Some Christmas Cheer

We had a great Christmas with lots (well, for us here) of family to spend the holiday with. My mom was here as well as her cousin, Paula, and Paula's daughter, Alice. My mom was here for almost three weeks and Paula and Alice arrived on Christmas Eve and stayed until Monday. We had a wonderful time showing them around Bamberg and visiting a few of the local breweries. Christmas day was filled with lots of presents and a great meal (thanks for all the hard work Mom!). We also had three very dear friends over for Christmas dinner (Dan, Andy and Becca) so we actually had a crowd this year. Below are some pictures from the Christmas and the past couple of days. When my mom uploads her pictures I will try and add a few more since I think her photos are a bit better.

Christmas time is here!

A few recent pictures from the BFC. Here is Grinch Gus.

He is really into books these days (looking at the book, having someone read the book, eating the book, etc.)

We have been making the rounds of the Christmas markets. Here is the market in Coburg, Germnay.

Here is the market in Kulmbach.

A picture of Kulmbach castle up on the hill taken from the Marktplatz.

Bierathalon Revisited

Here are the professional pictures from the Bierathalon. Pat and Dan, running and drinking as Die Big Gulps ("The Big Gulps").

Grandma's Here!

My mom arrived last Thursday and we have been keeping her busy. Friday we all went to Rothenburg; it is a historic, walled city about an hour and a half from Bamberg. Pat had quarterly training there during the day so my mom, Gus, Max and I walked around the Christmas market. That night Pat had a work Christmas party there so we got rooms at a little guesthouse and my mom stayed with Gus and Max while we went to the party (love free babysitting--pretty new concept for us since my Dad and Janet where the first and only until now). Sunday we took my mom to a soccer match in Fuerth to see our team the Kleeblatt. It was a wonderful sunny (but cold) day and the shamrocks of Fuerth defeated Rot-Weiss Ahlen. I put a few pictures from the game below.

12 Month Check-up

Gus visited the doctor today for his 12 month check-up and he did a great job. He now weighs 26 lb. 5 oz. (90%)--his weight has finally slowed down a bit and this was the first time he was not off the charts. His height is now 32.5 inches (still off the charts on this one, above the 100%). His head is now 49.5 cm (again still off the charts and above the 100%). So I basically have a tall, skinny boy with a big head. He was very good for the doctor and even showed off his walking/getting into things skills in the exam room.

It was also time for the dreaded vaccinations and Gus received 5 shots (I had them go ahead with a flu shot for him). He did cry for a few minutes, but did a really good job. Since I was already there I went ahead and had the Flu-mist too--have to set the example, right? After his exhausting morning spent at the clinic, he fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to come home. Hopefully he won't feel too bad for long since his grandma arrives tomorrow!

Birthday Boy Gus

Gus had a great first birthday! He received so many wonderful presents and had fun opening them and playing with all the gifts and the wrapping paper. I made a birthday cake for him, but that wasn't quite as much of a hit. Here is a slideshow of some pictures from Gus' birthday.

Happy Birthday Gus!

It is a little hard for me to believe, but one year ago today I had my little ten-pounder. Gus is celebrating his first birthday today. Happy Birthday baby boy!

At the one-year mark, a few of Gus' favorites:

Foods: Cheese, all types of German bread, ham, yogurt, Cheerios, oatmeal, bananas

Books: The Foot Book and Go, Dog. Go! (Thanks to cousin Harper for the great picks). We read these over and over again.

Toys: Cars or anything he can push around the room and anything that makes fun noise, also the remote, cell phone, Wii remote (all the things we hide but he somehow finds)

Songs: Christmas carols like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, also Oklahoma! (sometimes I am just at a loss for a song). He also likes the B.C. Clark song.

Other favorites: Bathtime, Max and when his dad comes home from work

We are having a little party this evening to celebrate so I will put up pictures of Gus with his first cake and presents soon.

Gam-Gam and Jimbo's Visit

Gam-Gam and Jimbo (Pat's parents) came across the pond for a Thanksgiving visit. It was wonderful to see them and Gus had the best time showing his grandparents around. We went to several Christmas markets (Bamberg, Nuernberg, Rothenburg and Munich) and visited the sights, including a forced march in the Hain (Max's favorite park). There was also plenty of time for Gus to show off his walking and talking skills. Here is a little slideshow giving a few of the highlights.