Frühlingserwachen - spring finally seems to have arrived in Germany and Austria...

[LinzerTorte]

... or at least I hope so.

For everyone in Germany and Austria, and anyone else who would like to chat!

Just back from my run, which has definitely woken me up. It's perfect weather for running here; nice and sunny, but not too hot as long as I stayed in the shade. Have you started Week 2 now as well, Canella? I definitely found today's run easier than Monday's. Bumped into our neighbour when I got home, who looked very amused to see me in running gear and said it was "ganz ungewohnt"!

Love your new name, 5moreminutes. Glad to hear that Henry is doing well, although it sounds like it must be quite tiring for you.
Re the German, I think that DS is just lazy and is used to speaking German all day at KiGa; he knows that I understand German so just doesn't bother switching. I always reply in English unless the DC have friends here, when I sometimes speak German to them so that their friends don't feel left out; that's also the only time that the DDs speak German to me. DS is starting to speak more and more German to me even when it's just me and the DC at home, however, so I should definitely make more of an effort to get him to always speak to me in English.

admylin DD1 goes to a computer class at school; it's just for one semester in their third year, and is voluntary. They seem to have a different "project" to do each week (a calendar for Mother's Day, a sign for their bedroom door, etc.) and I doubt they'll have time now to learn to touch type, although I hope she learns it at some point - probably not until secondary school, though. Her dyslexia teacher also told me that working on the computer is good for her, as it helps her to learn about sequences (if she clicks on that and then does this, such and such will happen) which is one of the things she struggles with.

Hope the Spanish class went well, Jenny. I?m very impressed by how you manage to get out and do things in the evenings despite having a small baby. Even though DS is now nearly 5, I?m still too tired to drag myself out of the house in the evening.

5moreminutes Glad to hear that Henry is well. Is your DD still really enthusiastic about her little brother?

I'm reading the discussion about DCs responding to you all in German and how you respond with great interest - am taking notes for possible future issues!

I have just walked the 10 minutes back from the supermarket, through the park, past 3 cafes with people sitting outdoors with the back of my dress hitched up on both sides under the shopping bags I had slung over my arms. Luckily I was wearing leggings underneath, but I fear a few poor souls may have lost their sight today.

Oops BananaMad - but I bet hardly anyone noticed, most people live in their own little bubble!

Yes DD is still very keen on her new little brother - she likes to pretend he is her baby and tells me DS1 is my baby! She and DS1 came in from the playground half an hour ago, when I needed to feed Henry anyway, and as soon as he was fed she announced he needed his nappy changed (noises made during feeding did indicate this was true) and helped with that, and now she is sitting holding him - to be fair she is very good at getting him to sleep! He likes to be held upright for a while after a feed and tends to fuss for more milk when I hold him, but he goes almost straight to sleep when she does, I guess because she doesn't smell of milk but she must make him feel secure too! The problems only come when he is asleep on his own in cot etc. and she wakes him because she just can't leave him alone!

Well done on the running Linzer - a sedate walk with the buggy is all I can manage atm, although I am now trying to make sure I go for a walk every day - luckily for the first time out of 3 babies this one falls asleep in the pram - DD used to scream when I put her in the pram and I used to end up carrying her and pushing an empty pram, so it didn't get much use until she was big enough to sit up in it in buggy form, which she tolerated but still never liked as soon as she was walking steadily she resisted it again (means the same pram has lasted years to be used for DC3 anyway!)

Hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather - it's beautiful here today, need to get back out into the garden I think :)

That sounds like the kind of thing I would do, Banana. In fact, it was only today that I managed to teach the entire English lesson with a large piece of material hanging out of the back of my dress; DD2 told me afterwards it looked like I had a hood. And a passing female motorist once stopped to tell me I had my skirt tucked into my tights; thank goodness it was winter is all I can say.

5moreminutes I wasn't even managing to go for walks with the pushchair when I was at the same stage as you; DS would start screaming after two minutes in the buggy, so I switched to driving everywhere. It's only now that I'm finally starting to break the habit, although it is much easier now that the DC can all ride their own bikes. The DDs have also started going to school on their scooters.

It's been lovely and sunny here today so we spent most of the aftenoon at the playground, where the DC had great fun riding up and down a small hill on their bikes. I enjoy going to the playground much more now that I can take my book with me and actually get some reading done; I always used to have to spend the whole time playing with the DC when they were younger, and was very envious of the other mothers who could just sit on a bench and watch/chat to their friends/read. DD2 and DS are both ridiculously tired now though, so I really must switch off Muzzy (which they're watching in German with Italian subtitles ) and get them ready for bed.

Lol at skirt tucked into tights etc! Don't think I've ever managed that but I have walked the dc to school in Berlin Mitte with a sock in the leg of my jeans. Must have looked as if I had a huge lump on my leg.

5moreminutes, it's lovely how you describe your dd and how she adores her baby brother! I remember my friend having a baby in Berlin and her youngest dd was extremely jealous even though she was 7, she'd been treated as the baby of the family and was most put out to suddenly be a big sister!

Think I am going to go for that 2nd asthma test after all as it isn't any better and the cough that goes with it is a pain. Dd's gerbil has a sticky eye so she's busy wiping it with cool boiled water every half hour. A proper little Tierärztin in the making.

Canella did you get your holiday sorted (or any more info)? How is the kitchen planning going?

Hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday lie-in! Just off to run a bath and listen to Mark Kermode's film review podcast. That's my Friday night treat while dh is a computer game geek is on the PC.

Weird weather here. Big hailstorms on Wednesday then on Thursday I got sunburnt while in the park for 2 hours! Tomorrow is the Pole Pedal Paddle race which is big news for the city. Downhill skiiing, followed by cross-country skiing, followed by a cycle race, then a run down to the river, a kayak race then a sprint finish! Some people do all 6 stages. There's a festival at the finish line with music and lots of food stalls so we might wander down and have a look.

I once had my skirt tucked up into my underskirt (remember them )? while at primary school. That was embarrassing so I share your pain.

Really sweet about your dds 5more and admylin!

Ought to head up now or it will be midnight before I get to bed and I need more sleep than that. Good luck with all the running and hope all ailments get better soon.

The pole pedal race sounds intersting! Very sporty, hope you enjoyed it.

Ds turned 13 today, can't believ I have ateenager now. Dd is trying her best to not be in a bad mood but she would really rather like one of the smartphones that ds got as a present! We've had too much cake but we're off to a lovely restaurant on the outskirts of HAnnover later so the men can have steak!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

So are you feeling old now, admylin? I can't believe DD1 will be 10 this year - she, me and my mum all have runde Geburtstage this year (my mum turned 70 last week). Hope you have a lovely meal out.

That weather does sound very strange, Jenny. It only seems about a week ago that you still had snow and now you're getting sunburnt!

Canella Hope you've had a lovely time with your visitor. Did you manage to fit in a run before she arrived? I wasn't planning on going running again till tomorrow but think I must be getting addicted, as I went out this morning before the DDs got up. Running for three minutes was just about doable, but I had to pace myself!

We've had a really nice weekend. We spent all yesterday morning at the Strandbad, which is only a couple of minutes' walk from us, as it was hot and sunny. The DC loved playing in the sand and splashing about in the water, but I was glad DH was with us to take them into the water as most of the pools were too cold for me (he claims the only place warm enough for me to go swimming is the bath). We went to visit friends in the afternoon and my ILs came to visit us today, so we had a barbecue and lots of coffee and MIL's cake.

DS finally plucked up the courage to try out a "proper" bike on Friday (he was very attached to his balance bike) and was able to cycle almost straight away (although he still has problems starting off - one of the disadvantages of the Rücktrittsbremse, I find). This means we've been able to declutter three (!) bikes, so now have a grand total of just 18 bikes and scooters in the garage (which we share with four other houses/flats, I hasten to add - although 16 belong to us and the other family with three DC the same age as ours).

xxx everyone
Lovely Hot stormy weather around lately. Lots of fun to experience again (reminds me of being home in the US) makes me miss my own family a bit tho. MIL is coming at the end of the month and I must clean clean clean, she's a bit of a perfectionist.
I imagine she's going to suggest I rent a place near her again when she comes for after the baby is born (as if we could possibly afford having 3! houses on the go). She doesn't think things thru all the way sometimes.
Hope everyone is well.

Nice to see you again, bebe - how's the pregnancy going?

Right, I have a pronunciation question for you all - how is Puzzle pronounced in Germany? DH pronounces it as if it was a German word, i.e. something like pootsla, but everyone else here pronounces it the English way (well, more like pazzle to be strictly accurate). He used to claim it was Upper Austrian pronunciation but a friend of mine who's from OÖ also says pazzle. I was teasing him about it when we were at friends' (colleague of DH's and his wife) at the weekend, and his colleague said that pootsla is how it's pronounced in Germany. I was very sceptical and told him so, but he was absolutely convinced.

It's another hot and sunny day here. Summer definitely seems to have arrived - in Austria, at any rate - so do we need a new thread? I don't mind starting a new one if it's summery in Germany too! Have we had Sommer, Strand und Sonne before? It just popped into my head, but that may be because it's an old thread title.

Sounds like a good title Linzer! Sunny here too and from the sound of it we're in for a long hot summer.

Ds just got in from school and he says pazzle for puzzle even though he hates that way of saying it!

I'm not looking forward to this afternoon, maths revision with dd. Adding, subtracting and multiplying negative and positive numbers. Thank goodness they haven't done division yet. It sounds so easy when you read the rules but the sums get so complicated.

The meal out last night was abit of a flop. It was a steak und schnitzel restaurant. The waiter was a cheeky young man who - when asked what a vegetarian could eat - said well what do you expect when you come to a steak and schnitzel house! Anyway, I ordered a salad mit Sprossen that came without Sprossen and a baked potato that came when the others had almost finished. They also mixed up the steak order and ds got a well done steak instead of dh. They were having different steaks so couldn't just swap. I suppose you shouldn't try a new restaurant for a birthday celebration as you can never know if it'll be good or not.

Just had to make an unexpected trip to school to pick up DD2, as another mother phoned to tell me she was waiting outside on her own for a friend but all the classes had already come out. It's her friend with the unreliable mother again (who I saw this morning at the baker's; I checked it was OK for her to bring DD2 home and she said it was fine - DD2 and her DD walk to the kindergarten and then she drives DD2 home - but she must have forgotten to remind her DD). It's so annoying as it's happened quite a few times now; I think I either need to get the DDs mobile phones or tell the other mother it's not working out (which would be cutting off my nose to spite my face, really).

Sorry to hear about your meal admylin. I remember once being told I could pick the strips of ham out of a salad! I made baked potatoes for our barbecue yesterday; I put a bit of oil on the skins so they were lovely and crispy, but my PIL carefully peeled all the skin off before eating them.

New thread here.