Smart Genius

Right now I am developing a little "action plan" for my days with Liam to ensure we're tapping into all his capabilities and not just letting opportunities pass.  Don't worry, I'm not drilling him with PSAT questions (yet), but I am going to take advantage of the fact that this kid loves to learn.

To make this plan, I turned to resources that track children's average developments in all general skills areas, and I just came across something that about made me pee myself.  According to the development tracker put forth by PBS, most kids ages 2 to 3 are able to sing the ABCs but don't recognize independent letters.  Few children  recognize the graphic design of familiar letters, and even fewer children by age 3 know the names of letters or are able to recognize uppercase letters.

Since Liam was 20 months old, he has been able to recognize and name the letters of the alphabet out of context.  I could point out any letter and he would say the correct name back to me.

Since Liam was 21 months old, he has been able to name an animal or word associated with a letter when we name a letter to him.

In the past few weeks, Liam has ramped up how often he plays these letter games independently, pointing out and naming letters in books, on clothes, on billboards.  He also will walk around and say, "A. Alligator. RARR!  B. Bear. GRRR! C. Cat. MEEOWW!"  And just this morning he proved that he not only proficiently recognizes uppercase letters but also is beginning to recognize lowercase letters.

He's not even 2 yet.  See why I'm making an action plan?  This kid has got a big ol' brain and needs all the exposure he's willing to accept.  And I'm just the mom for the job.

The video clip below is from 7 Nov, over one month ago (so when Liam had just hit 20 months).  Damn genius.  Love love love!

Happy TurDuckEn Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We were obviously in the minority over here in celebrating a holiday I'm surprised people in Germany even know about... our landlady gets a serious gold star, though, as she was kind enough to stop by in the morning and wish us a happy Thanksgiving.  She barely speaks English, but she pays attention to holidays that matter to others and offers courtesies above and beyond most people.  So kind!  When we first moved in, she gave us a bottle of champagne, a box of truffles, and a set of Kinder chocolates for Liam.

I digress. Our holiday was beautiful!  Zeke and I did some prep cooking a few days ahead of time, so on the Big Day, we didn't have to sweat as much as usual.  Zeke started working on his creations around late morning, and I joined in around noon.  We concocted some coleslaw, delicious cranberry sauce, a corn-broccoli bake, some sweet potatoes (built on the fab recipe from the lovely Grandma Toni), some crazy stuffing, and a TURDUCKEN.  Yes, that's right, a Turducken.  Ground sausage stuffed inside a chicken breast, stuffed inside a duck breast, stuff inside a turkey breast.  Five pounds, no bones, and the five of us (we enjoyed the meal with our friends Jeff and Felisha) annihilated it (and we had the best gravy that Zeke made from the Turducken drippings. Very healthy, too, I'm sure).  Jeff and Felisha brought over the best homemade chicken and dumplings in the history of chicken and dumplings, plus some rock star desserts -- a marshmallow-frosted chocolate cake, a chocolate pie, a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie. A whole dessert for each of us, just about. Ridiculous and perfect.

After groaning our way away from the table, we proceeded to watch silly movies and eat desserts until we were too full and tired to see straight.

Here's a little clip for you -- happy TuDuckEn Day!!

Normandy Battle Staff Ride

A Battle Staff Ride (BSR) is basically a euphemism for "Officer field trip" or even more simply stated, a damn good time.  That's not to say that it is not an educational and professional event.  GEN George C. Marshall began taking his officers on horseback tours of the Civil War battlefields (namely Gettysburg) in order to allow the officers to relive the battles that shaped our nation's history.  They would be required to analyze the strategy and tactics of the day and develop their own plan to fight the enemy.  It is very much the same today, however, the Army doesn't feel it is appropriate to give us horses anymore.  I know--BS.  Anyway, it is an extremely unique experience and opportunity to learn about warfare--especially with the heavy budget cuts going on right now in the DoD.

The trip itself consisted of three days.  Day one was focused on the British 6th Airborne Division and their parachute assault on 5JUN1944 and amphibious assault of Gold and Sword Beaches on 6JUN1944.  On day two we visited the Utah Beach invasion sites of the US 5th Army, and the contributions of God's finest creation--the US Army Paratrooper.  On day three we visited Point du Hoc, the location where the 2nd Ranger BN made their famous assault on the heavily fortified cliffs.  The rest of day three was spent on Omaha Beach discussing the legendary and bloody assault performed by the 29th Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Division and the 2nd Ranger BN.  The "Dog Green" sector of Omaha Beach suffered the most American casualties and is the focal point of the movie Saving Private Ryan.  

We ended the day and the trip in the American Cemetery that overlooks Omaha Beach.  The groundskeeper at the cemetery gave us the tremendous honor of retiring our nation's Colors.  I was fortunate enough to be part of the detail that lowered and folded the flags that fly above the graves of over 9000 WW2 Soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  All in all, it was nothing short of spectacular.  I certainly can't do it justice from a few pics and a blog entry, but it puts everything in perspective--the American military is pretty badass.  Yeah, you're welcome World.

To add to your perspective, I think the following entry is required.  It is kind of a motto or mantra of my former unit, the 82nd ABN DIV, but it pretty much explains how American Paratroopers are able to survive against all odds--you know like being dropped 20 miles away from your actual drop zone, struggling desperately to find a weapon because yours was lost during the jump, and walking mile after mile just to link up with two other Paratroopers so you can go kill the enemy with your bare hands.  Anyway, we call this the rule of LGOPs (little groups of Paratroopers) and it's the basis for living a glamorous life of carnage and debauchery:

After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield.  This effect is known as the rule of LGOPs.  This is, in its purest form, small groups of pissed off 19 year old American Paratroopers.  They are well trained, armed to the teeth, and lack serious adult supervision.  They collectively remember the Commander's intent as "march to the sound of the guns and kill anyone who is not dressed like you" - or something like that.  Happily they go about their day's work.

The following pics are mostly chronological in order of the sites we toured as I described above. 

Here rests the first Paratrooper KIA from the British 6th ABN.  They were assigned the very first objective of securing Pegasus Bridge which allowed the Allies to advance inland on the days following D-Day.

101st ABN DIV memorial overlooking Brecourt Manor.  This was the site of the battle portrayed in Band of Brothers where 12 men, led by LT Dick Winters, cleared the artillery cannons in the trenches.  It is interesting to note that the impromptu plan devised by LT Winters is still Army doctrine for how to assault and clear a trench.

Pretty self -explanatory I think...

Go Engineers!!  US Army Engineers were the first to step foot on the beaches to make sure that the Infantry cupcakes could advance through the minefields, wire and other types of scary shit that is too much to handle for soldiers outside of the Engineer Corps.  They didn't parachute in, but these guys are still good in my book.

Very famous church in Ste. Mere Eglise where many of the 82nd ABN DIV landed.  Needless to say, this was not the planned drop zone.  The movie The Longest Day depicts a true story where a paratrooper got hung up on the church steeple and eventually became deaf from the constant ringing of the bell tower.  If you look closely, there is a paratrooper on the steeple (not the original one though, but still pretty cool).

Just one of the many beautiful stained glass windows inside the church.  Many of the churches we visited honored the American paratroopers like this.  The people of Ste. Mere Eglise are incredibly grateful of their American liberators...too bad I can't say that for the rest of the country 

The concertina wire here at Point du Hoc is part of the original defenses emplaced by the Germans.

Views overlooking Omaha beach

Representations of both sides honoring their unknown dead.  (Right: Two German Soldiers)

SGT Niland was one of three brothers KIA by the end of D-Day.  The fourth brother was a Paratrooper with the 101st ABN whose whereabouts could not be determined.  Army Chief of Staff, GEN George C. Marshall, ordered a mission to bring him home so that his mother would not have to receive a fourth death notice.  This mission was successfully carried out by a small element of the 2nd Ranger BN.  The Niland brothers are better known to most as "the Ryan brothers" and the element that rescued PVT James F Ryan (Matt Damon) was led by CPT John H. Miller (actual name portrayed by Tom Hanks).

Like I said earlier, most of the Normandy region is very appreciative of the freedom given to them by American and British Soldiers.  I did however have a minor confrontation while enjoying adult beverages one night at a bar in Bayeux, France.  The short version is that he was pissed because a large group of us were apparently conversing too loudly in English.  We tried to compromise on perhaps a mutual language like German.  When we found out that his Deutsch was nicht sehr gut (not very good), we kindly reminded him that if weren't for the USA, he wouldn't have to worry about French or English. So with that I end this blog with a pic to the left honoring the brave fighting spirit of our non-German speaking Allies.  

Again, you're welcome.

Switzerland. In Germany.

About a month ago we went hiking in an area of Franconia coined "Little Switzerland" (the Germans call it "Fränkische Schweiz," or Franconian Switzerland) and Liam loved every minute of it.  Just in case you care, the area gets its name from a few writers and poets back in the 19th century who compared the area's landscape to the beauty of Switzerland.

Travel map of the area from 1912

While that sounds special and fabulous, I've learned that it was common for many areas to be considered "Little Switzerland," so long as the terrain was peppered with mountains, valleys, and exposed rockface.  But as you can see, this area is pretty gosh darn beautiful:

Just your everyday view of the world

At the summit of our 12k-hike

Liam was in great spirits the whole day, pointing out trees, the sun, clouds, sticks, rocks, leaves, sand, dirt... basically anything he could identify by name was shouted at the top of his lungs at some point.  He especially enjoyed the humongoid Great Dane accompanying us hikers.  Liam barked at him several times and loved being able to pet him.

Dog? DOG! arf woof WOOF!

A slight problem developed early on in Liam's relationship with the Great Dane... You may not know this little tidbit, but one of Liam's favorite phrases is "OK."  He uses it to answer questions when appropriate, to ask for things, and to reassure himself in uneasy or questionable moments.

Turns out that "OK" was the release word for the dog. Just perfect.

Liam worked very hard on the hike, can't you tell?

We were able to see one of the 16 castles in the region

One of the unique topographical attributes of this part of Franconia is its extensive collection of caves.  There are 13 named caves accessible to the public; however, there are countless smaller caves and little coves you can stumble upon on a hike.  We explored three cave areas, one of which had an incredibly old stone landing that was used as a fire pit back in the day.

It's difficult to make a fire while actually standing ON the pit, but I'm sure Liam will find a way

Scaling cave walls. Typical experience for a toddler.

A day in the life, folks.  A day in the life.

Our Humble Abode

No real introduction needed here -- enjoy a tour of our home, which is now fully equipped (vollkommen ausgestattet).  One quick little shout-out is necessary, though -- my dear Meredith, I know you're excited about our awesome shower... you can have first dibs to it in the mornings when you come visit.

Because I'm just that nice.

Drum roll, please...

We May Be In Germany, But...

We're still Americans.  Today is 7 December (Happy Birthday, Pop Pop!) -- I hope each of you had the chance to date a check, or stamp a time card, or see the calendar above the cashier in the liquor store and realize that today is Pearl Harbor Day.  It was exactly 70 years ago today that our entire nation experienced the shock of the assault on Pearl Harbor.

U.S. Navy photograph taken three days after the attack.  The black lines are thick streams of oil still spilling from each of the injured ships.

It's interesting to realize that, at the time of the attack, Hawaii was not yet a state (remained independent until August 1959).  However, our nation lost almost 2,400 of its citizens with more than 1,000 wounded right there in the cluster of the Hawaiian Islands.  The attack that day was intended to kill Americans outright and compromise our nation's ability to participate in what was quickly becoming a worldwide war.  (Of course, we all know how well that plan turned out for our adversaries...)

After 70 years, Battleship Row still carries its scars -- two of the battleships destroyed in 1941 are in their final resting places just off the coast of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.  Those two ships still hold many of the sailors and Marines who could not escape during the attack; and as this piece from MSNBC reveals, some of the lucky few who survived 70 years ago are paying the ultimate tribute to their fallen brothers and being laid to rest by their sides.  (I hope) you don't have to serve in the military, or live your life in the military, to understand and relate to these men.

I have seen nothing here in Germany (not even on post as far as I know; bad form!) attaching any significance to today's date, proving how personal this memorial is.  In America, I hope that there are news programs and specials running constantly today, reminding everyone why we are free and the costs our citizens have paid to remain this way and enjoy the American freedoms we sometimes take for granted.

So here is a completely insufficient "thank you" to all those in our military -- in the generations before us, in uniform today, and in the generations yet to come.  As Americans, we will always remember your sacrifice.  And we will carry your legacies with us and do all we can to ensure that your sacrifice is not in vain.  Thank you.

The World Is Liam's Playground

It has been too long!  We finally have our Internet connection established and my next big task is figuring out how to establish a phone connection and begin using our fabulous Internet phone.  That's a beast of a project, though, as most instructions are in German and my crackpot foundation of Deutschspeak leaves me lagging behind (thank goodness for Google Translate).  But the blog is in dire need of some updating, so here goes!

As Zeke let many of you know, our man Liam is a playground connoisseur.  He surveys every new place we find and then makes sure he exhausts every square inch of fun available.  It has gotten to the point that whenever he passes by certain areas of our neighborhood or post, he recognizes the territory and starts yelling, "PLAYGROUND! PLAYGROUND!"  Liam even knows where little hidden gems -- the indoor playgrounds -- await.  And now every other kid knows, too, with how loud Liam can be.

Being a creative soul, Liam also knows how to make a "playground" out of any space willing to let him flex his muscles and vocal chords.  He believes that if you've got toys to fill both hands, a good lungful of oxygen, and some pleasant company to share it all with, you've got yourself a playground... a fact we've exploited in some clutch moments.

Chutes and Ladders: the Reality Edition

It won't stop bouncing!

Miles?

German swings are SO safe

Sir Edmund Hillary, eat your heart out

A bridge (die Brücke) that would bring tears to Indiana Jones' eyes

FrankyLand? Here I come!

Rollin' out in downtown Bamberg

How German supermarkets (die Supermärkte) do shopping carts

"Fwog! FWOG!"

And the playground montage would not be complete without a little video for you guys:

Coming soon:  updates on our fabulous new digs (furniture included!); some tours of Bamberg and Nürnberg (Nuremberg, if you prefer); and some holiday festivities.  Stay tuned!