Updates!

As mentioned Tuesday, Grandma Nan was supposed to arrive this week. And she did!!! She has been here now four days, and we're having a blast. Liz and Grandma have been quilting, cooking, and resting. What more is there?

Liz had some oral surgery Wednesday to remove a wisdom tooth. That was less than fun. The pain swelling does look like it's subsiding now though, so that's good.

Our early bloomer Felix hit yet another milestone yesterday. He now crawls FORWARDS! You heard correctly, folks. Not even a half year and this kid has six teeth and is crawling.

We have only taken ten pictures since Grandma's arrival, so making a selection was pretty easy.
Evie and Grandma watching Snow White together.
Apparently Evie makes a great pillow. They snuggle so well together.
Felix with Grandma.
The Grandma-Mama sweat shop.
Aren't they cute!
Tonight is Halloween. We plan on going trick or treating again in the neighborhood. Evie still hasn't decided whether she'll be a princess or spiderman, So check back soon to find out what it is!

Together in the Tub

Yay! Felix now has a "bath ring" which enables him to sit in the big tub. That means lots of fun for the two little schuttes. Evie loved being able to help was him... especially the part where we let her pour water over his head. Felix was very curious about the whole set-up. He didn't like getting out, so that probably means he did enjoy it. As he gets used to the new bathing situation, he'll start having more fun!
Together at last!
scrub-a-dub-dub
Felix is trying to grab the toy and hardly notices Evie pouring the water.

Liz is heading to Schiphol airport today to pick up Grandma Nan, who will be staying with us until the 15 November. We've got lots of fun planned for her visit. Hopefully there will still be time for some updates now and then.

Video Chat

Last night Evie and Felix experienced the miracle of video chat. Aunt Kay may be thousands of miles way, but thanks to iChat we can not only talk or chat with her, but see her! ...better yet, she can see us! Evie is still a little shy with talking on the computer, but she started to open up by the end of the session. Felix was just perplexed. Liz had to grab the camera and take a few shots of how cute it is!We set up the computer so it was directed at Felix while he was in the box (playpen)
When Evie got out of the bath, she was able to join the fun, too.

Vrijgezellenfeest - Daan & Martijn

Last night was the bachelor party fo rMartijn and Danielle, who will be getting married next month. The gentleman went rock climbing, out to dinner, and to a bar. The ladies had a high tea, took a salsa dance lesson, ate dinner out, had a glam session, and went out to a bar to meet up with the gentleman. Then we all went on to another club together. It was lots of fun! Pictures are already posted here.

Evie and Felix, meanwhile, stayed at home. Opa and Oma Oma (Tom's grandmother) were the lucky ones to watch the kiddos. It was rainy, so they stayed inside and enjoyed themselves. No pictures to record it, though...

Felix Moving Around

This footage was taken two weeks ago (the same day as Evie's brilliant performance). You can see the Felix way of moving around, which is basically doing push ups, rocking back and forth, and hoping to move forward... yet always moving backwards. In the last two weeks it hasn't changed very much. He's just gotten quicker and more efficient... and more daring! With a result that we have lowered his bed so he won't pull up on the sides and tumble out. Safety first!

Pictures from Last Week

We're not always on top of everything it seems. These pictures were selected and ready to be "blogged" and yet they are still in a folder on the desktop. So here they are anyway.
Felix & Carla hanging out on the couch. They are getting so big!!
Finn & Evie playing Mario Kart with the Wii. This was the first time we actually turned on Evie's controller. I don't think she made it more than two meters on the track. But she had a blast. Of course she was Peach (the princess).
Felix is starting to outgrow is bath. He still lies down in it sometimes, but more often he sits.
We are planning on getting a ring for the big bath soon. Felix will be able to go in the big bathtub with Evie. Sounds like a party!!!

Evie's Emotions

While waiting at the sea lion show we did a little photo shoot with Evie. We gave her emotions and she did her best to portray it. To be honest, we don't remember exactly which emotion went with which face, but anyway... here are the beautiful results. The girl takes direction well! Too bad she's not a child actress.

Oma Oma's October Occasion

Every year Oma Oma has the family over to celebrate Opa's birthday and their wedding anniversary. Of course cousins Lucas and Ric were there, too.
Oma Oma with the babies. Ric (left) is a month younger than Felix (right).
Lucas and Evie enjoying some juice and a cookie together. We also have a little video of the two. Subtitles included.

Felix in his Highchair

This was an exciting week for Felix. He now has his own highchair, which of course means that he can join us at the table! Until now he is just been in his bouncy seat next to the table. He is so happy with it! (as are we) It is the same chair Evie has, but in a different color. The model is actually the same high chair that Liz had as a baby. How cool is that?
Joining us at the table for the first time.
Evie feeding him some pears.
The kids sitting next to each other after dinner.He wasn't really drinking the water, but he thought he was pretty cool to have his own sippy cup.

And in completely unrelated Felix news... He continues to move effortlessly backwards and has an amazing ability to crawl underneath things, such as the stroller:

The creche doesn't think it will take long before he is moving forwards. Evie started at 6 months and a week, so we'll just have to see if he can beat that! ;-) Yeah, yeah, don't compare kids and all that... but it's so much fun!

Grandpa David has alerted us to the fact that Evie is today 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. Wow!

The Evie Show

Today we grabbed the video camera and let Evie put on a little show for us. Here are some of the highlights. Listen carefully to the song she sings. We can't figure out all the text... but we can tell it's 100% in English! She also performs the good-bye ritual for gymnastics, except she counts to five instead of three. :-) The ending is priceless. Like many of our videos, it's on the long side (almost two minutes), but for the true Schutte-fans, two minutes of bliss.

Gymnastics

Starting this Fall, Evie participates in gymnastics every week. The first two times a parent is allowed to stay and watch, but after that it's drop-off and pick-up. Thank goodness there's a fabric store in the same street, so Liz and Felix can keep themselves busy.

Of course we forgot to bring a camera those first few times, but yesterday Evie arrived early, and Liz was able to snap a few shots of the little gymnast.
The ever-dorky Evie cheese smile.
Evie shows how quickly she can run.
(gotta work on those sport settings on the camera...)
Evie's teacher is Juf Esther. Juf means miss or teacher in Dutch.
Here she helps Evie perform a somersault.
Besides running and doing somersaults, the children also get to go on a trampoline, horse, climbing rope, balance beam etc. Yesterday they were also working with a jump rope. Evie seems to really enjoy going to gymnastics every week. Maybe it's because she gets to wear all pink? Or because it located in a "real" school? Or maybe just because it's fun and she can let loose a lot of energy! Either way, whatever makes Evie happy, makes us happy. Hopefully she'll continue to enjoy it for a least a few years.

Consultatieburo

Today Felix had his five-month check up at the consultatieburo. The consultatieburo has been mentioned and explained before, but now's the time for an even more in depth report!
First we enter and "park" the stroller. Is it obvious what the #1 stroller is in Holland much?
The mama or papa then undresses the baby in one of the cubby-like changing tables and waits to be called on for measurements.
Baby gets weighed and measured (every other visit... so not this time).
Head circumference is also measured in the younger children.
Evie likes to call the consultatieburo the "speelgoed doktor" or "toy doctor" because she always has fun in the waiting room. Today she was all about this slide. But there is also a HUGE playhouse, a full play kitchen, teeter totters, and a couple cars to ride on. If the consultatieburo knows one thing, it's how to keep the kids happy while they wait.
Once in the doctor's office older children are still kept entertained with a small table with more toys.
The well-baby visit mostly consists of questions and answers from both the doctor and the parent. Immunizations are also given here. The doctor has Felix's vaccination card in her hands.
Today's visit went really well. Felix weighed exactly 8 kg, or 17 lbs. 10 oz., which is in the 75th percentile. Last month he was in the 89th percentile for weight and 95th for height. We don't know what his length was this time, but let's hope that his growth slowed there as well. Otherwise we'll have a little beanpole! Felix also received two immunization shots today. With the first one, he just kept smiling through it all. With the second one he cried for literally about twenty seconds. He's a tough little dude!
Felix's growth chart:

Big Boy wants to Crawl

Felix really, really wants to crawl around and explore the world now. He has mastered the art of scooting backwards, so we are getting somewhere. When we set him loose on the floor, it doesn't take long before he's completely on the other side of the room. He moves backwards, but he moves and turns. The other day Liz couldn't find him because he had managed to get underneath the coffee table! Lately, though, we see him really trying to move FORWARDS. He gets up in his knees and rocks back and forth. Check out the videos. This morning he was seen with his arms extended supporting himself in a sort of downward dog yoga position. Too funny!!!

Evie says in the background, "Look at Mama, Buddy."

Not getting there can get pretty frustrating. Poor little dude.

Viva

Today the new Viva hits the newstands with a boomerang "visual column" from Tom!

That might need some explanation. Viva is a weekly magazine here in Holland "focosued on women between the ages of 20 and 35, with a higher education, who have a strong opinion." Boomerang mostly makes free cards for in the bars and clubs. The cards are usually a little edgy and humorous. Besides the free cards, Boomerang also works with companies looking for new graphic products (ads, cards, beer bottles, etc). Freelancers and amateurs alike can pitch their ideas. One running task is to "illustrate the weeks news" for Viva.

Last week Tom made and uploaded a card in response to the news about a movement to have warnings put on fashion photos where the models (near-perfect) bodies have been further photoshopped. The next day Tom got a call from Boomerang that his illustration had been chosen! Yay! And here it is:


This is not the first time Tom's design has been chosen by Boomerang, but it's the first time he's won for Viva. "Boomerang-ing" has been Tom's new hobby for the last few months. While it's fun for him just to do it, it makes it even more fun to get some recognition, too!