Hanging Out & Sitting Around

Mira is quite content to hang out in her warm 

and cozy stroller while we buzz through town.

She's also quite fond of sitting around at home.

Rana is 5 & 1/2!

Rana and Luise

with the enormous teddy bear

that Amu Yasser gave Rana last year

Königstein's Christmas Market

St. Nick brought chocolate and snow this year!

Rana was excited to find chocolate in her boots this morning 

and happily went off to meet St. Nicholas at Kindergarten. 

He gave each child a clementine and left chocolate in their slippers.

To my surprise, Rana actually asked if I had noticed when 

St. Nicholas stopped by, so apparently she still 

believes with very little effort on our part!

The Catholic Kindergarten passes out Bishop Nicholas 

while all of the others are more like the American Santa.  

Because of some heavy storms along the northern coasts of Germany, 

it snowed a bit overnight and throughout the day today,

which made the day feel even more festive!

Marburg & The Christmas Market

Despite the rain and cold, we spent a fun Saturday 

in Marburg, traipsing up and down the old, familiar 

streets in the Old Town and enjoying the Christmas Markets 

in the Market Square and at the Elisabeth Church. 

Various sights jogged Rana's memory of the town, 

which, unfortunately, is starting to fade. 

And we were glad for a short but sweet visit 

with Lina and her lovely family.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Laugh Attack!

Catch!

Mira is starting to play more and hold on to toys.

She is quite fond of this beach ball and almost seems to 

understand the concept of catch (or fetch, as the case my be!).

Story Time

Baking Christmas Cookies at Kindergarten

We're gearing up for Christmas here in Königstein.

Mira and I helped Rana's class bake cookies this week.

Rana and Luise worked diligently, rolling out the 

dough, cutting out the cookies, and then decorating 

them with layers (!) of frosting and sprinkles!

Good work, girls!

Mira's Finding Her Voice

Mira is babbling and "singing" and finding her voice.

She often wakes up in the early morning hours and babbles 

and sings in her crib, often lulling herself back to sleep.

She loves chewing on Baba's fingers

and making all sorts of noices.

She's also starting to clearly say "da-da-da," 

"ba-ba-ba," and even "blah-blah-blah." 

We've also heard more "s" sounds lately.

Wonder when she'll add "ma-ma-ma" to her repertoire?

Rocking and Rolling!

While she's managed to roll over in both directions 

on a few isolated occasions over the last few weeks, 

it seems like Mira has figured out how to roll from 

her tummy to her back (somewhat) intentionally now.

 Big smiles!

Mira rolling over!

Mira is 5 Months Old!

Mira is very social and craves interaction - 

and she beams when she catches our attention.

At 5 months, she is starting to outgrow her bouncy seat,

mostly because she's getting more and more active

and starting to bounce herself right out of the chair!

She has a grand time doing so, though!

Rana is 5 Years and 5 Months Old!

One of the highlights of Rana's week is her gym class.

Her friends Charlotte, Elias, and Luise are in the class, too.

There are different stations to master each time, 

though Rana has demonstrated a clear preference 

for anything that incorporates the (uneven) bars,

as she loves to flip herself around them!

St. Martin - Lantern Festival

Unfortunately, it rained and poured during the 

St. Martin's Festival at Rana's Kindergarten this evening. 

Thankfully, Rana isn't phased by a few (billion!) rain drops 

once she dons her rain gear and she had a wonderful 

time parading through town with her friends.

She's quite proud of her brightly colored lantern, which 

miraculously survived the stormy weather, too! 

Before

After

Grandpa's Visit!

We are lucky that Grandpa travels to Europe periodically for work, 

as we have seen him four times over the course of the last year!

We had a lovely, relaxing long weekend together.

Despite the fairly rainy fall weather, 

we took a nice long walk through the valley,

stopping to enjoy the stream

and search for flowers that we floated down it.

Grandpa helped Rana carve her very first Halloween pumpkin, too.

It was great to see you, Grandpa!

Rihana came to town!

Rana and Rihana had a great time at the zoo

and quite enjoyed their sleepover! 

Thanks for coming to visit, Rihana!

Play Time - A Comparison

Rana at 3 & 1/2 months 

Mira at 4 months

Mira is 4 Months Old!

At 4 months, Mira is showing more and more character. She is very social and seeks (demands!) lots of interaction with us. She especially loves watching her big sister Rana and has even seemed bored at home with Mama during the day lately while Rana is at Kindergarten. 

Mira plays with her hands all the time, pulling on the fingers of one hand and then the other. She is more coordinated with her left hand at this point, so it will be interesting to see if she continues to be a lefty like her sister as she grows older. 

(Not sure why this photo won't rotate! Sorry!)

She loves to grab toys and blankets and draws them into her mouth for further inspection. She's never liked her pacifier very much, but she sure does love to suck and chew on other things!

Miss Mira is becoming more vocal, too, babbling on and on to herself. And this week, she's started sticking out her tongue in new and interesting ways.

What a fun age!

Eid Mubarak!

Rana is 5 Years & 4 Months Old!

And she loves being a big sister!

Baby Sister or Baby Doll?

Rana was quite pleased to discover that some 

of her baby doll clothes fit her baby sister!

Mira got a kick out of it, too!

An Afternoon with Jana & Her Lovely Family of 5

Rana and Jana

Niklas was born almost exactly a month after Mira.

Laura cooked us soup in the sandbox

and kept us entertained with her ramblings.

Three silly girls

Goofing around

Thanks for making the trip down to see us!

Jeni and Vicki's Visit

We were thrilled that Annie's friend 

Jeni and her mom Vicki came 

to visit for a few days this week. 

Annie and Jeni both studied German in college, 

lived in the German Apartment on campus 

for a year (with Joane, who was the native 

German language assistant at the time), and 

spent separate semesters abroad in Marburg.  

We all enjoyed having them here, particularly Rana!

Next time, we think Jeni should bring her kids with her!

But for now, here are two photos to add to the collection 

documenting all of the wonderful places their stuffed 

tiger visited on his European Adventure.

Come back soon!