Well, it's been a week and 1 day since Georgia started walking. She woke up every morning this week and had to be reminded that she could walk, and each day she walked a little more on her own, and waited just a little longer before bee-lining for something to hang on to. Yesterday we went to Aldi to do our weekly grocery shopping and she didn't want to sit in the stroller, so Sven had her out and was holding her (Aldi is scary in the early afternoons on Saturday). This worked up until we hit the register, then he put her up on a counter and was watching her while I wrestled with the groceries and the stroller. We switched and I put G down, thinking she'd turn around and grab my legs. What a surprise when she took off! Walked right out the front door and kept on going (me right on her heels). Later that evening, we were at a different Aldi (Sven was hoping for the LKW with the airplanes - negative) and she insisted on walking the whole store.

Yup. Definetly progress. And therefore, another walking layout:

Credits to Tracy Robinson - used her new 'i grow' kit...

Unfortunately, she and Sven are both sick. He seems to have had a bout of laryngitis and she's got a very nasty nose and a pathetic little cough. Crossing fingers I don't pick any of it up (ha).

Went to the Bräu-Kirta in Aying on Sunday. Georgie ate BBQ Chicken and LOVED it. she was too little for the other activities though, so we didn't stay long. We headed to the apple-honey market in Hohenbrunn and got 6 kilos of apples for making applesauce. I know they need to hang out a bit and get softer - but I should probably take them out of the plastic bags - shouldn't I?

Monday we went on a walk with Andrea and Leon and G. started screaming when were were only a quarter of the way into the walk. It was terrible. I ended up carrying her over half the way while Andrea pushed Leon and pulled G's stroller along behind her. Not good.

Today though, today took the cake. We signed up for Mother/child sport at the sport-center in Neubiberg. It's done through the community college and I thought it would be a good way to get us out of the house and G. around other kids and especially a way to have her get energy out for the time when she well, needs to start running around. The classes for younger kids (1-3) were all full, so they opened up the class on Tuesdays for younger kids as well. We caught the 212 Bus at 9:56 from Waldstrasse and were on our way. When our stop came up, I pushed the 'stop' button and got ready to get out. When I looked up from taking the brake off the stroller I realized that the bus had driven right on past our stop and was driving merrily along....Went up to the driver and said: 'Excuse me, I wanted to get out at that last stop...' to which he answered 'Oh scheisse...' Yah, oh scheisse is right. So we wasted over 10 minutes of time driving to the last stop and going back again to our stop. When we finally got out, I was so worked up and lost that I didn't know what to do and instead of stopping, pulling out my map, or remembering the directions I'd gotten on the phone, I walked up to two older ladies and asked them for directions. They sent me in the opposite direction and got me even more confused than ever.

We were ten mins. late by the time we finally found the sport center and then I couldn't figure out how to get downstairs where the others were playing. While I was wandering around outside, despairing of our ever getting there at all, I hear a voice calling out "Excuse me, but do you know where the...oh HI!" It was Sandy, from the kinder-group. She'd decided to sign up for the class at the last minute today. So we wandered around together, trying to find the way. Finally found it and I must say: it was awesome. Yes, G is the youngest and the only one who can't walk yet, but it didn't matter (I hope). There were mats, and slides and things for jumping and bouncing, and rolling and balls and rings and a trampoline and a tunnel...G was in heaven. She loved the balls. She climbed the mats on all fours (feet and hands) she rolled with me on the mats and slid down the slide (with me holding on the whole time). It was definetly good. And what's more, she impressed quite a few mommys with her almost-walking-abilities (she does a great job holding on to one hand and walking away now). So we are defintely going back. It was worth all the pain, and of course NEXT Week, we know where to go - as long as the bus doesn't miss our stop again, we'll be fine.

We will have to figure out the leaving-part though. We left the building right at the bus lull. No busses coming anytime soon. So we walked. We walked until by the time we could have caught a bus, we were only about 15 mins from home and I decided to just walk the whole way. Maybe a bad idea, G fell asleep 10 mins from home and that made naptime a nightmare (took her an HOUR to fall asleep and then she slept an hour later than usual....bad news for bedtime...).

Bedtime had to do with spilled coke and baths, not in that order. Georgie's daddy wasn't thinking and brought a full glass of coke into the living room when he got home (late). He put the glass on the edge of the table and after G was finished watching the Sandman, he let her walk (it was time for bed, she was bathed, in pj's, teeth brushed, hair brushed everything) and she went straight for the glass. Picked it up and had dumped the whole thing onto herself before either of us realized what had happened...

Scrapped one layout this afternoon during G's hard-earned nap. I was at a loss and was happy to see that Ines had put up a sketch challenge on the Scrap-Impulse Blog, so I took off with it. The other layout is one I did for Liz, because she asked me to. That is her darling daughter, Julia who is getting bigger and bigger and plumper and sweeter every day.

Two days ago, Georgia was sitting in her chair drinking (or pretending to drink) out of her sippy cup while I tried to get some pictures of her in her 'George' dress (I recently found out that George is not a Walmart brand, but a very popular British Brand - big sigh of relief!) that her Grandma bought her this summer becuase 1., it is so cute, and 2., it is called George - George for Georgia - get it? Anyway, she was in her chair, which seems quite stable with its arms and back, and she was rocking a bit wildly, bouncing and being a goofball when the next thing I know, she is flying through the air and face planting into my camera lens. Not only was it a shock, it hurt! I gathered her up off the floor, rocked her, held her, and eventually took her into the kitchen for a snack as she wasn't calming down. It was only while she was sitting in her highchair, happily munching that I first felt the huge lump on her head. Shocked, I looked down and saw that the skin had torn a bit, though thankfully, there was no blood. After that first cry though, she's been a trooper and hasn't let out a peep since. Well, except for the fact that she doesn't want to sleep during the day...

On Friday we went on a fast walk again - you know the kind where you take off to the beat of Madonna, or the Dixie Chicks, or Cowboy Mouth? The kind of fast walk you can't do with Oma and Opa. I was feeling so good I wanted to make the walk longer, so I turned off at my old route, instead of following through the bumpy track like we usually do, thinking I'd only take the short extension and come out by the Retirement home. It had great potential, this walk, if it weren't for the tractors that had driven through the WALKING path. They had gouged up huge wheel tracks of mud and left only a narrow footpath between. We fought through with our 3-wheeled stroller, but what should have been a quick tour through the woods, took much too long and was even bumpier than the regular bumpy route. By the time we had hit the street going up to Birkenweg, G had started to cry, the stroller and my feet were muddy and I was tired. Half-way up the street and still a decent way from home, G became hysterical. There was nothing left to do except take her out of the stroller and carry her. all 9,870g of her.

She was in a fairly good mood today. She got leberwurst for breakfast (takes after her daddy, that little girl) and broccoli and potatoes for lunch. For dinner she ate some sort of sausage (gelbwurst) a bit of cheesy scrambled eggs (just a teeny bit) some grützwurst (yuck) and her rice cereal. She's screaming right now though, so I guess cutting down on carbs didn't extend the length of her sleep like I hoped.

I've spent the day playing with Calendar templates from Shabby Princess. So yummy, those things! And then getting into the Christmas Spirit, decided I needed to go find some Christmas Papers to play with. Remembered seeing something at DST and hopped over to search which only led to a spending spree at SA that I shouldn't have done. But I did, and now I am downloading goodies galore by some of my favorite SA designers.

Just so you know - there was an intermission above. I did go to check on G becuase she would not stop screaming, but when I got in, she wouldn't stop for me either. Sven eventually came in and she continued to scream, so he suggested I leave the room. I left a few minutes ago and she was still going at it full-volume until a few seconds ago. It's now eerily quiet in there. Maybe I won't have to go back in. The two of them are a dream pair when it comes to sleeping...He loves to sleep so much (almost more than me) and she is content to have him next to her and wants nothing more from him.

The Original picture had him asleep next to her, but when I came in with the camera, he woke up and stirred, which woke her up...I snapped this right after she'd dozed off, but instead of closing his eyes, Sven insisted on looking in the camera...

Ah, I hear the two of them now - sounds like she didn't go back to sleep at all, so I'm off.

ETA: Totally forgot to mention my score at ALDI today! We have this crazy Aldi that no one really seems to frequent, or something. You see, Aldi has a new sortiment every Monday and Thursday, yes - it repeats itself every year and so if you missed the toolboxes in July this year, you just have to wait for next July and you can grab them then - and from what I've heard, if you want the goods, you have to be in line, waiting at the door when the store opens on Mondays/Thursdays. Insane, right? Like the week before G's birthday, they were selling 'Finding Nemo' at Aldi. I was sure that I was going to have to run into Aldi at 8am on Monday to grab a copy if I wanted it. Nope, went in Monday afternoon and they still had copies for the taking. Now I will admit, when they have cool belts, or clothing or shoes...that if you wait, then you might not find your size, but that's not the point of this anyway! My point is, at our Aldi, the stuff from months ago is still floating about in big bins, looking messy and unwanted. And yet, the new stuff keeps rolling in! I didn't keep up with last week, so I'm not sure when they were in, but today I scored three pairs of tights (two in g's size, one pair a size up) as well as a pair of darling khaki's in a size 80. Score!! It was the only pair of Khakis in that size and the tights were a hard find in her size as well, and yet - I got beige and pink and bright orange! Coolness. Goodnight!

Had a most unpleasant visit to the pediatrician's yeserday. I'm not even going to get into it. Let me just say, I am looking for alternative options. A little late - we aren't due for another check-up until G turns like 2 or 3? When is the U7? So we really only have to go back to Leifheit for sudden sicknesses (which he does fine) and her last vaccination in 4 weeks. He just irritated me SO much, I'm wondering if it is worth it to go to a doctor who is twice as far away and would require me to walk right PAST Leifheit's pratice on the way...I dunno. Maybe it isn't worth it for the day-to-day colds and sicknesses, but for the exams I think it just might be. She doesn't like him. He pissed me off royally. Why should we stay if we have other options, even if those options are farther away and will require us relying on a bus?

Anyway. Going on my own instinct, my little girlie is doing fabulously. She pulled up for the first time on Monday (thanks to her fabulous activity table/piano that was just the right height) and has been practicing that (along with crawling) every day since. She even managed to pull herself up on the bookcase - something she tried a few weeks ago and failed at miserably. I even stuck her in her crib to see if she could walk up the bars (thus proving that stupid ped wrong) and she DID. It took her a few tries yesterday, but today when I stuck her in she was up in a flash. She started walking with a little chair as her walker on Saturday, but fell over when she tried to walk with the baby buggy from Oma. On Monday, she seemed so much more stable, standing on her own two feet with no help for seconds at a time, that i went ahead and gave her the buggy again. She took off (only has one speed!) and walked right into the wall. Okay, so she can't steer yet, but at least she didn't fall over!

She also started to get up on her hands and feet, sticking her bum in the air, and once in a while, even realizes that she can go from this position, to standing, if she has something to hold on to.

This morning we were at Kinder-group and she was in the middle of the room with the toy-crate. I looked over at her and realized she was standing there! She had pulled up on a crate that barely goes to her knees! Of course, she was stuck standing bent over, hanging on, but she did it! So really, that ped. can BITE ME! Weak hips my ass!

Speaking of Kindergroup: I talked MIL into coming with us and brought banana-bran muffins to celebrate g's birthday. They sang to her and she got a fun book: Prinzessin will ich sein. I think that's the first girlie book that was handed out at kindergroup!! Once I convinced her to look at the book, she LOVED it! It is interactive, with a dress that you can lift up, and silky hair to touch, a mirror and flaps to open and shut. And bonus: no one hit her today!

Okay. caught up for the moment. Leaving you with another video - this one was taken (by Liz) at her birthday a week before G's birthday. G was walking the rounds and chewing on birthday cake she filched off Sven's plate (if you listen carefully, you can hear her breathing through her mouth and sniffling because that was the weekend we both caught the nasty cold):

Dearest, Darling (no longer baby) Georgielein,

Yesterday you turned 12 months old - that's one whole year! Let me tell you, in the last month you grew in true leaps and bounds. You learned to sit up. You started insisting on feeidng yourself (pain pain pain) you leanred to crawl THREE days before you turned 1, you started walking around the furniture (but needed help getting up to a walking position), your hair grew into curls around your ears, you had a runny nose for 4 weeks straight, you started talking more, pointing things out and referring to them as 'da' and 'dis'...

You point out every single bear and cat that you see. You still love books and have started to put objects into other objects. You bark when you have a dog in your hands and you even play with some toys, either by making old Mcdonald farmer man walk (bounce, bounce, bounce) or by leaving him in daddy's houseshoe as a surprise. You also like to take your building blocks and leave them places for us to find.

You are stubborn. You want to feed yourself more than anything. You know that the spoon goes in the jar and then into your mouth and most of the time you get it into both places - but the few times you find your mouth, and the food doesn't fall off on the way, you can't quite get it off the spoon once it's there...so when I don't let you feed yourself and try and feed you myself, you scream bloody murder and I use the opportunity to shove a mouthful in when I can...

You also started trying to sit pretzel-syle, crossing your little ankles in front of you - adorable.

We went out to dinner the day before your birthday and ordered you a plate of potatoes. When they arrived, I pulled out a few to cut up and cool off so you could eat them. As soon as one was cut in half you reached over and grabbed the other half before we could stop you. It was hot. You dropped and gave me a look like: what did you do that for? Behind you, a couple was watching and they burst out laughing and teasingly asked us whether you ever got fed at home...You proceeded to finish nearly the whole plate of potatoes and eat anything else that came your way (except the cucumber). A human vacuum cleaner. The couple behind us continued to watch you all night, and you obligingly turned to look at them again and again and give them your most adorable smile. Before they left, they let us know that we had the most adorable baby ever. What a compliment, my little schreihals!

Your birthday went over with a bang - I think. You had visitors from Austria and Lübbenau and Munich. Hanna came and Julia came. You got to eat BBQ meatballs and pretzels and anything else off of Oma's plate you could get your hands on. Your lovely dress and face were a smeary mess of BBQ sauce. You got presents galore (mostly books) and everyone sang to you and spoiled you and entertained you rotten (so rotten in fact, that I could not get you to nap once yesterday OR today - that better chance quick!). You weren't too keen on your birthday cake. You were tired and getting grumpy, so we brought it out quick as we could, sang to you (I wish now, I'd taken more time to sing, because you do love the happy birthday song and this time it was for you) and I helped you blow out the candle. As for the cake itself - not so your thing. you got some frosting on your fingers and that was about it. You didn't even want to eat it off the spoon when Opa tried to feed you. We even tried again today, but you had more fun painting Opa's arm with buttercream than actually eating anything. Maybe my attempts at keeping you healthy are paying off, because given the choice between super-sweet cupcakes and a nectarine, you chose the nectarine.

One last thing birthday-girl: Liz made a video or two of you while she was there have a look: Video Link

Happy Birthday darling - let's have another amazing year!

• something blue
• at least 4 brads
• handwriting (can be only one word and it doesn't have to be yours, it can even be a font)
• a heart
• at least 3 types of ribbon

Friday night invited two nasty colds inside. Georgia and I have been under the weather ever since. I guess I'm glad it happened this weekend and not next, but it was def. miserable. Stuffed up noses are bad, but when you are trying to fall asleep next to a little someone who also has a stuffed up nose? And you need to blow your nose and it wakes (and scares) that little one next to you...well. you get the idea. rough nights.

And days. Poor baby spent most of the weekend screaming and continued into today. I fed her lunch at 10:50am and she went down for her nap just before noon...we could have a very long afternoon ahead of us.

A year ago - almost to the day - Iwas sick as well. I remember becuase 1., I had a ton of work to do before G turned up and since I expected her a few weeks later than she actually came, I thought it would be okay to give in to my cold and rest. Oops. and 2., I spent my time in the hospital blowing tons and tons of snot out of my nose and worrying I would startle the babies. Colds suck.

And because I have nothing of interest to report, let's play: A Year Ago Today.

So, 37 Weeks, according to my calculations, 38 according to the doctor's. Yes, I'm still sticking to my own, will make it much less painful when I go over!

Um. Yah. well - so much for going over, eh?

Moving right along - news, news, news! First, because it is ever so slightly less exciting, I woke up to an Email today announcing that a layout about Miss G had been chosen for publishing! It'll appear in January I believe online. Believe you me, I will link to it when it shows up becuase it is only the second layout of G that will have been chosen by chance (the first will be in the Jan. issue of BHG Scrapbooks Etc)! Happy Morning, although the Email was a bit cryptic!

The super-amazing-even-more-exciting news is actually old. I've known about it for a few months, but wasn't sure when I could throw it out there. If you haven't yet, check THIS out: My Creative Companion 2

What's so big about that you ask? Just that Miss G will be featured no less than FIVE times within those pages!!! I'm so excited about this. This is truly her first appearance in print, but it was an assignment so I could have chosen any topic and it (most likely) would have been approved. I loved the MCC. My friend Carol gave me her copy way back when I had first started scrapping and she still lived in Passau. She claimed that she couldn't use it becuase she didn't care for sketches, she liked actual layouts. I am so grateful to her for giving me that little book - I still use it! And now a second one is coming out and again, i get a copy of it for free and Miss G is in it. Now, is that not exciting news? Oh, and yes, you will see six layouts of mine in there, one of them does not Feature G - well, I suppose she is there, but has not made her appearance outside my belly yet!

So. My happy news today. And can you believe that G will be turning 1 in a matter of weeks? or maybe week? Ack! Her present is bought, her cake is in planning. I was talking to Kereth yesterday (they picked me up and drove me out to her house to take pics of Freya-Jane who is the most beautifully calm and patient baby I have ever, ever, seen. that baby did not cry once or fuss at all - some people have all the luck!) and she said that the german food coloring is terrible and not meant for making any color other than the actual color. So my visions of a lovely pink and peach flower cake for G , or even a pink cake, might be going down the tubes. And mom already sent her bday package so I can't beg for food coloring from her either.

As for G - separation anxiety to the max. But I'm okay with that - it's frustrating, sure, but THE BOOK (the one i swear by because it reaffirms all of the things I was doing automatically) says that SA is a good sign and leads to a very independant and confident baby. Just got to get through it first! That baby has started to cross her ankles as if she wanted to sit pretzel-style (but she doesn't get her legs quite bent enough at the knee) and knows that socks go on her feet and tries to put them on (she has not been successful). I think there was something else, but dumb me forgot to write it down and it's gone and flown out of my head. So I guess I'm done for now becuase G should be awake soon and we are going to Aldi for toast and a belt...