November 04, 2005
Bruder Jacob schläft noch!
Belle mentions that her husband is in the US and she's alone with two girls. I can top that: my husband is in the US and I'm alone with three boys, one of them a newborn. AND he will come back for ONE DAY and then take off for a two-week jaunt in Kosovo, missing both my birthday and probably also Thanksgiving.
I think I win that one with both hands down.
Actually, so far, so good. The two older boys adore their little brother and my mother has been here for 10 days and helped out. I can't really complain. The (older) boys are in bed by 7, 7:30 pm and the youngest sleeps 8 hours straight at night.
However, I have amazingly little time to write meaningful stuff. Heh, I have amazingly little time to read meaningful stuff. Nursing a newborn does cut into your leisure time quite a bit. And I'm usually in bed by 9 pm. Yes, I have become rather boring.
So here are just a few comments of my kids in those past days. It will have to suffice until my brain comes back from vacation. (Although I have a suspicion it might have moved out for good.)
Alan, upon going to bed, to his little brother Jacob (4 weeks old):
"Keine Sorge, Jacob. Mama und Oma passen auf dich auf, wenn ich im Bett bin." (Don't worry, Jacob. Mommy and Oma will take care of you when I'm in bed.)
David: "Mama, Bruder Jacob schläft noch!" (Brother Jacob is still sleeping -- we made the mistake of teaching the boys the German version of "Frere Jacques" which is "Bruder Jacob, schläfst du noch?". Well. We have done worse things.)
Alan, watching me shift the nursing Jacob from one side to the other: "Mama, ist die leer?" (Mommy, is this one empty?)
Posted by claudia at November 4, 2005 05:13 PM
we made the mistake of teaching the boys the German version of "Frere Jacques" which is "Bruder Jacob, schläfst du noch?"
Would you teach me? Because I'd like to teach my kids. The "Jamie Kevin" song is to that tune, anyway.
Posted by: Laura Gallagher at November 4, 2005 08:59 PMCute! Allison seems to be unable to decide which boy she prefers right now, although I think Jacob is still #1, due to his current lack of competitiveness... That may change. Allison was quite happy to wake up Uncle Doug this morning. I'm sure he felt right at home. :-)
You definitely beat Belle in that constest. And you remember Larry's comment about our possible trip next year: "Doug gets the raw deal. He'll have to look after three kids. I'll only have one!"
Stay sane!
Posted by: Natalie at November 4, 2005 10:12 PMLaura, the German version goes like this:
Bruder Jakob, Bruder Jakob,
schläfst du noch? Schläfst du noch?
Hörst du nicht die Glocken?
Hörst du nicht die Glocken?
Ding, dang, dong,
ding, dang, dong.
Natalie - yes, I win in the "worse off" department but I do not also write interesting stuff, so I guess she comes out ahead.
Re "cute" -- well, it gets better and better. Guess what David insists on in the car: "This, David space. This, Alan space. This, Alli-sunt space. No! Alli-sunt space!!" She sits in the middle between the two of them, apparently. Only Jacob is allowed to occupy that particular seat, sometimes. ;-)
Posted by: claudia at November 5, 2005 07:18 AMooog, you totally win. good luck!
Posted by: belle waring at November 5, 2005 08:53 AMooog, you totally win. good luck!
Posted by: belle waring at November 5, 2005 08:53 AMHow wonderful that Jacob sleeps *8* hours!!! That's amazing at 4 weeks.
Good luck being the Lone Wrangler for a while!
Posted by: Lorraine at November 5, 2005 09:44 PMThere are care packages coming from Booklyn. I mean Brooklyn.
Posted by: Carlos at November 7, 2005 02:37 AMYou still manage to write some pretty interesting stuff.
Good luck with all your young men. It's a good thing there's no fast-penta around; given the Miles-Yeltar connection, it'd probably make them "yiper" too. ;)
And, your mom totally rocks! Grandmas rule; just ask any of them, they'd be glad to tell you. :)
Posted by: Jerrie at November 7, 2005 03:45 AMIt's a good thing there's no fast-penta around; given the Miles-Yeltar connection, it'd probably make them "yiper" too. ;)
Remind me one day to tell you the story of Alan (aged 1) and the "calming" medicine for the long plane flight to the US. Miles at his best, is all I can say.
Posted by: claudia at November 7, 2005 02:05 PMIn Dutch, that goes like this:
Vader Jacob
Vader Jacob
Slaap je nog?
Slaap je nog?
Alle klokken luiden
Alle klokken luiden
Bim bam bom
Bim bam bom
How is Jacob's name pronounced? The German or English way?
Posted by: Nat W. at November 10, 2005 04:18 AMBlue Gal gets left behind with her three ages 7, 3, and 1 all the time. The way I look at it, when hubbie (oh, he is SIXTY FIVE) leaves town, that's one less kid to care for.
Posted by: Blue Gal at November 11, 2005 09:28 PMBrate Djoko, Brate Djoko,
Spavas jos? Spavas jos?
Skolsko zvono zvoni.
Skolsko zvono zvoni.
Ding, deng, dong.
Ding, deng, dong.
(A little bit of Serbo-Croatian here)
Posted by: coturnix at November 13, 2005 04:48 AM