D & J

Juliana reagiert auf ihren Namen!
Heute Abend hat sie ganz offensichtlich ihren Kopf gedreht, als Klaus 'Juliana' sagte - er hat nur ihren Namen ausgesprochen, noch nicht einmal gerufen. Heute morgen habe ich sie im Auto gefragt, "Und, Juliana, wie geht es Dir?" - Und die Kleine hat PROMPT geantwortet mit einem sanften "ba ba baa" und weitergeplaudert.

Heute Abend am Tisch hatte sich Dominic ein paar Eiswuerfel in eine kleine Schuessel gegeben. Nach einer Weile betrachtete er sie wieder und fragte mich: "Mami, hast Du Wasser rein getan?" :)

Ich erinnere mich gerade an etwas ulkiges, das Dominic vor etwa einem halben Jahr gesagt hat:
Wir haben eine Flasche Wein in der Kueche stehen und er moechte doch gerne was davon trinken. Meine Antwort war, "Nein, das ist nur fuer Erwachsene." Dominic erwiderte: "Ich bin SO erwachsen!" :)

Wir haben unsere beiden Kleinen lieb!!!

Juliana dreht und wendet sich

Seit Juliana 6 Monate alt ist und recht gut sitzen kann, ist sie mobil im Bett!
Vorbeit die Naechte in denen sie einfach am Ruecken liegen gebliegen ist und man sie Stunden spaeter noch in der gleichen Position (am Ruecken) gefunden hat! Nun dreht sie sich auch auf den Bauch, moechte aber nur am Ruecken einschlafen und ist manchmal zu muede sich wieder auf den Ruekcen umzudrehen. Da wird dann um Hilfe gerufen - manchmal auch mehrfach hintereinander. ;)
Ausserdem liegt sie nun auch oft um 90 Grad gedreht im Bett - oder hat die Lage von Fuessen und Kopf gleich gar getauscht!

Dominic sings about mercury

Dominic started Montessori and we are all excited about his school! They learn so much. -He sings songs about the solar system, especially mercury and the continents, writes the first two letters of his name at just 3.5 years!
When he talks about mercury, he loves to lay on his back, put the legs over his head and says, he is a small ball just like mercury! :)

"Mercury is hot. Mercury is small.
Mercury has no atmosphere.
Just a rocky ball."

Juilana is rolling!

Juliana is sitting (for a little while) and just started to roll this week! It was Wednesday, suddenly she turned from laying on her back to laying on her belly. She was as excited as me! Dominic joined in the excitement and then Juliana rolled further in the same direction onto her back. It was in the afternoon, after Montessori but before picking up Daddy from work. It seems like it's time to put the play gym away and put a large blanket on the floor. I don't think, she realizes how mobile she'll be shortly! Today she is 6 months old! :)

D & J

Dominic geht inzwischen zur Montessori Schule und ist begeistert! Und wir lieben es, wie die Lehrer mit den Kindern umgehen und wieviel er jetzt schon gelernt hat!
Juliana ist bei einem Mom's Day Out Programm und wird ausserdem noch 2mal die Woche von einer Babysitterin betreut waehrend ich arbeite. Die Arme bekommt wohl bald den ersten Zahn (wird am 10. 6 Monate alt), hat ganz rote Baeckchen und fuehlt sich nicht so sehr wohl.

Dominic likes it at Montessori! :) :) :)

Dominic likes it at Montessori! :) :) :)
The other day we were driving by Emanuel and he said: "That's my old school. I don't like my old school." I asked him: "Do you like your new school?" and he responded: "Yes, I like my new school." Me: "That's why we changed the schools!"
Pooohhh! :) I am so glad! So glad it works out and so glad that the mornings are much easier! It was always rather difficult to get D ready in the mornings and it is better now! Well, generally ... not this morning as he had trouble falling asleep last night and woke up way too early. Dominic was just too tired to be in a content mood.... Hoping, he takes a good nap! ;)

Thinking about vaccinations

Last week there was a meningitis case in Dominic's Montessori class. It turned out to be caused by a tick and was thankfully not contagious. I'm glad that they kept the tick and therefore the little boy could be treated right away with the correct medicine and recovered within just a few days.
Nevertheless, it was rather scary and made me realize that I procrastinated giving Juliana her vaccinations.

I had been reading about vaccines and had decided to go with the alternative vaccine schedule by Dr. Sears. However, when I went to her 2 month appointment, our Doc was so convinced that the usual schedule would be fine, that I gave in and agreed to give her the common shots at that time. Well, she was rather fuzzy the whole day and needed to be held constantly (which was very unusual at the time as she usually was complaining when she was being held too long - she usually wanted to get down the floor and move her little arms and legs). When it was time for her 4 month appointment, we went to the check up but I told them that we would go to shots for tots for the next vaccines.

Well, we haven't been there yet... Even though Dominic got all the vaccines just like the Doc recommended (we were postponing the Hep for D and J), I am thinking about alternatives with Juliana. Oh, and I find it very difficult when they want me to help/watch my child being held down on the table to get the shots! Even the little babies! When I went to the Shots for tots with Dominic, he could be on my lap - no problems there!

Dominic's eyes are changing colors

Dominic's eyes are changing colors!
I was convinced that Dominic would keep his blue eyes as he had blue eyes from birth until his 3rd birthday. At first they were so dark deep blue, just incredible blue. Then they slowly got lighter in color. Well, so far that's also true for Juliana's eyes.

A few days ago, Dominic was asking what eye color he has. I told him 'blue'. They were always blue. It sounded like somebody told him differently, as he asked me if they were not green. He was happy to hear me telling him he has blue eyes, like he alwas did.
Well, then I took a closer look .... and his eyes are actually GREY with some areas turning slightly GREEN! Green, just like his Daddy's eyes!
I can't believe it! My son is 3 years old and his eye color has just changed!!!

I have to admit, I am a bit sad as I thought even though Dominic looks more like his Daddy than me, at least he inherited my blue eyes. Not anymore...

Unfortunately, Dominic really wants to have BLUE eyes. When I told him a day ago that they seem to be changing colors, he got upset. Mmh. I'll drop that subject for a while. Hope, he won't ask again.

Mamam

Today, I heard the first 'mamam' from my sweet daughter. It is so precious to see her growing and changing!

Not as much was: Juliana had diarrhea today ... I guess, she got it from me as I had stomach problems last week. I thought, I had eaten something wrong, but now I know it was actually a virus. Hope, it won't take her long to get better.

Dominic's Painting

The other day Dominic started this painting out with a large orange "D" in the center which he pointed out to me, exclaiming: "That's my name!"
As he was painting a little longer, he told me that he was painting this picture for our good friend Aivy who we had visited a day earlier! This is so wonderful - it seems he appreciates our friend Aivy as much as I do! :)


 

14. July 2010

Dominic remembers things that are so long ago - it is just amazing!
This morning he was so sweet, when Klaus and Dominic were ready to leave the house, I was kneeing together with Juliana and he gave her a hug and gently petted her. Intensively looking at her, Dominic said: "She is holding her head." Wow. He is really paying attention!
In the end of August, Dominic and Jacob are starting at Montessori. I am looking forward to it! Currently, I have the feeling, he is bored when he is at Emmanuel.

Every day, Dominic says that he misses his Grandma. He adds, that he wants to fly to her and stay in Germany. I tell him, that his Grandma promised to come back to see us. Since his received the recent picture postcard from Grandpa Norbert, Dominic also expects Norbert to come visit us.

I think, Juliana is already teething... She is usually a very calm and not-high-need baby. I am so very grateful!!! Yesterday though, she was just not content, woke up screaming in the night (usually she just sleeps through - amazing!), had a lot of bowel movements, spit-ups. Always sucking on her fingers and lots of saliva. I bet, in about a month she'll have her first tooth coming through!

Fist kicking

Juliana was concentrating on kicking with her fist at hanging toys today - while the other arm and legs were still. :)
Looking forward to every developmental step before she'll be actually 'stepping'!

Morgens am 11. Juni

Juliana spielt gerade auf dem Boden mit den kleinen Stofftieren, die ueber ihr haengen. Noch liegt sie am Ruecken, macht aber grosse Anstrengungen sich bald auf die Seite zu drehen. Mal gespannt, wie lange es noch dauert. Ich kann mich gar nicht mehr erinnern, wann Dominic soweit war. MmhH. Da dachte man immer, das ist so wichtig, das vergisst man nicht... Sollte wohl doch mehr Notizen machen. ;)
Dominic ist immer noch ganz stolz auf seine kleine Schwester, aber so manchmal habe ich nun doch den Eindruck, dass ein bisschen Eifersucht durchkommt - jetzt, wo die Omi nicht mehr hier ist und sich nicht mit ihm befassen kann, waehrend ich mich um Juliana kuemmere.
Die Kleine ist so lieb und kann sich auch mal alleine beschaeftigen - das ist so hilfreich, besonders beim zweiten Kind!
War die Geburt leichter? Mmh, kuerzer, ja - aber immer noch harte Arbeit.
Ich will mir mal die Zeit nehmen, einen Geburtsbericht zu schreiben, bevor ich alles vergesse.

Juliana is 2 months today

Juliana is doing well, growing so quickly and so much fun to watch when she is playing in her play gym. I just love when she is 'talking' with us! And Dominic is a wonderful big brother, very sweet with his sister and also very protective of her!

So many changes in Dominic's life

There's been so many changes in Dominic's life recently. - Not only in our family but also at Emmanuel as he graduated to an older class a few weeks back and then just last week all classes had promotion day. Now he has a new teacher and a mixed up class - again within about a month.

Juliana & Dominic - 9. Juni 2010

Juliana ist ein so wunderbares kleines Maedchen - sehr ruhig aber trotzdem aufmerksam. Sie schlaeft gut (in der Nacht im Schnitt etwa 7 Stunden) und beschaeftigt sich auch mal selbst - meint sie spielt gerne wenn sie am Boden liegt mit den Stofftierchen, die herunter haengen. Da strampelt sie so fest mit Armen und Beinchen. Es macht so sehr Spass ihr dabei zu zuschauen! :)
Dominic musste in dem Alter eigentlich staendig in Bewegung gehalten werden, um zufrieden zu sein, am liebsten wurde er in einer 'Sling' getragen. Juliana haelt davon gar nichts - das wuerde sie zu sehr in ihrer Bewegungsfreiheit einschraenken. So eine Art Rucksack, den ich auf dem Bauch habe, hilft uns aber dann doch abends, wenn es mal schwierig wird.

Dominic liebt seine kleine Schwester so sehr und ist ganz liebevoll mit ihr. Wenn Juliana mal ein wenig weint, oder sich auch nur ungluecklich anhoert, dann laeuft Dominic gleich zu ihr, streichelt sie und sagt ihr 'Alles wird gut, Ju-ana!'. Es ist so lieb und so suess!

5. June 2010

Juliana is a wonderful baby, so sweet and calm. She sleeps well (on average 7 hours during the night) and when she is awake she loves playing on the floor (so far in the play gym). I never thought, I would have such a calm baby.
And Dominic loves her so much. Couldn't be better!

Now I just have to get used to getting things done alone during the day as my Mom has left on Wednesday. It's not easy on Dominic - Well, or on me... She stayed with us for 10 weeks and we really loved having her around. I'm sure we'll get through it, it will just take a while. The positive side: Klaus is helping out as much as he can. :)

Bin froh, dass Giesela hilft!

Bin froh, dass Giesela hilft!
Ohne meine mutter waere hier das volle chaos angesagt und ich total ueberfordert. da sie aber hier ist, muss ich nur mit schlafmangel kaempfen. :) dominic ist super lieb mit juliana! es tut mir schon ein bisschen weh, dass ich jetzt nicht mehr soviel 'private' zeit mit ihm verbringen kann wie sonst. zum glueck beschaeftigt sich aber omi wunderbar mit ihm, wenn ich gerade anderwietig gebraucht werde.
juliana wacht gerade auf! :)

April 26

Life is going back to normal again - just a different kind of normal! ;-)
Things are actually going rather well. Juliana's jaundice is getting much, much better, I think, the next blood sample should give us results close to the normal range. It is so much easier now to wake her up for feedings and she has long phases of being awake. Well, and during those times she certainly lets me know when it is time for her to nurse! ;)

Dominic is being a real sweety and so excited to see her in the morning and when he gets home from preschool. (Is Linus in preschool for a little while, too?) There are times though when I see him just standing there and thinking - realizing that I just can't spend as much attention on him anymore. I am glad, that this hasn't turned in jealousy yet. Let's see how things will work out!

Photos

I'd like to share some photos of our sweet baby girl Juliana with you. She was born on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 15:16 CST and weighed in at 4116 g or 9 lbs and 1 oz.
We are so happy that she is doing well now! Up to the middle of this week we had to take a trip to Monroe every day to get her blood drawn as she had some trouble with jaundice . The levels have decreased significantly and she is more and more awake! :)


http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Klaus.Grimm&target=ALBUM&id=5463418537286464961&authkey=Gv1sRgCMCx9uOw5OOOKg&feat=email

Nothing so far

Well, nothing happened so far, I guess we have to be patient for a little longer. It's fine for me whenever - just not on Tuesday - that's Dominic's BDay!

2. April

Wir sind definitiv im Endspurt! Am Montag war ich 3 cm dilated und 50% effaced. Nachher geht's nochmal zu meiner Gynaekologin -die ich liebe- weil sie gerne nochmal einen Ultraschall machen moechte. Mal schauen, ob sich was geaendert hat!

Things are moving

It seems like our little girl wants to arrive soon, my Doula thinks labor might even start this night. (No garanty though)

March 31

The last few weeks haven't been easy (2 weeks ago I had a bad cold, last week Dominic and I had a stomach bug -really no fun- and since Sunday I have an ear infection but it was getting much better today). Sometimes I can hardly walk because of pains in the frontal groin area or in my hips or in my lower back. It's just crazy. It wasn't this bad with my first pregnancy... So this time, my body is definitely ready!

It is wonderful having my Mom here, she helps us so much! Dominic loves it, too, and I am so glad to know that when I'll be at the hospital, the three of them will be fine. :)
Klaus is under lots of pressure from work these days and also needs to go to VA beginning of May for at least a week. Not what I had in mind, but what can you do?

Wonderful comments

Today, I heard so many wonderful comments about Dominic - I just have to write a note about this! :)

Jacob, son of the secretary of our department head, goes to the same class as Dominic. She told us this afternoon that recently when she dropped off her son, he didn't want to give her a Good-Bye hug. When Dominic saw this, he decided that Lori really needed a hug - and hugged her!

Later, when I picked up Dominic from school/daycare, the kids were still outside playing. I enjoyed watching my son having so much fun riding the bicycle. I just loved his big smile when he saw me! While I was waiting - I wouldn't want to disturb all the fun - I was talking to his afternoon teacher. Miss Cammy told me, that she thinks Dominic is a really sweet boy who plays well and has a wonderful sense of humor!

At Kindermusik class tonight, Dominic took part excitedly in every activity. I wished he had as much fun cleaning up at home as it is to bring back all the instruments and props to Miss Pam. Dominic loves Miss Pam so very much! He says 'My Pam' when he talks about her. ;)
I didn't notice what happened outside after class. However, Pam told me that she was screwing a wooden/porcelain mushroom into a flower pot and said 'Perfect!' when she was finished. Dominic then fiddled with the same mushroom and also commented 'Perfect!' when he was satisfied with its position. So sweet!

Our friend Barbara just wrote on facebook:
"I saw Dominic on the playground yesterday, and he said "yes" when I asked him if he was feeling better! :-)" (He is still suffering from an ear infection. We were supposed to see our friends on Sunday but instead we went to see a doctor to find out what was going on with Dominic and got a second round of antibiotics for him.)
"Also, here is what Clarke said this morning on the way to daycare: "Dominic is my best friend. He is my best friend in the whole world!" :-)"
Oh my gosh! I just don't know what to say, that's so wonderful to hear - and it's incredible how well Clarke communicates at the age of 2.5 years!

I'm going to bed with a warm and happy feeling!