Kabouter conversations - Feb 2016 (part II)

•  (After picking up Kabouter out of his bed on a weekend morning and descending the stairs)
  
  M: "Sssst daddy is still asleep in bed"
  K: "Papa wakker worden " (papa has to wake up)
  M: "No no, ssssst"
  K: "Papaaaaaaa, papaaaa, wakker"....(in commanding voice while pointing ) "Papa bril aaan"
  
  (good observation that daddy puts his glasses on when he wakes up...so telling him to put his glasses on is a good way to ensure daddy doesn't go back to sleep)


• (TV all of a sudden freaks out and starts buzzing very loud annoying sound. Jan goes and check it out)
  
  K: "Oei televisie kapot"  (oops tv broken)
  ...
  K: "Nu beterrrr?" (better now?)
  J:  "Ja nu is het beter eh"
  K: "Aaaaaaaah okay papa."   "papa gemaakt"  


• K: "Busje waar ben je?   Busje waar ben je?  " (Little bus where are you?) while pacing up and down the living room
  M: "oh the bus is still in the bathroom. We took it there, but we forgot to bring it down"
  K: "boven? daarrr?  (upstairs, there?   while pointing upwards) Aaah okay"


• M: "Can I join in bath? Is there still room for mommy in the tub? "
  
  (Jan and Kabouter were in the bath tub) (we have a bigger trapezoid shaped bath tub that fits easily 2 adults and a toddler. Yet I find it a bit harder to get in and out of a tub and settle comfortably with my big belly right now)
  
  K: "Mama plaats?   Hierrr, mama plaats"   (mommy room)  
  Kabouter points convienently to the most narrow side of the bath tub next to Jan's toes while he strategically takes place at the wide side next to Jan.
  K: "Kom mama, kom, hierr"   while pointing
  
  .....
  
  In the mean time Jan left the bath tub but I joined and I am cosily relaxing as a big stranded whale on the beach while Kabouter still plays next to me.
  
  K: "Oranje eendje voor mama" (orange duck for mommy)
  M: "Oh thank you darling"
  K: "Geel eendje baby"  (yellow duck baby)   and he places is in the middle of my big belly
  K: "oooooooh kijk, baby blij!!!"  (look, baby is happy)
  K: (with a pink duck in his hand)  "Halloo oranje eendje"


• Kabouter all of a sudden pulls down my T-shirt and flashes my bosom
  K: "baby daar dinken?  " (baby drink there?)
  M: "Yes the baby will drink there"
  K: "oooooh..... konijnemelk??"   (oooh , rabbit milk = his word for chocolate milk due to the rabbit on the Nesquick powder boxes)


• M: "do you want to eat another quark?"
  K: "ja, mama helpen, mama halen in keuken, kom daar" (yes mommy has to help, mommy has to get it in the kitchen, come over there"
  (he's getting pretty good in commanding!)


• J: "Nee nee neee papa papa"
  K: "Nee nee neee papa papa"
  J: "Ja ja ja mama mama"
  K: "Ja ja ja mama mama"
  J: "ik ben een papegaai papegaai papegaai"
  K: "ik ben een papegaai papegaai papegaai"  (I am a parrot, parrot , parrot)

Detours after daycare

When we have lots of time to go and pick-up Kabouter from day-care (and I still try to make small walks): 

* watching the trains

* watching skaters at the skatepark

* watching the sunset

Unfortunately that was yesterday.  Today we are nursing a boy with fever and a cold at home.  I guess it suits us well that we are both home. Hopefully he is better before the baby arrives.

The waiting - preperation week

These are waiting for max another week:

Checklist activity while at home waiting

• Backpack ready for my departure to the delivery room + suitcase for my stay in the maternity department. Birth plan and cord blood donation papers filled in.
• List with phone numbers of people that'll hopefully keep their mobile ready and will be able to come and take care of Kabouter really quickly when we phone them at any hour this week.
  They've all gotten explanations in their mailbox. 
• Draft print of birth announcement card is ready and approved....now waiting for the call that will give the designer and printing office the right birth date to print on it. The envelops have the address labels and stamps on them...waiting for the cards.
• A first set of baptism sugar has been made.
• An extra towel under my sheet protects the mattress a bit longer in case my water breaks.
• List with phone numbers to phone after birth in our phone apps.
• Maternity aid and lactation help has been booked
• Camera charged and card empty
  

ongoing:

• picture back-ups

still to do:

• wash some more sheets/baby covers
• fold & arrange child clothes better
• make more baptism sugar
• ??

Non baby related activity:

• bathroom medicine drawer cleaned up (and moved to higher spot): bag of expired medicine returned to the pharmacy.  Shamefully we still have 8 (!!) non-expired nose sprays of 4 different brands. Oooops. 
• Jan's cleaning out some more cupboards
• I discover "House of cards" as first thing on Netflix that I seem to like (besides the series I watch on tv and I like where Netflix has no added value or misses the last seasons where I'm waiting for ) (whereas Netflix really misses good Belgian content!)

Godfathers and their godchildren

It's a bit late, but we still had to go and do some "new year's greetings" of the godchildren to their godparents. Jan's godfather of his nephew and and Jan's brother is Kabouter's godfather. So last Sunday we went there. The attraction of the afternoon was the big Lego train that was waiting for construction and which became a family afternoon project. But there were more presents with car roads, disco balls and books.  And there was a delicious food buffet.
And there were much much needed naps for me in the midst of that all. 

Count your blessings - Feb 2016

1. Walking along the street with a warm little hand in your own, following you trustingly to the destination you choose
2. Neighbours that you can text "to the market? " and where half an hour later you are all walking together to the Sunday market
3. A hot latte macchiato in the sofa
4. Fresh flowers in house
5. A little boy that runs across the living room in your direction "hug...hug...hug"
6. A fun twitter hashtag game that makes you smile (eg #bandszondervlees)
7. Discovering the first daffodils outside 
8. This big moving active belly
9. Checklists that are getting crossed off slowly but steadily
10. A good ultrasound

Some bloggers like Gerhildemaakt  or Upje blog regularly about simple things in their lives that make them happy.  Those are fun simple posts that are recognisable and make me smile. And as the world often seems full of negativity and disaster, I also want to list some things that make me happy in my daily life. This is the 2nd edition. the first time you can read here 

Rainy weekend craft time

We intended to go to the carnaval parade in town today but I didn't seem to have the physical strength to do a lot of walking and the rain just kept pouring down.

So we stayed inside and tested our painting skills  (in between the potty training accidents but that's another story). 

This week

• The week started in an unexpected way...something negative that ended up feeling quite positive after all. 
• On Tuesday an e-mail entered my mailbox that announced quite negative news...that unfortunately could only be taken quite negative.  An aquantaince from our sports club had passed away after battling the ugly C-disease for a year at the age of 35 , leaving his wife and 2 little children behind.
  
  I didn't know him all that closely but nevertheless that mail with his name in the title as a screaming loud omen hit me as a brick in the face.  In December we had both been messaging each other, each from a different waiting room in the hospital, both bored. He had his last chemo, was very optimistic about the results and we were planning dives for 2016.
  
  I had not seen this coming.
  I believe it's the first person I know that dies of cancer, younger than me. I had at least expected that after a successful chemo series, he'd be stable and better for at least 6 months or more.
  
  I kept visiting his FB page where all comments were already carefully blocked and scrolled through the many family pictures of last year on city trips, vacation and birthday parties that were still enthusiastically and optimistically celebrated. I looked at the faces of his wife and children and my heart broke.
  
• Wednesday was my last day of working before my maternity leave.   At first I had the intention to work until next week, but since the gynaecologists were discussing to provoke my delivery in either week 38 or week 39 I've stopped a bit earlier, not to loose that time.  For a long time I've felt very fit and it felt unreal to have to stop, but in the last 10 days that energy shifted. I also noticed that my focus has completely shifted, where I was less and less pre-occupied with work and more and more with the upcoming delivery.  So it was good, it was time.
  
  I had managed to deliver all my deadlines and answer to all last questions (that fortunately slowed down the last week), so I was able to close off with a very clean inbox.
  
  It still feels weird though to walk out of the office while waving "see you in 3-4 months" and everybody wishing you all the best.  Memories of the previous time where I left in entirely different condition & emotions also came back quite vividly.
• The first days home in my maternity leave are still filled with a lot of to do's.   Especially since I had no idea of my doctor's appointment on Thursday would give me a new earlier due date , I was a bit stressed as I was not yet ready at all. I am still not, and most arrangements seem to be ready for about 80% but not complete.
  
  pff but energy is low to complete it all though. So let's hope baby 2 still gives me a few more days.
  
  Other than that, it's fun to have the time to nap, to have somebody come over for a coffee and to start browsing the tv guides & netflix catalogue ;)
• When being at the local printing office to check the test prints for the birth announcements, I wanted to order envelops and address labels etc.  Turns out that they can order with their suppliers only at some fixed dates after which they can receive the goods 4 days later. ugh??? I didn't have that time.   We ordered everything online at 10.30 PM and got it delivered the next morning.
  
  When will local businesses and their suppliers learn to focus on prime customer service above cost optimization (so higher inventory levels, more and faster delivery options, ...) to break a vicious circle of less sales and more need to watch costs? Cost optimisation is an internal goal, putting the business first above the customer.  Seems good strategy in the short term, but you'll lose your customers in the long run (and then cost cutting becomes a necessity as part of a endless circle downwards).  This is 2016 with big giants competing with you internationally. With a decent (maybe not best ) customer service though, people would love to shop locally (so did we) but if the gap in service is too big...you've lost us as customers.

Made in Belgium: Billie

Billie was originally known as the voice on the hit from the DJ Netsky. But now she came out from under his wings, spread her own and has a hit single solo (produced by Goose)

From bumper to prayer

Yesterday my drive to work at the start of this last work week, was more eventful than I had hoped.
At a crosspoint where I had priority from those coming from the left (even though they come from a major road), I didn't dare to claim my priority at the sight of a fast car coming along the main road so I stopped.

BUMP
.... and apparently the car behind me stopped too
too late.

Oh great, not an accident on my last days at work while I'm highly pregnant.

I grabbed my insurance papers quickly and was relieved to see the other driver also get out with papers, while the car that I gave way too had turned around and pulled by again checking quickly through the window if we were alright.   Clearly we were, as he pulled up again and drove off.

The lady driver clearly was in fear at the sight of my huge belly and informed whether I was ok.    Yes yes, I was totally fine at first sight.  I felt the baby moving. I hoped I'd not get sore afterwards.

We parked at the side and started filling in our papers. The lady came from South-Africa and talked to me in a Dutch/Afrikaans mixture.  She was very polite and clearly felt guilty that she had hit me.   Much to our surprise there was hardly a scratch on my bumper unlike hers that was completely broken.

When we were done, she all of a sudden asked me a favour: if it was alright to me that she prayed for the baby.  Since I'm also religious I said it was alright to me, assuming she'd do that at home when thinking of us.    But she hugged me, took my hands and started to pray out loud for me and the baby right there on the street in Afrikaans.
She touched me by doing so (pun intended).

Wow, weird morning.    If any neighbours had been watching us, they must have been quite confused by the entire scene.

Fortunately my back that got quite sore from standing up too long outside, improved again once at work, my neck & shoulders remained painless and my belly remained soft with an active belly...so I guess I truly was allright and didn't need to go and see a doctor to check.   She phoned me again in the afternoon to check in with me though and today she sent an sms to check again.   I guess I'll send her a birth announcement in a few weeks to give her peace of mind.

It's always fun to bring some Spring inside the house during those last crappy winter days

The empty cardboard role

Peeking through the role like a pirate

Yelling through the role is fun too!!

practising to close one eye for a better viewing through the role is still a bit hard!

My grocery shopping list/ menu wishlist for March

• saussison
  
  
• paté
  
  

• préparé

• BIG plates of pasta

• Fries
  
  
  
• Raw ham
  
  
• Raw fish
  
  
  
• Appelflappen en crèmekoeken
  
  
  
  
   
• Tortilla chips
  
  
  
• Bread with white (!!) choco and bananas
  
  
• (fresh) fruit juice and fruits
  
  
  
  
  
• Undercooked meat
  
  
  
• a glass of wine or beer or a mojito
  
  
  
  
  

Thanks to my diet that restricts all sugar , carbs etc...the list is a bit longer than last time.