Family News

Christmas in Berlin

Christmas 2006 Jenny and Ulf announced that they wanted all of us to come to Berlin for Christmas 2008.  No one had an inkling then that Livi would be there to greet us, as Alex said, "our very best Christmas present".

Frank and I had planned to take the train, but by chance Wolfgang was in Mainz and offered us a ride in his car on Saturday, the 23rd.  We thankfully agreed with no premonition of what the trip would be like.  He picked us up and we left just after nine as he was hoping to be home in time to attend a concert that afternoon.  Without going into a lot of detail let me just say that it took us TEN!!! hours to get to our hotel.  At one point Wolfgang's navigation system told us to leave the Autobahn because the traffic was backed up seemingly forever and sent us on a journey through a dark, foggy, desolate Bitterfeld only to have us arrive back at the exact same exit that we had left almost an hour before.  It was more than a little nightmarish.  However, there was no one waiting for us in Berlin since we called Jenny and Ulf  and arranged to see them the next day and we had plenty to talk about with Wolfgang.  It could have been much worse.  There were a lot of accidents and we weren't involved in any of them.

Our hotel was very nice and only about a 20-minute walk to Jenny and Ulf's apartment.  An added advantage was that it was just down the street from one of the largest book and music stores in Berlin, where Frank and I soon made our way to buy a few last minute presents.

On Sunday after another trip to the bookstore, we made our way to visit Jenny, Ulf and Livi.  As you can see, Livi is a little fuzzy in this picture because she was soooo fast asleep.

Don't you wonder what Livi is so concentrated on here?

Lee and Tony, Max and Alex flew to Berlin and arrived late on Sunday evening.

On the morning of Christmas Eve they took a guided bus tour of Berlin and Jenny and Ulf had some last minute errands to run and also needed some time to get everything ready, so it was around 4:00 that we all met at their apartment and Lee and the boys got to see Livi in person for the very first time.

Livi's not sure what to think about all the attention.

Everyone took turns holding Livi and becoming acquainted with her.

She was totally interested in what was going on.

Alex was very good with her.  She was crying to begin with but soon felt very much at home on his lap.

Tony hasn't forgotten how to hold a baby either.

Max was more interested in showing Livi how to work his new Game Boy.

However, as important as Livi was there were also presents to be opened.  Here an encyclopedia.

And here a new game.

I'm happy to report that this toy for Livi from her Omi is a great success.

I have the feeling that these were DVDs from Frank but I'm not sure.

Ulf got one of the neatest presents from Jenny, and a well deserved one too!

Livi's present from her Aunt Lee and Uncle Tony was a highchair.  Although it's a little big for her now and she isn't eating any solid foods yet, it will soon come in very handy.  Max and Alex had a very similar highchair from the same company and Lee was very satisfied with it.

We had a very nice Christmas together with a lot of nice presents and good things to eat.

The next day we had booked a table at the boys' favorite restaurant in Berlin.  Not that they have been to more than two or three, but this place is great.  You get a big bowl and you choose a marinade.  Then you choose your vegetables from a huge sellection and your meat.  Everything is cooked for you and brought to your table.  It was delicious and a great opportunity to try new foods.

But before we went to the restaurant for lunch we visited a museum, the Altes Museum, which just means Old Museum.

Of course I had to get pictures of the boys with Nefertiti (evidently that's the English spelling - in German it's Nofretete).

There was a lot to see in the museum and we didn't have a lot of time because we had to be at the restaurant at noon. (Lee and Tony and the boys were flying home that afternoon and had to go straight from our meal to the airport.)  Still I had time to take some pictures of this figure which I really liked.  I wonder if he had a blister from walking around so much!

It was sad to see the boys (and their parents, of course) leave but we had a really excellent meal together after sharing a wonderful Christmas.

Here the boys are in the taxi that will take them to the airport.

That evening, since we were staying several days longer, we visited Jenny and Ulf and were able to admire our very grown-up Livi in her Christmas dress.

Two of the evenings we spent in Berlin we went to the movies at the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz because they show films in the original language here.  We saw Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which was okay, not as good as Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen, and Atonement, which we liked very much.  (Both of us had read the book and thought they did a really good job of filming it.)

In the middle of Potsdamer Platz there were some Christmas decorations made entirely of Legos!  I took a picture of this HUGE Christmas tree so that Max and Alex could see it.  Maybe they can construct their tree this year.

 

I particularly liked Rudolph because his nose kept lighting up.

Liv Madita

Our princess, our angel, our beloved granddaughter, Liv Madita, was born on November 8, 2007 in Berlin.  The birth was long, complicated and climaxed in an emergency Cesarean at 1:00 am when there were indications that Livi was under too much stress.  And no wonder, as she had managed with all her somersaults and gyrations to wrap her umbilical cord around her neck!  Luckily for me I was blissfully asleep, unaware of the situation, although I knew that Jenny was in labor.  Ulf called me at around 3 in the morning with the news, which by then was all good.  A big girl already at birth, she weighed 4005 grams, which translates to 8 lbs. 8 oz., and she was 52 cm or 20 1/2".

This is the official hospital picture of Livi, shamelessly stolen from the hospital's website, but how could I resist?

As Livi's Omi I was of course obligated to travel tout de suite to Berlin to welcome her into our world.  Livi was understandably more interested in sleeping than in listening to her Omi explaining the workings of the universe.

I realize I am biased to the nth degree, but doesn't she look like a little angel in this picture?

Jenny had a wonderful double room so that Ulf could stay overnight if he wanted, although he had such a terrible cold that he didn't.  Livi had her own little bed of course.  However, it wasn't her favorite place.

Livi's first outing was to the hospital café downstairs.  She didn't know quite what to make of all the bustle and new smells.

Her first real adventure was a walk outside when she was a few days old.  Her super snazzy, turbo baby carriage was our gift to her for her birth.

It was cold and rainy, but Jenny was getting cabin fever and had to get out, if only for a little while.  Livi didn't mind.  She slept all snug and cozy and to this day she almost always sleeps well on long walks.

This was the hospital, the Virchow-Klinikum, which is part of the Charité and is a huge place.  It reminded me very much of a college in the States, with all the buildings arranged around a square and in fact they refer to it as a campus.

This is the proof that this was Berlin, one of the hundreds of decorated Berlin bears that can be found all over the city.

Notice the bottle holder on the carriage!   The weather wasn't really very nice as you can see in the picture, so we didn't stay out very long.  At least it wasn't snowing.  I foresee a lot of indoor birthday parties in Livi's future!  Lucky Jenny!

I mentioned that Livi didn't like sleeping in the bed that the hospital provided.  Her very favorite place to sleep was on Ulf and since Ulf wasn't feeling well they were both happy to snuggle up together.

And in a pinch, if Ulf was not available, Omi would do quite well too.

Sunday Sports Event

Max spent the weekend with us and soon it will be Alex's turn again.  I picked him up on Friday afternoon from summer camp and Lee and the boys and I went to an Italian ice cream parlor for a treat before driving home.  Max had a good time with us but complained that the weekend was awfully short.  It probably seemed even more so because he had a track and field event to take part in on Sunday early afternoon.  We all met at the location, this time in Offenbach.

The boys have been training for a little over a year now and often go to such events on the weekends, but this was the first time we had been there to watch.  They are members of a very successful club in Hanau started by a retired couple who used to be teachers and who spend a lot of time and effort on the children.  They seemed unusually nice and helpful and I can understand why they are such effective coaches.

The weather was fine for sports because it stayed dry but wasn't too hot except when the sun came out, which didn't happen too often.  The wind was a little blustery and cool at times but all in all we were lucky to have such good weather.

Of course Max and Alex were proudly wearing their club jerseys.

There was a lot of waiting involved, partly because all the girls' events took place before they started with the boys and partly because there were so many children taking part.

Frank decided early on to place himself at the finishing line with a good book.  Unfortunately, the 50-meter race was not their first event and he had to give up his place.  Not that there were any crowds to replace him.

The boys had no problem with the long waits because they were  there with so many of their friends.

The first event was jumping and they each had three tries.  The boys were divided into age groups and  Alex's group was a lot bigger than Max's so he spent quite a lot of time in line waiting for his turn.

Here is Max flying through the air.

And here he is landing.  He wasn't terribly pleased with his results.  Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much of my Bratwurst!

Here we see Alex whizzing by on his way to the jump off point.

He too flies through the air....

and lands.   His results were pretty good although I don't know if they were a personal best.

The next event was the 50-meter race.  Max's coach gives him some last minute advice after helping him set up the starting board (or whatever it's called).

Get ready!!!

Get set!!!   Go!!!

Alex, too, received his coach's full attention.

Very suspenseful!!

And they're gone!!

We didn't stay for the third event which was throwing, or the fourth which was a 1000-meter race because Frank still had hopes of catching some of the Mainz soccer game.  Actually we heard Mainz won on the way home and when we got here he was able to watch the game on the computer because he had registered recently for on-line access.  This made for one very happy husband!

The boys didn't have their most successful day at this event, but not their worst either.  We enjoyed experiencing it all with them and hope they continue to take part in the future.  We might even attend another one some day!

Welcome, Lotta Josefine!

Announcing the birth of the adorable Lotta Josefine who joined our family on January 29, 2007 in Lausanne, Switzerland.  Here are the proud and happy parents (with Lake Geneva in the background). 

Lotta, like a true diva, made her entrance as spectacular as possible, resulting in a few more gray hairs on several heads (including my own). But I'll let Thorsten tell the story.  This was the e-mail he sent: 

Lito fought like a lion yesterday. Finally, at 07.36 in the morning, we held our little girl -- Lotta Josefine -- in our hands. She is sooooooooooooooooo sweet, weighs 3,2 kg and measures 50 cm. Unfortunately, she kept us worried for an entire day. She swallowed a bit too much water during birth and as a result was breathing too fast. We weren't allowed to keep her with us and Lotta went for 12 hours into the incubator. There she was actually quite fine but the pediatrist didn't want to take any risk (for which we were grateful despite all the inconvenience) and decided in the evening that Lotta needed to be transferred to a néonatology in Geneva [HUG]. Lito and I were, of course, quite shaken and worried. They took her with an ambulance, [blue lights and the whole bamboozle] to Geneva and we followed in the beetle. This morning I went back to see maman et bébé and they are both doing very well. Lito took a good nights' sleep and I crashed at a friend's place in Geneva. The doctors say that Lotta will be with us this afternoon. She is entirely healthy and we are extremely proud parents.

This of course is a picture taken shortly after the birth.  Mama and Baby seem relieved to have mastered everything so far.  But let's check and make sure Lotta didn't forget anything.

Yes, I see lots of hair, two beautiful blue eyes, a sweet little pug nose, a cute mouth and a chin that promises a lot of personality.  Let's check the other end too.

Okay, I count two feet and twenty tiny toes.  (Edited: Oops!  I must have had my eyes crossed!  Now there are TEN.) 

This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy ate roast beef,
This little piggy ate none,
And this little piggy cried wee-wee-wee all the way home.

(You can't begin too soon with culture!)

I don't know, Thorsten.  Lotta doesn't seem too interested in Perspectives on Intelligence Governance.  Maybe you should try This little piggy...

There must be something powerfully soporific about a sleeping infant. 

Sleep well, Lotta.  You have a lot of parent training to tend to in the near future!

And welcome to our family!!!

(All pictures from Lito and Thorsten)