Today Sam and Katie made some new friends on the playground. The kids actually live in our building, the IBZ. Jagorda (my best guess at the spelling) is 7, and she is from Poland. Her mom says her name means blackberry. Jagorda speaks Polish, a bit of German, and a few words of English. Her dad is a visiting mathematician in the same research group as Dave. Yuma is 6, and he is from Japan. He's just starting to learn some German.
There were some definite communication issues, given that the mutual language overlap consisted of mostly "polizei" and "Legos." (Sam had brought the directions to his police motorcyle Lego kit.) They were playing lots of "chase," and Sam at one point thought Jagorda and Yuma were being mean to him because they were laughing. Meanwhile, Jagorda and Yuma thought Sam was sad and didn't want to play with them (as reported by Jagorda's mom, Hana, who thankfully speaks English.)
All the while, Katie felt left out because nobody was chasing her and when they were on the see-saw, the big kids were playing too rough.
Sam decided to handle the perceived affront (i.e. the laughing) by giving Jagorda and Yuma each a simultaneous chest push. Apologies were made, and as we walked back home, Sam felt very sad about what he did.
All was forgiven, though, as after we got home, Jagorda knocked on the door and asked Sam and Katie to play. They started to play chase, but Sam recognized the melee would lead to no good again and said, "Let's just play hide-and-seek." Apparently that's an international game, because once he covered his eyes and started counting, we had kids hiding in all the closets and under all the beds in the apartment. Isaac didn't appreciate the commotion, as he was hungry and tired, but it was nice for Sam and Katie to have some playmates other than each other.
And Sam counted in German when they were playing hide-and-seek!
This is Katie moping because she feels left out.
I had a scare with Gracie. While I was making supper, she started choking on a piece of strawberry she was snacking on. Thankfully, the infant Heimlich worked and the strawberry came out, but it took some pounding. There were lots of hugs shared after that unpleasant experience (and I cut her strawberry pieces smaller.)
In answer to a question from a German in Minnesota, the ice cream flavors Sam and Katie have eaten have only been vanilla and schokolade (chocolate). Grace and I are more adventurous, and we've had zitrone (lemon), nuss (hazelnut), and some liquour flavored stuff suggested by the ice cream scooping girl. A novelty that seems popular at the ice cream shop is spaghetti eis - ice cream that looks like spaghetti noodles with ice cream meatballs on top.
Note Katie still has her dress on from yesterday. She slept in it, and has made the proclamation that she will only take it off when it gets messy, for cleaning.
There were some definite communication issues, given that the mutual language overlap consisted of mostly "polizei" and "Legos." (Sam had brought the directions to his police motorcyle Lego kit.) They were playing lots of "chase," and Sam at one point thought Jagorda and Yuma were being mean to him because they were laughing. Meanwhile, Jagorda and Yuma thought Sam was sad and didn't want to play with them (as reported by Jagorda's mom, Hana, who thankfully speaks English.)
All the while, Katie felt left out because nobody was chasing her and when they were on the see-saw, the big kids were playing too rough.
Sam decided to handle the perceived affront (i.e. the laughing) by giving Jagorda and Yuma each a simultaneous chest push. Apologies were made, and as we walked back home, Sam felt very sad about what he did.
All was forgiven, though, as after we got home, Jagorda knocked on the door and asked Sam and Katie to play. They started to play chase, but Sam recognized the melee would lead to no good again and said, "Let's just play hide-and-seek." Apparently that's an international game, because once he covered his eyes and started counting, we had kids hiding in all the closets and under all the beds in the apartment. Isaac didn't appreciate the commotion, as he was hungry and tired, but it was nice for Sam and Katie to have some playmates other than each other.
And Sam counted in German when they were playing hide-and-seek! 
This is Katie moping because she feels left out.
I had a scare with Gracie. While I was making supper, she started choking on a piece of strawberry she was snacking on. Thankfully, the infant Heimlich worked and the strawberry came out, but it took some pounding. There were lots of hugs shared after that unpleasant experience (and I cut her strawberry pieces smaller.)
In answer to a question from a German in Minnesota, the ice cream flavors Sam and Katie have eaten have only been vanilla and schokolade (chocolate). Grace and I are more adventurous, and we've had zitrone (lemon), nuss (hazelnut), and some liquour flavored stuff suggested by the ice cream scooping girl. A novelty that seems popular at the ice cream shop is spaghetti eis - ice cream that looks like spaghetti noodles with ice cream meatballs on top. 
Note Katie still has her dress on from yesterday. She slept in it, and has made the proclamation that she will only take it off when it gets messy, for cleaning.
Happy to see that you haven't lost any of the kids yet this week! Surely Katie will spill something on her new dress soon so you can wash it. Your blog is wonderful and I'm going to miss it when you come home!
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief that Gracie's mom had the levelheadedness and expertise to dislodge the strawberry. She looks to be rebounding nicely.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm proud of my godson for so diplomatically switching gears after the little misunderstanding in the park. How mature, and what nice people skills. Pleased, too, that he rose to the occasion and counted in the foreign tongue. Reminds me of his adventuresome mom.