Zen (with LOTS of photos to prove it!)

It is apparently a very Zen like state of being if you live in the now, not thinking about tomorrow or yesterday but instead just live in the moment.  I'm not sure that many people would describe parenthood as a state of Zen, but is does have similarities! For example, time has no meaning, it is purely elastic.  Some moments last forever and yet weeks seem to fly by.  Since Noah is out of hospital, time has certainly flown past.  So many new things have happened:

Noah's friend Kalmin turned 1 year old on May the 18th.  Happy birthday Kalmin.  Huge congratulations are in order for graduating to breathing free, without your ventilator. Way to go! (Kalmin was also born with CHAOS so it's great knowing another strong young man who is beating all the odds).  You can follow Kalmins story via Kalmins CarePage. (Note! You have to be a member of the site, which is free, to view his page).  

I called our friends Bas and Marloes to find out how their pregnancy was progressing, and find out the baby is a week overdue!   After wishing them well, Floris entered the world on the 4th of June, we can't wait to meet your son.  Congratulations and 'Geniet van jullie nieuwe aanwinst'. 

Chris and Lex, (oma and opa), will shortly have been married for 40 years.  That's 10 times as long as Thijs and I.   There are not many people that I know who's parents are still together, my parents split up a long time ago, so I am quite fascinated by what exactly 40 years of marriage can mean.  They met in university, so probably they went to each others  graduation.  They raised  two children, WOW! I'm starting to know how tricky raising one is, and they did it twice!  They've helped each other through the loss of family members and stayed strong for their children when they needed them.  Plus they're doing a great job of being oma and opa to Noah - here is Lex with Noah, Chris is just out of view.  It just goes to prove you don't need expensive toys - just some paper and Oma and Opa to keep you amused!

I observe people, it's a thing I've always done, and when I see Chris and Lex together, they still laugh at, and with, each other. They explore places and travel long distances in the car together, if that's not love I don't know what is! I know how much the Dutch like to keep things understated but I think 40 years of marriage is something really special, and we're all really looking forward to raising a glass at their 40th wedding anniversary with the rest of the family and friends. Congratulations Chris and Lex.  

Noah is 11 months old - how did that happen??!!  Noah is an easy measure of the passing of time.  So much changes with him so quickly, I swear I only have to turn around and he's doing something new by the time I turn back. 

I've enjoyed my first ever mothers day - lots of cuddles for mummy!

 

He now has 7 teeth, (busy with 8, 9 & 10 - gulp!), and weighs a whopping 11.6Kg and is 78cm in length.

Once put into a sitting position, he can now hold it for up to 30 mins.

He can baby sign, "mamma", "pappa","sun", "Hi", "who's there", "spider" - I sing a little rhyme about a spider and he makes a sign to let me know I have to sing it for him - NOW! :) 

He can also make a signs for his favourite TV characters out of 'In the night garden', "Makka pakka" and "twittifer birds" .  I use this DVD to help introduce new signs to Noah and to just have fun with a sing along.  It also tires him out before going to bed - sneaky mummy!

He makes kissing sounds and is now busy trying to learn how to click his tongue.

  

We've been enjoying some free time with the help of Ben and Kinderthuiszorg nurses and also getting Noah used to the outdoors.  

We've been able to enjoy a few evenings dining at Theo and Patricia's restaurant. Total heaven!

I've had some time to enjoy a girly day in Amsterdam with friends, getting pampered with a new haircut and a pedicure. While I was off in Amsterdam, Thijs, Lilo and Heleen took Noah for a lovely walk through the dunes and on to the beach. Here is Heleen and Noah in the dunes, Lilo is the little black dot in the distance!

Here is Noah smiling under the parasol. 

And of course no trip to the beach is complete without a drink at the strand-tent!

To top the day off we enjoyed a fabulous home cooked dinner, (cooked by my talented husband) - fantastic!  

Here's a close up of our starter as it was so delicious.  Thijs adapted a recipe from the 3 michelin star The French Laundry cookbook mmmmm! "Tartare of tomato with french beans, a herb salad and chive dressing".  We opened a bottle of wine we brought back from the USA to go with it, a Gallo 2004 chardonney and it complimented it perfectly.

On the administrative front, FINALLY we have a good result from the CIZ.  With a lot of hard work from Christa & Trudy, (from the Sophia KZ)  and Heleen, (from the Kinderthuiszorg) we won our appeal and got the full support needed for Noah.  What a blessing and a relief it is. 

To celebrate, and re-charge the batteries, we've made plans to go on holiday in July to the GretaBonteKoe Zorg en Logeerboerderij in Aalten and I am so excited.  It's a place where Thijs and I can relax and Noah gets looked after by nurses and everyone has a great time - Hooray! 

Other good news is that we're getting a new pushchair, (kinderwagen), which can take the weight of all Noah's equipment.  So we should shortly be a bit more mobile which is great especially with all this good weather we've been experiencing.  Here is Noah being fitted for his new pushchair:

We will also get the big bath and bath seat for Noah to enjoy a good splash around in - I'd better warn the neighbours about an increased flood warning! Hee-hee. :)  

As if that wasn't good enough, we're also getting a larger and higher box, (which is a really useful type of elevated play pen the Dutch have to keep small children in a safe area - see photos).  Noah is so big now that it's playing havoc with my back so I for one will be glad to be able to work at a more comfortable level.  I think Noah will get a kick from it as well as he will be able to see out much more.  

So all in all the future is a much brighter place now and there is lots and lots to look forward too.  It feels like my world is starting to open up a little bit and that's great.  

We realise that it's taking a lot longer these days to update the blog, and it's annoying if you keep checking in and there is nothing new.  So just to remind you that if you subscribe to this blog you will receive a notification via e-mail whenever a new update is posted.

Anyway, hopefully you've enjoyed the all important pictures to show you how much Noah is changing.

Bye for now,

Louise