Gerrit's Birthday

Today was Gerrit's 2nd Birthday. We bought Gerrit several "little" things to open today. We might celebrate again with a small party and get him another gift when mom comes out in a few weeks. We're still up in the air on that. After breakfast Gerrit opened two of his gifts. They were both wind up bath toys, one fish and one sea lion. He likes baths to begin with, but he couldn't wait to run upstairs and try out his new toys.
Since I was still swollen this morning we decided to forego the aquarium for now and go to the local swimming pool instead. There are four pools in this complex, including one outdoor pool. It was a bit chilly today (by my standards, anyway), and I was surprised to see that people were still enjoying the outdoor pool. I assume they close it for the winter, but for now it is still open. Germans probably think it's still quite warm. The outdoor pool is a family fun style swimming pool with a fountain that sprays water. One of the indoor pools is a deeper lap pool. The pool we started in was a kid pool about 3 1/2 feet deep. It had a giant water slide for kids and adults to enjoy. Gerrit loved this pool best. We put his schwimmscheiben arm floats on and he went to town, jumping and screaming, splashing, and kicking his feet all around. HE LOVED IT! We stayed in that pool for the bulk of our time there, but we tried out the toddler pool before leaving. The toddler pool is meant for very small children. The water is pretty warm and no more than 2 1/2 feet deep. It's essentially a giant bath tub for kids. There is a small slide that you can slide down and splash into the water. Gerrit tried it a few times but was less than thrilled. He did, however, want Gerard to slide down over and over and laughed each time. Gerrit enjoyed himself so much at the pool today that it makes me think I ought to take him there every week or two.

Using the nifty blow dryer after our swim.

We came home and Gerrit opened another gift while I made lunch. This time it was more track for his wooden train set from IKEA. He is also really into trains these days so this was perfect for him. Gerrit ate more food for lunch than I've seen him eat in a long while. Guess swimming really builds up his appetite. We met Regina, Jason, and William at the autumn festival here in Neufahrn. They were having an "herbfest" today with food and crafts. They also had a train ride for the little ones so Gerrit was excited. He went on it once by himself and once with William when Regina and family arrived. Usually Gerrit is the one who screams and freaks out on rides, but this time William did all the screaming. I thought Gerrit might cry when William did, but he just sat there enjoying his train ride. It was actually a pretty funny sight considering that William is nearly three and twice Gerrit's size.

I wanna go, I wanna go!

Gerard, Jason, and Regina

We brought our fish-shaped cake over to Regina's house so the boys could continue to play. After all the work put into the cake decorating and Gerrit's obsession with fish, I had high hopes for his reaction (which, of course was non-existent). We showed Gerrit the cake and he said, "Fish" but could care less about it beyond that. He kept running into William's room to play with his Thomas the Tank Engine Set. He didn't blow out his candles or even want to try any of the cake. In fact, it was the first time Gerrit ever refused goldfish crackers when I offered them to him. Nothing compared to the Thomas Train. Guess we should have made a train cake. Oh well. The adults all enjoyed the cake instead. :)

Gerrit did seem to enjoy opening his presents, though... and after a while, he got the hang of ripping the paper off the package to see what was inside. When we got home this evening he opened the rest of his gifts- play dough and animal-shaped cookie cutters, a finger paint set, more cars for his train set, and a special battery-powered train engine that can pull the rest of the cars around the track. Although it moved at a much slower speed than the "Thomas" he had played with at William's, Gerrit was still excited by it. Gerrit and Daddy played with the train for a good half hour this evening. Gerrit ended his day by reading several books with Mommy before bed. By the time he fell asleep this evening, he was definitely exhausted and more than ready to go down. All in all, I think he had a pleasant day, though he's still too young to really appreciate birthdays.

I can't believe it's been two years already since I gave birth to Gerrit. The time has really flown by with him. He's sleeping now and I love to stare at him while he's sleeping. It still blows me away that "I'm someone's mom." Half the time I think I fumble through life taking care of myself, and now I'm responsible for someone else's well being. I don't know how my parents did this when they were so young. I felt young (well, immature) at 31 to be having a child, and my parents did this at 19 and 21. In a few days Gerrit will be a big brother. He has no idea what's in store for him, or that he'll have to learn to "share" in short order. I'm sure it will be rough at first, but I know he'll be a good big brother, considering how much he enjoys helping take care of his dogs. What is also amazing to me is that even though he's been an only child for two years, he'll likely not remember it ever being just the three of us. That's just wild!