New Humor

Of course one has to watch out for some taste trappings of parenthood. We caught ourselves laughing out loud about this one. Well, maybe it is kinda funny. Things have to be brought to a thundering halt though by someone, if somebody catches us whistling Rafi songs (or whatever the German equivalent would be), reciting ´Jungle Book´ by heart, wearing 'World's best Mom/Dad'-Tees or if we should have our toddler leave outgoing messages on communication devices.

New Music

More firsts. New challenge - music to please newborns.
Karl's Top 10 so far:

Rufus Wainwright

Simon & Garfunkel

Goldberg Variations (played by Glenn Gould)

Beethoven's piano concertos

Bill Evans

Oscar Peterson (with orchestra arranged by Claire Fisher)

Ramsey Lewis (playing the Beatles)

We didn't get any further in having a Top 10 yet. So - more to come. And yeah, you try playing hip music to a baby. Not working.

Adventures

This now is the new definition of adventure - firsts! Today first bath. Yesterday - first wind, first fog, first damp chill (yes, we do live in Germany and sometimes it's very German). Brillant baby tactic to avoid too much pressure during adventures - sleep. Don't work in that baby bath bucket though, so other forms of protest were used (well, no, can't tell, still sticking to the no poop no fart policy of this blog, even though it was very funny).

Mischief

What age are they capable of mischief? I know we're not supposed to read anything into his facial expressions yet, but he sure looked like he was up to something. Aaah, parents. Hopeless suckers.

Growing in Fashion

After Karl already grew out of an outfit within the first week of his life, we figured that it doesn't make sense to buy pricey baby wear. But it seems like that if you don't want to spend 50 Euros on a one piece, the only other option in this town is hideous. Ugly. Little bear appliqués hell. Please, when is Old Navy going to make it to Europe? Well, there's always H&M you're going to say. But of course they cater to the questionable taste of the resident Bavarians, so they carry a lot of hideous stuff, too. But at least they have a third style option: hysterical!

The Wrinkling of Faces (extended version)

It took our team quite a long time to get the lighting right, but now here you go - masterful forhead wrinkling live in action. With the added bonus of Karl Julius' best impression of a baby seal. See it and weep.

Irony

Oh those hints of innocent smiles.... We're trying to figure out, when kids start to understand irony though. Very important skill, if you wanna grow up sane in this household. He got off to a good start, since Fred came up with a pretty good quip at the height of pain. When that got a bit unbearable a very sweet anesthetist was called in, who immediately understood the situation and skipped the bureacratic filling out forms and questionnaires part of his job. He just asked "Is there anything you have to tell me?" To which she deadpanned: "Yup. I'm pregnant." Definitely won over the delivery room crew.

1st Outing

When taking Junior for his first outing in wintery conditions one should of course make sure he is appropriately dressed. Should any confusion about suit sizes arise always opt for larger. Any children lost in oversized snow jumpers can easily be retrieved later by using common household tools.

This by the way is the legendary Black Denim Bugaboo in action. The stroller that makes all fellow parents in the neighborhood pale with envy. The one Fred fought for like Patton over Normandy:

Go Karl!!

Now here's a different kind of cute. It starts with the quivering of the lower lip and the look of the weight of the world bearing down.

Which is followed by a hearty wail that actually does make your ears ring. How do they find this pitch? Piercing is the word.
of course we thoroughly checked Karl for all possible sources of real discomfort, talked extensively to the wise and friendly visiting midwive (ha! Europe! Insurance pays for midwive visits to help you with childcare for weeks). So that wail is mostly a healthy sign of self-expression. Which makes a father proud.

Go Karl! Go Karl!

Ok, I shouldn't jinx it, since so far we were spared all-nighters. But he still is cute in a kind of baby macho way, showing off his baby powers.


And sure it can be a sign of passing discomfort. Or pure greed of wanting to feed not according to schedule, but more like - constantly. Which can be temporarily satisfied with the help of an artificial soothing device. And that look of drama in his eyes will break your heart.

So cute!

The Wrinkling of Faces

And now by popular demand - cuteness and parental bliss! This of course just gives you just a hint of the aforementioned forehead curling. But future parents be warned: the wrinkling of any parts of the face will render you helpless.

The Thinking Man's Baby

So the audience demands cute (see comments in last posting). Karl! Your cue. Ah! The thinking man's pose, just to prove that one is never too young for sophistication. That leading thinkers are molded and formed at an early age. Of course YOU SHOULD SEE HOW HE WRINKLES HIS FOREHEAD WHEN HE YAWNS! Which sends all sophistication to the bleachers. More cute overload to come.

K & K

Luckily historical analogies to Karl Julius didn't come just from Germans. Our friend Markus for example, who's Austrian and who threw the three day bash in Vienna Fred and I had met back then. He reminded us that Karl's initials stand for the reveered K & K monarchy, that the heart of that monarchy used to be Klosterneuburg. Where Duke Karl defeated the Turks. Where during the three day party one of the lunches took place. At a restaurant once owned by Markus's grandmother. Which also used to be the hangout of the Austrian actor Helmut Qualtinger. Who became famous with the monologue "Der Herr Karl". Which he performed nearby, getting drunk after his performances with wine served by Markus's grandmother.


Definitely beats the November 9th remarks we got all around. Oh, and Markus sent Karl a rather avantgarde white teddy bear by Hermes. Which he took to quite fondly already.

Born on the 9th of November

Karl Julius. Born on the 9th of November 3:11 AM at the Frauenklinik Maistrasse in Munich. The birth stats: 3225 grams, 51. That's 7 lbs., 20 inches for all our metrically challgend friends.

Yes, life changes right away. Yes, it's like discovering love for the first time all over again. Yes, Fred is a hero. Yes, he's the most of everything.

And since we promised some friends never to tell any poop and fart stories now there is a blog for that.

They did make fun of us coming home from America after all these years and having a child on the 9th of November. Which is like the big whoop date for Germans. They call it The Day Of Fate because of a all that history and shit. There's like 15 significant 9th of Novembers in German history. Ya know, Einstein got his Nobel Prize on a 9th of November. The pogroms started. The Berlin Wall came down. The first one was in 1313, when Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian defeated Friedrich the Beautiful in the Battle of Gammerlsdorf, therefore gaining power over all Dukes of Lower Bavaria. If your cared to know. But that's our privilege as parents now - to tell stories no matter if people wanna hear them or not. And this is where it starts.