Finally at home. It was great arriving home. For Alex it was the first time and that almost two and a half months after being born. Finally we escape the fuss and can relax a bit.
Alex seems to like Las Palmas. After his cold experiences in Holland he was clearly agreeing with the warmer climate. He still makes himself being heard every now and then, but still. Thanks to the mild climate there seems to be a blanket of peace covering our family right now.
Recently discovered, Steve Hughes, a very funny Australian comedian.
We have arrived in Holland. Everything is going well and we are enjoying our month of vacationing. Holland is cold. Much colder that I recorded in my memories, but it is very good to hear people speaking dutch when I’m walking across the street.
Finally! My holidays start today and I’ll be going to Madrid to be reunited with my family.
Because of the early birth I was forced to miss out on the first month of life of my son and although I kept up to date through photos and phone calls it was a very strange situation. But now this strange situation has come to an end. While I was separated my son has grown from 3 to 4 kilos. A growth spurt of 33% that I have missed.
From tonight on we are a family again. Tonight my life as a father starts. A life with a little color and I’m looking forward to it. First we will be some time in Madrid, and then, if the kid is alright well be visiting Holland for 10 days. After our Dutch visit we’ll finally be going to our home in Las Palmas.
First Madrid. Accompanied by some toys, a Jip and Janneke book and our own book. If only my son will recognize his father.
In Holland the brand name Buckler was destroyed by a comedian but in Spain the brand Buckler beer still exists. At the end of this week Buckler is sponsoring a beer run.
The beer run is a running match of about 6 kilometers across the beach. Sadly, the match is just the day before I’m leaving for Madrid, so I don’t think I’ll be attending.
The strange thing about this running event is the publicity. In some places you see posters announcing the race, and these posters look pretty professional. Of course there is also a website and this is the weird part. I have never seen such a horrible website. The website offers a bank account number for you to deposit your money and that statement that the run will commence somewhere after 7 o clock. There are also a number of empty pages and that’s it.
There is also a statement that the run should be completed barefoot and in a swimsuit so there will probably not be and time measurements. And where will you store all your stuff? It just smells like a scam but still I am curious. Maybe this Friday I’ll walk towards the beach and have a look.
Recently I have been hearing a saying by some Cuban hero José Martí, that the Spanish people like referring to. He was asked what every person should do before this death. His reply:
“Tener un hijo, plantar un árbol, escribir un libro.”
In English: “Have a kid, plant a tree, write a book.”. Years ago I already planted a tree. Recently we wrote our first book and since this year we are blessed by a son.
Is that it then? I hope not, and I think the Cuban was wrong. I don’t know the things you need to do before the end, but I think you should strive to enjoy every moment. Reach for all the goals you can think of and that are important to you. For me things are going pretty well until now, and I hope they will continue to go well. *knock on wood*
This weekend I made a quick visit to Madrid. Just to have a look at Alex and hold him for a while. It was very nice to see him again and be able to hold him. His weight is now 3700 grams. He is no longer a thin baby and his dark blue eyes are getting lighter. A beautiful baby.
Sadly I could not stay long and right now I’m already home again. The little one will have to take care of his mother for the next two weeks and then I will go and help him with this task. I hope these two weeks pass fast.
I was shocked. After Alex’ birth they gave me a little book. The book contained all the steps I needed to follow to report the baby and register his as a Spaniard. Following all the steps should eventually result in a Spanish identity card.
Well, I really found out. The two weeks I got off from work right after Alex’ birth were completely spend in traveling between various agencies. In Alcala, the birthplace of Alex. In Alcorcon where we were staying. In Las Palmas we we needed to register Alex on our address.
Today the little one is exactly one month old. He is registered in the town hall and is entitled to medical care. Ana got a few months off and I was able to justify my two weeks off. The only thing that still needs to be done is a few trips to the city halls in Las Palmas and in Alcorcon to get his identity card. This should be the last step and then we finally have the possibility to fly. First we’ll fly to Holland and then towards our home in Las Palmas.
In Holland we’ll try and get the Dutch citizenship for Alex. The procedure is explained on the website of the Dutch embassy in Spain, but it did not really clarify things for me. In October I’ll be in Madrid and I will pay a visit to the embassy to find out more, and if that does not do the trick I’ll try again when we are in Holland.
Alex is growing a lot and I’m happy that Ana send me some pictures every now and then so I can keep up to date of recent developments while being separated from my son this month. Here is a picture of Alex’ version of Blue Steel.
Our branch of the Berg family tree is growing like a cabbage. Two years ago it all started with the little Annabel and now… now we have a huge increase in the number of sons. Three weeks ago our son Alex was born, and today in the early morning little Jack Robert was born. Beware, the Berg dynasty is coming!
Jack was born at 3:19 and weighs an impressive 3750 grams! We congratulate father Bert, mother Sally and big sister Annabel!!!