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!

Pregnancy Problems

When I did a blood test about our baby, the quad screening,
thinking that everything will be fine anyways, one of the tests came
back positive; the AFP was higher than the limits (2.74 MOM, boarder is
2.5 MOM), meaning that our child could have spina bifida. It was a
terrible week until we got an appointment for a detailed ultrasound.
Fortunately, the doctor didn't find anything, so it was a false
positive. :) :) :)
Note: During my first pregnancy the same test was also done and it was slightly elevated, too. However, nobody worried about it.
Another note: I now (2010) have two perfectly beautiful and healthy children.

Meanwhile, I had an episode of heart racing (pulse up to 182) and was
then monitored for a few hours at the hospital - where everything was
back to normal. The next day, I saw a cardiologist. He also said, he
can't find anything wrong with me, checked my EKG and I also had an
Echo, an ultrasound of my heart. He said, pregnancy does weird things to
women. Well, I totally agree!

Some of Dominic’s words in English and German:

English Dominic (E, G) German

brocken ubood abud kaputt
more mare mehr mehr
open ouf auf auf
closed tsoo zu zu
to cut nuts nats schneiden
into hine hein rein, hinein
out house haus raus
hot hots hots heiss
wet nuss nass nass
small hine hein klein
water ooa ua Wasser
heart herts Herz Herz
car outo Auto Auto
snow ne nee Schnee
money mumoottsMamutts Geld
mouse house Haus Maus
house house Haus Haus
bean boon Buhn Bohne
spoon boon Buhn Loeffel
October 4, 2009


English Dominic (E, G) German

Dominic Nic Nic Dominic
fruit oots Uhts Frucht/Obst
treats beats Biehts Leckerein
work ubide Abeid Arbeit/arbeiten
draw muuln maln malen
milk meas mis Milch
friends hands Haends Freunde
blow howe hohw blasen
snake nake Naek Schlange
wipes hipes Heips Tuecher
cake hake Haek Kuchen
fork hork Hohrk Gabel
ear ohr Ohr Ohr
foot foos Fuss Fuss
October 25, 2009

Kraeftige Tritte

Vor zwei Tagen auf einem stillen Oertchen wurde ich ganz kraeftig getreten - von innen! Erst einmal und dann gab es noch ein paar Tritte - nicht zu ueberspueren!!!
Scheinbar ist es auf dem stillen Oertchen im Unterbauch nicht so still. ;)

Schon seit einigen Wochen habe ich immer mal wieder eine Bewegung gespuert, so kraeftig war es bisher aber noch nicht gewesen. Unser Kleines moechte sich nun bemerkbar machen!

Ein Kuss fuers Baby

Heute Abend beim zu Bett bringen sitze ich am Boden mit Dominic und ploetzlich sagt er 'Baby', zieht mir mein Shirt hoch und gibt mir einem Kuss auf den Bauch!!!

Mein kleiner Dominic ist immer zu Ueberraschungen gut. Diese war so zaertlich und unglaublich suess!

Ich bin ueberzeugt, er wird ein stolzer grosser Bruder, der sich gut um sein Geschwisterchen kuemmern wird. Nur ... wie wird es wohl werden, wenn das Kleine sich auch mal mit Dominic's Spielsachen beschaeftigen moechte? ...denn teilen faellt unserem Grossen zu Hause *sehr* schwer.

Dominics erster Satz!

Klaus ist seit Freitag in Virginia, um Schichten am JLab zu nehmen. Heute ist Montag und erst naechsten Montag koennen wir ihn wieder am Flughafen in Monroe abholen.

Dominic hat mich heute sehr ueberrascht und beeindruckt! Er hat heute seinen ersten vollstaendigen Satz gesagt! Und nicht irgendeinen Satz, einen Satz mit tiefer Bedeutung. Ich hatte den Eindruck, es war ihm so wichtig, dass er sich wirklich gut ausdruecken wollte. Es war so, als ob er nach jedem Wort einen klitze-kleinen Moment lang nachdenken wuerde.

Mein suesser 2.5jaehriger sass nach einer schnellen Dusche in ein Handtuch eingewickelt auf meinem Schoss. In dieser ruhigen Minute, sagte Dominic ploetzlich von sich aus: "Miss Dada"
Ich erwiderte: "Ja, ich vermisse Daddy auch."
Daraufhin sagte Dominic: "Me miss Dada, too."

Das war der schoenste erste Satz, den man sich vorstellen koennte! Zwar sehr traurig, weil wir Klaus wirklich gerne schon heute wieder daheim haetten, aber so tief und bedeutungsvoll.

Baby?

My 2 year old thinks, his father left on the plane today to bring back a baby!!!

Ein paar mehr Woerter

Boot - boat
Arm - arm
eyes - Augen

More new words

schu/shoo - zu!/close(d)
an - turned on/to turn on
seee - swing/schaukeln
sik - Musik/music
Zug - train
juice - Saft
poo-poo - Hintern, Popo or Stinker?/bottom or poop?
poops - Blaehungen/gas
moo - Mond/moon
mmmm - Muh (wie die Kuh)/mooh (what the cow says)
Ja - Ja/yes
yes - Ja/yes
Nein - Nein/no

Dominic fragt derzeit staendig nach Babies! Er fragt, ob dies oder das fuer Babies ist und sagt oft, dass etwas nicht fuer Babies ist: "bebies eh-eh"
Am Wochenende hat Klaus ihn dann gefragt, ob Dominic ein Baby moechte. Die Antwort war ein klares "Ja"!

Am Donnerstag werden Sabine und Klaus zusammen ins Kino gehen! Wir freuen uns sehr darauf! :) Dominic darf derweilen bei Clarke und seinen Eltern bleiben. Wir sind sehr gespannt, wie und ob das gut geht!

New words

All done - Dominic uses 'all done' probably a hundred times a day! ;)
zin - Medizin/medicine as he takes his allergy medicine twice daily
Frau - Frau/Woman?
bus - Bus (English pronunciation)
sit - setzen
shoo-shoo - Choo-choo train/Zug
ball - Ball (English pronunciation)

Good iron (hemoglobin) level

Dominic had an iron (hemoglobin) level blood test this week and it turned out to be normal. :)

Dominic's level: 12.2 gm/dl
Normal level: 11.7 gm/dl (according to the nurse at our pediatrician's office)

Normal levels for children between the ages of six months and nine years range from between 10.5 and 14 gm/dl, with the average being 12. (Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, Behrman, Kliegman and Arvin, 1996).

I'm quite happy with this as I don't give him any supplements. Dominic is happy and healthy! :)

Dominic is talking more ... English!

I have a little time to myself tonight (Klaus is working in his home office, typical evening) and just remembered that I opened this blog but never really posted anything. Okay, so let's start this blog! :)
After one week of spring break at Trinity, Dominic talks a few more words in English. Words, that don't come from me or Klaus - Dominic spent Monday through Friday from 9 am to 3 pm at Miss Korene's.
It's an interesting choice of words:
Down
Sit
See
I see
Tomorrow morning, Dominic will be picked up by Miss Korene, as she drops off her older children in school and then takes him and Morgan, together with her own son A.J. back to her place. I know that Dominic is safe with her and even enjoys it. He has so much fun spending time with other children. Korene said, she can see that - Dominic and Timothy, son of Korene and 4 years old, enjoyed playing together during spring break! With all of her children around, Dominic ignored her pretty much. ;)

What other words does Dominic use these days?
Today, he joined in in the "Me, me, me!" - Song of Signing time: "Me, Me!"
Lo for love, joined another song on the same Signing time DVD
anzieh(e)n
auszieh(e)n
auf
Mi - for milk or Milch
heiss
Dada for Daddy :)
Mamma for Mommy
bebi for baby
Hai for shark
Hallo for telephone
Oh-Oh! when something fell on the floor
Nu-nu for eating or being hungry
Ha-i for Hasi or bunny
Se-sei for Flugzeug or plane
Mee, ganz ganz zart fuer den Laut, den die Schafe machen, what the sheep say
Mmmm for Moo or Muh - what the cows say
brrr for cold

Dominic says more than that and there are tons of more words that he uses signs for.
He loves reading books, especially in the little tent-house that I put in his room a few days ago. It's so cozy in his house on a blanket together with a few stuffed toys! Dominic's favorite books these days: "Weil wir Dich lieb haben" - absolute favorite, "We're going on a bear hunt!" - wonderful gift from Erin a year ago, a book about a fire engine with frogs, a snake, cup cakes, dogs, a first aid box, bananas, sandwiches, .... - and last but not least a book about trucks. However, not only the trucks seem to be important in this book, also the biker and all the animals!

Life and Times of The GriFu Clan

Hi everyone!

I've tried to keep our own website www.grifu.org and the Blog about Dominic updated but I find it hard to do it as I am limited to only one computer and so I thought, let's try to start a real blog! We'll see how it'll work!

Dominic's erste Wöter - Juni 2008

Dominic's erste Wöter
Mama [Mammma - for Mommy and Daddy!]
Oma [Omma - nur zweimal gehoert ... bei der Omi]
Hasi [Haaasssi]
1,2,3 [so sehr sanft gesprochen]
Ba = Banane
Ba-ba = Computer
heiß [heißßß]
gleich [eicccchh]
Bubbles [Bubblllles = Seifenblasen]

First ASL signs

Dominic's ASL signs
Auto
Banane
Bye-Bye winken
Computer
Fertig
Fisch
Hände waschen
Hasi/Kaninchen
Hund
Hut/Kappe
Licht
Mehr
Milch
Schuhe
Ventilator
Wasser
Zug

2008

Sunday, June 1, 2008
We are doing alright, just need some adjustment to a new situation. Dominic spends half a day in a day care as I am hoping to start working soon. It is not easy gor him, but it is getting better by the day. :) Thursday was the first morning that he didn't cry when I gave him into the arms of his teacher at the day care. It was so heart tearing every morning to leave him there when he just wanted to be with his Mommy! But I believe them when they said he cried for only a few minutes and then he was in a good mood again. The teachers are really caring and give each of the children as much love as possible. I can see that Dominic is doing fine when I come into the room for picking him up and see him before he sees me. He is always content or even happily playing! So, that's really good to know. Sonntag, 1. Juni 2008
Dominic lernt derzeit nicht nur fast jeden Tag ein neues Zeichen der Zeichensprache, er lernt es nun auch neue Worte zu sprechen. Wer haette gedacht, dass er jetzt schon zaehlen wuerde?! Dominic sagt nun voller Begeisterung "eins, zwei, drei". Erst war es nur zu erahnen, aber inzwischen kann man die Worte wirklich gut verstehen. :) Woher das Interesse am Zaehlen? Beim Umziehen, wenn die suessen kleinen Fuesse durch die Hosenbeine schluepfen, sagen wir oft "Guckuck, eins, zwei, drei, vier, fuenf, alle Zehen sind schon da!". Das gefaellt Dominic offensichtlich sehr gut!
Gut, seinen Daddy nennt er momentan "Mama", genauso wie seine Mami, aber das hat er bestimmt auch bald raus! Dafuer ist Dominic derzeit wirklich fasziniert von Bildern von seinen Eltern - er erkennt uns auf Fotos mit mehreren Personen, deutet auf Klaus oder Sabine und sagt "Mama!".
Dominic liebt es nun, sich auf Mamis oder Daddys Schoss zu setzen und sich gemeinsam Buecher anzuschauen. Am liebsten mag er Bilderbuecher, in denen Begriffe abgebildet sind, die er schon kennt und bezeichnen kann, entweder mit einem Wort oder mit dem entsprechenden Zeichen. Z.B. Hund, Hase, Banane, Telefon. Heute hat er einen Baeren (in einem Buch) und ein Squirrel (im Park) als Hase bezeichnet - sagte "Hasi" und machte das Handzeichen dazu. Ich glaube, wir muessen ihm nun neue, mehr Zeichen anbieten! ;)
Ungaublich fand ich es heute, als Dominic mit der flachen Hand auf meinen Stuhl am Esstisch klopfte und mit der anderen das Zeichen fuer Milch machte - und mich dabei anstrahlte! Dominic hat verstanden, dass er mit der Zeichensprache etwas bewirken kann und seine Beduerfnisse mitteilen kann - auch ohne sich sprachlich mitteilen zu koennen. So hat er mir heute Nachmittag gesagt: "Mami, komm, ich moechte gerne Milch!" Ich liebe Baby Signs!!!

Die letzte Woche war nicht einfach fuer unsere Familie ... Dominic hat aus der Kinderkrippe Tuesday, May 27
We are so glad, today Dominic had a much better day at his new day care. This is what his teachers, both very nice ladies, said about Dominic:
Says "Thank you" (in his own words) when you give him something
He is strong, much stronger than the other kids
Sweet, very friendly
A heartbreaker
Says "Hello" to everybody
Sleeps only for a short time (...well, no news to us!)
Eats a lot but drinks only very little
He is the boss of the class (... I didn't know what to think about that one, then she explained to me what she meant:) Dominic is really social, interacts with everybody

Sonntag, 25. Mai 2008, Dominic ist 13,5 Monate alt
Gestern Abend bei unserer Schlafenszeitroutine hat Dominic etwas Neues eingefuehrt! :) Standardmaessig bekommt unser Kleiner nach ein wenig Spielen, Balgen und Wrestling ;) in seinem Zimmer eine Nachtwindel angezogen (meint, eine Nummer groesser als die normale Windel tagsueber), den Schlafanzug und Schlafsack angezogen, wird gestillt und dann singen Mami und Daddy ihm ein Schlaflied waehrend Dominic in den Armen gewiegt wird. Normal singen wir zweimal die erste Strophe von GUTEN ABEND, GUTE NACHT und dann wird das gleiche nochmal gesummt. Gestern aber, hat Dominic uns mittendrinn zu verstehen gegeben, dass es nun aber gut ist und er doch bitte gleich ins Bett moechte!!! Echt unglaublich, die Zeichensprache klapt wunderbar! Und heute Abend war es ganz genau so. :)

Derzeit macht Dominic diese Zeichen in ASL - American Sign Language:

Fertig (das ist das Zeichen, das er nun auch beim Zubettbringen macht), Mehr, Fisch, Hund, Wasser, Milch, Schuhe, Licht, Bye-Bye und Telefon. Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 13 months
Dominic is so much fun and can do so many new things - he is clapping, likes it especially to the German nursery rhyme
"Backe, Backe Kuchen"! Dominic walks with ease, is attempting to run (okay, then he loses his balance and falls - but that's how it starts. ;) ) He asks for help when he brings something to you (like a bottle or flap cell phone that he wants open), hands the item to you and says 'DA!' And is just smiling when you help him. He tries sign language even at Day Care ... but even when the teachers know sign language, they first need to figure out what his personal signs mean. Dominic's signs are very close to the actual signs but soemtimes you need to guess ... like the sign for light and milk ... the only difference is that Dominic's arm is straight when he signs light and he usually signs milk only when he wants to nurse (okay, most of the time he let's me know in other ways). He just started to sign 'finished' when he is done with eating (his variation is to hold his arms still and move his hands up and down - it's actually close to 'Good-Bye'). And then there is another sign, Dominic is working on, it is 'fish'. When we stand in front of the aquarium at the Day Care and I sign fish, he holds an arm down and waves it back and forth.
It's so exciting to see him sign and comunicate!!!

Dominic has now all his front teeth and half of his molars. Means, you can see the tips of the molars behind the spot where the cuspids (Eckzähne) will be. That means, he has over half of his teeth! We can't wait, until he has all of them .... There are 20 in total, 8 front teeth are there and 4 molars .... that leaves another 4 molars and the 4 cuspids. He suffers so much when he is teething (Dominic even has had eruption cysts* for weeks - they looked so horrible and painful). :( We can't wait until Dominic has finally all of his first teeth!

*Eruption Cyst is a bluish, translucent, elevated, compressible, asymptomatic, dome-shaped lesion of the alveolar ridge associated with an erupting primary or permanent tooth. If left untreated, the cyst will spontaneously rupture. The cyst may be marsupialized or punctured to facilitate eruption. from: www1.umn.edu/webcore1/dentalt2.html

Here is a negative food list of what Dominic can't eat at this time:
Blood tests showed that he is not allergic to the food but intolerant, means, he gets stomach pain:
Cow's milk
Cow's yogurt
Cow's cheese
Cucumber
Pickles
Melons
Food that's too acid for Dominic's stomach - besides stomach pain, he even gets a rash and/or pimples on his face:
Fruit juice
Tomatoes
Strawberries
Raw apples
Goat milk yogurt

Backe, backe, Kuchen
Der Bäcker hat gerufen!
Wer will guten Kuchen backen
Der muß haben sieben Sachen:
Eier und Schmalz
Butter und Salz
Milch und Mehl
Safran macht den Kuchen gehl!
Schieb, schieb in´n Ofen ´rein.

Oder, unsere ganz persoenliche Version...
Backe, backe, Kuchen
Der Bäcker hat gerufen!
Wer will guten Kuchen backen
Der muß haben sieben Sachen:
Butter und Schmalz
Zucker und Salz
Eier und Mehl
Safran macht den Kuchen gehl!
Schieb, schieb in´n Ofen ´rein. Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 12 and a half months
- or ONE YEAR and a bit ;)
Last weekend Dominic started to bring us things, like a book that we then look at together for a short time, anything that he finds and wants to share - or, most importantly since Monday, when he first got it, Sabine's old cell phone with a working battery but no service contract. Means, it's really save to play with it without having to worry about calling anybody ... for example somebody in China, Japan or somewhere else far, far away with huge rates. Dominic even gives it to Mommy or Daddy accompanied by a 'Da!' ... even if it's only to ask us to fold up the cell phone. :) It's fun!!!
If I didn't mention it before: Dominic calls now for 'Mama' and 'Dadde' - eventhough most things are now 'Daddy' for our sweetie, starting with the most important device ever, a phone, over a remote control and including our bunnies ... he seems to have lost the word 'bunny' that he said so well before (okay, it was the German nickname for bunnies: 'Hasi').

I wished I had my camera with me today in the park!
DeEtte, her boys Tommy, Lucas and Ashton, Brenda with Thomas and Tara, Dominic and I met at the Lincoln Parish Park this morning. As usual, Dominic fell asleep in the car just when we arrived in the park ... well, he still naps most mornings about 3 hours after he got up. The other boys were up and about playing on the playground (unfortunately a family of caterpillars go into their way and only half of them survived) and Tara was staying close to her Mama. After some time on my lap Dominic went off and wanted to play with the boys! Dominic was collecting rocks and Tommy and his brothers were looking for more rocks that they would give Dominic, or put them next to him so that he would take them. And there was this moment - Dominic sat down on the ground and the other boys were sitting next to him!!! It would have been a great shot for sure! :) Dominic with Ashton (2.5 years), Lucas (4 years), Tommy (5) and Thomas (2.5 years) - Dominic is one of the boys now, not a baby anymore!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 11 months
Our little Dominic is sure growing and developing - and since Sunday he is officially walking! Two or maybe even three weeks ago he took his first few steps but last Sunday he took up to 25 steps. It helped to have Daddy at home! :) It is so much fun to see him like that! And then again I know how difficult this time is for him as he is teething, the first molars are coming in. Days ago you could see whitish-blueish bumps on his gum and for four days now he has fever. Last night it was even up to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. :( Most of the time he is doing pretty well, cuddling helps quite a bit and then are times when only ibuprofen or acetaminophen help.... Sonntag, 9. Maerz 2008
Dominic laeuft!!!
- und zwar bis zu 25 Schritte am Stueck! :) Mami war am Saehen und Daddy und Dominic waren nachmittags auch draussen im Garten. Daddy ermutigte Dominic sich an seinem "Gehfrei" festzuhalten und zu Laufen statt ueber die Wiese zu Krabbeln. Ja, und Laufen tat unser Suesser dann auch - aber ohne sich festzuhalten! ... am liebsten natuerlich in Richtung Mami; oder auch mal zum Besen hin, den man so schoen hochheben kann. ;)
Freitag, 7. Maerz 2008, 11 Monate
Dominic sagt 'Hasi'!
Gemeint sind damit seine geliebten Hasis, also Hasen - Donna, Dale, Struppi und Jeanie, die er jeden Tag mindestens 5 Mal besuchen will. :)
Samstag, 23. Februar 2008
Dominic entwickelt sich prima! Dominic ist nun 10.5 Monate alt, 10.1 kg schwer (22 lbs 6 oz) und 78 cm gross (30.5 inch). Er krabbelt jeden Tag schneller und heute - eben hat er seine ersten drei Schritte gemacht! :) Wir sassen alle drei am Boden - naja, Klaus lag mit angewinkelten Knien am Boden und Dominic stand an meiner Hand auf. Ich habe seine Hand losgelassen, weil Dominic ja schon sicher alleine stehen kann. Unser Kleiner stand neben Klaus angewinkelten Knien; fuehlte sich da sicher, weil er sich jederzeit an den Knien haette festhalten koennen. Dann tat er einen kleinen Schritt mit dem rechten Fuss nach vorne, in Richtung Klaus Oberkoerper ... dann noch einen und noch einen - bis er sich auf die Knie fallen hat lassen. War ihm wohl nicht geheuer, was er gerade gemacht hat. - Dominic's erste Schritte!!! Jetzt geht's erst richtig los! ;)

Dominic und ich waren im Januar ganz kurzfristig nach Deutschland geflogen. Es war ein vorgezogenes Geburtstagsgeschenk meiner Mutter und es war einfach schoen. Ich habe jeden Tag genossen, den ich mit meiner Familie verbringen durfte. Nur schade, dass Klaus nicht mitkommen konnte. Um so schwerer ist es mir gefallen wieder zurueck nach Ruston zu kommen. Naja, jetzt geht es schon wieder ... und es hilft sehr unsere neuen Freunde hier regelmaessig zu sehen. Wir haben auch ganz viele Bilder gemacht .... falls Ihr die Zeit und Lust habt mal reinzuschauen: http://picasaweb.google.com/Dominic.Grimm/ February 10, 2008
Dominic and I just got back from four wonderful weeks with my family in Germany.
This time Klaus wasn't able to come with us to Germany. Unfortunately. But even while we were missing him, we had a wonderful time. My Mom spoiled us every day. ;) The whole vacation was her early birthday present for me. It's one that I'll remember forever! We took many, many photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/Dominic.Grimm/DominicMommyInGermany I had a really hard time leaving. While traveling back, it felt like we were going back to Williamsburg. It seems like even though we live since almost half a year in Ruston, we don't feel 'at home' yet. It's gonna take some time. Who knows - maybe in a few years, I wouldn't even want to leave Ruston?

Dominic is a lovely little boy! He is so happy, especially with his Dad around. Mommy seems to be irreplaceable when he is not doing so well but I still have a hard time to make Dominic laugh. On the other hand, whatever Klaus does cracks Dominic up!
He is crawling so fast now. I was hoping he wouldn't be able to walk yet until we got back from Germany as I was afraid he'd be too active on the plane. So, Dominic is freely standing without holding on to something. Today, he even got up from kneeing without holding on to anything! He is getting more and more balanced - I think he is rather close to walking now.

Oh, I'd better go to bed as I'm not sure when Dominic will be waking up tonight (hope he is over his jet lag already...). 15. Februar 2008
Dominic und ich hatten einen ueberraschend guten Flug ... wohl dank Aschermittwoch, denn der Flieger war nur mit 30 Prozent ausgelastet und wir hatten somit schoen viel Platz. :) Es war nicht einfach uns wieder einzuleben, sind immer noch dabei .... es war so toll zu Hause zu Besuch zu sein, staendig jemanden um uns zu haben. Ich habe die Hilfe und Gesellschaft sehr genossen und ich weiss, Dominic ging es genauso. Dominic ist die ersten zwei Naechte um 1 Uhr aufgewacht und war bereit fuer den "Tag". Etwas zu frueh fuer mich.... Nach ein paar weiteren Tagen hatte er sich auf 5:30 Uhr aufstehen umgestellt - damit kann ich besser leben. ;) Leider hat uns eine Magen-Darm-Infektion erwischt ... damit sind wir noch mehr ans Haus gebunden und koennen nicht gleich unsere Freunde hier wieder sehen. :( Ausserdem ist meine Milch stark zurueck gegangen. :( Ich hatte nie Probleme damit gehabt und es nimmt mich ganz schoen mit .... Gestern wollte Dominic nichts mit irgendeiner Flasche zutun haben sondern wollte alle 1,5 oder 2 Stunden stillen. Wer weiss, vielleicht schafft er es ja doch meine Milch wieder zu gewinnen! :)

Ruston 2007

Silvester - 31.12.2007
Silvester zu Hause. Zwar sind wir alle eingeladen zu einer Happy New Year Party, aber wie macht man das mit einem suessen Kleinen, der derzeit Schlafprobleme hat und die Grossen gluecklich sind, wenn der Kleine endlich schlaeft (vor allem tagsueber...)?!
Seitdem

New Year, 1.1.2008
Nowadays, Dominic goes most of the time to sleep at night easily by himself. We have the same routine every evening: Dinner, diaper change with music from his mobile above the changing pad, then putting his PJs and the sleeping bag on, accompanied by a lullaby CD, then I take him on my lap in the rocking chair, he gets his Zantac (Dominic is really excited about the Zantac now! He just loves to take it - especially to play with the oral syringe when we are done... Thinking back how difficult it was in the beginning to get him to take the Zantac! We are down to only one milliliter and his Doc, Dr. McGehee, a really nice person - who I met twice this week somewhere in Ruston ;) - wants to quit it when we are finished with this very last bottle. I think that is fine, Dominic seems to be doing alright with that small dosage.) and then I nurse Dominic. Actually, the last two evenings he did not want to nurse which was quite unusual - but okay as he nursed right before dinner. So, there wouldn't have been a lot left anyway. ;) Well, on the rocking chair with only very slight movement Dominic gets very sleepy and then we call his Daddy. Klaus takes him, we give him a kiss or two and put him in his crib. Sometimes he turns around and plays with his bear or doggy in his bed and sometimes he just looks at us, smiles when we sing him two verses of the German 'Lullaby and Good Night'. At last we tell him how much we love him, wish him Good Night and leave the room. If it is a perfect evening, like tonight, we don't hear a beep from his room after leaving. Sometimes he complains when we leave the room and goes on like that for a few minutes. He hardly cries anymore before going to sleep - so glad about that! :) So, usually he sleeps by 7 pm, sometimes by 7:30 pm.

And the best is: Last night was the perfect night! Dominic slept through until 6:15 am!!! We were so grateful, especially as we didn't go to bed as early last night as we should have ... after all it was New Years Eve! It was the perfect start of the New Year! :) :) :)

Dominic usually wakes (woke?) up once a night for nursing, sometime between 2:30 am and 5:00 am. It wasn't a problem at all to get him back to sleep if he woke up at 4 am at the latest. But after that it is so hard to get him to sleep - he just wants to get up then. Way too early for his parents!!! Next problem: The last few days he always woke up wet ... the diaper couldn't hold all the fluid. So, after 5:50 there wasn't a chance for us to sleep anymore (or at least for one of us...). The last few days I noticed that Dominic wasn't that eager to nurse when he woke up. Usually he was really hungry but for at least three nights I had the impression that he drank a little and then was just happy to be rocked to sleep again. One night I even had to convince him to nurse instead of sucking on my finger! That's why I thought it might be time to night wean our little boy - and the simple thought of getting a whole nights sleep ... oh my gosh, how sweet! After all, Dominic is almost nine months old and most books say, babies don't need a night nursing at this age anymore. And ... Klaus didn't have to go to work between Christmas and New Year, so it is the perfect timing for a change with the help of my husband!
So, one night Klaus got up instead of me and tried to console Dominic. First, he did sit him up in the bed and tried to calm him down, without success. Then he sat in the rocking chair with Dominic on his lap. Just simple sucking wasn't enough for Dominic, but a bottle of water did the trick! Dominic calmed down and finally fell asleep while drinking. :) The next two nights were the same, more or less. The second night with Klaus getting up was actually the worst as Dominic woke up around 5 am ... and Klaus wasn't able to get him to fall asleep and put him back in the crib until around 5:45 am. Dominic slept there for about 10 minutes, then started crying again. Well, at 6 am I got him and was happy to nurse him - after such a long time without nursing my breasts felt more then full!
The fourth night that I wasn't getting up was last night - Dominic sleeping through from 7:30 pm until 6:15 am. That was just awesome!!! Hope, he'll do the same this night!

So, the nights are fine ... but don't ask about his naps! Since he is able to get around with crawling a short distance and then creeping, he doesn't want to take his naps anymore. :( I think it started Friday before Christmas, so, December 21. We had such a nice routine. He would go to sleep around 10 am for his first nap and then later around 1 pm or maybe 2 pm for his second nap. I was just rocking him and singing the lullaby and then put him sleepy but awake in his crib. He would then fall asleep on his own, sometime just like that and sometime after complaining for a few minutes. But that doesn't work anymore. :( Since that Friday he simply sits up or pulls himself up in the crib and then stands up holding on to the railing and refuses to sleep if you would put him awake in his crib. And he doesn't decline sleeping quietly... Since then, either he doesn't nap or we try to get him to sleep in our arms and then put him in his bed - but then he wakes up half of the time... it is really exhausting. I hope that's gonna change soon again!!!

Dominic and I are flying to Germany on the 10th of January! It's an early BDay present from my Mom. :) I still can't believe we are leaving in just 1.5 weeks. I am so much looking forward to seeing my family and friends! Unfortunately, Klaus can't come with us ... the quarter system is terrible, it doesn't give him a long enough break between quarters to leave the country other than during the summer - and then the flights are too expensive to go home.

Frohe Weihnachten! :)
Weihnachten - und soviel passiert an diesen schoenen Feiertagen!

Es ist wirklich ein Wendepunkt in Dominic's Entwicklung. :)
Er krabbelt kurze Strecken! - Der Rest wird gerobbt, sicher ist nichts mehr in unserem Heim. ;) Er sieht etwas, will hin und ehe man sich versieht, ist Dominic auch dort!
Dominic zieht sich selbstaendig aus dem Sitzen hoch, an dem Gitter seines Bettchens, an seinen 'Baby Gym Walls', aber am liebsten natuerlich an seinen Eltern.
Dominic kann sich nun auch aus der Rueckenlage aufsetzen! Er macht es genauso wie wir Grossen; strengt die Bauchmuskeln an, beugt sich zur Seite und stuetzt sich mit einem Arm ab bis er richtig schoen sitzt. :)
Und nun endlich, nach wochenlangem, fast schon monatelangem Training, macht Dominic seine ersten Gebaerdensprache-Zeichen (Babyzeichensprache oder Baby Signs). Es ist so aufregend fuer uns! Seitdem unser Kleiner 7 Monate alt ist, zeigen wir ihm regelmaessig eine Auswahl von Zeichen: Mit Milch haben wir angefangen, dann kam Essen, Wasser, Mommy, Daddy dazu und noch ein paar weniger wichtige, aber um so mehr spassige Zeichen wie Ente, Licht und Ventilator. Dass er das Zeichen fuer Milch versteht, war schon seit einiger Zeit offensichtlich. Und wenn man Ventilator sagt, dann schaut er auch an die Decke zum Ventilator hin. Der Durchbruch kam gestern, am 24.: Dominic machte das Milchzeichen und auch das Zeichen fuer Ventilator. Ach, der macht ihm ja soviel Spass!
Da Dominic zweisprachig aufwachsen wird, dauert es wahrscheinlich ein bisschen laenger bis er zu sprechen anfangen wird. Wenn er dann aber mal spricht, wahrscheinlich erst mit zwei Jahren, wird er beide Sprachen sprechen. Bis dahin kann er uns mit der Zeichensprache mitteilen, welche Beduerfnisse er hat, mit was er spielen moechte oder ganz einfach, dass er einen Vogel auf dem Baum sitzen sieht und das ganz aufregend findet. :) Es heisst, dass die Kinder, die mit der Zeichensprache kommunizieren koennen, ein gemaessigteres Temperament im Trotzalter haben. Ist ja auch klar ... mit zwei oder drei Jahren kann man sich sprachlich nicht sehr gewandt ausdruecken, da hilft es, wenn man andere Kommunikationswege hat!

November 29, 2007
Dominic is taking a nap in his car seat and we just got home ... I am so glad to have a laptop and to be able to write a little up-date now! :) We just came back from the day care and it is so interesting to see that all three little ones there who were born in April are at different stages: Ella, who is a tiny, cute little girl, was already able to sit up well on her own when she was only 4 months old. A few weeks ago she was working on crawling, means she came forward with her upper body from sitting and was able to be for a little while on hands and knees. Since Thanksgiving she is crawling! Jackson wasn't able to sit without support until recently. Also, since Thanksgiving he sits excellently - but he is far from crawling or standing.

Well, and Dominic is getting closer to crawling day by day. Yesterday Dominic was on his hands and knees for over one minute before his bottom or shoulders touched the floor. That is quite some progress! Oh, I am so excited for... well, Dominic woke already up... ...it is past Dominic's bed time now and I get a chance to write some more. :) So, I am excited for him when he can finally move around on his own, because he gets so frustrated now when he tries moving and can't quite succeed yet. On the other hand, I fear the day when he learns crawling as nothing will be safe anymore in the house ... and we haven't childproofed anything yet! Dominic knows how to roll from back to front and from front to back and sometimes he rolls a little - but it's not like I put him somewhere and then a minute later, I find him at the other side of the room.

Whenever I want to place Dominic down on the floor, he doesn't want to sit down but wants to stand - with my help, either holding his hands or holding on to his upper body. Carla, one of his two teachers at the day care, said today, that she was holding on to Dominic's hands and was walking with him. I have to admit ... I don't want to provoke Dominic to walk yet ... not with 7 1/2 months...

Since a few days, Dominic got noticeably more attentive: He takes a much closer look at everything now, our fingers and especially the finger nails, his toys and anything I give him to play with/to look at: the cutting board was so very interesting today! It is not like he doesn't put anything in his mouth anymore (he still loves to chew on everything) - but it takes longer now until it ends up in his mouth! ;)

My sweet little boy is always excited when we get out of the house. He just loves it when we walk to the mailbox and gets really excited when I open it to see if there is anything in there for us. Dominic loves to go shopping with us. His favorite place is in the sling, cuddled close to me. He still doesn't like to be in the stroller for a long time ... every time I try it, he gets fuzzy after a while and finally ends up in the sling. I wonder, if that is ever gonna change...?!
But Dominic seems to be doing fine in the seat of a shopping cart. We tried it several times in the health store - they have nice clean carts and the shopping doesn't take so long. I just got the shopping cart cover that I ordered and am eager to try it out for the grocery shopping. Hope, Dominic will be patiently shopping with me!

It has been two weeks since we started Dominic on Cheerios. First, he didn't know what to do with those tiny little rings and was very skeptical when I put a single Cheerios in his mouth. And then, Dominic tried to grasp the tiny things and wasn't very successful. Maybe he got one in his hands, but it didn't arrive in his mouth - and most of them ended up on the floor. It didn't take long though, maybe two or three days and everything changed, he got really skillful with his little fingers. Somehow he managed it to get the Cheerios in his fist and then into his mouth. Currently, he is working on his pincer grasp. He is getting quite good at it! The Cheerios had a great learning effect! :) 4. Dezember 2007, almost 8 months old
Gestern abend, Montag, hat Dominic leichtes Fieber bekommen - 100 degree Fahrenheit oder 37.8 Grad Celsius - und immer noch kraeftig gehustet. Und heute morgen fing er an sich am rechten Oehrchen zu ziehen, was bei kleinen Kindern bedeuten kann, dass sie Ohrenschmerzen haben. Unser kleiner hatte ja gleich in seiner ersten Lebenswoche eine Ohrenentzuendung. Daher, und weil man so eine Entzuendung als Eltern nicht erkennen kann, habe ich wirklich Angst davor. Noch dazu habe ich seit Sonntag von drei kleinen Jungs im Alter von Dominic erfahren, die gerade eine Ohrenentzuendung haben. Nettans Sohn, Linus, hat genau die gleichen Symptome wie Dominic...! Dr. McGehee, Dominic's Kinderarzt, hat festgestellt, dass mein Kleiner zum Glueck keine Ohrenentzuendung hat, muss aber trotzdem Antibiotika einnehmen wegen seinem Husten, man hoert es richtig rasseln. Der Arzt meinte auch, es richtig gewesen zu kommen. Dominic's Ohren sehen gut aus, aber weil er schon fast zwei Wochen lang eine laufende Nase hat und nun auch noch der belegte Husten dazugekommen ist, waere es besser fuer ihn jetzt Antibiotiqua einzunehmen. Bin froh, dass wir dort waren!

Aber sonst geht es uns gut. Ich wette, Dominic krabbelt uns bald davon - bestimmt bis Weihnachten.
November 6, 2007 - Dominic is 7 months old
Tonight Dominic tried Acorn Squash for dinner and -surprise- he loves it! He couldn't get enough of it! That's the first solid foods, except banana, that he really likes. Sweet potato, pear and rice cereal were not that much of an success...

We just got over a cold, Dominic's first cold. But luckily he had only a little stuffed nose but his parents were really suffering... Klaus isn't over it yet.

We just noticed how much Dominic is changing his looks. We think he doesn't look as much like a baby anymore - more like a little boy. His grand moms agree that he has a lot from his Mommy, including the cow lick above his right eye - but it seems like Dominic has his Daddy's mouth and chin.

Our little one is still on Zantac but his Doc decreased the dosage. During the last few days Dominic had a lot of major spit ups - we are wondering if this is connected.

The last week was rather hard on Dominic as he is getting his four upper front teeth. Dominic is just 7 months old and you can already see and feel the two middle ones but see only white bumps on his gums where the others will be. Poor little one ... he started so early with his teeth (had his first one with 5 months) and doesn't even need them yet. Well, and I had to learn that teething and diarrhea come together for Dominic...
October 25, 2007
Dominic is getting bigger and stronger by the day and is a rather talkative boy. It's just fun to listen to him when he is 'bubbling' away. This is my favorite age with him so far - he is getting a little more independent and I can actually leave the room just quickly without him getting upset. This started since he can sit up on his own. :) Dominic hasn't figured out crawling yet but is rolling very well from one side to the other and moves laying on his back, by pushing with his feet and legs, in the direction of his head - and is upset when he can't get further as the armchair is standing in his way. ;)

He goes to a Mom's Day Out program twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am to 2 pm. At first it was hard for him (and the teachers there) to get used to be in a group and away from Mommy but now Dominic loves to be together with the four other babies and interact with. I really like the facility and have a good feeling about the teachers. It is so nice to see that he is smiling already when I put him there on the play mat and sometimes it is even hard to get his attention back for just a moment to wave Good-bye to him.

According to the measurements at his pediatrician yesterday at Dominic's 6 months check up, he is not that little anymore: He weighs in at 20.5 pounds and is 29 inches tall.
Dominic is almost always smiling when somebody is talking to him (at least as long as he is close to Klaus or me). He is a very social fellow and I hope he will always be like this.

Yesterday I went the second time to a yoga class here at the university. It felt so good to do something for me, just for me, not for my son or for my family. :)

As this is a Thursday morning and Dominic is at the Day Care, I think I should get back to my chores, as it isn't easy to get a lot done with him around. Today, I unpack our fall and winter clothing as it cooled down quite a bit. It's now in the 50s and we need our closed shoes and jackets. The last few days it has been raining hard but it is supposed to get nicer and a lot warmer at the end of the week - they expect us to get back into the 70s or even lower 80s. 18. Oktober 2007
Unser kleiner, hmm grosser, Dominic liebt seinen Bananenbrei! Seit dem Abend vor seinem halbjaehrigen Geburtstag hat er zusaetzlich zur Milch abends pürierte Banane zu sich genommen. Die ersten Abende wollte er nur ganz wenig essen, aber inzwischen kann er gar nicht genug bekommen.
Einziges Problem:
Dominic will sich selbst fuettern!!! Wenn der Löffel mit dem leckeren Brei in Reichweite kommt, dann greift unser Kleiner zu, am liebsten mit beiden Haenden, und will den Löffel auch nicht mehr gerne loslassen. So wird das Füttern ganz schoen 'messy'!

Gestern abend wollten wir ihm etwas Abwechslung bieten und pürierten Avocado. Den Gesichtsausdruck haetten wir fotografieren sollen! ...eine Mischung zwischen Ekel und Enttaeuschung... da wollte Dominic dann lieber gar nichts essen als diesen komischen gruenen Brei. Mal gespannt, wie er heute darauf reagiert - es soll ja manchmal bis zu 13mal dauern, bis sich ein Kind an einen neuen Geschmack gewoehnt hat. Die naechsten Tage koennen wir Dominic leider kein neues Lebens mittel versuchen lassen, denn es gibt eine Regel, die besagt, wenn ein neues Lebensmittel eingefuehrt wird, soll man 4 Tage lang nichts Neues einfuehren, um zu sehen, ob das Baby eine allergische Reaktion entwickelt.
October 11, 2007
Dominic is doing fine. :) He makes great progress and is now sleeping better at night. - As he woke me up pretty much every hour for several nights and I just couldn't take it anymore, we decided that he has to stay in his crib and cry it out when he wakes up during the night. Although it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be (he cried for only 10 minutes every time when he woke up during the first night), we felt so cruel - he just wanted to be with us, to be held by Mommy or Daddy and we did let him cry all alone in his crib just next to our bed...
The following night he woke up only once before 4 am but was crying for 15 or 20 minutes and then not screaming anymore but complaining (it was a lot nicer on our ears but it made us feeling just as bad). And the third night he wasn't crying at all but still complaining when he woke up. Now the only time he wakes up is around 4 am and then I nurse him and he goes back to sleep. He sleeps then calmly in his crib until he decides it's time for us to get up (sometime between 5:30 and 7:30). But his naps during the day seem to be all messed up these days ... He sleeps very lightly and therefore not very long.

The evening before his 6 months birthday we started him on solid foods. At the first feeding he didn't take a lot in of the mashed banana but now he just loves it and finishes almost the complete bowl. What a sight when he has the food all over him!

I met a few nice Moms with little children during the last few weeks. :) We said we would be trying to get together once a week to go for a walk. So, hopefully we will get something started like the 'CW - Walking Moms' around here. Anyway, I hope to have them over for a play date soon.
October 9, 2007 - half a year and a few days
Since last Friday Dominic is having solid foods - kind of solid, it's mashed banana - and he already loves it. This evening he ate almost a complete banana! That's quite a lot - on Friday he was full with only five little spoonfull. 9. Oktober 2007 - ein halbes Jahr und 3 Tage ;)
Dominic sitzt mittlerweile sehr gut - er kann schon eine halbe Stunde alleine sitzen ohne umzufallen. Er kann jetzt ganz anders spielen, da er beide Haende benutzen kann. Heute haben wir unter anderem mit einem Ball gespielt und ihn gerollt - das war etwas ganz Neues fuer ihn. ;) Seit letztem Freitag, einem Tag vor seinem halbjaehrigen Geburtstag, bekommt er abends zusaetzlich zur Milch 'feste' Nahrung gefuettert. Das erste Mal hat er nur wenige Loeffel gewollt, aber inzwischen liebt er den Bananenbrei. Heute abend hatte er fast eine ganze Banane gegessen!
October 2, 2007
Dominic is now almost 6 months old and just during the last few days he has made incredible progress.
He sits upright! So far Dominic used at least one of his hands to support his upper body while sitting but since today he sits even without the help of an arm!
During the last few weeks, he was struggeling to roll from lying on the stomach to the back - but today he did this several times without any problems at all. It wasn't even as if he was proud of it - No, it seemed like it was the most natural thing on earth. Astonishing, since he got frustrated so often when he was lying on his stomach and didn't want to be in that position anymore but just could not change it!
Yesterday Dominic 'made a few steps' towards crawling: He was on his knees in crawling position but his arms couldn't quite hold the weight. So, I supported his upper body (had my hand below his belly) and he was moving forward - maybe 2 feet forward!

Our little one is getting ready to eat solid foods now - he is very interested in every bite that we eat. A few more days and he gets something to eat! 2. Oktober 2007
Am Ende der Woche wird unser kleiner Dominic schon ein halbes Jahr alt. Toll, denn es macht nun richtig viel Spass mit Dominic und gerade die letzten Tage hat er massive Fortschritte gemacht.
Dominic sitzt nun aufrecht! Bisher hat er immer mindestens eine Hand benutzen muessen, um seinen Oberkoerper abzustuetzen und war dann immer noch ziemlich nach vorne gebeugt gesessen. Aber seit heute sitzt er ganz fantastisch aufrecht ohne sich abzustuetzen. :)
Waehrend der letzten Wochen war Dominic sehr oft frustriert gewesen, wenn er am Bauch lag und sich nicht mehr zurueck auf den Ruecken rollen konnte. Heute hat er genau das einige Male ohne Probleme gemacht. Und es sah aus, als waere das fuer ihn das Natuerlichste auf der Welt!
Gestern sah es so aus, als wuerde unser Suesser bald mit dem Krabbeln anfangen (von mir aus darf er sich aber gerne noch viel Zeit damit lassen!): Er war auf seinen Knien und stuetzte sich mit den Haenden am Boden ab. Da die Arme aber noch nachgegeben haben, habe ich seinen Oberkoerper unterstuetzt (meine Hand unter seinen Bauch gehalten) und siehe da, er krabbelte langsam einen halben Meter vorwaerts!!!

Dominic wird nun bald soweit sein, sein erstes Essen zu sich zu nehmen. Er schaut sich jeden Bissen, den wir essen, ganz genau an und moechte am liebsten auch etwas ab haben. Ein paar Tage darfst Du noch warten - ich denke, am Wochenende gibt es dann die ersten Versuche einen Loeffel in den kleinen suessen Mund zu bringen. - Wir haben schon abwaschbare Laetzchen! ;-)
September 19, 2007
Dear Friends,

We are excited to live in our first home!
It is located in a beautiful neighborhood with a lake and lots of shade – perfect to go for a walk with the stroller. Our neighbors are extremely nice – one older couple even welcomed us with a delicious pie! Ruston is a small town – we don’t have any shops in walking distance but everything can be reached by car within 10, 15 minutes. And it takes just 5 minutes to drop off Klaus at the Science and Engineering building on Campus.

There are still so many boxes waiting to be unpacked and shelves to be reassembled but the bunnies and we are slowly settling in. Even though it takes much longer to prepare his lectures than Klaus thought, he enjoys teaching a lot. Sabine already knows a few spouses of LA Tech professors, some even with babies who are only a little older than Dominic, and is looking forward to taking another infant yoga class – this time at the university.

We are very sorry that you might be waiting longer than usual for an answer to your email (it took several days to write this text…). It is almost impossible for Sabine to sit in front of the computer while Dominic is awake and in the evening she needs to go to bed almost as early as he does to get enough sleep since Dominic wakes up currently very often at night – sometimes every hour… It might me because of all the moving that we have done in the last month and/or because of his first teeth (you can see and feel the two lower ones). The last night was a little better and we are hoping his sleeping pattern will improve again. The other exciting news about our little one: Dominic can sit up for a while on his own and is a very happy and smiley baby – as long as no new teeth are coming in.

Best wishes, Sabine, Klaus and Dominic 19. September 2007
Hallo Ihr Lieben!

Wir sind gerade in unser eigenes Haus eingezogen und geniessen nun die Freiheit! Wunderbar ist, dass das gesamte Haus vor unserem Einzug komplett renoviert wurde. Zwar sind die Zimmer nicht unbedingt in unseren Lieblingsfarben gestrichen, aber das koennen wir ja in Angriff nehmen, sobald uns Dominic ein wenig mehr Zeit laesst. Wir wohnen in einer sehr schoenen Nachbarschaft. Die ruhigen, schattigen Strassen und ein See laden zu einem Spaziergang mit dem Kinderwagen ein. Unsere Nachbarn sind sehr nett – ein aelteres Ehepaar direkt neben uns hat uns sogar mit einem selbstgebackenen Kuchen in der Nachbarschaft willkommen geheissen! Ruston ist eine ziemlich kleine Stadt – zwar haben wir keine Geschaefte in der unmittelbaren Naehe, aber mit dem Auto kann man alles in 10 oder 15 Minuten erreichen. Und es dauert gerade mal 5 Minuten, um Klaus an die Uni zu fahren.

Obwohl wir noch unheimlich viel zum Auspacken und Aufbauen haben, leben wir uns so langsam ein. Klaus macht es sehr viel Spass Vorlesungen zu halten, wenngleich die Vorbereitung wesentlich mehr Zeit in Anspruch nimmt als er gedacht hatte. Sabine kennt schon ein paar Frauen mit kleinen Kindern, deren Partner im gleichen Fachbereich arbeiten wie Klaus. Eine ist sogar auch eine Deutsche und ihr Sohn ist gerade mal 3.5 Monate aelter als Dominic!

Es tut uns wirklich sehr leid, dass es zur Zeit so lange dauert eine Email zu beantworten (es hat einige Tage gedauert diesen Text zu schreiben...). Fuer Sabine ist es schlichtweg unmoeglich am Computer zu sein waehrend Dominic wach ist und abends kann sie nicht viel laenger als Dominic aufbleiben, um wenigstens etwas Schlaf zu bekommen, denn Dominic wacht derzeit sehr oft auf – manchmal nachts sogar jede Stunde... Vielleicht liegt es daran, dass wir im letzten Monat so oft die Umgebung gewechselt haben oder/und wegen seiner ersten Zaehne (die zwei unten in der Mitte sind schon da). Die letzte Nacht war ein bisschen entspannter – hoffentlich schlaeft er bald wieder besser! Es gibt aber auch noch richtig nette Neuigkeiten von unserem Kleinen: Dominic kann jetzt schon eine Zeit lang alleine sitzen und ist insgesamt ein sehr glueckliches Baby!

Viele Gruesse von Sabine, Klaus & Dominic