Giggles

Not sure what's funnier...Sina's giggling or Malu pretending to be a kangaroo.

Those giggles are enough to melt your heart.

Happy Friday everyone...it's officially the weekend here in Germany and ours is already off to a great start.  After a pretty good day at work, we all went to dinner in town, ate a very hearty meal (that will most likely last us the entire weekend--love leftovers!), and then came home and cuddled up to a pretty decent movie, called Abduction (starring Taylor Lautner).

We don't have anything lined up for the weekend, mostly because we're all still trying to fully recover from our illnesses (Malu won't admit it, but he's coming down with something too).  Plus, the weather's been kinda crappy lately.  People I work with told me this is the coldest it's ever been in years this particular winter.  I mean, we've experienced single-digit temperatures the last week.  I'm so ready for spring!

Anyway, it's getting really late, so I'm going to stop for now.  Good night all!

Happy Saturday!

Christmas 2011

It was a very Merry Christmas in the Finch Family household and we were happy to be a part of it.  It sure beat spending it in Stuttgart by ourselves!  The Finches went all out on gifts for Madisen.  She had a mountain of them stacked on one of the couches and was just beside herself with joy.  She's such a sweetheart.  No wonder Santa was so generous this year!

  We didn't bring too many gifts for Sina to open this morning.  A lot of the gifts she'd received from family and friends in the states were too big for us to haul in our already-filled-to-the-brim truck (we I pack heavy).  Some are still on their way in the mail.  Besides, we didn't go all out this year on gifts for her anyway.  Just as we suspected, Sina was so much more excited about the gift wrap, we could barely get her to focus on opening the few gifts we had.

As we started her stack of presents, she started stepping on the boxes.

See that piece of gift wrap in her hands?  Forget trying to get her attention after that.

Thanks Grandma Ruby!

Grandpa Vila had a ukulele shipped all the way from Hawaii along with some flower barrettes and a Hawaiian outfit.  So cute! She was so thrilled about the ukulele, as were we.  I'm anxious to see if she'll be able to pick up playing it.  She does have an ear for music!

Thank you Grandpa Vila!

Afterwards, we all dug into a fabulous breakfast made by Mattie and Eric.  We had a blueberry french toast casserole that was simply divine!

This evening, we had a fantastic Christmas dinner--smoked turkey and brisket with all the trimmings, as well as dessert.

Right now, we're enjoying some Irish coffee and conversation.  It's our last night in Parsberg and we'll be hitting the road back to Stuttgart in the morning.

Thanks to the Finch Family for another marvelous weekend!

And to our families and friends back home, Christmas still wasn't the same without you!  We miss and love all of you!

I'm already excited about the holidays next year.   We'll definitely be kicking it up a notch for Sina then!

Happy Holidays!

Hats, Baking and a Copy Cat

Even though drill weekends are rough without Malu, Sina and I get lots of mommy-daughter time.  Although it can get quite hectic at times (i.e. the crying, the running around, and the constant cleaning up of messes and dirty diapers), I can't help but keep falling in love with my little girl.  She just does the cutest things sometimes, I can't help but get all sappy.

We had some unusually warm and sunny weather (for November) yesterday. It was probably in the mid-50s.  Sina was itching to go outside.  On the way out, I told Sina to put on her hat on.  She grabbed this...

She loves this fireman's hat that she got during a fireman's visit to her school a while back.  Well, I can't say she didn't listen!  We played at the park for an hour.  I'm sure the entire neighborhood could hear her excited shrieks as she went down the slide repeatedly.

After her three-hour naps (she's still quite the napper!) we went shopping at the PX, which has somewhat become a part of our weekend routine when Malu is out of town.  We tried on Santa hats, but I'm afraid my little elf was out of sorts.  She was still waking up, I suppose.

When we got home, we set out to bake some cupcakes for the staff at Sina's school (since we found out we're not allowed to bring homemade baked goods to the kiddos--for obvious reasons).  I got the idea of making Pilgrim Hat Cupcakes from the Taste and Tell Blog.  They were so fun and so easy to make!

Sina was dying to give mommy a hand.

Okay, maybe not.  Like the vacuum (and other loud appliances), she's afraid of the mixer and squirmed as soon as I put her next to it (hence my hand on her arm, holding her in place).  She was actually dying to...

...taste the batter!  "Mmmmmmmm....," she kept saying.

She was in bed before I could get all of the cupcakes frosted and "hatted".  Although my icing skills need work, they didn't turn out so bad, eh?

Finally, my bloggy friend, Steph, recently blogged about how her beautiful little girl, Lily is now at the age where she'll imitate what she hears.  I just happened to catch a moment where Sina did the same thing, because she's at that point in her toddler-hood as well; which makes sense because she and Lily are only two weeks apart.

Sometime last week, Sina heard us say "Uh oh!" when she dropped her bottle.  She repeated it, saying "ooh ooh" with her adorable mouth and full lips forming a small "o".  Then we said "Uh oh, spaghetti-o's!"  She responded with her version, "Uh oh, dee dee dee dee!"  I like her version much better :)

Here's hoping that you got a good laugh!

In an effort to say what I'm thankful for each day of this Thanksgiving week--today, I'm thankful for the joy that our daughter brings me each and every day.  I  am thankful for the priceless moments that we continually share.  I thank God for bringing you into our lives. 

Vaiosina, I love you!

Happy Monday!

Our Baby Can Read!

Sina's been able to do this for a while now (as in the last three months or so), I'm just now able to catch it on video.  I wonder if I could submit this as a testimonial to the Your Baby Can Read program.  I mean, who knows, it might end up on TV back home! 

I realize that a lot of this is picture recognition, but there are a lot of words (i.e duck) that she knows just by looking at them.  What I like is that she has a lot of fun with them.  She has a few sets of these flashcards and she'll walk up to us with them, motioning for us to go through them with her.

So if you had doubts about whether or not this program works...I'd say we've seen some positive results.  However, that is mostly because Malu and I have been so involved in the process with her.  We watch the videos with her, interacting with her throughout, and then read the books and flashcards with her.  It's been so much fun!

Aside from this, she enjoys scanning through her books on her own and having them read to her.  Her favorite books right now are (the ones that she reads over and over):

Five Little Ladybugs & Five Wishing Stars (both by Melanie Gerth)

The Very Hungry Caterpiller (by Eric Carle)

Goodnight Moon (by Margaret Wise Brown)

I Love You Through and Through (by Bernadeete Rosetti-Shustak)

and

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault)

Thanks to some loving and very supportive family and friends, Sina's little library grows by the day.  Grandma Ruby sends her tons and I have a co-worker whose wife manages our local library.  She's always suggesting great books for Sina and gives her some from time to time.  She got us started on the Sandra Boynton series, which other moms I know rave about.  Fun stuff!

Additionally, one of the caregivers at daycare asked Malu if we teach Sina to sign.  Apparently, Sina's been signing her little tooshie off at school.  The staff there does a little bit of signing with the kids here and there, but Sina knows most basic signs and a couple others. We've been borrowing the Signing Time video series from the library and Sina enjoys them.  So do Malu and I.  We're learning right alongside her!  Right now, she's learning signs for fruits, vegetables and other foods, as well as colors.  Oh, and songs too!

We're just so thrilled that we have a smart little girl on our hands!  We're so proud of you Vaiosina!

Well, enjoy the video guys.  How about it....it's Thursday!  The week will be over tomorrow!

Cutie Patootie

I figured I'd post this short clip from yesterday.  I can never get enough of our little cutie.

I spent most of the day at work feeling tired and, well, not wanting to be there.  The beautiful, sunny weather outside didn't help either. This is why I'm keeping this post short...I need to get to bed because I refuse to be lethargic all day tomorrow.  Who am I kidding? I just need it to be Friday already!

Hope everyone's week has gotten off to a great start.

Don't Mess With Her Food!

For the last month or so, Sina has gone from wanting only mommy and daddy, to being one of the friendliest, most happy-go-lucky babies ever.  She's always in a good mood (the exception being when around large crowds gathered in small spaces--as proven during her baby dedication reception and the Fil-Am Christmas Party).  She's always talking and smiling and whenever we go places, and she's always talking and smiling to people from her stroller. 

But when it comes to her FOOD...she does not mess around.  When she wants it, she cries.  When she's finished eating (i.e. when her bottle empties), she gets peed off, and cries.  She just loves her food.  And perhaps I'm to blame for her voracious appetite.  Please believe me when I tell you that we're working on her "entitlement" issues.

In any case, this is how much this girl loves to eat.  I had just finished feeding her a hearty helping of her "turkey and squash" baby food.  I left the empty bowl and spoon sitting next to her as I quickly snuck away to get her bottle.  I came back to find this.  Listen closely...I think she might have a frog in her belly!

Just thought I'd give you guys something to laugh about today.

Happy Hump Day!