ms.independent

everything is preceded by I can do it myself
and the crazy thing is she can
or at least it seems as though ever since she pulled her dora suitcase through the berlin airport something magically transformed her into a little girl
im not a baby mama
im a girl
she can dress herself, full-on pull the shirt over her head and get the arms through
i skipped over picking out the clothes, another brand new development

she keeps herself amazingly busy when lukas naps in the hotel room by working
im working mama. i cant talk right now .you have to wait a few minutes
then she procedes to throw all her clothes on the floor and individually fold (or attemppt to fold) each one and place them in a neat anal row
she'll do the same with lukas' things and offer to refold all my clothes also
she also works at the desk making methodical rows of the letters L and O on hotel note paper, cutting them up with scissors and folding them into presents for us or she'll play with the digital camera and go through the photos we've taken and remind me of all the little details ive already forgotten about each one

the bathroom door is closed sometimes these days
i need privacy mama
ok i say and pretend to nonchantly continue doing whatever i was doing slighly saddened? miffed? pushed aside? by the closing door
ooh im gonna freak when she leaves me one day for good

a penis looks kinda like a hot dog, right mama?
this i get ten minutes into naptime when i coulda sworn she was sleeping
what prompted this thought at a totally nonpenis moment?
i do not know

lukas in deutchland

lukas podowsky is a famous player on the geramn national soccer team
been the running joke when i say his name
hardy har har
lukas leon will be competing in some infant weighlifting competition any day now because boy is he strong
no joke
my boy is crawling and sitting up and basically pulling himself up and he's ony 51/2 months
out of control
all on my milk because try to get him to swallow a spoon of carrots and no way jose
lately hes finding the carpet at the hotel lobby most interesting as well as mauling any travel brochure, map, or colorful publication
fell off the bed and suffered a slight bump and scratch to the head but nothing a few pellets of arnica didnt heal right up

2 weeks in berlin and counting....

honeysuckle
strict adherence to all street crossing rules even if there is not a moving vehicle anywhere in sight
lady taxi drivers riding fancy beamers with built in child booster seats
child friiendly germans at the sightseeing spots leeting mamas with kiddies jump to the front of the queue
pregnant women on bicycles - why dont I see them in new york?
naked children running buck wild at the playgrounds
beer at the playgrounds
sandboxes at the beer gardens
inflatable kiddie pools by the tables outside next to bar
tasty apple fizzy soda
cheap delicious icecream
and croissants
who would have guessed
styley grocery carts at the market
and lots and lots of green

the male energy at the stadium was palpable the day of the argentina germany game
the homophobic chants by the argentine fans "a esos putos hay que ganar" and the brawny german men double fisting beer was overwhelming
something about being in sucha sausage filled stadium made me uneasy
the physical presence and power of all these men srceaming
i missed the long lines at the ladies room
where were all the ladies at?
thousands of people at t he event and barely no line for the toilet
now that is pretty damn wild