Oops

Yesterday morning we where all not in the best of shape as we had been awake half the night thinking of Neeltje in labor. So all not too awake I let Rick drink his Milk in my new comfy chair. Well Rick had slept enough though and wanted to play and move around....well he did. He dove over the side of the seat head first.

No hiding this one! 

Mmmm, and then we are supposed to make the new annual family portrait for school this weekend. We are grateful for the existence of Photoshop! Rick was not bothered at all. The ice against his head he thought was mighty interesting and he also was more concerned if he could have some of my yoghurt instead of his. My guilt feelings where through the roof nevertheless.

The Stick

I am teaching Rick to walk himself from the car to the house everyday as soon enough I will not be able to carry him around anymore as much. He is doing a very good job but usually gets distracted by something in the yard somewhere along the way. 

This was his most ambitious Project yet:

Not sure where the red glow in his hair below comes from!

Things where going very very well until Rick tried to get back on his feet at the top of the stairs. Apparently the diapers help when he lands on his but and there are usually no tears (we had an exploded iaper ones though with all the filling coming out!)

Rick appears pretty determined to make it whilst the doorstep is a struggle usually even without hands full (too wide and too many level differences)

As a reward mom taped of the sharp edges and let him have the stick in the house for a while.

Actually the blue ends only made it more interesting!

(the stick is a piece of hollow PVC, we are due to attach to floating cones to the ends and use the thing as a floating device to teach Rick to Swim)

Auke

Martijn & Neeltje's (my sister) Son was born Friday August 27th and we are very very happy to finally see him. As expected he is pretty tall already and a real 'hunk'! His name is Auke en he is doing well.

Congratulations to Martijn & Neeltje and all the (new) grandparents of course!

Sales Tax Holiday

The weekend before schools in Texas start again is designated as the Sales Tax Holiday meaning that for 3 days no sales tax has to be paid for items under USD 100 which would be considered school supplies. The definition is relatively wide and includes most clothes, back packs, some sports items etc etc but not luxury items like roller blades or golf shoes, and it also includes a raft of baby products like diapers.

Sales tax here in Houston is some 8.25% so nice saving. (Base rate in Texas is 6.25 % and does not apply to most groceries (food) and medicines). I think you can guess what we did this weekend..........

Avoid any malls & shops literally at all cost!

Spaghetti w Meatballs

Rick today had his own dish from the kids menu when we went out for dinner for the very first time. Instead of getting some food of our plates or some food brought from home Rick actually got  whole dish prepared for him.

The little hero ate with pleasure half of his Texas size kids portion of Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs. We are very proud of course. By the time we thought to take a picture Rick was entranced by the Guitar player 5m from our table.

Of course we asked for the remainder to be boxed up so he can eat it at school Monday and show all his friends -;)

Really?!?!?

Did you know that in a recent survey 1 in 5 Americans (18%) thought that President Obama is a muslim? And that was even before the whole debate about the mosque near ground zero.

Really??!?! 1 in 5??

What went wrong? The power & influence of political opponents? Lack of education? Fox News? Aliens? 

PS: this was a survey by a reputable agency.

Nutella

Relaxed Weekend

We were due to go away for a long weekend but decided to stick it out in Houston and so we had 3 days off together. Rick loved having us around the house all day:

He is mainly busy running around the living room finding anything that is not a toy.

And in the nearby park this morning when it was not quite so hot yet:

Still happy on the swing every time - it gives him the giggles.

And having a little private spiritual moment,....it was Sunday morning after all.

End of the school year

Rick is moving to a new group and the whole day care is moving to a new building soon so last Friday we had a party to celebrate the end of summer and the end of Rick time in the Busy Bees.

First we did some circle time with songs. Rick is clearly a lot in to music and can't stop wiggling. He also starts to catch on to the moves that go with the songs. Shame mom & dad know hardly any of these American songs so cannot repeat them at home.

After the circle all kids received a Diploma showing that they will move up. Rick's new group is the Piglets and most of his friends are going there too.

As you can see Ms Sadie is VERY popular.

Then it was time for cookies & fruit. Mmmmm

And fortunately then there was more playtime with balloons.

Let Me Entertain You

We have Janko's family around and after today's successful surgery they came to hang out with us for a bit. Of course Rick picked up on that and wanted out of bed immediately to be part of the fun.....

All in all the Rick Mannes show lasted a good hour.

What else do you have a Kitchen Island with Bar for?

White Linen Night

Last Saturday we had White Linen Night in the Heights. This is an event normally only held in New Orleans and is a summer art crawl. After recent hurricanes many people from New orleans relocated to Houston and quite a few to the Heights. These people set up a local version of the White Linen Night here. Everyone is dressed in White as that makes the heat more bearable.

So we took to the street with the Dutch club in the Heights (3 whole families, including 2 Maartjes!) and soaked up the entertainment.

The event covered quite a lot of the heights and a shuttle service was set up to get people from one place to the next. With 3 strollers that was not going to work for us so we made a loop relatively close to home running into neighbors and other familiar faces. Normally if there is anything to see Rick refuses to go to sleep but I think the girls had worn them out at the little time we spend at our house beforehand so he slept through it all.

We brought our own booze as parts of the Heights are still dry (so you cannot buy booze but bring your own, be serves some for free or become a member of the private club (no fee) and then they can serve you).

There was music, art, kids activities, food & drink and plenty of people out & about. Again - we live in a pretty fun & cool neighborhood I think!

Cheese

And then Rick became more successful in his investigation and explorations in the Fridge....

as Rick is happy just touching things in the fridge we left him to it for 2 min......1min59 too long!

Oh well so now we have grated cheese in the couch, in Rick's shoes, in his bed, on his toys and on the camera.

Moving the outdoors indoors

The weather remains hot and it is generally really uncomfortable outside. I fortunately have temporary a VIP parking spot at work under the office, nice & cool. Eelco holds off mowing the lawn till at least 8.30 pm and even then he needs 3 L of water to recover.

"Sticky, steamy heat gripping the Houston region in recent days is forecast to continue today and much of the week. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the Houston region through 7 p.m. because the heat index will be about 105 degrees. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is streaming inland, increasing humidity levels. The conditions have increase ozone levels, prompting the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue an Air Quality Alert. Ozone can be a lung irritant and officials warn people to remain in air conditioned buildings and to avoid exertion in the later afternoon and early evening. The elderly and children as well as people with chronic lung conditions such as asthma and emphysema are particularly vulnerable."

Good thing the houses in Texas are pretty large - we are moving the outdoors in. Most of Rick's garden play stuff is already in the house (remember the tent?), next thing we'll consider is moving the pool and the sand pit inside the house -;) Another 3 weeks of this at least.

Yes I promise - more Rick Pictures soon.

Nightmare

So our Neighbors yesterday ended up with a Nightmare scenario. They were on Holiday for a week coming back yesterday. Unfortunately their Air Conditioning Unit (AC) had stopped working Thursday likely at some point. It was 98F (44/45C) in their house! (see also post below). They were due to arrive back around midnight after a 12 hour road trip with their 14 month old twins. Nightmare scenario for any parent in Houston with small kids. Fortunately we found out mid evening and got the AC in our garage apartment up & running immediately. By the time they arrived it was not as cool as you would like it to be but lots better then their own home. And this morning the AC repair man showed up at 8am (you would not get your hopes up in Holland to get any service in the weekend, especially at that kind of notice & time!) and now all is well again. 

Thank you to whomever invented the AC!

Exessive Heat Warning

The National Weather Service in Shreveport has issued an excessive heat warning for all of the ArkLaTex. Temperatures will remain in the low 100s through Thursday with heat index values closing in on 115 degrees. Announcements been issued on radio and television stations across the region warning of the possible negative consequences of this intense heat wave, including signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Heat exhaustion: Signs of heat exhaustion include a general weakness, heavy sweating and clammy skin, dizziness and/or fainting, and muscle cramps.

Heat stroke: The signs of heat stroke include when an individual's body temperature is greater than 105°F, the skin is hot and dry, there is a rapid and irregular pulse, perspiration has stopped, and one has lost consciousness. Seek immediate medical aid.

The best thing people can do is drink plenty of water, and stay out of the heat when possible. Shreveport area recreation centers have opened up for those citizens without air conditioning to get out of the elements.  (Shreveport is in East Louisiana)

The Heat index here in Houston is nearing 110 (43 Celcius). The Heat Index is how hot the air feels when temperature and humidity combine. As the local paper puts it: More searing, muggy heat is on tap today in the Houston region.

The high pressure dome has helped send temperatures into the upper 90s in and the heat index into the triple digits in recent days. Today, the high temperature will top out near 96 degrees (36 Celcius) under mostly cloudy skies. The overnight low will be in the upper 70s (> 25 C). The heat index will be about 106 degrees.

Swimming Lessons for 1 year olds

Maybe we should call it a floating lesson. Anyway, from 9 months old kids here can take swimming lessons. Considering the number of kids that drown in pools here each year that is not a dumb plan at all. Survival is the main target and they hope to teach the kids at this age at least to keep their head above water, blow bubbles if they do go under and stay afloat. As you can see Rick was pretty eager to go.

First everyone had to sit on the pool wall for some instructions. Most kids in this group where quite a bit older then Rick (closer to 2) but also quite a bit more scared.

Eelco struggled a little with all the instructions. It is not easy to learn all the poses to support your child and any yoga mom's would have been at an advantage!

In the background you can see downtown. The pool is in a little park not too far from our house (near the bike bridge)

Rick was very very happy and so was dad. The series of lessons is only for 4 weeks at a time so I am sure they'll sign up for more and will practice loads in our pool and others'.

Rode Schoentjes

Rick has new shoes - sports car red. They make him a very fast walker! 

Too fast for a good pic. We'll upload a small video soon instead ok?

Luau

Rick has every week a different theme at school and 2 weeks ago it was Hawaii so the week was finished off with a Luau (Hawaiian Party) to which also the parents where invited. The party was a bit early for working parents so when I got there at the agreed time (easy as it was my Friday off) I got to witness some very very anxious kids who were more then ready to attach the food table!

As you can see Rick was very very happy. He appeared to be the only one who had the hip movement down -;). There was some stealing of food of each others plates but they must be used to that as nobody got upset and they happily created a big mess together. One boy stole everyones jelly sandwich to then throw them away. Turns out he does not like them so I guess he has decided that then nobody will have them.

Rick is very very happy at school and now I was there to he spend his time paying then running for a cuddle to Miss Sadie or Miss Irene (or me) and then playing some more and on to the next one. The good life! 

PS I also found out that there is one 15 month old girl in his group who is still not walking (not the last after all) and that Rick is the only one that will go to sleep himself on his sleep mat at nap time. We're so proud!