Rick @ 500 days

in the Sand Box

eating sandwiches all by himself

reorganizing the Kitchen

 reading a book with Opa Sjoerd with a ball within reach

cooking

sitting in a box & watching some TV

always picking the one thing to play with that is not a toy

still sleeping with his bum up and knees tucked in & under but on a 'big boy' pillow and with a lot of company in bed.

Dikkie Dik

The Dutch version of Sesamestreet usually ends with one of the main inhabitants of the street reading to kids - quite often a story of 'Dikkie Dik' the big orange cat and its adventures.

We had our own Sesamestreet moment yesterday with Joost reading to Mees, Rick and (little) Maartje.

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas arrived in Houston last weekend. With the coast > 1 hr drive away Sint had to do the last stretch by pick-up.

 Rick & Mees were not sure at first what to make of it.

 But when Rick discovered Zwarte Piet carried a bag full of pepernoten (sweets) all was well. And when Rick could fit no more in his hands he just opened his mouth and made the Piet put them straight in there.

 In general Rick was a Piet fan and doled out kisses, 'High Fives' & smiles around them and helped dancing & clapping during songs.

Rick was less affectionate with Sint and was glad he could hide behind Jannes below.

 The present part of the event was another nice surprise for Rick.

 and he was very obviously happy with what he got.

Dank u Sinterklaasje!

Milestone in the life of a Nerd

As I studied Industrial Design Engineering, I would by now (almost 10 years after graduating), quite likely have been involved in the 'invention' and 'conception' of some very novel consumer product (idea). However as I ended up working in Industrial Gases ('gebakken lucht' or 'hot air' - actually - usually very cold but anyway...) and then the Upstream Oil Industry and not in a hard core engineering role in these very technical businesses this appeared to be a less likely achievement....

Until recently that is. I worked on a relatively small R&D study for a novel concept relating to the connection/interface of wells to an offshore drilling & production host and a patent is being filed.....to my enormous surprise my name has been added to to the list with the six or seven Engineers who worked the study.

WOW - that is a major milestone in the life of a Nerd (Me) - your very first patent application. Cool! Better check they spelled my name right on this one -;)

Pow Wow

In light of the upcoming thanksgiving holidays Rick School had organized a Pow Wow for each class this afternoon. The event involved mainly food, visiting parents and outdoor play with all groups in Rick's age.

Roddy & Rick as usual where the last still at the table finishing off whatever anyone else had left behind.  

 And after the food there was more time for play. No Rick did not eat a whole mouth full of dirt but had some cookies with black icing or sugar on them.

He potentially could have won the prize for dirtiest kid out there -:)

Baby shower

This evening the girls from work had organized a baby shower for me. Last time around they had to talk to me for 2.5 months before I even let them organize one. This time they simply did not give me a choice. Yes it was potentially a little early but with Thanksgiving next week and then the next few weeks till Christmas being booked with (work) Christmas dinners & lunches it made sense. January the ladies thought would be way too late.

 I got to make the guest list fortunately and so we ended up with some 10 ladies at a nice place near work. As Eelco unexpectedly is in Louisiana looking at a ruptured pipeline Rick had to come with me to the event to the delight of all the ladies. The Cake was made out of little cupcakes and shaped in the form or a dress. 

 My dear colleague Loure, who is the greatest giver of all givers, also bought Rick a Mom & Baby related present which he absolutely LOVED.

Loure & Mindy

 Marlette, Rick, Shona and I

 I know by now that the Americans go Large and Generous when it comes to these things and even though I tried to keep the group small to those I actually know well and although this is my second baby the girls absolutely went all out. I put everything on display at home for Eelco for when he comes home at some late hour in the night. The cake & balloons are not cheap either I know and one of the girls gave me a 'spa' gift card and the only Dutch lady a more proportioned present so the below really is from 7 people.....

 Among the presents the cutest furry cowboy boots and a box of little socks with the shoe printed on them in 6 colors. She is going to be some fashionable & fancy lady our little girl.

I am just very glad that Rick loves Pink too. Eelco at first (and Eelco's parents who are back in Houston next week) may take some time getting used to the frilly pinkness.

Just Gorgeous

San Antonio 1/2 Marathon

Herewith a more detailed report of the 1/2 Marathon in San Antonio this weekend. We drove down there on Saturday in order to get there on time to pick up Eelco's registration pack. After an uneventful trip with a tourist stop at THE road side stop in Texas called Buc-ees (about which more some other time), we arrive in the Alamo Dome just in time for the mad last hour Rush. With the full support crew we took to the red carpet.

The location for registration & runners Pack pick-up also tends to host a whole running fair with stands to buy gear, speakers, tourism booths, info from local running clubs and other upcoming marathon events etc. Fan no 4, the proud Son, was happy to assist in finding some last minute new gear.

After a Marathon-Pasta dinner (also with Dirk, Sietske & Mees - as Sietske was also running) we went to the hotel early for gear preparations and an early night.

With a 7.15 am start the support & fan club also had to be up bright and early. Fan no 1, the proud wife, was in charge of keeping track of the route, the 'cheering locations', the emotional factor (hormones!) and carrying around (future) fan No 5. Fan no 2 (the proud Mom) was in charge of our support signs, proud smiles and additional cheering vocals.

Our first 'cheering point' was @ Mile 3, right across from the Alamo. Fan no 3 (the proud Father) had as a primary role to be the official event photographer and hence does not appear in too many pictures himself but did an outstanding job on action shots. As you can see (the white top with the arms up), Eelco appreciated the support! 

After Location No 1 we were off to the next. At 5:45 Fan no 4 (the proud son) had woken up with more enthusiasm then any of us. By 7.45 however that had faded somewhat and was saved for the moments his dad came running by.

Eelco all the while was running fast.

And the cheering got better (1h39 was the aspired target)

 and Eelco would run on re-energized (Mile 8.4)

 and still looked fresh enough at Mile 9.8

and still able to smile at Mile 11

whilst Eelco made his last spurt to the finish and we waited to cheer on Sietske Fan No 4 called it quits and decided to make up for the hours of sleep lost earlier that morning.

By the time we finally had made it to the Family reunion point Eelco had had some time to recover and was ready to report to a the very proud fan no 2 & 3 (1.5 hrs after he had finished).

Eelco finished within the top 2% of all participants in the 1/2 Marathon (just over 20,000) and also did very very well in his age & gender group. He achieved his target for a new Personal Best and had 4 1/2 of those near & dear to celebrate / experience it with him so all in all a very successful event!

We finished off with a nice celebratory Steak Lunch along the River Walk and then started back the 3 hr drive to Houston. Fan no 2, 3 & 4 had threatened to throw quite a party on the backseat and cause some mischief but ended up snoozing most if not all of the time instead -;)

1:38:41

Today Eelco ran the 1/2 Marathon of San Antonio and broke his previous PB (Personal Best) by a whopping 3 min 18 seconds and so he can now proudly say that he runs the 1/2 Marathon in well under 1:40!

We are all floored from the event so time for an early night. More Pics to follow later this week of the excellent support staff & fan club.

Scooby Doo & Lollipops

We received a last minute invitation for Halloween on Sunday. One of Eelco's French Rugby mates Frank invited us over to help give out candy to the numerous 'trick or treaters' they where expecting at their house / in their neighborhood whilst enjoying some socializing, food & drinks. We thought Rick was still too young for the T&T part anyway so happily accepted the invite to experience at least one side of the Halloween.

We did take Rick's Halloween costume and because the Nephew of our friend was there in full gear as well (Batman) we dressed Rick up.

Then Rick was allowed to have a dig through the bowl with candy before we started to receive callers at the door. Rick resolute picked a big red cherry lollipop. To our knowledge he never had one before but he knew very very well what to do with one...

By then we also realized that some other people we know lived nextdoor (also a French guy from Rugby whom I happen to work with and who's wife happens to be Dutch). These neighbors in turn also had visitors - Marco & Marlies with their 3 kids - whom we know from back in Aberdeen and were we celebrated Rick's first Halloween last year here in Houston.

So when this group decided to do a little trick or treating with 6 kids of 5 and under we decided to tag along after all. To our surprise Rick caught on to the Trick or Treating and went happily along to all the houses holding up his bag - giving out cute smiles - and after the first house digging into the candy bowls himself with the same enthusiasm as the 3 and 5 year olds!

Rick also wanted to walk the whole route himself meaning he was a little slow and got everywhere last but was usually also rewarded extra for being so little and cute.

At one of the places Rick even got some Mardi Gras beads (Louisiana Carnival), which is great as he LOVES necklaces and beads.

We were so super proud of our little boy! At the last house Rick got more lollipops and was quick to fish those out of his bag - shoving them in my hand with the nod to open them for him. So we rewarded his Halloween bravery and gave him the Lollipop of course which he finished on dad's shoulders whilst we tried to find Frank and his Batman Nephew who had done a somewhat larger loop through the neighborhood.

On the drive home Rick fell asleep within 2 min, but not without the 'loot' - his bag with candy - safely in his arms. He even woke up a little when it threatened to slide from his lap. The scooby doo outfit & Eelco's hair had a few hard sticky spots here and there.....we assume that was more lollipop. All in all an unexpected very big success.

PS - No Grandpa's & Grandma's you cannot start feeding him lollipops now as he actually tends to chew through the stick meaning he is left with a 'ball in his mouth' with a little bit of the stick still in it - too dangerous. He also has shown no interest in eating any of the other candy he received - pfew!

134 Votes p.p.

As you may have heard November 2nd is Election day in the US. As expected the Americans take their Democratic Rights very seriously. I doubt however that many of you non Americans realize what that means in practice.

For instance someone who lives in Harris County in Texas (which is Houston the city, 1.9 MM people - the larger Houston metropole covers more counties and is some 4 MM people) will have to vote tomorrow for the following Federal, State and Local Positions and Propositions:

3 positions for US Representative (Federal)

1 Governor (State)

1 Lieutenant Governor (State)

1 Attorney General (State)

1 Controller of Public Accounts (State)

1 Commissioner of the General Land office (State)

1 Commissioner of Agriculture (State)

1 Railroad Commissioner (State)

3 Positions for Justice Supreme Court (State)

3 Positions for Judge Court of Criminal Appeals (State)

1 Position for district Member of the State Board of Education (State)

4 Positions for District State Senator

25 Positions for a District State Representative

5 Positions for Chief Justice, Court of Appeals, District 1 & 14

28 Positions for District Judges

8 Positions for Family District Judges

1 Position of County Judge

4 Positions for  a Judge County Court of Law # 1-4

15 Positions for Judge, County Criminal Court # 1 - 15

4 Positions for Judge, County Probate Court # 1 - 4

1 Position for District Clerk

1 Position for County Clerk

1 Position for County Tax Assessor - Collector

1 Position for County Treasurer

2 Positions for County School Trustee

2 Positions for County Commissioner, Precinct

8 Positions for Justice of the Peace, Precinct

3 Positions in the Walter-Harris Emergency Services District Board of Emergency Services Commissioners

3 Propositions for Houston

1 Additional  Proposition if you live in Baytown, Beechnut, Spring Valley Village or Nassau Bay

1 to 4 Positions for ISD (Independent School District) Trustee  - Depending which School District you live in.

That is 134 - 138 Votes to cast!!!! No wonder early voting is so popular here as it will take you a while to work your way through that I would think.

If you imagine that people are campaigning for each of these positions and propositions you can imagine we get much more of that 'nice slander type' campaigning then you all might see in the rest of the world. So personally we can't wait for it all to be over and see commercials, street signs, adds and discussions about something else. Fortunately as we are not on the electoral role we are saved from receiving the pre-recorded 'personal' phone messages from all candidates.

The Propositions are not really exciting either as they are about 1) Creating a dedicated drainage & street renewal fund to provide for enhancement, improvement and ongoing renewal of Houston's drainage and streets. 2) Amending the residency requirements for City Council Districts and 3)Set up Red Light Camera's throughout the City of Houston.

Texas politics are unlikely the ones worth watching tomorrow so you probably will not see much about those on international TV. Yes for the first time there is a Democratic Governor candidate who at least will win a decent amount of the votes but nobody expects him to actually beat the Republican candidate. No candidates who dabbled into Witchcraft, no Palin and other controversial figures, no Obama visits and no unexpected results forecasted here.....

.....I counted again....really 134 Votes p.p.!