Happy Fourth Birthday, Fabi!

BLOWING OUT THE FOUR CANDLES

Fabian and friends gather around the Pirate Ship piñata

Domingo de Resurrección...y mucho más!

Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum

(I have risen, I am still with you, for ever.)

This was a very special Easter...indeed!

Fabi's uncle and aunt - Sopan & Priya - had reached Erlangen a few days earlier and we planned a short trip to the capital of Germany. We woke up early on Easter Sunday to find everything covered with snow. We took an ICE train to go to Berlin. When we reached, Ishan, Fabi, Sopan & Priya headed towards the hotel, while I took a cab that got me on time to the Easter Sunday Mass Celebration of the Spanish speaking community. It was lovely! I later met everyone at the hotel and we went on to some essential sightseeing. We visited the famous Berlin flea market where Ishan found this gift for me. Then we took a bus city tour and I'm proud to have taken some good snaps, including: "3 and a half Indians riding past the Indian Embassy in Berlin" and "the new train station" (which I still had not seen until now).

Easter Monday (Ostermontag) is a holiday here in Germany and this year it was also Fabi's third birthday! This is my favorite picture of that day (you might be familiar with my love for the Ampelmann by now). Later we took another city tour: this time the birthday boy was thrilled to ride a boat down the Spree River. It was unforgettable!

Later that day we took a train back home to Erlangen, where lots of presents and homemade birthday cards were waiting for Fabi. He didn't get a birthday cake that day, but he did like his birthday ice cream.

Here in Germany, Easter also represents a time of rebirth, new beginnings and the magic of spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny is observed and even though it was suppossed to visit on Easter Sunday, since we were away, the Bunny decided to come back with a surprise for Fabi. (In whispering voice: I *do* have at least one nice lady neighbor.)

That following weekend, Fabi eventually got to model his new Indian ethnic outfit and blow out some candles.

Before going off to Paris, Sopan & Priya enjoyed helping out to prepare for Fabi's birthday party. Since Fabi enjoys building towers so much, I thought a cupcake tower to blow the candles at his birthday party was a good idea. The cupcakes turned out to be edible, too! Not bad for my first attempt at baking something. It was a good thing I had Sopan & Priya's support! The party turned out great...at least I think Fabi enjoyed it!

Sometimes I wonder if Sopan & Priya were really here or if I just dreamt about it. Two weeks is really a SHORT time, but we enjoyed it a lot: we visited the Spring Fair, we had sunny and snowy days (always a good opportunity to have a winter fashion show) and of course, there were lots of hugs and kisses all the time! Fabi also enjoyed spending time with his Dad during the holidays :)

THANKS SOPAN & PRIYA!!!...COME BACK SOON!!!...

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!....

Happy 'Thirty-fourth month', Fabi!

"Quiero comer con mis amigos!" (I want to eat with my friends!) This is what Fabi says now about going to his playgroup. This year he went from not crying, to just sighing with a look of resignation and then to actually looking forward to go and play with his friends. I am enjoying those 6 hours a week by myself more than ever!

A few other favorite phrases:

"No quiero cortar mi pelo!" (I don't want to cut my hair! - See picture above!)

"This is mine!" / "Das ist meine!" (They sound the same, but I think he says it in English, not in German).

"Quiero Shu-Khan!" (MasalaDad's favorite phrase, which means he gets to play a song video of the famous Indian actor for Fabi.)

"I love you!" (He says that to family members over the phone -- very cute!)

Fabi wears shoe size 24/25 and clothes size 98.

He's good at cleaning up and doesn't like anything dirty or messy. (I'm told this is just a phase and that -unfortunately- it will go away). A few days ago MasalaDad was enjoying rice and dal in the typical Indian style, eating it with his hand. Fabi was appalled by this and kept telling his Dad to eat with a fork so that his hands didn't get dirty :)

Whenever we go to a gathering with a group of people, Fabi will be very clingy and won't want to play with other kids. It takes some time to warm up and by the time the meeting/party is over he doesn't want to go. He makes friends with children or grown-ups easily (once he was warmed up) and admires the bigger kids.

Fabian enjoys doing things "all by himself" now, but I always end up convincing him I can help him (to finish things up or get them done faster!)

Happy 'Thirty-third month', Fabi!

Fabi is not crazy about going to "school" (his playgroup). Twice a week he gets to meet a group of 7 other kids (about his age) to play and snack with. When we're getting ready in the morning to go out of the house he tells me: "Yo no quiero ir al kinder." He cries for about 2 minutes once I leave and then (I'm told) he enjoys, plays and laughs very much.

He enjoys the Christmas ambience and I have repeatedly told him we're celebrating Baby Jesus' Birthday and have been avoiding reinforcing the role of "Santa Claus".

His vocabulary is -as always- increasing. I'm proud sorry to admit he learned the English words 'stupid' and 'shut up' and knows how to use them in the right context (when he is angry!). I have NO idea where he might have heard those words. He might have heard me say those words and then had them reinforced when watching a couple of videos from the Indian movie "Ta Ra Rum Pum" (he especially likes the racing cars!) I hadn't noticed that even though the movie is in Hindi, it's sprinkled with some English words, so from now on, we will be sticking to videos that are especially for children, like Caillou, Thomas, Bob The Builder and Pocoyo besides - of course- Sesame Street.

So despite the fact that I don't swear (much) and I am now even more aware of my language, I was SHOCKED to hear Fabi exclaiming a Spanish word totally foreign in the Costa Rican speech. "Coño!" shouted a very angry Fabi when something was not working out the way he wanted it. I have to admit, it was very funny to hear him because he even said it with a caribbean accent. Well...that's just a side effect of hanging out with my friends from Dominican Republic.

Editor's Note: The G rating of this blog might have changed to PG-13 with this post due to "strong" language :)

Happy "Thirty-second month", Fabi!

32 months! That´s how long I had to wait for Fabi to help me cook dinner....and it was SO much worth it! He put pepper in the rice and then said it was "spicy" Here´s a picture of our first meal that we cooked together:

Today we made soup (and banana milk-shake). He practically knows how to operate the microwave oven and we love our new toy!

He counts from 1 to 10 in English and Spanish and says random words/phrases in English now that he´s around his Dad again ("What´s this?" "Is this spicy?")

Fabi is not so keen on going out of the house lately ("Mucho frío!"), and insists on doing things by himself ("sólo chi'quito!").

Happy 'Thirty-first' month, Fabi!

One month older! Already?! Yikes! Times *DOES* fly when you're having fun! And "having fun" is Fabi's especiality!

In the past weeks, Fabi has become a real fan of his "amigos" who show up on Discovery Kid's Channel. He dances to their tunes and just as he gets REALLY excited when the show is on...he can get REALLY disappointed when it's not. He knows the names of several colors and actually recognizes a few of them as well.

Fabi can be really soft and cute, giving out hugs and kisses to his mom and grandparents, charming strangers by greeting them, or dancing whenever he hears a tune (regardless if he's in the car or in a shoe shop). But if he doesn't get what he wants -and he has not had his daily nap- he can be...hm...what's that word....agressive. I wish I could show you the huge bruise I have on my left arm after he bit me because he didn't want to leave the shopping mall a couple of days ago.

The picture above shows Fabi in his pj's and puffy red eyes during the "worst cold of his short life". He survived it and came through like a champ!

Whenever he's getting ready to go out, he makes sure he takes along his blue cap ("gorra azul!").

Overall, it's just amazing to discover the world along with him, hearing him talk ("¿quieres bailar?" he asked me the other day while I was having my breakfast) and enjoy the things that otherwise I would not even notice without him. For example, the other day I enjoyed jumping and sliding down an inflatable castle at one of the shopping malls. Fabi and I had the whole castle to ourselves and I can't explain well enough how FUN that was! As we were leaving, a group of very young high-school girls wanted to jump there too, but they were told that it was only for children (2 yr-olds and above). Apparently I was allowed to go in, to "take care" of Fabi, but I ended up having quite a thrill as well! Fabi would have liked to stay there forever. Maybe I can understand why he bit me after all...

The picture below shows Fabi at 31 months old - in all his glory. Yes! He does need a trim!

Happy ´Twenty-ninth month´, Fabi!

Every few weeks Fabi does or says amazing things that I want to record so that I won´t forget. Then I realize he´s completed another month of his life. Here are the recent surprise moments he´s had:

- He has a new favorite reply.

• MasalaMom: "Ya nos vamos. Ponte tus zapatos. ¿Dónde están tus zapatos?"
  (We´re going out. Put your shoes on. Where are your shoes?)
• Fabi: "No sé."
  (I don´t know).
  

It´s just so adorable to hear a legitimate complete sentence from a kid who mixes his own words with real ones when he wants to pretend his talking. It´s even funnier to hear the same reply in other circumstances too: "Are you hungry?" - "I don´t know".

- Someone recently asked me if having a little kid is easier than having a little baby. It´s not easier, it´s different. For example, he does the most unexpected things. To name a few: He managed to get hold of a permanent black marker which he found in my desk drawer. Luckily, he only used the marker on his hands (and not on a wall, or any other hard to clean surface). Needless to say I have found a new home for the permanent marker. He has also got hold of a small candle holder and was taking it apart even though he knows that it belongs to Mom and he´s not suppossed to touch it.

All it takes is just a few minutes for me to start doing something in the kitchen and he gets busy with something interesting, like taking out his Dad´s golf balls and distributing them all over the apartment.

- A few days ago, MasalaDad was away on a business trip for 7 days (including the weekend). On Saturday I had cleaned the apartment. On Sunday I was trying to reach Church on time with Fabi when I discovered that he had spilled the banana milkshake he was having for breakfast on the living room floor -including some wooden puzzle pieces. I was so disappointed! He never does that! Why did he have to do it the day I was trying to leave the house to get to Church on time? I knew I had to clean the mess right away before the milk dried. I was kneeling on the floor trying to get everything clean as quickly as possible while thinking this would not have happened if Ishan had been home. All of the sudden Fabi comes up to me, cups my face in his chubby little hands and looks me right in the eye while he says: "Mama....Papa comes, bus!" It was as if he had read my mind! He reminded me that his Dad would be home the next day and that we would reach by bus! That made my day!

- He used to count "Uno, dos, tres." and "One, two, three". Now he counts "uno(1), dos(2), cinco (5), siete(7)."

- He likes to say "Hola!" (Hi!) a lot. He says it when he wakes up and when he runs up to me back and forth at the playground.

- A couple of new English phrases he´s used lately: "Funny!" (when he´s having fun or indeed when something is so funny it makes him laugh); "What´s this?" (as he points to something he wants to know about). In Spanish, his favorite phase is: "Mami, mira!" (Mommy, look!). I like how he says "Mami", "Papi" (although his Dad is usually "Ishan").

- Sometimes I think he´s getting better at playing together/sharing with other kids. But it really depends on who he´s playing with.

The picture at the top of this post shows Fabi "playing" with his favorite friend Emil. Emil´s mom, Sara, turned 29 years old the same day Fabi turned 29 months. It was her who, a few days ago, gave me the best compliment a mother could get. She said: "It shows that you´re doing a wonderful job as a mother to Fabian". Wow!... Sometimes I wonder if that´s truly so, but her comment reminds me to keep trying!

Happy 25th Month, Fabi!

Fabi celebrated his 25th month by having a normal day: playing with his toys, enjoying the spring weather, running up and down chasing a ball and keeping his Mom busy, as usual.

He´s repeating everything he hears and it´s funny to hear him say: "Oh, wow!" when he discovers something that amazes him (and many things amaze him everyday!)

Fabi is now in the phase of disliking to wear clothes and shoes and doesn´t like the idea of brushing his teeth anymore. He only agrees to wear what HE chooses...*sigh* Oh!...and he doesn´t like to sit on his stroller when we go out. All he wants to do is be able to run around freely. It´s a good thing that we have beautiful children playgrounds around where we live!

We join other mother-children groups during the week: Spanish-speaking families twice a week and German-speaking families twice a week. We hope to soon start going to children´s gymnastics group once a week - as soon as we both recover from a mild cold that hit us with the chance of season.

He doesn´t like sharing and will say: "Bola! Chiquito!" --meaning "this ball belongs to Chiquito", as he calls himself-which means "little one" in Spanish.

His vocabulary has expanded to include words such as:

sucio (dirty)
bolsa (bag)
"tu-tu" (onomatopoeia for train)
"bum"(onomatopoeia for car)
"miau" (onomatopoeia for cat)
"uuuu"(onomatopoeia for elephant)
"mu-mu"(onomatopoeia for cow, and he can also say vaca)
"poto"(onomatopoeia for drum-?!)
moto (motorcycle)
nada (nothing, as in "nothing is left. I ate all of it!")
por aquí (this way)
bola (ball)
moon (which I remind him is said "luna" in Spanish)
aquí (here)
allá (there)
uno (one)
dos(two)
pizza
jugo (juice)
pan (bread)
uva (grape)
sopa (soup)
papa (potato)
queque(cake)
t´elado (helado - ice cream)
té (tea)
ma´na (manzana - apple; sometimes he´s says this to request his favorite YouTube video of the song MahNa MahNa).
ba´no (banana)
bye
Mamá, Ma, Mai
Papá
chiquito & chiquita (little boy & little girl)
muchacho & muchacha (young boy & young girl --even if it´s an older lady)
bebé
sí (yes; which has evolutionazed from "okay" to "ja")
no (his most favorite word!)
más (more - his 2nd favorite word)
panda (panda bear)
pato (duck)
pez (fish)
pulpo(octupus)
palo (stick)
pelo (hair)
peine (comb)
silla (chair)
mesa (table)
taza (cup)
mano (hand)
cabeza (head)
pie (foot)
cae (to fall)
corre (to run - in the house he asks "corre?" and when I nod, he speeds to his bedroom and back - over and over and over again!)
moco (he cleans his nose with a tissue as long as I give it to him)
caca & pipí (to address his bodily functions)
tos (cough)
achuu (onomatopoeia for sneeze)
He tries to say jirafa (giraffe) and pingüino (pinguin).
He calls his shirts "guapo" (handsome) because I tell him he looks guapo after I get him dressed; he says ´pato (zapatos-shoes) and calls his pants mono (although he also uses that word to say monkey).

The name of his favorite Sesame Street characters: Elmo, Bert, Ernie and Cookie (Monster).

His German words include:
Danke
Bitte
Ja
Wasser
Tschüss

He understands a lot more than he can express and this is obvious when you ask him to "close the door" or "go get Daddy´s shoes" when he comes home from work.

The other day Fabi wanted to be alone in his bedroom (he was up to no good and wanted to take out all the wet tissues out of the box). He surprised me by giving me instructions to leave - in Spanish AND English: "Vaya! Go!"

Lately he only drinks juice if it´s grape flavored and everytime he sees any candle he sings "...to you!" (As in "Happy Birthday to you!")

He´s also a little too dramatic. He likes to yell "OWWww!" when "hurts himself" after a fall...or if another kid touches him or if a beach ball bounces on his head. MasalaDad says he´s going to be an actor ("Actor!", he repeats) and the other day someone else said the same thing after watching him play with other kids at a birthday party.

When we go out he will enthusiastically point out every single motorcycle ("Moto!", which he used to pronounce as "mono") and he also recognizes vehicles with sirens (police cars, ambulances), whether they are making sound or not.

His name is in the waiting list of a kindergarten...as children here start going when they´re 3 years old. He (finally) visited the pediatrician and now has the oficial list of international vaccinations updated.

HAPPY 25th Month, Fabi!

Birthday pictures and party report

Thanks to my friend Rong for Fabi´s great gift and for the CD of pictures with the memories of this second birthday.

(You can click on the slide below to have a bigger view of the snaps or you can have the traditional view of pictures here.)







Last March 27th, Fabi celebrated with his friends from the playgroup (Krabbel Gruppe) "Creciendo Juntos". We are a group of about 10 mothers and children that meet on Tuesdays from 10:30am to 12:00 noon. Fabi is the eldest kid, as the rest of the babies are around the age of one year, which means the party was basically for the mothers ;)

The main dish was homemade"Milch Reis" (a version of Kheer) -yes, I made it myself! I´ve been practicing and that´s pretty much the only thing I know how to make...besides Guacamole, which I also prepared for that day and served with potato chips. Other goodies included Pillsbury mini-croissants (similar to this), which I prepared some with cheese, some with ham and others with chocolate cream filling; mini chocolate muffins and bread sticks (some with sesame seeds, some were chocolate covered). Fabi blew out his two "teddy bear" candles, this time on a big muffin and then the grown-ups had a toast with a light cocktail "Fruta y Pasión Himbeere-Maracuja".

We sang the traditional birthday song in Spanish, I helped him blow out the candles and some pictures were taken (I hope to have them soon). Each baby received a party bag with some goodies (like a bottle of bubble blowing fun and a wooden shape with their initial) and even their moms received a small surprise (a lip gloss).

Thanks to Diego Andrés, Emil, Manuel, Gabriela and Anna Emilia -and their moms- for a nice time and the happy memories. We missed Nicolas, Lucas and Martín that day, but on behalf of everyone Fabi got a cute birthday card and a gift certificate for the "Kinderstube" toy store in Erlangen. ¡Muchas gracias a todos!

Birthday Report

T W O Y E A R S O L D! It´s official: he´s not a toddler any more...he´s a preschooler!

Fabi started to prepare for his second birthday a few days ago. I would ask him: "How old are you going to be?" and he would reply "DOSsssh". He had to practice how to hold 2 fingers up instead of just his index finger.

Then the first birthday gift arrived by air mail from Costa Rica: a -printed-"quiqui" (cake), a birthday card and a pair of arm band floaters. Since we practically live across a swimming hall I can imagine the fun we will have during summer!

MasalaDad had a trip to Saudi Arabia this week and he will be back next Thursday with a birthday surprise, of course.

This year Fabi had his birthday during Lent season, on a Saturday. My friend Rong (from my university days here in Erlangen) lives in Nuremberg and came to spend the whole afternoon with us. First we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, where Fabi enjoyed a taste of some veggies and rice and I enjoyed sushi (with chopsticks!) Fabi was fascinated by the big fish tanks and the big fountain with (huge) fish and 2 live turtles that were swimming in it. He even got a chinese picture frame as a gift on behalf of the restaurant.

Then we did some window shopping (and actual shopping). His paternal uncle and grandparents wanted me to get him an outfit and a bycicle as a gift. I still have to decide on the outfit, but Fabi came home with a ´ride´, which is a small police car (that stores some puzzle figures in the seat).

When we came back home, we had a small cake cutting celebration. I was surprised to see how Fabi was able to blow out his "Teddy Bear" candles! Then we put together his car and he was one happy little boy.

I can´t thank my friend Rong enough for her company and especially for taking all the pictures. (I am still yet to find my camera charger!) She sent me some pictures that you can see here, as a preview of the fun we had on Fabi´s birthday. More pictures will come later when I get a CD that Rong is preparing for us.

Fabi also enjoyed talking on the phone with his Dad, his uncles and grandparents. His godfather, Sudeep, sent him a beautiful e-mail. Fabi's friend Stephanie and her parents, Sandra and César sent him an e-card, which he enjoyed a lot. He asked me to see it several times, as he enjoys hearing the birthday song over and over again. Also thanks to my friends Johanna P. (for her call) and Nidhi and Céline for their greetings on this site! :)

Don´t think the celebrations are over! Next Tuesday, Fabi will blow out the candles among his new friends from "Creciendo Juntos", a play group of babies of Spanish speaking families here in Erlangen.

HAPPY 2nd Birthday, Fabi!

Dear Fabi,

When I met you 24 months ago, I would have never imagined that you would grow up to be such a funny little boy. You love to laugh and play a lot, but I love the way you make me laugh and play with you.

You have started to express yourself and I have always been wondering what goes through your head. With all the sounds and small words you have started to pronounce I now have an idea of what you´re thinking.

You love your Daddy so much and it shows when he´s back from work at the end of the day or when he´s back from a business trip after a few days, because all you want to do is be with "Papá! Papá!!"

You´re quite the social type and you surprise people when you make eye contact with them or when you wave good-bye as we´re stepping out of a bus.

In general you are a well-behaved little boy who can be distracted long enough to sit down for a meal at a restaurant or stay still during Mass at Church (most of the times!) But...boy! do you have your temper! You still have to learn not to want to bite your Mom when you´re mad and that there are many other words besides "NO". You have started to repeat new words and you answer correctly when I ask you the English word for "manzana" (apple) and the German word for "water" (wasser). But lately, I have especially enjoyed asking you how many years old you are now and you say "DOSsssh" while holding up your index and thumb.

"FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, mi chiquito! Te amo!" ....

Tu Mamá