We're back ....

and we have hit some awesome milestones like....
wait for it....

Our first cold!!! Yeah! We all got sick in the U.S. and although Teddy is barely sick with the cold that we all had, his is lasting FOREVER. He is now going on week 3 of being sick. During the day we notice basically nothing but then at night he has a stuffy nose and sleeps terribly, and by terribly I mean up every 1-2 hours the whole darn night, terribly. Needless to say we are all hoping he gets better soon. The doctor checked him out and he doesn't have anything which would need treating like bronchitis, so I will just continue to give him homeopathic medicines (which I honestly believe do absolutely nothing) and hope that someday soon I can have a 5 hour stretch of sleep again.

The States were AWESOME though. We got to see grandma, who Teddy remembered and loved, meet my friends from school time, and spend time with my relatives.

Teddy also got to make some new friends in the form of my mom's cats. He loved them, maybe too much....

Teddy did not start crawling or rolling or anything else of that nature while we were there but he has now become insatiable when it comes to food. I mean the kid is close to getting tears in his eyes when we are eating if he can't have some too, or doesn't have his own food to eat. He was eating Gerbers natural babyfoods like it was some sort of baby crack- and everything else which we let him try; pickles, sno-cone, rolls, etc too bad the kid still doesn't have any teeth as it really limits what I can offer him.

But how could I forget his favorite treat, paper! If there is any sort of paper near him, he is on top of it, quickly shoving it into his mouth. I'm surprised by how quickly he can cause things to dissolve, newspaper is the worst but books, cards, restaurant menus, customs forms (they loved that!) have all been on his meal plan.

We all had a lovely time and the flights were OK. The flight coming in was rough just because some people near us never dimmed their lights so even though Teddy should have been sleeping for at least 4 of the 8 1/2 hours to Minnesota he slept 1 hour which was in 2 30 minute increments. The rest of the time he was wide awake and needed to be entertained. On the way back he slept 6 hours though and it was solely due to the fact that the plane was dark. It was bliss! He was a great traveler though and quite a few people commented on it. Almost no tears were shed and we, the parents, were able to get through it with such aplomb that the next flight is already booked. Although I will be traveling alone with him for that one and I am dreading it just a teeny bit.

Shopping was a big part of our America trip. Teddy is in 18 months, 24 months, or 2T depending on the brand and the clothing article. Unfortunately these clothes are made for older children who are moving of their own accord so they are often much too tight in the waist. Until he slims down a bit he is going to be wearing a lot of fleece pants and overalls. Sigh.

Now we are happy to be back in rainy, cold Germany and looking forward to the next 6 months of Teddy's first year of life.