I've had a few days off from writing. For no specific reason, I only write on days when I'm alone with Leo, so not on weekends or like yesterday, not on public a holiday. So first a brief summary...
We had 4 days all together. Germany doesn't move its national holidays to the closest Monday like in the UK. When, like this this week, the holiday falls on a Tuesday a lot of people take the Monday off (commonly called a brückentag) to bridge the gap and have a long weekend. Thats what Leos mum did.
Saturday was a glorious sunny day and we joined the crowds of Prenzlauer Berg families at Kollwitzplatz. There's a market (which sells great food and wine), a playground and kids entertainers. Its a lovely way to spend a Saturday.
On Monday we had swimming class as normal, but this time we could go as a family. Leo's mum getting to see first hand how much fun he was having. He got his first dunking today. The instructor is clever about it, they have a technique of counting them in, matching the previous games we've played; on one water is poured on their hands, on two water is poured on their belly, on three water is pored over their head and learn to close their eyes.
The public holiday was German Unity Day, commemorating the anniversary of German reunification back in 1990. During swimming we built a floating wall and the kids smashed it down wearing the colours of the German flag around their neck. That was fun.
Tuesday I took a few hours to myself. I lay on the sofa and watched a movie, then went out in the evening sun for a beer while I read a book. It was so refreshing. Three and a half hours to myself and I felt great. I still do not have a good balance of resting and organising. I realise I'm working myself into the ground a little.
Notable steps for Leo. He's absolutely mastered putting his own dummy in. He can find it near him and manoeuvre it into his mouth. He's very proud of his new trick and will and show it off at any given opportunity.
He's also managing to move himself backwards a little. Its not exactly crawling and he's only moving at the speed of an glacier, but its the first sign of moving.
He's grabbing everything and pulling it towards his mouth. Fine when its a soft toy, painful when its your nose. He will slowly move his tarantula leg fingers towards you, then strike and rip with his little sharp fingernails digging into any soft flesh. No idea how we train that out of him.
By the end of the weekend I felt physically and mentally refreshed and ready to go back to the routine. As if he knew I was at full strength, Leo's immune system decided to flatten him. It started Tuesday evening with Leo getting a bit snotty. He slept really badly waking up every hour because he couldn't breath.
Today I had planned to go out to the allotment with him, but the weather was awful and with his cold I decided a quiet day was for the best. We spent the morning napping in bed. In the afternoon we went to German class and Leo slept for the first 15 minutes in the push chair. Leo still quite ill. A lot of dribbling, a lot of snot and quite rosy cheeks. I'm wondering if it could be caused by a tooth coming. Chewing seems to relive his discomfort.
Over the weekend we changed the push chair attachment to the proper sit up one. Its a little early for sitting up, but the beauty of it is he can be lowered to pretty much lying flat. Perfect for sleeping. Its also a lot easier to keep him warm in with a big wooly sleeping bag attachment.
Already Thursday tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a better nights sleep.