Monday I went with HD to take the kids to school. I lazed around for a couple hours when we got back, and then I headed into the city. I bought a book with about 130 things to do in the area, so I'll have to start actually doing them soon. The cleaning woman comes on Mondays. She was home when I got back from town, so I decided to head out again. I didn't want to be in her way. I grabbed the bike and went back to my favorite little spot (a 30 minute bike ride away) where I read for awhile. The kids weren't home for long before I headed out with One and HD for One's swim lessons. This week is the first week of swimming for both. I needed to go and get the lay of the land in case I have to go in HD's place. HD always goes with One and HM always goes with Two. That night at bedtime, One asked HD if I could put him to sleep. This, folks, is MASSIVE progress. Just a week ago, One was basically unhappy with my entire existence. And now, he's asking me to put him to bed!! When One asked HD, my jaw dropped. I was stunned. I was so happy to finally really see the progress being implemented in every day activities. When I came downstairs after putting him to sleep, HP were beaming at me. I think they're happy with the progress as well. Two is still way slower to warm to me. I haven't lost hope with him yet.
Tuesday was a good day. After everyone left for work/school, I slept some more. I finally got up around 10, showered, and then headed over to the neighbors. M and I hung out for a little before we both went into town to run some errands. M is in her early 50s, aka closer to my own mom's age than to HM's. Today was the first day of school for kids here (not my host kids cause they aren't in actual school yet), and I suppose it's a big deal here. M has a friend whose youngest kid just started school and so they were having a party for him. We went over and delivered a present for the kid and flowers for the mom. M's son, L, was also there. We were there for about 15 minutes before the three of us left to get some lunch at an Italian place. The food was delicious, as expected. When the kids got home, it was business as usual. I played with the kids while HP did whatever they needed. At bedtime, One asked again if I could put him to sleep.
Wednesday was definitely a Wednesday. Two was sick, as we all anticipated. We could see the signs for a few days. He went to school anyways, only to come home with HM at 1pm. I had to watch him for an hour while HM took a conference call. He wailed, and I mean wailed, for half an hour after she left the room. He slowly calmed down. I talked to him and told him stories in my most soothing voice. I even talked to him about global warming, picking any topics I could talk about for awhile before running out of material. He eventually fell asleep on my shoulder. He was asleep for a good 15 minutes when HM came back into the room. I was supposed to go have lunch with M and L, but obviously that didn't happen. I did get to go for a run in the morning, so that was good. HM, Two and I went to pick up One from school. I went in by myself and got One as a practice run for when I'll actually do it on my own. He wasn't happy because he wanted to spend more time playing. He was grumpy towards me for awhile after that. I had developed a bit of a headache by the time we got back. I wasn't really talking much while I was with the kids. HM noticed and asked what was wrong. When I informed her that I had a headache, she said I could go relax in my room for a little, and so I did. One was also getting sick. The rest of the afternoon before dinner was spent with both kids watching tv (this usually doesn't happen, usually we're upstairs playing in one of their rooms). Shortly after dinner both kids were in bed, as Two appeared to be getting sick as well.
Thursday was a lot better than I expected it to be. I was at home all day with Two. Two often gets upset when HP leave the room. When he's sick, he's even worse about this. HP say that he's even like this with his own grandmother, that he gets upset when left alone with her. Knowing this, the day turned out much better than expected. We left to go for a walk when HM left, because that's when Two gets most upset- when he realizes they've left and he isn't going. We went on a walk for about an hour and a half. I like exploring the area and Two is so absorbed in looking around that he forgets why he's upset. M called later and asked if we wanted to go over for lunch with her and L, so we did. I put him down for a nap later. HM and One got back around 3:30 and I had the rest of the night "off," though One requested that I put him to sleep.
I can feel my German getting better ever so slowly. I'm stumbling over my words less. I'm feeling much more comfortable with what comes out of my own mouth. I've even been making some jokes here and there! I'm still having some trouble with "s" and "z" sounds. As a child I had a lisp and had issues pronouncing "s," "z" and "sh" sounds, so this isn't much of a surprise to me. Tuesday was the two week anniversary of me being here. I'm sure in another two weeks I'll be even better. When I was in Mainz, it was an uphill battle with my German before I really started noticing a difference. That battle lasted longer, as I was speaking so much more English. But here, even with speaking English to the kids, the battle seems to be ending quicker and evening out sooner. I'm sure it had something to do with my German being better when I arrived here than when I arrived in Mainz, but still, improvements are always welcome. Even with that said, some days my German are way better than others. It's a constant struggle.
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