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Where is the year going?! It's September already!

We are all fine and are not really sure where August went! Unlike those of you in the UK we have had a pretty good month for weather and feel like we have had a summer. We have tried to get out and about every weekend and are starting to see more of the local area. We had coffee and cake on a very hot Sunday afternoon at the Bärenschlössle, on another occasion we had coffee and cake at Schloss Hohenentringen and have also had lunch at The Weiler Hütte where Jessica heard her first German music and met men wearing Lederhosen.

Jessica is now sixteen weeks old, is 63 cms long and weighs 6.2kg / 13lbs 10. She has just had her fourth examination and is completely healthy.  Almost every day we notice some new noise or a different movement. She is a very happy baby and smiles and laughs a lot. She's happy to be cuddled by everybody but will also lie and play quite contentedly under her gym. She is still being exclusively breastfed and has managed to sleep through the night once but is generally waking every four hours for a feed, once she has been fed she is quite happy to go back to sleep. She is still sleeping in the crib in our room but will probably move to her big bed soon as she likes to sleep with her arms stretched out :o) We still meet regularly with the girls and babies from the birth preparation class, have now joined an English playgroup and will be starting a PEKIP (Prager - Eltern - Kind - Programm) course next week.

Michael will have a months paternity leave starting on the 18th and will work just two days a week so that he can spend more time at home with Jessica. We're all looking forward to this time which will also include a trip to England. It will be good to catch up with everybody and see the sea again :o)

We spent a long weekend in Zell am See with Tom and Kate. It was nice to catch up with them and Jessica took everything in her stride, she travelled well and slept well. It was a lazy few days, Michael and Tom did climb up a mountain but we generally spent the time chilling out by the lake and trying various different types of cake in the coffee shops! On the way home we called in to visit Jürgen and Daniela who are expecting their first baby in January.

Auntie Valerie and Uncle Keith have just visited for a few days. We had a very wet visit to Tübingen and spent a lovely day sightseeeing in Stuttgart (which included tasting the new wines at the wine festival). Auntie Valerie especially enjoyed her visit to the Ritter Sport factory where she bought a few bars of chocolate! Thomas, Jutta, Hanna and Daniel have also been over to visit and Hanna had her first cuddle with Jessica.

We hope that you are all happy and healthy and look forward to seeing you soon!

Catherine, Michael and Jessica

12/9/08