Visiting Wisconsin

Our visit to Wisconsin was the first trip back since this spring. Needless to say, Finn's changed quite a bunch since he was 3 months old. Still it is fun to compare him to everyday objects, like a bottle of ketchup (see pictures).

We drove more in the daylight and less at night than our previous drives. That reinforced the need to drive overnight. Our 8 hour dive became 12 hour odyssey.

The weather was nice if rainy. The cool air was appreciated and we even got to put Finn's cool jean jacket on.

There was the requisite game of scrabble, which Finn decided to join in on. There was also a lot of playing on the floor. It seems when a baby plays on the floor, everyone else joins in from uncles to great grandparents.

It was a short visit, but we'll be back in October when cousins Chuck and Andi come out.

Back in the 'Nati

So back in Cincinnati, a bunch of things happened. We went out to the hose track where Finn got to see the horses and start a gambling addiction. He won big betting on a horse called "A Fin Gets You Ten".

He spent his winnings on the smallest bike helmet we could find. I got Sarah and I bikes for her birthday and the Wisconsin grandparents sent a bike seat, though we wouldn't let him ride until he got a helmet. He liked the one with ducks on it.

Memé visited for a while before she had to start this year's teaching. It was quite a nice visit and gave us free baby sitting for a night out on the town.

We also went to the outlet mall where I got new pants and a couple shirts. I was done in 10 minutes and the ladies still wanted to shop. Finn and I decided to kill some time together and he showed me how much of a boy he was. He disliked shopping so much he'd rather gnaw his foot off and gave it a good try. Good thing this was before his first tooth popped thrugh.

That's right, he has a tooth now! He now has as many as most people we met driving through West Virginia.

These photos take us through August 17th, so we're less than a month behind now. We're slowly making our way back to current time.

The photos are here.

From Virginny to Massachusetts and finally home

Continuing the effort to archive the complete adventure, here is the section of our trip from the end of our stay in Williamsburg, visiting Massachusetts, and the drive back home. The photos can be seen here.

Sarah left Virginia a couple days earlier than I did to give her extra time with the boy to visit friends and family. She flew up to the Berkshires (actually Albany because the Berkshires don't have an airport) and had the mandatory meal at the Golden Eagle with its amazing view.

I flew into Boston and Sarah drove out to pick me up. She showed Finn off to our friends Liz and Jeff, Jill and Rich, and brother Josh. Josh lives up on the north shore, which gave an excellent chance to introduce Finn to fried clams at the Woodman's.

Once back in Adams, we had a big cookout with the family and enjoyed the much cooler New England summer as compared to the Dixie Heat of Virginia. Finn watched the fun corn shucking and saw all the flowers of Nancy's Garten.

The drive back home was a long overnight affair. We left at 5 in the afternoon and arrived in Cincinnati at 7am. Finn was packed tightly in the back seat with the two kitties and there was very little drama, especially when compared to the rainy, poop-filled drive to MA when dropping the cats off a year ago.

We introduced Finn to the Mighty Ohio and got him a new exersaucer to feed his new love of assisted standing. He seemed to enjoy the new surroundings and his new room. Of course, having lived for a week or more in three places in the last two months, he is rather adaptable to change.

We made it to our North Carolina vacation

We left our house at midnight friday night/saturday morning and headed east en route to an Outer Banks week-long retreat.

To all those wondering, we made it fine (16 hours later). We all took turns driving, including Finn as seen above.

Our house is nice and has a classic lighthouse view out the back porch.

Fourth of July: An American Experience

We needed to make sure that the German had been washed out of our son. Part of our re-American-ization program was living in Williamsburg, VA and going to Washington, DC. We stepped it up a notch for the 4th of July.

In Norfolk is the USS Wisconsin a floating museum to America's power and history. We took little Finn there and toured around. His favorite part was standing on the artillery shell and finishing the puzzle. He ended the day by reciting the pledge of allegiance.

We also went to the beach at Ft. Monroe. He explored the waterfront and pictured himself standing watch against shore invaders. He also took a nap.

He is now a real American. He suggested we get rid of our Honda and get a big Ford truck with a gun rack and a flag in the rear window. I told him we'd think about it.

Proof of the experience is here.

Connected to the Interwebs

We're back in Cincinnati and after a fairly long pause, we are hooked up on the interwebs. So expect to see a more frequent blog update. Once a month is more frequent, isn't it? So many adventures to talk about since we've returned, but that's for another time.

There's a first time for everything

It's been a busy few weeks for us in Virginia. Beach has been working, but that hasn't stopped us from taking a trip up to Washington DC, seeing the sites of Colonial Williamsburg, going fishing, hitting the beach, and even hosting both of Finn's grandmas for 4 days. It's been fun but I, for one, am exhausted and am looking forward to returning to normalcy (?) in Cincinnati the week after next.

For Finn, Williamsburg has been the site of many firsts. No wonder he's been easy to get sleep at 8:30 every night. He's been practically begging us to put him to bed.

First solid food
Finn started with rice cereal and soon demanded some variety, so we added oatmeal to the menu. He's doing great with eating from a spoon; he gobbles up two bowls a day and is showing a definite preference for the oatmeal. This is no big surprise considering my love of oats in all forms.

Note: Along with the first solid food came an added bonus - first incredibly stinky diaper. Now I know why odor-blocking diaper pails really are necessary (the hotel housekeeping staff must love us).

First baseball game
For those of you who know of Beach's love of the Reds, you'll be surprised to hear that Finn's first MLB game was the Washington Nationals vs. the Cleveland Indians. Beach's cousin Chuck lives in DC and has season tickets. Anyway, if the Reds are the worst team in baseball, it only made sense to to see the second worse team in baseball so we're better prepared for the disappointment of what I'm sure will be many more Reds losses that we'll see this season. We do know that Finn is not a Cleveland fan, as he screamed through most of their comeback to win the game.

First swim
Even though the smallest size swim diapers are still too big for him, we've taken Finn for a couple of dips in the hotel pool. He seemed to enjoy it, if with the slightest hint of apprehension. That's OK with me - a little bit of fear is healthy, especially of large amounts of water.

First trip to the beach
We took Finn to Virginia Beach last week when the grandmas were visiting. It was very hot and windy that day and there was a lot of sand blowing around, which was not ideal. However, he seemed to be doing OK until we brought him to the edge of the water. When a big wave crashed and splashed him, Finn decided he was definitely not interested in continuing the fun. But then he fell asleep under a tent of towels held up by human tent stakes (his grandmas aka handmaidens), and everything was OK. Beach and I later took Finn to another beach on a cooler day and he enjoyed putting his toes in the sand and eating seashells.

First time rolling over back to front
Finn's been rolling from front to back for a couple of months now, but today for the first time he decided he wanted to have some tummy time and flipped right over. Actually, I'm pretty sure he had no idea that what he did would result in him being on his stomach, but he was clearly proud of himself for his big accomplishment. So are we!

It's been a few weeks and we've been saving up the photos. Check them out here.

Endings and Beginnings

After a week of sensory overload and a little bit of culture shock (what - I can go to Target at 9 pm on a Sunday and find 10 varieties of shampoo?!), I finally have a minute to provide an update on and some photos of our last few days in Germany.

The end of our European adventure was highlighted first by celebrating Beach's birthday on Thursday the 14th (see earlier post), walking around Ramstein Village and enjoying our last German ice cream sundae on Friday evening, and going into Frankfurt on Saturday night, where we stumbled on a beer fest (not hard to do on a weekend in the summer in Germany). At the festival, we ate some authentic German food, sampled some good beers, and danced to oompah bands (Finn especially loved that part).

We flew back to the US on Sunday - Father's Day. Finn was, like last time, an angel on the flight, sleeping most of the way and smiling, laughing, and being generally cute the rest of the time with only a few tears near the end. We even got several comments from other passengers at the end of the flight about what a good boy he was (thank you, Finn, for making it look like we know what we're doing). We had a layover for a few hours in Cincinnati, where we went to our condo building to visit our friends and neighbors, Justin and Eliza, and to meet their new baby girl, Elena. While we were there, Jeff and Angela of The Daily Squink stopped by to show off their little boy, Rowan (thanks to the Squink for the pictures of the kids - we left our camera in the car). We had a nice, if quick, visit, and headed back to the airport for our trip to Virginia. Many thanks to the Stones for driving us to and from the airport and cooking dinner for the whole crowd, and to the Browns for making the trek all the way from Dayton to see us.

And that's a wrap on this chapter of our lives. Stay tuned...

In honor of Beach

Yesterday was June 14th. I know everyone loves Flag Day, but what you may not know is that it's also Beach's birthday - oh, what a curse sharing your day with such a major holiday. Our activites yesterday probably weren't how he always dreamed of spending his birthday. We stayed up until 3:30 in the morning preparing for a visit from the movers and then woke up at 6:30 when Finn was ready to start his day. Later, we stopped into the office for some last-minute paperwork and a little break - while we were there I surprised him with a fancy cake from a German bakery, washed down with margaritas. Tequila and chocolate - a delicious combination. When we got home the whole family took a long nap before Beach's birthday dinner consisting of whatever was left over in our fridge - mostly condiments (he doesn't waste a thing) - followed by another late night of packing and cleaning for the move. I guess we really are grown-ups now. Life gets in the way of fun, even on one's big day. Beach, one of these years I hope you get to celebrate your day doing something for yourself. Anyway, Happy 31st to you!

Finn also wanted to write a post but since he can't type yet, I'm ghostwriting:

Happy Father's Day, Papa! You're the best Dad a kid could ever want and I can't wait to learn all the things you have to teach me. I'd love it if we could go to a ball game to celebrate. Actually, since the Reds are terrible this year, let's take a 9-hour flight across the Atlantic instead. That sounds like much more fun!

At least I think that's what Finn said. He doesn't speak very well yet, either...

We love you, Beach!

On the move

Here goes - we're ready (sort of) for our move back to the good ol' US of A. As promised, here's our plan for the next month or so.

Our cell phones are going to be up and running on June 17. We're not publishing numbers here - don't want any web crazies stalking us. Our personal contact info is not changing, but in case you threw it all away thinking we might never be back, I'm also sending out a mass email.

June 17
Arrive in Virginia. We're staying in Williamsburg while Beach does 4 weeks of Reserve duty at Langley AFB. The hotel is the Residence Inn Williamsburg. Phone number there is 757.941.2000.

July 10

Sarah and Finn arrive in Massachusetts. Cell phone reception is spotty in the Berkshires so if you need to get in touch, call us at my mom's house.

July 14

Beach arrives in Massachusetts.

July 18 or 19

Leave Massachusetts and drive back to Ohio with a car full of cats and babies (well, just one baby and all his gear). Planned arrival in Cincinnati is July 19 or 20.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone and introducing our new addition to those of you who haven't met him yet!

Gratuitous Finn picture:

As they say in Germany - Tchuss!

We're serious this time.

This is really it. We've taken our last side trip in Germany.

There was a going away lunch for Beach on Thursday at which his commander and coworkers said some very nice things about him. For example, "I really didn't want someone with a PhD, but he proved that engineers aren't so bad. I might hire another one sometime." (the Colonel, confirming stereotypes about pilots). He was given a certificate stating that he graduated, with honors, from the Stein-Werfen Schule (Stone-Throwing School - the 3rd AF is a tough crowd). And he was presented with a framed picture collage declaring him the best officer ever to grace their hallways (see previous post - this is what happens when you ask someone to design their own going-away gift).

But I digress. After lunch we hopped in the car and headed up to Cochem in the Mosel river valley near the French border. The Mosel valley is said to be what the Rhein wants to be; it has beautiful vineyards, picturesque castles, and quaint villages. Well, except for Cochem which, while pretty, has been overrun by tourists (mostly German and Dutch). Like many American tourist traps, this city offers its visitors an abundance of stores where you can buy souvenir t-shirts and "authentic" battle axes made in China (for those who remember Fudge Knives, it's the German equivalent of that). But what Cochem has that American cities don't is architecture that has endured since medieval times. So, we had plenty to look at.

The first afternoon and evening we walked around the city, hiked up to Cochem Castle on a hill overlooking the valley, had our last schnitzel dinner at a restaurant on the river, and danced a bit with Finn to a band covering "Lady in Red" at a wine festival ("Lady in reds, she dancing wiss me").

The next morning we went outside of town to Burg Eltz, a castle that has been continuously lived in since the 1200's by the same family and has had the same furnishings since the 1500's (at least in the part we saw). The Eltz family was smart enough to form the right allegiances over the years (German-French, French-German, whoever controlled the area) so their house wouldn't get blown up like so many others in the area. The castle doesn't offer tours in English, so we got to practice our German a bit. I think I understood four sentences out of the whole 45-minute shpiel. They didn't talk much about buying bread. That I would have understood. Still, it was interesting to see. Afterwards we hiked down to the little stream near the castle for a quick cool-down, where we witnessed a gentleman strip down to his tighty-blues for a wade in the ankle-deep water. Oh yes, we got a picture. See it here (along with some of the rest of the trip and Finn, if you're interested in that kind of stuff).

Cochem and Burg Eltz - check.

We're outta here on Sunday, so this week we're knee-deep in moving preparations. Keep posted for an update coming later this week on our plans for the next month or so.

Last day at work

The grand year is rapidly coming to a close. I had my last day at work today; I have to work overnight over the weekend. We have definitely had a lot of fun including adding to our family with the most precious little boy.

I was looking forward to a break from the grind of my civilian job and get a little more operational military experience. In addition, we hoped to get to see some of the European sites. I think that we were very successful on all fronts.

Although it will be great living in a house with our own stuff and back into normality, I've met a whole group of great people whom I'll miss when I'm gone. We've put together a collage of photos of the people I worked with as part of the going away process and included it below.

I've thought about the name of the blog as well. once we're back in the US, the name makes significantly less sense. We'll have to put some work into that. Potentially we keep it the same.

Ten days and counting...

So nice they named it twice...

In an effort to see as many of the tourist destinations in Germany as possible before our time is up, we made a quick trip down to Baden-Baden (translation: Bathe-Bathe) on Saturday. Baden-Baden, located on the northern border of the Schwartzwald (Black Forest), was the playground of Europe's rich and famous in the 1850's and still attracts many aging and ailing Europeans looking to find a cure in the area's restorative waters.

According to our trusty Rick Steve's guide to Germany & Austria, the city has 4 things to see:

1. Casino: Modeled after the Palace of Versailles and still very formal. Jacket and tie required.
2. Lichtentaler Allee: A lovely path along the river Oos, flanked by huge mansions built during the city's heyday.
3. Friedrichsbad: 120-year-old Roman-Irish bath house. In a departure from the dress code of the casino, nudity is the standard here.
4. Caracalla Therme: Modern bath house for those less daring (swimsuits allowed).

Since we were dressed neither for the casino nor the baths, and one really needs to get into these places to have the full experience, Baden-Baden was somewhat less exciting for us than some of our other trips. Still, we had a nice walk along the Allee, some good people watching and Finn, ever the discriminating diner, had a meal outside the casino. Here are some photos.

Baden-Baden: Check!

Start of Summer?

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip down to ski resort of Wengen in the Swiss Alps. Wengen is a tiny village in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. As is the case with most of the villages in the area, it's accessible only by cog train, so we parked our car in Lauterbrunnen and took the 15 minute ride up into the mountains. The weekend was quite an adventure; we took some hikes through the mountains and saw many of the things one would expect to see in Switzerland, including immense cliffs, glaciers, alpine meadows full of wildflowers, and lots of farm animals. We experienced a wide range of weather, from 70 degree temps when we arrived on Saturday to 10+ inches of snow on Monday. We were even snowed in most of the day because the trains lost power and they closed the road between Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken (the only way out!) because of so many downed trees. We finally made it back to Ramstein-Miesenbach in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

Finn, the world traveler, had a ball being in a new place, seeing the sights from the comfort of the Bjorn, experiencing his first walk in a winter wonderland, and generally charming the hotel staff, who gave us the use of one of their nicer rooms for the day on Monday just so he could get some sleep in peace.

All in all, we think this trip put a nice close to our whirlwind time here. See the pictures here.

An Infant's Cries: A Study in Sound Development

Finn's crying has, um, ripened over the course of his short life. Below is a chronology, a discography, if you will. I wish I had actual recordings of all of the cry styles, but you'll have to use my onomatopoeias (never thought I'd use that word in a sentence!), rough translations, and your imagination for the earlier ones. Think of the volume increasing with each stage.

Age 0-1 Month
la!
Translation: Excuse me, ma'am? I'm a bit chilled and could use a bite to eat. Perhaps you could help?

Age 1 Month-2 Months
GA!
Translation: Jeez, I really don't like it when you put me in the car seat. I strongly suggest you stop doing that.

Age 2 Months-3 Months
WAAAA!
Translation: Yo, Mom! Don't you know by now that when I wake up I want milk now? Not 3 minutes from now, not after my diaper is changed, I said NOW!

Age 3 Months-4 Months
YaYaYaYaYa!
Translation: Hmm. I think I can talk to them in their language. Maybe that's a better approach to getting what I want. Hello!....Hello? I'm bored with this toy. I'd like a different one, please.

Age 4 Months-5 Months
Click to listen
Translation: You evildoers brought me into this world just so that you could torture me and quite possibly starve me to death by leaving me ALL ALONE in my room for HOURS, no, DAYS after I've woken up from my nap. You're going to burn in hell for this. And to that I say, Good Riddance!

And from what I've heard, it will get worse before it gets better.

The Rhein River...A Different View

While Beach and Finn were admiring the castles and green hills of the Rhein valley, I was busy taking in the scenery of a different kind. The people watching in Europe is great, and when you're on a sightseeing cruise, you can feign like you're looking at a lovely castle when you're really staring at your neighbor. If you're lucky, you can even get pictures.

I had to get a shot of this guy's mullet (because mullet pictures never get old!), but what I didn't realize until I saw him leaving the boat is that he was wearing overalls with a cardigan thrown casually over his shoulders. Beach and I call this "worker chic."

This next outfit defies explanation. I first saw the shirt and thought it looked like a Vera Bradley pattern gone awry (no offense to Vera Bradley - she has some lovely things), but when the sweater appeared I had to document the combination. Here's a tip for tourists: Pack solid colors. If she wasn't a tourist, she's beyond help.

Is this a sign I've become jaded to Europe's beauty? Probably. I guess it's time to come home. But not before our trip to Switzerland this weekend (if we can find a hotel). Stay tuned for pictures of Swiss things, like cows, mountains, and maybe a Swiss Miss or two.

Boats, trains and automobiles

We had heard that the cruises on the Rhein River are nice and decided to spend our Saturday up on the border between Hessen and Rhineland-Pfalz.

Our day started by driving up to the Frankfurt Airport. We needed to buy my tickets to Virginia and get Finn's tickets as well (government and infant tickets have to be paid for in person). Having tried to do this the day of departure last time we thought it prudent to go early this time. During our last trip back to the States, we arrived at the airport 4 hours early, but the ticket purchase process took so long that we barely made our flight. This time was not much faster, we spent almost 2 hours in the terminal, but we are now confirmed to be going home in June.

We drove on to Rüdesheim am Rhein where we hopped a boat down to Koblenz. The river runs between picturesque bluffs which are frequently dotted with châteaux and castles. The weather cooperated: mostly sunny and 70 degrees. It was a nice ride down the river with stops at sites like Assmanshausen, St. Goarshausen, and Loreley.

As we approached Loreley, all the Germans started singing a folk song and then the song was played over the boat's intercom. Since this was not a narrated trip, we weren't sure what was going on, so we Googled it when we got home. Loreley is located at a bend in the river at its narrowest point between Switzerland and the North Sea. At this point, the river runs quickly and used to be full of rocks and small waterfalls and it's the site of many shipwrecks. The song that was played is about the Sirens' call to the river boatmen to luring them to smash their boats on the rocks. It is kind of like singing "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" when going out on Gitche Gumee.

After arriving in Koblenz, we walked over to the Hauptbanhof to catch a train back. We bought our tickets and then got some Chinese food to eat on our ride back to Rüdesheim. It turns out that Finn loves trains. He spent the hour train ride back smiling, laughing, and eating his hands. The picture above shows another red train on the opposite bank to help you visualize our trip.

When we got back to Rüdesheim, we wandered through the town. It is a classic German tourist town with Bier Gartens and a lederhosen-wearing band in the street complete with sousaphones. We had a great wander around the town and came across a drunk Polish guy who said he also had a 4 month old kid in Poland. After saying my name is Beachkofski, he said that his name family name is Bieńkowski. We thought that he was lying, but it seems to be a real name.

All said, we had a great time, good weather, and Finn seemed to enjoy it. You can relive the experience through our pictures.

2nd grade joke is near reality!

I've been doing a lot of research in my family history lately. I came across my 2nd cousin once removed who has also been doing a lot of research recently. He made trips up to the old family land and has copies of old records. He was very nice and gave me copies of all the documents and what he has found.

In an old document to start mortgage, the family name is written as "Bitchkowski". Now when someone says it, I can say I have proof that they are unoriginal and that the same joke has been used since at least 1891. All the research is worth it if only for that reason.

He also sent an old family picture in front of the family house in Menasha, WI. My great-grandfather, Frank Beachkofski is the handsome short guy on the right. He is two years older than the tall guy on the far left and 3 years older than the kid next to him.

It is great to know more about the family and our history. I still haven't come across someone who would qualify me for the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists, but there is a rumor of a name change to flee a sketchy past. No proof as of yet.

I am just glad that of all the alternate spellings that I have seen, "Bitchkowski" was not the version our family settled on.

Bad grammer brings sham

I reread my posts and realised that I m either a terrible writer or a nouveau stylist similar to e.e. cummings. I define my own laguge and speelling rules. if that causes readers to misunderstand or be confused, the fault rest squarely on them.

The Child Sleeps!

Miracle of miracles, joy of joys! Finn started showing signs of being sleepy at 8:30 last night. We put him in his crib where he fussed for less than 5 minutes. Then, not another peep. When my alarm went off at 6 this morning, it took me a minute to remember - Did I get up to feed him? No?! Did he cry? No!? Oh lord, something's wrong. A quick peek into his room to confirm that yes, he was still breathing. I got ready for the day and made myself some coffee before I went in to wake him up (yes, wake HIM up!) at 7. Ten. And. A. Half. Hours. Wow.

This is the best day EVER! Let's just hope this becomes a trend...

Happy Mother's Day

It's Mothers Day and Finn was willing to give mom a night off. He decided to sleep from 9:30 last night until 5:30 this morning. That was very appreciated to say the least. It seems *knock on wood* that we may be winning the battle of wills. That was the best gift little Finn could have given Sarah and is also the prize for the mother of the year award.

Our other Mother's Day plan includes a new friend coming over. There is another little boy, Nate, who is here for a short time like us. He's 8 months old, so he's doing things Finn hasn't dreamed of yet. We'll see them play together today; I wonder what that actually entails.

Happy Mother's Day you all you moms and moms to be out there!

UPDATE! Playing means staring at each other. No fighting or biting or nothing. For those expecting to see some gladiator pit you would have been disappointed.

On Spoiling a Baby

To this point in his life, Finn has flat out refused to sleep in anything other than his car seat, his swing, or our bed for more than an hour or two at a time. This week Beach and I decided that since Finn is now 4 months old, he needs to start learning how to sleep in his crib.

What we didn't realize until we started this training is that somewhere along the line, Finn seems to have learned that when he cries, we pick him up and cuddle him. He is currently using this knowledge for evil, not good, and is spending several hours during the night screaming his head off. I hestiate to say he is manipulating us, but let's just say that he seems to have us figured out and right now, this is not such a good thing.

Not that there’s anything wrong with cuddling – the doctors and baby books all say that you can’t spoil a baby before 3 months and no amount of cuddling during this time is too much (since Finn was a month early, we were told to measure milestones by his due date, not his birth date). The doctors and books also say that at some point, you should let a baby learn how to settle himself down. What they don’t say is how do you know when to make the switch? Do you all of a sudden one day stop cuddling your baby? Do you just start ignoring the crying? Wouldn’t that just teach the baby that you’ve spent all these months getting to trust you that really you can’t be trusted at all? I’m confused. At what point does cuddling = spoiling?

For those of you familiar with Sex & The City, yes, I've been watching a lot of that lately.

Height and wait

A day at the doctor's is a day full of waiting rooms. Yet it was eventful day you can see by the holes in Finn's legs and heels. They were caused by the testing and vaccinations to keep him a healthy boy. Still, they have caused him to be a very grumpy munchkin.

Like a prize-fighter, he looks bigger than he weighs. His official weight is 12lbs 1.5oz and he's 23.5" in height. That is just the 5th percentile for his age in each. Though, his giant head is in the 25-50th percentile.

All in all, he is putting on weight and developing well. Most of all he's a healthy, scrappy kid.

Our summer plans

Since we don't have a summer picture of all three of us yet, I filled some space with a photo of us on our last trip before we came to Germany. We went to sunny San Diego. As you can see in the picture, it was super squinty-bright out.

In preparation for our summer back in the 'States, we've been pulling together our schedule of events. It will be a very busy time and to help everyone coordinate Finn viewings we're publishing our Summer 2007 North American tour schedule:

6/17 Germany to Virginia - I'll be continuing my reserve duty there for another month.
7/6 Concert in DC with Team Podolak.
7/10 Sarah and Finn go to the Berkshires - the advance party goes to see if our car/cats are ready for the return trip.
7/14 Beach flies to Boston and hitches a ride west in the back seat of a wagon with a retired greyhound.
7/18 Mass. to Cinti - We hop in the old silver bullet and rentre chez nous. We'll probably overnight in Eerie, PA or Buffalo, NY. Those places rock!
7/23 Back to work - I rejoin the Civil Service "work" force.
8/6 Go to St. Louis - Our Civic will be back from its voyage across the sea. The closest to our home that they deliver is St. Louis. We'll go there and drive black beauty home.
8/10-12 Long weekend to Wisconsin. I'll steal away from work and we'll visit everyone up there.
8/25-9/3 Vacation to the Outer Banks. After working for nearly 3 weeks with only a couple days off, I'll need a break. We're renting a house that we'll share with a retired greyhound.

That's Labor Day and the end of summer. Hockey season starts after that.

Luxembourg calls

Having had enough of relaxing around the house, Finn wanted to go see a Finn-sized country. Accepting his suggestion, we made our way up to Luxembourg this weekend. They are geographically close to the Belgians, but very different in mentality.

Exhibit A. The Luxerious (that is what people from Luxembourg are called) claim to have the best waffles in the world. Compare that to the Belgians who said that they "probably" had the best waffles. Also the contrast in quality is amazing. Whereas the Belgian waffles were probably the best, the Luxembourgian's were definitely not the best.

Exhibit B. The Belgians also have probably the world's best beers. The Luxemburgois have a wide selection of low-quality pils to choose from. It is nearly impossible to find a Belgian white ale or unfiltered wheat in a country sandwiched between the home of each.

We saw all the sites that the city had to offer. Well, we did miss the American Cemetery where Gen Patton is buried. It closes at 5 and we didn't get out of the city until 8. We even saw the bagpipers competition. The city was replete with pipers, and I must report I never saw a piper down, though we were ready to call it out. (Ref: So I married an Axe Murderer.)

Heim und Wandern

It was a lazy last couple of weeks with a lot of lounging and walking around the countryside. Staying at home (heim) has been nice and relaxing. Hiking (wandern) around the hills by our village is a great day outing. Check out all of our photo proof here.

Of course, for Finn hiking involves mostly sleeping while being carried around. The castle we hiked to was mostly ruins. Still, the view was impressive.

It has been great being back on a regular schedule and not doing shift work. We're really enjoying our time here, but are also happy to be getting back to what we're used to.

Major dad

Since everyone was a fan of the show Major Dad, I'm sure you know that military parents are required to be in uniform at all times. I thought that I'd provide proof of that with the photo at right.

You can also see that Finn is giant now. We're not sure how much he weighs, but our guess is 13 pounds. He likes to grab at things and drool.

He also likes to play with his toys now. He'll lie on his back and touch objects hanging down from his play mat while watching the star blink and play music.

He has gotten old enough to be carried in the Baby Bjorn facing outward too. A Bjorn is a front-pack for babies so you can carry them hands-free. He loves grocery shopping in it. He either likes the colorful packaging or the attention that he gets from other customers.

He's quite a growing and changing boy.

Rowan Brown, you're the next contestant!

Jeff and Angela had a little boy, Rowan, on the 25th. The whole family is back at home and doing well. You can visit their blog for some info (or as they say here in Germany "infos"). There are pictures posted by Angela's brother also available.

Congrats on the new boy!

Finn gets a new friend

Our friends, Jeff and Angela of The Daily Squink, are off to the hospital to have their new baby. Their son, Tiberius will be arriving soon with all the excitement and amazement a new baby brings.

Our congratulations rush out to them on a happy delivery. Enjoy it!

A Good Year (or 8 months)

Today, Beach scheduled the movers for our journey back to the US. We're leaving Germany 8 weeks from tomorrow. I know I've had a pretty bad attitude about this place for the past few months; maybe I'm actually projecting my feelings about being cooped up with a newborn on the place instead of the situation (better to blame Germany than to blame Finn, right?). So, anyone who has listened to me complain must be thinking that I'm counting the days. I was, but the impending end of our time here made me forget about the bumps in the road and realize about what a great adventure this has been. We've experienced probably about 80% of what Europe has to offer, good (tulips in the Netherlands) and not-so-good (Forbach - the French city never shown in the Frommer's guides). And, whenever we feel homesick for the States, we can get a big group of obnoxious Americans from Beach's office (who have been great stand-ins for our US friends), dominate a restaurant for an afternoon, and forget that the only thing I've learned to say in German in 8 months is "Zwei brotchen, bitte" (translation - "Two rolls, please" - I buy a lot of bread).

I'd like to apologize to Germany for my negativity, and thank Germany for the endless laughs I've had at your (and your people's) expense, and for making us realize that living in America is really, really good. I'm going to miss you, and your bread.

Finn drafted by team "Pooh Bear"

The scouts were in town this week to find new talent, and it doesn't get much newer than Finn. He ended up accepting the offer from Team Pooh Bear. Their scout noticed his use of his hand to suck on. "This new development really got our attention, especially since he seems to be a switch-hander."

The team's opening offer was tabled to see if competing bids would come in. "He had a great showing at the combine," said Brian Beachkofski, Finn's agent, "and we had hoped to see offers like this come in."

Although unable to finish the 40 because he still can't walk or crawl, his strength to body weight ratio was impressive. Despite the high hopes, the only other offer came from Team Smurfs, who ended up signing JuCo transfer Pax Jolie.

Team Poop Bear's Manager said, "Finn seems like a good fit in the clubhouse. He gets along with everyone and Kanga has taken him under his wing." When asked about how he likes the selection Finn simply smiled.

Tulip Time in Holland

We took a trip up to the Netherlands for a visit to the tulip fields and Amsterdam for the weekend. We had perfect weather for the whole weekend and got some nice pictures.

Our apartment was near the Albert Cuypmarkt, the largest market in Amsterdam. It was full of people and trash. We bought our dinner of cheese, olives, bread, and fruit there one night.

The tulip fields are amazing. In addition to the fields, there are over 70 acres of gardens and a windmill. Seeing fields of orange, yellow and red instead of green is breathtaking.

The smell of the fields was as nice as the sight. The hibiscus flower scent was everywhere and refreshing, unlike some of the canals of Amsterdam. The canal water used to run a high risk of cholera if you were to drink it. I think that is still like the "good old days" since the houseboats have running water that flushes directly into the canal. The smell was only bad in the canals that were drained for dredging.

The canals of Amsterdam were also photogenic. We rented a canalbike (paddle boat) and took Finn on his first boat ride. His ride came with a mid-cruise meal.

Also, in response to popular demand, we have a high fashion shot of my new clothes.

There are a ton pf pictures (76) because it was difficult to narrow them down. In fact, this is the first time we ran out of room on our camera. It's amazing to me that seeing vacation slides use to be the stereotypical boring activity, and now people will choose to look at them since they are on-line. Maybe the change is due to the honesty that can be expressed without the vacationers in your presence.

Beach goes on H&M shopping spree

Sarah told me that I was in a fashion rut. Well,nothing cuts to the quick faster than insulting a man's fashion, so I began a new mission. I would create a new look for myself, throwing my old clothes to the wind like a Reds' lead in the 8th inning.

After work today, we packed up the Civic and went downtown to the H&M for a wild German shopping spree. After an endless amount of time (2 hours and 30 minutes), I walked out with 2 pants, 3 shirts, and 3 other button-up shirts.

My new look is an acknowledgement of growing older and being a father now. To paraphrase my fashion growth inspiration, Jay-Z:

Fresh to death, head to toe until the day I rest

I don't wear tees, I'm 30+

Give me a relatively wrinkle-free pair of linen pants, friends,

and a button-up

...

I'm going to get my grown man on.

The trip ended back home with a fashion show where I modeled my new look to much rejoicing. I am pretty happy with the results, but now realize that I can't go to more than 3 events that require nappy attire. I'd start to repeat which is clearly unacceptable to either me or Jay-Z. Maybe a trip back to H&M is in order soon.

When Will Tiberius Burst Forth?

Our friends Jeff and Angela of The Daily Squink fame are expecting their first child. Some have called their fetal child lump, bump, or Moe, but they have named theirs Tiberius.

As his baking time has now past Finn's, the moment is coming soon. Congrats to them in advance. We know it will be quite a big and wonderful change.

After winning the office basketball pool, i feel as if i am on a hot streak. Rather than have the traditional 'guess when she'll deliver' contest, I thought that a series of wagers would be fun.

Tiberius is due 24 days from now on April 27th. The bet goes like this: will ____ happen before Tiberius is born (odds listed in parentheses).

Here is the list of bets:

• Ohio State fans will get over their loss to Florida (1:1)
• Ohio State fans get of their other loss to Florida (2:1)
• Iran will release the British hostages (3;1)
• Sanjaya will get voted off American Idol (5:1)
• Britney Spears will go back into rehab (4:1)
• Britney Spears will then leave rehab (4.1:1)
• Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopt another child (7:1)
• Reds will have at least 15 wins like last year on April 27th (3:2)

Again, congrats to the happy parents to be!

On (to) Wisconsin!

Finn continued his national tour into Wisconsin where Finn met more of his great-grandparents, grandparents, cousins, uncles and other relatives, friends and gawkers. The pictures are here.

One of the highlights was the trip to his great aunt and uncle's house to meet his cousin Kai. Although almost two months younger, Kai is about the same size as little Finn. Everyone had a great time and it was great to get the two of the three youngest of the cousins together.

On our way back to Germany we had an 8 hour layover in Altanta. Finn asked to go see the Final Four festivities and get a tour of the Georgia Tech campus. We agreed to take him. He had fun walking through the rain and, despite being the same size as a basketball, no one tried to throw him through a hoop. I saw Dick Vitale at the CNN Center. He looks a little like Finn.

Thanks to everyone for their hospitality, gifts, and well-wishes from all stops on the Finn '07 tour. It was a good time and got us excited to return in a few months.

Berkshire County Meets Finn

Finn completed the first half of his 2007 North American tour with stops throughout Berkshire county. You can see the photos here.

After being a great air traveler on the leg to the US, he reversed course on the trip from Cincinnati to Madison. He was displeased with the temperature in the cabin, which neared 95 degrees. Being a man more of action than of words (at least up to this point) he screamed and cried for the first 35 minutes of the 1 hour flight. I translated that to the stewardess who called the pilot who turned up the air conditioner. So, in effect, Finn was in control of the aircraft. Pilot Finn.

Giant German Bug Eats Finn

Finn was eaten by a giant beetle yesterday while we stood by and took this picture. We think that the World News or other tabloid might buy the photo for a huge amount of money.

Luckily the beetle fits Finn's clothes (with an extra set of arm holes cut in) and we are keeping him to raise as our child. His name is Bailey.

We took young Baily out for a hiking tour of France's Château Fort de Fleckenstein. You can see the pictures here.

At Fleckenstein there is a tour lead by Willy of the forest around the castle. We had a great time walking in the woods and seeing the gnomes and wolves.

Varsity Coach?

Centerville, Ohio - The drama is high in the varsity hockey program with the rumored non-renewal of the third year coach's contract. My assistant coach from the bantam team two years ago is putting his name in as head coach and asked me to be his assistant for defense and goalies.

I'm excited about the chance and hope things work out well for us and the kids. It'll be good to get back into hockey again. In Germany my only hockey contact was at the hospital while Sarah and Finn were recovering. There was a Peewee who came in dressed in his equipment with a possibly broken wrist.

Best day of his life

Yesterday, Finn decided to stop yelling, sleeping all day, and fussing all night. That was much appreciated by his parents. We went for a walk and he stayed alert the whole hour, despite the bouncing of the Baby Bjorn.

We decided that he looked tired and put him in his papasan in the bedroom by himself at 10pm. He talked himself to sleep. He woke up at 3 for an evening snack, but then quickly slept again until 7am. That means that I got 10 hours of uninterupted sleep.

If you just did the math and think there is a mistake, remember I am a heavy sleeper and slept through the 3am deal and after he woke up in the morning.

He is still changing and acting more alert and interactive. It's exciting to see him grow. Hopefully this doesn't jinx it.

Big Striped Pants

The three of us packed up the trusty car and headed South in search of Winter in the mountains of Switzerland. Finn took it all in stride, but seemed upset that no one asked for his passport.

We figured that we'd be in the hotel room much of the time, so we got a room right on the river in the old town that overlooked to the lake and mountains. Although we liked the view, Finn mostly stared at the timber beams inset in the walls. The contrast between the dark wood and white walls fascinated him.

We did get out of the hotel quite a bit, but Finn mostly slept while out. Exhibit A at right. We enjoyed it though. We walked the bridges, saw the buildings, and even ate out a restaurants.

Here are the photos.

Finn's an International Jetsetter

Finn has passport now. Like all pictures for identification, it isn't very good. See? --->

His head looks lumpy, his left eye hangs lower, and he looks generally morose. The best part is that the passport is valid for 5 years. When he is in kindergarten, he will still have this as his passport photo. However, it does mean that he can fly back to the States to visit all the eager friends and relatives.

Things are slowly easing their way into a routine. You can see some of that routine here in the photos. You can see our everyday events, like Finn getting mail, wearing big brown pants, and hanging out in the kitchen. He even seems to hate baths a little less than before.

Grandma leaves town

Well, Grandma Nancy's visit helped make the day-to-day go a little easier. She made good food, gave bottles, and general gave Sarah and I some time to relax.

But it came to a close this morning when we dropped her off at the airport. We have another group of photos taken during the visit.

Our next visit will be when we go back to the US in March, if Finn's Passport comes in time. We look forward to seeing everyone then.

Grandma comes to town

Today we picked up Nancy from the airport and she got to see Finn face-to-face. She says that he is small, but to us he is much bigger than he was. A week ago the doctor weighed him as 6lbs 13.5oz. He's over 7 lbs by now for sure.

Here are the photos. I also discovered that Sarah has been snapping pictures of me and Finn while I'm holding him. The reason I didn't know this before now is that I fall asleep when I hold him. Well, he does too, so it seems fair.

Bert and Ernie Had Way More Fun

Finn had first first dunk-him-in-the-tub and he let his opinion be known: no fun. He didn't like sponge baths either, so it wasn't that shocking. His cry is no longer amusing at its loudest. Bathing is a quick way, we have found, to test if he can cry louder than before.

I thought that maybe the rubber ducky would make it fun. Finn disagreed.

Another tip for upcoming parents, he will pee in the bath water, so wash his face using non-bath water. For those who are now concerned for Finn's eyes, we did not learn this the hard way. As I said, "I bet he pees in here" he won the bet for me.

I'm sure that he'll have more fun once he realizes that those are his arms and that he can control the splashing. Those will be the days of bubbles and floating toys that he will remember fondly.

Announcement Mania

We're starting to get around to make birth annoucements. I've discovered I like making them. I got a little compulsive and made several variants. I'm asking that you be part of my focus group and privde any feed back on the designs that you'd like. Take a look at them here.

Shuterfly seems to trim 5x7 images to 4x6 dimensions, so that explains the narrowed cards chopping off some text.

Even More Pictures

We have the phone hooked up. Send me an e-mail and I can send you the number we haven't gotten it out to you yet. Our internet connection is up (some of the time). We should be back to 'normal' now.

Sarah is out of the neck brace and feeling good. Finn is above his birth weight again and getting even bigger. He is sleeping for long periods of time (although during the day) and awake most of the night.

For those wonder how big is a 5lb baby, Finn is roughly the same volume as a Kleenex box as shown at right.

Enjoy the pictures.

Finn's a-changing

He's lost the remnants of the umbilical cord and has something that may be described as a belly button. It's not cute or anything, though Sarah says it looks like a smiley face.

His hair is getting lighter. Of course, we noticed that after washing his head. Potentially it's just been dirty for a while.

Pictures to validate all these claims should be coming soon. We'll have internet access (in theory) on Tuesday.

More Pictures

People can't seem to get enough of the pictures of Finn. So here is the second set.

I'm back at work and can get e-mail there, but I can't access the yahoo account for a while. Until the T-Com people can come out and install the connection in our new appartment. That goes back to the 80% rule. It takes them 3-4 weeks to come and install phone/internet.

That's right we moved. We liked the old place, but we had to move because of the type of order I'm on changed. The APO address is still the same, but we aren't at An der Halde anymore.

We'll keep the photos coming.

We're going home

After an extended stay in the hospital, Finn and Sarah are coming home. The stay was prolonged by Finn needing to be monitored (no problems found) and Sarah's neck bothering her since delivery. Everyone has been cleared and we're on our way!

Photos

Here's the photo album so far. If you want a high-res copy of any of them, send me an e-mail (beachkbk@yahoo.com) letting me know which one (title) and I will e-mail them to you.

Say hello to Finn

Little Finn Xavier Beachkofski was born at 3:40AM on 8 January. He weighs 5lbs 4oz and is 18 1/4" long for you stat trackers out there.

Everyone is doing well and recovering in the hospital still. I'll post more pictures later.

Yo, It's baby time!

Sarah's water broke yesterday morning and we went over to the hospital. They had us sit around and wait for a while. This morning they said that even though he's a few weeks early, the little guy was healthy enough to come on out. They are currently inducing labor and we'll have a baby in the next 24 hours.

I'll keep you posted as I can.

Merry Christmas from Krampus

Jill and Rich, our friends from Boston came out for the week and we went on a Bavarian/Austrian excursion. Please cross-reference "Neuschwanstein check!" for an explanation on what we did in Bavaria. As a side note, if you haven't already done so, check out "Wait a Minute" on the Farmhouse Films link (http://www.farmhousefilms.com/).

During Christmas Time or Weihnachtzeit, every city square is filled with the Weihnachtmarkt where food and beverages (Glühwein, Eierpunsch, or orangenpunsch are popular) are sold along with Christmas gifts and toys.

In Austria there was a special character often depicted by dried-fruit figurines: Krampus. Krampus is not the jolly happy soul that Santa is (see picture). Instead of giving bad kids candy, in Austria and parts of Germany Santa Claus (a.k.a Weihnachtsmann) simply ignores bad kids. However, Krampus does not. He comes to the front door and puts the bad kids into a large bag and then beats them silly with his stick (again see the picture).

The Teutonic people following the advice of such other German child specialists as the Brothers Grimm don't let the threatening legend live as a warning. We asked an Austrian market worker about Krampus' appearance at the Christmas Fest. A man dressed up in full costume, including sticks, will appear and ask parents if their children are bad. Those who were bad are handed to Krampus. When asked if he will actually beat the kids, she answered "maybe if he has been drinking more than a little, yes."

The same line of questions posed to a Nürnberger gave this picture. "Our Krampus is not as ugly as the Austrian. He shows up at your door and puts you in a bag, but doesn't hit you. I think I cried every Christmas, but would be bad again a few months later."

Maybe the 2-3 months of good behavior is worth the lifelong mental scarring. We'll have to think about bring the Krampus tradition back to the US with us and our kid.