Back in Jena!

Well, it's been forever, but we're back! We survived yet another marathon of travel with the little guy, though this time I will spare you the details. I will share one funny story, though. At around 7am local time, which was 1am for us, the three of us were on a train heading back to Jena from Frankfurt. German trains are usually very quiet, particularly compared to the US, but this train was quiet even by German standards. It was freezing cold outside, and nobody wanted to be awake. About 5 minutes into our trip, David (who had just woken up) turned to the guy sitting across the aisle from us and let out the longest, loudest sigh which went straight into some babbling. I'm telling you, the intonation was perfect. He might as well have said "Ooh, boy. What a morning I've had, I tell you."

Everyone on our end of the train burst out laughing. I mean about 8 people just cracked up! David's newest friend, a 20-something year old guy, was particularly amused. He said to David, "I'm sorry, what was that you said? I didn't quite get that." It was awesome.

Anyway, if there's anyone still checking this blog, I think I will actually be able to write fairly regularly now because...David is the best little sitter ever! Now that he can sit well, he is so happy playing with his toys. Yesterday, Michael and I had an incredibly productive day of cleaning while David babbled away playing with some cloth blocks and teething toys. He loves to play with us too, but he's so good at entertaining himself! (It's actually hard not to just watch him when he's playing alone. He cracks us up!)

(David with his cousin--technically we figured out she is his first-cousin once removed!--Sara Mei.)
Reaching for a new toy, in a (very rare) candid shot.

While we were gone, David also sprouted two teeth! He's not yet crawling, but he sure is trying, and I don't think it will be too long before he's pretty mobile. He IS jumping, which is pretty funny. If you hold his hands, he will jump and actually get both feet off the ground at the same time. I don't think I've ever seen a month old jump without a jumper before, but he's been doing it for a few weeks now. We're getting a jumperoo this week, and I can't wait to watch David play in that! My sister let us use a doorway jumper over the break, and David could not get enough of that.

I should really start my day here, but I have to share one more thing. David has a new camera face. It's hilarious. He has been aware of the camera for awhile, now, but these days he does the exact same thing everytime he sees one: he drops whatever he's holding, throws his hands up and gives a huge smile. I have no idea how he learned this, but I do have video evidence that I will be posting either today or tomorrow. In any case, I have included some photos of this camera smile :)

And at the Aquarium in a real, American stroller. He looked so big to me just sitting and watching everything!