The best news of the week is the arrival of two babies, but that’s not my news to share so I’ll write about our move.
On January 29th our thinking changed and instead of planning to moving in the summer to Lucerne for Stephan’s new job with Swiss Steel we decided to move in March.
On the 31st we handed in our notice that we were leaving our current apartment.
On February 3rd we started visiting apartments in the Lucerne area and the next day we visited the place that would become ours. We visited it again on the 7th and signed the contract for it on the 10th.
The move is scheduled for March 1st and 2nd and we fly to Ireland for a friend’s wedding on the 5th. Life is just a little crazy with so much happening so quickly and a little one still needing love and attention, but we hope the earlier move will mean a peaceful household sooner rather than later! It’s been a little stressful, but we had a wonderful weekend off at BCF’s annual winter retreat in Lungern February 18-20. Joseph was at a great age for the trip since he could crawl around and discover the world inside without feeling cooped up. He was very social, staying up until 10 or 11 and then sleeping in until 8 or 9!
Joseph also likes to play “peek-a-boo” and can lift an object in front of his own face to play it. His favorite way to play it is to hide behind something, or to be standing behind something so he can duck his head a little and then peek back over the edge. We have a cute video of him playing this with his Daddy in Swiss German. Videos will come, but Daddy’s trying to pack for the move, too . . .
I've been a bit out of the homeschooling scene for a while, so I newly discovered that there are materials for doing Montessori at home. Here's a link if you're interested.
February 17th Joseph’s top right tooth finally broke through. It had been swollen for a week and we were all happy when it finally came!
I finally overcame my fear of Joseph choking on food thanks to YouTube. I’d heard of “baby led weaning” from an acquaintance here and was intrigued but scared that if you gave a baby a piece of food big enough for him to hold he could bite off a dangerous chunk and choke. What finally pushed me over into trying it was that Joseph has been unhappy during meal times and very interested in our food. I did a little research and watched a few six-month-old babies handling food on their own on YouTube, which calmed my fears enough to try it. I brought up the high chair and Joseph sits very happily with us at the table munching on and experimenting with whatever we give him. We’ve been doing this for a week or so and I’ve really calmed down about it. Joseph handles the food like a champ and loves it! He’s eating a whole orange wedge (Feb. 13), though usually he just sucks the juice out. He loves oranges and it’s the best for teething! He’s also gotten bread crusts, onion(! He loved it!), tomato, couscous, and whatever else we’re eating that isn’t too spiced (the doctors concern when I brought up table food was that it had too much salt). His diapers haven’t gotten too interesting yet, but I’m sure they will. ;)
For quite a number of weeks now Joseph has remained dry during naps and peed on the potty right after waking up. We are thrilled and amazed at this ability. On the other side of things on the 9th he peed on me while on my hip for the very first time and then did it again later the same week. Maybe I’m over-confident or maybe I’m missing the cues. In any case, we have ups and downs but are still glad we’re doing diaper-free time.
That’s it for now!
Joseph continues to impress us with his ever increasing agility. He is very good at catching himself if he looses his balance or grip (though he still sometimes falls) and he is rather comfortable lowering himself down as well as pulling himself up now. Feb. 2nd he cruised from the sofa chair to the baby bay to the rocking chair to a dining room chair to me – it was quite the tour!
The big news, however is that February 1st in PEKiP he started creeping on hands and knees. The floor surface at PEKiP is rubber matting so his usually fast belly crawl doesn’t work so well. Stephan and I were excited to watch him make his first few “steps” on hands and knees. Stephan has the month off so he is enjoying PEKiP with us. We’re so happy to have Daddy there to watch the fun! Yesterday I put Joseph at the end of the collapsed ironing board and rested the other end on my knees. I used a toy to lure him up the board, and he did a beautiful creep up to me as the board is too narrow for a belly crawl to work. On his own, Joseph has been doing a mix of belly and hand-and-knees crawling for a while but today I think we can officially say that he is creeping on hands and knees without any special need due to the surface he’s crawling on. I say it each time but I have to say it again: it is so amazing to watch him develop and we celebrate with joy each time he does something he hadn’t been able to before. Children and amazing!
