Gettin' Up

The hotel we booked in Heidelberg was lovely, but wasn't carpeted. This meant that Myrna didn't get much on-the-floor playtime on Friday or Saturday. To make up for this, she wowed us on Sunday with determined, controlled forward motion. It started with some G.I. Jane move, creeping forward as though under jungle brush. By Tuesday, she'd already replaced this maneuver, pushing herself up on her arms and throwing herself forward. The thing is, she mostly only does this when she spots something that she's not typically allowed to play with. So we baited the livingroom, shot a few videos, spliced them together, and overdubbed some music. Martin Scorsese and Thelma Shoonmaker we are not, but this should showcase Myrna's new moves.



Of course, in the 36 hours since we shot these videos, her floor-work has further evolved, incorporating more help from her legs. It's practically a real crawl.

Heidelberg

We spent a good chunk of the weekend in Heidelberg, enjoying the beautiful weather, checking out the Schloss and trying the local beer. Myrna was a trooper, and of course made lots of new friends.

Enjoying the sun and view!
Tasting Vetter's beer (only the one with the happy face was tasting)
Including the Vetter 33 - the world's strongest beer after original gravity (33%)
And the Schloss


In the fountain were lots of salamanders. Chris wasn't quite as cool as the dad who was noodling for them for his boys. More pics of Myrna are as usual on this months Picasa album.

Garden Goodies

We have been enjoying summer garden treats, thanks to our neighbors/parents of our landlord, the Kirsteins. We have a great backyard that we can use for storing our stroller and bike, which also houses a vast garden. In June, we first were treated to a big bowl of cherries (very common in Freiburg). Unfortunately, we got these right before we left for the weekend, and forgetting to pack them along, they were bad by the time we returned. However, Frau Kirstein gave us some homemade cherry jelly and slowly I'm getting over the assumption I had that I didn't like cherries. The next treat was a very large zucchini that we baked with feta and tomatoes. The same night we broke out a jar of baby food zucchini for Myrna to try - definitely not her cup of tea and the only way she would eat it was if it was mixed with twice as much carrot. Thursday I got word from Chris that we were just given fresh figs. In less than 24 hours we have already eaten five between the two (well maybe three) of us. Martha Stewart helped us make delicious goat cheese, fig and onion sandwiches, tasty indeed. We were very excited to share such a treat with Myrna. First we tried mashed fig, which caused a very sour face. Even mixed with cereal, she despised it. But it did make a tasty little dessert for us.

Break Dancing and Keeping Cool

We busted out the video camera again, and here are the results.

First we have Myrna trying to crawl, or what we like to call it, break dancing. Check out her moves (and how she dances well with the music). Big bonus points to anyone who can name the song featured:

Second we have Myrna with the fan, as the photo was such a hit:


Enjoy!

On The Prowl

Though Myrna is neither walking nor crawling yet, she doesn't let that keep her out of trouble. She's beginning to push up on her back legs and lunge forward, but most of her mobility comes about through rolling, rotating, and rolling again. Where before it seemed like uncontrolled motion, now she's picking target destinations, and reaching them in seconds. 

This is pretty exciting, and means that she's getting better at entertaining herself, but it also demands closer supervision. Left to her own devices, she's quickly ripping through magazines, yanking on power cords, gnawing on furniture, and rooting through the disgusting fuzz under the rug. As a result, about every three minutes I have to snatch her away from some mischievous project and re-situate her in the middle of the room.

Yesterday brought a whole new temptation, though. A particularly hot, humid day, we'd set up an electric fan for the first time since arriving in Freiburg. Myrna has long had a fascination with fans, but this is the first time she's been able to do something about it.

I worked on a crossword puzzle while Myrna played with her toys on her quilt, but figured it'd be no time before she'd knocked the fan over. She didn't seem too interested, though, and kept to her caterpillar and lion. After a couple minutes, she was rolling about with the caterpillar and, this being a small room, landed in close proximity of the fan. I set down the puzzle to monitor things, but she seemed almost oblivious to the fan. I returned to my puzzle. A minute later she was staring intently at the fan but, noticing that I was watching, she smiled and returned to her caterpillar. When I looked up a moment later, of course, she had her fingers wrapped through the fan's mesh guard. So much for climate control...

At the Big Person's Table - Part Two

Back in April, I gave Chris a snazzy camcorder for his birthday, now almost three months later, we've finally been transferring videos to our computers. Anyway, we now will bombard you all with videos of the girl - completely unedited (but only because I haven't embarked on that task yet).

Mad Season

I know I'm a little late on this, but here's hoping that all of you have enjoyed a happy Rob Thomas Week, and a safe one.

At the Big Person's Table

Myrna had her first try with a booster seat in Strasbourg, and loved it. So, it was high time we looked into high chairs. Researching such things is never easy here, as product reviews are far less common in Germany (why wouldn't you just buy one of the three offerings at your neighborhood store?) Anyway, we settled on a hook on chair that was highly recommended in the US and available on German ebay. Wednesday morning I ordered it and imagine our surprise when on Thursday morning, less than 24 hours of purchasing it, it was delivered to our apartment - now that's some efficient post.
Myrna is enjoying the seat for her meals and ours, and we're enjoying having our plates in front of us instead of at an arm's reach away. Of course her favorite toy is the plastic measuring cup which she bangs on the table, so we're not quite enjoying peaceful dinners, but it's still an improvement. Her meal repertoire is increasing, as she'll now eat carrots mixed with other veggies (she detested spinach, much to her parents dismay). We're evil parents, though, as we only offer her cereal, fruits and vegetables, depriving her of Keks (Cookie) and Schoko (Chocolate) baby food:
And, as we are now in July, Myrna has begun a new album... enjoy!