Winter Tires

Behold! Gerard's Flat Screen FINALLY arrived!

A very giddy Gerrit pointed to the T.V. and yelled out...
"Oooh... Fish!" (His request for Finding Nemo)

Sunday
This evening we drove into Munich to meet up with one of Gerard's former colleagues, Babar, at the Arc. The Arc is a pub that shows American Football, and Gerard has been itching to go there. We met up with Babar for dinner and drinks and watched a couple hours of a game. Babar and I chatted a bit and he asked what things I liked about being in Germany. I have to say that was a very difficult question for me to answer. I'm sure part of it has to do with the language barrier. I also think if I was visiting here, I would come up with many more things than I would now living here. Not sure why that is... maybe because as a tourist you experience much more of a honeymoon period, where everything is rosy and exciting. Here is what I came up with:

The hospital birthing experience (more holistic- less pushy and invasive)
Midwives who come to your home after delivery (all covered by insurance)
Most of the people I've met here have been fairly nice

I realize my list could be much longer, but I'm still working through my own issues about the matter, and I think it will take time to truly appreciate my surroundings. Right now, with a new baby and sleep deprivation, I just really miss the familiarity of friends and family back home.

Gerard and Babar

Monday
I actually drove myself around today for the first time since being here. I'm having difficulties with the signs (obviously different than what I'm used to seeing) and understanding when to give way, but at least it's progress. I've been afraid to drive and then I wasn't able to until we got our licenses forwarded anyhow (remember I lost my wallet the week before leaving L.A.). Anyhow, progress was made. I took Gerrit to his Tagesmutter, then took myself to class, grocery store, picked up Gerrit, and came home. Later I was even brave enough to drive to Garching and pick Gerard up from work this evening. Short jaunts, but nonetheless it was adventurous enough for me. Now I need to learn how to drive in snow. I also found out we need to get winter tires for our car (another big expense, bleh).

This morning I also had Willem with me in German class for the first time. The Tagesmutter is not interested in having Willem with her until he's at least 3 months old so that means taking him with me to German class. The instructor and other students all said it would be fine to bring the baby along, but I still feel a bit uneasy about it. It all started out just fine this morning. Willem needed a bit of nursing, but I was still able to participate. Of course Willem was gulping rather loudly (as usual), but thankfully no one seemed to mind... too much. Then it happened... the giant bum explosion that told me a diaper change was in order. I thought... Okay, I'll just finish nursing him and wait til the end of class to change him. It's only another 30 minutes. Willem can wait. Then I felt the warm moist goop leaking from his diaper, through his pants and onto my hand. Okay, wait no more. I excused myself from class, changed Willem and clothes completely, then finished nursing him so as not to disturb any other students. By the time I came back to class, I had about 5 minutes left. Oh well, Friday is another day. At least I got an hour of German in, which is better than nothing.

"What? What did I do?"

Tuesday
Very, very tired today. Willem was up most of the night either eating or crying. I've gotten nothing accomplished today except feeding and changing myself, Gerrit, and Willem. I need a nap.

My cute little devil seems like such an angel
Gerrit & Jake

Wednesday
Gerard took the afternoon off, which allowed us to drop Gerrit off at Regina's while we went to the Real looking for long underwear and winter shoes. We also made an appointment to get winter tires. It's going to cost us 600 Euro. That's like $1,000!!! Isn't that nuts?!?!?! Bleh, when I said expensive, I still didn't think it would be THAT much. Ouch!! It snowed today, though, so we need the tires soon. I was told that if you get into an accident and you have the wrong tires on your car, the insurance company won't pay. With me behind the wheel, I don't want to take that chance so we better cough up the money and get it done.

Willem is three weeks old today. He's now up to 9 1/2 pounds and seems to be eating fairly well, even though it's not on the schedule I would like. He's still young, though, so there is hope I will sleep better in the next few months.

Willem (3 weeks old today)"Mom says I'm growing fast"