Project Musterknaben or Hintze Brothers LA

4th of July Party

Sat, 5 Jul 2008 10:09:56 -0700

We celebrated the 4th of July at Chris` and Taylor´s house in a very Californian way: with a pool party! :-) We took the boys twice into the water, we all had a great time, and lots to eat and drink.

back in Claremont

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 09:43:49 -0700

Now back in Claremont, we´re trying to adjust to the new rhythm. It´s hard and sometimes the boys fall asleep during the day and are so sound asleep, that it´s hard to wake them up after two to three hours. But we´re getting better and better, last night the boys only woke up once (at 3.30 am) and managed to sleep a longer phase before.
Because its so hot outside, we sometimes take the boys to the pool in the early evening. They enjoy the water and slash around!

last days in Germany

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:58:57 -0700

After the trip with the ferry back to Kiel we drove to Göttingen again to enjoy some last days with my mom and Jürgen. Arend had to go to Norwich / GB to attend a conference, so we were separated from Tuesday till Friday.

what a night in Oslo

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:52:32 -0700

The last day in Västerud was rainy, so we all slept a lot and had time enough to pack our suitcases and bag packs. The boys also met our direct neighbor, a very famous and athletic man. Maybe you know who that is?!?

midsommar

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:06:39 -0700

Today the Swedish people celebrate the longest day and the shortest night, called „midsommar“. So we celebrated, too! The boys enjoyed a day full of sleep and quiet time, after we had a more busy day yesterday with a visit to Ikea, a baby store and a nice little café.

between laughing and crying

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:46:16 -0700

Time is running and we´re already in our second week of the Sweden holiday... :-( This seem to make Jonas sad, too. Usually he wakes up and smiles at us, but 20 minutes later he is crying, as if something terrible has happened. We bring him back to bed then and let him calm down, which usually takes him a while. But then he´s fine and the two enjoy playing together!

the water in Sweden is COLD

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:11:55 -0700

Yes, we went swimming for the first time! But the water in the lake (Mangen is it´s name) was very cold! So we only dipped their feeds in. Jonas even didn´t like that and cried, whereas Titus splashed and even put his hands and arms into the water.

what are we doing in our vacation

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:11:40 -0700

Besides that they´re both sleeping like champions we´re all kind of lazy and laid back - as supposed in your holidays! We play together, explore the surroundings and sleep, sleep, sleep!

välkomna till sverige

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:15:46 -0700

On Sunday morning we left Bad Bodenteich and drove to Kiel, where we entered a cruise ship, the color line. Many families had their little babies with them, so we saw a lot of strollers. But only our one is making strange noises, like it could use some oil or something. At least you always know when we arrive :-)

harmony

Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:40:12 -0700

Before we´ll leave to Sweden we all enjoyed a very nice, playful and peaceful day. The boys played around a lot, discovered that playing together is really fun (besides the kicks from the brother´s feed from time to time), and had several hours of reading books - well, books that were read or shown to them.

something in my mouth feels weird

Fri, 6 Jun 2008 07:08:22 -0700

By the look of their faces you can tell that something in theirs mouths must feel weird. Actually they´re both teething, Jonas is getting his second and Titus is doing two at once. They have their lower lip nearly constantly in their mouths or they have plastic toys in it, where they suck on. And obviously they don´t really know what´s going on, but something bothers them a bit :-)

going to school

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:12:19 -0700

Yes, they had their first days in school :-) I visited my school in Rulle / Osnabrück where I taught till summer 2006. We met my last class, who are now 4th grade - and the two seemed to like it there a lot! As usual they were very friendly, laughed a lot and Jonas even sang along with some songs my former class presented us. Later we enjoyed some quiet time in the shadow of the school yard.

exploring families and surroundings

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 07:12:17 -0700

It´s so interesting to go out with the boys now and walk around the streets I walked through as a child and even as a baby. The two are getting more and more variable with the sounds they´re producing. Jonas even said „DA-DA!“ once.

cuddly

Thu, 29 May 2008 11:56:43 -0700

We visited my grand mother on Wednesday. She was very happy to see the boys and actually cuddle with them. Normally the two don´t really like to cuddle, but with her they made an exception. And I have to admit that they do need more cuddle time at the moment, I think that´s due to the fact that there´re so many new people around them. But Arend and I really do enjoy that fact.

back in mommy´s home town

Tue, 27 May 2008 09:04:55 -0700

On Monday we drove from Bodenteich and Arend´s parents to Göttingen and my mom and her husband, the town I was born. My mom stayed with us when the boys were born and she noticed of course the biggest change in the boys!

baptism

Tue, 27 May 2008 08:11:36 -0700

We had beautiful weather! Blue sky, not too warm and a little breeze! What a day to have the baptism! All guests arrived in time, some already on Friday. Right before the ceremony at 2 p.m. we fed the boys, so they were satisfied and wouldn´t cry because of hunger.

and more and more and more

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:35:11 -0700

And the list of people that we visited is getting longer and longer! On the one hand it´s soooo great to see all our friends again, but of course on the other hand the boys do suffer a lot, every day so many new faces, new environments and all that. So no wonder that Jonas is very cranky at the moment. Probably also because he´s really getting his first tooth now! One can see and feel it already!

so many people!

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:17:45 -0700

In the last couple of days the two had so many guests - amazing! And they did so good with all the different persons, smiled at all of them, were nice and willing to be in other arms for quite a while. And we were happy, too, to see and meet all these persons - our friends - again after this long time!

without mom and dad

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:24:28 -0700

Yes, for the first time in their lives they spent a night without us. Arend and I had to go to Berlin very early on Thursday morning to extend out visa, and we weren´t supposed to bring our kids. So we went Wednesday night already and grandparents Gisela and Michael took care of them. With „only“ 30 minutes of desperate and loud crying they fall asleep but slept through the night.

home in "good old Germany"

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:40:40 -0700

After a very long queue at LAX airport (2 1/2 hours) and all the exciting impressions the boys once again proofed their model status. They slept in the bassinets in the plane during the whole flight! In Frankfurt two very excited grandparents (Arend`s parents Gisela and Michael) picked us up and we had a good and safe car trip with again two sleeping boys.

getting excited!

Fri, 9 May 2008 13:02:49 -0700

Not only Arend, my dad and I are getting excited about the upcoming trip to Germany (tomorrow), but I guess the boys also feel, that something extraordinary is happening. But for now, they´re still quite the same, so no more fussiness than usual. Their bag is packed, and we´re planing and doing the last things that has to be done. We´re definitely getting excited!

the world is full of things to discover

Wed, 7 May 2008 16:08:16 -0700

It´s amazing to see how these little guys start to discover the world. Of course it´s not rational yet, but still the find out more and more about their environment, and look at everything with big, curious eyes or - in Titus` case - the pursed lips.

things we like to do

Sun, 4 May 2008 17:31:36 -0700

The nice thing is, that they´re so alert during the day that we really can play with them for a while. But they also can play on their own very, very well. And of course there are a few things that they enjoy so much that they can do them over and over again :-)

now they get mobile

Fri, 2 May 2008 15:20:33 -0700

OK, I guess some of the quiet time is over :-) They´re not lying on the blanket anymore - in fact I ask myself why I even put them there in the first place - but rolling over again and again, ending up under the table, in the kitchen, next to the chairs or the lamp. My dad says, they´ll probably crawling soon. And as active as they present themselves, this will be a busy time for us ;-)

that´s all so great

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:46:44 -0700

statements

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:04:31 -0700

Because the boys obviously can´t speak yet, they´re wearing shirts that express their feelings :-) But you can always tell by their happy faces how they feel, and can easily guess what they would say if they had the ability to say something.

playing and preparing

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:04:36 -0700

Sorry for being so late with the blog this time. The choir I´m in was rehearsing a lot for the concerts today and on Sunday, but it´ll be great. Arend did all the feeding in the evening and put the boys to bed. During the days Volker enjoyed playing with them and the two really loved that. They don´t like the pain that comes with the teething - but which baby does?!

so stylish

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:10:46 -0700

As a late Easter present from their godfathers Chris and Taylor they got such cute outfits, that the boys had to wear them when we met them for a brunch on Sunday. Jonas and Titus looked so grown up, like little schoolboys. They already have the curious face for those questions that teachers will have difficulties answering later ;-))

rollin`, rollin`, rollin`

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:42:38 -0700

This is a kind of movement, rolling over and over and over again - until one reaches the kitchen! Jonas is practicing this movement whenever he can and he is already really fast! I think soon I have to set up a play yard when I want to go on the toilette :-) Titus in the meantime is enjoying his time on the tummy so much that he even sleeps at night on it. But nevertheless has problems flipping back.

on the tummy

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:28:13 -0700

HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY! Yes, they´re already six months old. Now we can understand parents who always say that time is passing by so quickly! These days they´re practicing lying on their tummys a lot. And Jonas is so good in rolling over and over, that you really have to make sure that you keep an eye on him, because otherwise he´s in the other corner of the room faster then you can imagine :-) Titus still doesn´t know how to flip back so he always complains until we come and „rescue“ him.