Wrastlin' (Ringen)

In the spirit of the olympics, Quinn and I have been trying to take a stab at a few of the classic events on our own. First up: Wrestling. I can usually weaken Quinn pretty quick with my famous tickle move.
He tries to attack me from my feet, but it is pretty easy for me to defend. Plus, he is too short to do much damage.
After a tough struggle, Quinn always gets the best of me with his 'climb over dad's head and stick the stinky diaper in his nose' move. It always leaves me paralyzed.
Quinn in his victory pose...in his PJ's.
Next up...the 100m dash!
Equestrian events...at the local playground...
...and at home...
Olympic Tug 'o War...with Henrik.
If chocolate cookie eating were an olympic sport, Quinn and Henrik would be champs...
It still cracks me up how they love sitting on the ledge of our patio. I guess it is just their size.
Quinn's Tante (Aunt) Nina was here last week visting...and on vacation. Since day care is closed for another 2 weeks, Nina helped us out by taking care of Quinn during the week. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't perfect, but we had some blue sky.
Ready to hit the huge sandbox at the nearby playground.
Chillin' at the playground.
This pic really cracks me up. Normally, Quinn is always super smiley, but in this pic, he is just standing there with his mouth open. He is not being cranky and not sick...he is just there. What I would give to know what he was thinking...
Quinn reading one of his new books from Grandma and Grandpa Texas. Thanks for the super cool books and some new, exciting reading for Quinn (and Dad).

The Agile Manifesto

With my Friday evening almost 1 L of Weißbier behind me and with a tough work week behind me, I ran into these two really interesting links as I was doing my evening reading:

• Google 'Agility'
• Agile Manifesto

With all of the content out there, it takes quite a bit for a website to really pull my interest. Maybe it is the beer, maybe it is a tough work week working for a huge corporate conglomerate in the midst of some very drastic restructuring (by German standards), but this call to rapid, customer focused development really hits a heart-string in me.

These theories of SW development have been around since the early 2000's and are being extended by companies like Google to manage corporate culture.

They might be on to the Holy Grail of business: how to make a big company act small.

I've finally updated my book list. I normally crank through tons of audiobooks while driving to work as well as a few real books now and then, but with all the travel and the finger accident, I've driven less these last few months.

Happy reading.

Proud Papa

Eva was in her hometown last week, visiting friends and family. Since day care is closed the next three weeks, we had to scramble a bit to make sure Quinn was taken care of and that we didn't have to burn too much vacation.

Below, Quinn is opening up a Bayern München jersey from his cousin Kocka and his girlfriend Katja...they also sweetened the deal by giving him a banana as well. Danke Kocka und Katja! Er wird es beim Saisonbeginn tragen...sorry Jutta...
No trip back home would be complete without a trip to Tick Tack Oma and Opa.
The weather held up great, and both of Quinn's great grandparents spend the afternoon pushing Quinn on the swing...
...and pulling him on his Bobby car. He's getting the hang of riding the mini car, and it won't be too long before he's riding all around the neighborhood.
Beep Beep!
Quinn likes riding in Opa's wheelbarrow.
Thankfully, both Quinn and Eva came home on Friday, and we started Saturday morning with a small hike and a visit to the wild pigs. We remembered to bring the spaghetti (which the pigs love to eat), and Quinn liked the piglets the most...

At a housewarming / birthday party, I had to smile because of Quinn. It was a party in the back yard of our friends, and there were tons of kids there...which means more toys and playmates for Quinn. Most of the kids were older than Quinn, but that never seems to bother him when kids are older or bigger. He just dives in and plays.

One of our friends said that Quinn acts and plays with a lot of self confidence, especially for his age. I just had to smile...it is really good to hear compliments about your child. Proud Papa.

Eating is still not an issue with Quinn - a definite advantage at such parties when people bring various salads, deserts, and main dishes. He points to what he wants, and he just seems to eat, and eat, and eat...

On Sunday as Tanja and Eva met for brunch, Rene and I took the boys to a playground and then rode to the finish line of a local triathlon. The boys could run around, and we had to run around, chasing them.
We must have tired the little guy out on Saturday night and Sunday morning. He slept in until 830am and took a 3 hour nap today. Eva and I didn't know what to do with all of the extra time to ourselves!

By the way, this is my 300th blog post! Wow...how time flies...

The First Haircut

It was finally time for Quinn to get his first haircut. He still doesn't have enough hair up front to 'really' need a haircut, but with his long, curly locks in the back of his head, he was forming a mullet ...Or maybe looking a bit like Krusty the Clown...Ok...so it wasn't all that bad, but after 17 months, it was time to give the boy his first haircut...

He was a great sport, and he only cried a bit at the end. Of course, I wasn't able to cut every lock of hair perfectly with him squirming all of the place in our back yard, but I think he looks better now.

Look, ma...no more mullet! We went to the playground to celebrate.

Earlier that day, we went to the Hundshaupten Tierpark. Sort of like a zoo, but there are mostly animals that are 'wild' to the area (or used to be wild in the area...e.g. the European Bison). Of course, we bought some food for the animals...

...and I promptly ignored the signs that asked everyone to not feed the animals by hand. Quinn was stoked. There is just something about live animals that kids really love.

As you might have picked up from Eva's last post, I was in the US for 12 days on business for our user conference, the Siemens Automation Summit, where we have a gathering of hundreds of our best customers as well as prospective customers in a Summit atmosphere. Let's just say that it was tough shaking all those hands after my finger injury.

It was held this year at Chicago's Navy Pier. The above picture was the only 'touristy' pic that I got the three day. Thankfully, I was able to see the sunrise each morning as I headed out and ran along Lakeside Drive. Amazing view. You'll just have to believe me.

Our final evening event was at the Museum of Science and Industry. We had a 'cold air balloon' set up in the transportation wing...and I got to help set it up. How many engineers does it take to set up a 'cold air balloon'?

...four...with some difficulty...

Since I was in the States over the weekend, I took the opportunity to visit Sam. We haven't seen each other in a while, and it was really great to spend the time to catch up. We chatted for hours, had some great KC BBQ, and one or two frosty adult beverages.

After college, we made a practice to head out to ball games at least once a year. This weekend, we renewed that tradition and headed to a Royals game. Armed with a full cooler of beer, chips, hummus (we are getting older, you know), and cherries (for a few vitamins), we got to the game 3+ hours early to tailgate.

Life is good...

...we also had a massive rain delay. Nothing like the amazing chain lightning in the midwest.

Mom and Dad shipped a package to my office in the States for me to bring back to Quinn. He's slowly understanding the concept of opening gifts.

So, Quinn now has a few new books to read and some new clothes to wear. Thanks Grandmom and Grandpa Texas! His favorite is the train book that plays songs when you push the button. The battery won't last a few weeks (probably designed that way so the parents don't go batty).

More words...

Quinn starts talking more words that we actually understand! He learned "Oma" (Grandma in German), "Auto" (car in German), "Eis" (for icecream) and "Dan" (for Danke - Thank you) this weekend!
He still gets Papa and Daddy mixed up though. We'll have to work on that one before Rob comes home!

Habits

Quinn has gotten into the habit of always getting a chair when I am working in the kitchen. Whether that is preparing breakfast, doing dishes or cleaning up: Quinn gets the chair and wants to 'help'.

Afterwards, the dishes are clean (!) but the kitchen is under water and both Quinn and I need to change because we got cleaned, too...

It is like that with almost all the housework. I vacuum: Quinn wants to help by turning it on (and off before I am done...), changing the speed/power and pushing the vaccum around the house. I sweep the floors: Quinn gets his broom and helps. I do laundry: Quinn gets it out of the washer- and does not care whether it's actutally clean or I just put it in...

Now the big question is: Who did he get that from???

Sommerfest - Party Time

Last Friday Quinn's day care had a little party for all the kids and their parents, grandparents and friends. Since Rob was in the States, my Mom came down to join us. Quinn had a great time - and so did we!

At the beginning, we all got together and sang a couple of songs. One was "If you're happy and you know it..." - in German. I didn't even know that existed...

After the singing, there were different things for the kids to do. Quinn was really good at throwing the balls at cans. He loved it, too! And he had conviced some 5-year old to always run and get the balls back...


... and then there was icecream. Quinn didn't really know how to eat it though - he normally eats his icecream with a spoon - and so Mom had to finish it...
Another excitement was playing with water. Quinn liked that as well - and so did Oma.

Is he thinking: "How did my pants get wet?" Or rather: " Oh boy, what did you do???"

The afternoon was wonderful and after eating from the wonderful homemade buffet, we went home and enjoyed the warm evening. Quinn was so excited he would not go to bed until 2 hours after his normal bedtime. But, after all: we missed you Daddy!!!

At the pool...and with the pigs

When Eva's sister was here a few weeks ago, we headed out to the local pool (within walking distance from our place) to enjoy the great weather. The kids pool was pretty large and just the right depth for Quinn. The cold water didn't bother him a bit.

It was fun to watch him use his watering can to water...the pool.

This last weekend wasn't nearly as nice, but we headed out anyway.
Saturday was a bit nicer. There was a huge event where our town was trying to win the competition for the most active city in Germany, where the winning city gets 100,000 EUR for the local sports teams. There were all sorts of booths and things to do. We thought that Quinn would like the huge 'bouncy room' (Hüpfburg), but his first experience was as positive as we were hoping. At least he tried.
Later that day at a local park...with a pretzel.
We woke up, or shall I say that Quinn woke up, early. We decided to be a bit spontaneous, pack some breakfast, and head to the some of the local hiking trails for a 2 hour hike. Quinn was chatting for much of the way, but took a power nap the last 30 minutes.
It would be a stretch to say that he is talking now: his vocabulary is limited to Mama, Ja, leer (empty), and DaDa (we don't know if that is a reference to me or anything that he is point to).

I've been practicing the vowels with him when I change diapers: AAAAAAAAAAAAA, EEEEEEEEEEEE, IIIIIIIIIIII, OOOOOOOOO, UUUUUUUUUUU. He seemed to get out a few oooo's today. And, I swear he pointed to a picture of Eva's Mom and said Oma. As the new words come in, we'll keep you updated.

Visiting the wild pigs on the tail end of the hike. Quinn seems to like the little ones (you can see one near his right hand), and he is a bit scared of the big ones...
This is what happens to bananas that are lying within Quinn's reach. They have no chance.
Well...another weekend has ended...off to work.

Wear Sunscreen

I remember when this text came through all of the email servers at CU. Back then, I don't even think Spam was a commonly used word yet. The Urban Legend was that this was Kurt Vonnegut's commencement speach to MIT. In reality, it was from Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich.

Lots of good advice along with some new cliches in this video version. Amazing how an old memory can be reignited after a few quick searches on YouTube.

...always wear sunscreen...