Fünf monaten und viel spaß (5 months and lots of fun)

Owen is now 5 months old! Where did the time go? He is such a happy and smiley baby who loves a laugh.

He laughs at many different things. In this photo, Daddy was blowing the top of Owen's head and Owen thought it was the best game.



Owen is quite a wriggle pot in bed. We put him down for a nap and when we come to get him after he wakes up we find him completely perpendicular from the way we left him. Not sure what he'll do when he no longer fits widthways in his cot.


You can see how pleased he is with his efforts of getting to this position.

Owen has been developing many new skills. Mummy has been making sure he gets plenty of exposure to books. See how he can look at them by himself!


Owen loves his fingers. Look how many he can get into his mouth at once.

Frohe Ostern (Happy Easter)

We hope everyone has had a great Easter break, and a good time remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus. Easter over here is pretty similar to in Sydney - quite commercialised with lots of easter eggs, easter bunnies, etc. The emphasis, though, is less on the chocolate eggs but rather the painted ones. Because it's also spring time, flowers, chicks, bunnies and budding branches feature heavily as well. Here's a photo of the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and some of the decorations.

Nathan went to something quite different this easter. At the English church, there was a Passover "Seder". This is a passover dinner as celebrated by Jews (commemorating their escape from Egypt), but of course with a Christian emphasis. For those who don't know, Jesus was crucified at Passover time (which is why Easter and Passover coincide), and the "Last Supper" was a passover meal. There are also lots of parallels between the Passover and Jesus' death (eg Jesus is often described as the "passover lamb" - referring to his death for our sins)

Here's a photo of Grit, playing the part of the Matriarch of the family and lighting the passover candles. She even put in some Hebrew, having learnt some during a 1 year trip to Israel several years ago.

Here's another photo of the handwashing ceremony.

It was quite interseting to learn about some of the passover traditions, and how they can be understood from a Christian perspective. The dinner included some lamb (of course), unleavened bread (no time to let the bread rise), bitter herbs (remembering the bitterness of slavery), and much more. It was the first time the Leipzig church has tried this, and it looks likely to turn into a yearly affair.

Echter Frühling (Real Spring)

Spring is in the air... everywhere I look around! OK, it's finally come - the heavy coats are put away, buds and flowers are everywhere... it even smells like spring! We can't show you the smells, but this will have to do:

Owen enjoying the warmer weather OUTSIDE his Kinderwagen - and interested in the funny snow on the ground.

No Owen, this is a new experience for you... a white carpet on the ground that isn't freezing, and smells quite nice!

Here's Owen almost sitting up by himself, proudly showing off his new red set of wheels. We bit the bullet and bought our own kinderwagen (we had been borrowing one from a family from church, if you remember). We can use it both here and in Sydney. It's not as bulky or as heavy as a typical German pram/stroller, but solid enough to survive the rough terrain of cobblestones and potholes.