Krees goes Dutch!

First Days

Has it been almost a week already? Time flies!

We're doing well, especially with Charles still home and the kraamzorg help during the day. Tuesday may be an adventure when she's gone and Charles (I assume) will be back at work.

Regardless, we've had a great week with Torsten at home with us. I think he sleeps more and cries less than Aldus did. Score! Most importantly, he eats well and is healthy and strong. And beautiful. And sweet. Yeah, I like him.

Aldus likes Torsten, too. He very much wants to touch him and give hugs and kisses. But he's also having a rough time because of all these new rules like not touching the baby when I'm nursing, not pulling on the carrycot of the stroller when Torsten is in it, etc. It's not easy to be two with a new baby in the house.

Yesterday I was feeing great, both pysically and emotionally. The engorgement started to subside, I had energy, etc. This morning I'm a physical wreck. Fortunately, my emotions are still good. Coffee helps. But I'm going to spend the day trying to do almost nothing physical so that I can rest up. I know how susceptible I am emotionally to my physical well-being.

Here are a few pics from our first few days:

Me in labor. Thank goodness Charles took this photo right away because I was like this for less than 10 minutes before I needed to start pushing!

Some people thought Charles didn't look so good in the photo we emailed to everyone. Ha ha! Stress will do that to you. But have you every seen a more proud father?

Aldus likes to see Torsten first thing when he (Aldus) first gets up in the morning and whenever he comes home from the babysitter's or peuterclub.

Torsten's first outing to the playground behind our house. (And a coffee for me!)

Ahhhh....lekker slapen!

Introducing Torsten Jinsup Yun

Just to spite me for saying that I didn't think he would come on his due date, Baby #2 made a valiant last ditch effort Sunday. Sporadic, mild contractions in the afternoon and evening were followed by my water breaking around 10:40pm. Nothing for a half-hour, then quicker, stronger contractions over the next hour, and we rushed off to the babysitter's and the hospital.

After 15 minutes of evaluation by the midwives and 5 minutes of pushing, we were blessed with another boy!

Torsten Jinsup Yun
Born 1:33am on Monday 22 June
3.81 kg / 8 lbs 6 oz
Lots of black hair and a Yun nose!

Torsten was my grandfather Palmquist's name (changed to Thomas when he immigrated from Sweden). Jinsup is made up of "Jin" (진/眞) meaning truth, faithfulness or real, and "Sup" (섭/燮), the generational family name he shares with his brother and cousins, meaning harmony or flame.

We're all doing great, Aldus and Maui included. More photos and updates to come.

Editor's note: Bad Umma! I got my Chinese characters mixed up in the original post. They've been updated to reflect the correct syllables. I will blame sleep deprivation.

Due Date 2009!

It's 21 June, my estimated due date, and the baby's not here. This is no surprise. Aldus was five days later than his estimated due date, and when we met with the doctor last week he thought that this baby would also be late. Apparently I make too good of a host for the baby to be in much of a hurry to come out.

That's okay with me. Aside from being more and more tired every day, I feel fine.

So with pretty much all of the cleaning done and a couple meals already prepped, we're spending a relatively lazy Father's Day weekend around the house. Charles takes Aldus outside for bike rides and playing on the playground between frequent rainbursts, and I'm pretty much trying to do as little possible. We'll just keep on waiting.

p.s. Charles must love me. He downloaded Top Gun to play on my iPod when we go to the hospital. Nothing like a little mindless entertainment to pass the time!

State of the Krees Address

I haven't written much lately. I am not apologizing.

I haven't written much:

• not because there's nothing to write about;
• not because I haven't had the time;
• I have been traveling a lot, it's true;
• I haven't felt the need to amuse myself by reminiscing about recent events; and
• I don't feel the need to explain my environment to you, dear friends and family, because I'm pretty sure you're already all too familiar with where I am - physically speaking, at least.

I do feel the need to further dissect my reactions to being back in the U.S., but not until I get back home. (Funny, isn't it, how in the Netherlands "home" is Ann Arbor, and in Ann Arbor "home" is in the Netherlands. It was bound to happen. I've become one of those people who doesn't fit anywhere. But there I go anyway, digressing down the road of dissection...)

---

I'm currently reading (and recommend) "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. In the book about her four months in Italy, she says:

Still, when I look at myself in the mirror of the best pizzeria in Naples, I see a bright-eyed, clear-skinned, happy and healthy face. I haven't seen a face like that on me for a long time.

This reminds me of something I noticed as I went through all our photos from Korea: The Scowl was gone.

I can't say for certain - perhaps Charles has noticed - but I think The Scowl has been missing from this trip, as well. I can't say it's purely because of travel. I do love me some travel, but I know The Scowl still accompanied us on our whirlwind tour of Europe in 1996, and I have photographic evidence that it tagged along with us to Sicily, arguable the most enjoyable trip we've ever taken (witness Exhibit A, photo #5).

Truth be told, I think The Scowl usually appears as I pore through the guide book for wherever we are, trying to determine the most exciting or interesting thing to see or do and the best way to get there. But it didn't bother joining us in Korea, Michigan or North Carolina, I guess because we don't need no stinking guide books for those places.

Regardless, I'm pleased to say that the past two weeks have been extremely pleasant and Scowl-free. We have a couple more days yet of relaxation, hanging out and enjoying some of our favorite places, faces and foods in the U.S. And I'm looking forward to posting and sharing Scowl-free and Aldus-full photos in a few days, perhaps along with some emotional dissection of what it's been like to be back in Tree Town.

Up close and personal with the WSRT

It's been a busy week, due in part to the filming at work of a EuroNews program, Futuris. I played host to the producer and his film crew yesterday, ushering them around the office for interviews with various JIVE staff, and then Charles and I took them out to the Westerbork telescope (about, ASTRON photos) to do some filming and an interview with Charles there.

Much to our delight, they let us use lift that was on-site to film the interview and some close-up shots of one of the antennas.

I took some photos of my own while we were up there. This is looking east at dishes 7-12:

Looking west at dishes 1-5 (we were positioned in front of #6):

The producer even volunteered to take our photo while we were up there.

But I was especially pleased that Charles chose to wear his pig tie for the interview:

Happy Holidays from Sicily!

Hi all! Having a GREAT visit to Sicily. Here are just a couple photos -- one from the temple at Segesta the first day we arrived and one from the Piazza Duomo in Syracuse.

Wish I had time to post up more of the photos we've taken -- but alas we have better things to do. :)  Charles has some more photos in his picasa space. (It's linked from my Google chat status. Post a comment here or send me an email if you want the link. Our connectivity is scattershot, but I'll try to respond when I can!)

Aldus is being a great traveler in spite of cutting his first tooth (!). It also helps that Sicilians LOVE babies, at least this little guy. He's been flirting with everyone he meets.

Happy Holidays!

Daily Aldus: catch-up extravaganza!

Apologies for not posting anything recently. We should have connectivity at the house again VERY soon, at which point I'll be able to update this more regularly. In the meantime, Daily Aldus photo extravaganza!

Aldus is still enjoying his Tiny Love Gymini Total Playground. Thanks, Halmoni!

I don't think his eyes are done changing color yet. It's still hard to tell, but they're sort of a greenish-brownish color. Charles thinks he has my eyelashes and was reassured when I told him that chicks dig guys with long lashes. Right, ladies?

Deep in the bowels of the Gymini, behind the purple giraffes and multi-colored teethers, there lurks a foot. eating. MONSTER!

Run for your life, while you still have toes!

When not being eaten, Aldus's feet enjoy freedom out of the stroller.

Aldus, Baby About Town and Diplomat Extraordinaire, enjoys a trip to Brussels, seat of the European Union.

Charles shows Aldus how to eat corn-on-the-cob. Aldus practices with what's at hand.

Back to "real life"...

Just a quick note to let you all know that we are still without connectivity at home. My maternity leave has ended, so I'm back in the office now three days a week but am still playing catch-up on my four-month absence. And my boss is a real pain in the neck and doesn't like it when I use time at the office for personal stuff. (Ha! I'm funny!)

Anyway, we will have more pics of Aldus online as soon as we can. In the meantime I'll tell you that he was an AWESOME little traveler on our trip to Copenhagen. I'm so proud! Unfortunately, KLM lost our only suitcase before we even checked in for the flight. (Yes, really). So we were without camera chargers and didn't take as many photso as we'd hoped. Phhhbbbttttt!!!!!

Goodbye, Intarweb!

We are moving and sort of forgot to order internet service for the new house. Oops!

So I will be sans connectivity at home for the next week or so. No Daily Aldus photos. I promise to keep taking photos of him and will take some of the new place as well to post once we're back online.

Wish us luck with the rest of the move, because one more trip to Ikea might kill me!

Grand days out

Aldus has had some good outings lately!

Friday before last (15 June) he went to Groningen to have his passport photos taken. He'd been awake and not crying most of the day, and he fulfilled my prediction that he would be good and sleepy for the late afternoon trip. Not only did we get the passport photos, but we also got an early sushi dinner while we were there. Ahhh - maguro, I have missed you! Dinner included a first semi-public feeding for Aldus (I wouldn't call it fully public since there wasn't anyone else in the restaurant at the time who could have seen us except the wait staff) and a first diaper change out of the house. The restaurant didn't have a changing table in the restroom, so we made quite good use of the Bugaboo and superbly awesome diaper backpack. (Thanks again, Knitters!)

Last Thursday (21 June) we took Aldus to the U.S. embassy in Amsterdam to register his birth and apply for a passport and social security number. I was worried about the reported 12 week wait for passport processing since we have plans to go to Copenhagen in August with Erik & Julie (woo hoo!!!). But apparently the embassies send applications to a different processing center, and we can expect his passport in only two to three weeks (woo hoo again!). While in Amsterdam we also got a great lunch at a little Italian deli on Pieter Cornelisz. Hooftstraat.We also bought ourselves a new Nespresso machine since we didn't bring our old one here with us. Aldus was so good and quiet the whole time we walked around Amsterdam, but he had some issues in the car ride home thanks to hunger and dirty diapers. A couple more semi-public feedings in the car (stopped, of course, so he could be out of the car seat) and diaper changes (thanks again to the amazing backpack) and he was good to go.

And last but not least, last Friday night he went to his first PARTY! The kid's a chick magnet, and the single guys at the party were jealous of all the attention he was getting from the female Russian contingent. I'm afraid we stayed out a bit too late, though, and the entire ride home was a big scream-fest. I don't think he was happy that he was put into the car seat after being held so nicely by different people, and then somewhere along the ride home he got hungry. It wasn't pretty, and we think these periodic screaming bouts are contributing to the terrible hormone-induced acne he has right now. More importantly, I hope he's not getting the notion that the car seat is a bad place to be.

No good pics from these outings, unfortunately, so I'll leave you with a photo from a recent outing into the backyard!

This post was written while listening to Glenn Gould play the Goldberg Variations.

First Third World

What kind of First World country is this that has managed to reclaim land from the sea and keep it out of areas lying lower than sea level for hundreds of years - but can't put screens on their windows to keep the flies out?!? Do you know how aggravating it is to have both hands tied up nursing a baby, to have flies crawling all over your legs and not be able to swat at them or shoo them away? Grrrrr!

Photo update

The verdict is in! Aldus has:

• my eyes (HUGE, with an eyelid fold, and currently blue, although they will likely turn brown)
• Charles's nose
• Charles's mouth (corners downturned like when he was a baby)
• our cheeks (it's a toss-up)
• my ears (non-sloping earlobes)
• my fingernails (skinny)
• Charles's gas (ha! Charles will beg to differ)

And here's a little taste of Aldus's first three days with his grandparents:

You'll notice a trend...

...He's always being held.

And how's Maui dealing with all of this? We'd be lying if we didn't say he felt starved for attention. But he's otherwise coping beautifully.

Mama said knock you out!

The daddy-long-legs are staging a comeback. When we moved into this house last August, we probably killed about a half-dozen to a dozen of them a day for two weeks before the "infestation" started to subside. I figured it was due to our killing spree, but perhaps it was just autumn taking its own toll. Now that summer has sprung in Diever, it seems they're coming back with a vengeance. I got three of them in the shower this morning alone. Yuck!

Completely unrelated, it's funny the things that happen to you as a parent without your realizing it. I have, oddly and naturally, begun to refer to myself as "Mama" when talking to Aldus. Not "Mommy" or "Mom" as I would have supposed. Not even "Omma" (Korean for mother), which is how I try to consciously refer to myself so that Aldus will call me that. I haven't the faintest idea where "Mama" came from.

This post was written while listening to the dryer spin (a much more frequent occurrence now) and watching Maui chase flies.

Happy Birthday, Maui!

Maui turns three today! Yay! Yes, hard to believe that when we got him he was about the same size as Aldus.

Charles asked if we should give him something special to eat today. But seriously -- how much more special can we get than the ground beef, egg yolk, muesli and veggie meatballs we feed him every day already? Charles suggested maybe fresh chicken, but I don't think Ger's daughter would be too happy if she came back from Australia and discovered that we'd fed one of her chickens to the dog.

A lot of people have asked how Maui's doing with the new baby. Quite well, thank you! He was so exhausted from the couple days he spent at camp when Aldus was born, that he pretty much ignored the baby and tried to sleep through the crying. He's still trying to sleep through the crying. But he's curious about Aldus and will sometimes come over to give him a little kiss. And he does seem a little starved for attention, often coming over and putting his head in our laps or bringing his rope toy to us to play. And so far we've only had one incident involving a dirty diaper that may or may not lead to more trouble further down the road. Keep your fingers crossed for us on that one.

This post was written while listening to Charles play with a wooden toy xylophone handed down to us from a neighbor.

It's Friday, I'm in love!

I know it's actually Monday now. I would apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but I think you'll all understand.

Aldus arrived last Friday at 3:45am weighing 3.895 kilograms (8 lbs 9 oz). He has a full head of dark brown, almost black hair and blue eyes (for now). He definitely looks like his dad and his grandpa Yun, but I think he has my eyelids, ears and fingers.

HE IS AMAZING. I'm so in love with this kid. (Charles is, too. You should see the way he looks at him and dotes on him.) The last 24 hours have been a little difficult with a couple uncontrollable screaming jags, but otherwise he's been such a good baby! He's been nursing like a champ every few hours from the very beginning, sleeps or quietly lazes about between feedings, lets us get some sleep during the nights, has already started regaining weight and was already lifting his head up yesterday. I'm completely gob-smacked.

Labor and delivery? That was okay, too. It started with some contractions early Thursday morning (1am-ish?) and ended with a pain-med free delivery a little over 24 hours later. They sent us home from the hospital about 1pm Friday. If I get a chance I'll write up the entire birth story, but I can't make any promises.

I'll also try to post updates as often as I can here, but I readily admit that sometimes just sitting and staring at this guy is a heck of a lot more enjoyable than blogging.

This post was written with my new son making smacking noises in his crib next to me. I can't believe he's here!