Bush!

Time: During McCain/Obama Presidential Debate.
Setting: In the car on the way home from dinner. Listening to the debate via NPR.
Players: Me (Moderate. Obama supporter.), Hubs (Depends on the setting; in DC: Moderate. In Utah: Hard-core liberal. Obama supporter.), Opa (My pops. Republican. McCain supporter. Listens to Rush Limbaugh "for fun."), and Lil' E (Undecided).

Earlier in the car ride, while passing the White House, Marc successfully trained little E to say "Bush" on command. This brought Opa great delight, and it was so dang cute, even the "liberals" had to smile. Marc wouldn't let this stand though, and tried to rectify his doings before things could get ugly. He was too late.

Marc: Erich, say Bush!
E: Bush!
(cheering and laughter ensue)
Marc: Bush!
E: Bush!!
Opa: Erich, say McCain!
E: Cane!
(cheering and laughter again, and Marc cuts in)
Marc: Erich, say Obama!
E: Bush!
(we look at eachother, laughing with our jaws on the floor)
Marc: Erich, say Obama!
E: BUSH!!

We couldn't help it, we were all roaring. Of course, little E thought he was quite the comedian and laughed right along, repeating his punch line a few times to see if it still worked.

I just love that little man - even if he is a Republican.

Quintessential E & J

Poor dog.



And yes, E was victorious in his refusal to sleep, so we let him stay up to watch America's Got Talent. Go Nuttin' But Strings!

My Little Mowgli and Baloo

I couldn't have planned something this cute: little E, stripped down to a diaper after lunch, watching The Junglebook (Das Dschungelbuch) for the first time, cuddling with his own big 'ole dumb bear.

Erich Speak

(I should probably just go ahead and rename this blog to "The Erich Days" since that's all I write about lately...)

To track Erich's progress in learning German (and hopefully to translate at least a little bit of his gibberish for everyone else), I've documented all of his current vocabulary. As you can see a few English words have slipped in there - 'no' being his favorite. I only wish I could include some recording of him saying these words, but this kid simply refuses to be a trained monkey. So I just wrote the phonetically spelled version of how Erich says the word, then the correct German word and the English translation in parenthesis.

1. Mama
2. Papa
3. Opa (Grandpa)
4. Oma (Grandma)
5. Mimi (other grandma)
6. Nummy: Yummy
   
7. Eye: Eier (eggs)
8. NEIN!
9. NO!
   
10. Uh-oh
    
11. Mehr (more)
    
12. Buh-bye
    
13. Oosh: Tschuss (bye)
14. Ball (same in German)
15. Baby (same)
    
16. Koo: Kuh (cow)
17. Eckie: Eklig (yucky)
18. Po (bum - he says this and "eklig" when he poos)
19. Weevee: Revie (his friend)
20. Zah: Saft (juice) or Wasser (water)... He doesn't seem to distinguish between the two but that could be because cup is "Tasse" and he's just saying that.
21. Ahssee: Kashi (as in Kashi's Heart to Heart cereal, his favorite)
22. Ooo-cow-bah: Hubschrauber (Helicopter - TONS fly over our house)
23. Duh-kah: Danke (Thank you)
24. Entee: Ente (duck)
25. Ah-pee: Affe (monkey)
26. Nana: Banana (banana)
27. Bah-dee: Bade (Bath)
28. Shauw - Schau (look)
29. Yay-gah: Jaeger (our dog, not the drink. Also his first word.)
30. doo, dee, die: (combo of one, two, three & eins, zwei, drei)
31. Auf (up)
32. Aus (out)
33. Auto (car)
34. Kop: Klopf (knocking on a door)
35. Ahn-dee: Handy (cell phone)
36. Bibi (his Aunt Rebecca)
    
37. Zee: Ziehen (pull)
38. Shoo: Schuh (shoe)
39. Bauw: Bauch (Tummy) or Baum (tree) -- Depending on what he's pointing at...
40. Neh-mo: Nemo (yes, THAT Nemo. And this is to describe every fish of every color and size, by the way.)

Just yesterday, he said: Pipi (yes, as in 'peepee'), Tiger and Erdbeere (strawberry). We'll see if they stick!

And finally, he makes these noises with the corresponding animals:
Dog: Arf
Cat: Meow
Cow: Moo
Rooster: Ar-OO-oo-ar-Aroo
Chick: Peep, peep
Pig: back of the nose snort
Bear, Tiger, Lion, Crocodile, Giraffe, Bunny, Frog: Grrrrrroaawwrrr!
(We're still trying to teach him that the last few don't actually roar. He prefers things his way.)

I was so surprised while putting this together how many words he actually says! I've been telling everyone he says a dozen but apparently I've been a stinking liar. I'm thinking now I should print out copies and pass them out to all his friends, neighbors and nursery teachers. By memorizing this list, you could probably have an entire conversation with Erich and he'd be your best friend forever.

The pressures on, though.. I'm going to have to up my studying - this kid is catching up to me quicker than I thought.

Erich's New Trick

Sorry everyone for being away the past few weeks. Every once and a while I have to go anti-internet and focus my energies elsewhere. Just something that keeps me sane.

Hoping you'll forgive me, here is one of the latest things my adorably awesome kid has been doing. Regularly, I might add. I seriously doubt anyone else's child does this and I couldn't be more proud.

Another "Parent of the Year" Moment

Have you ever thought to yourself:

1) This is not how I want my child to act in public, and

2) Maybe he's getting mixed messages when I tell him to stop from behind the camera?

For me, this was one of those moments.

Erich Nesting

Apparently E was very dissatisfied with the way I organized the pantry. I'm not complaining, though. This kept him busy for about half an hour.

And after all that work, this is how he finally decided it should look:

An Holy Palm Sunday

Last night, Erich and I (sans poor husband that worked through the weekend) attended a very entertaining morphed holiday celebration hosted by some very creative and innovative friends of ours. I would describe it to you, but I think they did a much better job of summing the night up in the invitation. So, in their own words:

"We have a little tradition of doing something special for Palm Sunday and we thought it would be fun to gather with all of you at the same time. If you can make it, come with some kind of tree branch in hand. We lay down the palm fronds and then read a few scriptures and then sing Easter songs mixed with Christmas songs (so O little Town of Bethlehem sung to the tune of O Savior thou who Wearest, etc) and then we end with a wild rendition of Popcorn popping and gorge ourselves on popcorn and fruit and other beautiful growing things to usher in spring. It goes along with our traditional merging of pagan festivals with holy Christian/Jewish/Muslim holidays."

Well, they were telling the truth, that's exactly what happened, with the exception of an Easter egg hunt. It was great!! I stumbled through the first couple of hymns, but once I got the hang of it, the change of pace was oddly refreshing. The children all participated with the singing and waving of branches-my favorite being the giant IKEA leaf. Erich had a great time and certainly accepted the invitation of gorging himself on the delicious berries (we are definitely going berry picking this summer!). Hopefully this will be the first of many pagan rituals we are invited to blend with our dear friends. Thank you for the great evening, Olsen's!!

Below are some pictures that another pal took at last nights festivities. We arranged a deal where she'll take pictures of Erich soon and I'll repay her using my favorite commodity - me. (That means I'll give her a massage.)

I May Be Doing Something Right After All...

My poor Erich has had a pretty rough few weeks. First he had a nasty stomach bug followed by a super nasty cold, and then battled what we believe was a miserable ear infection. So naturally, being the empathetic mother that I am, E & I spent most of our days cuddling on the couch and watching cartoons. It was a yummy treat and I completely indulged.

We don't always watch TV though; we usually spend a significant portion of our days reading the zillions of books he has (quite literally) strewn throughout the house. So imagine my glee when, in the middle of Der Prinz von Ägypten (yes, we've spent a fortune on Disney auf Deutsch), Erich slid off my lap, toddled over to his diaper bag and pulled out his Baby Moses book! I was shocked that he associated that book to what was on TV, which proves that he understands a lot more than I thought. It may not seem like much of a feat to an experienced parent, but its just so amazing to watch my little boy grow up. Besides, I must get a few brownie points upstairs for teaching my kid a Bible story.

Erich - 14 weeks

I love him.