brueggers

and finally, no downtown hansbauer family outing would be complete without a trip to brueggers. isn't it crazy how much joe and greta look alike??!!
what a fun, fun day!

fountain square

after the trains we headed to fountain square....we saw the giant christmas tree, the fountain, and santa on ice skates!! the weather was perfect, and greta enjoyed running all around the square. otto preferred to take in the sights from the warmth of his bundle me.....

the trains! the trains!

we decided to head downtown to see some of the holiday sights. we started off at the trains at duke energy. the lines weren't too bad, so we were able to see the trains without much of a wait. greta was definitely more interested than she was last year....and this year she was able to enjoy the free cookies that they pass out!! if you look closely, you can see the bruise on greta's forehead. the day before thanksgiving, we were at a playdate at the nawroths. i suggested that greta give ella a hug goodbye. greta took me seriously, and the hug turned into a bear hug/tackle that landed both ella and greta on the ground and in tears. we think that greta's forehead hit the doorframe on her way down. love hurts!!

thanksgiving 2009

thanksgiving is such a fantastic holiday.....all the great food to eat, and the family to share it with. we ate at my mom's house at noon, and then ate again at joe's parents house at 3pm. needless to say, we were STUFFED! otto enjoyed some pureed squash, while greta got to sit with "the girls" at the kids table! happy turkey day....

should've named him Linus.....

carrots

as if saturday wasn't a busy enough day, otto followed it up by having his first food (besides rice cereal) on sunday. his first bite of carrots was a bit hesitant, but then he really seemed to like them. he gets pretty vocal if you aren't feeding him fast enough, grunting and whining, throwing his hands all around. and when the food is gone, he is not a very happy camper. we'll stick to carrots for a few days and then move on to something else exciting....squash perhaps??!!

Great Day for a Bike Ride

I love the weather we are having. Upper 50s in late November, awesome.

Greta is really starting to get the hang of the Strider... hopefully the winter won't cause her to forget her skills.

The video doesn't fully capture it, but she's starting to get going at a pretty good pace and then lift her legs off the ground and 'ride'/'glide' for a little bit. It's pretty unstable and only lasts a second or so, but pretty cool to see her progress on the bike.

What a Day - Haircuts, Christkindl Markt, Santa, Pony Rides and Balloons

Otto's first haircut kicked it off, and boy did he did it. He rocked it, didn't cry... I don't even think he really even knew what was going on...

Then we went to the Christkindl Markt at Germania Park. It's a German Christmas fair that combines Santa, Pretzels, Jugglers and a petting zoo... sounds odd, but it works...maybe because they have beer (it is German after all). We had absolutely no intention of going to see Santa, it's not even Thanksgiving yet and we didn't even take Greta to see Santa at all last year... but then we were there, and Greta decided she was going to see the big guy... She just took off, climbed up the stairs and walked right up to him... so we went with it... and now we've got that checked off the list for the year...

And what trip to a Christmas fair wouldn't be complete without a ride on a pony?

We capped off the day with Balluminaria at Eden Park

First time I've ever been. Greta enjoyed it, though we didn't stick around to the very end. Probably best though, as I think trying to get out of there after would have been a challenge.

Greta Loves Taking Care of Otto

bubbles

tonight after dinner, there was a skillet filled with hot, soapy water in our sink. greta was DYING to play in the bubbles.....
so while i washed out the skillet and did the rest of the dishes, i filled a small tupperware container with soapy water, she got some cups to play with, and voila. she was so focused and content, and she played with this until bedtime. once i got the dishes finished, i started to feel kinda bad for her that it was such a SMALL thing of water. but i don't think she minded.

rice cereal mess

i remember reading in some parenting book to let your baby "explore" with their food, getting familiar with the texture by putting some on the tray, in their hand, etc. with greta, i thought this sounded not only ridiculous, but also like a huge mess. with otto....oh well, what's the big deal about a mess? i guess we'll see how i feel when the mess is carrots or peas.....

toys

again....why buy toys when a recent trip to the grocery provides plenty of new things to play with??

do you like my varsity sweater?

"newport, KENTUCKY!!"

joe made up a song to teach greta her address...she learned it after singing it just a few times. hilarious. and contagious. it's been stuck in my head for the past two days. here's a video of her singing it....such a good idea joe!

who's not strapped in??

greta yelled to me, "mom, otto fell over" and this is what i came to see. a few more seconds and he would have slid right out the bottom of the bouncy seat. oops. and, does it make me a bad parent that i got the camera and captured this before i helped him??!!

rice mushies

did you know that otto ate rice cereal for the first time? and that he was very excited?
check out the two videos below to see him in all his eating glory. he was all smiley and excited, waving his hands around and trying to grab the spoon. guess it lived up to his expectations.

to otto, our 6 month old big boy!

it's amazing how well you can sit now, all by yourself. you like to sit and watch yourself in the mirror, but mostly you like to sit where you can see greta. you still topple over sometimes, because you are often reaching and leaning. but you mostly have it mastered. we have also seen you on all fours (belly off the floor) a few times, which is scary to think about you crawling sometime soon! but you are definitely a mover....like today when you somehow turned over on your belly in the bouncy seat and wiggled your way out the bottom!! you continue to be hard to hold, because you are always moving around, trying to see what there is to touch or chew or look at.
you LOVE to be outside or even look outside....you will stare out the window at the leaves blowing in the trees. you like to look at books too, but while mama is trying to read them to you, you are constantly trying to grab them and pull them to your mouth. teething is your favorite pasttime lately...you will chew on ANYTHING. your two bottom, front teeth are visible under your gums, so it's just a matter of time.
you are starting to be a sort of mama's boy. you like to suck your thumb and snuggle on mama, even if only for a second before having to lift your head up and see what you might be missing out on. and in the evenings, you are grumpy if you can see mama and i'm not holding you.
you laugh and smile so easily, and when you do you sort of bury your head like you're sort of shy. you still will smile at anyone who will notice you, making you a very social little guy. you babble all the time, making "mama" and "dada" sounds in addition to other ones. sometimes when we sing or play music, you "talk" really loudly, almost as if you're singing.
you like being in your exersaucer lately, and seem to like that "fishy" toy on it the best. and we don't want to jinx it, but it seems like you are finally starting to spit up less. at least it doesn't seem like you're wearing a bib all hours of the day. and you LOVE bathtime, especially now that you can sit up. you slip and slide all over the place, though, because you are constantly trying to splash or reach toys. now that you're 6 months, we're ready to try baby food with you. i can't wait to see what you think of that!!

otto 6 months

halloween 2009

halloween 2009

halloween was so much fun! i would have to say that this was probably my favorite halloween to date, even better than BEING a kid on halloween is having kids to celebrate halloween with! greta LOVED it!! she and joe trick or treated for two blocks up and down our street while otto and i stayed home and passed out candy. she was thrilled at all of the candy she was given, and she was really checking out all the other costumes. when she woke up this morning, she asked to go trick or treating again. and otto's banana costume was a hit. click on the picture above (and then click on 'slideshow') to see all our pictures from the evening.