Isaak's 10th Week

I went for another run today. I don't know how far my little route is, right now it is far enough. I only had to stop once for myself and a couple of times for the dogs. It is a handful to run with 2 dogs and a jogger.

This afternoon Isaak and I went to another baby massage class. He made it through the entire class before crying.

Yesterday evening and this evening have been a little rough. He eats a little and then is tired but it doesn't seem like he should be tired, so we try to fix it and what he really wants is to go to bed.

Monday night Isaak slept from 11 - 5. WooHoo! Due to last night's cranky period that lasted until 10pm, I didn't wake him at 11pm. He woke on his own at 1am and then slept until 6am.

I leave for Portland on Saturday. I am a little nervous to fly for so long on my own with him, but I guess I will manage. I am really excited for everyone to meet him!

Below is one of Isaak's onesies that Krista made. These are too cute!

"Arrgh....Wipe Me Booty"

9 Weeks - Already!?!

I am enjoying the last few days of my maternity leave. I am headed back to work on June 8th. Before succombing to the grind, Isaak and I are going to head to Portland and my Dad's. I am really looking forward to having everyone meet him!

My friend & co worker, Joosje, came to visit Isaak and I last Friday. She brought her beautiful daughter Juultje. Juultje is 6 weeks older then Isaak (and his betrothed :)). We did a little simultaneous feeding and then went to lunch with our beautiful sleeping babes.

Last weekend Kevin, Bill, Isaak & I made a nice quiet day of visiting Utrecht. Who knew it was the oldest city in the Netherlands. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Tuesday was Isaak's second baby clinic appointment. He received his first round of vaccines, one in each thigh. His little face went red with the first one and the wails started with the second one. He calmed down pretty quickly afterwards though. For the next 24 hours he was pretty tired. He would fall asleep almost immediately after nursing (if not during).

The last few days (outside of his shots) have seen him be much more alert after his feeds. Cooing and smiling. Priceless. He sounds (and looks like) a little owl.

Thursday (yesterday) Isaak and I went to our 3rd baby massage. He started out much more relaxed then the other two times but only made it about halfway through the class before he let me know just how unhappy he was. He hadn't really slept in the 90 minutes prior and it got the best of him. In fact all day Thursday he had a hard time falling asleep. Probably had something to do with the sudden discovery of his little fists.

Yesterday Isaak discovered his hands, or at least that he really likes to suck on them. He would rather suck on them then a pacifier, so he spits out the pacifier and then gets pissed when he either can't get his little fist to his mouth or can't keep it there. He has also learned how to scoot on his back, towards his head. I often find him in his crib 12 inches above where I left him. His blanket still tucked in (whereas before it was kicked off) and he has scooted clear of it.

Today I took the train to Utrecht to visit An, Mattias, Vincent & Steven. Mattias is 2 weeks old and dang cute. He looks just like Vincent does. It is amazzing to see the difference between a 2 week old, a 10 week old and a 21 month old. It all changes so quickly and they grow up too fast. I still remember when Isaak would only open 1 eye and fall asleep instantly after nursing. I would test his fullness and depth of sleep by seeing if I could redress and swaddle him with out waking him. Now I test his sleepiness by waiting for him to get fussy after he has nursed and his fullness by checking to see if he will wail at the breast rather then nurse.

I will try to get more pics posted - he has changed so much and is SO cute (ok I may be a little biased, but still). To tide you over, check this one out. I love it when he looks like this!

Going Dutch

An interesting article on "Going Dutch" - How an American in Holland learned to love the European welfare state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html

Catching Up - Grandparents in Amsterdam, Paris, Delft & Keukenhof

Where to start.

My grandparents left yesterday. They arrived on April 24th. It was fun having them. We didn't do much on the day they arrived. Lunch out and a tram ride to Central Station and back. We made it out to Delft for lunch and relaxing site seeing on the 25th. I liked Delft, it seems like a sleepy little town with beautiful canals. This trip also saw Isaak's first public diaper changes - on the train to and from Delft.

My grandparents travel with his & her cameras. Below is a pick of them taking the same picture of the Old Church in Delft.

Sunday we had Dutch Pancakes for lunch and then made a quick trip to the Red Light district. I tried a new pancake restaurant, it was not nearly as good as the one near Anne Frank's house. In the Red Light district Grandma started to pull out her camera, she says she wanted to take a picture of the canal. I made her quickly put it away as she was in danger of losing it. I did let her take this picture of Grandpa, Isaak & I.

Monday we picked up the Van Gogh museum. There is a special exhibit going on right now called "Starry Night". It has both Van Gogh's night paintings in addition to others that influenced him.

Tuesday we went to Rembrandt's House. I really liked it and it made me even more interested in his paintings.

April 29th - May 1st we planned to be in Paris. We rented a car to drive down as we thought it would be cheaper and easier then the Thlys. The drive down on Wednesday took much longer then expected. We ran into traffic, stopped for lunch and stopped to feed & change Isaak.

Driving in Paris is an experience. Below are pictures of our approach to the Arc d' Triomphe. We finally checked into our hotel around 7. I fed Isaak and then we headed out for dinner. We had planned to go to Notre Dame and do a river cruise on Wednesday. It was too late and we were exhausted. We decided to extend our trip by a day so we could spend more time in Paris. Isaak slept from 12:30 to 4:45!

Thursday morning we headed out to the Orsay first. We spent the entire time on the Impressionist floor. Kevin went through with Isaak. I followed a little more slowly and Grandma & Grandpa brought up the rear. After I made it through Kevin passed off Isaak so I could feed him and he went to round up the grandparents.

After the Orsay we headed to lunch and then the Eiffel tower. We walked along the Seine for a little while, until we figured out it was about a mile to the Eiffel Tower, so we jumped on the metro. Once at the tower I fed Isaak again and changed him. Last time Kevin and I were here we didn't try to go up as the line was too long and neither of us are very patient when it comes to long waits. This time we were going up.

After the tower I fed & changed Isaak again and then we headed to Montmarte. After a quick ride up the funicular we had dinner and headed back to the hotel. By this time Isaak was exhausted and letting us know it. His nap had been interupted at the Eiffel Tower and we paid for it.

Friday we changed hotels. We used Priceline to book the first and had to priceline a second for Friday night. After we checked in and I got Isaak fed we headed out for lunch in the Latin Quarter and then Notre Dame.

When we scheduled this trip we inadvertantly left the Netherlands for Queens Day (huge holiday) and ended up in Paris on May Day (huge protest day). Oops. The Latin Quarter and Notre Dame were packed! The metro was really crowed as well. So crowded that Grandpa was able to get on but not the rest of us. We picked him up at the next stop, once we were able to get on. People weren't very happy to move out of the way for the stroller.

After Notre Dame we walked to Pont Neuf to catch a river cruise. We had been told the cruise is best in the dark when everythign is lit up. I imagine it is! We saw it during the day but it would be very beautiful at night.

We fed & changed Isaak at Ille de Cite before heading towards the Arc d' Triomphe.

Oh the places he has nursed and had his diaper changed.

Saturday we headed to Versailles. Kevin and I both know that the fastest & least painful way to see major sites/museums is to buy your tickets on line. We failed to do this on this trip. We had gotten lucky at the Orsay and were able to go in the Disabled access because we had the stroller. We were not so lucky at Versailles.

We stood in line for 3 hours, just to get tickets! We stood in line for another our to get in to the palace. It was packed in side! It felt a lot like cattle in a corral. Kevin had to carry Isaak as the stroller wasn't allowed in. I am sure I would have liked it more if it hadn't had so many damn people. The crowds made it seem a little hokey.

The gardens were amazing! We rented a golf cart to drive around them as there was no way any of us were goin to survive after standing on cobblestones for 4 hours. We were short on time as well. If we were to go back I would go straight for the gardens. Yes, Isaak was fed & changed here as well.

We finally headed home around 7. We stopped for gas around 8:30 and had one more adventure. Kevin accidently put gasoline in our diesel rental car. Needless to say it took us about 4 hours to deal with the tow truck and getting another car to drive home in. We made it back to Amsterdam around 4:30 am. Everyone went to sleep as soon as possible, except for Isaak & I. I fed him and then changed him. Finally making it to bed around 5:15am.

Sunday we recovered by sleeping as much as possible, all 5 of us.

There were still a few more sites in Amsterdam that my Grandparents wanted to see.

On Monday Grandma, Grandpa, Isaak & I took a Canal cruise. Afterwards we headed to the RijksMuseum. I got them in and headed in the right direction and then went to wait for them in a cafe - so Isaak could get a good nap in. The next item on the agenda was to get them to Dam square to meet Kevin, so the 3 of them could go to the Anne Frank House - followed by dinner at Moeders.

Turns out we sent them to Dam Square, on their own, with out a cell phone, during the Rememberance Day event with the Queen. Oops. To make a long story short they never found Kevin, but did find the Anne Frank House. Kevin and I both went looking for them, and saw the memorial in the mean time, while Courtenay watched Isaak. My grandparents made it back to our apartment while we were still stuck in the crowds at the Dam Square. Thank goodness I had quizzed them as to which stop to get off at for our apartment!

Tuesday we went out to the Keukenhof. Very pretty!

Wednesday I sent my grandparents to the Anne Frank house on their own. With a cell phone this time!

They flew home Thursday morning.