Who's that man in the window?

We were coming home from shopping downtown when we noticed that the street in front of our house was blocked off and a giant cherry picker was swinging in front of our house.  We were curious what they were up to, so Carola asked the man what they had planned.  It turns out that the tree on the north side of our house was diseased and for safety reasons needed to come down.

I took Conrad upstairs into the nursery and to my surprise we were looking straight into the eyes of a guy holding a chainsaw.

Now it is much lighter on that side of the house - and the best part is that we now have a great view of empty office buildings and satellite dishes!

Let's give sitting a try

This morning Conrad was in a particularly good mood, so I set him up in the chair and tried to get some elusive "happy Conrad" photos.  While most times this does not work, the stars aligned and we had a good time playing while dad hid behind his strange black box.

Uncle Walter comes for a visit

Walter flew in on Wednesday, arriving from his trip to Lebanon to see Sophie.  He brought with him a really tasty and ripe sweet melon - and black tea for Carola.  Carola and I both had to prepare various things and then Uncle Walter got some quality time with Conrad.

Tummy Time

Carola and I have been trying to give Conrad time to roll around on his belly.  We are told this is good for his muscle development, coordination, etc.  It is also fun to be able to be active with him a bit.  From the beginning he was able to hold his head up very well and the other day Carola even got him to roll himself over.  We are being a bit careful where we leave him because who knows what he might be doing next.

Conrad's Rennwagon

Walking through the city today, I have come to appreciate pavers and cobblestones that are scattered throughout the sidewalks of Frankfurt.  They produce a rhythmic shaking motion inside Conrad's bassinet - and this is perfect for inducing baby-sleep.  Let's see how we fair along the smooth sidewalks of Colorado.

Who can sleep 8 consecutive hours?

Before 11pm last night, things were a little stressful.  Conrad was overtired and did not want to go to sleep.  Carola handled it all with grace and I wish I could say that I was as patient.  However, it seems that his multiple feedings were just leading up to a big present he was about to give us - 8 straight hours of sleep!  This morning I rolled over and asked Carola if I had missed a feeding (and the resulting work of burping) sometime in the middle of the night).  I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that this was the first time he was awake and it was already very very light outside!  Well-rested parents are happy parents.

Sleepy Time

This was taken a couple of weeks ago, and I just rediscovered it as I was sorting photos and backing them up on the external hard drive.  If I look happy, its because I am.  Each time one gets a baby to sleep it is like winning Olympic gold - although we do not have to wait four years for the next Olympics - the opportunity to enter the competition always seems to be right around the corner.

That said, we have absolutely nothing to complain about.  Conrad only really cries when something is troubling him, whether it be hunger, wetness, boredom or tiredness - and lets himself be quieted down fairly well once the problem is solved.  Furthermore, he has gotten so much better in the last couple weeks, becoming much less terrified of his own strange bodily functions.

Oberbayern, Oberaudorf & Oberfeldweg

The weekend before last we headed down to Rosenheim to see family.  We took the train (Carola got us a great deal) and it was Conrad's first time on a high-speed train.  He traveled really well and we did just fine with all our luggage (although a car would still have been nice!).  We had a wonderful visit with Omama, who got to see Conrad for the first time.  It was great to see everyone and great to be in Bavaria again.

 Conrad was very sleepy the other day and could not wait for us to get him into his bed.  He just had to sleep where he was.  Naturally we are quite happy when he decides to sleep, no matter where.

Carola has been working with Conrad, trying out new exercises so that he can learn how to control his arms and legs and not smack himself in the face accidentally as sometimes happens.

All in all it is not a huge portion of the day, but the times when Conrad is awake, happy, dry and full are really really cool and we both enjoy spending these times with him alot.

The last week has seen a relatively big jump forward in Conrad's development.  He has more control over his hands and he is interacting more with the external world.  Now he seems pretty sure that he will get the basics in life and is starting see what this strange world has to offer.  This includes the occasional smile, which makes his parents very happy!

I found a couple belly-shots that I thought deserved posting.  I think it is amazing how he can pull his head up already.  He is a strong little dude.

On the way home from Kassel, weekend before last, Conrad fell asleep exercising his fingers.  He really likes to stretch them out.

Conrad loves his new mobile.  We thought we would get him used to being in Frankfurt, where we always have planes taking off and landing overhead.

So, on Sunday we decided to make hamburgers from scratch.  Actually, I wanted hamburgers but we didn't have any buns.  As the stores are closed here on Sundays, we decided to make our own buns.  Carola made the yeast dough and we were off and running.  It turned out really good and the burgers were amazing!

Getting some fresh air.

Conrad's First Bath!

Mother and Son resting after a restless night

Awake and happy on the couch

First Day at Work

Today is my first day back at work and we will have to get into a new rhythm of life again.  We were doing pretty good with the old rhythm before - but I guess that will be the story of this first year - if we are not traveling and changing things then Conrad will change his schedule just to keep us on our toes.  All in all it was a great weekend though.  We managed to make strawberry jam and cookies and still feed everyone in the house.

Multitasking

Week 2 is here and we are figuring out how to get some sleep and get some other things done.  Conrad got his first passport today and we are enjoying watching him grow.

We were making cupcakes last Saturday when one of them fell off the cooling rack. TRAGEDY.

Conrad Harry - Week 1

On May 14 we had a life-changing event - Conrad Harry joined our family. To celebrate the occasion, Carola and I have been giving the little guy lots of attention - both day and night. After doing some very important things like applying for a birth certificate, washing diapers and taking a nap, photos have finally made it up the priority list.

If you would like to follow more photos of Conrad, please check back here as I think this will be the place where I will upload them. Many thanks to everyone for their good wishes and kind thoughts over the past few weeks! We are very happy that mother, child and father are all doing well.

Happy Easter Everyone! We had Carola's parents and brother Walter visit us for Easter. It was a wonderful and enjoyable time.

I hope to have more news soon!

We spent the weekend in Berlin because of Valerie's engagement party. We saw lots of friends and had a really good time marching through wintry Berlin. This was taken at the Tiergarten in the former West Berlin.