March 2015

Leo and Adrian are six weeks old today. They are growing so fast. We measured them this morning and if our measurements are right they gained 12 and 15 ounces respectively. Adrian is now 10 lbs 13 oz and Leo 11 lbs 10 oz. In any case, Leo upgraded to size 2 diapers.

They start to sleep longer at night, which is a blessing. Last night we had a nice and long stretch after 2.00 am. It will be a while before this happens every night, I'm sure, but it is a hopeful sign.

This afternoon they fell asleep before we had swaddled them. Here are two pictures.

Thursday afternoon the stars aligned and we managed to go for a walk with the whole family, all five of us.

The weather was great, the babies were just fed and Sasha and I had taken our naps earlier in the day, and then at 5.15 pm Nora woke up so we decided to go for it.

We walked over Johnson and then Key Boulevard. At Whole Foods Sasha and Nora did some shopping while I waited with the boys outside. We also got some more diapers and then walked back over Wilson Boulevard. It was nice and warm and it was great to be outside.

While I was waiting for the ladies I went to Boccato and bought a cup of espresso. Since it was 6 pm I only dronk maybe one third of the delicious coffee and then threw the rest out... but the "damage" was done and at night I was wide awake. Thankfully I could take a good nap this morning so I feel fine but no more espresso for me in the evenings!

Friday the weather wasn't as good -- there was a cold wind -- but we decided to go for a walk again. We walked to the Italian Store and back. Nora did great, she walked pretty much the entire way, 1.6 miles altogether.

Adrian blissfully asleep.

Leo unhappy that the hat slid over his eyes. For the rest of the walk, both of the boys slept great.

Sasha pushing the double stroller.

Nora and Guus with the stroller.

Leo and Adrian received their first formal letters. The Social Security Administration sent them their social security numbers.

The numbers are randomly generated nowadays -- so their numbers are quite different from each other.

Nora received hers around the same time three years ago.

This afternoon I took Leo and Adrian for a walk. It was great to be outside and also a nice opportunity for a long phone call.

We walked over Key Boulevard, all the way back to our old apartment, and from their I took them over Wilson Blvd. We visited their very first store -- the Belgian bakery, to stay with the tradition -- and did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.

Adrian has a growth spurt it seems, and he's eating a little more than usual.

This morning he was about 9 lbs 14 oz (4.48 kg). Like I said, not sure how reliable that number is but it's going in the right direction.

The skin of the boys is starting to clear up, and both their eyes are opening.

Leo is growing nicely. After a growth spurt last week he is eating a little less fervently at night and sleeps better. He's slept twice with his head on my hand, very cozy.

This morning he was about 10 lbs 14 oz (4.93 kg). Not sure how much I trust that number since it's 14 oz more than last week -- and most babies grow between 5 and 7 oz per week. Our scale isn't super accurate for small increases, but in general it seems like they are growing well.

Wow, one month old! Actually, it's 32 days today. In my mind, the first three months with babies are the toughest, sleep-wise. So we're one-third through that period, sometimes called the "fourth trimester". And every now and then they start to sleep longer than three hours between feedings, in particular the stretch after 3.00 am is starting to get longer which is great.

The boys are doing great and are slowly becoming a little bit more aware of their surroundings. Tante Ettie gave us several baby books and when we put them in the crib the look at the bright colors with interest. A little while ago Nora insisted to go into the cribs "met de babies" and she read to them from those books, very cute.

I just had a great nap and am drinking my first coffee in two weeks so I feel great. Like I wrote before, the hardest time with the babies is around 3.00 am if they don't fall asleep well. But otherwise it's great and very special to spend time the five of us.

When we were looking for a house two years ago, we wanted some outside space with the vague expectation that Nora would enjoy that.

I have great memories of our backyard in Opperdoes, where Ettie, Joost and I played in the sandbox.

Well, Nora is now three years old and loves dirt. When she goes for a walk to likes to play with puddles of water and mud, haha.

And yes, she also loves playing in the yard. The weather has improved tremendously in the last 10 days and it's pleasant outside now. One of Nora's games is to take a stick and transfer a little bit of dirt from one side of the path to the other.

Today is a sad day -- Sir Terry Pratchett has past away, at the age of 66. I love his books and I was really sad to hear about his passing.

Reading Terry Pratchett books started many years ago for me. In the mid-1990's, my father and I would borrow books from the library in Middenmeer, and soon we had read them all. In Dutch, in excellent translations.

Later we'd discover more books in the library in Wieringerwerf, and Discworld books became welcome gifts for birthdays and St. Nicholas celebrations.

In 1997 Jaap and I made a trip to China, and at the end of that great vacation I bought an English version of Wyrd Sisters and we started reading the books in their original language also.

It is hard to put in words how much fun and enjoyment I've had from Terry Pratchett's books over the past twenty years. How nice it was to look forward to new books, and how special to follow the developments of his writing style and subjects over the years. His first books are very different from his more recent ones -- though all great, without exception.

The wit and the humanity of his books and their characters speak very deeply to the character of Sir Pratchett.