An update on all of us

     
So we go to movies, bike around the city, visit relatives, etc. ... that doesn't begin to cover everything that goes on around here. Especially with Nils. There are so many details I want to share! Care to join me for an update?

Nils

Nils is the most fun to write about. He's just so dang cute! And he's constantly doing the cutest things... gah! It's too much. Some highlights:

He's talking quite a bit now. No sentences yet, but lots of words. Recent additions include "oatmeal", "poop", "mine", "tractor", "spoon", and "Nils". He's also speaking German! It makes up a very small percentage of his vocabulary, but it's there. He says (the German versions of) "car", "tree", "hot", "no", and "more". Pretty cool.

He loves all things transportation related. Cars on the street, fire trucks, buses, street sweepers... if you can think of it we've probably stopped to stare at it. His newest fascination: planes and helicopters. We live directly under a flight path (to LaGuardia?), and this being New York, there are constantly helicopters flying overhead. Paradise. When the drone of an engine begins in the distance, he will stop whatever he is doing and point up at the sky. 

More than airplanes or any other street-bound vehicle though, Nils loves the subway. He doesn't get all that jazzed about actually being on the subway (go figure), but he loves to hang out in a station and watch the trains come and go. Here he is below, keeping his eyes on the lead car of the 2.

He loves so many things! Running, slides at the playground, playing with "choo choos", reading stories, leaping into piles of dirty laundry, splashing through puddles and fountains...
    

Pushing his stroller...
    

He was a sweet, lovely infant. Without question though, this is even better. It just keeps getting better.

Oliver

Oliver continues to work hard. He's been getting a lot of 5:30 and 6:00 am phone calls from staff in India lately - issues they need help fixing before trading starts at 7:00. Can you imagine? You wake up, not to an alarm, but to a pressing need to "work! Work now! Wake up, your work day has begun!" Yikes. I'd need a caffeinated beverage and 10 minutes to sit and stare out the window first. He doesn't complain, though.

Much more relaxing for him: running. He's training for the marathon again this year, and this time I plan to take pictures.

And a final note: he is officially a U.S. citizen. There was a ceremony (cameras were confiscated... alas, no photos), a certificate, and ta da! The days of hassles at the border are behind him. I told him he needs to stop making fun of Americans now. He told me he was voting for Clint Eastwood this November.

Me

No photos of me (guess who's always behind the camera), but plenty of things to tell. They're all sort of jumbled together right now, so I'll just mention the big one: there's a girl on the way! She's due in mid February, and when I'm not feeling guilty for ruining Nils's life, (My poor little baby! What are we doing to you?) I'm pretty excited. We've got 22 weeks to go, give or take, and I'm trying to really make the most of these last months as just the three of us.