September 2014

By Guus , 30 September 2014

Early rise

Nora didn't nap yesterday so I put her in bed before 8.00 pm. She woke up at 6.30 am today: "sokken! papa, wil je mijn sokken aan doen?". Never mind that she was wearing her PJs with built-in socks. I put her socks and then couldn't fall asleep so I went for a run.

Morning runs always feel harder. I felt that I ran fast but it was actually a little bit slower than usual. Possibly because of the longer waits at the traffic lights.

By admin , 27 September 2014

3rd run in a row

This is good, third run in 6 days. However, Nora came down with a cold Thursday night... there's a chance I get sick again also. Oh well.

Beautiful run, first time with the bright yellow shirt. A little spooky on the trail, not a lot of people out.

By admin , 27 September 2014

Meneer en mevrouw zijn gek

Interesting book about live in a mental institution in Bloemendaal, the Netherlands. The author spent many months with real patients and weaved their real stories into fictional narratives. Gripping.

I bought this book at a flea market at the Dutch school. I didn't realize this is the author of a book that made a big impression on me when I was younger: het verrotte leven van Floortje Bloem, about a young drug user. Mrs Keuls was famous when she wrote this book and several times characters in the book treat her differently because of who she is.

The author has a talent for telling deeply personal stories. It is scary to read about these people's inner-lives -- some seem almost normal, but with deep and sad problems. The last few chapters, about patient with depression, are particularly tough.

By Guus , 25 September 2014

seesaw

Children's toy I never knew the English name for... translation of the Dutch "wipwap".

By admin , 24 September 2014

Wednesday run

Second run this week. Am I getting back in a routine? That would be excellent.

By admin , 22 September 2014

Normal run

For the first time in quite a while I did a normal run today, feels good. Left work a little early to get a run in before 6 pm.

Trooper

We had dinner in the Afghan Kabob House, near Whole Foods.

Their chicken kabob is delicious and Nora shared from our plates. The kabob is spicy but Nora kept eating. At one point we noticed that her eyes were all teary and she refilled her water bottle twice, but she liked it. I was proud of her.

Nora walked to and from the restaurant with us - a total distance of 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometer). We did bring the stroller but we only used it for Meneer Prascho, haha.

Topic

dailylife

By Guus , 18 September 2014

First run after a cold

After my vacation I ran twice... and then got a cold. Nora was first, then Sasha and I. It's now about 6 days later and I felt strong enough to run. So made the alarm for 7 am and did a morning run.

The Netherlands, Belgium and Bulgaria, 2014

It took a while but I've finally finished the articles about our wonderful vacation to the Netherlands, Belgium and Bulgaria.

For completeness, here is a short timeline:

We traveled from Arlington to Middenmeer by way of Copenhagen
In Middenmeer. Havenfeest.
Sunday - visit by Ettie, Gerben, Jasper en Evelien
Monday - day trip to Hoorn.
Tuesday - day trip to Alkmaar. Lots of shopping.
Wednesday - Edam cheese market. Lots of cheese and rain. Great lunch with my parents.
Thursday - day trip to Medemblik
Friday - Sasha left for Bulgaria. Guus visits Oma Bosman and Harm & Marijke.
Saturday - Saturday morning with my parents, to Opperdoes in the evening.
Sunday - Ettie and Gerben in Middenmeer
Monday - To Oma Groen
Tuesday - Nice day with my friends. Alrik came to Middenmeer in the morning; Jerry, Marjolein, Richard, Rob, Steven in the evening. Guests of honor were Lex and Max.
Wednesday - To Oma Groen. Sasha back!
Thursday - Nora stayed in Middenmeer
Saturday - in Ghent.
Sunday - Train to Haarlem
Monday - In Haarlem, where my parents reunited us with Nora. In the evening we had drinks and dinner with Joana
Tuesday - Back to Middenmeer. Packing.
Wednesday - Back to Arlington.

Topic

travelling

Milestones at 2.5 years

It's only been a week since we're back from the Netherlands but in that week there have been a few noticeable changes. She hasn't used her high chair for several days now. She sits on a regular chair, next to Sasha, and eat all her meals there. Without her bib, even.

Yesterday she started a next phase in her potty training, and that is going pretty well too. Tonight I read her a book for beginning readers ("AVI-1") and we started looking at some words. Cool stuff.

Since a few days she is very much into taking care of her stuffed animals. They get clean diapers, she feeds them, and she makes sure they sleep -- either in bed or "in het hok". It's very cute but takes a lot of them; when we tell her to go to bed she will start preparing the stuffed animals first. It used to be that all animals -- especially Meneer Prascho -- had to be physically present before she'd fall asleep. Now she just wants the assurance that they are "in their own beds".

Other things go smoother now. For many weeks, she didn't want to sit in the bath -- only on her knees. It's always the same thing: I tell her she needs to sit normally so I wash her feet, she laughs and only then she will sit down. However, tonight that changed and we didn't have our usual discussion.

Topic

dailylife