First snow pics!

Lily wants to play too!

Cool, I have a snowbox now!

It's fun to shake the snow off the bushes.

Look mom, I found the soccer ball!

Two weeks ago we had the first snow here in Bavaria! It has long since melted, but I thought I would post some pictures anyway. Finn LOVED it! It wasn't very cold, so he could play outside for quite a while. I took Lily outside in the sling, so she could see her first snow.

A message from Finn

Finn 11/29/07


I hope you can understand what Finn is saying! And in case you wonder, that background noise is my breadmaker...

Oh, and the picture qualitly is not that great, because Onetruemedia keeps the good quality for when you buy a DVD with your montage or pictures from them.

Here we go again...

What a cutie!

Finn doing his inhalation watching "The Little Red Tractor" on the laptop.

Finn helping Lily eat some Cheerios.

Well, it was bound to happen: Lily has been sick with a cold for a while and now Finn caught it too. So it is back to the doctor's office for him. He has been coughing quite badly, and his lungs don't look very good. Right now it is "only" bronchitis, but it could turn into pneumonia again any time. Tomorrow he might be put on antibiotics if he is not better. We are doing inhalation with him 3 times a day; hopefully this will help!

On a happier note: except for her stuffy nose Lily is doing very well! She is becoming quite chubby and you just gotta love those pinchable cheeks. She is getting the hang of eating from a spoon and so far she has at least tried everything we have offered. And she LOVES Cheerios, but the funny little things are so hard to get into her mouth! The perfect motivation to practice her "pincer grasp". Lily is slowly munching her way through the box her grandparents brought her from Canada and her mommy has been tempted to have a bowl, too. But she is practicing a rare instance of self-restraint, because we can't get any Cheerios over here. I wonder why, since they are the perfect non-sweet baby finger food. Oh well, as long as we have our connections, right? :-)

Lily's 6 month stats

Lily had her 6-month-checkup on Tuesday. She now weighs 7670g (17 lbs) and is 67cm (28in) long. She is gaining well! The doctor said she can very well last the night without eating now. HEAR THAT, LILY!? Right now she is nursing twice a night again, the first time around 2.30am, the second time around 5.30am. Then she sleeps until about 7.30-8.00. Bedtime is around 8.30-9.00pm. I know it could be much worse than this, but it could also be much better. Maybe we will have to try to just give her water when she wakes or something like that.

But back to the weight issue! At her last checkup 3 months ago Lily was about 1lb lighter than Finn at the same age. Now she is almost a pound heavier than he was at 6 months old! She is trailing Finn by a mere 7 lbs now, as Finn is only between 23 and 24 lbs (and has not gained any weight in ages!). Before he'll know it little sister will push him over if he keeps on taking her toys away. Finn is not big on sharing yet and to me it seems he is getting worse! That he is forever taking Lily's toys away and that everything he sees is labeled "this Finn's!" is old news. But yesterday he threw a royal fit because he saw me eat a bite of his leftover hotdog. He was long finished with his lunch, dessert and all, and had played happily for a while. But then he saw his mommy cleaning off the table and - lo and behold - wouldn't she dare to finish HIS food! Not that he had wanted to eat it, but that does not mean anyone else can. Is this normal toddler behaviour and he will outgrow it soon? We sure hope so.

On the other hand Finn can be SO sweet! The other day Finn was very amazed that I wore Neil's sweat jacket around the house. ("Mama wearing Papa's jacket!") I told him I was cold. So yesterday Finn sees me in just a T-shirt. He comes and hugs me, looks me in the eye and says: "Mama, go put Papa jacket on! Too cold for you!"
It was so sweet! Of course I went and put on Papa's jacket right away, sweating away in it or not.

pictures

Finn trying out Lily's perspective on life.

Sweet kisses for little sister. (Don't be fooled, she has a bruise above her right eye now, too!)

Finn helping the neighbours with their firewood. Neil did a good job with that axe, too!

A favourite: storytime with daddy!

You mean I have to SWALLOW that? (No, Lily is not enthusiastic about food yet.)

Dear family and friends,
thank you all for thinking of us and praying for Finn. He is doing good! His lungs are clear so far. On Monday he gave LOTS of blood (and didn't say a peep, the brave boy!), and everything looks normal. We are still trying out the fruit-sugar free diet to see if his digestive problems will clear up. So far he is about the same I would say.

Good news!

We are very, very happy that Finn does NOT have cystic fibrosis! He was tested for this disease at a children's hospital yesterday. Finn displays so many of the typical symptoms that Neil and I were more than just a little afraid the test would come back positive. So, we still have a sick boy, but at least it is not THAT. Next week he will have more bloodwork done and for two weeks now we will be trying out a fructose-free diet. His doctor thinks that this is worth a shot to see if his digestive problems will clear up. Finn does not eat fruits and most vegetables anyway, but we also have to cut out juice and his vitamin supplement. In fact, the doctor thought that BECAUSE Finn has always had an aversion to fruit he might be instinctively avoiding what is not good for him. Since he does not drink straight water his doctor suggested putting some - FANTA! - in it. Unfortunately, we had to buy it and did not get a prescription :-) We sure are a burden on the health care system, though. All prescriptions and doctor's visit for Finn and Lily are free, and we don't even have to buy health insurance for them. For many weeks now we have been regular visitors at the pharmacy (I can't say customers because we don't leave money there.)

By the way, Lily is on antibiotics now, too. We took her to the doctor this morning because she has a bad cold and coughed a lot last night. It turned out she has an ear infection. The poor baby! Finn has not had one ever and she has one at only 6 months old. (She will be 6 months old tomorrow - how time flies!) We hope she will feel better soon.

Well, Lily woke up from her nap. If I have time I will post some pictures soon.