Geboortekaartjes, muisjes, and kruiken

Here in Holland there are some things that are really typically Dutch that have to do with having a baby. It starts with the birth announcements. Birth announcements in itself aren't unique to Holland, of course, but the Dutch do seem to take it to a new level. First off, they are sent out as soon as possible. It is not uncommon to receive a birth announcement two days after the child is born. The cards are usually ready to go weeks in advance with just some last minute adjustments (date, weight, etc.). The envelopes are also usually ready to go. In most cases they are sent within the first week. If it takes longer than a week that people start to get concerned that something bad might have happened.

Our cards were sent out Sunday. Everybody in Holland got them yesterday when Felix was 5 days old. People in America should expect them the end of this week or beginning of next week. Here's a sneak preview, though.
Once the cards have arrived on the doormat, the Dutch are really good at sending back a card. So far we have only had three cards, but it's only been a day! In the next few weeks the cards come flooding in as does the "kraamvisite," the baby visitors. Visitors come and get to enjoy the next typically Dutch birth tradition: beschuit met muisjes. Beschuit is pretty much a dry bread cracker. Muisjes are sugar coated anise seeds. For girls the muisjes are white and pink and for boys white and blue. Evie also brought beschuit met muisjes to the creche to celebrate the birth of her brother.
And finally there is the "kruik." A kruik is a hot water bottle made of metal. It is of complete neccesity for newborn babies, according to the Dutch. The kruik is filled with boiling water and stays warm for about six hours. It is placed in the baby's bed under the blankets to warm it up before he gets in it. Once the baby is in the bed, the kruik is kept in the bed above the blankets to the side of the baby to keep the baby warm. We never used one for Evie because it was so warm out when she was born, but Felix is using the kruik because he tends to have a lower than average temperature (97.7F or 36.5C).
This is the kruik and the kruik bag. Liz made this kruik bag to match the rest of the baby room.