Thrill seeker

The Baltic Sea: a few facts

• Around here, they call it the East Sea (Ostsee).
• Nine countries border it: Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia.
• It is the world’s youngest sea and depending on who you ask, it is either the largest or the second largest body of brackish water (after the Black Sea.)
• Its tides are very weak: about 30 cm on average
• About half of its surface area freezes over during winter. The extent and thickness of the ice depends on the severity of the winter.
• Its depth is only about 55 meters on average.
• Its biodiversity is relatively low: fewer than a hundred species compared with around 1500 in other oceans
• It’s very vulnerable to pollution. This has been and continues to be a big problem. The Baltic Sea contains large dead zones, where life is made impossible due to lack of oxygenation.
• Its fish fauna is a mixture of marine species (cod, herring, salmon…) and fresh water species (whitefish, perch, pike…)
• It contains the world’s largest known deposit of amber (fossilized tree resin)

A few snapshots taken in Lubmin, about 15 minutes from Greifswald:

7 months

Gabe.   It’s Axel’s 7 month birthday!   He’s made big progress over the last month, with notable achievements in the areas of mischief and tantrums.  His little hands are finding new targets all the time — cords, cables and curtains are being put to the test as his strength increases at a frightening speed.  When alone at nap time he must do chin-ups on the crib bars like a prisoner counting down the days to his release.

On a related note, I noticed they sell hamster chips in bulk at the local Real (German Walmart) for dirt-cheap and suggested to Lisa that we could go diaper free in Axel’s crib and probably get some sort of Eco-parent prize.  Sadly the idea was vetoed.

Lisa.   No one is allowed to restrain this grumpalump, so the stroller and any other type of baby carrier are rarely tolerated.

His new way of communicating displeasure is to plant himself right in front of me in his trotter and just yell *loudly* right in my face. I’m apparently expected to guess the source of the problem, and remedy it without delay, otherwise the volume just keeps going up and the tone gets downright menacing. At the end of the day,  his angst can only be relieved by the  arrival of the Entertainer-in-Chief.

One day he will get back at me for making him wear this hat

On the flip side, I get my fair share of cuddles and laughs (sometimes for no apparent reason). Laughing is a big thing now, pretend-sneezing is always popular. He also likes to be thrown in the air and tickled. And he likes to bounce a lot, so much so that we are looking into getting one of those Johnny Jumper contraptions (but not the ones that hang perilously from the door jamb).

In other news Axel had his first playdate recently, and seemed to enjoy himself (and all the new toys) a lot:

Busy deciding which exciting new toy to play with first

Still a lot of drooling and teething discomfort but no tooth on the horizon yet…I’m sick of writing, here’s what you really came for:

Cheering Gabe on during his kettlebell workout

Catching some rays from the "daylight lamp"

The Puss in Boots eyes

What do you mean, you're going to eat me

Don't you know it's way too cold for a photoshoot?

Weather update

It looks like our very own little ice age is finally coming to an end. Bicyclists seemed wholly unfazed by the cold or the snow and kept pedaling stoically. I saw one particularly hardy child, about 4 or 5 years of age, who was tucked behind the handlebar of his mother’s bike, red nose braving the freezing headwinds like a ship figurehead and, I kid you not, eating an ice cream. It must have been -8 C (I’m guessing -15 C with the windchill).

What is this white stuff?

Ils sont fous ces Allemands...

As far as us, we are not quite so brave yet, though we are planning on getting bikes as well as a pod-like attachment for Axel when the weather improves. In the meantime we wrangle him into his snowsuit and stroller and try to ignore his wails.

Funny German word of the week:

der Schleim = mucus