult to feed the sheep here.
The animals had a clear pecking order: the pony was the king,
 then came the big goat, then black goats, goats with other colours,
and the sheep were the last to be access the goodies.

Not willing to leave :)

*) In both of these places they sell 'Futter', which you can feed to the animals

*****
Emme tänä pääsiäisenä syöneet lammasta vaan syötimme niitä. Ensin vierailimme Fasaneriessa ja toisena päivänä Tierpark Maiz-Kastelissa.