So, If Finn Won't Listen...

... it is NOT because he can't hear! As some of you might remember we had a referral to a special hospital in Munich for further testing of Finn's hearing, as it was suspected that he had profound hearing loss, possibly deafness, in the left ear. I finally got around to phoning the hospital last week and got an appointment for today. I was told to plan in 2-3 hours. So we packed a lot of toys and snacks, prayed that his ears would be fine, and headed south this morning. Both Finn and Lily did really well the whole time - AND: Finn passed all the tests! His hearing is good in both ears. I think it helped that for some of the time I chose to stay in the playroom with Lily, so Finn could really concentrate on the tests and on what the doctor wanted him to do.
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So I think that if sometimes he does not "hear" us it might be because he is concentrating so hard on what he is doing at the moment. His preschool teacher has also observed this. And sometimes I think he just plain chooses to ignore us. :)
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When we were done at the hospital it was lunch time, and guess where the kids wanted to eat. The golden arches were beckoning. They were so excited about the toys in the Happy Meal, currently dragons from a movie playing in the theaters. We frequently talk about food, what we should eat to grow well, and what foods are "treats" for only once in a while. While Lily does not really care about fast food (she only likes the fruit juice, apple slices and chicken nuggets), Finn loves cheeseburgers. He decided he needs to talk to the cooks at McDonald's so that they will make the food not only taste good, but also healthy. And today he wandered around the restaurant and I saw him talking to a family. When he came back I asked him what he had talked about with them, and he said, "They look like they eat at McDonald's every day (read: chubby), so I told them the food here is not good for their bodies." I'm sure they appreciated the advice. :)
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Finn's German is very good now. He is not shy anymore about approaching people and telling them what he thinks they need to know. Or asking store clerks for a drink when he is thirsty. When he doesn't know a word in German he will say it in English but use German grammar with it and pronounce it a bit differently, "Germanized". It's pretty funny sometimes.
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Last, not least, here are a few random April pictures.

Lily, after she took a nose dive on the playground ("Mama, look, I look like a clown!":

With the hat she picked out at the H&M store:

Ready for a walk in the rain:


Boo!

I.am.smiling, mom! Finn with one of his favourite books about a dolphin named Finn - and before a much needed haircut.

Today - his new dragon was having "supper", the poor thing has to survive on paper towels in our house.