A Solution

I've always said that it's tough trying to do any sports since Kevin was born....and it's true. It is a lot harder to get away, schedule time, make sure someone else is available to watch Kevin...but the truth is that it's a convenient excuse too.

I don't mind doing sports, in fact, I've always been a pretty athletic person, favoring tennis, skiing, gymnastices (the good old days), working out and yoga. And I always feel reenergized, reinvigorated after doing sports. But truth be told, I do tend to procrastinate and more so since our little guy's been around.

My husband and I were bemoaning our joint low-active sports state and I came up with the brilliant idea of tyring to play tennis together and using Kevin as a ball boy. Up till now, he'd been to young, but now's he coordinated enough. We gave it a try this afternoon at the tenniscourts in our neighborhood and Kevin had a blast. He didn't so much retrieve the balls as searched for remnant pine needles on the side of the court to throw in the trash bin, but hey, he didn't get in the way (much) and we were able to play a nice set.

I guess that I no excuse anymore now. Will be forced to get back into shape yet.

Vacation

I am really, really looking forward to my upcoming vacation. I'm not leaving till August 3, but the thought of vacation is enough to keep me going the next 2 weeks.

Not that things are bad, but the last 2 weeks at work have been rather hectic, with frequent evenings where our whole team was still online doing work till midnight, and emails flying back and forth. It's not a healthy situation. There was a good reason for it though: the company I work for acquired another company, so it was integration and communication crunchtime to make sure it went off without a hitch (it did). It was an amazing experience though, being at the core of a company acquisition and working through all the communcations and marketing details. Great resume builder too (I think)

Now that that's over, I feel I need a break. Since I changed companies about 5 months ago, I've been going at 200 miles an hour and eventually you need to reload those batteries.... which is where our Belgian vacation comes in ...T minus 14 and counting

BTW, also saw 'Enemy at the Gates', a film about a sniper duel during the second world war, with Judd Law, Rachel Weisz and Joseph Fiennes. the love story's a bit overdone, but the backdrop of the siege of Stalingrad and the cinematography is amazing. really stops you cold and makes you realize the horrors of war... considering current events in the world, more people should watch movies like that..

echos of things to come

We went to a friends house yesterday for a playdate betsween Kevin and their son and I had to laugh and shake my head at the toys they had.

In addition to an indoor toddler-size traintrack with working train that the boys could sit on to do laps around the playroom, they had one of those outdoor minature toddler trucks: the type powered by a lawnmover engine, but that have enough energy to chauffeur a 2 year old around..

As such, Kevin had his first experience in the driver seat. He seemed a tad anxious the first minute, but when he saw his friend step into the car, put the helmet on (helped by mommy) and take off, he didn't want to be left behind.

It only took him 5 seconds to learn how to push the gaspedal and navigate the steering wheel and soon he was spinning around the driveway like an experienced Formula-1 driver with the largest smile ever on his face...really scary how quickly they take to it...not sure I'm a big fan of making 2 year olds anxious to drive...might be a tad early....say 14 years or so....

..back home, I contemplated on the toys and the insanity of having actual working mini-trucks for toddlers to play with ....only in America

bilingual

Kevin continues to amaze me. He actually grasps the concept of 2 languages now and can translate when asked. He's not perfect, but then, at age 2 and 4 months, he can't be expected be, can he?

I consistently speak Dutch to him and he's always understood me when I talk to him, but a couple of months ago, as his vocabulary was really expanding and he started making 6-7 word sentences, I noticed that he was resorting to English to speak back. I debated a bit, but then started asking him 'in het Nederlands?', and when stumped, I repeated the words in Dutch. I also started a game of 'wie spreekt er Nederlands?', and taught him that I, he , his 'tante Joke', 'nonkel Yves' and 'vava' all speak Nederlands, but that his teachers and school and daddy all speak 'Engels'. I thought that making him conscious of the two languages, and who speaks what, might make it less confusing...and it worked. He got it.

Now, he still on occasion will respond in English to me, but much less so. And, when he does, and I ask him 'in het Nederlands?', he usually can give me the Dutch word right away. Today for instance we were reading a book on animals and he pointed to an animal saying 'is monkey', but when I asked 'in het Nederlands', he immediately said 'aap'.....

I hope he keeps it up. I definitely wil. I means a lot to me. It is so intertwined with my identity as a European, it's where my roots are, it's who I am. I couldn't imagine having a son who wouldn't be able to switch continents and talk to his relatives in his/their own mother tongue. I couldn't image having a son who wouldn't be able to move back and feel part of the culture.

smokies

We used the July 4th long weekend to take a trip to the Smoky Mountains, about 3.5 hours West of where we live. Kevin had never been camping, so we didn't quite know what to expect.



To keep from it from being a total shock, we opted for cabin-camping instead of tent-camping. That way, Kevin would at least have a 'bed' to sleep in, albeit with a sleeping bag instead of regular blanket. The cabin was set up such that there was a double bed (for us) and a bunk bed next to it (for Kevin). It was no use though. Despite sleeping in his 'big boy bed' at home, he had no intention of sleeping by himself in the bunk bed, and ended up sleeping in the double bed with us. Oh well. I can't blame him. The only downside was the relative lack of sleep as a result...not exactly the best recipe for a relaxing weekend.



Still, despite the insomnia, we had a good weekend. The scenery and tranquil nature made up for a lot. It's easy to forget the stress of everyday work-n-hussle, and get back to core values when you're surrounded by stunning vistas, green foliage, babbling brooks and streaming waterfalls...