port-a-pack-n-play

Carsten pushed his pack 'n play out of his room and into our hallway today, which actually takes a bit of work since the doorway isn't that much larger than the actual crib. I made the mistake of telling him that I'd be really impressed if he managed to do it. Well, I'm impressed.

playing outside!

There's a play area right outside of our apartment with two swings, a slide, and a sandbox. It's nice to have something so close for Carsten to play on, but I will say that this is, sadly, the only 'park' we've found in Egg so far. We went outside and played as a family on Saturday and took the opportunity to get a few photos in. Carsten loved swinging with me, and he also enjoys moving the swing by himself. He's a big fan of the slide and once one parent catches him he immediately runs to the other parent who will put him back up on the slide again :). He's so fun to watch! Here's some photos:

I love my little boy :)

Playing with the swing.

'What's under the swing?!'

Going down the slide!

Swinging with Mommy is so fun!

Happy baby :)

'What's this chain thing?'

cute baby :)

The soft tiles are nice.

Carsten LOVES to be chased. So we oblige :).

Run run run!

'Save me Mommy!' :)

It was a fun day of playing in our little park :). It's too bad the weather is going to get colder just as Carsten is getting old enough to enjoy it. Guess we'll have to find other activities!

Fun with Carsten

Carsten has been a lot of fun all along, but he's getting to be more fun every day. He's really starting to show his wonderful personality and his likes and wants are becoming more apparent. He's also started being a bit cheesy, which is fun :). The other night we put some swing music on, and then I took photos while Andy danced with Carsten. Carsten LOVED it and when Andy put him down after 1 song, he stood by Andy with his arms up as if to say 'UP! UP! MORE! MORE!'. Here's a few photos:

Father/son swing dancing

Carsten is LOVING IT!

My handsome men :).

'This is so fun Daddy!'

What a cute baby!

 Carsten had his first hair cut in the beginning of July from his Auntie Amanda, but I think he's in need of another hair cut soon. These photos will show you why... :)

Crazy Carsten!

hahahahahaha :)

During playtime yesterday I put Carsten in one of his toy bins and he immediately started giving me this cheesy grin with very squinty eyes (I can't imagine where he gets that from...). I managed to get it on camera, which makes it that much better :). By the way, the mess in the background is all Carsten's doing, and we do clean it up every night - he's very busy during the day!

Cheesy baby

Put that baby in a box...

Normal smile :)

This morning I was sorting laundry and my stinker of a baby kept coming and stealing Andy's dirty socks which I find to be a bit gross. So I gave him a clean sock and sent him on his way. He played with Andy's sock (it was clean I promise!) for about 30 min just waving it around and having fun - what joy! I captured some happy baby with Daddy's sock moments on camera...

Couldn't be happier :)

'Mommy, I have Daddy's sock!'

Cheesy baby grin :)

Carsten is so fun to have around as nearly everything is entertaining to him and then subsequently to us. We love our baby :).

Grandma Day

Since we couldn't attend my Grandma's funeral, we decided to have a family day in her honor. Andy was able to take off work yesterday, so we got on the train and headed to the Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhine. Carsten and I have been to both destinations twice before, once with my family and once with Jeff and Amanda, but Andy was not able to go either time. We went to the falls first, and Andy was amazed at how big they were. He said they were by far the biggest waterfalls he had ever seen :). Carsten spent the entire time going 'ooo ooo ooo', which is his excited noise. It was really fun to go back there with Andy and the weather was just perfect with sun and temperatures in the low 70s. We elected to leave the stroller at home since the Rhine Falls aren't particularly stroller friendly and instead Carsten spent a lot of the day in his hiking backpack. Here are some photos:

Our family at the Rhine Falls.

Carsten did great in his backpack!

Traditional Huisman self-portrait.

Rainbow!

We had lunch at the cafeteria and since Carsten is now one and is mostly eating what we are eating, he shared my chicken nuggets and fries - what a lucky guy :). He fell asleep in his backpack on the train ride to Stein am Rhine and took an extremely valuable 45 min power nap. I should add that this nap that started at 12:30 pm was the only nap he took all day and considering this fact, he did amazingly well. For reference, he normally takes two naps at home at 9 am and 1 pm for a total of 2+ hours of naps each day. Here's a photo of our sleeping baby:

Sleeping baby :)

Carsten woke up as we arrived at Stein am Rhine, which is a very cute Swiss town. We walked down to the Old Town area and then let him walk around the street for a while so he could get some exercise. He was interested in everything: shopping bins with shoes, chairs, and even other ladies' purses :). We also stopped to get gelato and both of us would say it was by far the best gelato we'd ever had. Carsten got to taste our delicious strawberry gelato, which marked his first taste of strawberries and ice cream. He seemed to be just ok with it, so we let him run around while we finished :). Here are some photos of Stein am Rhine:

Walking around the street of Stein am Rhine.

Carsten and I :). He's so happy to be exploring!

First taste of strawberry gelato. He's very unsure...

We had a bit of time before our train back home, so we went in search of a park. We found a lovely park with a lot of fun things to do, and Carsten's favorite thing was to shake the rope that went with a balance beam. Here's some photos of our time at the park:

Balance beam plus rope to shake = FUN! 

'Mommy, I could stay here all day!'

Walking around the sand pit. He looks like he's doing River Dance to me :).

Swinging on the swings. 

One last time on the balance beam before we head home. I LOVE this photo :).

Carsten trying to eat the rope.

We realized that we've done most of our traveling with other people, so it was fun to try out a trip with just us. Hopefully, we'll be making a few more day trips this fall! Carsten did really well on the train trip home. He was a little antsy and wanted to move around, but fortunately, the trains allow for some wiggling. We had a wonderful family day in honor of my Grandma.

Mary Ranschau

My Grandma Ranschau passed away on Friday morning (August 26, 2011). Andy and I spent the weekend trying to book flights, but were not able to I think primarily because of Hurricane Irene on the east coast of the US. We tried booking online (the website never let us buy a flight) as well as spending hours on hold with airlines. Long story short folks, don't waste your time trying to find out if grievance fares are cheaper because in our experience, they never are. I've spent the time when we weren't trying to figure out airplane tickets, thinking about my wonderful grandma and her life. I'd like to share what I know of her life story and other memories that I have of her so Carsten can read it later when he's older.

Mary Wilder grew up in Washington State near Spokane in a rural farming area. Her family had German ancestry and she was one of a set of identical twins, however, her twin died early on. As a young girl, she contracted polio and as a result, she lost all of her teeth and was told she'd never have children. She was pen pals with my grandpa's sister, Lenny, and one year she came out to visit NW Iowa. She met my grandpa, Walter Ranschau, at this time and from what I understand, he thought she was pretty amazing. By then end of her time with the family, they were engaged, but she had to go home before he got a ring. So, he sent a ring through the mail to my grandma in Washington and went out to visit her family to gain permission. He came back to Iowa with the permission he sought and they were married about 2 months later on January 2. In the 2 months leading up to their wedding my grandma made her own wedding dress! They settled on a farm in between Inwood and Lester, Iowa, where contrary to what the doctors had told her, they started a family. Their initial house did not have running water, and they eventually built a new house with 7 bedrooms instead of only 4. My mom, Ruth, was old enough to remember the first house, and they had 9 children in this small house. My grandma tended a large vegetable and fruit garden and canned a lot of produce to provide food for their large family. She also was an excellent seamstress and crocheter and made a lot of clothes and blankets for the family. My grandpa has said that these qualities and actions enabled them to have a large family while living on a farmer's income. My grandpa and grandma both sacrificed a lot for their family, and I can't help but think that with growing all the food, cooking all the food, sewing clothes, washing clothes (especially without running water!), raising children, and cleaning house for a family of 12, that my grandma was an impossibly amazing woman. In addition to caring for her own family of 10 children, she cared for other underprivileged children in the area by providing food and clothes. I've always wondered when she managed time to find sleep. When asked later in life by my grandpa 'If we could do it over again and have less children, would you do it?', my grandma would reply 'No, I wanted every one of them.' What an outstanding lady. My Grandma's faith was always important to her and one of the stories I've her from my Grandpa was that they started out their marriage right away by praying together. Her family of 10 children inevitably grew to include 35+ grandchildren and 17+ great-grandchildren at the time of her death. No one knows the exact count - there's just too many!

Here are my memories of Grandma Ranschau:

-I always remember her crocheting, sewing, cooking, washing dishes, or tending to her flower or vegetable garden. She was rarely sitting still.

-When we would come over frequently there were about 6 pans of coffee cake just ready to be eaten. We always obliged :). I think Grandma did an amazing job of cooking on a large scale, which I definitely appreciate more as I cook for my family of three. I always wondered if she cooked way too much when it was just her and Grandpa at home.

-When I was little I used to come up from the basement where we were allowed to run amuck and ask her for candy which she kept in one of the upper cabinets in the laundry room. She almost always gave me some, but only after calling me 'A Pill' while smiling. Similarly, we used to come up from the basement and beg her to 'pop' our her dentures. She had this trick of popping her top denture in an amazing way that never failed to provide us amusement. Despite all our begging, she didn't do it too often.

-We used to play on her bus, which she kept on the yard. Grandpa did not always like us to play in his bus, but Grandma would always let us play in hers. I think she knew the value of entertaining so many children, and let me tell you, we could sit in the bus for hours...

-Grandma was always on the lookout to save money and always had clipped coupons.

-Grandma also crocheted many items which includes the brown and white blanket that now sits in our living room in Switzerland. We also have a beautiful star quilt that she made before she got Alzheimer's and my grandpa had it finished for our wedding. Both items are beautifully done and are treasured so much by us. 

Carsten is wrapped in my baby blanket, which my Grandma made.

-Grandma usually had wonderful handmade gifts for all of her grandchildren at Christmas. We all had matching red pajamas and quillows (quilt that folds into a pillow). I can't imagine how long it took her to make those for so many grandchildren! Grandpa and Grandma had a piano in their living room, and at Christmas those grandkids who could play would play while everyone else crowded into the room and listened and/or sang along. Grandpa especially loves singing and it's always a joy to hear him sing.
-I spent the day with Grandma once and she showed me how to make a pillow. I still have the navy pillow that I made with her.

-Grandma loved flowers and had an amazingly beautiful flower garden. Her favorite flowers were pansies and they will always remind me of her, especially the purple pansies. 

-She had sore knees and diabetes, but despite both of these, was still always quite active and did not complain.

-I almost always saw Grandma happy. I think having her family nearby always made her happy. She always smiled, and there's something about a smiling grandparent that is wonderful.

-She had a fear of fire.

-Later in life, when she had Alzheimer's my sister, Ashley, would help her play fast and dirty Uno, which is the Ranschau game of choice. I loved watching my sister help my Grandma, and typically with Ashley's help, Grandma would almost always win :). Ashley on the other hand, usually ended up at the back of the pack... ;) What a loving sister I have. I think we can all learn from her amazing kindness, love, and patience. Also we used to hide the clocks and shut the blinds in order to try to keep Grandma playing cards with us longer because she wanted to go back home when it got dark outside - she was usually too smart for us though :).

-Grandma and Grandpa frequently came to our sporting events, and it was really fun to have them in the audience. Especially when Grandpa would holler and then Grandma would tell him to be quiet or say 'Oh, Walter.' It was really quite fun to watch them together :). Similarly, Grandpa loved to give Grandma kisses, and I think in general, Grandma was a bit more shy about it, but she usually allowed 1 or 2 chaste pecks. Grandpa always used to talk about Grandma's ankles. Apparently they used to be quite something :).

-I think I'll always remember the kind care my Grandpa gave my Grandma even when in the nursing home. His first thoughts were always for her, while hers were for him. They had a truly loving marriage, which is an amazing testament in a society that no longer values marriage as it once did. They both loved God and put each other and family first. We are lucky to have had such a great example of self-sacrifice and love, and hopefully we will be able to emulate them. 

-I'm so thankful that I got to see Grandma hold Carsten as a baby. Those were the arms that cared for so many children, including my mother and I imagine, me. She helped to shape my mother, who in turn, helped to make me who I am today. I am so blessed to have gotten so much time with her.

Our last Thanksgiving with Grandma. 4 generations are in this photo :).

Grandpa and Grandma at Christmas

My sweet grandparents

Stroller breakthrough!

Since Carsten has been about 6 months old, he has refused to fall asleep in his stroller. This is a little frustrating for me because if I want him to nap I have to put him in the moby wrap (it's too hot for this now) or be at home. Drumroll please: today he fell asleep in the stroller! Granted, we were almost home, but there it is, he can do it :).

We went to the pool today at about 11:00 am with another dad and his two year old daughter who we know through Andy's work. We started out playing in the kiddie pool and then after about 45 min we got some lunch at the pool restaurant. By the way, I've never paid so much for food in my life. A hamburger and fries were 14 CHF (which is ~$18). At least both the hamburger and fries were quite good :). Carsten also tried fries for the first time and really liked them as well (he kept making the sign for 'more'). After lunch Carsten was looking a little tired, but played quite nicely with me for another 30 min. He also really enjoyed the slide at the pool which connects an upper baby pool with a lower baby pool. He kept pulling me towards the stairs and so he got a lot of practice climbing up stairs today :). After about 30 min, he just wanted to be held, so we cuddled in a towel for a bit and then started getting on our way to head back up to the train. The pool is nicely located about 2 blocks from the train stop, but the one downside is that once you're nice and cooled off you have to push a 40+ lb stroller 2 blocks up a very steep hill to the train stop. Needless to say, I got quite warm :). We made our train with about 30 seconds to spare, so I'm glad I hustled up the hill. I left Carsten in his stroller on the train (usually he won't stand for it) since it was only a 15 min train ride. After a couple of minutes he started yawning and making his tired baby noises. And by the time we were 1 stop from home, he was sleeping. AMAZING! I was a little sad at that point that he was sleeping because I thought I'd have to wake him up to get him upstairs, but he kept sleeping as I got him off the train, pushed him up the hill, carried his stroller into our basement for storage, removed him from the stroller, hiked up 3 flights of stairs, opening our loud door, closed his blinds, and laid him down. This was truly amazing :). I think swimming tuckered him out, and he's already been sleeping for an hour now, so he's doing great! I'm excited if this has maybe turned over a new leaf for sleeping in his stroller because it will make things like going to the zoo a LOT easier :). Here's hoping!

socialization!

After spending most of our months in Switzerland without seeing many people except our wonderful visitors, we seem to finally be meeting people. I'm not quite sure why it's taken so long, but for my part I'm mostly going to blame our rural location and lack of German language skills. Last week I was able to go meet with other moms from church on two separate days, which was especially good since Andy was gone to Prague. On Saturday evening on our way home from the pool, neighbors from our apartment complex were having a bbq which they graciously invited us to join. It turns out that most of them speak English, which is a blessing! Hopefully this will open the door for hanging out with people in Egg a bit more too.

This week, I have a playdate at the nearby pool with another dad and his daughter who we know through Andy's work. And then on Saturday for the first time ever in Switzerland, we are having people over for lunch (woot!). It's this really nice couple we met at church and they have a beautiful daughter who's just a little younger than Carsten - so it should be a really fun afternoon. And then, to top it all off, we received an invitation from Andy's coworker and his wife to meet them at a movie theatre in Zurich to watch a movie in the evening. Since we still don't have a babysitter here in Egg, Andy graciously offered to stay home for the evening with Carsten while I go to the movie. I have never left Egg in the evening after Carsten has gone to bed, so it'll be a late but fun night! All in all, it's been fun to feel more integrated into Swiss society, and it's a nice blessing for all of us.

Switching gears... I'm not sure how Carsten knows that he's never played with object 'A' before, but he does know and it's pretty fun for me because it's one of the few times that he'll actually sit for a few minutes while he explores the new object. Yesterday I let him play with my pressed penny collection (they're in a book, don't worry) and he really enjoyed getting to open the pages. Here's a few photos:

"How does this work?"

"I must chew on it!"

"Mommy, I love your pressed penny collection!"