Die Taufe

Quinn hit another big milestone: he was baptized on Saturday, the 26th, in the St. Bonifaz Catholic Church in Erlangen.

But, before the preparations could begin, the house had to be prepared for the guests. Here I am below, trying to extend our table. Isn't there an a machine at the gynecologist (Frauenarzt) that looks like this?

Here's the table all decked out ... ready for coffee and cake for after the baptism. Many thanks for Eva's mom who came a day early to help out!
Quinn's announcement at church.
Do we look like nervous or proud parents?
The ceremony itself was very cool and personal. The first part of the ceremony was held in the church itself, then the second part of the ceremony was in a small chamber that they use only for baptism.

Quinn slept through the first part and was very good ... perhaps even brave during the second part (where he got water poured on his head).

Here's the view from the parent's level during the baptism.

Here's the baptism from Quinn's perspective. In the baptism chamber itself, they have this stained glass star in the ceiling for the children to look at while being baptized.The only part where Quinn got a bit cranky was when we put his 'baptism dress' over his white little baptism outfit. The dress has been handed down in the Lümmer family for about 40 years. Below a pic of one of Quinn's Godmothers: Nina.
The whole ceremony went great - except for an unexpected stranger. A nice, but slightly senile old lady that was waiting for the baptism. Seemed like she just liked 'crashing' baptisms. She really liked singing along with us as well...she just sang the wrong songs.

Kinda like 'Wedding Crashers'...only slightly more wierd and a bit depressing. I hope when I get old and senile that Quinn takes care of my ass so I don't have to crash baptisms for entertainment.

Of course, the great grandparents were extremely proud of Quinn.
No family event would be final without tons of pictures, and, of course, a party!
Here's another pic of us and Eva's grandparents. We were extremely happy that much of Eva's family could make the trip to Erlangen for the baptism - and especially for Eva's grandparents for which the trip to Erlangen is more difficult to make.
...with Eva's parents. AKA: the grandparents! We're still getting used to calling them the grandparents. To us, grandparents are still our parents' parents. Those of you with children will understand this transition.
Family (at least the German side) picture. Play 'spot the American'.

The men!

The ladies! (...except Quinn)

Of course, after talk of Quinn and baptism, the conversation turned to the garden and yard. Here, I'm explaining the 3/4 inch of moss and thatch that has been consuming my green grass. It has since been exterminated. Moss and thatch is not welcome in my yard...even if I have to spend hours airating my yard by hand and have to spread harmful chemicals to do so.
Thankfully, the weather cooperated as well...and we got to spend much of the afternoon and evening outside. Tanja and Rene (to the right, both in red, standing) are also pictured below. They, along with Nina, are Quinn's godparents.
A great pic of Nina and Lea.
Lea and Quinn.

Der Berg ruft !!!

The 'fifth' Erlangen season officially opened on Thursday: Bergkirchweih. Erlangen's beer festival. 16 days, over 1 million visitors. Countless liters of beer. Dancing on the beer benches. Carnival rides...

...so Quinn stayed home with his mother while I met with some coworkers.
Here I am trying to be like the waitresses that can carry seemingly countless liters of beer with two hands. They have forearms bigger than my thighs. I could do 6 liters relatively easy, but I don't think they were full with beer.
...here's the dancing on the beer benches part.

Playing Horsey

A few days ago, I tried out a different type of carrying system for Quinn. It was a bit difficult to get on, but afterwards, I felt like a Jedi knight...or a hippie.
Here we are enjoying the new carrying system. We took a short stroll - Quinn and his Jedi knight daddy. The next day, we took a long walk into the city to a bike shop. Had to pick up some new brake pads for Eva's bike. It was not only Quinn's first trip to a bike shop, but he also picked up his first (slight) sunburn.

I had him completely covered, or so I thought...but somehow his skin was a bit pink later in the day. Thankfully, it was not too bad, and it didn't seem to bother him a bit. Next time, more sunscreen.



Rene, Tanja, and their son, Henrik joined us for cake and coffee on Sunday afternoon. The weather was great...and we played 'Horsey'. Apparently, the kids thought I was a great horse and had a great time.

Here's a great pic of Henrik in his little cart...with the two fathers in the background planning for the next trip into the Alps.

I'm too sexy for my socks...

Well, this will not be the last time that we say this: how did he do that? So, I walk into the living room and see Quinn playing with his star and stuffed animal - happy as can be (he really enjoys hitting the things so that they make noise). It's not uncommon for him to 'kick' his socks off, but how on God's green earth did he get them to land where they did.

Apparently, he likes to wear socks as much as his Dad.

We got a really cute package from friends of ours from Colorado, Brian and Tina - which included a really cute buffalo stuffed animal (the mascott of my beloved CU Buffaloes)...
...and a CU jersey. #10 from Kordell Stewart. The goodl 'ole days of CU football. Can you say 'Miracle in Michigan'? Fight CU down the field...CU must win...

Thanks a lot, Brian and Tina!
Instead of eating our normal fare of healthy foods, we thought we'd be lazy and cook up some french fries and chicken nuggets and watch a movie on Saturday night.

...let the guilt trip begin...
Quinn posing in his really cute hat that Aunt Nina gave him. Vielen, vielen Dank, Tante Nina!

U4

Quinn had his U4 check-up on Tuesday. He passed with flying colors. Everything is in normal ranges ... but his feet still seem to be really big.

Since his birth, he has grown 8cm (over 3") and put on 2kg (about 5 lbs) of weight. Looks like 'mother's milks' is doing him well. Plus, it seems that he can pack on the weight like his daddy.

He also got two immunizations - one in each leg. He really didn't like those. It broke Eva's heart so see him lying there crying while getting those shots. She said he looked at her like: 'Mommy, they are hurting me. Why aren't you doing anything?'

All in all, things are going well. He's growing like a weed, and he is really fun to play with now. It is an awesome feeling when you do something he likes and then he smiles or giggles back.

Officially American

On Friday, we went to Munich for the day. I had to get some work done on my passport, and we had to take care of some paperwork for Quinn, so that he could be an 'American'.

Below Quinn is taking his first escalator ride, courtesy of the Munich subway system.
We generally knew where we had to go, but didn't know the exact street location. After looking for a while, we saw this building with barriers, fences, and security: that must be the US Consulate.
The whole experience was unbelivably painless and extremely customer friendly. I prepared everything beforehand and sent it in. We made an appointment that would work best with my work schedule, and showed up. Our contact at the Consulate merely checked our original documents, we signed the docs, and then paid. Everything was done in 20 minutes: Passport, US Birth Certificate, and Social Security number. The passport and US Birth Certificate comes in about 2 weeks.

I actually got my passport back the next day in the mail.

Overall, a great and painless experience.
To celebrate Quinn's first day as an official 'American', we had coffee at Starbucks.
Another first for Quinn: he used his grabbing reflex to hold this wooden ring. He loved how it made sounds when he moved his hand...

Hiking on the 1st of May

The first of May, the German Labor Day, begins what I call the 'Holiday Season' in Bavaria. Basically, beginning in May, there are 5 public holidays in a 5-6 week period of time. Thankfully, this year, most of these holidays fall during the week (unlike in the US, if the holiday falls on the weekend, the holiday isn't 'moved' to the closest Monday).

We took the opportunity to use the holiday and the great weather to head to the Fränkische Schweiz (about 20 minutes from Erlangen) to go for a nice hike.

This was Quinn's first time going hiking in his baby backpack. He had a great time...and (almost) slept the whole 2.5 hours that we were hiking.
We headed to a place called Walberla: basically a small butte that gives a great overlook of the Fränkische Schweiz and Erlangen.Here's the other view from the top of Walberla. As you can tell, there were lots of other people hiking that day, and there was even a group of friends playing some traditional music with their brass instruments. The 1st of May tends to be day when many will head outdoors to enjoy the (hopefully) spring weather and nature.
After the hike, we went to a local biergarten to grab a bite to eat (and drink) to power up before heading home. All in all, it was a great day in the sun.

Blowing Bubbles

Not to fear, fearless blog readers, there are more pics of Quinn on the way...
As you can tell by some of the pictures, Quinn is really starting to smile more now. He also seems to be extremely interested in the surroundings and is beginning to react to various sounds.

Below, Quinn reflecting upon the complexities of being a baby while being held by his Grandmom Göttgens.
Quinn seems to be in the 'blowing bubbles with his spit' phase...only slightly more advanced than drooling.
This is what happens to stuffed animals that are bad.
Mr. Blue Eyes. This will be the last picture of his little quarterback outfit. He has not outgrown it. Quinn celebrated this moment by pooping so much that it filled the diaper and got all over the outfit.

I thought the diapers said 'up to 5 lbs'.