.SOMETIMES RAW.

Hello and Happy Monday! 

Moving is never easy; especially to a new country. For me it was/is tough; every single time. Let’s talk about the little face on this blog. I find it amazing how Petit Joel adjusts to changes. Any change in fact. He just goes with the flow, finds positive things in everything and is so easy-going. Even flying for two days was fine. You might think this is all too stressful for a toddler but he was okay. He is basically just a reflection of how I am, or how le husband is. Whenever we are stressed out, he is. He is such a trooper.

Today we had dinner at the Mongolian Hot Pot which was something completely new to us. What a fantastic experience and so yummy. I highly recommend this place and of course will write a review soon. Wow, Mongolian food for president! 

I wrote a post on Joel’s eating habits a while ago and even those changed so much. There is no more apple juice addiction; he drinks water only now and it is all good. He eats and tries new things. He even likes Mongolian food. Who would have thought! Trying new restaurants, flavors and food is definitely something I love to do and it was always difficult to bring Petit Joel along. He never sat down, he never tried anything and was just a pain in the butt. Well, not anymore. So off to new restaurant adventures. 

As far as time-change goes, Petit Joel adjusted pretty well, too. His usual time to go to bed in Germany was between 8 pm and 9 pm. He is exhausted these days whenever it is 8 pm in Canada now and falls asleep within two minutes. [2 am in Germany!] There is also a lot going on every day. House hunting, exploring Kindergarten and University, planning, researching and whatnot. Tomorrow we will see around five houses and I have a bunch of appointments on Campus. We might be able to put Petit Joel in the Kindergarten tomorrow for a bit so he can get comfortable and see what this business is all about. Actually, he says that he is excited since he saw all the toys today in the backyard of the daycare. “Joel play with other kids and scooters”, he said and my heart made a little jump or two. To have him in my life is one of the purest experiences I have ever had. Whatever he does just seems to live forever in me. This feeling when he just knew me and nothing else while being inside of me for nine months is long gone. He explores new things every single day and he is so smart. I feel he wants to learn, wants to explore and be challenged. 

The time I spent with him in Germany and basically raised him on my own was nice but also very tough at points. My entertainment program is limited and we did a lot indeed! I just know that it is time for him to experience something new. He gets bored just being around me, as hard as this is (for me). At a tantrum-rich day I was looking forward to him just going to Kindergarten so I have some time for myself again. Now, that this time is here, something feels weird and I catch myself getting a bit sad [of a drama queen, crying for no reason; thinking he will be gone at daycare soon while kissing him over and over again] 

It will be wonderful and terrible, happy, sad and heartbreaking at points to leave him behind with his little new friends while I study. I know I will hate it some days and love it the next day. Today, I stood next to him while he played in a lake. Le husband, Emma, Petit Joel and I took a little break from house-hunting and relaxed in the shade and water. I was amazed to observe Petit Joel figure out new things and how he found snails, shells and stones and brought them over to show me. In a way it made me feel proud but also powerless and sad. I remember those days when he was curled up close to me and I nursed him. After nursing we played and I counted his toes and fingers while saying funny rhymes and as soon as I know it I will be at his college graduation and in a still whatever foggy distance he will pack his things and leave. He will be smiling. He will be happy. Father and mother stay behind and smile back and don’t tell him how much it hurts. I asked my mom once how she felt when I left for police academy and she said she was very sad for a long time. The same again all over for my sister and brother. 

I saw Petit Joel’s daycare place today and for some reason I know and realize that the days are counted until he leaves us for his first adventure; all alone. I know I will cry a bit leaving him behind but I also know my son. He will be fine. He is strong, he is tough and he will be okay without me. Will I be okay without him? Yes! Life goes on. I will pick him up in the afternoon and he will be excited to tell me what happened during the day. In the meantime, I won’t forget how fast time goes by and all these amazing moments we already shared won’t come back. But new ones will be just around the corner. 

Hello and Happy Wednesday! 

Thank you for all the nice comments and emails I received from you about my last post. Let’s stay within the baby department a bit longer, shall we? The thought of potty training Petit Joel made me think about splitting an atom instead. My mom told me that my siblings and I were all clean by the time we were two years old. Even at night. The reason was most likely cloth diapering. I never used cloth diapers for Joel, simply because I wanted to change the diaper, throw it away and be done with it. We also travel a lot so regular diapers were more convenient for us. I received an email from one of Petit Joel’s future daycare centers saying that he needs to be diaper-free to join this particular place. Well, we would like to put him in this daycare but it starts in September. How can we get him off those diapers?

Petit Joel showed little signs of being ready to let go of the diapers. He told me whenever he dirtier his diaper for example. And usually in the morning he said, “Me, no diaper”. So I let him run around without. This transition started a couple of weeks ago and he was fine running around in underwear in the backyard due to this warm weather. He hated the potty and did not want to sit on it. No chance. Also, he was/is afraid of a regular toilet. Some friends told me that he won’t be clean for a long time because I missed the chance. I should have started earlier to train him. So what do I do?

I changed him in the morning and put underwear on. Then I told him to tell me whenever he needs to go to the bathroom and that I will help him. He peed his pants again. He did number 2 in his underwear once! And then I came up with an idea. Without threatening him or screaming, I told him that whenever he needs to do number 2 he can tell me and I give him a diaper. As far as peeing, I told him he does not have to sit on the regular toilet but stand in front of it to pee and I threw the potty away. Done! 

He was clean within 3 days! He is diaper free the entire day, tells me when he needs to pee and I help him pull down his pants. He asks for a diaper for number 2 every single time. I never thought it would be that easy. Yesterday morning the diaper was completely dry. He woke up and asked to go to pee on the regular toilet. Say whaaaaat? I thought I could never make him go to the toilet. I seriously could not believe it – he picked up on it so quickly.

There was one accident the other day because he did not know how to tell my friend that he needs to pee. I think accidents will still happen here and there, but deep inside he has the whole pee/number 2 thing down. 

Le husband and I bought a potty a long time ago to get Petit Joel familiar with it. I kept it in the bathroom  and sometimes I took him with me to show him what this business is all about. No interest all this time however. He was seriously scared of the potty but fine peeing outside on the grass. I just made it a game. I told him I am proud of him. I gave him little stickers or sometimes a piece of homemade chocolate. I think staying positive is key. And trying over and over again without getting angry about an accident is important. I also made sure to ask him regularly if he needs to go to the bathroom. It is pretty obvious when a child needs to go; however not always. I asked him every 30 minutes or so but made him relax and feel comfortable about the whole thing. This works for us for now. Maybe it helps you. 

Hello and Happy Sunday!

A couple of days ago, I visited a friend who has the most amazing book collection for her children. She reads to them every night as I do. Petit Joel and I have this little routine and he even asks me to read to him when he goes to bed and usually picks out the book he would like to hear. I think reading to children is so important. I started to read to my son when he was four months old. 

So my friends’s son came out with Owl Howl (Heule Eule) and this got me inspired to start a little series on the blog. What Petit Joel reads/likes/eats/loves and such. We sat down on the ground in the garden and my friend started reading Owl Howl. My son, who played a bit further away, stopped everything he did and joined us to listen. We actually purchased the book the next day because he talked about it constantly all day long. He wants to hear it twice every night and takes it to bed with him to “read” it again with his flashlight. 

What is this cute book about? 

The animals in the wood hear a loud crying sound but don’t know what it exactly is. They are frightened. They try to see where the noise comes from while they look through some bushes and try to see what goes on behind trees. “Maybe it is they wolf, ” they think and the bravest of the animals, a tiny hedgehog, walks through the bushes to see where the noise comes from. There, behind the bushes, the hedgehog sees a tiny owl who cries and cries and won’t stop. All the animals try to make the tiny Owl Howl stop crying but nothing works. A raven gave her beautiful, colorful rocks to play with, a beetle screamed at her to make her stop crying and a squirrel fed her some nuts because she might be hungry. Also, whatever the other animals did, the tiny owl kept crying. Until, in the end, the tiny owl flew back to her mom who took her in her arms and she instantly stopped. 

Owl Howl is a beautiful, imaginative, cute illustrated book for babies and toddlers. I think it is a lovely little story, even though why didn’t dad owl try to make baby owl stop crying, hah!? Well, this is how it usually works anyway, so stick to the mom owl for comfort, right.

I like the warm colors of the paintings that are not loaded with tons of details. All animals are easy to recognize and Petit Joel’s favorite are the beetle and the mole. Whenever I read this book to him it makes him comfortable in a way. He asks questions why the little owl is sad and so much more. He feels safe and secure, curls up to me and listens. What a nice way to end a crazy toddler day!

Sometimes it is just a lot of crying over nothing. Mom owl asked in the end,“What`s wrong, baby owl? Why are you howling like that“. Anticipation. What is the baby owl going to say? All the other animals wait desperately to find out why she finally stopped crying. She sniffed a little and then cheeped quietly: “I forgot”. 

I would recommend this book for babies and toddlers from 2 years-old to 5. 

 Get a copy here in English or in German. Enjoy and have a great week!