Day 239 – January 31, 2012 – Lots of laughs…

Number of days in Amsterdam – 239

Number of days without a bike theft – 235

Days since it last rained – 0 1

I think it’s not raining because the sky has frozen.

But I do want to wish a very happy birthday to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. She’s 74 today. I hope they let her have cake.

Today was an exciting day at the homestead as well. We had no cake, but did get tons of visitors.

The first ones were the guys who delivered the new washing machine.

I was planning on shooting video of them hauling it up on a pulley and through the window, but I didn’t.

Because they didn’t.

They carried the damn thing up four flights of stairs through that claustrophobic stairwell with barely two inches of clearance on either side.

And they were none too happy to get inside the flat, only to find out it needed to go up one more flight.

But they did it, and they took the old one out the same way.

I will never complain about lugging stuff up those stairs again.

Oh, who are we kidding? Of course I will.

The new washer looks really nice. I can’t wait to use it.

As soon as I figure out what it says.

The displays are in Dutch. As is the manual.

But I will puzzle it out tonight.

Because the laundry is piling up.

After the delivery, the boiler inspector came for his yearly inspection. Fortunately that passed, and the flat doesn’t need a new boiler. That’s for the best, as it’s really cold outside and we can’t do without heat and I also don’t think the stairwell can handle that much excitement in one day.

The Kitten and I are still working on settling into this work and play situation, but today she sat in her chair and played with her toys while I was on a call to the states, occasionally telling me to get back to work.

Did you notice something about that picture?

Yes, she’s using the fact that Dad is distracted on a call to the states in order to get rid of her sock. It’s a stealth maneuver on her part, sort of along the same idea as a baby pigeon.

(For those of you unfamiliar with the baby pigeon concept, it’s as so – baby pigeons must of course exist, but nobody you ask will probably be able to profess having actually seen one in the wild. The Kitten shedding her socks is the same way. It obviously happens, but nobody ever witnesses it. It’s like she simply sends a shock wave downward through the bottom of her foot, propelling the sock from her body.)

A while later though, I managed to catch the phenomena in action. And now it’s less like a baby pigeon and more like a rainbow. I’ve seen rainbows, and I know science can explain them, but while I can’t quite wrap my head around the science of it all, I know I’m seeing something amazing, but it’s still something that commonly occurs when conditions are right. For the rainbow that means moisture and sunlight are coming together. For this child, it’s socks and feet.

When mama got home and we were settling down, another amazing thing happened.

She laughed.

No, not mama, that happens all the time.

The Kitten.

She just randomly laughed.

A real big belly laugh.

And it kept coming.

By the time it was done, we were laughing along and had tears in our eyes.

Every day she amazes me, and every day I can’t wait to see what will happen.

But at the same time, I’d like to stop time, just so I can keep her this size for a little while longer.

And so I can keep socks on her feet.