I am overdue for a general update on our situation. Saint Louis is an awesome fit for us right now...It would of course be nicer if it were closer to Pittsburgh! It took us 11 hours with a few stops to drive there this Christmas! Ug. Thankfully Vivienne and Amelie are such good travelers...she "read" and slept most of the way! Ha.
Our neighborhood has rocked so far! There are MANY little kids Vivienne's age buzzing around here. Last Sunday 6 households of kids and parents including us were outside talking and enjoying the nice weather. The younger children were making chalk drawings on the road and blowing/chasing bubbles around.
Friendly neighbors, they have made us feel very welcomed. We live on a cul-de-sac and have a large field behind our house (it belongs to a furniture store). The field is ideal for kite flying, soccer, snowman-building, etc ha...the neighborhood uses it often. Sled riding in field behind our house (in background):
We found some nice places to be outdoors. Below are two photos from a "beach" along the Meramec River (the one with record flood a few weeks ago) less than 10 minute drive from home. Castlewood State Park, great walking trails.
Our dog Amelie has been missing her fenced in yard and is sometimes upset with us since Felix is working out of the house and Vivienne and I are busy and out on many days. The garbage has been raided quite a few times...so we now keep her in the office when we leave the house. Amelie does however like to look out the sliding glass door at all the birds, rabbits and squirrels in the backyard. We walk her everyday, but she misses her free runs. She remains our constant loving, sweet shedder..amazing how much hair this dog leaves around. aghem, i know, i should brush her more often...She is WONDERFUL with Vivienne. Laying by her door when Vivie naps and letting me know when Vivienne is waking. Not surprisingly, she is right by her side with every meal time..cleaning up the floor.
Felix enjoys his job! It is so nice for him to now feel like he has his weekend's free since his Doctorate is finished...April 30th the committee in Germany meets to make it "Officially Official"- so to say. Dr.Flory.
Vivienne and I like to plan out our weeks and have an activity/playdate planned for each morning. She still takes naps (most of the time) during the afternoon.Yipee. Her and I both need to get out of the house..often when the weather is nice its off to the park! "Slide, Slide" she says. Tuesdays we attend a "Little Gym" course. There, with about 15 other children her age, we sing songs, but mostly do activities like balance beam, crawling through tunnels, donkey kicks and swinging from bars..Vivienne's favorites are somersaults, rolling, ball time and bubbles at the end of class. I was so PROUD of her two weeks ago for saying her name in the class. The teacher asks at the beginning of every class for each child to say his/her name and then give the teacher a "high five". She was not her usual super shy self!!! She ran up to the teacher and said "VIVIE" and then gave her a double five. This class has been so valuable for her, she has since really opened up and its great to see her improving-- learning to share and be more comfortable around other children.
The school district has a nice program called "Parents as Teachers", made specifically for parents that stay at home with their preschool-age or younger children. They make a house visit at least once a month (if you want of course). Our "guide" Missy has visited three times and brings new toys and simple fun ideas to teach Vivienne. (Like homemade books and yarn-ball animals). She is there to serve as a resource/support for me-if I need her to just call. She also does evaluations to measure Vivienne's progress. The program serves to better prepare children before they attend formal schooling. The "Parents as Teachers" program also offers many free courses - Vivienne and I or Felix will be attending this month: Intro to Swimming Class (in ymca swimming pool), Push/Pull/Carry, Bilingual Family.
Talking about Bilingual- Karin, Felix's Step-Mother is staying with us for two weeks right now. In just the last three days Vivienne can now count to 3 in German. I'm astounded! Vivienne was about to jump and she took a step and just counted up! Just last week, she spoke out loud and counted to 3 in english.. It is amazing to see how well she understands Karin speaking to her in German. Toll! (Great!)
Right now Vivienne has a cold and has recently realized that if she is on the floor her tantrums are more dramatic...
I heard that if you take a photo/video of a tantrum she might be less likely to take one after seeing herself in the photo or video...It worked this time! She stopped instantly and was like: "huh? the camera? but i'm not being cute?" haa ha.Spring finally - our trees in the backyard began to bloom this weekend!
I will be writing in this blog updating-can't say how often-hopefully once a week...or so?no promises :)
We still occasionally update our website too: http://floryserver.mine.nu/gallery2/v/vivienne
Hope to have you visit sometime!
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