Happy Birthday to our Bo! I can't believe he's two already - I mean, I know I say that a lot: I can't believe Will's four, I can't believe we'll be here going on 8 months, I can't believe I'm turning 32...but I REALLY can't believe Bo's 2!! And he is a 2-year-old in all his glory - a meltdown one minute and sweet as pie the next. He's now getting into the hitting/pushing/not wanting to share phase - which I thought maybe he'd just skipped over, but after our park venture today, I realize that is not so:( I watched my friend's 16-month-old for a few nights last week while they went to Venice, and Bo was not having another child in this house and sharing his mama without putting up a fight. Poor Isaiah!
Bo had a good birthday though - a few friends over that morning to play, then 'Quick Burger' for dinner - a perfect day for a 2-year-old:)
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| The birthday boy |
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| Climbing at Quickburger - he can make it all the way to the top... |
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| ...with a little help from his brother. |
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| And he LOVES the slide. |
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| Singing 'Happy Birthday' to himself - he probably sang it 200 times that day - but always 'to Grandma' - not sure why? Maybe because her birthday was the last one celebrated and we sang to her a couple of times over the phone? And this is Will and my masterpiece - that's supposed to Mickey Mouse:) After my boys' birthdays this year, I certainly don't see a professional cake decorating business in my future. |
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| Getting into trouble with his new friend Carmen. |
We actually had three birthdays that we celebrated here last week - along with Bo, our good friends Angie and Rachel both celebrated their birthdays. Angie had a group of us over for dinner on her birthday, the 19th, then Rachel's husband, Brent threw her a birthday/grad school graduation combo party last Saturday night.
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| The birthday girl and her husband Brent. |
Poor Scott has had a miserable go of it here the last few weeks. He was diagnosed with bronchitis a couple of weeks ago, seemed to be getting over it, then caught something else this last week that, after two trips back to the doctor, they've just thrown the blanket term 'viral' at it, gave him a whole slew of prescriptions, a 'doctor's note' for work, and sent him on his merry way. It's kind of interesting here...he actually needs a 'doctor's excuse' to miss work - I feel like he's a high schooler punching the clock, working for minimum wage. It is actually kind of nice, though - doctors have seemed to be very liberal with the days they'll excuse you from, which kind of takes the pressure off a little bit. He must certainly not feel well - he hasn't really been checking email much at all! I don't think I've ever seen him this sick...hopefully things will start to turn around in the next day or two.
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| Bo enjoying his first sip of kool-aid. Scott wanted something other than juice or water, so when Bo saw him drinking something bright red he had to have some too, of course! Loved. It. |
Will had his last basketball camp last weekend, and luckily Scott was between illnesses and able to coach. All the kids got a medal and he is SO proud of it - I still need to get a picture of him with it.
Besides that, not a whole lot else going on right now. I wanted to make a trip to Amsterdam before we have our trip back to the states, but with Scott being sick this weekend, we're running out of time. Will has off all this week for their Carnaval break. I always thought that Carnaval immediately preceded Lent, but it looks like here celebrations are planned all throughout March and even into April - so all throughout Lent? Saturday some friends and I took our kids to what we thought was a big Carnaval celebration - ended up being very low-key, but the kids still enjoyed it, and it got us out of the house. Next Saturday is supposed to be the big local Carnaval with a parade and costumes...so we'll see. Will's very excited about not having school for a whole week. The other night I was telling him how cool it was that he was learning French and he's only four, and how proud I was of him because daddy and I don't even speak it, and he tells me, "yeah, mom, all you know how to say is 'bonjour'"! Aaugh! But I guess he does have a point: a couple of weeks ago, I was walking home from school with the double jogger. I have to walk up a very big hill, and must've looked like I wasn't going to make it, because a man walking by smiled and said something to me. Now, my normal response to people who speak to me in French is mostly just to nod and smile and say 'oui' (yes). Stupid, probably, and some people look at me like I'm crazy, but what else am I supposed to do? Anyway, this time was no different, so I smiled, nodded my head, and said 'oui, oui'. Well, apparently the guy must've asked me if I needed help or something, and I'm sure it was just rhetorical, because he looked at me a little strangely, gave a little laugh, then proceeded to take the stroller from me and start pushing it himself. So unless I'm ready to just hand my children over to some complete stranger, I guess I better stop answering yes to everything! :)
My biggest news is that I (finally) learned how to drive a stick. I was so sick of not ever being able to drive anywhere myself, or dropping Scott off at work and keeping the car for a day for myself. Anyway, I was telling my friend Christie about it and she offered to teach me. It really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I had a basic knowledge of it, anyway, and after a few times around a parking lot, something just clicked, and I've been driving ever since! I figured there are probably, what, one billion people in this world who drive a stick, I'm not an idiot, I should be able to manage...It's been so great - especially with Scott being sick now. It's kind of like I'm a teenager again - I can't wait to get behind the wheel. The driving the stick itself isn't the hard part - it's the crazy rules of the road here that is...but so far I'm managing.
It was a beautiful day today here in Brussels - hopefully we'll have more like it all week! Have a great week!
