Many new things in Vorarlberg

In order to give us a little bit more room and to allow Jakob to sleep on a normal size mattress (just like at home in Vienna) Heidi moved us into a different, larger room in our "holiday apartment" before our arrival. The new setup is pretty cool and Jakob now has a nice "cave" behind our bed where he can spend his night and in which he seemed to feel comfortable from the very first moment. As Heidi only moved the bed to the new room while the wardrobe remained in the other room Markus got active on friday, went to buy some tools, dismantled the wardrobe and racks and moved them to their new destinations. Jakob was all exited about the action and both Heidi & Kerstin helped the move as well so that on Friday evening our new room was all ready. There is still more to do, but we still have more than two weeks to sort that out.

Come on dad, I need to get to the football ground on time!!!

On Saturday the weather was back to summer-mode and thus Jakob could play in the garden with the brooms and his new tricycle which we brought from Vienna. He likes to push it himself but also enjoys riding it himself. In the evening grandpa Eugen came to see us and he delivered his birthday present for our big boy: a handmade wooden truck! The truck is perfectly sized (Jakob can reach the floor with his legs sitting on it, has a loading platform with a cover (which is at the same time Jakob's seat) and is absolutely unique. Our guess is that soon our junior will use the truck to transport soil or plants through Heidi's backyard and terrace.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Less rain than expected

During the course of Thursday the weather turned wet and cold also in Vienna and it seemed like the right time to leave the city for our break in Vorarlberg. Markus used a short window of opportunity to pack all our stuff into the car. This task was - as expected - a very difficult one as we were took a whole lot of outfit, toys, presents and equipment with us. At the end of the day we fitted in most of it and left behind only a few things which were not that necessary and at the same time we had enough space for ourselves as well.

There was a nice summer rain falling on our heads when we departed Vienna at 1930 and we all prepared mentally for a long and quite tiresome journey which we expected to be rainy all the way. During the first hour Jakob had his sleeping bottle and afterwards watched the cars and trucks next to us as well as the wet surroundings before he fell asleep in his car seat. To our surprise the rain the rain stopped after a bit more than 1 hour of driving and it remained dry until the moment when Markus emptied the car in Hoerbranz shortly after midnight and thus he was soaking wet for the second time that day as we were caught by the rain also in the afternoon in Vienna.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Lots of action

As the weather forecast was not good for sunday - not good meaning not ideal for going to swim in a lake or pool - we decided to meet Valentin, Maria & Mirko, Laurenz, Claudia & Oliver and Rosemarie, Sandra & Thomas in the Zoo in Schoenbrunn. Somehow though the weather was also not so ideal for the zoo as it started drizzling and so we ended up at Maria & Mirko's flat for some coffee, cake and drinks in the afternoon. That was also nice and gave Jakob actually more possibilities to pursue one of his major passions at the moment: cleaning. he is helping Kerstin cleaning up his high-schair with a sponge, loves to play with the hoover and is crazy about cleaning the floor with a wiper. For now we like it, but shall we be concerned if that habit remains?

Arghhh!!! If i dont clean up permanently, its gonna be completely messy!

Tuesday evening long awaited visitors stopped by in our flat: After more than two years Sissi and Andi finally made it to come and see our new home alongside Felix and Jutta and so the seven of us ad barbecue (again). Felix seemed to like the food judging by him eating three pieces of corn as well as sausages and Jakob, who has not slept in the morning was still full of energy and only went to bed at 2100, 1,5 hours later than normally. The gettogether was very nice and we hope that it wont last another two years for the to to come and see us again.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Water in the backyard

Thursday morning we packed our stuff and travelled the short distance to souther Burgenland to spend a few days with Markus parents and once we arrived Jakob immediately checked out the garden, wandering the lawn, eating some raspberries fresh from the bush and playing in the small paddling pool grandpa organised last minute. Thursday evening we went to see Nikolaus, Michi and Klaus and when Sissi and Andi joined in as well we had some delicious barbecue on the terrace. Jakob was full of energy and went to bed late as he was too excited about pretty much everything.

Is there anything better than playing with water in the garden?

On Friday we hung out again in the garden, met Ines for some shopping in the afternoon and Stefan was part of the organisation committee of the Division U20 Basketball European Championships and so in the evening Markus went to watch the semifinal between Austria and Bulgaria which Austria won. With that victory the team qualified for next year's Division A championship and that marks the biggest success for them. Saturday after lunch, which Jakob yet again was eating with full enthusiasm, we travelled back home to Vienna and our sunshine was sleeping all the way until we reached our destination. In the afternoon he went to buy some potting soil and helped Markus plant the trees he bought for our terrace.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Big day for the big boy - Vol. 2

While Markus was sailing around the Balearic Island of Mallorca Kerstin, grandma Heidi and godmother Sandra and our friend Sandra prepared the second part of Jakob's birthday celebrations which was planned as picnic in the Prater with lots of friends. Small meatballs, tuna, noodle and greek sheperds salad as well as a cake were on the agenda alongs side drinks for the juniors and the parents. When Markus stepped off the airplane on Sunday morning in Vienna he was though pretty shocked: having departed at 0850 at temperatures of 28 degrees and sunshine in Palma Vienna welcomed him with overcast sky, a cold wind and temperatures in the area of 15 degrees.

4 little people had fun together

Given the circumstances and the fact that it was raining during the night a picnic outside would have been a chilly and wet thing and thus we decided to hold the party in our flat. As some of our friends unfortunately could not come anyway there was no space problem and so Jakob could play with Sofie, Laurenz and Felix in the living room, while we had coffee, cake and the salads together with Tanja & Christian, Claudia & Oli and Jutta & Tom as well as Sandra and Doris who we have not seen in a very long time. Jakob received a lot of nice presents like a picture, clothes, lots of books to read and a small chicken on a stick to push similar to the frog he got from Sandra on Tuesday. this was the main attraction during the afternoon and he likes it a lot. In the evening our junior was (again) so tired that he fell asleep instantly and was shortly afterwards followed by his parents who were also pretty tired.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Destination Mallorca, but not Ballermann 6

Wednesday morning Markus left for the airport to fly to Palma de Mallorca for a few days sailing on the Astra de l’Est, a Swan 92 yacht with his former boss and a few of his former colleagues. It has in the meantime become a tradition that the group is sailing for one weekend together and after having been to a Sweden last year where the air and water was quite chilly, this year it was time for some summer-sailing around the Balearic Islands.

Great wind of up to 20 knots, sailing with up to 13 knots and warm water paired with the great pleasure of jumping into the water in the morning before breakfast are fantastic already, but when on Thursday afternoon the boat was joined by a group of three dolphins swimming along and playing with the racing yacht everyone on board was super excited. Even the experienced people who are spending weeks or months on the water claimed to never having seen such large dolphins. Lets see what the next days will bring.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Big day for the big boy - Vol. 1

Yesterday morning Jakob seemed to have realised that the day would be something special as we all were very excited. The final preparations for the family-leg of the birthday celebrations kicked off right after breakfast with purchasing the last necessary ingredients for the meals and decorating the the flat. Our junior cut his morning sleep short and also the lunchtime nap was not too long. When Anna and Lini and lateron the grandparents from Oberwart arrived it was all over with being tired and Jakob enjoyed being in the very focus of the day. He very much liked that fact and had all fun one can immagine.

Once aunts Ines, godfather Stefan, Viki and Sandra also joined us in our cool living room (thanks to our investment into an aircondition) it was time for the presents - and there were plenty of them. Toys, clothes, a tri-cycle, shoes and plates were all wrapped nicely whereas Jakob's main focus was on the frog-on-the-stick which amused and interested him most: the stick weas great to chew on, it fit perfectly to his Charlie-Chaplin-kind-of walk and the frog made funny noises when moved properly. After the presents it was time for the sugar-shock on the roof terrace from the birthday cake: a sacher cake prepared by grandma Heidi with marzipan applications on top - an elephant and a ball. Right after having blown out the candle our sunshine he grabbed the marzipan ball and enjoyed it.

Once energy was re-loaded with the cake, Markus showed the movie he made about the first year of/with Jakob and once that was over it was time for dinner already. Both Anna and Jakob did not very much like their usual supper probably as they knew that there is a barbecue waiting which they also can get hold of. Hence both of them ate the meat, potatoes and other vegetables instead. When bedtime arrived Jakob was still so excited that it took a while to fall asleep, but that was well understood.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

12 become 1

Exactly 1 year ago our live took a sharp turn and became extremely intense with the birth of our son Jakob. The past twelve months were flying by and we enjoyed every minute as family. During the past weeks our junior started walking and with that widened his horizon as he is now able to see and reach much more things. That his parents' life is more difficult now is pretty irrelevant to him.

I eat less and less of these ready-made meals!

Every day's life is though much easier nowadays as Jakob is now more and more involved in the normal process which is most obvious with regards to food. He eats ham, cheese, tomatoes, pepper, carrots, potatoes, chicken, soup of whatever we prepare for ourselves (though we do reduce seasoning, use of salt, etc). The highlight so far was the Frankfurter sausage that he ate at Ikea past Saturday - and guess what: he liked it!

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Doing some gardening

Yesterday marked the end of an era for Markus as it was his last day in the office for his employer UniCredit. Having spent more than 14 years with the same company (name changes, mergers and switches between departments not counted as changing employer) it was a very strange feeling to leave the office knowing that there is no more coming back. At the same time, after 14 years its almost about time for a change.

So the coming months Markus will be on gardening leave during which he will spend a lot of time with Jakob and Kerstin, enjoy the longest break since university, maybe do some travelling and finalise everything for his next job, which will be a new and very exciting challenge for sure.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

The heat is on!

Thursday evening Kerstin’s sister Sandra arrived in Vienna for a business trip and used the opportunity to stay with us and spend some time with her godchild. By the time the weekend arrived Jakob has regained his full health, the rash has disappeared and he was running around in the flat from dawn till dusk. Saturday morning the 4 of us had breakfast on the terrace together before Sandra and Kerstin headed out into town to do some shopping while Markus spent several hours with Jakob at home. The two boys did not go outside as it was so hot but played, ate and slept in the airconditioned & darkened flat. In the afternoon Markus’ fear became reality when Argentina crashed ouot of the World Cup against Germany 24 hours after Brasil also failed to qualify for the semi-final due to a loss to the Netherlands. The stage for his “horror-scenario” – a final Germany vs Netherlands – is now set and only Spain or Uruguay can prevent that.

Sunshine & water means Jakob is happy

Sunday morning Sandra left for the railway station after breakfast to get back home to Vorarlberg and when she left Markus prepared Jakob’s pool on the terrace. We decided to spend the day at home bathing in our very own pool rather than joining millions of other people in any of the outdoor pools. Jakob had a lot of fun playing with the water whereas he clearly is enjoying more to spill water and play WITH the wet element rather than IN the water. Our suspicion I, that he is currently dreaming of a job as firefighter, just like Grisu, the little dragon.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus

Fever gone – Coolio back

Monday morning Jakob and Kerstin had an appointment at the paediatrician and got clarification about our sunshine’s illness: He was diagnosed exanthema subitum or three-day-fever which almost every child will have at one point and which is not a worrying thing at all. Once the fever goes down (usually on the third day – in our case that was Monday late afternoon) the body gets covered in a red rash, which seems to not be itching, but simply looks weird and Jakob also showed these symptoms perfectly. The side effect to the illness fading away is a very unbalanced child and our son is taking that to perfection paired with his most recent introduction: unmotivated anger screams and anger attacks (most preferred while feeding, playing or changing the diapers).

How cool am I with my sunglasses?

Yesterday the grandparents from Oberwart visited us and spent the day in Vienna and also Markus took the day off to enjoy the warm summer weather with the family. In the afternoon we all went for a lengthy walk through the Prater granting Jakob a lot of time to sleep in the shadow of the trees and once he woke up after more than 2 hours resting he listened to the nearby summer party of a kindergarten, walked through the grass and enjoyed fresh watermelon junks. When bedtime came Kerstin realised how exhausted our junior was from the exciting day as he fell asleep very fast giving us the opportunity to enjoy the barbecue before the grandparents travelled back home to Burgenland.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus