month sixteen Aug/Sep-2009

This Sunday, we went to the zoo in Stuttgart, where we joined Yuko's acquaintance Akiko and her family. We went there early to avoid the many visitors and searing heat of a mid-August summer day.

Hannah and Julia meet in the zoo's playground.

Mommy shows Hannah the various animals.

Hannah is very impressed and keeps pointing at all the animals.

Equally interesting: A big old tree.

As the temperature gets hotter, we seek refuge at the aquarium. We're not alone there…

Hannah discovered a well!

After so much exploration, it's time for lunch.

Afterwards, we walked through Stuttgart's central park (while Hannah was taking her nap in the buggy), had lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the city relaxing on the lawn.

With temperature above 30°C, many people seek refreshment near (or even in) the big fountains at Stuttgart's Kleiner Schloßplatz.

Hannah keeps exploring on the lawn of the central park…

…and tries on mommy's big hat.

Hannah's cognitive capabilities continue to amaze us: Today, she pointed at a photo showing her unwrapping mommy's new laptop (which happened four months ago), and made the baby sign for computer. When Hannah wanted to eat lunch, she pointed at the microwave oven and made the sign for hot (blowing). She quickly ate the spaghetti while stirring in it with a separate spoon (and, of course, making a mess with it ;-), then again pointed to the microwave and said mehr (more).

Yesterday, Hannah refused to have her afternoon nap; we tried putting her to bed at 12:00, 13:00 and then 14:30. Finally, she slept for 90 minutes in the buggy (at 16:30) when we walked to visit a friend.
She went to bed at 21:30, her usual time, but awoke screaming madly around midnight. We put her into our bed, and tried to console her, but she kept screaming from the top of her lungs, eyes tightly closed, and didn't react to us at all. We tried everything, but she just kept on screaming for (what felt like) 30 minutes. Then, she finally accepted her bottle, drank something and fell asleep. However, her sleep wasn't very deep, at least two times, she briefly awoke and did some more screaming. Physically, she's totally healthy, doesn't seem to teethe, so it must be psychological. It's really heartbreaking to see her in that condition, and not be able to do anything. But it seems to be quite normal in that age. Sigh.

We combined returning lent baby clothes and the pram to Yuko's acquaintance in Freiburg with a visit to Michie in Zug. This would be Hannah's first long trip in a car. Soon after we started, Hannah started grizzling and whining, and wasn't very calm. It took a long time until she fell asleep in the car. We later learned that she probably battled some virus infection during the time; she soon had heightened temperature. Considering this, she was really doing well during the whole trip. (Even though it took a long time upon our arrival in Freiburg for her to calm down and stop crying in the strange new surroundings.)

We were again very lucky with regards to the weather, which was nice and sunny, but not too hot; in Switzerland, we even were able to go to the public beach (and had a short swim in the Zuger See) on Saturday evening.

In front of our^* shiny new car.

Asleep after the long trip to Switzerland.

Playing with fellow German-Japanese half-breed Iris.

Hannah was supposed to be inoculated today, but she still had light fever. Postponed a week.

Diary of a perfect day:

Waking up in parents' bed.

Skipping the bread and eating salted crackers for breakfast.

Playing with daddy's laptop.

We got a Jogger buggy from our neighbors.

Exploring a large green meadow.

Finally drinking from a cup, not a bottle.

A happy family on their Sunny-Sunday walk through the woods.

Hannah was inoculated, two little jabs into her arms. Fortunately, she only had elevated temperature in the evening, then soon was well again.

Hannah walks with mommy's handbag.

Trying on a peculiar hat…

…made out of a discarded plastic container for peaches. So much fun!

Continue with month 17…