Plitsch-Platsch Badespass
Rose had a fabulous idea: Why not buy a small swimming pool for Astrid to sit in splash around while her parents are watching her and having the occasional drink? She had me at drink. Right before we left, i purchased this little pool at Target for 9.95 and it's worth all the money.
The water is a little bit cold but she got used to it immediately
Pointing at the beautiful roses
And there's Bertha. Additional benefit of our pool: She gets tired very quickly....:)
Bertha has a new friend
I decided to have a dog when I went through a real hard time in my life. I met her in a pound in Burbank and fell immediately in love with her. Don't ask me why, I just did. She was afraid of me, she wanted to get away from me and she had an allergy problem. So what? I still took her home and never regretted it.
Most of the day, she lives on our balcony and Astrid just sees her through our glass doors. But today I let Astrid play with her. And Astrid had a grand time.
Trying the Astrid choke.
Giving Bertha a massage.
Pulling on Bertha's ear. Bertha is such a sheep, you can do anything to her and she would never snap. But she has a second side: She's part Chow and she can be an aggressive fighter when it comes to protecting us and standing up against other dogs.
Right now, Bertha is tolerating Astrid but very soon she'll love to play with her. When we are out town, Jeff takes care of Bertha and they love playing with her. You should see her when she comes home after a week of playing with the kids: she sleeps for hours. Exhausted.
Ready for a vacation
What do you think?
You think I'm not ready for some fun and cheekiness?
Think again.
Good Morning sunshine
The beauty of this house and being with Astrid that you are being woken by two sunhines: One from the sun and one from Astrid's smile in the morning. She slept really well through the night and played until 7 am in her pack and play. I got up, we ate outside on the patio (Peach/Oatmeal/Cheese/Eggs for Astrid, bread and an egg for me) and then she discovered the house for 1 hour. There's a lot of walking space here and she's continuing her trial and error walking approach.
At 9 she went to bed and I finished my email, filled the kiddie swimming pool with water and now at 10 I will start my vacation with a book.
Ahhhhh, relaxing.
3/4 of Family Hook in Joshua Tree
Today we began our annual trip to Joshua Tree (We skipped last year because of Astrid's birth). Rose has to work until Friday but the rest of us left this afternoon and headed out to Villa dei Fiori.
Astrid slept through most of the drive and Bertha tried to get comfortable. While I was closing in on Joshua Tree I realized that many things have changed: chain stores and restaurants everywhere, even a Starbucks is only 5 miles away. 4 years ago, when we first came here, there was almost nothing here. A few crappy diners and 1 Stater Bros. And now: Kmart, Walmart, Starbucks, Vons, Safeway etc. I liked it better the way it used to be.
We arrived at the house around 4, Astrid was hungry and in a crappy mood. She just didn't like the house and had problems getting used to everything. But after we went to the supermarket and I toured the property with her in my arms, she started to warm up to her vacation domicile. Going to sleep took an hour and a few tears but she adapted quickly. I'm looking forward hanging with her but I'm also looking forward to complete the family when Rose joins us Friday.
Astrid at our new pediatrician
It was time for her 12 months shots and we decided to try out a new pediatrician. And I'm glad we did. Our former pediatrician just rushed us immensely during each visit while we, at the same time, had to wait in the waiting and treatment room for at least 90 minutes. Not really pleasant with a curious little girl.
Dr. Henry asked a lot of questions, interrogated me about her eating habits and gave me some good tips for our bi-lingual angel. I'm glad we finally found a positive and reassuring physician.
Unfortunately, it was also time for shots and Astrid received 3 (Tetanus, Measles, Chickenpox etc.). Even more unfortunate, all of these shots were in her arm and they hurt. Even the nurse said it would hurt.
And it did. Astrid cried for a long time, I treated her to some grass crawling time but she didn't want to stop crying and finally fell asleep in the jogging stroller. After a few evenings of problems with falling sleep, she's back to normal and the happy kid we want her to be.
The water is a little bit cold but she got used to it immediately
Pointing at the beautiful roses
And there's Bertha. Additional benefit of our pool: She gets tired very quickly....:)
