Two Peas in a Pod

We're enjoying our time with Annie's family. We had a lovely Christmas in Michigan and spent a few days with more of the extended family in Pennsylvania. It was great to see everyone, but I'm still sorting through most of the pictures. I thought I would post a few of Rana and Elena for starters. Both of them have been thrilled to have so many opportunities to play together and are pretty much inseparable. As you can see from the pictures below (and thanks to their many matching outfits from Nana!), they are two peas in a pod!

Baba's Girl

Rana loves her Baba!

Najeeb is a very loving, patient, kind,

energetic and entertaining father.

We're really going to miss him

while we're back in the States for Christmas!

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

We made a little treat for the ladies at Rana's daycare...

...and we've had to practice great self-restraint

to not eat all of them ourselves! ;)

Fashion Sense?

Rana is developing her own sense of fashion and loves to change

her clothes. For example, when she noticed that Najeeb was

wearing his Steelers sweatshirt, she ran to find her matching Steelers bib.

It looks especially nice with her fancy white shoes, doesn't it?!

Bye Bye Anna!

We will miss you here in Germany,

but we wish you well in all of your future endeavors!

Two and a half!

Our little lady is growing up!!

Christmas Market

Rana's group had a little Christmas party today

at the daycare, complete with all sorts of goodies

and an outing to the Christmas Market.

The kids loved the mini ferris wheel and giggled with delight

as they caught sight of their friends in the other gondolas

and the rest of the group down on the ground.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Annie's Birthday Flowers

Thank you, Najeeb and Rana!

Snow!

It snowed all day yesterday,

leaving Marburg looking wintery and white.

The roads and sidewalks are still a mess,

but everything else looks very pretty and peaceful.

Marburg by Night!

The Christmas Market opened once again in Marburg

with the Festival of Lights, so we took a nice, long stroll

through town to soak up some of the Christmas spirit!

Just four weeks 'til Christmas!

Another Stay in the Hospital

We survived another 3-day stay in the hospital this week,

as Rana had a check-up with her neurologist.

Rana loved playing on the slide and in the

playhouse in between her various tests.

She was very cooperative and hardly cried at all

when the doctors drew blood and put in her IV.

It seems like Rana is starting to understand and remember more of the shananigans surrounding her stays in the hospital. She seemed to know what some of the testing entailed, specifically the EEG, which takes a while since the technicians attach each electrode to her head individually before they can even run the test. There was no seizure activity to be seen on the EEG, which confirms that Rana's med are indeed prohibiting them. The MRI went well, too, though we are still waiting on the official results.

One of the doctors involved in Rana's original diagnosis when she was a newborn was on her case again this week. He was very kind and thorough back then and was encouraged to see that Rana is doing so well now.

Overall, the doctors were quite pleased with Rana's developmental progress. They recommended that we see the physical therapist every now and then to keep an eye on Rana's weaker right side. We haven't been there in months, so it will be nice to check in with the PT again.

Lantern Festival

We celebrated the Lantern Festival with Rana's daycare this evening.

Tomorrow is St. Martin's Day, which used to mark the the end

of autumn and the beginning of a 40-day period of fasting.

The holiday isn't celebrated much these days, but just about

every daycare and preschool in Germany marks the

Eve of St. Martin with Lantern Festival and procession through town.

Rana had a great time with her pals Mattis, Jana,

and Alana as well as her teacher, Ingrid.

She was very proud of her lantern and quite taken by all of the others!

She sang along with the songs, too.

As always, she had a great time playing on the playground,

especially on the swings!

2 Years, 5 Months Old!

Big girl with her hair wrapped in a towel after her bath!

The Little Things

Since the sun was shining and temperatures were

a little more comfortable this afternoon,

we stopped to hang out in the church courtyard for a while.

The model of the church is just Rana's size!

There are plenty of things to climb on,

and, of course, lots of pebbles to play with!

It's the little things that make each day more enjoyable.

Right, Rana?!

Taxi Cab

This brightly colored taxi cab is parked right outside a popular baby store in Marburg. It seems, however, that it may its way here all the way from England! The cabby is sitting on the right-hand side of the car and speaks British English.

Do you think the German kids even notice when they get in for a ride?!

Autumn Leaves

2 Years, 4 Months Old!

The fair came to Marburg this weekend 

and provided us with a great way to celebrate 

Rana's 2 years and 4 months of life so far. 

New Carpet!

We decided to spruce up our apartment a little bit last week

by installing new carpet in the living room. A few meters of

beige berber made the room much lighter and comfortable!

Rana was a little confused when we cleared out

the furniture to make room for the carpet,

but she enjoyed helping once she figured out what was going on!

And then we rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner in town.

It was a good way to wrap up my Dad's visit!

Grandpa!

We are pleased to have another visitor this week: Annie's Dad!

Rana was very excited to see Grandpa climb out

of the train in Marburg on Tuesday morning,

and she loves the way he throws her around!

We've enjoyed many walks...

...and good conversation.

A Cheerios Book

Nana gave Rana this Cheerios Play Book

when she was here a few weeks ago.

Since they don't sell Cheerios in Germany,

we had to look long and hard for a suitable substitute.

We finally found one!

The O's fit perfectly into the little holes of the book...

..and they taste pretty good, too!