Dummy and a mirror

Dummy and a mirror!Alex has finally discovered his dummy. It took five months in which he kept spitting out the little plastic thing but he has finally changed his mind. We hope his thumb will finally get some rest. According the pediatrician a plastic dummy is better than his thumb because of the bad effect the thumb has on the developing teeth. Still, it seems every so-called child expert has a different (contradictory) opinion.

On this picture you can also see Alex reacting to his mirror image. He was a bit surprised, but since some time he is actively trying to grasp his other self.

Laughing

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.

The Name of the Wind

Name of the wind!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.

Cereals no, fruit yes

Fruit break!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.

3 kings 2012

3 Kings!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.

Euromania

2 Euro 2012!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.