First a little note of thought going out to our friend Joe, who uses his name on his blog so I think it's alright if I do it here. He and his lovely wife are about to have a child any day now, and I do mean in the next days since it will be induced. Lots of thoughts and love to you guys during this exciting time!
On to dull weekend roundup. Friday Munchkin and I had quite the full day! Playgroup in the morning, interrupted briefly by our 18 month visit to the consultatiebureau (more on that later this week). This was the first Friday in weeks that I did not have any work calls and limited myself to checking my emails once. I am feeling much refreshed for it. Afterwards I had a great triumph: I got Munchkin in the carrier myself. Ever since winter fell I have been unable to carry Munchkin in our back carried on mommy days. Why? Because of her and my giant winter coats. I was unable to get a hat on her and make sure the coat covered her hands and even get the carrier over her coat without it riding up and exposing her too much by myself. She has gotten too wriggly. So I've been stuck with the hated stroller. I don't mind the stroller in theory but in practice in our fair city it is a pain. Shop doors are narrow and always have little steps. And of course, our delightful three flights of stairs. It was warmer on Friday and I was therefore able to wrangle her in - such a joy! We went to the pharmacy to pick up my vaccines (OH picked up half our prescription but mysteriously they didn't give him mine). They told me the shots had to be kept cold until use - so we went to the doctor immediately and Munchkin had the very intriguing experience of going to the doctor and seeing mom get shots but not her. Hopefully I was a model of stoicism and she'll be brave and strong on Monday when she has hers done. Actually she is pretty up to date thanks to vigorous vaccination schema here, so it's really more her parents that are in arrears. Friday night we had wonderful burritos and watched Wreck it Ralph. I can say we didn't turn it off halfway through and that's about it for that film for us.
Saturday - a very busy day. We got up bright and early, braved the disgusting rain and got out of Mokum tp visit our friend J in Utrecht. For some reason the train even at that early hour was completely packed! We barely found seats. But J is lovely and we had a great visit and catch up. She does not have kids, but she has Lego's for visiting friends' kids - this is the kind of hostess she is. She made delicious cheesecake which we definitely didn't need to eat before lunch but did anyways. Afterwards we met another totally packed train on the way home. Something clearly very exciting going on between Amsterdam and Utrecht we weren't aware of. During the Munchkin nap I had many good intentions and a sudden drain of all energy to fulfill them. Instead I "used the time" to prepare for our trip to Vietnam by watching an old episode of Top Gear where they tour that country. Afterwards we basically killed time waiting for the babysitter to arrive so we could brave the rain (still the same rain from the morning!), walk up the street two blocks, and meet many good friends for a belated celebration of OH's birthday.
After our original choice was simply too popular, we decided on a local choice. We've been before and I was bitterly disappointed because I mistakenly interpreted BBQ to mean US-style barbecue. But of course in the Netherlands BBQ means grilled meat. Sigh! But actually the meat was quite good and OH was craving meat, and I wanted frites, so there we went. They also do a killer ceasar salad. I think I shall always endeavor to celebrate things at least two blocks from my house or at my house whenever possible. The convenience adds measurably to your enjoyment. Of course the meal took ages because it is one dude cooking everything but luckily everything was quite tasty. It was great to see all our friends still remaining (though we just found out two are possibly moving - sigh again!) in Amsterdam and catch up on all the news.
Sunday we were full and exhausted. I made pancakes, which we consumed in one sitting - bad. We went out and it was bitterly cold. Overnight the rain had turned to snow and sleet. But our child was going nuts so we braved the elements and headed to the park. On a cold Sunday morning the park is surprisingly busy, but only with one of three types of people: tourists, crazy runners, and parents trying to run out the energy in their kids. In the afternoon we had swim lesson, a very special session where the child goes in clothed. It was very well done. It's a priority in the Netherlands where there is so much standing water and we learned that the major danger is that small children simply don't react at all when they fall in water - they just sink. In fact the whole course of lessons one of the major things they had been trying to teach our children is to splash and move or do anything to attract attention. They start the lesson with a slide straight into the water. This is how the kids first experience it, with lots of fun. Munchkin quite enjoyed it, and I wonder if she might not prefer clothed swimming to normal swim. A very nice weekend despite the weather.
On to dull weekend roundup. Friday Munchkin and I had quite the full day! Playgroup in the morning, interrupted briefly by our 18 month visit to the consultatiebureau (more on that later this week). This was the first Friday in weeks that I did not have any work calls and limited myself to checking my emails once. I am feeling much refreshed for it. Afterwards I had a great triumph: I got Munchkin in the carrier myself. Ever since winter fell I have been unable to carry Munchkin in our back carried on mommy days. Why? Because of her and my giant winter coats. I was unable to get a hat on her and make sure the coat covered her hands and even get the carrier over her coat without it riding up and exposing her too much by myself. She has gotten too wriggly. So I've been stuck with the hated stroller. I don't mind the stroller in theory but in practice in our fair city it is a pain. Shop doors are narrow and always have little steps. And of course, our delightful three flights of stairs. It was warmer on Friday and I was therefore able to wrangle her in - such a joy! We went to the pharmacy to pick up my vaccines (OH picked up half our prescription but mysteriously they didn't give him mine). They told me the shots had to be kept cold until use - so we went to the doctor immediately and Munchkin had the very intriguing experience of going to the doctor and seeing mom get shots but not her. Hopefully I was a model of stoicism and she'll be brave and strong on Monday when she has hers done. Actually she is pretty up to date thanks to vigorous vaccination schema here, so it's really more her parents that are in arrears. Friday night we had wonderful burritos and watched Wreck it Ralph. I can say we didn't turn it off halfway through and that's about it for that film for us.
Saturday - a very busy day. We got up bright and early, braved the disgusting rain and got out of Mokum tp visit our friend J in Utrecht. For some reason the train even at that early hour was completely packed! We barely found seats. But J is lovely and we had a great visit and catch up. She does not have kids, but she has Lego's for visiting friends' kids - this is the kind of hostess she is. She made delicious cheesecake which we definitely didn't need to eat before lunch but did anyways. Afterwards we met another totally packed train on the way home. Something clearly very exciting going on between Amsterdam and Utrecht we weren't aware of. During the Munchkin nap I had many good intentions and a sudden drain of all energy to fulfill them. Instead I "used the time" to prepare for our trip to Vietnam by watching an old episode of Top Gear where they tour that country. Afterwards we basically killed time waiting for the babysitter to arrive so we could brave the rain (still the same rain from the morning!), walk up the street two blocks, and meet many good friends for a belated celebration of OH's birthday.
After our original choice was simply too popular, we decided on a local choice. We've been before and I was bitterly disappointed because I mistakenly interpreted BBQ to mean US-style barbecue. But of course in the Netherlands BBQ means grilled meat. Sigh! But actually the meat was quite good and OH was craving meat, and I wanted frites, so there we went. They also do a killer ceasar salad. I think I shall always endeavor to celebrate things at least two blocks from my house or at my house whenever possible. The convenience adds measurably to your enjoyment. Of course the meal took ages because it is one dude cooking everything but luckily everything was quite tasty. It was great to see all our friends still remaining (though we just found out two are possibly moving - sigh again!) in Amsterdam and catch up on all the news.
Sunday we were full and exhausted. I made pancakes, which we consumed in one sitting - bad. We went out and it was bitterly cold. Overnight the rain had turned to snow and sleet. But our child was going nuts so we braved the elements and headed to the park. On a cold Sunday morning the park is surprisingly busy, but only with one of three types of people: tourists, crazy runners, and parents trying to run out the energy in their kids. In the afternoon we had swim lesson, a very special session where the child goes in clothed. It was very well done. It's a priority in the Netherlands where there is so much standing water and we learned that the major danger is that small children simply don't react at all when they fall in water - they just sink. In fact the whole course of lessons one of the major things they had been trying to teach our children is to splash and move or do anything to attract attention. They start the lesson with a slide straight into the water. This is how the kids first experience it, with lots of fun. Munchkin quite enjoyed it, and I wonder if she might not prefer clothed swimming to normal swim. A very nice weekend despite the weather.
4 comments:
I never would have thought of the necessity of teaching children to react when they fall into the water. How interesting!
Here we have lots of standing water, but also lots of alligators. I don't know where it's better to attract attention so someone will fish you out or avoid attracting attention so nothing eats you.
RM - LOL. Things I never, ever worry about in Amsterdam. I guess this puts the mouse problem into perspective though.
I guess with the alligators not that many who fall in the water have time to worry about drowning.
Gad Alexis, your "boring" weekends sound busier than my busy weekends.
Sounds like an awesome weekend! Wish I could have been there to celebrate OH's b-day with you guys. Glad you got the chance for some R+R and that Munchkin is learning to float.
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