Adwoa und Ama

So, sweet little J was only fooling us when she got back to her usual happy self for a few days. She was quite crabby over the weekend and was holding her teeth a lot. She had some painful-looking incisors coming in there. No fever, but lots of fussiness, so we were pretty sure it was just bad teething. Not to mention the remnants of last week’s cold which includes congestion and cough.

Today I dropped her off at Kinderkrippe and she was a bit crabby, but had been in a fine mood when she woke up and had eaten her breakfast. After I dropped her and her big sister, I headed to Mannheim, an hour and a half away, for a work meeting.

I had been there for about 10 minutes when Kinderkrippe called…. J was miserable. Had a fever. And this was even accompanied by rapid little breaths that the ladies did not sound too happy about.

Michael was 5 minutes from heading into a meeting, but of course he left work immediately to get her and take her to the doctor.

So it turns out that the cough, crying, whining, and general discontent have been given a name.

Ah… the sweet sounds of….
…. Bronchitis.

She is okay, but little girl is on antibiotics and some phlegm-reducing syrup (which we have used a few times and never found to be effective… but there is always a chance!), as well as good old Tylenol and Motrin for fever reduction. We expect to be home with her for a few days.

She is very good at playing on our sympathies, by the way. She has slept a lot today, so she is off her schedule… not sleeping well in the evening as she usually does. She was absolutely WAILING a few minutes ago and so I went in there to comfort her. She was standing in her crib and when I reached in to lay her down again and pat her, she grabbed onto my arms and basically crawled up onto me… well, I did help, but she did at least 40% of it. So I held her as she clung to me like she had just been rescued from a sinking ship. After about 30 seconds, she started to sing… Yup… sing. I patted her a bit more and then put her back down, at which point the desperate wailing started again… I expect that scene to be repeated a few more times this week. We are jaded experienced parents who generally know when we are being “played,” but she is gooooood.

Speaking of good… the big sister is being a wonderful helper to her little sister. It makes us really happy. E always tries to comfort J when she is sad. She is a compassionate little girl, it seems.

I am traveling for work, headed home now, but writing from the Quad Cities airport in Moline, IL. It is -20 F (actual temp, not counting wind chill) today. And let me tell you, that is really cold. Painfully cold. I realize how wimpy we Zweibrücken Schlaxes have gotten over the last 4 years…. 2 in Germany where it rarely goes below freezing and 2 years in North Caroliina. Living in Des Moines will be a change!

We have all been recovering from a pretty bad cold that came to us via our littlest one. Michael tells me she is happy and almost fully recovered again. He, E, and I are getting there.

Can’t wait to be home….

We’re sorry it has been so long. We have been travelling for the last three weeks. One week for Christmas, a couple days in the Baltimore/DC area and then to Iowa for business. We got back last night and have been trying to get the house back together and get on the correct time zone.

Here’s the executive summary. We had a great time visiting Nanny, Granddaddy and Aunt Deb for Christmas. We had a nice couple days visiting old friends in Baltimore and Virginia. We all then went to Des Moines, where Liz and I interviewed for new positions. The interviews went well and we both accepted the offers. We then spent a crazy few days looking for, finding, negotiating for and inspecting a new house. The house has lots of room for guests. We also toured a few daycares and found one that we like a lot. After that, we were on two planes back to Zw, arriving on Friday. Now we have one more day before we have to get back to work and finish things up before our move in the spring. Looks like March will be our return to the US. No exact date yet, though.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

E had a strong princess theme this Christmas. She held up very well for the unwrapping.

J lasted about 15 min and then went to sleep. She then woke up after E went to sleep. This translated into a present opening marathon. (E’s Doctor Kit came with glasses (?) and J likes to wear them).

E loved all of her presents. Here she takes time out to put her new baby to bed and read her a story.

This is E after opening all but 3 presents. She did a great job taking turns and helping other people.

The girls enjoyed dressing up for Christmas dinner, too.

The weather was excellent the entire week we were in Florida. Here E is swimming with Aunt Deb and Granddaddy in the big pool.

E loved swimming with Granddaddy.

J also got to indulge her new-found love of splashing

Another highlight was building sandcastles on the beach.

After Florida, we flew to Dulles Airport and then drove to Baltimore. Before the extended business travel got added to the plan, the idea was just to use the layover in the DC area to visit old friends. (We had to go through DC on the way to Florida too.) Here is a picture of E and J with O. O is the son of Anne & Jed and was E’s first friend.

Since we have been in Germany, O has found himself with a younger brother, M.

After 2 great days in Baltimore, we headed to Ashburn, Virginia. We stayed at Daniel & Heather’s house and the girls loved playing with their son G, and daughter, L, pictured below with E and J. L is our Goddaughter, and we have not been able to see her very much… it is amazing how she and her brother have grown!

We also got to spend a bit of time at Shawn & James’ house and really loved their family tradition of cranking up the stereo and everyone getting an instrument. Their son, G, was a great teacher of the Family Ritual. He is pictured here.

After this wonderful time with friends (including with Steve, Jacqueline, and their son B), we headed to Des Moines.

Nanny and Granddaddy joined us in Des Moines after a few days to help take care of the girls while we went house hunting and daycare hunting. They were a huge help. They took the girls to the mall playground and swimming in the hotel pool, read stories, played dolls, and colored. The girls did really well with hotel life for a week. Here they are enjoying breakfast at the hotel.

So…we are back home, safe and sound and feeling very happy… a chance to spend time with family in great weather, visits to close friends, and making plans for our next steps. We have lots to do over the next two months to get ready, and we will miss lots about Zweibruecken, but we are excited for the next phase.