Make Over and Ketchup!

So Decemember was CRAZY in the Barr household! First and foremost- Daddy came home!!! I had known for a while that he would return early Decemember but couldn't say anything for security reasons. Roman had been horribly sick the week of Matt's return running high temperatures, diarhea, rash, etc. I stayed home Thursday-Friday with him much to the school's dismay. I took him to the Dr on Wednesday after having a high temp (103F!!!) for 24hrs but she said it was a virus and it'd run it's course but to bring him back on Friday if the fever persisted. Matt came home on Thursday and poor Roman was so out of it, in a feverish haze, that he wasn't quite aware that- wait, this is my Dad! Matt was bummed that Roman wasn't more excited but he quickly saw how yucky he felt and understood. Friday morning, Matt's first morning home, we were back at the Dr because Roman's temp was STILL up and he had developed a rash over his upper body. Well yes it was a virus but he also had an ear infection AND his tonsils looked "beefy" but since she was already giving him antibiotics for the ear she didn't test for strep. After 24hrs on the antibiotics my poor baby finally started perking up.

Once Roman was feeling better he wasn't quite sure of Matt. That first night home, even though he was sick, he was bringing Matt toy after toy as if he was showing his Dad all that he had missed while he was gone. He also let Matt give him a bath and put him to bed. But a few days later he went on a Mommy Only thing and he's still sort of there.

Roman will play with Dada happily, especially legos and cars which Dada seems to do better than Mama. But when Roman wants to read a book or chill out in a lap it's always got to be me. Matt will try over and over to call Roman to him but that only makes Roman cry harder for Mama. I'm still working on that...

When school let out for Christmas Break the Barr family headed to London with our friends the Lucas Family: Christa, Ryan, Madi (4), and Abbi (2). London ROCKS. Our favorite place we've been to. No it's not as beautiful as Rome or romantic as Paris but it is fun! And it's in ENGLISH!! It sort of felt like being "home" and the people are SO stinking nice. Like old men, ladies, and teenage boys all helping a woman with a stroller up and down many "tube" stairs!! Once again I was in love with the public transportation. I wish Texas had more subways and busses!

Highlights from London:

Buckingham Palace (although the Changing of the Guards was cancelled)
London Eye at twilight/night!
Tower of London (crown jewels were my favorite. Also seeing Tower Green)
Westminster Abbey (so beautiful and pretty. Plus I saw some of my favorite historical people's graves: "Bloody" Mary, Elizabeth I, etc. I was disappointed to learn that Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon are elsewhere.)
Sherlock's Pub for some steak pie and fish-n-chips
Apollo Victoria Theater where I saw WICKED!!!
London Zoo (monkey exhibit is AWESOME- they try and jump on you!!)
Picadilly Circus/Oxford St for some window shopping and a short but psychotically busy visit to Hamleys, England's largest toy store.

We tried to hit up the British Museum but only a few minutes in there we learned it wasn't kid friendly. I had also scheduled us to see the National History and Science museum, Pollock's Toy Museum, British Library but we did not have enough time/ stamina with 3 kids under 4! Roman behaved VERY well I must say, especially considering he didn't sleep well ever. This is always a battle on vacations.

In Decemember Roman learned some new things. He mastered "no" and "uh uh" with a head shake. He can open doors that have handles (not knobs). He grew at least an inch! He knows most animal sounds and associates the names with him (though he doesn't say the names yet). We broke the paci once and for all after Christmas. This was hard because he had it 24/7 in London as "security". I snipped the tip off the paci hoping he'd just not want it and be fine. Nope. He was P.O.ed! He's chuck it and keep crying for HIS "ni-ni" but we held strong. A few nights of endless crying for 45 minutes and he's done with it. Now he'll still ask for it but I just tell him "No, you're a big boy." and that's that. However bedtime isn't as easy anymore. He wants Mama to rock him. Sometimes that doesn't even make him tired so he'll have to fuss for 5-10 minutes until falling asleep.

For Christmas Roman received lots of legos, cars, and even a four wheeler. I love watching him build legos over and over, drive cars around while saying "vrrrooooom" and lining all of his cars up, and he can even ride his power wheel's by himself (it has a button on the handlebars instead of a foot peddule). His face is ecstatic when he's riding on it.

We have also bought a new male Siberian Husky puppy named Zeus. He is still with his litter as he's only a month old but we got to go over and pick him out when he was 3 weeks old. Roman LOVED all those dogs. 6 puppies and 3 adults! He's so rough on poor old Elvis (banging toys on him and laughing evily) so we're hoping a young, energetic puppy that will soon outgrow him will give him a new friend to play with and grow up with.

No snow in Germany except once while we were in London and once right after Christmas. Both times the snow covered the ground but melted by night time. I'm torn between loving not freezing to death, slipping on ice, and having dry shoes but part of me loved snow- at least looking at it! Christmas didn't feel right without it. It also didn't feel right because I was vomitting on Christmas Eve and we'd just returned from London so we didn't do our "traditional" things. Oh twell.

So that was Decemember for the Barr's! Matt's still on block leave and I'm back at work and Roman is back at school. Check back for another update soon. By the way, how do you like the new blog layout? I'm still looking for something personalized but figured it was time to take down the stork since Roman was born 17 months ago!!!

Posted in: Germany