Last night we went downtown to the Grande Place to celebrate! Why the celebration? We all went to the doctor at noon and found out that our Tiny Baby is doing just great and everything is "perfect". And what a surprise to see the ultrasound pictures which show his/her face so clearly?! With Frunty we only had one ultrasound at 17 or so weeks. Having an ultrasound at 33 weeks with the new 3D technology available is absolutely incredible and one of the highlights of our pregnancy. Dr. de Vylder was in his office with the door open when we walked by so we showed the picture and he said, "What a beautiful baby." and that we definitely weren't disturbing him by sharing our joy.
So what better way to celebrate seeing our Tiny Baby and hearing an excellent report from Dr. Cos than to walk around one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, if not the world? Well, actually, we ran around it as Frunty found white lines on the cobblestone and wanted to pretend we were trains. Before getting to the Grande Place though, we had to stop for icecream this time at Haagen Daas. Instead of a waffle smothered with Belgian chocolate and various icecreams, we went for a brownie. Frunty wanted "red" icecream which means raspberry. We made short work of gobbling up our delectable desserts and walked through the narrow streets to the Grande Place. What a special night!
Saturday, 30 April 2005
Thursday, 28 April 2005
Saturday, 23 April 2005
Daddy picked Frunty and me up from Bemel park yesterday afternoon so we could take off for Halle Bos and enjoy the beautiful sunshine and gorgeous carpets of blue bells. We quickly ate our picnic as soon as we arrived as we were all starving and I waivered between going for a run or just lounging in a bed of blue bells. (Daddy packed my running gear.) I decided to go for a run because when do you get a chance to run through beautiful forest pathways with flowers on either side of you? And Daddy and Frunty went on their adventure with the GPS to find the "cache". I met up with them on my run to see the "cache" which was a glass jar hidden under a tree trunk with little viles of perfume inside and a notebook. After writing a few words and reading everyones adventure stories, Daddy left a little trinket. (a bike reflector in the shape of a lightening bolt!)
I took off again running and when I met up with the guys at the car I instantly got a huge whiff of a stinky stench. One of the perfume containers was a spray bottle and Frunty wanted to see how it worked so Daddy showed him by testing the perfume on their wrists. It was pretty funny to watch Frunty sniff his wrist and tell me about all of this and even though the ride home was polluted with this crappy perfume, it was still a really fun experience. And one of my favourite pregnancy runs to boot. Mowgli was exhausted though from all of the excitement of being loose in a big forest but I am sure he even would agree how wonderful it was to go to Halle Bos.
We stopped at Colyrut in the countryside to get some groceries just before closing time and there was only one other customer in the whole shop. What a treat! No line-ups which I have never experienced in Europe before!
I hope we can go again before the blue bells disappear because it was so beautiful and hard to take in during one visit. Perhaps we'll try another forest. It's fun to celebrate spring this way.
I took off again running and when I met up with the guys at the car I instantly got a huge whiff of a stinky stench. One of the perfume containers was a spray bottle and Frunty wanted to see how it worked so Daddy showed him by testing the perfume on their wrists. It was pretty funny to watch Frunty sniff his wrist and tell me about all of this and even though the ride home was polluted with this crappy perfume, it was still a really fun experience. And one of my favourite pregnancy runs to boot. Mowgli was exhausted though from all of the excitement of being loose in a big forest but I am sure he even would agree how wonderful it was to go to Halle Bos.
We stopped at Colyrut in the countryside to get some groceries just before closing time and there was only one other customer in the whole shop. What a treat! No line-ups which I have never experienced in Europe before!
I hope we can go again before the blue bells disappear because it was so beautiful and hard to take in during one visit. Perhaps we'll try another forest. It's fun to celebrate spring this way.
Friday, 22 April 2005
Lately Daddy and Frunty have been taking some field trips together. Frunty calls them "adventures"! On the weekend they went to a nature/science center where they played with a robot dog and learned about lots of neat things. They had a lot of fun and Daddy bought a one year pass so they can go back as many times as they'd like. A few days ago, they went to a big forest with Mowgli too to look for a "cache" (see www.geocaching.com)and discovered an incredibly beautiful carpet of blue bells. We will go tomorrow morning to take another look! They have other adventures in store! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, 19 April 2005
This morning Daddy and Frunty accompanied "us" to the doctor for our check-up. I squeezed in my run and met them at the doctor's office. Good news on all fronts.
*Tiny Baby's heart beat is strong and sounds "perfect"
*Tiny Baby's head is down!
*All tests came back normal for Mommy
*Mommy's blood pressure great (111/70)
*Only gained 0.5 kg in three weeks= doctor very happy and Mommy too!
*Mommy can keep exercising as much as she wants (running/stairs/weights= no problem)
*Dr. de V will NOT go to New York just before our due date afterall!
Daddy did some filming and took a picture too. We forgot to get a picture of Dr. Woods back in Toronto in 2002. She delivered Frunty. But I don't mind so much because she really only came at the very last moment. I feel like our nurse, Mary Estrella, delivered Frunty and we have pictures of her. Anyway, all is well. By the way, Dr. de V is convinced Tiny Baby is due on my birthday but we shall see! He says the very first ultrasound is the most accurate.
*Tiny Baby's heart beat is strong and sounds "perfect"
*Tiny Baby's head is down!
*All tests came back normal for Mommy
*Mommy's blood pressure great (111/70)
*Only gained 0.5 kg in three weeks= doctor very happy and Mommy too!
*Mommy can keep exercising as much as she wants (running/stairs/weights= no problem)
*Dr. de V will NOT go to New York just before our due date afterall!
Daddy did some filming and took a picture too. We forgot to get a picture of Dr. Woods back in Toronto in 2002. She delivered Frunty. But I don't mind so much because she really only came at the very last moment. I feel like our nurse, Mary Estrella, delivered Frunty and we have pictures of her. Anyway, all is well. By the way, Dr. de V is convinced Tiny Baby is due on my birthday but we shall see! He says the very first ultrasound is the most accurate.
Sunday, 17 April 2005
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".
-Anonymous
-Anonymous
Thursday, 14 April 2005
Daddy went to London on Monday and brought us home a sling ordered from Byron Bay, Australia for Tiny Baby. Take a look at www.hugabub.com. I practised with Caillou and I think it will be great with our real baby inside, all snuggly warm and safe. The distributor in London (www.bio-bubs.co.uk) was super-friendly and efficient and made our shopping experience over the net easy! We chose navy blue and raspberry.
The next morning, Daddy left for Sweden for the rest of the week. My first impulse was to go back to Egypt! But alas, we are getting too close to the cut-off date for flying and I want to stay on the ground from here on out in any case. Before he left, Daddy took Frunty to the Little Gym so that I could have a bit of time to myself. Translation: so I could squeeze in a solo run since I won't get another one in til the weekend. When Daddy came home, the house was still a mess and I would like to say how appreciative I am that he did not complain that I went running instead of cleaning. This is the biggest pre-natal gift so far.
Yesterday J&J came over for lunch. Translation: kids played while J and I hunted through my fridge to find whatever seemed edible and then J created a gourmet lunch, Chinese style. Then a little later, J insisted on babysitting while I did my 30 minutes of stairs. Could you ask for more support? A true friend? I tried to get out of doing it and she wouldn't hear of it!
That evening, K and another friend came over for a potluck dinner. It was great for Frunty as this other friend has a little boy 8 months older so they played. She also has a three month old and Frunty gave kisses to her. I had given K a can of pumpkin pie filling and she created a masterpiece with it. She made a speculoos cookie crust and then put the pie filling and then on top, brown sugar and walnuts. It was superb. We added vanilla icecream and after all that, we ate dinner! What's wrong with eating dessert first sometimes!? Everyone should try it!!!!!
Our neighbour offered to take us grocery shopping today and tomorrow but our fridge is too full to add anything more. Oh, these little European bar fridges. I miss my mega fridge on Willow. So you can see that we are being well taken care of while Daddy is away on business. Actually, I realized this morning that I am part of a survival team for women here in Brussels. We are all foreigners and help each other out with all kinds of tasks from translating, to shopping and cooking for each other, to baby and dog sitting, to sharing movies/books/clothes/baby stuff etc. Most importantly, we share our time with one another and our support.
One of my favourite tasks is to be sent to the local butcher where I have to order unusual things for my friends who turn them into delectable Chinese fare. Often, we take a little bit to the butcher who is thrilled to try the soup or dumplings or whatever. Now when I run by the butcher shop, he always waves to me. Is he wondering when he is going to get his next Chinese lunch delivered!? I also like telling the workers who come to my friends' homes about their plumbing/heating problems because again, it is a chance to practise French and there aren't that many chances over here. My friends also receive a lot of newsletters from their childrens' schools which I help to translate. So I am learning a lot about the school system here.
There is never a dull moment and our survival team's needs keeps everyone busy in a productive way. On Sunday J from mainland China wants to come over and cook for us after church. Daddy cheered when I told him that she was coming over. She is grateful for the wool blanket I gave her and some clothing. But it isn't an even Steven kind of thing. It doesn't feel like we are keeping tabs. We just like helping each other when we can. It took a year to build this team and I couldn't be happier about it.
The next morning, Daddy left for Sweden for the rest of the week. My first impulse was to go back to Egypt! But alas, we are getting too close to the cut-off date for flying and I want to stay on the ground from here on out in any case. Before he left, Daddy took Frunty to the Little Gym so that I could have a bit of time to myself. Translation: so I could squeeze in a solo run since I won't get another one in til the weekend. When Daddy came home, the house was still a mess and I would like to say how appreciative I am that he did not complain that I went running instead of cleaning. This is the biggest pre-natal gift so far.
Yesterday J&J came over for lunch. Translation: kids played while J and I hunted through my fridge to find whatever seemed edible and then J created a gourmet lunch, Chinese style. Then a little later, J insisted on babysitting while I did my 30 minutes of stairs. Could you ask for more support? A true friend? I tried to get out of doing it and she wouldn't hear of it!
That evening, K and another friend came over for a potluck dinner. It was great for Frunty as this other friend has a little boy 8 months older so they played. She also has a three month old and Frunty gave kisses to her. I had given K a can of pumpkin pie filling and she created a masterpiece with it. She made a speculoos cookie crust and then put the pie filling and then on top, brown sugar and walnuts. It was superb. We added vanilla icecream and after all that, we ate dinner! What's wrong with eating dessert first sometimes!? Everyone should try it!!!!!
Our neighbour offered to take us grocery shopping today and tomorrow but our fridge is too full to add anything more. Oh, these little European bar fridges. I miss my mega fridge on Willow. So you can see that we are being well taken care of while Daddy is away on business. Actually, I realized this morning that I am part of a survival team for women here in Brussels. We are all foreigners and help each other out with all kinds of tasks from translating, to shopping and cooking for each other, to baby and dog sitting, to sharing movies/books/clothes/baby stuff etc. Most importantly, we share our time with one another and our support.
One of my favourite tasks is to be sent to the local butcher where I have to order unusual things for my friends who turn them into delectable Chinese fare. Often, we take a little bit to the butcher who is thrilled to try the soup or dumplings or whatever. Now when I run by the butcher shop, he always waves to me. Is he wondering when he is going to get his next Chinese lunch delivered!? I also like telling the workers who come to my friends' homes about their plumbing/heating problems because again, it is a chance to practise French and there aren't that many chances over here. My friends also receive a lot of newsletters from their childrens' schools which I help to translate. So I am learning a lot about the school system here.
There is never a dull moment and our survival team's needs keeps everyone busy in a productive way. On Sunday J from mainland China wants to come over and cook for us after church. Daddy cheered when I told him that she was coming over. She is grateful for the wool blanket I gave her and some clothing. But it isn't an even Steven kind of thing. It doesn't feel like we are keeping tabs. We just like helping each other when we can. It took a year to build this team and I couldn't be happier about it.
Saturday, 9 April 2005
Friday, 8 April 2005
Frunty wanted out of his stroller today on the way home from Mandarin lessons. I asked why and he said, "I need to run." I have heard this before and out he jumped and ran the whole way home! We enjoyed our lesson which was about food and then our teacher made us lunch afterwards, Chinese noodles. We brought a panettone from Torino. It was all very delicious!
Wednesday, 6 April 2005
One of our favourite activities in Brussels is meeting K at Cinq. park, going for a run together and then out to the Creperie for icecream and crepes. Today K did a fast run as she is training for the Brussels 20 km at the end of May. I did 30 minutes of very slow jogging as I am tired today and was pushing the stroller and Frunty. After Frunty had a "red" icecream (framboise), K had a goat cheese crepe and I had a salad nicoise. I will try to take a photo of our special Cinq. runs as it is one of our highlights here in Brussels.
En route to our home after the run, we ran into one of our friends from Taiwan who is also our Mandarin teacher. She phoned her mother in Taiwan yesterday and discussed, it seems, my pregnancy and the mother told her to tell me that I should do my stair climbing every day. Slowly but try for at least 20 minutes. On days when I run though, I don't feel like doing the stairs. I like to do stairs followed by weight lifting. Anyway, her mom says that my labour should be fast and easy if I continue with the stairs. I am willing to do this a) because I believe most Asians (of the older generation) know how to live b) I will try anything to avoid pain c) most importantly, I want a healthy baby and body. I just hope she is right. I do know that since starting stairs, I have had absolutely no lower back discomfort. If you do stairs with correct posture, you will strengthen your back, inner thighs, buttocks and of course, heart. I will keep doing stairs just to keep my back feeling great.
Yesterday our Mandarin teacher gave us a container filled with seaweed that she cooked in a Japanese style and I am to add a little to rice every now and then and for Frunty too. I was not in the mood for it yesterday but will try to eat some tomorrow. Again, I am very grateful for this support.
We got home and who should surprise us with an early arrival at 4 pm? Da-da!!!!!! And with our favourite chocolates from Marcolini. The dark chocolate filled with Earl Grey is particularly lovely. Frunty loved the duck shaped, milk chocolates filled with oozing caramel. There are other days when Da-da comes home very very late so what a treat to have him home early! Sometimes he is able to work from home like this and it is nice to have him in the house. On days when he has meetings in and around Brussels, he is able to work partly from home instead of driving to the new office in Leuven, half an hour away.
Time for a hot tea on this cool and windy day. Cheerio!
En route to our home after the run, we ran into one of our friends from Taiwan who is also our Mandarin teacher. She phoned her mother in Taiwan yesterday and discussed, it seems, my pregnancy and the mother told her to tell me that I should do my stair climbing every day. Slowly but try for at least 20 minutes. On days when I run though, I don't feel like doing the stairs. I like to do stairs followed by weight lifting. Anyway, her mom says that my labour should be fast and easy if I continue with the stairs. I am willing to do this a) because I believe most Asians (of the older generation) know how to live b) I will try anything to avoid pain c) most importantly, I want a healthy baby and body. I just hope she is right. I do know that since starting stairs, I have had absolutely no lower back discomfort. If you do stairs with correct posture, you will strengthen your back, inner thighs, buttocks and of course, heart. I will keep doing stairs just to keep my back feeling great.
Yesterday our Mandarin teacher gave us a container filled with seaweed that she cooked in a Japanese style and I am to add a little to rice every now and then and for Frunty too. I was not in the mood for it yesterday but will try to eat some tomorrow. Again, I am very grateful for this support.
We got home and who should surprise us with an early arrival at 4 pm? Da-da!!!!!! And with our favourite chocolates from Marcolini. The dark chocolate filled with Earl Grey is particularly lovely. Frunty loved the duck shaped, milk chocolates filled with oozing caramel. There are other days when Da-da comes home very very late so what a treat to have him home early! Sometimes he is able to work from home like this and it is nice to have him in the house. On days when he has meetings in and around Brussels, he is able to work partly from home instead of driving to the new office in Leuven, half an hour away.
Time for a hot tea on this cool and windy day. Cheerio!
Tuesday, 5 April 2005
At the end of our doctor's appointment the other day, I thanked Dr. de V and Frunty said, "Thank you for checking our baby." It was very cute. Dr. de V came over and patted Frunty on the head and looked at the plane he was building with Lego.Some people have been asking me for a recent picture of the "bump" as it is fondly referred to by the foreigners we know. I don't think I ever heard that in Canada, have any of you heard it before? Anyway, this picture shows the "bump"!
Monday, 4 April 2005
Spring is here but it feels like summer!
The magnolia behind us is huge and in full bloom. Spring is here and I took Tiny Baby on an hour run this morning at Woluwe Park while my guys slept. We got home late last night from a great long weekend at Eperheide. More about that later. The run was very good and it is warm enough for shorts and t-shirt. Six weeks til the 10 k run for breast cancer research and I plan to run it. My recent article entitled "Mom-on-the-Run" about running while pregnant and exercising with a toddler, was published in the Brussels Childbirth Magazine subscribed to by 2000 foreigners here in Brussels. The editor gave my article a great introduction/review so I was very pleased and I have received a few wonderful emails in response.
About Eperheide, a family park near Germany. (click for more info) We stayed in a lovely cottage and enjoyed the AquaDome and other facilities on the property. In fact, we had a very busy weekend with swimming/renting a paddle boat and family bike, visiting the Baluba Kid Zone, petting Zoo and playgrounds...we had lots of fun but need an afternoon nap today. Even though May has three long weekends, we think that Eperheide was our last "trip" before the arrival of Tiny Baby. It is very tempting to visit Denmark's Legoland, the Tulip Festival in Holland and take the train to visit friends in London. But in May, it could be better to hang around here and rest up before the big day...well...we'll see how we all feel.
Frunty is cutting my hair for my birthday while I type this. This is a recent activity he really enjoys and me too. With plastic scissors, a brush and two train tracks, he gets my hair ready most days for a pretend party.
I leave you with another Egypt photo, of Frunty with his backpack almost surgically implanted, admiring some Egyptian art...
The magnolia behind us is huge and in full bloom. Spring is here and I took Tiny Baby on an hour run this morning at Woluwe Park while my guys slept. We got home late last night from a great long weekend at Eperheide. More about that later. The run was very good and it is warm enough for shorts and t-shirt. Six weeks til the 10 k run for breast cancer research and I plan to run it. My recent article entitled "Mom-on-the-Run" about running while pregnant and exercising with a toddler, was published in the Brussels Childbirth Magazine subscribed to by 2000 foreigners here in Brussels. The editor gave my article a great introduction/review so I was very pleased and I have received a few wonderful emails in response.
About Eperheide, a family park near Germany. (click for more info) We stayed in a lovely cottage and enjoyed the AquaDome and other facilities on the property. In fact, we had a very busy weekend with swimming/renting a paddle boat and family bike, visiting the Baluba Kid Zone, petting Zoo and playgrounds...we had lots of fun but need an afternoon nap today. Even though May has three long weekends, we think that Eperheide was our last "trip" before the arrival of Tiny Baby. It is very tempting to visit Denmark's Legoland, the Tulip Festival in Holland and take the train to visit friends in London. But in May, it could be better to hang around here and rest up before the big day...well...we'll see how we all feel.
Frunty is cutting my hair for my birthday while I type this. This is a recent activity he really enjoys and me too. With plastic scissors, a brush and two train tracks, he gets my hair ready most days for a pretend party.
I leave you with another Egypt photo, of Frunty with his backpack almost surgically implanted, admiring some Egyptian art...
