As you can see, we haven’t tossed out our novelty glasses yet or intend to do so. Ever. All those trinkets enter the magical dress up bin, which has been a recent favorite for Mika and her friends. Today, Lillian came over and introduced her baby brother Henry to us. In case you haven’t guessed it already: there’s a strict no-babies-allowed policy at dress up. It’s serious big kid business!

Don’t let the sunshine fool you – today was another day of relentless windchill. Thank you Tomoko for the new, warm hat.

Made by Mika and Daddy. Need i say more?

We had to evacuate our play date with Kai and Sango today because Sung stayed sick at home. The upside: we finally made it over to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, an amazingly rich and fun experience. In two hours we barely scratched the surface … some instant favorites: the build-your-own-dam pebble creek and the ‘general store’, where Tobin helped the big kids with their groceries. We’ll be back soon for more explorations!

It’s been almost 4 months since we last went to Coney Island. Although the weather was decidedly less friendly, Aquarium and beach are always in season. Today, the kids teamed up with Diego and Suko.

Jacob came over for a last play date before accompanying his mom for two months to Austria. Have a good trip and we’ll see you in Spring!

One of our neighborhood playgrounds is always brimming with donated toys … mostly ride-ons. Tobin snatched himself a vintage Kettler trike – one of the high-end models with soft air tires. Smooth ride!

Tobin and Bruno finally reunited and got a taste of things to come: less naps and more mobility. They conquered the local jungle gym and tried to walk up the slide ‘big boy style’…

Mika has started to build more than the usual pretend foods out of her Playdoh. Her love for 3-D got kicked off by an exercise at school where the kids had to model their families out of paper clay. A couple of days ago she made this Stegosaurus.

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Tobin has been obsessed with pointing to the parts of his face, and comparing them to our faces, Lunas face, etc.  He knows all relevant terms in German, and most of them in English as well … however he started sounding more ‘words’ out only after the german terms. Of course, when i tried to capture his new skill, he wasn’t playing along as smoothly as usual (should’ve waited until after his nap…)

Today marked the day all family members finally came back to health … and what a nice day it was: 58°F (14°C) and mostly sunny! We went to the zoo, then strolled around Central Park, hitting a playground on the way. We ended it with a scrumptious late lunch/early dinner at Rosa Mexicano.

Still, there’s no denying the toll ‘the bug’ has taken on us: both Tobin and i lost 3 pounds each – he in 8 days (now back to his 12-month weight), i in 36 hours. Do not attempt this at home.