For the month of July, Johan, Bas, Sven and I headed to Utrecht to visit Oma and Opa Brouwer, as well as Sven's brother, Arvid, and his two daughters, Vlinder and Madalief, who are the same age as our boys.
Johan quickly renewed his friendship with Vlinder, who is three months older than him, and we spent a wonderful week on the island of Texel with everyone, exploring the beach and enjoying the amazing playgrounds and pools in the vacation village where we stayed in a beautiful 5-bedroom house with a sauna.
Johan adapted very quickly to the time change, but Bas had a harder time and reverted to 11:00 and 3:00 wake-ups for the whole month, much to my despair!
We had lots of wonderful adventures while we were in Holland, including trips to the beautiful Amersfoort zoo and the Dolfinarium, as well as to the train museum. I spent a night in Brussels with Bas, hanging out with Marie, who was my high school exchange partner 20 years ago! Sven and I also spent a night without the kids in the beautiful town of Delft... and that was a real treat as well.
All in all, we had a wonderful visit and look forward to the next time Johan can visit with Oma and Opa and play with Vlinder.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Rolling Over
Just in the past few days, Bas has become a rolling machine! As soon as we put him down on his back, he rolls onto his front. We also never know what postion he will be in when we go to get him at the end of his nap -- sometimes his head is where his feet were and he is often on his tummy. Not long now until he learns a new trick: being mobile. (And that will be the end of the days of leisure for Mama!).
Bas is still the happiest baby I've ever seen -- he goes to sleep happy, he plays happily, and most of all feeds happily (he is 5 months old and weighs 16 and a half pounds!). He sleeps from 7:00 at night until about 3:00 in the morning and then sleeps until about 7:00 in the morning. Johan had a 45-minute sleep schedule and 5:15 wake-up at this age -- so I think Bas is a real star!
Speaking of Johan, he is a wonderful big brother (which I hope won't change when Bas is able to get his hands on his toys). He loves swimming, playing with trucks and most of all, the steam train that goes by our house twice a day in the summer. As soon as he hears the "choo-choo" noise, we run down to the tracks with him and wave at the passengers and the train. The one blessing is that he has learned to sleep through the train that goes by at naptime -- the first time it went by, he woke up yelling, "Choo-choo traaaaain!!".
At the beginning of June, Bas and I went to British Columbia for a week to stay at my uncle John's beautiful summer house overlooking Desolation Sound on Cortes Island. We had a wonderful, relaxing time, and I took advantage of the built-in babysitters (my mother came too) and got out in a sea kayak a few times, read lots of books and enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere.
Our next trip is fast approaching -- all four of us will head out to the Netherlands on July 6th for just over 3 weeks. We can't wait to for our two wonderful boys to spend time with their Oma and Opa and their Oom Arvid and Tante Merle!
Andrea
Bas is still the happiest baby I've ever seen -- he goes to sleep happy, he plays happily, and most of all feeds happily (he is 5 months old and weighs 16 and a half pounds!). He sleeps from 7:00 at night until about 3:00 in the morning and then sleeps until about 7:00 in the morning. Johan had a 45-minute sleep schedule and 5:15 wake-up at this age -- so I think Bas is a real star!
Speaking of Johan, he is a wonderful big brother (which I hope won't change when Bas is able to get his hands on his toys). He loves swimming, playing with trucks and most of all, the steam train that goes by our house twice a day in the summer. As soon as he hears the "choo-choo" noise, we run down to the tracks with him and wave at the passengers and the train. The one blessing is that he has learned to sleep through the train that goes by at naptime -- the first time it went by, he woke up yelling, "Choo-choo traaaaain!!".
At the beginning of June, Bas and I went to British Columbia for a week to stay at my uncle John's beautiful summer house overlooking Desolation Sound on Cortes Island. We had a wonderful, relaxing time, and I took advantage of the built-in babysitters (my mother came too) and got out in a sea kayak a few times, read lots of books and enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere.
Our next trip is fast approaching -- all four of us will head out to the Netherlands on July 6th for just over 3 weeks. We can't wait to for our two wonderful boys to spend time with their Oma and Opa and their Oom Arvid and Tante Merle!
Andrea
Friday, May 1, 2009
Sleeping through the night
This week, Bas surprised us all by sleeping through the night (from his 11:30 feed until 6:30 in the morning). Of course, it was a one-time deal, as the next night he was up at 3:30 again for his second feed, but still, it gave me hope!
The interesting thing is that the all-nighter came in the second night of my new sleep-training regimen for Bas. I decided at the beginning of the week that since Bas seemed to be waking up every two hours and needing either a soother or my boobs to get him back to sleep that it was time to teach him to learn to fall asleep on his own.
So I decided to cold turkey him on the soother and to commit to a routine: bathtime and a bottle of breastmilk before bedtime, and then no soother at all in the crib, and most importantly, putting him down in his crib awake.
I'm not going to lie, this involved quite a bit of wailing, but Bas quickly figured out that when he's tired, he just can't fight it. So, although it broke my heart to not pick him up, I persevered, sometimes stroking his chest or holding his hand through the bars of the crib as I sat beside him, and sometimes singing him "You are my sunshine."I quickly learned, however, that it is best to leave him with no distractions and to wait for 5 minutes before going in to soothe him. (There's nothing worse than waking your baby up by going in just as he was about to drop off!).
So, while this is a painful process, I am confident that Bas is the better for it (as he demonstrated with his all-night sleep), and I know that Sven and I will be the better for it too, as bringing Bas into bed with us at 4:00 in the morning when he wouldn't settle was not a solution we wanted to subscribe to any longer!
The interesting thing is that the all-nighter came in the second night of my new sleep-training regimen for Bas. I decided at the beginning of the week that since Bas seemed to be waking up every two hours and needing either a soother or my boobs to get him back to sleep that it was time to teach him to learn to fall asleep on his own.
So I decided to cold turkey him on the soother and to commit to a routine: bathtime and a bottle of breastmilk before bedtime, and then no soother at all in the crib, and most importantly, putting him down in his crib awake.
I'm not going to lie, this involved quite a bit of wailing, but Bas quickly figured out that when he's tired, he just can't fight it. So, although it broke my heart to not pick him up, I persevered, sometimes stroking his chest or holding his hand through the bars of the crib as I sat beside him, and sometimes singing him "You are my sunshine."I quickly learned, however, that it is best to leave him with no distractions and to wait for 5 minutes before going in to soothe him. (There's nothing worse than waking your baby up by going in just as he was about to drop off!).
So, while this is a painful process, I am confident that Bas is the better for it (as he demonstrated with his all-night sleep), and I know that Sven and I will be the better for it too, as bringing Bas into bed with us at 4:00 in the morning when he wouldn't settle was not a solution we wanted to subscribe to any longer!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Bigger every day!
Bas now weighs 12 pounds, 9 ounces, and is really thriving. He is quite the talker, often serenading us with his lovely coos for much of his awake time. He also has beautiful grins that light up his face, but seem to disappear whenever I pull the camera out!
He is quickly growing out of much of his 3-month outfits, and appears to be on track to burn through the 6-month size outfits in record time as well.
All this is probably due to the fact that he is a champion feeder, and has at last figured out that he can take a bit of a break at night and survive. (He is now sleeping from 9 until 2 and then is up again at about 5:00 for one more feed -- Mama is very grateful the every 2-hour nights appear to be behind us now!).
In other news, Johan has now moved into the downstairs bedroom, although he has chosen to sleep in a crib rather than in his "big boy" bed for the time being.
In the next few weeks, we will move Bas out of his cradle in our bedroom and he will move into the nursery upstairs, so everyone will be in their own room. I'm sure Sven can't wait!
He is quickly growing out of much of his 3-month outfits, and appears to be on track to burn through the 6-month size outfits in record time as well.
All this is probably due to the fact that he is a champion feeder, and has at last figured out that he can take a bit of a break at night and survive. (He is now sleeping from 9 until 2 and then is up again at about 5:00 for one more feed -- Mama is very grateful the every 2-hour nights appear to be behind us now!).
In other news, Johan has now moved into the downstairs bedroom, although he has chosen to sleep in a crib rather than in his "big boy" bed for the time being.
In the next few weeks, we will move Bas out of his cradle in our bedroom and he will move into the nursery upstairs, so everyone will be in their own room. I'm sure Sven can't wait!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Family photos
We have now posted our photos. Enjoy!
(They were shot by Danielle Whalen of http://www.sugarpeacreative.com/.)
Andrea and Sven
NB -- We are home from the hospital!
(They were shot by Danielle Whalen of http://www.sugarpeacreative.com/.)
Andrea and Sven
NB -- We are home from the hospital!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A return to the hospital
The first month is over and unfortunately, it ended with Bas and I in the hospital, with my beautiful little man battling RSV -- a respiratory virus.
It's day six at CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and Bas still needs epinephrine masks and some suctioning to get the mucous out of his lungs, but all in all, he's doing pretty well. He hasn't needed to be put on oxygen and has kept feeding fairly well. He has a very nasty cough, and some laryngitis to boot, which makes his voiceless little wail very sad indeed.
Despite this unfortunate turn of events, we have had a wonderful month of disc overing our little man's personality... which is very mellow, in contrast to his older brother Johan!
Bas tends to sleep about 18 hours a day (which Mama really appreciates). He feeds wonderfully well, easily getting up to 10 pounds by week four. He is very quiet, and loves to just hang out and look around him for his two awake periods of the day, which are generally first thing in the morning, from about 7 to 10 a.m., and at supper time, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The wonderful thing about having such an easy baby is that is has meant Johan still gets to revel in the limelight and so doesn't seem to be experiencing any jealousy. It has also meant that Mama feels much better rested this time around, which means she has lots of smiles and patience for her "big boy" when he comes home from daycare.
We did a photo shoot during week two and promise to post the pics in the next day or two.
Signing off from the hospital family lounge, Andrea
It's day six at CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and Bas still needs epinephrine masks and some suctioning to get the mucous out of his lungs, but all in all, he's doing pretty well. He hasn't needed to be put on oxygen and has kept feeding fairly well. He has a very nasty cough, and some laryngitis to boot, which makes his voiceless little wail very sad indeed.
Despite this unfortunate turn of events, we have had a wonderful month of disc overing our little man's personality... which is very mellow, in contrast to his older brother Johan!
Bas tends to sleep about 18 hours a day (which Mama really appreciates). He feeds wonderfully well, easily getting up to 10 pounds by week four. He is very quiet, and loves to just hang out and look around him for his two awake periods of the day, which are generally first thing in the morning, from about 7 to 10 a.m., and at supper time, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The wonderful thing about having such an easy baby is that is has meant Johan still gets to revel in the limelight and so doesn't seem to be experiencing any jealousy. It has also meant that Mama feels much better rested this time around, which means she has lots of smiles and patience for her "big boy" when he comes home from daycare.
We did a photo shoot during week two and promise to post the pics in the next day or two.
Signing off from the hospital family lounge, Andrea
Bas' birth story
Sorry the posting is a month late, but better now than never!
Although I had really hoped to go into labour naturally and have a "V-BAC" (vaginal birth after c-section) with Bas, it was not meant to be. After my birthday, January 15th, which was my due-date, came and went, and I was checked every couple of days by my doctor, I had to admit defeat: not even a single cramp to let me know the baby wanted to join us. So I asked for and was scheduled for a c-section on January 23rd.
The surgery went well - the small hiccup being that my heart rate plummeted to 15 beats a minute as soon as I had the spinal. (The anesthesiologist cheerily told Sven and I in the middle of the surgery that was why I had felt so woozy right after the needle was removed. She mentioned that I hadn't been getting much oxygen to my brain!).
During the surgery, the anesthesiologist remembered that we didn't want the surgeon to announce the baby's sex, and she lowered the sheet so that Sven could see the birth. As I lay there waiting for my turn to see the baby, all I heard Sven say was, "Oooh, that's interesting". I tried to figure out if that meant boy or girl, but just then, the surgeon walked around the table with the baby, holding its legs closed. As she got up close to me, she stopped, opened the legs and cried out, "Ta-da!" and lo and behold, I saw that I had another boy!
I have to say I was shocked. I had really started to believe it was a girl!. Another shock: unlike super bald, then white-blond Johan, this little guy had a head full of dark brown hair.
As the surgery finished, they kept our little Bastiaan on a warming tray close to me, and weighed him there so I could watch the whole time. I was very grateful for this setup, as last time, Sven told me we'd had a boy and then they carried him off to a corner and I only saw him a bit later, when he was all wrapped in blankets.
All in all, it was a great experience and I will always cherish being able to discover Bas' identity for myself.
Andrea
Although I had really hoped to go into labour naturally and have a "V-BAC" (vaginal birth after c-section) with Bas, it was not meant to be. After my birthday, January 15th, which was my due-date, came and went, and I was checked every couple of days by my doctor, I had to admit defeat: not even a single cramp to let me know the baby wanted to join us. So I asked for and was scheduled for a c-section on January 23rd.
The surgery went well - the small hiccup being that my heart rate plummeted to 15 beats a minute as soon as I had the spinal. (The anesthesiologist cheerily told Sven and I in the middle of the surgery that was why I had felt so woozy right after the needle was removed. She mentioned that I hadn't been getting much oxygen to my brain!).
During the surgery, the anesthesiologist remembered that we didn't want the surgeon to announce the baby's sex, and she lowered the sheet so that Sven could see the birth. As I lay there waiting for my turn to see the baby, all I heard Sven say was, "Oooh, that's interesting". I tried to figure out if that meant boy or girl, but just then, the surgeon walked around the table with the baby, holding its legs closed. As she got up close to me, she stopped, opened the legs and cried out, "Ta-da!" and lo and behold, I saw that I had another boy!
I have to say I was shocked. I had really started to believe it was a girl!. Another shock: unlike super bald, then white-blond Johan, this little guy had a head full of dark brown hair.
As the surgery finished, they kept our little Bastiaan on a warming tray close to me, and weighed him there so I could watch the whole time. I was very grateful for this setup, as last time, Sven told me we'd had a boy and then they carried him off to a corner and I only saw him a bit later, when he was all wrapped in blankets.
All in all, it was a great experience and I will always cherish being able to discover Bas' identity for myself.
Andrea
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