Sometimes it takes another round of kids to start a new friendship. There’s a mother who lives directly across the street from us who has two kids roughly the same age as Mika and Tobin. With our firstborns, we were just ‘playground friendly’. Now that the little siblings are walking, we started having each other over for weekly baby boy play dates. As you can see, Henry and Tobin are getting along great!

Nobody bumped their head today, but Tobin had a blast at Mika and Olivia’s play date. When he refused to get off the ultra-comfortable bed, the girls quickly joined him for a “Tobin Sandwich!”. Little brother in heaven…

Additionally to “Bett” (bed), he also learned to say “Dinky” – the name of the family cat he fell in love with a long time ago.

It seems like ages ago that Tobin liked getting haircuts. Honestly, he only liked his first professional haircut. Ever since, it’s been going downhill. Our last visit was a full-blown disaster and is probably still ringing in Anna’s ears. To break the now dreaded routine, i decided to try a top-rated, kid friendly place that’s located inside a toy store. They even have a red racecar that doubles as a seat and offer endless distraction via toys and Elmo TV.

Well … Tobin didn’t fall for it. Not one bit. He loved the toy store part of our excursion, but had observed what was going on in the racecar. He refused to ‘take a ride’ and clenched to my arms (“Nein-nein-neiiiin!“). When i sat down, he tried to jump off my lap and screamed throughout the 10 (?) minute procedure. Once it was over, he got paid a 6-pack of small construction vehicles in damages…

We got a rare treat today: Omi Hilde was visiting Hamburg and participated in our iChat video call. Can’t wait to see you all in person soon – only 4 more weeks!

I picked up the 1988 edition of the Toyo Ink color finder at a neighborhood yard sale today. For one dollar. It is in mint condition and despite it’s 21 years of age, the japanese pigments are still standing bright and clear. Mika poured over the 4 booklets immediately and started her first collage project, a zoo. You can see a porcupine (next to the title), a pink flamingo with wings, and a multi-colored giraffe. All animals are inside a wall (“so they can’t get into trouble”) and Mika and Tobin are visiting.

It’s such a relief that Tobin is generally done with the stick-everything-in-your-mouth phase. We cautiously released “choking hazards” back into circulation that have been under lock and key for the past 18 months. Today, the magnetic mix-and-match dinosaurs came out to play when Gaang was over after school – a perfect collaboration for kids of all ages as long as nobody accidentally swallows a tail…

Over the course of the past months, Tobin and Suko have developed their own little friendship, which blossomed on the sidelines of their big siblings’ after school agenda. Today, Suko was treated with the biggest sign of love and trust Tobin could possibly come up with: he shared his “Hase” (bunny) with her … out of his own, free will. He doesn’t even offer “Hase” to Mika. Suko seemed to recognize the importance of the gesture, and treated “Hase” with TLC before handing him back.

Those are the moments that leave me speechless: how can those two tiny people already be capable of such complex, independent interactions? Well, it usually takes only a few moments for one of the big kids to step in and … reduce them back to ‘toddler’ status.

We teamed up with Chloe and Ines‘ family for a spectacular Memorial Day* outing at Storm King Art Center. The girls were troupers, walking most of the way happily with us adults. Even Tobin was too excited to take a nap. Among all the spectacular sculptures, there were other attractions to be discovered as well: little green caterpillars, a hidden tree ‘house’, lots of flowers, sticks, and pebbles. And, of course, the first summer picnic of the season!

* Note the biggest US flag i’ve ever seen, hung from the towering George Washington Bridge. The picture was taken in the morning, and on our drive back it was already taken down. How do they raise and dismantle it so quickly during Holiday traffic?

Tobin still doesn’t care for binkies, but has discovered that they make excellent chew toys … he is allowed to sink his teeth into. In the past couple of weeks, he’s been working hard on a brand new set of molars and has been chewing a variety of lesser suitable items: our fingers, our pants and shirts, my yoga mat, Mika’s favorite silk scarf, paper clips, etc.

Today was Tobin’s 3rd day of playing in DUMBO in a row: Thursday with Bruno, Friday with his sitter Rosie, and now again with the whole family and baby Harold‘s clan. He clearly knew his way around the pier and faced off with aspiring paparazzi. His favorite attraction: a dapper, bright orange (!) wedding party, which stuck out from the constant flow of white tulle down the pier. Mika preferred the vintage green Chevy at the gas station nearby…

Mika specifically wanted her picture taken while lounging atop the red elephant. As you can see, she banged up her face (and knee) pretty badly yesterday. Although it looks like a bike- or scooter accident, she wiped out while walking – without helmet. She seems to feel much better already – except when she sees her face in the mirror. This morning she complained “Mami, i look too scary!” (It’s nothing that a few days of TLC and Neosporin wouldn’t heal though)

Another great day with Bruno. The perfect weather made us skip music class for a waterfront play date in DUMBO. The boys continued the spirit of food sharing: this time it was fistfuls of Bruno’s sticky rice from RICE.