I can’t believe it’s been a month since my last post! Where has the time gone?? So here’s the update!
Aleksaner is progressing slowly with his language. He’s up to about 10 words by now. But here’s the good news…. he has two words in German! On Sunday we had his birthday party (yes, he’s two years old!!) and the theme was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Since then he’s been saying Raupe (“caterpillar”) constantly! It sounds more like “owwbaaaah” 
Then just yesterday, I asked him to say bitte (“please”) when he asked me to get him something. He usually signs it, but this time he signed and said bitte, bitte!! It was clear as a bell. I was so excited! He repeated it about 1,000 times as he was going down for his nap - bittebittebittebittebittebittebittebitte….. He may have said it a few too many times, though… You know when you say a word too many times and it starts to sound funny? Well, I wonder if that’s what’s happened to him! He’s still saying bitte, but it’s not so clear. Ah well, he’ll get there!
I finally decided to schedule the speech evaluation. I met with the coordinator from our county last week. But we couldn’t schedule the evaluation until mid-December. So we’ll see….
The reason it’s taking so long is that we’ll be in the Netherlands! I can’t believe we’re going so soon! I finally started making my packing lists and looking for tips about traveling overseas with a toddler. Any advice?? I’m mostly concerned about him sleeping on the way over and also dealing with jet-lag. We’re not bringing his carseat, since my in-laws have one for us to use when we get there. So we’ll use the CARE strap on the plane. I wonder how he’ll be sleeping semi-upright. I guess he sleeps in his carseat sometimes, so it should be okay. At least we’ll have some extra hands to help out when we arrive.
And I’m so excited to go to Germany! We finally settled on Münster. I booked the hotel last night. It should be right near the Christmas Market! I think I’ll need a few hours to browse through a bookstore, too
The German story hour finally started the first Friday in November! Our first session was quite a disappointment. No one came 
But the second week we had three families! And the third week we had one repeat and three more families!!! 
We even had a grandmother join us, because she wants to learn German, since her son and his family will be living in Germany for three years. The level of German among our visitors is varied. We had a native-speaker mother, a woman who majored in German in college, a heritage learner (who didn’t actually pick up much German from her father), several German au pairs (whose charges don’t speak German … yet), and a German grandmother. It’s wonderful to have so many different people! I’m just so excited that we’re getting visitors and can continue in the new year! We’ll have a hiatus now until our special Christmas session on December 16th. I’ve been keeping a blog of all stories, songs, and other activities from each session. If you’d like to see what we’ve been up to, you can check it out at German Story Time.
The story hour is also proving to be a great way for me to connect with other German-speakers. I’m not only meeting other parents like myself. But I’m also learning about other programs in our area. One mother started a nature-based program for children that sounds like a lot of fun. And I just got a message from a woman who started an after-school language program right in my backyard! Amazing!
As for my own endeavors to speak German with Aleksander, I’d say it’s been a little hit or miss. Some days are great. Others … well, I could do better. My in-laws were visiting in October for about 2 weeks. I took advantage of having extra help to get a lot of things done outside the house, so I wasn’t around as much then to speak German with Aleksander. Not to sound like a broken record, but I still have trouble when we’re out in public. Ah well. I suppose the most important thing is that I keep trying!
I’m VERY excited to finally have the time to read your blog again…it’s GREAT to hear how thing are going, to hear about your story time, about your upcoming trip, about your successes! I’m very glad to be back, and glad you’re back writing again, too. Sounds like we both “took a little time off”–if you can say that, while you’re raising a toddler!!
I’m looking forward to reading more about your story hour…but in the meantime, I wanted to say that we just got back from Germany with Kaya, where we were for a month, and traveling with Kaya was actually REALLY amazing. Really good, and a heck of a lot easier than I would have expected. Granted, she’s almost 3, not just 2, but regardless, I thought I’d add a few tidbits while I was thinking about them, since you’re leaving soon.
We bought Kaya a seat, like it sounds like you did, and it was SO worth it. We didn’t use the care belt, just the regular plane one, and it was fine. Granted, we didn’t crash (though I could tell you a scary story!), but all in all, it worked great to have the option for her to lay down when she was tired (which she did quite a bit–not necessarily sleeping a lot, but laying down to relax). I also found that, when I let go of worrying about when and how much and whether she’d sleep at the right times, life was easier. She slept when she needed to, we didn’t plan our day around her naps, and she did great. The fact that we were in new environments all the time really really helped a lot.
Here’s my biggest piece of advice: get a KidCo Peapod and get him used to sleeping in it at home (we put in on Kaya’s bed/crib at home for a few weeks/months before we left). Then, when you need him to sleep on the train (in a private room) or in a corner of a room that doesn’t have a bed, or in the dark where it’s light (you can cover it with a blanket), he will. It’s light, packable, and easy, and provides a cozy space for them to snuggle, play and sleep. I debated on whether to bring it or not, and it was DEF. the best piece of gear that we brought.
I’d also advise you to pack as lightly as possible, though if you’re not traveling around a bunch, that doesn’t really matter so much. Sounds like you’re like me, though: eager for bookstore time, and probably for the opportunity to bring home books, cds, etc For that reason, pack light enough so you can bring stuff home and not have to pay for it! Also, when you’re in Muenster, find out where the bookstore is that sells seconds on books. In Munich, for example, there’s a bookstore called Texxt–they sell books that are new, CDs and such, too, but they have little typos in them that can’t be sold for full price. So nearly everything is half price or less. I got some GREAT books and CDs there. The other idea I have is to browse Amazon.de and use the address I’m staying at to have used books shipped to me there. It’s otherwise hard to find used books there.
I hope this helps. I’m willing to give more advice if you want it. Super excited for your upcoming trip!!
And congrats on your successes with Aleks!
Tamara
Hi Tamara!!!
It sounds like you moved around a lot while you were over here, so I can imagine how useful the pod would be!
But he did sleep a few hours. And then we put him down at his usual naptime here, and he’s adjusted really well to the time difference. Not without a few wakings at night, but now that we’ve been here a week, he’s doing great.
Thanks so much for leaving such great advice! It’s great to hear you’re writing, too. I’m just now going through your more recent posts. I sometimes stop writing when I feel not much is going on with Aleksander’s language…. And of course I get so busy! We moved this past summer, so that was HUGE. I’m surprised I’m finding time for blogging at this crazy time of year, but I figure I should go with it while I’m inspired
So we didn’t end up getting the KidCo pod. Partly b/c I only read your comment the day before we left! But also we really aren’t doing any traveling with Aleksander within the Netherlands. If it would have worked on the plane, I’d have gotten it in a second! He did really well, though, in the end. And he’s adjusted to Europe time amazingly well!
You’re right about relaxing about the sleep, too. It was hard watching Aleksander be so sad b/c he was sooooo tired on the plane. He just didn’t know what to do with himself
Oh, and I forgot to bring that darned CARE strap! So I just held him on my lap during take-off and landing, and that was fine. To be honest, we didn’t even keep him buckled in during the flight, so he could *try* to get comfortable and lie down a bit. I figured if something was going to happen, I’d just grab him and hold him in my lap anyway.
He’s having so much fun visiting with his Oma & Opa (Dutch uses these words, too). I’m so glad we came! We’re already talking about maybe coming back in the spring. And it goes without saying how much his grandparents are enjoying him being here
Another interesting thing is that he’s starting to add about a word a day to his vocabulary! No German words, but I’m just happy for any words at all!
Thanks again for writing! I look forward to reading your posts, too….
Kate