New house

One of the biggest news of the New Year is our move to a new house. Four years back when I came to Amsterdam, we had found a spacious apartment in a great location. Every guest who came to our flat praised it. We live in Osdorp, part of Nieuw West, Amsterdam. Tram 1 to Central Station and Bus 192 to Schipol depart from right outside our building. Basic Fit is on the ground floor of our building. Albert Heijn, Etos and good schools are all a five-minute walk away. The best part is that we live way high on the 9th floor and have a great view of the city from our windows. (Read previous blogpost The joys of living high up)
We have spent the best years in this apartment. This is the home where Mr Baby was born, thus, this home will always be special to me, just like Amsterdam itself.
But, it is time to move on. S has been wanting to buy a property since a long time now. I have always been hesitant and never really encouraged him, but everyone who we spoke to said, "Now is the time to buy". Many friends suggested to buy the apartment we are living at, but both S and I felt that a house with a backyard would be better for Mr Baby. He should have some space to play with his ball, ride his cycle and in the summer maybe even have his own little pool.
We have found a house we both like and we are going to move in soon. The boxes are packed, the addresses have been changed, and the mind is set to start a new life in a new place.
We are still going to be in the Nieuw West, this time going to Geuzenveld-Slotermeer. I had my reservations about the area, but after talking to some people in the neighbourhood, they were somewhat put to ease. The rest we shall find out for ourselves pretty soon. From Tram 1 our new best friend is going to be Tram 13, and from 192 we are going to change loyalties to bus 69.

Eid is here!

Its the last day of Ramadan today and I couldn't be more excited. Not just because tomorrow I will not have to fast, but also because tomorrow is Eid!
I have always loved Eid and celebrated it with much fervor and zeal, but this Eid is extra special, because it is Mr Baby's first Eid!
Coincidentally, this Eid falls on a hot day in Amsterdam, where the temperature is expected to raise up to 30 degrees! That is really hot for Netherlands. Trams and metros become extremely suffocating, buses however, are air-conditioned.
Considering this hot weather I went to buy some special summer clothes for Mr Baby. To my dismay, all the summer stock has finished, even the ones on sale. Maybe the Netherlanders were not expecting to have such a long summer this time, or maybe everyone just bought the summer stuff early on.
I already had a nice shirt for Mr Baby from Zara, which I originally thought he could wear with pants and shoes, but now I was looking for shorts and sandals. For sandals I went to Crocs, but the only shoes they had in Mr Baby's size were pink! Hush Puppies were too expensive, H&M only had brown. Finally I ventured into Zara and found nice looking sandals and affordable too, but they were either too small or too big. I bought the too big one. Mr Baby doesn't walk yet, so the shoes are just an accessory rather than a necessity. However, he does look like he has enormous feet in these sandals.
For shorts, I went through a similar dilemma. The only few places that were selling shorts were either not the right size or not the right color to go with Mr Baby's shirt. Finally, I walked into V&D but in their sale rack I found a pair of shorts which didn't look too bad with the shirt.
Atleast I had some clothes now, but I wasn't really satisfied. I showed them to S who liked them and that gave me a little contentment.
S and I are both very excited to give Mr Baby his Eid presents. I bought a ring stacking toy for him, and S got him a drum set. I can't wait for tomorrow to see my baby dressed in his clothes and playing his Eid presents!
Happy Eid everyone!

Baby goes to creche

As I restart my Dutch language course I was forced to make arrangements for childcare. Unfortunately, living alone in the Netherlands without any family or friends meant that my baby had to go to professionals. Before he was born, I was very comfortable with the idea of leaving him in a daycare, but once I had to do it, I wondered how mothers gather up the courage of leaving their babies in the hands of complete strangers.
I was clueless as to where and how to start this whole daycare business, but my problem was solved by Chikuba. It is an official agency that helps you find daycare and make all the necessary arrangements for it. Since I am not working and am following a Dutch language course through the gementee, I am entitled to subsidised daycare. That meant that I ended up paying only 1/6th of the total cost. It is still alot considering the baby needs daycare for only half a day while I am at school, but their policy requires payment for a whole day, even if the child stays there for only an hour.
My baby now goes to Caleido Kidzz. It is right next to my house, an apparently nice place with some nice ladies. This Friday morning I got up made some quick lunch for myself dressed up and then looked at my baby. Poor thing was sleeping peacefully, but I had to pick him up to change his diaper. I hated myself for disrupting his sleep, but as I began to unbutton him he did his usuals squirms and then opened his eyes to smile at me. I put on his jacket and put him in his buggy and off we went. He was very silent, probably confused as to where we are going so early in the morning. We entered the creche, I took off his jacket and then handed my baby over to the caretaker. He looked even more confused now, other babies came to greet him, and he stared at them with his big eyes. I stood by the door staring at him, I could stand there all day, but I had to go. So I bade farewell and walked out. From now till four hours I will have no idea what my baby does.
As I walked out of the creche I felt wierd, I wasn't pushing a buggy, rather swinging my arms on the side. I was looking around rather than looking at the cute face of my baby in front of me. When I entered the tram I was not confined to the buggy area, rahter I went inside and stood with all baby-less people. I approached my school realising that I had carried my baby to the school with me for eight months, and now I am going to school alone.
At school I could just not get my baby's face out of my head, the face that I left in the creche. In my break I called to find out how he was doing, they said he was asleep which calmed me down a bit. He was my only topic of conversation with my classfellows. The last half hour in school I kept looking at the watch of my classfellow
sitting opposite me. As soon as the lesson was over I walked at my maximum speed towards the creche. I opened the door and there he was, my baby. I couldn't stop kissing him. We came home cuddled and slept together for two hours. I just hope he didn't miss me as much as I missed him.

Baby in the tram

During my pregnancy I especially noticed how people with babies manage their prams and little ones in the tram, and it all looked very convenient. For the first two months it really was convenient for me as well, because my baby used to peacefully sleep in his pram. However, as soon as he went over two months he began to wake up, and when he woke up he cried unconsolably. His problem - "Hold me! Why have you trapped me in this stupid seat?"
I again looked around helplessly at other people who had calm and silent babies peacefully sucking on their pacifiers sitting in their prams. Mine wouldn't even try his dummy. As if this crying was not enough, I was introduced to a new rule about trams that I was previously unaware of. The tram doesn't allow more than two children buggies at one time. Some tram conductors are kind enough to let a third one enter, but others just shut the door on you, and you are left outside waiting another ten minutes for the next tram with a crying baby.
I honestly thought that my days of going out have ended, but today magically, when my baby is three months old, he reached a new milestone of remaining calm in his buggy. He was queit all the way from my house to Prinsengracht, a good 25 minutes journey.
I can't be happier! Just hope it remains this way for years to come.
All smiles :)))