Magical Moments

I love watching Carsten discover new and interesting things. And these moments to me, and probably to him, are magical. I love seeing his eyes light up as if to say 'for me?!'. And I love seeing him explore and discover how this particular experience works. This afternoon I was eating a plum, and he came over with the brightest expression which just said 'Can I have some too?!' (he walked to me without prompting - he was so excited :) ). I let him try some and by the end of the plum, he was actually taking bites and getting fruit too. And he couldn't have been happier :). Anyway, I love these 'Aha!' moments and I always look forward to seeing them.

Zoo!

Carsten and I went to the Zurich Zoo yesterday and purchased a family annual pass - so we will be going often! The nice things about the zoo is it's one of the few things that is open all the time, holiday or not :). The only downside for us is that it takes a minimum of an hour of travel each direction, but I think it will still be fun to go even if we aren't there super long. Plus, I was pleasantly surprised when we got a 20% discount for paying with our bank card. WOOT! :) The only downside from the day is that Carsten got rid of his hat while he was in the stroller, and I couldn't find it :(. They have a form online to fill out for lost items, so hopefully some nice soul turned it into the lost and found. Anyway, here's a photo of Carsten at the zoo in June (and the lost hat...):

Carsten at the zoo in June.

I might like zoos too.... :).

Daddy's Little Helper

When we were at IKEA a couple of weeks ago, we got a few toys for Carsten and one of them was a toy tool belt set. And boy, is it cute :). Carsten is ready to help his Daddy, Grandpa Hoogeveen, and Grandpa Huisman. Here's the little helper in action:

Carsten's Babyface

Carsten has been making a 'babyface' lately, typically when he wants something he knows he can't have. It's pretty cute because he scrunches up his face and breathes through his nose pretty heavily. I don't have the best video of it, but the video still does a pretty good job showing this particular face. He'll thank me someday at his wedding for making this video :).

Curryface

So not only is Carsten getting walking down, he's also started refusing to eat from a spoon when I feed him. The result? Blobs of food on the table that are demolished by a) pushing it on the floor, b) spilling it on the high chair, c) smearing on his face and hair, and d) eating whatever happens to get into the mouth (entropy dictates that some will :) ). So, here's a picture of Carsten with curry all over his face :):

Curryface.

Carsten WALKS!

Andy left yesterday for a conference in the NE United States, which means that Carsten and I are on our own for 1 week. Andy's flight didn't leave until 5 pm, so we got to spend some time as a family, which was super nice, as well as run a few errands and do a bit of cooking so I'd have leftovers. Andy had a great trip and we've already gotten to skype with him, which was fun for two reasons: 1) Carsten smiled and laughed at Andy (more so than I've seen him do to anyone else), so I think he clearly recognizes people and 2) he took about 5 steps from a chair to me which is way more than he's done so far. Unfortunately, this might mean he'll be an expert walker before Andy gets home, but I'll do my best to knock him over so he has to wait (jk, mostly :) ).

He spent most of the afternoon practicing for our families and he's getting quite proficient even after just a couple of hours of trying it. He's taken a couple of steps when he's excited and run out of furniture, but never quite anything so intentional as what he did today, so walking here we come! This is exciting news for me too because then playgrounds will start to be an appealing activity for him :). I don't have any video yet because when I tried, he just tried to crawl as fast as he could to where the video camera was sitting. I'll do my best to get some video tomorrow!

Pool Day

Last week it was really hot and since Andy doesn't have air conditioning at work, he took off a couple of hours early and met Carsten and I at the pool by Lake Zurich. We had a lot of fun with Carsten in the water, and Andy was surprised that he just sat in the water and played because he really doesn't just sit anymore. It was also fun because by chance, Andy's and Carsten's swim trunks nearly match (thanks for Carsten's swim trunks Kim!). We took Carsten to the lake, and since it was much colder than the kiddie area, we didn't stay in the water for very long. All in all, it was a fun day!

Carsten having fun splashing :)

Loves the kiddie area!

Matching trunks :)