Number of days in Amsterdam – 240
Number of days without a bike theft – 236
Days since it last rained – 2
It seems like we’re settling into some routines now.
This morning began, as painfully cold as they’ve been recently, with my flipping on the radio as morning started. The Kitten and I laid in bed, listening to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” while mama got ready for work. Nicole and I drank some coffee and sat with the baby for a bit.
Once she was off to work, I wandered the eight feet to my office (I have actually temporarily moved my office from the desk in, um, my office to the couch in the living room. It’s easier to occupy the little one that way.
I worked and ran the washing machine (I found an English manual online).
In essence, things were blissfully normal the first part of the day.
Then, Nicole came home early, as today was the day the Kitten went to the Consultatie Bureau for her vaccinations. So we bundled her up and hustled her out.
At the Bureau, the doctor stripped her down and examined her. Everything was fine, with the exception of telling us that we’re not doing enough tummy time.
On an aside, for those of you without kids, tummy time is putting a baby on its tummy, so it practices lifting its head in order to strengthen its neck in preparation for crawling.
For everyone, I have to defend myself bu saying that we do plenty of tummy time, it’s the baby that has the problem.
You see, once she’s placed on her tummy, Kitten will lift her head. Just once. Then, she decides that it’s too much work in a fashion she doesn’t like, and will then lay down and scowl at us, occasionally yelling and/or crying, until we surrender and put her back on her back. She is so strong willed, I’m afraid of what two will be like.
Asides aside, she flew through the exam, and was happily flailing about on the table in just a diaper, thinking about fireworks, lights and when she’ll be ready for pizza and the like – all good stuff – when the doctor stabbed the baby in each thigh with a big needle.
At first Kitten looked surprised, then she looked at us in disbelief that we had just allowed this to happen.
Within seconds, the sob began, a deep, heart-felt sob beginning somewhere deep in her belly, in a place reserved for the serious emotions. The needles went into her eggs, and the emotion welled up in that place, springing then forth and welling up and over, where it quickly climbed in degrees past mild irritation and grumpiness, on upward through surprise and anger, all the way to actual pain and fear before exploding outward.
In truth, this one was not as bad as the first time; the Kitten is maturing emotionally as well as physically and becoming easier to calm. Still, the general ache of the shots put her in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
Or possibly it’s the cabin fever. After keeping her in all week, her first outing is to get stabbed? Not cool, guys.
But that’s how it is. The cold is bitter, and the adults don’t want to be out there, let alone take an infant out there. For dinner I made burgers, and I even fried those on the stove because it’s too cold to grill. Honestly, I’m an all weather grilling advocate, and for me to pass up the opportunity means something big is going on.
And this time that means it’s cold out.
Michigan cold. Not Amsterdam cold. I didn’t sign up for this.
