Rome was at the top of our “must see cities” list, and we were finally able to go the first long weekend in June. The Pope was not at home, but we still saw a lot of other old sh!t — all on foot, and all in basically one day. (It was one very long day).

We didn’t mean to be turbo tourists, but we only had three full days for sight-seeing, and the one sight we definitely wanted to see by the end of our whirlwind tour was the lounge by the hotel pool.

Micah slept through the foundations of democracy, but that didn’t stop every Italian — male and and female, young and old — from tickling, hugging and basically taking him directly out of our arms.

Not that any of us minded — as soon as we sat down for dinner the first night, our waiter begged us to take Micah into the kitchen to show him off. For the rest of the night, he called Micah his “assistant.”

We returned to horrible weather in Munich (I bought a new summer fleece) and are already planning our summer vacation. To Italy.

More photos from Rome in our photo gallery — ask us for the login and password.

For about a week, he could only move backwards, which led him tusch first under his crib with no way out. But now, he’s moving all over the place, and is no longer interested in his (well-appointed-and-expensive-to-furnish) *boring* ole room. (As a side note, we’ve discovered that he has the nicest furniture in the entire house. For him to spit up on?)

As for us, we’re just waiting for the rain to end and spring to arrive (unless this is it, in which case … booooooo.) Micah went for a visit to his little cousin Amelie, and one of the Schultz boys really like playing with Amelie’s Leggos. Can you guess which one? Hint: not the one who gets stuck under his own crib.

We’re going to Rome for a long weekend next week, so we’ll bring the good weather (and food and fashion) back to dreary Munich.

P.S. I know I have a horrible haircut in these photos. It’s a little more rut-ro than retro.

You can see in the photos that he looks just like Patrick — although in the right light, if you squint, during a full moon, when you’re not wearing your glasses and after a few beers, he may, at times, have a tendency to almost look like me. Or, as our friend Jessi B-C said: “Who photoshopped Patrick’s face onto that baby?”

Our last entry claimed that we were going to be in the U.S. for a couple of months earlier this year. Psyche! Patrick’s project ended earlier than he thought, so instead of Micah and I spending 6 weeks in frozen Minneapolis in February (darn!), he came back to Munich instead. The best part – aside from having him back with us – is that we were able to go on our already-scheduled vacation to the Canary Islands.

Real Europeans may know this already, but it was news for Euros-in-Training like me, that the Canary Islands are like the Bahamas of Europe. More specifically, they are the sunny coastal fishing village Germany never had, but always wanted, as long as you can still eat various wursts and heavily fried schnitzels. On an island. In the sun. Belonging to Spain. There was nary a tapa to be found. On the bright side, since the vast majority of our resort were extremely retired Germans, I didn’t feel bad about wearing my bikini at the pool. (Note to self: keep the competition to 85-year-old women in full length sarongs).

But we’re back, baby, and better than we were before — we are new and improved with the addition of Micah the Mäusle-Bär four months ago (time, flying, etc. etc.) And scientific tests prove that he is the winner of Lifetime Achievement Best All-Around Baby Award (it’s true — Patrick is a scientist and our claim is peer-reviewed).

I’ve been home with Micah so far, and will probably continue to do so while we’re still in Germany. But don’t pin any motherhood awards on me just yet — I still can’t find a real job and the government is paying me to stay home for one year. I never thought I’d be a stay-at-home-mom, but here I am. The jury is still out on whether this is the toughest job I’ll ever love — mostly its just kind of boring, punctuated with giggles and poop.

Patrick has been working his little tail off, as usual, and is about to start a long project in the States. We’re going to join him as soon as Micah gets his American passport. He already has a German one, but needs both to travel to and fro either country.

Other than that, it’s same old, same old (isn’t it always?). It’s cold and rainy here, but not much snow this winter. We’re getting rid of our car soon, since I walk everywhere during the week and we rarely ever use it on the weekends. We’re looking forward to taking our very first real vacation (outside of our honeymoon in 2006) this spring and introducing Micah to the ocean.

What’s on your agenda for 2010?

We’ve taken a few photos — but most of them are trapped on my digital camera, since I seem to have lost the device which allows one to release them — so we snapped some “interim” ones on the trusty iPhone to tide you over until I can learn to be more responsible with my things (hopefully, I will learn to do so within the next five weeks). There wasn’t much to look at before, really — I didn’t “pop” until a couple of months ago, and I’m still relatively small for my gestational age… but, I can no longer pretend that I just ate too many doughnuts for breakfast (if for no other reason than there aren’t really any doughnuts here).

In our gallery, you’ll see the clinic where I’ll deliver. As you can see, the face of socialized medicine includes manicured grounds, bubbling fountains, balconies off of private rooms and excellent food and care. I believe they have the Death Panels after Pilates class.

We’re almost done decorating the baby’s room — although I imagine there are still more trips to IKEA in our future. We’re particularly proud of our changing table and crib — both re-engineered by Patrick to make them bigger, faster and stronger than they were before. The changing table is actually three Billy bookcases put together — two small ones in front, and a tall one in back: it’s the perfect width for a changing mat, and the perfect height for us to do the dirty deeds without having to bend down. And, the best part, is that it magically turns back into shelves when the time comes.

Now let me draw your attention to the crib — you’ll notice that one wall is missing, but that a “foot” is supporting the middle. The foot is a new addition, designed by Patrick to give the crib stability when we place it next to our bed with the open space facing me. No need to get out of bed for feedings during the first few months. Genius! (The missing wall will attach once we move the crib out of our bedroom.)

We’ll post more updates and photos as soon as I can spring them from my camera (hopefully, in a couple of weeks). It’s getting real now — before, I was just stretching out my pants, but now, with the baby actively trying to escape (seriously, you can see the outline of feet pushing on my left side. Yes, it’s exactly like Alien) we’re beginning to realize that, shit, we’re going to be parents.

I assume we won’t leave him in a hotel, like I did with my camera charger.

Welcome to our new and improved photo gallery — now it’s easier to navigate and you can download any photo you want, or even the entire album. Enjoy!

After a rainy start (and a macbook air tumble), we drove through almost all of Germany (and a tiny piece of Denmark): Hamburg, Rügen, Copenhagen, Berlin, Weimar, Black Forest, Lake Constance and Munich. Many many miles on the Autobahn. Many many schnitzels. Many many beers. Two babies. Two weddings. And a partridge in a pear tree.