Maximilian

I went back to London for a few days. It was great to catch up with my friends. I went to the playground on Tanner Street and enjoyed playing on a swing for the first time all by myself.

Then I went back to the coast in Belgium to escape the London riots and chilly weather. I love the sandy beach. I have all the tools to play in the sand, but what I like most is to work the sand with my hands. Even if it means that I have it everywhere on my body by the time I am finished with playing.

I also got a seat on Maman’s bike. It goes much quicker than the pram and we can investigate places much further afield.

I have been to Holland for the first time just across the border in Sluis. We found some nice wooden shape sorting toy for me. But I still don’t quite understand the purpose. It has nice colours though.

And finally I played minigolf for the first time. To be honest, I was not playing very much myself. But I was on the minigolf course and inspected the whole thing very closely.

My two weeks in Carinthia have gone by so quickly. After my christening I had another week. The weather was fantastic. So I took my first plunge into the lake with Maman. The temperature was much colder than my bath every evening but it was nicely refreshing on a hot Summer day. I also took my first boat ride in a small motor boat from Ossiach across the lake to Bodensdorf.

Later in the week I went to the Villacher Kirchtag. This year I wore a Pleamle t-shirt, a gift at the Christening, and next year I will even fit into my first Lederhosen.

And finally I went to Italy for the first time. Papa did some shopping in Udine and we had a nice walk in the historic city centre with its palazzi and beautiful squares.

I will miss all the fresh fruit and vegetables from Oma’s garden. Everything I ate in Carinthia was home grown. Maybe Maman and Papa can start growing our food on the terrace in London.

I mastered my first big event: my christening. It took place in the protestant church of Tschöran. It was the same church in which both Opa Robert and Papa were christened as well. The church was decorated with special flowers only for me, the priest gave a very nice and personal speach and a singer and organist added to the atmosphere.

Tata Iza is my godmother. She promised to look after me, especially if my parents become a little bit difficult. My parents chose the following proverb from the bible for my christening:

All things are possible for one who believes (Mark 9:23). For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you (Proverbs 9:10,11)

After the official part we had lunch at the Stoffl up on the mountain overlooking the Ossiacher See. I got so many nice presents. Thank you so much.

I am blogging directly from Carinthia in Austria. It is my first visit to the roots of my father. I am staying at my Oma and Opa in this nice landscape of mountains and lakes.

An official delegation of the local community welcomed me and handed over the “Wiegeband” (litterally the “cradle ribbon”), a ribbon with all my birth details embroided.

We have already been hiking in the mountains. This year I cannot yet walk myself – so Papa has been helping me a little bit. But next summer I will already be able to hike by myself.

We are also meeting my friends from Austria. They were born just after me, so this is the first time I see them. I met Emma from Conny & Christian and Emma from Toria & Alex

I am now really looking forward to my Christening on Sunday. I will keep you posted on this.

Max

I just came back to London after three weeks on the Belgian coast. But I won’t stay here for very long as we are all going to Austria on Saturday morning. In the meantime I have made some important progress.

After starting with fruit and veggies I have started to add proteins to my diet. Staying at the coast I first started with fish: a bit of cod, then plaice and shrimps which are particularly nice. I also tried chicken but my father tells me I should wait for steak and will never touch chicken again.

To the horror of my parents, I am also starting to move. For now I have two modes of movement and I am mastering both with increased skill. Number 1 is simply roling over and over. But I learn how to change the direction of my trajectory to get to my target. This works best on rough surfaces. On a smooth surface I turn to my back an push with my feet. This is much fast with the only disadvantage that I cannot easily see into the direction I am heading. I also like to stand up – but to be honest cannot do so without help and don’t manage to stand very long at all.

All the best

Max

I have left London behind me and I am off for the summer returning on the first week of September. First of all I went back to Brussels and stayed one night with my tata Iza and tonton Fred. Then I go down to the Ardennes for a wedding and by tomorrow I should finally hit the beach in Knokke.

Another eventful weekend has passed. On Saturday I have for the first time joined my parents for dinner. I was sitting in my own chair and we were all eating the same meal: a risotto with leek, courgette and peas. My parents found it lacked salt but I just loved it. The parmesan cheese is really nice. Now I am eating real stuff just like my parents.

A lot of other activity as well: today we had Stephen, Agathe and Amance visiting us from Paris. We went for brunch and lazy afternoon. It was the hottest day in my life so far and temperatures eclipsed 30 degrees. It seems I am not a big fan of heat. Maybe that is why I was born when we had snow fall in London.

Yesterday there was a Rioja festival next to the City Hall celebrating the wine and food from this region of North East Spain. I did not get any of the wine or tapas – but they had good music which I liked.

I am also getting more and more skilful in moving around. I finally managed to turn from my back to my front without any help at all. And I am also starting to sit without help – so I can sit in my high chair and have dinner with my parents.

As always I have some photos for you as well:

I note that I always post pictures from all different kinds of places – but I spend great time here in London with my friends and so I wanted to show some of these photos as well

My parents went to the wedding of Claudia and Andreas to Kitzbuehel. We made a nice little holiday out of it. Opa and Oma also came to stay with us from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. We went to see the Kristalwelt of Swarovski in Wattens. During the wedding, Oma and Opa looked after me and we visited Tante Annemarie. Finally on the last day I also met with Jakob and his girl friend who works in Kitzbuehel. We had a very good stay.

On Tuesday, 31 May 2011, I properly started with solid foods. My first supper was a potato and courgette puree. I liked it and immediately developed a healthy appetite for the solid food. Other than courgette I have also tried carrots and broccoli. I like them just as much.

This week I have one solid meal per day which continues to be supplemented by formula milk. Soon I will switch to two meals daily and I will continue to expand the variety of food. I keep you posted on my progress.

It is also quite helpful that my second tooth (one of the central lower cutters) has now popped out as well. This will make it easier to chew my food.

Max