Just some silly tickle time with daddy
 |
About 2 weeks ago I was at IKEA to order some of the heavier items we still needed. Kinda weird that most items on ikea.com are not available for online order. Anyways, with my bad Italian, some English, hand-and-feet I got the order in and yesterday they called (yeah, phone conversations in Italian are even more fun) and asked if today would be good for delivery.
And so they came and I had a fun day counting screws, doing the IKEA-twist and icing my wrists in a few breaks I took. But now we actually have some shelf space in the living room and I espcially love that TV table. Since it rolls we can tuck it nicely against the wall, but when we want to watch something, we roll it nicely centered in front of the couch.
Enjoy the slideshow:
Disclaimer: I usually do not let him do this as extensive as shown in this video … this time was only for the camera and trying to see how far he goes … and just watch how serious he is about his job.
So .. he is really interested in food .. and he is getting along well nicely with age appropriate cutlery and dishes .. and he really enjoys putting stuff from container A to container B … and adding whatever he finds along the way …
 |
= almost always funny! Don’t we just love when our little tykes come to ‘help’ in the kitchen? Whenever I have ‘getting all plastic containers out of the shelf and spread evenly over the kitchen floor’ on my to-do-list, Julius is the right man for the job!
 |
| Long and interesting trip to Lingotto today. Smart choice to take a taxi. I might write more about the trip at a later point … but I wanted to show these pics.
Of course we had to stop by at Okaidi again, our favorite shop for kids clothing. Appaerently we cannot shop in the 0-24 months section anymore .. Julius is too big … so most of the stuff we got for him is from the 2 year range … some cute pants, a very cool hat (which he pointed out himself), a pair of highcut canvas shoes .. and from the much beloved 50% off aisle: a very sweet PJ and an orange top (which I had seen before at full price… at 50% off I just could not say no any longer) … It is kinda dangerous … dressing a kid can be so much fun .. and the fact that they keep growing … ah well .. i think we are behaving quite well .. and he loves the new stuff … |
 |
 |
.. and nobody told us … well .. they don’t really do halloween here, but I do remember carnival some time in february and I also noticed a bigger selection of costumes in the shops … and I guess today they did something in kindergarten, because this is how our little guy came back:
I wish i had known … well, then we would have had to get a costume .. but I saw some cool ones actually 
Well … next halloween is only 6 months away…
 |
Usually I take Julius out for a trip to the supermarket after he comes home from kindergarten … but yesterday he made a big fuzz and did not want to sit in the shopping cart. So today instead I took him to the playground first, trying to get him into a good mood before we go shopping.
He is moody these days and I think it is a grows spurt (more on that later) … e.g. he does not feel much like walking by himself … or if, then of course he is heading right for the park are where the dogs are pooping. But alas, he likes the playground and had a lot of fun. But going up the slide and why that does not work can still upset him.
Music: Don’t you know – Fantastic Plastic Machine (Thanks to Patrick)
|
One thing that has come out of getting Julius off his night bottles is that he has quite some appetite when it is time for breakfast. And he loves yoghurt. Funny thing is that he kept calling it ‘Njuma’ (as you can still hear in this video) .. he just changed it to “Njoghurt” … we are getting there … He eats a full adult portion and keeps asking for more .. he also eats it really fast (well, 1/3 seems to be landing on his bib) .. but it is great to see how well he works the spoon by now. enjoy
 |
For those who still have trouble locating Turin, or Italy on a map or globe … thanks to google earth I created this nice bunjee jump from space right onto our house! Click here
Gone are the times when he would eat just anything we stuffed in his mouth … well, he still eats well, a lot actually, but he has become very choosy. And apparently all starchy, carbohydrate things like bread, pasta and potatoes are way more interesting than carrots or even his beloved broccoli. He is very good with his proteins: meat, fish, poultry and he loves dairy: cheese, milk and yogurt (video of that coming up).
So, it is the kid vs. veggie syndrome that we need to focus on now, but we get him there (although drowning a piece of carrot in ketchup only motivates him to lick of all the yummy ketchup)
|
Well, Sunday night’s snow melted overnight and Julius went to kindergarten today. And obviously had a great time again.
|
Part 3 in his ongoing quest to conquor and devour oversized and oddly shaped pasta: The Mezzelune, filled with delicious mushrooms and truffles! (Part 2 and Part 1)
But I think we have tried all flavors now. These pasta pouches are great. He loves pasta and this way he also gets to eat his veggies. If you listen closely at the end of the video, you can hear how he asks ‘Bitte’, German for ‘please’.
|
Good thing: not many people come out in weather like this, so we do not have the bus chaos tonight. Bad news, if that goes on like this, Julius’ kindergarten will be snowed in again.
IT was actually a first for all 3 of us: going to an olympic event! I had seen ice hockey before, sure, but going to teh actual olypmic games !!! pretty cool. So, the whole experience started with the usual airport routine of getting checked for bombs and stuff. We read at some point that lighters are not aloowed, so we stuffed our tiny bic lighter in Julius’ pocket .. and that worked. Ritsu walking through with him was not checked at all (we also saw later that many people still had their lighters) …
We needed some food and had high hopes since we had read about a new McDonald openend just for the games … but all we got were a hand full of booths all offering the same and very crappy food: below average hot dogs, pizza that any Italian should feel ashamed of serving, pre-manufactured breadrolls … and WHY is the only beer served at the games friggin’ Budweiser? (Just like why they only take cash or visa? Not even local cash cards?) Ok, so, initial hunger was fixed … then we found out that you can get your face painted for free … and yeah, heck .. fun thing to do … so we all did it … and then we got to our seats and shortly afterwards the game started ..
I will not even pretend that I have a clue about ice hockey .. but Germany getting the first hit after like 2 minutes was not a good sign … but the A/V people did a good job to keep everyone happy and entertained with fun video clips and stuff. Julius showed severe signs of acute nappiness .. and during the first break he just passed out on my shoulders and then spent most of the next half hour in mine or Ritsu’s arms … thinking back about the noise level there .. amazing how he was able to keep sleeping … Germany got a point in during period 2 .. and Julius was up and running for period 3 ..
That was a very exciting time … they stayed very close .. and Germany kept following .. and only minutes before game’s end they were able to get a 3:3 ending … it was a fun, exciting game and I hope Julius will somehow remember it. Here a fun article in the New York Times: Germany Struggles to Gain a Tie After a Surprising Rush by Italy
 |
Just a heads up that we are going to watch the ice hockey game Germany vs. Italy today. It will start at 13:00 CET (like in 3 hours, 7 AM EST). Who knows, maybe someone can point us out in the crowd … or even better .. maybe someone records it and can send me a screenprint? Who knows, chances are little … but you never know. Oh, and we will NOT have our faces painted in the German colors.
Not much I can say, ever since we got rid of the bottle, he actually eats breakfast .. and after he devoured a grown up sized cup of yoghurt, next item on the wishlist is ‘pane’ .. or bread / toast …
|
 |
This is something new and refreshing … along the lines of photolog, napster or just sharing stuff in general: youtube.com |
The idea is to share your videos .. or whatever videos you have accumulated on your hard drive. It appears to be unlimited space and bandwidth, but videos can only be watched, not downloaded. But on a ‘normal’ broadband connection it is working much better than e.g. any windows media video stream.
Besides hosting your own videos (and I am in the process of mirroring all Julius videos there) … the bigger appeal is what you can find there: For example:
- a McDonalds training video from 1972
- this Austrian Boy who does opera better than most female, highly paid sopranos
- questionable Japanese commercials
- very old old 1980ies music videos
- some girl singing in her basement
- this Brokeback Mountain spoof trailer
- very questionable Japanese game show segment
- some girl doing the Matsuken Samba
- some drunk Germans trying karaoke
- tons of ‘Daily Show’ skits
- The truth about Japanese Restaurants
- some really fresh sushi
- Ernie fighting with Cookiemonster over a pillow and one of my favourites:
- how to fold a t-shirt the COOL WAY ( and here is my version) .. and then there is always the occasional
- guy jumping out of a plane video …
Ok .. so .. nothing really new .. but what I like is the ease of use, of search, signing up .. no major hassles … and just SO MUCH STUFF you can find … i am watching kid’s stuff with Julius, I get amused by old stuff from the past … this is hillarious … feel free to leave your favourite finds in the comments …
Same story as last weekend .. only that this weekend they start on Thursday … ah well .. some more photos:
And a bit of video thanks to youtube.
When he is in a good mood, a fun game is to run away from him and wait until he comes running after (of course, camera ready)
 |
Recent Comments