Posts Tagged family
News from the family
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on June 17th, 2007
From: Maya
To: All
Subject: News from the familyDear all,
Long time since our last update, I needed some time to adjust to our new family!!
Elias was born on April 18th 2007 (he is now 7 weeks old). A big boy (54 cm – 4 kg) with lots of brown hair – just the same colour as mine J He is physically very different from Clara, it will be easy to tell them apart when we’ll look at pictures in a few years. Clara was (and still is) extremely “white” (as in she has the fragile skin of a red head) when Elias is more tanned. One had blond hair and the other one brown hair. So far Elias still has blue eyes (like Clara) but this can still change.
Elias is an easy baby, he doesn’t cry too much, he starts to smile a lot, he pays attention to the toys we put above his head (since this morning), he loves it when I walk him in our area and when we give him a bath, he also starts to make different noises. At night, when we are lucky, he only wakes up once, but usually I have to feed him twice.
We were curious and anxious to see how Clara would react to her little brother. Well, she surprised us, she was really pleased right away and loves Elias. She wants to hold him, she gives him a pacifier when he cries (even if he is not interested), when I feed him, she will say “Eat Elias, eat!”, encouraging him. She is very cute with him and we are extremely pleased. We still pay attention cause a 2 year old is not always very delicate even if she means good.
Clara’s vocabulary grows and grows, she makes short sentences, her syntax is getting better by the day. Next week-end she will go to the theatre for the 1st time.
I am enjoying my time off work, I go to the post-natal gym twice a week, I see friends who have kids the same age as Elias or who are about to give birth. I am extremely busy. I do not find much time to rest as Elias sleeps during the day but mostly if I walk him, at home he doesn’t sleep much _ so not possible for me to take a nap when he sleeps.
We already took a trip to the South of France to attend the wedding of friends of ours and took the opportunity to go meet Thomas’s dad, an hour away of the place where the wedding took place. We had a good week. Clara enjoyed the wedding, she had a seat at the children’s table and was the youngest one (the 16 year old did not seem to happy when she saw who would sit across the table!!!) – she was very proud to sit with the “big ones”. She danced a lot with her father. We all had a good time.
We had made some changes in our house, transforming the top floor in a sort of suit for us, we have now moved in our new (huge) bedroom. Still some little things to be done but this will wait.
Thomas got a promotion at work, he works very hard so it was nice to see his hard work recognised.
Elias just woke up so I’ll leave you here.
Take care everyone.
Maya and the family
Elias and Clara
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on May 3rd, 2007
The bonding of the siblings has already started. It’s heartwarming to see how Clara’s taking to Elias.
Welcome Elias
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on April 19th, 2007
On 18 April around 9AM a new life came into being. Clara, Maya and I are happy to announce the birth of our son Elias. He weighed in at 4.016KG and stands at 54cm tall. Both he and his mother are doing just fine.
Pictures to follow…
Seems so long ago
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on February 16th, 2007
There used to be a time when this type of thing would just make me salivate. The rush, the sheer balls needed to engage the slope. All of the adrenaline pumping through your veins mixed with the fear of your life.
That all seems like a long time ago now. I look back on it not with envy but with a sense of satisfaction. I had my fun, now there’s other fun to be had.
The white fluff!
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on April 4th, 2006
Finally the family got around to some real holidays. It’s been about six months since we last took some time off to reflect on the half-year passed (correction : just to relax, switch off the brain and enjoy each other’s company).
We took to the mighty alps, Savoie - France to be more precise, some 900Km south-east of Brussels, our usual dwelling. A short trip by American standards, but yours-truly not being American it was considered a whole expedition for these young parents. The trip besides being a holiday also provided a good “road worthiness” test case for two things: the new car and the latest addition to our family, namely Clara.
Driving 900Km with a baby strapped in like a fighter jet pilot not being the thing to do and all we took our time getting there of course. That being said, Clara was a good sport. She happily toyed with the stethoscope and other assorted items we had been mindful to provide her with for their entertainment value. Occasionally she would call to our attention when toys got tangled, the pacifier had been flung somewhere unreachable or the driver needed enhance the velocity of travel.
after an uneventful overnight stay in Nancy (I don’t recommend it for its entertainment value) we arrived in “Les Menuires” around midday on Saturday. The drive up the mountain provided us with some stunning panoramas going from the green valleys to the snow-covered mountaintops. I’ll spare you the details of checking in, unloading the ridiculous amount of kit we packed and getting set up comfortably in our room. Let me only say that the hotel, “l’Ours Blanc” was a delight, perfectly suited for a family vacation.
Our home for the next week was thus the ski domain of “Les 3 Vallees“. We made arrangements for a morning day care so Maya and I could do “our own thing” in the morning and play with Clara in the afternoons. This turned out to be a perfect arrangement for us all.
The late season skiing turned out to be a perfect choice. The snow was about 2m at the top and about half a meter at the bottom of the slopes. The weather was not too cool under the clouds and when the sun came out is was just delightful. Maya and I both took some classes to get the rust out of our technique which turned out to be a very good thing. I learned some new tricks on the board e.g. “doing flats” and working on my so-far unsuccessful 360. Maya re-built some of her confidence but was quickly on to other things - the pool.
The afternoons being laid away for the little one we took her out for sled-rides. After what must have been the initial shock of seeing all the ground covered in some white fluff she took to it quite rapidly. I suspect most of her enjoyment came not from the ride itself as much as seeing her parents trying to keep a sprint up in full winter gear down the mountain as we pulled the sled behind us.
Being young parents also has some considerable effects on the “apres-ski” entertainment. This is where the hotel absolutely shone. Their lounge and open fireplace turned out to be the perfect place for Clara to socialize with just about anyone who would look at her. Being a very energetic kid she scooted around the place till she dropped of fatigue. With a number of other young kids around this gave us plenty of opportunity to socialize.
After a week of fun it was about time for us to turn homeward, back north, to the by then dreary prospect of Belgian weather and the mountain of work awaiting us at our jobs. The last bright spot of this trip was to be the overnight stay in “Nuits St. Georges” a small town in Bourgogne amidst the vineyards. This was no innocent choice to be sure, the wine cellar of yours truly was running a little low so this provided an opportunity to stock up on some of the best wine France has to offer. The overnight stay was great. By some stroke of luck (a power-outage in the whole wing dedicated to the cheap rooms actually) we ended up with a very nice hotel room.
Now the trip’s over, we are left with what will surely be fond memories (captured in a few shapshots here) and a nice tan. I can’t wait till the next holiday! Thank god that’s only 8 weeks away!
Pictures are up: Het Zwin
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on January 19th, 2006
Independence
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on November 27th, 2005
Yesterday Clara got a further taste of independence. A proud father I’ve already mentioned that she’s scooting around the place - and with ease now. Yesterday Maya bought her a walker, one of those little carts that kids have to push their toys around.
It took Clara a few moments to figure it out. With a little encouragement she used it to move from one point to another while standing.
Mhhh that parental pride again…. just got a big wiff of it…. sooo nice
Another momentous day
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on October 23rd, 2005
A few minutes ago we found Clara, 6months and a whisker old, standing in her bed. It was simply amazing to see her like that. After a few moments she fell but that didn’t stop her. Up she went again, pulling herself up by the arms. Ah the parental pride we felt!.
I am told that she’ll be a precocious walker - around 10 months or so. If I see what she’s up to now I have no trouble believing it!
Another thing which I noticed just yesteday: she’s crawling. This really spells the beginning of trouble. Separation anxieties, rushing around the room, grabbing everything…
All I have to do now is secure the entire appartment!
Sitting duck
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on September 28th, 2005
Today Maya found Clara sitting in her bed. It’s the first time she’s done this by herself. Over the weekend we had noticed that she would roll over on her side and prop herself up on one arm. It wouldn’t be long before she would sit on her own we knew.
Of course I immediately recieved clear instructions: “You will lower the flooring of the bed and the playpen” Before you know it she’ll try to climb out over the railing is the part I never heard but was meant to have undersood.
I’m pretty proud though.