Laugh all the way to the bank, cry all the way home

Today, Mom and Dad went to the bank-account store and bought a bank account. The store also sells umbrellas and cell-phone covers at a little table in the back, but bank accounts are cheaper and you don't lose them on the train.

Opening the account was easy enough, but the bank people didn't like our money. We spent most of the afternoon traipsing around Munich looking in vain for somewhere to change American Expresses into Euros in time for Mom to pay an apartment deposit tomorrow. Is this what people mean when they talk about Chase Bank?

Stop me if you've heard this one

Back in the lobby of Mom's work. More playing with the fire extinguisher. Mom's tapping away at her No Touch Laptop again. Must be something in the air around here.

The third one will be just right

These hotel refrigerators. Last time my medicine got spoiled because it was too cold, and this time it got spoiled because it was too warm. Sorry I've been so grouchy the last few days. And not eating. Or sleeping. Even if it is sort of Mom and Dad's fault for blaming the symptoms on jet lag. As if, a jet-setter like me.

Non-Apparent Participation

We finished breakfast and wandered over to Mom's office, arriving just in time to eat lunch. Not the wurst way to begin exploring my new town. Lunch was pork roast, red cabbage, and potato dumplings. Yum! I guess we're really not in Kansas, er, California anymore.

After lunch I played with the candy and fire extinguisher in the lobby while Mom and Dad used their No Touching Laptops. This new parent-participation daycare is great!

We spent the rest of the afternoon telling the housing authority we're here. I can't believe they didn't already know! I thought my reputation preceded me. Apparently banks, libraries, shipping companies, waiters, ... just about everybody in Munich won't believe you're here until you show them an Anmeldung to prove it.

Make yourself at home: Do not touch anything.

No touch, that's a wire. No touch, that is a trash can. No fingers in the holes in the wall, those are power outlets. Sheesh, all the toys in this tiny hotel room are off limits. And you people are up all night and asleep during the day. We left our house in Santa Clara for this? But there's fruit yogurt for breakfast, so I'll cut the place some slack.

Wilkommen in München!

Just after breakfast, around supper time, our plane landed somewhere called Munich, Germany. Without even a single photograph to aid us, we trundled our mountain of bags into a taxi-van (the station wagon turned us down) and then into a hotel.

To celebrate our arrival in Germany, we went out for Italian food. I know it was a good restaurant because the waiter smiled at me a lot and there was a dog at the next table.

The flight that never ends

This is the flight that never ends.

Yes, it goes on and on, my friends.

When first the plane took off

I thought that this would be a lark,

But then my folks both fell asleep

And left me in the dark

Upon the flight that never ends:

The flight attendants are my friends.

All kinds of snacks and toys

They will present me with a smile,

And that will keep me happy

For about another mile.

And then my little heart, it rends,

Because this flight, it never ends;

And there are sixteen other babies

Who are all awake as I

That all curse Wilbur and Orville

When they cry, cry, cry!

But it's the flight that never ends,

For as our route to Munich wends,

It seems we've been forever winging,

Yet I'm still stuck in this plane:

So I will pass the time by singing.

Won't you join in this refrain...

Extra Baggage Fees

I wouldn't have thought all that could come out of the car if I hadn't been in there with it. It's funny watching Mom and Dad fit it all on two luggage carts. No, I will not carry any bags!

Here's my idea: make a train out of all the things with wheels. I volunteer to be the caboose if I can ring the bell.

At least I'm getting good practice for when I run away and join the circus. There's bound to be more elbow room in the clown car than there was in this one.

Walled In

Small rental car. Big pile of luggage. Good thing my carseat has a handle, or I'm sure Dad and Mom would have found a way to put a suitcase in my lap.

Shouldn't there be a cask of Amontillado around here somewhere?

Catching On

First, my housemates all moved out. Then, both sets of grandparents came to visit. After that, our stuff all disappeared. Even the piano, which only just came back. This morning, three different sets of people came to see me in my empty house: the former housies, the cousins, and Uncle David and Aunt Pam, along with a very nice lady who I guess is my first-cousin-once-removed-in-law. I'm pretty sure some kind of change is afoot.

Ein Bonn firrenburnen

Ted and Vicki held a "Bonn Voyage" fire for us. A whole bunch of our friends were there — Amanda even came all the way from Virginia just to see me. Anya, Yash, Rebecca, Penelope, and their parents showed up decorated in their Holi colors. Mom, can I have a technicolor mohawk like Penelope?

Mom and Dad made everybody take one of the bags of stuff from our living room. I guess the garbage bins at home were full. I didn't see anybody toss their bag into the fire, but there was a lot of swapping going on. What can I get for a soggy piece of banana bread?

Plastic or Paper?

When we came back from the hotel, even the couch was gone! Mom and Dad took everything that was left in the house and lined it up across the living room floor. I'm not sure of their sorting, but I think it was in order of No-Touch. Then they packed it all into paper bags.

Grownups are weird.

An emery board, some hair ties, a remote control, and 37 cents

Now all our stuff is gone. Only my travel crib and the sofa are left — plus the treasures stashed in the cushions. There's definitely some kind of pattern here.

Dad doesn't want to sleep on the floor, so we're all going to a hotel for the night.

Where'd all my stuff go?

While I was at the MSDF, somebody came and carted away a bunch of my stuff! There'd better not be a pattern here.

It's not all bad, though. There's lots more room for crawling around now, and way fewer "No touch!"

O Clap Your Hands

Nobody taught me the hand sign for "excited", so I made one up. When I clap my hands, Mom and Dad say "Yay!" on cue. For my next neologism, I'm going to roll around and giggle when I want them to say "Go to sleep."

CatFurHouse SF

Jennifer invited me to dinner. Since Mom and Dad drove me, and Mikey lives there, they got to crash.

Jennifer and Mikey's place is called CatFurHouse, but I didn't see a single catfur. I did see cheese and crackers, though. Yum! I had a great time playing with their toys, too. Thanks for a fun evening! I'm so excited, I couldn't possibly fall aslee... zzz....

New travel crib

I got a new crib today. It's a fifth of the weight of the old one and folds into a travel bag. In my first fifteen minutes in it, I puked. I think I'm quite tolerant of change, don't you?

Bye bye, blue one

Grandpa drove off in my blue car, and didn't bring it back. This better not be the start of a pattern.

Takin' it to the streets

While Grandma Natalie enjoys going out to eat, apparently Grandma Rhode's idea of a good time is waiting in long lines at the DMV. I guess everybody loves going to the DMV, because as far as I can tell nobody goes there only once. I went with Dad and Grandma twice in the same afternoon.

Cleared for flight

Grandma rode with us on a long trip to Oakland to review my MRI with the baby neurologist.

The P.A. reports that everything's healing nicely. Dad got her to take out some of the lumpier knots in the dissolving sutures where my tail was removed, and since he was so nice I didn't even pee all over him while she did it.

My surgeon Dr. Pang came in to say hello and get his photo taken with me. He must have heard about my blog and wanted his chance at fame.

And Eat It Too

Grandma and Grandpa Rhode came to visit so they could take their turn basking in my glow. Hey, don't they need me to have cake too?

As a Kite

The world keeps tipping over. It makes it very hard for me to hold my head straight or crawl properly. I wish Dad would stop laughing; it's distracting.

Mandatory Repeat Investigation

I'm back for a followup MRI, to make sure everything's healing up properly. It's a lot easier to get an IV into a 16-lb baby than an 8-lb one, but this time I'm ready. I'll have that thing out before you can say… arm-board? Curses!

The Gang's All Here

Everybody came over to play with me! That's Mom, me, Dad, Grandpa, Massi Santosh; Yash, Uncle Henhuh, Grandma, Anya, Rebecca, Jesse, and Penelope. Katherine's taking the photo, so you can't see her.

Happy Unbirthday to Me

Since Grandma Natalie won't be able to visit for my real first birthday next month, Mom and Dad had a mini party for me tonight. Any occasion where I fall asleep face-down in chocolate cake is a happy one.

Basket of Fun

Cousins Anya and Yash came to visit, with Massi Santosh and Uncle Henhuh. We all went for a ride together.

Hello, Stranger... Anxiety

Yay, Grandma Natalie and Grandpa Dale are here for a visit! Wait a second... who are these people I don't recognize? Waaah!

Put the lime in the coconut

Dad ate up the last of the Thai coconut-chicken soup Ted & Vicki brought, but not before I got some. Yum! Do I have to go back in the hospital to get some more of that?

I Has a Bucket

Iz mah bukkit.

Back in the MSDF

It's my first day back in the MSDF. I played all day without a single "No mouth" or "Not for babies". Despite that, it was still pretty fun.

Mom and Dad stayed with me the whole day. If they enroll full-time, do I get a referral bonus?

Snip snip

I got my first haircut today. Mom held the scissors, but it's Dad's vintage fashion sense. "Before" on the left, "After" on the right. See how much better I look?

Yeah, me neither.

Out of stitches

Dad and Mom make me laugh with funny noises and peek-a-boo, but I'm glad they're not keeping me in stitches. I got those removed today. Somebody find my duckie: I'm itching for a bath.

I habb a code

Five weeks with Rebecca and Penelope taking turns being sick at home, and I'm fine. Two hours visiting daycare, and now I have a cold. And I got off easy: During my absence, the MSDF had a bout of bronchitis and a stomach flu that emptied entire rooms. Maybe I don't need to learn how to shave after all.