wow, what a long stretch of time! never has it been so long - nearly 3 weeks you had to wait for this entry. i am sorry. really. the good news up front: the kids are allright, nothing happened, all good... but i have - of course! - a thousand excuses: garden season, bees keeping, vacation (at home, working around the house), grandparents visiting, cold (yes, we ALL caught one), preping the first official fundraising cake sale for the preemie association... but all this is over now. and to get back on your good side, here are a few new pretty pictures and from here on out the postings will be regular again, too, so you can stay on the inside... or, to say it in terminator's immortal words: "I'M BACK!"

you know the situation, you're doing something, are focused, busy - and suddenly this scream... pure naked fear, from deep within, volumes unheard of, nobody you know could ever holler like that. freezing your blood and melting your brain at the same time... a scream that makes your legs jump up by themselves, not even touching the ground, running... a scream straight from the animal kingdom - genuine instinct, like millions of years ago, on africa's savannah, one week after we descended from the trees. wednesdays...

had that today... i was in the chicken pen, far from the house, behind a two story building! where normally you CANNOT hear a scream from the livingroom window - impossible. must have been a bent in time and space. anyhow, about 2 microseconds later i was at said livingroom window. and in this unimaginable long stretch of time three certainties sank into my boiling brain:
1. if mommy is screaming like that, she already exploited all other alternatives,
2. i dont know more than she does, if that much, so
3. this must be the end...

luckily it wasnt, not quite. vicky fell in her play pen. was a little too tired (but as unwilling to just lay down!) and despite the thick quilt on the floor was bleeding a bit from her lip or tooth or jaw. it was not easily detectable where exactly the blood came from, but it was there, signal red!

admittably, it was _VERY LITTLE_ blood, but the panic was still understandable... just the way it goes the first time around... and mommy with the kid all alone in the room!

luckily we were having visitors with a little more experience with "this" due to their three-year-old, which made the relaxation & recovery somewhat easier and quicker. but now we have made it, our first "blood experience", so there!

once before a time, about almost 2000 years ago, there was a wise man named matthew - so goes the tale. and this matthew not only had impressive seeing abilities, no, he also had a pen and a paper at hands - at the right time: for he wrote down his thoughts, thus conserving them for generations to come. of course, he had no idea then of the magnitude of his doing, but for the moment that is not all that important. what IS important are the words he said, because they fit our three headed dragon so wonderfully, yet again. matthew said: "so the last shall be first, and the first last." (Mt.20:16)

our lastborn and littlest seems to be close mates with the tooth fairy; not only does she visit him early and often, she also does so in a less painful way than commonly feared.

result: collin is the first to have 4 teeth!

surprisingly, in his upper jaw, the cuspids are first. hopefully he doesnt develop light and garlic aversion - and makes me wake up one day with 2 clean holes in my neck and cancel all future blood donation sessions for lack of matter... :)

we have been to maulbronn, a swabian town where monks cheat even the good lord with their "maultaschen" and wish for 11 fingers to be able to consume more alcohol... which leads us to the conclusion: there aint no better place to learn how to eat!

unfortunately, this reputation is wellknown to loads of people, for the queue is about three months. after that, mommy will and two thirds of the dragon will go stationary for three weeks to major in gastronomy. the initial screening looked promising.

well, then, three months from now. there is a seperate waiting list for when a family cancels, to jump in, but i doubt we will be on it, as much luck as the dragon has had so far.... :)

our sons compete with the month, one is more vicissitudinous than the next! rain, laughing, sun, crying, showers, coughing, wind, eating, clouds, puking, screaming, not-wanting-to-sleep, yelling, toothing and then this amazingly disarming look - which makes it all worth the while! and besides, it will be may soon! :)

actually we proud ourselves with being a very positive blog, but specs for kids this small are a source for anger that just never seems to run dry. which leads to the specs not being worn much, which is obviously not good for the eyes, which imediately brings about the thought of the carrots... sure, the specs look nicer than a carrot on the nose, but that is exactly where they do not stay: on the nose. they never tire to tear them down, even with this stupid rubber band that is supposed to secure them around the head, but which knows only two states: too tight or too loose, terrible!

so, i see no other chance than to design something myself. will keep you updated, already have an idea...

it is here, the multi media age, it has arrived on the blog. and here is how: as you probably have noticed, today is friday the 13th, a lucky day, as we recall, collin's lucky day. (we actually missed the one in january, but let's not tell anyone, shall we?) and to this memorable occasion, collin has held a minute of babble. what that is, you wanna know? well, it is the opposite of a minute of silence, which would commemorate sad moments in time. whereas a minute of babble recalls the luckier ones. admittingly the minute is a little short of 60 seconds, it only has 16. but this is mostly because of the lame internet connection and besides, it almost sounds the same. so, enjoy your minute of babble... (just click the button)

so much for calm and relaxing easter holidays! vicky is as unstoppable as wind, water or fire! she must have been crawling several miles these past days, tiring for nothing! and on sunday the grand finale, so far: using the bars of her play pen, she pulled herself up onto her legs, standing all by herself. looks like i need to fix a lid on that thing, or else she'll be walking the streets next week! :)

a woman named dani, who was very special to me in her day, once said: "isn't it funny how much we put into teaching our kids how to stand up and talk, when all we want them to do lateron is sit down and shut up?" :)

anyways, of course, we are very proud of our little big one! from 1lb, 5oz to stand-up in only 412 days! next stop: dragon airport... help!

most people dont like stains. dirt, oil, rust on nice clothes are not our understanding of beauty. but some stains tell stories of success. and thereby become icons, symbols. like these here: