Thursday, October 27, 2011
Laughter and Imagination
When I found out it was Baby Elephant's birthday, we just HAD to walk down to the bakery! :)
This video also contains rare footage of the house the night before the curtains and pictures were hung. Stay tuned for a virtual tour once that is complete!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Life in Belgium: The Language
Nationally, there are three languages in Belgium. French, Flemish and German. Most are regional. If you live in Flanders, you speak Flemish. If you live in Walonia, you speak French. And there is a small German area near the German border where they speak....German.
Officially, Brussels is bi-lingual, with everything in both French and Flemish. However, each of the 19 communes that make up Brussels has their official language. We live in Auderghem, and the official language is French. But again, everything published by the commune is in both Flemish and French. (Can you imagine the cost associated with that?!)
Flemish is similar to Dutch. The French in Belgium is not exactly like the French in France. There are distinctions.
Most people have discovered that the Flemish speaking people are more willing to speak English. The French speakers.....not so much. I think this is probably very noticeable in Flanders or Wallonia. In Brussels, because of the large number of 'foreigners' in the city, because of the EU, NATO, and large corporations and their European headquarters, most people can speak English. Whether or not they choose to do so is another matter!
So we're trying to learn French. We have 3 Little Pim DVDs for the girls. Here is the Little Pim website: Little Pim . It is teaching us some basics. It's meant for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, but Matt and I are learning too. I took two years of French in high school, and I remember some things, and can recognize written words (like on a menu), but I have a long way to go for every day stuff. I do have the option of taking lessons. I'll probably wait until Grace is in school to start, if I can also find something to do with Audrey so I can focus on it.
Officially, Brussels is bi-lingual, with everything in both French and Flemish. However, each of the 19 communes that make up Brussels has their official language. We live in Auderghem, and the official language is French. But again, everything published by the commune is in both Flemish and French. (Can you imagine the cost associated with that?!)
Flemish is similar to Dutch. The French in Belgium is not exactly like the French in France. There are distinctions.
Most people have discovered that the Flemish speaking people are more willing to speak English. The French speakers.....not so much. I think this is probably very noticeable in Flanders or Wallonia. In Brussels, because of the large number of 'foreigners' in the city, because of the EU, NATO, and large corporations and their European headquarters, most people can speak English. Whether or not they choose to do so is another matter!
So we're trying to learn French. We have 3 Little Pim DVDs for the girls. Here is the Little Pim website: Little Pim . It is teaching us some basics. It's meant for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, but Matt and I are learning too. I took two years of French in high school, and I remember some things, and can recognize written words (like on a menu), but I have a long way to go for every day stuff. I do have the option of taking lessons. I'll probably wait until Grace is in school to start, if I can also find something to do with Audrey so I can focus on it.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Life in Belgium: Garbage
You wouldn't think garbage would warrant it's own post, would you? In my orientation class at the American Women's Club, it was a topic for an entire hour.
So you have 4 different garbage bags. Green for garden stuff, yellow for paper/cardboard, blue for plastic and cans, and white for everything else. Much more recycling then we've done before, for sure.
White, yellow, and blue are picked up on Tuesday; white again on Friday, and green on Sunday.
Seems easy enough.
Our garbage has been DENIED twice now.
The first time our trash was rejected it was because of the blue bag. I've been told the blue bag has caused quite a few people quite a few problems. One lady is rumored to have an entire garage full of rejected blue bags. The blue bag has nice pictures on it to tell you what you can put inside it. Plastic bottles, cartons (like chicken stock would come in), aluminum cans, and glass. So we loaded her up with all of the above. And Tuesday morning, our first week here, it was left behind with a huge red stop sign sticker and a warning about the glass. APPARENTLY, we should have known that a few years ago, I guess post production of large quantities of the blue bags with the helpful pictures, they decided that they would no longer pick up glass in those bags. There are bins spread out throughout the city where you can take those. Well, duh. What were we thinking!
The second time our trash was left behind is still open to interpretation. I have watched pick-up now a couple of times. There is a guy that runs ahead and SOMETIMES pulls the bags out of cans and places them closer to the road. Sometimes he leaves them in the cans. That particular morning, I ran the trash out at like 7:10am (with my wet hair in a towel and barefoot), put the can out near the street, and saw that the runner had already passed our house (and for the record, he saw me too!). But the truck was still making it's way down our street. So I thought we were good. It drove right on by our trash. It could be that we put our trash out too late. There are strict rules about when you can put your trash out. You can be fined. I think you can't put it out any earlier then 6pm the night before. And I think there is a time in the morning that it has to be out by..... which I just assumed would be the time that the truck drove by.......but maybe it's the time the runner runs by......
We no longer put our trash out at night. Before the girls and I got here, Matt had to sweep garbage up off the street at 4am because our lovely neighborhood fox had a feast. Also why we have our garbage in a can - many people don't! I guess that is why they decided they would close our street for FOUR hours last Friday to clean it.
I have since also learned that there is a 22lb weight limit to the blue bags; 42lb limit on the white bags. And some garbage men have scales and will weigh your bags. Seriously!
Some hard core recyclers (which we are not) find that the Belgians don't recycle nearly enough. Like I said before, this is far more recycling then we've ever done before...... but for example, you can't put your yogurt cup in the plastics bag. It's a white bag item. I can see how that might be confusing. The Belgians haven't gotten into the numbered plastics game, where you know what the number on your plastic item means (that will mean something to you hard core recyclers, not so much to me - I'm cool with throwing it in the white bag).
There were lots of stories at the Women's Club about garbage rejection. The bottom line, when in doubt, throw it in the white bag. Just remember the weight limit..... and know that the white bags cost nearly 5 times as much as the other colored bags.
The good news is white garbage, the really stinky stuff and our yogurt cups, gets picked up twice a week. So if we screw up on Tuesday, there is always Friday.
So you have 4 different garbage bags. Green for garden stuff, yellow for paper/cardboard, blue for plastic and cans, and white for everything else. Much more recycling then we've done before, for sure.
White, yellow, and blue are picked up on Tuesday; white again on Friday, and green on Sunday.
Seems easy enough.
Our garbage has been DENIED twice now.
The first time our trash was rejected it was because of the blue bag. I've been told the blue bag has caused quite a few people quite a few problems. One lady is rumored to have an entire garage full of rejected blue bags. The blue bag has nice pictures on it to tell you what you can put inside it. Plastic bottles, cartons (like chicken stock would come in), aluminum cans, and glass. So we loaded her up with all of the above. And Tuesday morning, our first week here, it was left behind with a huge red stop sign sticker and a warning about the glass. APPARENTLY, we should have known that a few years ago, I guess post production of large quantities of the blue bags with the helpful pictures, they decided that they would no longer pick up glass in those bags. There are bins spread out throughout the city where you can take those. Well, duh. What were we thinking!
The second time our trash was left behind is still open to interpretation. I have watched pick-up now a couple of times. There is a guy that runs ahead and SOMETIMES pulls the bags out of cans and places them closer to the road. Sometimes he leaves them in the cans. That particular morning, I ran the trash out at like 7:10am (with my wet hair in a towel and barefoot), put the can out near the street, and saw that the runner had already passed our house (and for the record, he saw me too!). But the truck was still making it's way down our street. So I thought we were good. It drove right on by our trash. It could be that we put our trash out too late. There are strict rules about when you can put your trash out. You can be fined. I think you can't put it out any earlier then 6pm the night before. And I think there is a time in the morning that it has to be out by..... which I just assumed would be the time that the truck drove by.......but maybe it's the time the runner runs by......
We no longer put our trash out at night. Before the girls and I got here, Matt had to sweep garbage up off the street at 4am because our lovely neighborhood fox had a feast. Also why we have our garbage in a can - many people don't! I guess that is why they decided they would close our street for FOUR hours last Friday to clean it.
I have since also learned that there is a 22lb weight limit to the blue bags; 42lb limit on the white bags. And some garbage men have scales and will weigh your bags. Seriously!
Some hard core recyclers (which we are not) find that the Belgians don't recycle nearly enough. Like I said before, this is far more recycling then we've ever done before...... but for example, you can't put your yogurt cup in the plastics bag. It's a white bag item. I can see how that might be confusing. The Belgians haven't gotten into the numbered plastics game, where you know what the number on your plastic item means (that will mean something to you hard core recyclers, not so much to me - I'm cool with throwing it in the white bag).
There were lots of stories at the Women's Club about garbage rejection. The bottom line, when in doubt, throw it in the white bag. Just remember the weight limit..... and know that the white bags cost nearly 5 times as much as the other colored bags.
The good news is white garbage, the really stinky stuff and our yogurt cups, gets picked up twice a week. So if we screw up on Tuesday, there is always Friday.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Solids
We've been doing solids with Audrey for about 10 days now. She seems to be getting the hang of it.
We introduced her to peas on Sunday. Our pediatrician told us to do 2 parts vegetable to 1 part potato. And we tried that, but it just seems to make them gummy. Not real sure why we need to be doing potato...... I made some with potato, and some without. I think I'll use up what we have, and then go without potato.
This second child will not have a leg to stand on in the 'Grace got everything better' department. I never made Grace's baby food, not that she was on it for very long.... But easy peasy. I pureed up a bunch of peas, put it into an ice cube tray, and voila. I just pop them out when I need them. Next up....carrots!
We also pulled out the high chair. Audrey does not sit well in the bumbo for very long. She's constantly trying to arch her back out of it. She looks so tiny in her high chair, though.
We introduced her to peas on Sunday. Our pediatrician told us to do 2 parts vegetable to 1 part potato. And we tried that, but it just seems to make them gummy. Not real sure why we need to be doing potato...... I made some with potato, and some without. I think I'll use up what we have, and then go without potato.
This second child will not have a leg to stand on in the 'Grace got everything better' department. I never made Grace's baby food, not that she was on it for very long.... But easy peasy. I pureed up a bunch of peas, put it into an ice cube tray, and voila. I just pop them out when I need them. Next up....carrots!
We also pulled out the high chair. Audrey does not sit well in the bumbo for very long. She's constantly trying to arch her back out of it. She looks so tiny in her high chair, though.
Abbaye de Villers
Saturday we tried to go see this really cool 12th century Abbey that is about 40 minutes from us....
Click to read all about it
We got lost. Even with our little British GPS lady. She had us driving through corn fields and turning on 'unnamed road'. We finally threw in the towel, and told her to take us home, and what do you know.....we stumbled upon our abbey, literally.....as in we drove through it.
Here are some shots, not so good, as we were driving...... it turned out to be closed anyway.
There was a festival going on in town. Hence these hot air balloons that we watched float through the sky as we drove home.
Click to read all about it
We got lost. Even with our little British GPS lady. She had us driving through corn fields and turning on 'unnamed road'. We finally threw in the towel, and told her to take us home, and what do you know.....we stumbled upon our abbey, literally.....as in we drove through it.
Here are some shots, not so good, as we were driving...... it turned out to be closed anyway.
There was a festival going on in town. Hence these hot air balloons that we watched float through the sky as we drove home.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Out for a walk
Sunny day in Brussels, so the girls and I went for a walk today. We collected some leaves, acorns, and pine cones for some fall inspired crafts. And found these two taking a walk, too.
Life in Belgium: Grocery Shopping - A few more things remembered....
Forgot to mention a few things....
All large grocery stores are closed on Sunday. Almost all stores are; you are suppose to enjoy your day of rest. Only a handful of 'express' type stores or Mom and Pop stores, like the Patisserie are open. So if you want a baguette on Sunday, you are good. If something more important....must be done before Sunday. Saturday is the absolute worst day to shop in this country. Everyone and their brother is out and about.
Also, nothing is open past 8pm. Nothing. Some things close by 6pm. Imagine that!
Think you can pick up some Tylenol while at the grocery store? Think again. You have to go to the pharmacy - separate place. Apparently you can also get Lysol at the Pharmacy only.
All large grocery stores are closed on Sunday. Almost all stores are; you are suppose to enjoy your day of rest. Only a handful of 'express' type stores or Mom and Pop stores, like the Patisserie are open. So if you want a baguette on Sunday, you are good. If something more important....must be done before Sunday. Saturday is the absolute worst day to shop in this country. Everyone and their brother is out and about.
Also, nothing is open past 8pm. Nothing. Some things close by 6pm. Imagine that!
Think you can pick up some Tylenol while at the grocery store? Think again. You have to go to the pharmacy - separate place. Apparently you can also get Lysol at the Pharmacy only.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Life in Belgium: Grocery Shopping
We have only been to two different grocery stores here, so far. Carrefour and Delhaize. There are others, but those are the two closest. And seriously, after investing time to figure them out, not sure I want to tackle another one yet.
Carrefour is a French store, and the one near us is much like a Super Target. You can buy TVs and apples, and everything in between. Or almost everything. Delhaize is a Belgian company, that also has stores in the US. Can you guess which ones from their logo? Delhaize
Yep, Food Lion. It is much like a regular grocery store. After the mouse and getting lost incident, I was only going to Delhaize, but I'm back on the wagon at Carrefour now. However, there are some things I can only find at certain stores, so I frequent both.
So some things in general.
You have to insert a coin to get a grocery cart, much like you do at Aldi. I think this is something the US should adopt. No lose carts in parking lots. You get your coin back when you return the cart, and they make these fake coins you can use instead of real money.
You bag your own groceries. This is quite the scientific process. For me at least. I have worked out quite the system. When I get in line, I start loading my arm up with my bags, one strap on my arm, the other hanging open. And I unload the cart onto the conveyor belt in a very precise pattern. Veg/fruit together. Meat together. Cold stuff together. Bottles/jars together. Bread together. Somebody tried to help me once (which was a shock, and warrants a whole other post on Belgian culture/etiquette). Thankfully we had started to get into the whole bring your own bag to the grocery store movement in the US, so we have tons of bags. I'm split on whether or not I think the US should adopt this concept. On the one hand, I will probably have a hard time watching a bagger put my bread at the bottom of a heavy bag again. But geez, it is such a great, great, help.
You slice your own fresh bread. Know those machines they keep behind the bakery counter because OSHA probably proclaimed them hazardous to fingers? Yep, the general public is operating those here. I have yet to see any fingers lying on the ground.... almost all the bread available is fresh, must be sliced bread. Gone is the entire aisle of packaged, sliced bread. It is really good!
Fruit and vegetables. You have to weigh and sticker them with the price in the produce department. Sometimes. Occasionally things are priced by piece, and you don't have to weigh those. The machines you use to weigh are touch screen and have pictures, which helps find what you are buying when you may not know the french/flemish word for a particular thing. If you don't see the picture, it's probably priced by piece. Matt and I have both put things back because we were just not sure..... I've heard that sometimes things that were priced by piece one week can be priced by Kilo the next week. So you have to pay attention. If you don't weigh/sticker your item, there are machines up front, and I've seen the cashier send people over to do it. I'm not sure if the cashiers have the ability to weigh things or not. I've seen 'discussion' between a cashier and a customer before and it has appeared that the cashier has weighed/priced it but because I don't know what they're saying, I'm not sure. Totally the honor system, as well. You COULD figure out what is the cheapest produce item and just press that button and price your item that way. One time a sticker fell off of something of mine, and the cashier put it on something else, and rang it up with that price....which coincidentally was cheaper. And I got the other item for free. Just saying. Not sure this system is effective.
Milk. Most of the milk sold is the kind that is not refrigerated. I have not really paid much attention to that aisle at the store because Matt found a fresh variety before we got here that we've stuck to. However, I will mention that the 'half'' kind that we get tastes a lot like heavy cream. :) I'm guessing when we make the switch to whole milk for Miss Audrey, she might have to eat it with a spoon.
So what else.....In between the veal and beef, you can buy horse meat. Buyer beware! All fruits and vegetables seem to be seasonal. I went on Saturday and was a little disappointed not to find squash. Any kind of fall squash. I went again yesterday, and there was the butternut squash! YAY! The cheese and cold cut selection is very extensive. I've braved the counter once, but they have a really good pre-cut selection as well. Carrefour has been doing extensive remodeling (why I think the mouse was out that one day), and yesterday I also saw Italian sausage in the fresh Italian section. We have been able to find most things we've wanted. They are not exactly the same as what we're used to, but not bad either.
Oh, the one other thing I can think of at the moment that we have yet to conquer.....self scanning. At the front of the store, you can pick up a scanning gun, much like what you would use to start a registry at a store in the US. You do your shopping, scanning as you go, and then you give the gun back when you're done, and they check it somehow, you pay, and you are one your way. You bag as you shop, which helps with the whole crazy scientific process I have going.....the American Women's Club teaches a class in self scanning, so it can't be as easy as it seems..... or maybe we're all just too intimidated by it to try it out.
As I learn more, I'll post more... it's always an adventure!
Carrefour is a French store, and the one near us is much like a Super Target. You can buy TVs and apples, and everything in between. Or almost everything. Delhaize is a Belgian company, that also has stores in the US. Can you guess which ones from their logo? Delhaize
Yep, Food Lion. It is much like a regular grocery store. After the mouse and getting lost incident, I was only going to Delhaize, but I'm back on the wagon at Carrefour now. However, there are some things I can only find at certain stores, so I frequent both.
So some things in general.
You have to insert a coin to get a grocery cart, much like you do at Aldi. I think this is something the US should adopt. No lose carts in parking lots. You get your coin back when you return the cart, and they make these fake coins you can use instead of real money.
You bag your own groceries. This is quite the scientific process. For me at least. I have worked out quite the system. When I get in line, I start loading my arm up with my bags, one strap on my arm, the other hanging open. And I unload the cart onto the conveyor belt in a very precise pattern. Veg/fruit together. Meat together. Cold stuff together. Bottles/jars together. Bread together. Somebody tried to help me once (which was a shock, and warrants a whole other post on Belgian culture/etiquette). Thankfully we had started to get into the whole bring your own bag to the grocery store movement in the US, so we have tons of bags. I'm split on whether or not I think the US should adopt this concept. On the one hand, I will probably have a hard time watching a bagger put my bread at the bottom of a heavy bag again. But geez, it is such a great, great, help.
You slice your own fresh bread. Know those machines they keep behind the bakery counter because OSHA probably proclaimed them hazardous to fingers? Yep, the general public is operating those here. I have yet to see any fingers lying on the ground.... almost all the bread available is fresh, must be sliced bread. Gone is the entire aisle of packaged, sliced bread. It is really good!
Fruit and vegetables. You have to weigh and sticker them with the price in the produce department. Sometimes. Occasionally things are priced by piece, and you don't have to weigh those. The machines you use to weigh are touch screen and have pictures, which helps find what you are buying when you may not know the french/flemish word for a particular thing. If you don't see the picture, it's probably priced by piece. Matt and I have both put things back because we were just not sure..... I've heard that sometimes things that were priced by piece one week can be priced by Kilo the next week. So you have to pay attention. If you don't weigh/sticker your item, there are machines up front, and I've seen the cashier send people over to do it. I'm not sure if the cashiers have the ability to weigh things or not. I've seen 'discussion' between a cashier and a customer before and it has appeared that the cashier has weighed/priced it but because I don't know what they're saying, I'm not sure. Totally the honor system, as well. You COULD figure out what is the cheapest produce item and just press that button and price your item that way. One time a sticker fell off of something of mine, and the cashier put it on something else, and rang it up with that price....which coincidentally was cheaper. And I got the other item for free. Just saying. Not sure this system is effective.
Milk. Most of the milk sold is the kind that is not refrigerated. I have not really paid much attention to that aisle at the store because Matt found a fresh variety before we got here that we've stuck to. However, I will mention that the 'half'' kind that we get tastes a lot like heavy cream. :) I'm guessing when we make the switch to whole milk for Miss Audrey, she might have to eat it with a spoon.
So what else.....In between the veal and beef, you can buy horse meat. Buyer beware! All fruits and vegetables seem to be seasonal. I went on Saturday and was a little disappointed not to find squash. Any kind of fall squash. I went again yesterday, and there was the butternut squash! YAY! The cheese and cold cut selection is very extensive. I've braved the counter once, but they have a really good pre-cut selection as well. Carrefour has been doing extensive remodeling (why I think the mouse was out that one day), and yesterday I also saw Italian sausage in the fresh Italian section. We have been able to find most things we've wanted. They are not exactly the same as what we're used to, but not bad either.
Oh, the one other thing I can think of at the moment that we have yet to conquer.....self scanning. At the front of the store, you can pick up a scanning gun, much like what you would use to start a registry at a store in the US. You do your shopping, scanning as you go, and then you give the gun back when you're done, and they check it somehow, you pay, and you are one your way. You bag as you shop, which helps with the whole crazy scientific process I have going.....the American Women's Club teaches a class in self scanning, so it can't be as easy as it seems..... or maybe we're all just too intimidated by it to try it out.
As I learn more, I'll post more... it's always an adventure!
Life in Belgium
I am going to start writing a series of posts about life in Belgium. There are so many new, different things, it will be worth documenting, sometimes offering funny stories (in retrospect)....and a good outlet for us, too.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Audrey's 5 Month Stats
Just back from visiting the doctor for Audrey's 5 Month visit.
I think it is routine in Belgium for infants to have a 5 month visit, even though we were also going for a make up vaccine.
She did a whole exam, and we talked a great bit about feeding. She advocates making baby food. They don't normally feed babies cereal here. She was ok with us continuing, but it is not necessary. Babies go straight to vegetables at 5 months, and she wants us to start with carrots. You mix 2/3 carrots with 1/3 potatoes. I think the potato is just to weigh it down in the belly. Same deal as in the US....try something for 4 days or so before moving onto the next vegetable, so to rule out any allergies/reactions.
Here are Audrey's stats:
Weight: 6.020 kg = 13.27lbs. - 25th percentile
Height: 64.5 cm = 25.39 inches - 75th percentile
Head: 42 cm = 50-75th percentile
So.....red flag......Audrey is dropping curves in the weight department. :( At this point she strongly encouraged me to start the vegetables. I don't have a problem with that..... I think we'll continue doing the cereal this week, and start the vegetables next week. I want to give Audrey some time to practice, especially if I'm going to go through the trouble of MAKING the baby food (don't want the good stuff to go to waste). Since she also has the shortened frenulum (tongue tied), I want to make sure she is not having issues moving the solids around her mouth. It shouldn't be a problem since she doesn't have any issues nursing, and I've noticed lately her sticking her tongue out quite far, but just something we want to make sure we're watching.
So, other then that.......everything else was peachy keen. It was a little bit of an overwhelming visit. The doctor speaks pretty good English, but we're both struggling to find the right words so we understand each other. And they just seem to do things differently. But so far, I really like her. She's young, and very willing to answer all my questions and address my concerns. I brought the vaccination schedule from my Atlanta pedi's office, and she is very willing to follow it as closely as she can.
We go again at 6 months, so hopefully we'll be back on track in the weight department.
Here's a picture of the two sisters. It's not the best picture of the two of them, but side by side, you can see that Audrey is for sure not starving to death. :)
I think it is routine in Belgium for infants to have a 5 month visit, even though we were also going for a make up vaccine.
She did a whole exam, and we talked a great bit about feeding. She advocates making baby food. They don't normally feed babies cereal here. She was ok with us continuing, but it is not necessary. Babies go straight to vegetables at 5 months, and she wants us to start with carrots. You mix 2/3 carrots with 1/3 potatoes. I think the potato is just to weigh it down in the belly. Same deal as in the US....try something for 4 days or so before moving onto the next vegetable, so to rule out any allergies/reactions.
Here are Audrey's stats:
Weight: 6.020 kg = 13.27lbs. - 25th percentile
Height: 64.5 cm = 25.39 inches - 75th percentile
Head: 42 cm = 50-75th percentile
So.....red flag......Audrey is dropping curves in the weight department. :( At this point she strongly encouraged me to start the vegetables. I don't have a problem with that..... I think we'll continue doing the cereal this week, and start the vegetables next week. I want to give Audrey some time to practice, especially if I'm going to go through the trouble of MAKING the baby food (don't want the good stuff to go to waste). Since she also has the shortened frenulum (tongue tied), I want to make sure she is not having issues moving the solids around her mouth. It shouldn't be a problem since she doesn't have any issues nursing, and I've noticed lately her sticking her tongue out quite far, but just something we want to make sure we're watching.
So, other then that.......everything else was peachy keen. It was a little bit of an overwhelming visit. The doctor speaks pretty good English, but we're both struggling to find the right words so we understand each other. And they just seem to do things differently. But so far, I really like her. She's young, and very willing to answer all my questions and address my concerns. I brought the vaccination schedule from my Atlanta pedi's office, and she is very willing to follow it as closely as she can.
We go again at 6 months, so hopefully we'll be back on track in the weight department.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Audrey is 5 Months Old!
No stats, although we do have an appointment on Monday for a make-up vaccine, so I'll probably get some then. But here are 5 things about Miss Audrey this month.
1. Back on track with sleeping. Knock on wood. Every time I mention it, we're in for a rough night, but I think we've made good progress lately. We've been putting her to bed slightly earlier, and it seems to be making a difference.
2. Deprived. By 5 Months, Grace was on cereal and peas. We just gave Audrey her first taste of cereal tonight. I thought for some reason that we were being overly cautious with her. But I read somewhere tonight that with your first you're so anxious to try new things, you jump in early. With your subsequent kids you hold off on adding more things to do as long as possible. Sounds about right.
4. Thumb sucker. Without a doubt. It calms her right down. And sometimes she does it when she's bored. Oy! Not looking forward to breaking that habit!
5. Much happier. She is not that fussy anymore. She really only fusses when she's hungry or tired, like a normal baby. Such a difference it makes to have a happier baby.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Grace-ism's
Anyway, here are some things about Grace:
Says Mines. As in ...'that is mines.' Substitutes the word my for I. Talks in nearly complete sentences.
Tells us 'in a minute' when we ask her to do something. A lot of S words are pronounced without the S. I think this is normal.
Learning some French. She says Bonjour (Hello/Good Day) when we pass people on the sidewalk or in a store, etc. We watch our French DVDs almost daily.
ACTIVE imagination! I don't know if it is because of the move, or what, but we have lots of imaginary friends running around this place. Quinn and Isabella are here all the time. I'm going to start charging those two rent. Megan, Taylor, Josh's sister Megan, and Josh are here quite a bit too. The other day, she had me getting a pink lizard out from under the oven. It promptly climbed up her arm, or so she told me. Constantly on the phone with SOMEONE. Heard her saying 'Bonjour Happa' this morning.
A girly girl, for sure. Loves playing with her dolls and all her purses. Interested in Mommy's makeup. And very interested in cooking. She has quite a few picnics/tea parties and loves making cupcakes; pretend and real.
Doing really well being left in the care of others. I think she is desperate for friends! We have had great success leaving her at the nursery at church. This used to be a HUGE issue in Georgia. She would absolutely refuse to be left in the nursery. Now it's an opportunity to play with kids, so she goes happily! I've also left her in the nursery at the American Women's Club, happy as a clam. We've applied to get her in school in January, so hopefully that will help her in the friend department. Almost ALL children her age are in school. All of the play groups and people I've met only have children under 2 home with them.
Almost completely potty trained. Only wears a diaper overnight now.
Starting to be a more focused colorer, as in attempting to actually color within the lines of a picture. She does not stay in the lines, by any means..... but it's not complete scribble haphazardly across the page, either.
Still a leftie. Even kicks the ball with her left foot.
Still taking a good 2 hour nap most days. Sleeps well at night with a whole host of friends, but most importantly her Elephant, in her mouth.
Good eater. Breakfast is usually a bowl of Kix with milk, yogurt, banana and orange juice. Lunch is usually a sandwich (one slice of bread folded in half), and some kind of veg or fruit. And she eats whatever we're having for dinner. We have found some good animal cracker and goldfish substitutes for snack time, in addition to raisins and other fruit. I hope we've done something right in the eating department. She doesn't seem picky at all and is quite adventurous. She eats escargot! And last night we had mussels for dinner, and she was cleaning the shells out herself.
Very good, patient big sister. Which is a must, since Miss Audrey is not very patient.
Things aren't all roses though. We have issues with listening. And at times she can down right rotten. Can go into a full blown melt down over the littlest thing. Some days are better then others; and we can go days without issues.... I hear 3s are the new 2s, so I expect that this will get worse soon.
But she really is wonderful. It seems like every day she does something new or different that amazes us.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A Day at the Zoo
It's pretty old. Some of the animals were in cages. You can tell they've been doing lots of improvements and moving towards a more open space type environment.
The weather was wonderful. 76 and sunny! Can't beat it for October!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The ING Brussels Marathon
Sunday is the ING Brussels Marathon. Here is a map that shows the course. We're practically surrounded! So we're thinking we may head to Antwerp for the day.........
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