When did my baby turn into a little boy?!

Carsten had some granola and milk for breakfast, which is nearly his favorite food (2nd to bananas), and Scott and Andy styled Carsten's hair using cereal milk and his bib. The technique is as follows: wet bib with cereal milk, pull bib over head, and let dry. The following photos show a styling Carsten, and in other news, when did my baby turn into a little boy?!

Cheesy face

Where's my baby?!

stylin' with a spatula, the toy of choice

I. love. this. kid.

Uetliberg in winter

Scott, Carsten, and I went up to Uetliberg (the ridge on the other side of Lake Zurich) to take in the not-so-great vistas. The weather was cloudy pretty much the entire time Scott was here unfortunately. Carsten did great on the train and enjoyed running around at the hotel/restaurant area. There's a really nice trail that runs along the ridge that Scott was planning to hike, so Carsten and I ran (seriously) down to the train so we wouldn't have to wait another 30 min to get the next train. I think the conductor might have waited a few seconds for us to make the train, for which I was grateful. Carsten was a little antsy on the way home, but I couldn't really blame him since he had been on the train all morning. We had a fairly relaxed afternoon, and from what I heard I think Scott enjoyed his hike and subsequent adventures in Zurich. Here's a couple of photos from the top (it was cold!).

The crazy benches that Carsten liked.

The cloudy view.

St. Gallen

We still had the car on Monday morning, so we decided to make the most of it by visiting St. Gallen which was reported to be about an hour drive. Unfortunately, our GPS took us the long way to St. Gallen, so we only had about 20 min to see the city, which basically amounted to us seeing the cathedral for about 10 min. The cathedral was not a disappointment and was worth the effort, but it would have been fun to see the attached monastery and a bit more of the city. The cathedral was a bit usual in that all the special altars and praying areas were gated off in the front (typically on the sides) and could not be used by the average person. Here are some photos:

St. Gallen Cathedral

It had gorgeous ceilings.

Andy and Carsten walking towards the back of the church.

Scott and the front of the church.

The beautiful front of the church which was gated.

Part of the reason we were so rushed is Andy had a quick overnight trip to Germany for work that he had to get back for. So Carsten got to nap at home for THREE hours (pretty much a record), and Scott went into Zurich on his own.

Sledding Swiss Style

The Swiss take their winter sports very seriously, and I can honestly say that they take sledding or 'sledging' much more seriously than anyone else I know. Their sledding hills are usually 1-3 miles long giving you a continuous sledding experience, and then at the bottom is a wonderful gondola to take you back up to the top to go again. Amazing!

Scott Parrott came to visit us on his way back from Kenya, so we took the opportunity to rent a car and drive up to a mountain about an hour from us for the sole purpose of sledding. We were originally not planning on taking Carsten down the sledding hill since it was so long, but at the top of the mountain we decided that we had better give it a go. And the result was that we ALL had fun :). Carsten loved sledding, and anytime we asked him if wanted more, he would sign 'more'. Of course since we were all having so much fun we decided to go again, even though we had only been planning to go once :). Here are some photos, and I think you'll especially love the video! Andy used Carsten's sled since we could rent a nicer one to take him down, and it was slightly too small but worked wonderfully!

riding the gondola up the mountain

Scott Parrott!

family photo opp

group photo opp

It was snowing beautifully up top (raining down below so we got wet as we went down - oh well!).

Note the size of this sled. Andy rode it down the mountain, twice!

Carsten on a traditional Davos sledge that we rented. 

footbridge

Carsten and I sledding!

Scott sledding!

regrouping part way down

Carsten LOVED this and so did I :).

group photo shot!

Scott managed to get this terrific video that I just had to share on the blog :).



We would love to make this happen again, but unfortunately it has warmed up since we learned of this amazing Swiss tradition, so we'll just have to see. We also learned that this particular mountain has kind of a luge that it does in the summer (sled on rails), so I think we'll try to do that this summer at some point :). Doesn't this post make you want to visit Switzerland? ;)

Basel!

We rented a car for three days over the weekend that our friend Scott Parrott was going to visit us (last weekend). On Saturday, before Scott arrived, we went as a family first up to the top of our ridge because the view was beautiful and then onto Basel where I had found some used toys for Carsten (tricycle, scooter, and bobby car). We had never been to Basel, so we went a few hours early and walked around the town for a bit. We visited the beautiful church, got to see the Marktplatz, and the rathaus. It was a quick and fun trip. Here are some photos:

The view from the top of our ridge. And yes, we might have climbed up about 10 flights of icy stairs to get this view... :).

It was well worth the effort :).

The Rhein River in Basel.

Cathedral in Basel

Pretty :).

I loved the shingles on the roof.

We let Carsten run around the square since there was no traffic - he was thrilled :).

Our buddy.

The Rhein River is navigable by large ships in Basel.

Marktplatz and the Rathaus.

We saw a culture museum, but did not feel that we needed to go in as we get plenty of culture by living here :).

sledding!

It's been quite cold here which means that we actually have some snow that has stuck around :). We borrowed a sled from Andy's advisor and went sledding on the hill outside our house (one advantage to living on a hill!). Carsten loved sledding and when we stopped at the bottom he would immediately ask for more; we have high hopes for rollercoasters in a few years! I took a video segment on our camera and all I can say is turn your screen so you can see it upright - sorry! :)

And here's a few photos:

Carsten loves sledding!

I love this photo :)

Love his joyful expression here :)

My boys!

Happy 17 months to Carsten!

It's been a good month back in Switzerland with Carsten. One of my goals for this year for us is to do something 'special' every day. This is basically to encourage us to get out of the house and Egg for activities and socialization, which is something that I think was lacking for us 1 year ago. Special activities that we have been doing are: going to the gym in Egg where they have free daycare in the mornings, joining a kindermusik class in Egg, joining a women's group at our church in Zurich that has daycare, and trying to meet up with friends 1-2 times per week. Grocery trips had previously counted, but I now will no longer count those towards our special activity time because despite the fact that it takes us over an hour to get groceries every couple of days, it is not 'special'. We've been doing great at accomplishing this goal, so much so, that I actually had to back off our activities this week because we needed some rest to recover from colds. These increased activities has meant that we're not home as much, which has also meant that I am now behind in things like keeping up with our blog... sorry! Here's a brief snapshot of our month in Switzerland:

Carsten loves trucks, tractors, cars, cranes, planes, trains, diggers, and construction equipment. He loves to play with them. Also a favorite this month are balls - he loves to kick and throw them. Here's a photo of Carsten playing in the cabinet with a construction truck.

We took a walk outside of Egg to see the lovely Alps at sunset. :) So pretty! Carsten enjoyed himself until the last 20 min, which I think was because his hands were getting cold. He has a very nice stroller bag that keeps hims very warm (see photo below); Andy and I are often jealous :).

Swiss Alps at sunset!

Carsten in his comfy stroller bag.

 Carsten learned to climb our kitchen chairs and loves that he can now get at everything on our table, including my laptop. These new climbing skills have caused a few areas of the house to be 'no climbing zones' to help ensure his safety as well as my sanity. For the most part, he listens and pays attention to the rules we have lined up for him, which is nice. I realize that he will always keep testing his boundaries :).

Carsten needed a new sleeping arrangement this month because the pack n play mattress that he had been using for the last 6ish months had seen better days. Carsten bounced in his pack n play such that he caused the mattress to kind of fold in on itself and then Carsten ended up underneath the mattress a few times, which was bad for safety and sleep. We ended up being able to borrow a crib from Andy's advisor, which has been an excellent solution. Carsten seems to enjoy the bed and the only problem we've had is that he can remove the removable rails (2 rails come out when you want the toddler to be able to get out of the crib by themselves), but for the most part he leaves them alone. We're waiting to see when he's going to climb out, and neither of us are going to enjoy the inevitable battle of keeping him in bed once that happens. Here's Carsten in his new kinderbett!

Andy's advisor also let us borrow some blocks, and Carsten has really been enjoying playing with them. He's gotten quite good at putting them together (I helped with this arrangement), and it's been fun to watch him learn how to do them.

One of our special activities during laundry day last week was to put together this toy from Ikea. Carsten helped me put the blocks on, and he's been enjoying this toy a lot :).

We've been trying to brush Carsten's 12 teeth twice a day. When we started a couple of months ago, he was very receptive. Now we have a bit more trouble getting him to brush for more than about 20 seconds, but we're trying!

Carsten loves riding the train, and he's getting to the point when we can put him next to us in the seat. He loves to see other trains, go through tunnels, and spot the construction equipment along the way. Carsten is very observant and frequently will see things and point them out (like he is doing in the photo).

Carsten likes his rubber boots. And yes, he brought them to me and wanted to wear them around the house, so I just had to take a photo :).

We've been trying to do some craft activities like play doh and coloring. Here's Carsten coloring a modern masterpiece:

Eating has been going pretty well for us with Carsten. He's a pretty good eater, although he's definitely starting to express some preferences for different foods (i.e., he doesnt' always want his veggies now). We've been trying to really let him eat on his own with his spoon and fingers; this has resulted in a messier baby. The photos below were achieved with pasta with tomato sauce and what was supposed to be chocolate pudding, but was really more like chocolate syrup. Also, Carsten likes to stick his fingers in his ears, nose, and sometimes his eyes.

Messy baby :)

Wedding slideshow photo :)

 Carsten still has his 'cheesy baby face' and I love putting him in overalls. :)

One morning Carsten got into one of his toy baskets and proceeded to play in and out of it for the next 20 min. The best toys are really not toys at all :). In fact, one of his favorite toys is still a rubber spatula; he plays with it all the time.

We met our friend Bre and her son Asher at the ETH geological museum, which is a free museum less than 1 block from Andy's work. Carsten loved all the buttons and I loved looking at all the rocks and earth science stuff - I could have spent some more time reading, but alas, Carsten kept on moving!

Pushing buttons

Learning science in German.

My favorite demo: watching sand settle. Carsten thought it was pretty sweet too :).

 We're starting to plan our European vacations for the year, which means that Carsten has to get used to his travel tent if we want him to sleep well. In an attempt to get him to come into the tent, I curled up inside. It worked, but it was definitely tight quarters :).

We got to go bowling this weekend with Kai, Vanessa, and Eleanor. It was very fun, and we really enjoyed doing an adult activity. Carsten and Eleanor seemed to have quite a bit of fun, and the most interesting part was that the pins were on strings and were retracted back up to be reset. I had a lot of fun doing something competitive - I miss my competitive sports :). Here's a photo of Andy, Kai, and Carsten in the bowling alley.

It's been a fun month, and Carsten is getting to be more and more fun every day. He definitely understands what we're saying, and he is really well behaved most of the time. Sleep has been fantastic with the new crib, which has translated to one of the more restful months we've had with Carsten. Carsten is definitely trying out new sounds and it's getting harder to remember which words are new for this month, so I'm not going to include them here.

All in all, we're enjoying all the activities we're getting to do and we're trying to make the most of our remaining time in Switzerland before we move to New York in December where Andy will be taking a job at Union College (near Albany) as a professor.