And this is my new day care. It is easy to get used here, because it is very nice. But we are getting used slowly: the first day only one hour, the second day two hours, then four hours. But I like that there are big kids here: it is a group for children from 0 to 4 years, not 0 to 2 like the old day care. And big kids are interesting, I think.
This photo is also from a while back, May 15th. It is was my last day in my old child care, Bartele. They sang a song of goodbye for me, and we all had to cry a little bit. After all, here you see my friends, Isabella, Casper and Minke. And mama's friend Diane of course. But we will still see her: they are still singing together.
Pizza!! My papa has to go to work tomorrow, so he chooses the meal. It is pizza!!
He has a little bit of a cold, that is why he is wearing the shawl. Het got the cold when he came back from Dubai. My mama and I had just a little bit of a running nose. But he was fresh to our viruses and really got it all. Now he can start infecting people on his boat again!
And you know what? The grass keeps growing, in my back yard, but also in the garden of the holiday home. It is about time we go there. My papa is busy with our new big lawn mower, and still it takes him hours!! After all this grass, we deserve a bit of rest, so we go swimming in the lake.
I have never swum in a lake. It is cold. And there are waves in the water too! They lap around my feet. And my feet sink in the sand. I can’t see my feet anymore!! I prefer to play in the sand. But it was good fun.
I am still swimming every Tuesday. What I love best? Jumping in the water. I sit on the side of the pool and then I fall face forward in the water - and in Mama's arms. The splashing is so much fun! In June I will have my exam for the Little Bears. I have to be able to go underwater with Mama and also if they splash me I may not cry. Tough exam, but I can do all those things, no big deal!
We have moved yesterday. Today the wind mill in our street is making pancakes, it is a special day. Of course with flower that they grind themselves. Every Saturday I see the mill wheels turning from my house. But they don't always make pancakes!
My papa and mama love pan cakes. They don't understand why I don't like them. I just don't. It makes them happy, they say: more for them!
For me, just give me a rod, a stone and some seeds. I'll climb over the rod, under it or watch the other kids on the square playing. You see the groceries in the buggy? From now on everybody will get flower as a present!! Beware!
Today is a day of relative rest. Just packing boxes. Mama and I go shopping with the bicycle and make a tour around the Oosterpark. Spring is in the air, but we don't see any little ducks. Perhaps they have grown already? Or not yet? I like watching water and birds.
I don't like it, papa and mama are working all the time. Today we have gone to the new home. I like it: it is big and I can run around. But papa and mama don't have time to run around with me: they are doing something with a floor and door steps. All this unrest makes me moody. I'll make them run! Up the staircase!
It is Queen's Day again. A year ago, I remember it well, we walked along the braderie, it was very warm. This year my Papa is home, and we walk the same strip. Lot's of nice things this year. I get books, duplo and a puzzle. And a new coat. We take the tram to the Bredeweg. There are lots of things for children there: a fancy fair, an animal farm and our puppet theatre from my birthday party!
My new garden! Today it is ours. I am with grandmother and grandfather, but my mama tells me that we have gold fish, frogs and salamanders in our two ponds. Exciting!
It is the day after, but we are still in a party mood. The sun is shining so we go to Artis, the zoo. We come for the monkeys and birds, of course.
I like birds because they always move and flutter. We look at the penguins, quails - they always run, and at a height (the ground) that suits me fine - and lots of other birds. My mama says: perhaps papa should build a quail run in our new house? But she wants to adopt all the animals.
First we visit the Kuifmakaak that mama saw before I could see them, see little-babies. Those babies grow up fast too: they still have short hair, but their faces have gone from pink to black.
I can't remember much from the previous times I was in Artis, but this time I really wanted to make contact with the animals.
And I smile if want to!! Today is my party for my first birthday. I am so excited,
I could barely sleep. We have sent out invitation cards to everyone we know. There is a big birthday cake. Our house is much too small to receive so many children, and across the street is the puppet theatre: Ko
os Kneus, that is where we celebrate it. This is so exciting!
It was a pity that Orel couldn't come: he was not feeling well and we are sendin
g regards to him. But other than that it was so much fun. The puppet show was very funny: how to make a monkey disappear, and how the mouse found his house.
After that there was champagne for the parents, that were not pregnant and we could let our faces be painted. My mama set me up for that too, stupid! Now I have a blue nose. I think Rokaya didn't like it either.
There was one little minor point: there was a very scary witch puppet hanging from the wall. I didn't like her. She made me cry. Luckily Grandpa was there to comfort me. It was very funny to see Grandma and Grandpa in a different place than their home. I didn't know that that was possible.
And I got so many gifts, now I can play for a long time.
And the terrible hat, again ....
Our friends Manfred and Inez from Australia are in Holland. I am meeting their son Quinn. Here he is. He is pulling faces in the picture, that is funny!
When we meet him, he looks like a true Ozzie bloke, sunnies and all. But he knows how to speak dutch, I heard it myself! That is really good, to speak dutch and Ozzie. It is a warm day and we have lunch in Leiden.
We go for a bit of sightseeing, but there are everywhere strange looking young lads with beers sitting outside. Are these students? Shouldn't they be studying?
It is all the rage, putting movies on the weblog. But it will be rather good to show you how well I can walk. Fast, am I!
It is a beautiful spring day, and today my cousine and cousin Loes and Koen are being baptised. We want to be fresh when we get there, so my mama brings me to the swimming pool in the morning. All freshened up we go.
It is very quiet and peaceful in the church. The only sound I hear is myself. I am drinking a bottle, and it tastes so good I am groaning. Then I am finished and ready to play with the knee benches. In the meantime I say "Blablablabla", as I always do in my own confident way. My mama is acting a bit nervous, she forces banana in my mouth, even gives her phone to play with. But the people don't mind: they are laughing.
But Loes and Koen are baptised and then I can run around in the big place. And I get cake and chocolate and crisps and the whole family is there. My diapers are changed in the open air in the forest around us. When we go home, we feel very peaceful and happy.
Mama, my cloths hurt me! They are too tight! Yes, we go shopping. But the only time we have is on Saturday, and who wants to shop in town on a Saturday, with the rest of everybody? My mama decides we go first thing in the morning. Right at ten o'clock we will stand at the shop, Hennes & Mauritz.
We are there at two past, but the doors are still closed! Bang, bang, my mama does on the door. Open up! And then she grabs stuff and stuff and more stuff and when we pay a queue builds behind us.
But, after an hour we're done and we deserve a refreshment. We go to De Jaren and mama drinks two cups of coffee while I explore the bar stools.
| I am learning to play with other children, a little bit by bit. These are my friends at day care. With Minke in the sandpit. |  |
 | Playing with Felice. |
 | Building towers with Casper. |
On Wednesdays I am at Grandmother's and Grandfather's house. Grandmother is very sweet, and Grandfather likes playing with me.
Grandmother likes me eating the proper way. Not like mama does, with hands and in chunks. So, Grandmother has bought a spoon and fork and now shows me how to use them. This is very exciting! I like doing it. I can pick up a piece of carrot, if I concentrate very hard on it, as you see in the picture my face of concentration.
By the time I have managed to pick it up, I have forgotten what to do with it. Oh yes, put it in my mouth.
