Tulpendag!

Saturday was National Tulip Day in Amsterdam. Prior to our move, I had excitedly read about the event held in Dam Square. The square is filled with tulips and you are allowed to enter and pick your own for free! Our friend Laurel's cousin is living in Rotterdam with her husband and they took the train in to meet us for the day. We arrived at Dam square shortly after the event began and saw the line to get in wrapping around and around the square. We also got to see the tulips displayed in their glory. Jude needed a nap and we didn't want to wait in line so we walked around Amsterdam for a while, had lunch and then returned closer to the end. The tulips were decimated! Only a few crates of purple flowers remained. We happily entered and snatched up a dozen or so each. I am so excited to see the tulips in the fields this Spring in the Netherlands! We'll wear wood clogs and skip around windmills! We'll be so Dutch! 

With our bounty after the event

The entrance to the event in the beginning when the pickings were better

Tulips = decimated! 

Jillian, Matt and their "baby barnacle" to-be

Hooligans

I've been meaning to write about the hooligans for a while now. We choose this nice, pretty, quiet suburb to live in and then managed to find the nosiest spot in it to live! Our apartment is off of a public square, which I thought was quaint when Pete showed me the photos. We are catty corner to a bar and when the bar closes, the hooligans spill into the square. Other times, the hooligans come on their own, on their noisy scooters or in their noisy cars. We learned the Dutch phrases for 'shut your pie hole' and 'please be quiet' and had them at the ready.

One evening early on, we were still awake when two teens were in the square, one with a boom box on his shoulder a-la Say Anything. Pete went down to the square to tell them to please be quiet because of our baby sleeping and as soon as he started walking towards them, they immediately shut off the music, apologized and left the square. This will be easy we thought!

A few weeks later we were woken to the sounds of a couple arguing. We looked out our bedroom window onto the square and saw a belligerent man drinking and yelling at a woman. In a meek, 2am plea to get them to be quiet, I threw open the windows and yelled "Oye" down to them (the Dutch expressions we had learned had slipped my mind!). The man looked up at the window and mock threw something at it. Awesome.

The only telephone number we know for an emergency here is 112. I was hesitant to call this number without the situation being a true emergency. So later when Pete and I saw a police man on speeding duty in the square during the day, we stopped him and asked him what we should do about the hooligans in the square. He gave us the telephone number of the local precinct and told us to call the number when people were being rowdy. He said that a patrol person would be sent around to speak to them. Awesome.

Perfect timing as a few nights later there were some more hooligans in the square. Not even bothering to ask them to be quiet, I tiptoed into the bathroom and placed the call to the precinct. A very polite woman took the information and told me that they would send a patrol person around. Within the hour, the noise stopped, though we didn't know if they simply left on their own. A few days later I received a call on my cell phone and it was the precinct calling to tell me the outcome of my complaint. She stated that they sent a patrol person around who spoke to the "youths" and gave them a warning about their noise. The next time they would be fined. She told me that it was "very good" that I called and told me to "please call again." What service!

Shortly before we left for the States in December, a large group of "youths" were hanging around the square, blasting hip hop out of their car right below our bedroom window. I opened the window and called down to them. One "youth" responded by laughing at me. Perfect. So I closed the window and called my lady at the precinct. Same story. The noise stopped and I received a call a few days later thanking me for calling. I have a feeling that the precinct lady and I are going to become good friends. In the meantime, we brought our white noise machine back home with us from the States!

Staying Connected Abroad

Prior to moving here, I had a lot of questions about how we would stay connected while living abroad. Pete and I had been on his family's cell phone plan for so long that I didn't know how we'd navigate our options over here to stay in contact with family and friends. And for me, a relaxing evening is spent watching (questionably) good American TV and I was worried that I would miss out on my shows back home!

I'm no techie, so forgive the simplicity of this post, but here are the ways that we have found to stay connected. Maybe some of these services will be helpful to you, too!

Phones:

We cancelled our Verizon plans back home (mine without charge as I hadn't upgraded my phone in a long time, Pete with a hefty cancellation fee) and brought our Iphone 5s with us. By the way- Pete's mom now has my old phone number (long story) so if you have messaged me in the past 5 months, that's where it went! ISA provided Pete with a mobile flip phone when we arrived so that we would have a phone until we got ours set up. We made many trips to the Phone House and settled on SIM only plans with a year long contract. For around $20/month with have a generous amount of calling time, text messaging and 1GB of Data (within the Netherlands). Additionally, when we travel to neighboring countries, we can send a text to our carrier and get 100MB of data for 5 euros. For other countries, we can just take out our SIM cards and replace it with a local one.

We stay well under our text allowance by using Whatsapp a free app that allows you to send text messages over Wifi or 3G for free- including to people in the States. If you'd like to text with us, just download the app!

Facetime has been my app of choice for talking with family and friends. It is simpler than setting up the computer for Skype or Google Hangouts, though it often would be nice to have the large screen.

Even with all of the above, we still didn't have a great way to call people in the US until a mom friend told me about MagicJack. We put it on our Christmas list and have been really happy with it so far! It consists of a USB drive that installed software on our computer and came with a year of free service. We were able to pick a US telephone number (area code at least) and by installing the app on my phone, I can make and receive calls to and from the US as long as I'm on 3G or WiFi. There were many times over the past few months when I needed to call our banks or airlines for some reason or another and had to ask my patient mom to make these calls for me. Now, I can do them myself! If you'd like to know our new "US" number, drop me a note and I'll send it along!

Television:

I surveyed expat friends before our move to see how they watched US TV and the majority use a VPN blocking service that gives your computer a US IP address. There are ones available that you pay a monthly fee to use. Just as I was getting ready to research my options here, friends told us about a service that allows you to do this for free. I won't incriminate myself or them any further, but will say that it works to an extent, though some TV networks can still block their content.

When he was visiting for work, Pete's uncle Dave told us about SlingBox and how he uses it to watch sporting events when he is traveling for business. It works by connecting a black box device to an existing modem and cable box in the States and allowing the user to watch the cable, on demand and DVRed shows on their computer no matter where they are in the world. Dave's family stayed in our apartment over the holidays and as a thank you they shipped us a SlingBox 350! Pete's parents let us set it up to their cable as they are often traveling themselves. The only thing missing now is an Apple TV so that we don't have to connect the laptop to the TV with the HDMI cord every time we watch something.

The Blog:

Most people tell me that they connect with us by reading this blog. Thank you for reading and for using this platform to keep up with our lives now. That being said, blogging is very much a one way street, so even though you now know what is going on with us, please keep us updated with what is going on with you! We would really love to hear from you!

On Going Home and Coming Back Home Again

A lot of people have asked us how it was going back to the States after our time away in the Netherlands. We were very excited to go home to see family and friends and celebrate Christmas. Five months ago, it seemed so momentous to pack up all of our belongings and make the move to Holland. So in a way, it was anticlimactic to be headed back so soon. We kept saying to each other: "doesn't it feel like we just left??" The immigration officer in Miami said "Welcome back!" to us as we made our way through and my heart swelled with American pride!

We didn't experience any sort of culture shock as the culture here is so similar to back home. The major difference is of course the language, but Pete and I both spend our days speaking only English. He at school and me with my various expat mom friends that I've made.

We booked our return flights out of JFK so that we would be sure to stop through New York. After a visit with Popsie and Nonie in Connecticut, we spent 3 days including New Year's Eve in New York. We stayed first with friends Emily, Tim and Alice who now live in Croton after leaving Brooklyn at the same time as us. From there, we went to the city and stayed at the UWS in-law apartment of friends Celia, Bryan, Bernie and Eliza. We loved being back in the city, taking strolls through Central Park and eating at as many of our favorite spots as we could manage. Jude got to try Pio Pio Peruvian chicken and tostones!

After a quiet New Year's Eve dinner with Celia and Bryan, we were up and at 'em early on the first to head into Brooklyn for the day. We came out of the subway at Grand Army Plaza and it really felt like we never left. My appreciation for the accessibility in Amsterdam magnified after carrying Jude in his stroller up and down subway steps for just 1 day! That would have gotten old quickly. We made our way to Chuko and shared our love of their ramen and kale salad with Jude. Then it was back to the old stomping grounds of Park Slope to meet up with some friends at a bar followed by a stroll through Prospect Park. Seeing the faces of our friends, again, it felt like no time had passed.

As we made our way to JFK with ALL of our belongings (how we managed to get everything back to our apartment, I don't know- packing for warm weather, cold weather, Christmas and a baby is not an easy feat!), our driver went on and on about all of the bad things about New York. And while many of his points are valid (pot-holed roads, dirty, crowded), it is hard to deny the appeal of the city, its energy, its diversity and its magic.

As wonderful as it was to get to go home, at the end we were excited to return "home" to Amsterdam and get back to our normal lives and our normal routines. To top it off, one of Pete's aunts and uncles and their family stayed at our apartment while we were home and left it more clean, stocked and organized than it has ever been! While home there were no fewer than 4 hands at any given time to help with Jude (and as many as 18!). I anxiously thought about our return home and my return to primary caregiver. I am happy to report that the transition has been very easy and I am enjoying all of the one-on-one time with Jude again.

Jude at 9 Months

Jude turned 9 months while we were home in the States. I made sure to bring his "6" so we could document the day (no Mr. Bear to sit besides though- too big for the luggage!). It is hard to believe he has been "out" and long as he was "in." It had been 4 months since his Opa and Oma had seen him and 7 weeks since Nana and Pops had seen him. While we see him every day and therefore his changes seem gradual, it was fun to see his growth and development through the eyes of his adoring grandparents.

In the past week Jude has learned to clap and it is adorable. It is not necessarily to music or when he is excited, he just does it at random times, which might be even better. His "ya, ya, yas" has progressed to "ba, ba, bas" and hopefully soon "ma, ma, mas"??

The attachment phase is definitely here and we had to be more careful introducing him to new people while home. He will occasionally get shy and nuzzle into our necks. It is as close to cuddly as he's ever been, so we'll take it!

He still sits like a champ and hates to be on his belly as he hasn't figured crawling out. He's gotten to sitting from his back a few times and will last a few seconds on his hands and knees with occasional rocking, but mostly just raises his arms to the air, indicating that he wants us to pick him up so he can "walk." He loves to hold onto our hands and walk all over the place. I was hesitant at first because of things I've read about hip damage when babies try walking too early, but it is what the boy likes to do, so we do it!

While I was recovering from the flu in Miami, Pete and Nana taught Jude the oh so lovely trick to drink water from a cup and then squawk as loud as can be! Thanks, guys!

He's eating three square meals a day- oatmeal or yogurt with fruit in the morning, whole wheat bread with some spread and fruit for lunch (he loves oranges and apples) and jarred baby food of some meat/grain/veggie combo for dinner.

Sleeping- oh how I wish I had better news to report! He is still up at least once at night (between 7-7 when he generally sleeps). On our trip home, this regressed into 2 wake-ups and where we normally would have let him cry/soothe himself back to sleep for the first wake-up, we were in close quarters sharing a room with him and walls with relatives, so we tried to quickly get him back to sleep. Not great for our overall sleep training routine, but I'm hopeful that things will get better now that we are home!

As soon as we put the number anywhere near him, he grabs it and eats it, so we tricked him for the first few shots.

"Up!" 

Happy baby

Baby's First Christmas in Williamstown

From Florida, we flew North to Massachusetts and spent a week in Williamstown. This time of year is typically frigid there, but the week was quite balmy. No white Christmas, but great weather for taking Jude on walks. 

On Christmas Eve day, Jude had a playdate with family friends and then joined us for the 5pm lessons and carols Christmas service. Apart from a few squawks, he was really well behaved and it was really special to share that tradition with him. 

Heading out to Christmas Eve Service

While home with the grandparents, we are more than happy to have them take over watching Jude in the morning so that we can go back to bed. On Christmas morning, however, when Jude was wide awake at 6am, we were so excited for Christmas with him that we declined the generous offer from Oma and Opa and enjoyed playing until the rest of the family woke up.

More paper ripping!

Presents wrapped in socks! Oh boy!

Story time with Uncle Matt

In the evening, Jude's great grandparents, Popsie and Nonie and Great Uncle Quentin from Japan came over for dinner. The undocumented highlight was opening holiday party crackers and attempting to play Christmas carols on tiny whistles. 

Jude and George bonding

I'm not sure Nonie approves of Jude's love of beer (just the bottles, no beer is actually consumed!)

Apart from family time, trips to Williamstown always include time spent with Pete's high school friends who remain very close. There was one nighttime get together with the pregnant and childless friends and one very cute daytime playdate with the babies. 

Jude and pals AJ and Tucker (not pictured: Harper, too busy crawling up a storm to get her picture taken)

Sweet Lena, the newest addition!

Friends also came by the house to meet Jude (some for the first time!). 

Uncle Desanty

Uncle Mikey

Aunt Cory

Update: I raide Pete's IPhone and found some more great photos of our playdates and documentation of Christmas Eve and also Christmas Dinner's shenanigans! Enjoy!

Baby's First Christmas: Florida

Our holidays were split between my family in Florida and Pete's family in Massachusetts. Baby's first, first Christmas was spent in Winter Park at my sister's house. We wanted to share a little Dutch culture, so we brought chocolate hagelslag and vlokken (sprinkles and flakes), which are eaten on toast with butter. So decadent and so yummy! 

During stocking and present time, Jude had fun being passed around and ripping paper.

In the afternoon, we took a long walk through Winter Park. Pete and I were finally on the mend from the flu and able to enjoy the sunny, 70 degree weather.

Uncle Andy came home after work and was a good sport as we made him open all of his presents alone in front of us. He is very excited to share his love of Star Wars with his daughter-to-be. Here he is reading Goodnight Darth Vader to Jude.