Oktoberfest - Vier

William's and my fourth visit to Oktoberfest was to meet up with our friend Alix who had flown in from London for the weekend. The three of us walked around the fairgrounds enjoying the calmness that only a midday lunch can bring this little Oktoberfest.

It was a beautifully sunny day and we were lucky enough to find a shady spot in a beer garten with enough room for our kinder wagen. Phew!

William entertained Alix and everyone around us by being fascinated with the beer foam. Oh the stories he'll tell his college buddies some day!

11 months!

William turned 11-months-old on September 20th. Jeff and I can't believe we are the parents of an almost-one-year-old! Where did the time go?

Here are four fun pics from our photo session for his 1st birthday Evite.
At Jeff's creation, we'll be throwing the 1st Annual Light-Ball Extravaganza. Balls and lights are two of Will's favorite things, so what's better than being surrounded by your favs on your b-day? We do acknowledge the fact that William does love pigeons, dogs, and ducks as well, but we just didn't see that combination of things in our apartment ending very well . . . so lights and balls it is!


A great William smile

The photo of choice for his Evite
Yes, Auntie Donna, all we had to do was ask, "William how old are you going to be?" Our son is brilliant.
Okay, okay. He just likes to point. A lot.


Latest Tricks:
- Crawling in the proper form. After months of commando crawling, William now painstakingly moves around on his knees. However, if he deems his destination to slow in coming, speed trumps form and he drops down to his stomach and really hauls.

- Growling like a lion. We don't really know where he learned this, but it cracks us up and scares little girls in playdates.

- Not sitting still for circle time at Gymboree. I remember sitting with my motionless Will months ago, looking at constantly mobile little boys in the class thinking, "Who are these mothers who have raised boys who won't sit still and listen to a song or watch the parachute? Not I! Look how wonderfully William sits and listens attentively. He will ALWAYS be this way."
I eat my words every week when William lifts up the parachute bubble and escapes while I chagrinly follow.

- Pulling up on everything. You name it, Will will pull up on it. He's wonderfully steady and strong now, so at least I can cross off 'falling down' on my list of things to worry about. 1 down . . . 1 trillion to go.

- Not being able to get down. The boy can pull up, but still can't get down by himself. Yet, grasping Mom or Dad's pinky finger gives him all the strength he needs to find the ground again.

- Launching head first off of anything at any height. Apparently William's fear of heights is limited to the height of his legs, for crawling off a couch, bed, Gymboree climb structure or playground slide head first is not as scary as getting out of a standing position.

- Responding to the word 'no'. Well, acknowledging 'no'. Well, actually smiling mischievously at the word 'no', repeating the forbidden action to elicit another 'no', and then giving an even bigger smile as if to say, "Ahhh, come on! But I'm soooo cute when I break rules!"

- High-five-ing. Uncle Pete knew he could fly home deeming his trip successful once he taught his nephew how to high-five. Well-done, Uncle Pete!

- Kissing. Ha. I crack myself up. We have the happiest, people-loving kid around who absolutely can't stand to give kisses. He doesn't mind being showered in them himself. However, when it comes to returning affection, William much prefers anything else. Anything.

- Feeding himself. Loves it! Cubed fruit, shredded veggies, whole grain pasta, and . . . CHEERIOS! We love lunch time!

Happy clapper

Channeling his inner John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever
Someone's ready to party!

Buzz cut!

After seeing Will in a few pictures, one of us decided we needed to cut his hair, the other was not so sure, and the third had no frame of reference on what to expect. One might guess his mom wanted him to look sharp, but guess again, it was dad who insisted that the grandfather hair-over-the-ear look and rocker bangs was not a charming look for a 10-month-old.

Here is the little man prior cut.

Look mom, I can't even muster a smile with all this hair in my face!
Notice the stragglers in front and the nice wings over the ears. :)

Of course, going to a barber might have been the best, but between Dad's 10-Euro hair cutter who would have given me a buzz cut and Mom's stylist who is not used to working on moving subjects, the P's decided to give it a try themselves. To keep me entertained, we put Sesame Street on iTunes and Dad cut away. I think he needs a little practice because half way through he said, "Ah ha, so that is why they pull the hair between 2 fingers and cut!" But it looks like he got it down!

I love my new "do" and am happy to look so dapper now. Even Mom thinks I look good. :) Thanks for keeping me looking good, Mom and Dad. I suppose I might even let them do it again once it grows out.

Oktoberfest - Eins

Well, well, it's that time of year again . . . when all the Bavarians celebrate a royal wedding and horse race that happened years and years ago. The world knows it as Oktoberfest, but for all of Munich, the Zabel 3 included, we know it as Wiesn, or roughly translated: F-U-N.

This year's Oktoberfest is the 200th anniversary of the actual celebrations. (It's actually been longer than 200 years since the royal wedding started it all, but the celebrations skipped a few years due to World Wars, etc.) The town is abuzz with festive foods in the stores, desolate work spaces, crowded U-bahns, and dirndl and lederhosen-clad people everywhere you look.
It's Oktoberfest, folks!

We Zabels want to participate as much as our livers, arteries, and little William will let us, so I apologize in advance if our blog seems a bit redundant for the next two weeks. I'll give you three guesses where we'll be and what we'll be doing, and your first two don't count. ;)

We started off this Oktoberfest at the parade of breweries on Saturday, only to discover that we didn't put our photo card back in the camera. Doh! A pictureless first day. Sigh. Good thing Oktoberfest runs for two weeks!


Sunday we attended the much longer Oktoberfest parade with the breweries as well as representation from every city in Bavaria. Each city does something true to their town's heritage whether it be historical garb, marching bands, or horse-pulled wagon/floats. Sometimes all three!
Here William is pictured moderately-enthusiastically waving.
"Didn't we do this yesterday guys?"
Okay, okay, William. We like the way you think. Let's get out of this parade early and get to Oktoberfest itself! Well, if our son says so . . . .

William, wish granted. We had fun meeting up with our friends Rachel and Will and their daughter Edie. The kiddos sucked down brezn and we sucked down, well, take a guess.

Look at those cute boys in their lederhosen.

The Zabel Family at Oktoberfest -- 2010

And just for kicks . . . The Zabel Soon-to-be-Family at Oktoberfest -- 2009

Blomberg

Another sunny Sunday in Germany = GGGOOOOOOO!

This time was to Blomberg for a mini-hike and a summer toboggan run.


Our latest challenge as parents is what to do with our mobile William when we need him to sit still. This hilarious solution was the brain-child of my brilliant husband. Who new a trunk and a set of keys could buy us 15 minutes to gear up?

Lunch time on our hike up the mountain. We didn't make it all the way because we wanted to make sure we had time for a ride at the bottom of the hill. Maybe we'll reach the summit next time . . . .

Well, the Sommerrodelbahn (toboggan) line was going to take too long to take shifts taking the lift up, line up with the sled, and toboggan down the hill. Shucks. Guess this mini-coaster will have to do.

Thanks to Jeff's tips after his run, I hardly hit the brakes the entire way down. Wooohoooo!
My quick run even made it possible to get William home for his afternoon nap. I'm one fast Mama!

Oktoberfest - Drei

Tuesday Mommy didn't feel much like going back to Oktoberfest, so thank goodness William's buddies decided Wednesday would be good day to visit to the Historic Wiesn: a section of Oktoberfest that takes you back to some of what original Wiesn looked like before it got inundated with electricity, roller coasters and, well, tourists.


Above Rachel, flanked by daughter Holly and buddy Tim, and Barbara with daughter Elle ride an old time Merry-Go-Round

William's first ride on a Merry-Go-Round -- He loved it!

With the Holly and Will napping in their strollers, Rachel and I decided to hop on a ride ourselves. We chose the one that goes in a circle super fast and over hills. (Did I describe that right? You know, like the snake ride at beach boardwalks?)


Anyway, it was 70 years old, made of wood, and cranked by hand by the lady above. They've spent the last seven years restoring it, and let me tell you, it is in tip top working condition. She really got it going! So fun!

An Italian, an American, a Brit, and three Münchener Kindls -- a true Oktoberfest represenation! at lunch in the beer garten.
What a fun day!

Oktoberfest - Zwei

Our second visit to the Oktoberfest Fairgrounds (the first Monday of Oktoberfest, mind you) was sans William. We left him at home to play with a babysitter while Jeff took me to experience my first time in an Oktoberfest tent. And what an experience it was!


Everything started seemingly calm and festive . . .
Bavarians and tourists were enjoying refreshing Oktoberfest beer.
The band was playing fun, upbeat German songs.
And everyone's trying to speak German or English over the roar of thousands of conversations in the tent.

The next thing you know . . .
You're sucking the salty, basted skin off a chicken like they don't serve utensils.
Everyone is standing on their bench singing along to more upbeat songs flowing from the bandstand.
And you're ordering your second mass of beer.

By the end of the night . . .
You can't remember the last time you sat down.
You are singing along to German songs you couldn't even pronounce the words to.
You're singing even louder to the American songs that immigrated their way onto Oktoberfest traditional playlists.
And you've never met a stranger in the entire tent.

God Bless, Bavaria.

Bookworm

My morning playtime with William is my favorite time of day. He's his most focused and happy at this time. We try new tricks, sounds, words, and a whole bunch of stuff during these receptive minutes in the morning.

One morning I was tidying up his room (an uphill battle, I might add), and William surrounded himself with his favorite toys: books and just got lost in their amazing world.


This English teacher is in awe of how he uses his finger to point to objects he knows as well as turn the pages so accurately and astutely. He's even begun reading his books out loud.

May your love of books continue to grow and grow, William.
Keep reading!

Nakey Time!

As is inevitable in babies, William had his first case of diaper rash a few weeks ago. Not too bad for a 10-month run of good luck, if we do say so ourselves.

In order to combat his bummer of a behind, I hosted a pantless playtime daily for a week. Will loved it!


How adorable is that little tushy? Yes, the towel is there for a reason. This weeklong pantless playtime postponed my want of a puppy for another couple of years.

What a cutie: front and back!

One perfect day in Munich

For quite some time, the Zabels were wondering, "Did we miss summer!?" The Californians we are, it never occurred to us that weather might be so horrible in other parts of the world. Therefore, when the forecast on Friday called for a beautiful 70 sunny Saturday and Sunday, it was time to roll!

Thank goodness Will always gets us up early. We woke up, had poached eggs on fresh bread, and were out the door and at the zoo by 9:30! Sarah and Will got an annual pass to the zoo so they could go anytime they wanted, but Dad was lucky enough to have a nice day to come along.

 Here we are at the zoo checking out the Eisbaers (Polar Bears). They have a brand new exhibit and it was fun to see them play. Will also loved the elephants, sea lions, and penguins. By the time we hit the monkey cage, you could almost see smoke coming out of Will's ears. The zoo with so many new things can be overwhelming.

Here I am with mom watching the sea lions feed. She told me all about the real life sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco. I can't wait to watch them there.

After the zoo, it was off to my good buddy Gus' first birthday party. Here we are checking out girls next to the beer tub. We are a couple of cool dudes.

The weather was perfect and there was blue sky! Will is flying high and loving every minute of it! Do it again dad, again!

The original plan called for an afternoon nap for Will at home in his crib, but we had to adjust. Instead, it was time for a huge walk! We all walked from our place through the English Garden up to a beer garden called Aumeister. The walk is about 6 miles from our house.

Here Will is at the beer garden laughing and waving at everyone. We think it might be one of his favorite social places. The chair Sarah got him to attach to the tables is genius.

Will loves to eat pretzels and hang out.

Finally, we took the subway home for bed. What a great day. We can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

One more gray hair

I joined two other moms at Oberpollinger Department Store's restaurant for lunch and kiddo playtime. I thought the play yard was a bit too old for William, however he proved me wrong.
He proceeded to climb up about 12 stairs. (Yes, he did receive a smidge of help from me, but it was only because they didn't have any backs.) After crawling around the upper fort a bit, he decided to launch himself head first off the 5-ft-tall slide. This video of him is on his 4th go around.
Goodness gracious, we've got a boy on our hands! Anyone know a good hair salon that can eliminate the gray hair I'm slowly accumulating?

Location:Bazeillesstraße,Munich,Germany

Crazy Uncle Pete and Emily Visit!

This last weekend we were lucky enough to have Crazy Uncle Pete and his girlfriend Emily fly in for a whirlwind 3-day stay. Their last intended visit was during the Iceland volcano hullaballo, so it was long-overdue and we made sure to pack in as much as possible!

Marienplatz, English Garten, Universitait, Odeonsplatz, Hofbrauhaus, neighborhood summer fair, our favorite pizza place, cappuccinos, gelatos . . . DONE!

But a first for all five of us was a stair climb and elevator ride up to the top of the tower in the Frauenkirche. It was a nice day with great views.

Monkey business

Can you picture these two wrestling in a couple years? T-R-O-U-B-L-E

A family pic outside of BMW World

No, this is not how we roll around Munich. :)

Looks like William's Evil-Kanevil tendencies are not limited to slides

On Sunday, we drove out to King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein castle. It was amazing and breathtaking.

We're so glad to have visitors that allow us to be tourists in and around our town!

Sorry folks, this was the best photos of us Zabels at the castle. So much for our Christmas card!

William was first to point out the lights in every room of our tour. The ceilings were pretty fascinating too.

That King Ludwig sure knew how to pick a view. Too bad he never got to enjoy it.

The happy crew

After arriving home from the castle, there was still enough time in our Sunday evening for some great park time for the super-trooper William. Plus, it was a great opportunity for a little relaxing Sunday beverage for the rest of us. These Zabel boys sure know their way around a swing!

The ultimate finish to a wonderful, wonderful visit was the combining of the two only reasons Uncle Pete ever makes it to Munich: William and gelato!

My favorite stand in our neighborhood prides itself on 100% pure fruit gelato. We couldn't think of a better place nor a better person to share William's first gelato than with Uncle Pete at Amarino at Weiner Platz.

Going in for the first taste of mango.

Wow! Baby brain freeze!

From the looks of the smiles and mango mustache, I'd call it a success. Let's hope we don't see any tantrums when I stop to get gelato next week and William doesn't get any! It's a Crazy Uncle Pete treat!