Krees goes Dutch!

100 Days

Tomorrow marks Torsten's 100th day. I almost feel as though I ought to make some cupcakes or something, but it doesn't seem fair since he cannot eat them yet. Maybe I'll wear a party hat tomorrow whenever I nurse him. (That's a joke.)

I can't quite put it into words, but it simultaneously seems like yesterday that he was born, but also like he's always been with us.

Aldus has certainly adapted well to his big brother role. He's already started showing Torsten the ropes with his old toys.

Aldus is also doing and saying new things all the time, too. One new thing? Somersaults!

Two weeks of smiles!

Halmeoni just left after a great two-week visit. Halabeoji was also here for the first week. Just in time to see Torsten really start to smile!

I think it's been a LONG time since Charles's father spent a week doing next to nothing. I think he enjoyed it.

Last Saturday was the annual harvest festival in Lhee. Aldus's favorite part? Trekkers!

Aldus also liked watching at all the old hay-baling equipment.

And Halmeoni enjoyed trying the nieuwe haring.

Recently seen on the playground

Charles took these photos on the playground a week ago. Torsten looks so sweet, and Aldus looks so determined - whatever it is he's doing with the sand.

They grow up so fast

Charles usually takes Aldus and Maui for a long bike ride after work. It gives the dog some exercise, gives me a little time to feed Torsten in peace or start on dinner, and gives the boys a chance to see what's new with the local cows, tractors, etc.

The other day after their ride,  Charles said to me, "I had the condom talk with Aldus."

"Oh, good. I'll have to have the drug talk with him tomorrow. What did you tell him?"

"Use lots of them."

Fan club or flash mob?

Aldus has a little bit of a cult following among the kids in our neighborhood, most of whom are girls. I don't know if it's because he's the youngest of the kids who's old enough to play, or because it's a novelty that we speak English, or if it's just because he's so darn cute. (It started with them all wanting to play with Maui because he obeyed commands in English and with hand signals.)

Regardless, not only do they ring the doorbell nearly every day to ask of Aldus can come out and play, they've also taken to playing in the circular driveway in front of our house just to let us know they're out there ready and waiting. I finally understand the exasperated parents of teenage boys who complain about all the phone calls from admiring girls.

I really shouldn't complain about it, as they keep him occupied, help him (us?) to burn off his energy, and a couple of the girls are old enough to watch him for an hour or two without our supervision.

But it also means that leaving the playground always takes longer than it ought to as they all line up to give Aldus goodbye kisses, hugs, waves, elbow bonks and fist bumps.

Family portrait

When Aldus was born, we forgot to ask someone to take a photo of the three of us together. Until Charles's parents visited, we only had photos of Aldus by himself or with each of us individually.

We were fortunate that the midwives attending Torsten's birth immediately volunteered to take a photo of the three of us, and my parents took a photo of all four of us during their recent visit.

Kids REPEAT the darnedest things

It's funny what you don't realize you say until your child starts parroting you.

A few months ago when I would get angry with the dog for disobeying me, Aldus would start shouting "Maui! GODDAMMIT!" I've since made some improvements to the way I communicate with the dog. Most of the time.

These days when Charles goes to change Aldus's poopy diaper, he's met with an enthusiastic, "OH MY LORD!"

The good news among all this cursing and taking the lord's name in vain is that Aldus's favorite Neko Case song seems to be "John Saw That Number." He likes to sing "Holy to the lord" repeatedly.

"San Toki!"

Charles's mom started teaching Aldus how to dance to "San Toki" over the Christmas holiday. He's gotten hooked on having us sing it to him (when we're not singing "The Victors," that is). And now he's starting to sing it for himself! He doesn't quite have the words right yet, but we can tell he's starting to put it together.


Here's a link to some Korean ladies singing it if you want to reference the "original". :)

Hail to the Victors!

Now that we're a relatively safe distance from Michigan's 2008 football season (boo! hiss!) and starting to see headlines about the next one (the other "change we need"?), it seems safe to revisit our old friends back in the Big House.

Somehow we've gotten Aldus completely hooked on "The Victors." Not only do we watch or listen to the following video on youtube ... oh ... some 50 GAZILLION TIMES A DAY because Aldus is continually begging "Hail?" and "Again?", but we also know all the words. Did you know there are whole sections that they don't sing in the stadium?

Traveling Man

I think my dad is impressed by how much traveling Aldus has done in his 15 months. He's even written a song!

I've been everywhere man, I've been everywhere man
Been to a German fair man, breathed the Shanghai air man
I've been everywhere.

Well, I've been to . . .
Amsterdam, Rotterdam
Diever, Dwingeloo
Italy, Sicily
Inchon, Osan
Belgium, Denmark
Groningen, Michigan
North Carolina, Mainland China
I've been everywhere.

Aldus picks out reading material for his flight to the U.S.

Pondering parenthood & Judge(ment) Dredd

I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not I want to stay here for another project cycle or try to return to the States. Of course one of the biggest factors is whether I'd prefer to raise Aldus here or there, and one of the biggest factors within that is the parenting environment in the U.S.

It struck me long before I even became a parent that the climate of judgment of other parents' choices and parenting abilities is so very nasty there. Worse than that, it's not even constructive. Parents are paranoid of making mistakes, not because it's in the interests of their children, but because other parents will think ill of them. Everyone's got an opinion about how to feed a child, discipline a child, teach a child - as though there's only one right way to do any of these things and theirs is it! Maybe it's the same over here and we're simply insulated from it by not being fully immersed in Dutch media or social circles with other parents. But I doubt it.

I've also been trying to come to terms with the fact that I don't want to join the baby-education rat race (membership required for any of the NYTimes articles linked here) manifested in Baby Einstein, Junior Kumon, etc. For the most part I really feel like kids need to be kids. There's no need to start strapping headphones on your belly to make your child a genius before it's even made its grand entrance into the world. (Though maybe I'm the one being judgmental now.)

But I also worry that kids going through the American school system don't understand that the U.S. is rapidly losing ground in the global market ("Why Nihao, China! Didn't see you there!"), or the lengths that kids in foreign countries (and their parents!) go to to be competitive. 

What's a hopeful parent to do? How do you find the balance?

World Business traveller

I only have time for a quick post. We leave this morning for a 16-day trip to Shanghai and Korea. Aldus proved himself to be an EXCELLENT traveler on previous trips, but it still doesn't mean I'm looking forward to 11-hour flights. You can bet we stocked up on some new books and finger puppets to try and keep him occupied during the waking hours, which I hope are few. We also upgraded our Amsterdam to Shanghai leg to "World Business Class" (woot!). Wish us luck that we don't need to pass out any of our new earplugs to other passengers.

Aldus birthday recap: part 3 (the cupcake)

Of course Aldus had to have his own (first!) birthday cupcake at his party.


We decided to strip him down, cover the floor with a shower curtain and let him go at it.  


Yeah...I think he liked it.


The cupcake was followed by a change of clothes and a little dancing with his friend Elize.


By the way, this was a great excuse to bake up some of Cook's Illustrated's yellow cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting. They are SOOOO tasty, especially when they're really fresh! But they were also so easy to make, that I don't think you even need an excuse to make them. Just whip up a batch! Let me know if you want the recipe.

Happy Birthday, Aldus!

Today is Aldus's first birthday. It's hard to believe that it has already (and yet only?) been a year since he arrived.

Who knew that he would bring so much joy and love and LAUGHTER into our lives? I suppose most anyone who's a parent knows what I'm talking about, but I feel especially lucky that 1) we have him at all, and that 2) he's been such an incredibly easy baby.


More photos and updates from his tol and grandparents' visit to come!

Daily Aldus: Peek-a-boo!

It's been maybe a month now since Aldus started playing peek-a-boo (or "kiek-a-boo" in Dutch) at the dinner table. His babysitter ("oppas") Marcella must have taught him because he started doing it before we even really started playing it with him ourselves. Fortunately, it's also one of the fun things we can get him to do while we Skype with his grandparents, and I think (I hope!) it helps them feel more in touch with him and to see how he's growing.

Where's Aldus?

There he is!

Where's Aldus?

Kiek-a-boo! There he is!

Bonus shot...with drool!