Today was the last full day that my parents were able to bathe in the warm sun. Tomorrow they leave the 25 degrees next to to pool and return to the -15 degrees in the Netherlands. A difference of 40 degrees! For sure they will notice. Today Alex, Ana and I went to the hotel for a visit. We enjoyed the sun and Alex enjoyed himself a lot. He was laughing with grandma and grandpa.
In addition to these movies you can also view a few family pictures.
A long time ago I was given the book ‘The Name of the Wind‘ by Partick Rothfuss. It is part of a series of three books. After a slow start the book caught my attention and now I am driven to read more. Quite a read because the book has 662 pages but somehow the story managed to grab my attention.
In the book one of the main characters is telling his life’s story. I’ve read around a quarter of the book and his life went from one extreme to the other. I am very curious about the rest and need to start looking for the other two parts.
The little one is growing up very fast. Today he became 5 months. Two weeks ago we started adding some cereals to his milk. Alex gets a bottle twice a day when his mother is working. Clearly the cereals did not agree with Alex.
Last week we also started with fruit. First for three days we fed him teaspoons of orange juice and then little by little more juice. The orange juice was a bit acid, but Alex loved it. Long before the arrival of the spoon his mouth went wide open. After three days we added pear.. a slightly firmer substance which was also very popular. The most recent addition was some delicious apple.
The three kings have arrived again! Tonight there is a big parade and tomorrow everybody has the day off. Of course little Alex will get a few more presents if he’s been a good boy of course. In that case the kings will leave some presents this night that Alex will find tomorrow morning.
Alex is getting much more conscious about his surroundings and about his own body. The last few days he is spending more and more time looking at his hands and playing with his fingers.
Ho ho ho!
We wish everyone a very nice Christmas!
There is another 2 euro coin being minted. Very good for the treasury, but why is the Dutch mint always thinking so small. My point being that the special collectors versions of this coin was sold out in four days. The reason, there were only 15.000 coins being minted. These coins were sold with a nice profit for 10 euros each.
The direct profit for the government is 8 euro per sold coin. Furthermore, it is a pretty safe guess that all the coins will disappear into various collections resulting in a double profit for the government. But what I don’t understand is that in a time of crisis Holland is thinking so small. If 15.000 coins get sold in four days for sure there is a demand for more. With 30.000 coins you double the profit. Because this 2 euro coin will be wanted by collectors everywhere in Europe I think even one million coins would eventually be sold. A missed opportunity for the treasury.
It has already been 4 months since Alex’ birth and he has grown a lot. After the birth of our son our lived changed to the fast lane. Everything is happening faster and suddenly we don’t have time for a lot of things we used to take for granted. It seems that we are living our lives with much more intensity.
A simple cold that used to be annoying is suddenly a big issue because the results are much bigger. When I got a cold the little one also got it, resulting in sleepless nights, a poor coughing baby, a baby that does not want to drink, and a poor baby that will only quiet down and sleep it you rock it to sleep in your arms. This is quite an effort if you have a cold and need to keep it up a few days, 24 hours a day.
At the same time it is a fantastic experience to notice new developments all the time. Alex picking something up, Alex looking at his father when someone says ‘daddy’, Alex getting smarter all the time, avoiding we spray a salt solution in his nose, Alex controlling his body better and better and sometimes stretching his legs to avoid his pants being put on.
Being a parent is a lot of work, but it pays out. An Alex laughing, or showing a little smile is the best thing there is, and Alex smiles a lot. Even after coughing, puking, or whatever there is still a smile that appears on his little face.
The next adventure is already imminent. It looks like one of his teeth is starting to grow.
