Emma is 9-weeks-old already!
A lot has happened since I last had the time to write anything. My parents came to visit, now my other sister is visiting, Emma learned how to smile and pick her head up, and she’s grown a TON!
The past month was a month of “firsts” for Emma—she had her first international trip, first BBQ, first train ride, and first visit with her Erasmus family. We discovered that she is a fantastic traveler! I am extremely pleased as it means that I get to go many places and visit friends. :)
First international trip: April 25, 2012, Strasbourg, France
Fabian offered to take my parents on a day-trip to Strasbourg. Emma was really relaxed and slept in the car, but when we got there, she needed two diaper changes, a meal, and quite some time to wake up to be content. We were able to walk around the city for for almost five hours before she decided she wouldn’t sleep in the stroller anymore. Considering that she was just 39 days old for her first international trip, I am super proud of how good she was on the excursion.
First barbecue: April 28, 2012
On the second to last day that my parents were in town, it was sunny, hot, and an excellent day for a barbecue. We invited the Great Grandmas to join us, and had a nice day with representation from all four generations in Fabian’s family.. The day involved a Frisbee, baby bunnies, American style burgers, and pumpkin champagne. Emma even got to wear her tu-tu onesie from Grandma Betty all day long! Excellent (but exhausting) day.
First train ride: May 4, 2012, from Mannheim to Passau
I had an incredibly hard time coping right after my parents left, and in an effort to cheer me up, Fabian suggested I come with him to Passau for the weekend (he had to use the library and meet with a professor). We packed five days worth of things for Emma (which turned out to be almost more than we could carry) and hopped on the train to Passau. Emma slept for most of the ride, which gave us the opportunity to watch four episodes of PSych. Emma even tolerated being changed in the train’s small bathroom! We had a nice time visiting with our former flat mates in Passau, and Emma really hit it off with her (honorary) Tante Hannah. :)
A week and a half after my parents left, Adrienne and her boyfriend, Todd, came to visit! I’d been having problems with the dates of appointments (one day off for the dentist, when my parents were coming…) and I followed my winning streak by waking up at 5:30a with Emma to get ready to go get Adrienne and Todd at the airport at 8:30a. We got to the airport, Fabian waited in the car with Emma, I walked through the arrival halls for almost 40 minutes looking for them until I decided to call Sarah to find out if she’d heard anything. Turns out, they didn’t leave until later that day. I felt absolutely HORRIBLE that I’d made Fabian get up so early and drive in rush hour traffic all the way to Frankfurt for absolutely no reason at all. :( Fortunately, Addie and Todd were willing to take the train into Mannheim the next day to be picked up.
(It’s hard to tell in the picture, but Emma was wearing the dress my mom made me when I was a baby!)
First visit with her Erasmus Family: in Würzburg, Germany, May 13, 2012
On the third day of Adrienne and Todd’s visit, we took the regional train to Würzburg to visit some of our Erasmus friends. Emma met her Erasmus Auntie Melanie and Erasmus Uncle Michael. Auntie Melanie was nervous to hold such a small Emma, but Uncle Michael was totally game! I think Emma is excited to meet more of her Erasmus family sometime soon! :)
A few days later, Emma had her second trip to Strasbourg, this time with her Auntie Adrienne and Uncle Todd. Emma did relatively well on her second trip to France, but she had another day with many poops (the first time in France she had an epic three-poop day). What is it about her and France?!
Adrienne and I had a good time hanging out (for the most part, anyway… sisters are always sisters, and siblings are siblings…). One afternoon, we made chocolate covered pretzels! Adrienne’s hunny (did I mention she’s dating a professional chef??) melted us an excellent chocolate concoction, and we spent a half an hour dipping pretzels. When we were almost out of chocolate, we just dipped and ate the freshly chocolated pretzels. :D
Ooh! I also had my first truly epic adventure with projectile pooping. It was disgusting, but also freaking hilarious! I couldn’t be mad at Emma, she looked so relieved and happy after her poop. It was just a challenge to keep her kicking feet out of the mess.
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my parents and sisters in the last two months, but their visits were much too short. I can’t help it, I really want to be home. It’s one thing to live in another city or state, but when I’m a ~$1000 flight and 7-hour time difference away, it’s incredibly hard. I feel so disconnected from my family, and I am sure I am missing out on a whole lot of things. I would really like to be able to call up my sisters and talk to them every few days instead of the every few weeks I get now, and it’s important to me that Emma gets to know my family too. Hopefully when we move and have better internet I can set up regular times to video chat with people back home. I am so glad that I was able to spend time with all of my family in the few months right after Emma was born. It meant a lot to me that I could see them when I was going through such an enormous transition in my life!
Emma wishes you a wonderful day! Peace out, world.
PS – Spoiler alert! I’ll be crafty in my next post! :D
***
First international trip: April 25, 2012, Strasbourg, France
Fabian offered to take my parents on a day-trip to Strasbourg. Emma was really relaxed and slept in the car, but when we got there, she needed two diaper changes, a meal, and quite some time to wake up to be content. We were able to walk around the city for for almost five hours before she decided she wouldn’t sleep in the stroller anymore. Considering that she was just 39 days old for her first international trip, I am super proud of how good she was on the excursion.
First barbecue: April 28, 2012
On the second to last day that my parents were in town, it was sunny, hot, and an excellent day for a barbecue. We invited the Great Grandmas to join us, and had a nice day with representation from all four generations in Fabian’s family.. The day involved a Frisbee, baby bunnies, American style burgers, and pumpkin champagne. Emma even got to wear her tu-tu onesie from Grandma Betty all day long! Excellent (but exhausting) day.
First train ride: May 4, 2012, from Mannheim to Passau
I had an incredibly hard time coping right after my parents left, and in an effort to cheer me up, Fabian suggested I come with him to Passau for the weekend (he had to use the library and meet with a professor). We packed five days worth of things for Emma (which turned out to be almost more than we could carry) and hopped on the train to Passau. Emma slept for most of the ride, which gave us the opportunity to watch four episodes of PSych. Emma even tolerated being changed in the train’s small bathroom! We had a nice time visiting with our former flat mates in Passau, and Emma really hit it off with her (honorary) Tante Hannah. :)
Also in Passau, Emma graced us with her first “real” smile! It was so amazing to see my daughter look up and smile at me. :)
***
A week and a half after my parents left, Adrienne and her boyfriend, Todd, came to visit! I’d been having problems with the dates of appointments (one day off for the dentist, when my parents were coming…) and I followed my winning streak by waking up at 5:30a with Emma to get ready to go get Adrienne and Todd at the airport at 8:30a. We got to the airport, Fabian waited in the car with Emma, I walked through the arrival halls for almost 40 minutes looking for them until I decided to call Sarah to find out if she’d heard anything. Turns out, they didn’t leave until later that day. I felt absolutely HORRIBLE that I’d made Fabian get up so early and drive in rush hour traffic all the way to Frankfurt for absolutely no reason at all. :( Fortunately, Addie and Todd were willing to take the train into Mannheim the next day to be picked up.
(It’s hard to tell in the picture, but Emma was wearing the dress my mom made me when I was a baby!)
First visit with her Erasmus Family: in Würzburg, Germany, May 13, 2012
On the third day of Adrienne and Todd’s visit, we took the regional train to Würzburg to visit some of our Erasmus friends. Emma met her Erasmus Auntie Melanie and Erasmus Uncle Michael. Auntie Melanie was nervous to hold such a small Emma, but Uncle Michael was totally game! I think Emma is excited to meet more of her Erasmus family sometime soon! :)
***
A few days later, Emma had her second trip to Strasbourg, this time with her Auntie Adrienne and Uncle Todd. Emma did relatively well on her second trip to France, but she had another day with many poops (the first time in France she had an epic three-poop day). What is it about her and France?!
Adrienne and I had a good time hanging out (for the most part, anyway… sisters are always sisters, and siblings are siblings…). One afternoon, we made chocolate covered pretzels! Adrienne’s hunny (did I mention she’s dating a professional chef??) melted us an excellent chocolate concoction, and we spent a half an hour dipping pretzels. When we were almost out of chocolate, we just dipped and ate the freshly chocolated pretzels. :D
***
Ooh! I also had my first truly epic adventure with projectile pooping. It was disgusting, but also freaking hilarious! I couldn’t be mad at Emma, she looked so relieved and happy after her poop. It was just a challenge to keep her kicking feet out of the mess.
***
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my parents and sisters in the last two months, but their visits were much too short. I can’t help it, I really want to be home. It’s one thing to live in another city or state, but when I’m a ~$1000 flight and 7-hour time difference away, it’s incredibly hard. I feel so disconnected from my family, and I am sure I am missing out on a whole lot of things. I would really like to be able to call up my sisters and talk to them every few days instead of the every few weeks I get now, and it’s important to me that Emma gets to know my family too. Hopefully when we move and have better internet I can set up regular times to video chat with people back home. I am so glad that I was able to spend time with all of my family in the few months right after Emma was born. It meant a lot to me that I could see them when I was going through such an enormous transition in my life!
***
Emma wishes you a wonderful day! Peace out, world.
PS – Spoiler alert! I’ll be crafty in my next post! :D
