Catching Up Points

As you can see I missed last Friday's Gallery and I haven't blogged about anything else for almost two weeks either, but I will try to catch up with this post and a few other posts coming up in the next few days.  So what have we been up to lately?

• My mum visited two weekends ago.  As you know, her visit ended up being a bit different than what we had planned - no time for Christmas shopping mainly - due to the flight debacle, but we had a good time anyway, and we went to the Christmas market at Sainte Catherine (too much ugly knick-knacks and kitsch, and too little genuine crafts) and baked both pepparkakor and lussekatter with Isolde.  Mamma, jag lägger upp bilder vid senare tillfälle!
• At work I have been rather busy, but there has also been time for some work-related social activities, e.g. two Christmas drinks (one with my unit and one bigger event with several units) and a lunch gathering at the Swedish Permanent Representation to the EU.
• In terms of non-work related social life, we have been to two adventsfikor (coffee, cake, glögg, etc.) at Petchie's, one with just us and one with other friends of theirs, and to the Lucia celebration (family friendly version) at the Swedish Church, and we've had Petchie and family over for dinner on Nobel Day (though with four kids we didn't get to watch much of the banquet on TV).
• Last weekend I managed to get most of the remaining Christmas shopping done by taking a trip to the nearest shopping centre to us which was open even though it was Sunday (not normally the case in Belgium but around holidays they can stay open), and also on Saturday the whole family went to the local toy shop here in Stockel (and for the best gaufres in town from the local market!).
• The whole family except me have had colds on and off, though Isolde has only had the sniffles so she has been attending school every day.  Harald, poor thing, was better for a while but has a fever today.  I hope he feels better by Saturday when we're flying to Sweden.
• I have started packing for our two weeks in Sweden, but will do most of the packing tomorrow Friday when I'm not working (last working day today, yay!).  It doesn't look like it's going to be that much colder in Stockholm than in Brussels, but I'll pack the snowsuits and winter boots just in case.  I really hope there will be some snow during the two weeks, for Isolde's sake!
• What else?  I've been preparing Christmas cards and other photo-related projects, and also performed my Secret Santa duties!  Tonight Isolde and I are going to bake gingerbread cake (mjuk pepparkaka) to give to her teachers tomorrow as a little token of appreciation.
• And only two days until we go to Sweden!  Can't wait!

Friday Gallery: Advent

Annika has taken over the hosting of the Friday Gallery for the month of December (and she's permanent hostess for the FG widget) and for our first task she's given us Advent. Easy one. This is what our home looks like since last weekend/first of advent:

Isolde helped out with the advent candles:

On First of Advent Isolde and I went to the Swedish church here in Brussels to get into the Christmas spirit: 

And of course I have to bring some "adventsmys" to the office as well:

And for those who have read the below post I'm happy to report that the ordeal was finally over just after 3pm today when I set foot at home again, 17 hours after planned arrival. The 10:35 flight this morning was of course delayed twice and it wasn't until 12:45 that we left Copenhagen. Next time I will definitely bring underwear and deodorant and a few other key items on day trips just in case. And by my next work trip I hope to have stopped breast-feeding, as towards the end of the delay my breasts were rather full and painful, after not having been "used" for over 36 hours. I don't nurse as much anymore but at least once every morning and twice at night, so still regular enough to keep milk production up. 

All is well that ends well, or however it goes. Peter made it to Stockholm as planned this morning and the kids had a great time with my mum. Isolde missed Saint Nicholas at school today but luckily she's too young to care, though apparently has little friends had missed her and even cried for her sake because she missed Santa (bless'em). 

Now I'm off to bed for some very needed sleep! 

A Long Thursday

Just a quick post this Thursday. As I write this I'm watching TV (rest in peace, Mandela) from a hotel bed in Copenhagen. I flew here this morning for meetings together with the European Commissioner for Employment but our evening flights were cancelled due to a big storm affecting a big area of Sweden and Denmark as well as other countries. This was not good timing for me at all, as my mum arrived in Brussels this evening and Peter is going to Stockholm for a couple of days tomorrow morning.

I should have seen this coming last night (I knew about the storm of course and that we might be affected, but there was also another bad omen), when I realised at 11pm when attempting to check in online that my booking reservation had never been confirmed. I called our travel agent and it was sorted, but perhaps it was a sign...if you believe in those things which I don't really but sometimes you wonder...

And today almost as soon as we arrived there was talk about closing the bridge between Denmark and Sweden (we flew to Copenhagen and then crossed the bridge by car to go to Malmö and Lund). Usually the trains can keep on running in much worse weather conditions than the cars, but in the afternoon they announced there would be no trains after 16:00. At that stage we couldn't get to the train station in time so our only option was to take the ferry between Helsingborg and Helsingör (a bit further north so a bit calmer). Unfortunately the drive on both sides of the straight was longer than we thought and due to the strong winds we couldn't drive as quickly as normal (and sometimes there were falling branches hitting the car), and soon it was clear that we wouldn't make our flights. My colleagues' flights got cancelled quite early anyway, and soon my flight was cancelled too, so rather soon we didn't have to worry about catching flights anyway. We rerouted to a hotel in the city (everything at the airport was fully booked) and after dinner at the nearest place (Hard Rock Café - haven't been to one for years) and a visit to a 24/7 pharmacy for deodorants, toothbrush, etc., I'm now hoping to get some sleep despite the noisy winds outside. 

I'm booked for the 10:55 flight tomorrow, by which time the storm will have hopefully moved on, fingers crossed! 

Friday Gallery: A Feeling

When you get home from work and your baby boy says "mamama" and wants you to pick him up right away and starts crying if you delay it more than a second because you need to take your coat off.  When you've been missing him all day and he shows with his whole body that he's been longing for you too. When you see that wonderful smile for the first time in eight hours. That feeling.

Channal has been our hostess this month. Next month is Annika's and will be all about Christmas! 

Last Thursday in November

• I found out today that I have a secretary at work. Just three months after I started haha :)  I of course knew that we have a few secretaries/assistants in the unit and I recall now that at some point I received an email with list of responsibilities for these colleagues and that one of them is working mainly for me and a couple of other colleagues.  But I had assumed that they were more working on administrative tasks given to them directly by the Head and the Deputy Head of Unit, and hadn't realised I could actually give them tasks or ask for help.  I'm so used to having to do everything myself from my previous job.  So for example, "my" (i.e. not just mine, I share him with several colleagues) secretary will book my flights for the business trip I'm doing next week and take care of all the related admin.
• I have lots of work at the moment.  Many briefings to write and also many conference and seminars to attend this time of the year.  And a fair share of training courses as well (though some sessions are perhaps only two hours long).  Luckily I haven't had to work that many extra hours (and I have flexitime so if I work longer one day I can leave earlier the next day, or accumulate and take half or a full day the following month) but it is hectic when I'm at work, and I also feel quite tired, especially this week. 
• Next week I'll be going on a business trip to Malmö and Lund in Southern Sweden for a day of meetings and study visits.  One of the briefings I've been working on is for this visit actually.  Luckily it is only for a day as my mum arrives that very evening.  
• Yesterday I went to my first after work drink since I got here. Well, that's not completely true as I've been out after work when a friend from Sweden was here for work, but this was the first proper AW with colleagues from the training course I went on in October.  I was home by 9om today as I felt a bit bad for Peter who's had a couple weeks of sick kids to take care of and has hardly been out of the house.
• And this week Peter has had both kids at home yet again, as Isolde came down with fever on Monday. It was really high, 40.7 at some point, which is probably a record for her, but Tuesday it was all gone. She stayed home Wednesday too though since it's a half-day anyway and she hadn't slept very well Tuesday night. Today was a school day and she was excited about going back. Harald is still coughing quite a lot at night and his node gets blocked but during the days he's fine and his appetite and good mood are back. 
• When Isolde had that high fever we gave her some paracetamol I bought here.  My that was some strong stuff!  I bought the kind appropriate or her weight (she weighs almost 12 kg), for 10-20 kg, which is 200 mg of paracetamol here, but in Sweden the strength for 10-15 kg is 125 mg.  We gave it to her just before bedtime, and it started working right away with the result that she didn't want to go to sleep.  After having been up for a while with us she fell asleep in our bed.  An hour or so later when we were going to bed we realised she was all wet because she had peed so much (fortunately she's still wearing nappies at night) and it had leaked in the front to her nightgown and onto our covers.  And when we took her temperature she only had 36.5.  It's like she peed the fever away instead of cold sweating.  Maybe it would have happened anyway but it feels like it was the paracetamol that did it.  Next morning she had normal temperature and the fever didn't return so I guess it was just some quick thing (or those paracetamol really scared whatever it was away for good!).
• My friend H. visited last weekend from Saturday to Sunday evening.  Saturday, after lunch she and I took a stroll around our neighbour and town centre (Stockel - Place Dumon).  It was fun for me to check out the shops, as I have hardly had the chance to do so since we moved here.  Afterwards all of us headed over to our friends Chris & Jacqui for fika (they know H. as well) and in the evening H. and I went out for dinner at one of the neighbourhood brasseries.  Actually my first evening meal out since we moved here.  On Sunday H. and I attempted to do some more shopping at a members-only outlet that P. invited me to.  We each bought one Christmas present, but then later when we were going to buy some more, the queues were so long (popular shop, especially since otherwise shops are closed on Sundays in Belgium) and we had to be back at a certain time in order to go and visit a friend of H.'s.  So I will have to go back this weekend to buy what I had picked out - hopefully I can still find the right sizes.  It was nice - mysigt - to have H. over and I hope she comes back soon (but before that we'll see each other in Sweden at Christmas), both on her own and with her family.
• In terms of other visits, I'm looking forward to my mum visiting next weekend, and we're also planning for my friend Jenny's visit together with her family in mid-end January.  Jenny normally lives in Brazil with her Brazilian fiancé and their daughter but she has just arrived in Sweden to spend three months there (so I will see her at Christmas too I hope).  Will be great to have them here next year!
• Isolde and I made some advent preparations earlier in the week and I will put up our advent lights tomorrow night or Saturday so we're ready for Sunday.  Last Friday we also bought a wreath for the door and an old-fashioned advent calendar at the Christmas bazar at the Swedish church. 
• By the way, before we went to the bazar last Friday we met my cousin Fredrik who's was in town on a very brief visit after a business trip to other parts of Belgium.  After a short tour of Grand Place and Mannekin Pis, we went to a very classic Brussels place, Le Cirio, for some food and drink.  This place was actually very child-friendly and we had no problems taking the pram inside and there was even a changing station in the toilets.  It was fun to catch up with Fredrik and we hope to see him too here again in the near future, hopefully with his family.

 

Christmas Gift Swap!

It's finally time for the annual Christmas gift exchange!  Emma is our coordinator as usual.  Visit her blog for more details, but just in case you're not a Swedish speaker (and you certainly don't need to be Swedish to participate), here are the instructions in English:

All participants will receive and give a present to someone still unknown... Email [Emma] at rappapiraya@hotmail.com by 1 December and provide your address, blog url (if you have a blog - not required), tre things you like and three things that are not you.  You will then receive an email back with name and address to a person to whom you should send a wrapped present (new and not used - but I think regifting is fine) and a Christmas card.  You will be provided information about things that person wish for / like / don't like and you are free to send something you think will be appropriate!  The value should be around 100 SEK (10 euros) and you should try to post it by 7 December.

It's really fun both to pick out something for the recipient, also to wait for a package from your own Secret Santa!

Friday Gallery: Portraits in Black and White

Friday again and time for the Gallery.  Channal is our hostess still and her topics for this week is portraits in black and white.  I don't have that many photos in black and white and even fewer portraits in black and white, but I did find these among my hundreds of folders.

Moi at age 2 or 3 (and I have shown this picture before)

Me in London in 1998.  When I still had three piercings in each ear haha.

Taken by one of those beach photographers that nag you to have your photo taken, south of France in, summer of 2000

Taken and also developed by my friend Åsa, unknown year, but early 2000s



Also taken by Åsa, of me with Harald in February of this year

Thursday Again??

• How is it already Thursday?!  Time is really flying and sometimes I feel like I only do half of what I want to get done.  On the other hand I'm not the kind of person who gets stressed.  It will all be fine in the end.  No use worrying.  That's my mantra.
• Isolde is well again except for a persistent cough, and has been at preschool all week, but Harald has been very miserable, poor thing.  He doesn't have any fever anymore, or very little, but his nose is still very clogged up and he coughs a lot, so he will probably need another few days to get well.  None of us have been sleeping very well since last weekend, and this week I have only slept 4-5 hours per night *yawn*.  Can't wait for the weekend to come so that I at least don't have to get up at 7am and go to work.  I have also started coughing a little bit, and my throat is a bit sore, but hopefully I won't get it bad, fingers crossed.
• Tomorrow we're hoping to meet up with one of my cousins who's in town on business, depending on his schedule.  We plan to have fika in the afternoon somewhere in town, and afterwards, when he has to head to the airport, we will go to the Swedish church's annual Christmas market.  Looking forward to it!  A bit of a start to the holiday season!
• Almost every day on my way to one of the lunch places I pass two beggars.  At least one of them is Roma, a woman who sometimes has her baby with her, and the other one is an old man, maybe also Roma?  I never give them any money, as I'd rather help in some other way through an organisation (or if I would give them something directly, perhaps some clothes or items for the baby), but I feel sorry for them and I feel bad every time I pass by without doing anything.  I really hope that the Belgian authorities could do more for them.  In Sweden they are not allowed to beg accompanied by their children; if so the authorities steps in and remove the children, which perhaps helps, at least the children and hopefully also the parents (but I'm not at all an expert on this issue). 
• I'm very disappointed in the level of recycling here in Belgium.  For some reason I thought it was one of the more advanced countries, and as all is relative perhaps they really are, but compared to Sweden they are well behind (and apparently Belgium didn't even have a functioning waste water system until the mid-2000s...).  In Sweden we can recycle most plastic (and in soft/light plastic bags and covering where my parents live) but here it is only plastic bottles or other drink containers.  So plastic boxes/hard packaging for minced meat for example is a no but I assume a schampoo bottle is a yes, even though it is not a drinkable fluid.  Also, there is so much packaging still in this country!  Toothpaste comes in a paper carton.  Same with a tube with tomato paste.  Teabags are always individually wrapped, and often in plastic, not paper.  All bisquits and cookies come with several layers of packaging (but we have noticed that it has benefits - the humidity in this country makes cookies go soft very quickly otherwise.  I could go on but I think you get the gist of it.  At least most paper and metal can be recycled.
• We are starting to plan our two weeks in Sweden at Christmas!  So far we have New Year's Eve planned, and a brunch with my group of girlfriends (childhood friends) and their families on the agenda, and an appointment with the Swedish children's health centre (BVC) booked (3-year-old check-up for Isolde and regular check-up for Harald).  I also need to book a hair salon appointment and I also want to use some gift vouchers at a beauty salon near our Stockholm flat.  Peter and I are also planning to have either set of grandparents babysit for a day so we can go to Raison d'Etre spa (at Grand hotel, best spa in town!) and to a restaurant for dinner.  We may also take Isolde for her 3-year-old dentist check-up (first ever dentist appointment!), but it could also wait until our next home visit in March or April.  And then there is Christmas and hanging out with family of course.  And see more friends.  Can't wait!
• But before then I'm looking forward to my dear friend H. visiting this weekend!  She's coming on Saturday and in the evening we're going out for dinner, something I haven't done since we moved here!  The rest of the weekend is not planned yet, but suffice to say it will contain eating and drinking, talking, seeing some other friends, maybe doing some shopping (I need to start my Christmas shopping soon).

At a Canteen in Brussels...

The other day when I went to have lunch in one of the work canteens I was a few minutes early, as I arrived directly from a meeting.  It was 11:55 and the canteens normally open at 12 noon.  I arrived at the same time as two other colleagues (whom I don't know but I call them colleagues here) and we start picking up trays and cutlery by the entrance. 

11:55
Canteen lady 1 [calling out]: "Midi, midi" (she means "we open at 12 noon")
Colleagues: "Yes, we know." [muttering about the service and rigid time-keeping]

11:57
[Female colleague goes up to the self-service sallad buffet]
Canteen lady 1: "Madame, madame, midi!"
Female colleague: "Yes, I know, I'm just looking."
[Canteen lady 1 says something more in French, presumably again about the time, resulting in female colleague returning to the entrance (5 metres away)]

Meanwhile more colleagues have arrived and started to queue up behind us.

11:59
Canteen lady 2: "Midi, midi!"
[Colleagues mutter]

12:00
Canteen guy 1: "Bon appétit!" [making welcoming gestures with hands]


I can understand that they don't want people to make a habit of arriving 10-15 minutes early, but a few minutes early??  3 minutes??  They were all ready by the looks of it, already manning their respective food stations.  And even if they would still be getting the last bits ready (removing lids from pots or what have you), they could at least let colleagues start taking from the sallad buffet, as it is self-service anyway.  Or at least let people enter the room for god's sake.

I don't know if it's due to work regulations or a very high time consciousness, or the usual lack of service-mindedness in this country (sorry, but it is true), but whatever the reason, they could at least have been a bit friendly instead of yelling at us.  If someone says "very sorry, you're a bit early and we're not completely ready, but bear with us a few minutes..." I would gladly wait until they are ready to open.

Anyway, a glimpse of working life in Brussels :)

Friday Gallery: Complementary Colours

Tricky topic Channal has chosen for today.  Complementary colours.  I remember learning in school - or maybe I read it somewhere - that the complementarity of red and green is the reason why surgeons and other medical staff (at the A&E mostly I guess) wear green clothes, so that blood won't be as visible, but I don't know if this is the only or main reason.

I looked through several albums for a good photo to illustrate today's theme, but the only photo I could find within limited time, is this one, from a market in Barcelona taken several years ago now.

November Thursday

• Peter's parents visited last weekend on route to Nice. We didn't do anything in particular except for having lunch at one of the brasseries around Place Dumon here in Stockel. On Sunday they went to a museum but we opted to wait for them at home as the weather was very interchanging, and it turned out to be a good decision because they were very disappointed with the museum visit. Turns out the Modern museum is not the size and kind it once was and all the items are in storage indefinitely. 
• We made use of the availability of babysitters last Friday and went to a surprise birthday party our friend J had put on for her husband C. He was really surprised and hadn't noticed that almost his whole office had sneaked out to get go their house before he did. J threw a surprise birthday party for C back in Sweden four years ago (that time I almost accidentally spoiled the surprise), so now we'll wait and see in which country the next surprise party will be a couple of years from now! 
• I have recovered completely from my breast infection and have had no new symptoms since last week even though I finished the antibiotics on Monday.  Fingers crossed I never get it again!  
• Isolde has been sick for a couple of days now with a cold and fever but seems to be getting better. Now Harald has a temperature though and is coughing a lot, but hopefully it's a quick thing for him too. Isolde missed school all week though, as Monday was a Belgian holiday (Armistice/Rememberance Day) and Friday is a teacher planning day, although we would probably have kept her home tomorrow anyway. 
• Last night Harald and I were over at P's for dinner (Peter and Isolde were invited too but had to stay at home due to Isolde's fever). Their friend A and daughter L were there too and all of us had a nice meal and chat. It's great having friends just next door! 
• We don't have any plans for the weekend, though I wouldn't mind checking out the Scandinavian shop in Waterloo or going to check out the members-only outlet near us, which P invited us to, but it depends on how the kids are doing.  We bought some lights for the balcony the other week so maybe we'll put them up already this weekend, even though Advent is a couple of weeks away.
• Remember I told you about all the dog poo in the streets? Today we had some in the entrance of our building when I returned from work, and someone had posted an angry note. Later this evening it had been cleaned but the note was still there, and I don't know if it was the actual culprit, the concierge or a neighbour who had cleaned it up. 
• I'm looking forward to my friend H coming to visit next weekend! 
• Brussels observation 1: Many people in Brussels put their rubbish out in the street for collection and when I walk to the metro/Isolde's school in the mornings I always see broken bags and rubbish spread out, after some animals (probably birds, but maybe also foxes or other smaller wild animals (rats??) have rummaged through them for food at night.  I guess it's convenient to have your rubbish picked up just outside the door, but not particularly pleasant for those of using sidewalks and pathways.
• Brussels observation 2: I have noticed that there seem to be few(er) overweight people here than in Sweden, which is generally quite healthy. They do love their chocolate here, including on bread in the morning, and children eat bisquits and drink chocolate (and there's even vanilla and chocolate formula!) at an early age.  While it doesn't seem to affect their waste, it can't be that great for their teeth though!

9 Months Old Today!

Where did the time go?!

Friday Gallery: Symmetry

The second theme of November, as chosen by Channal, is symmetry.  These photos may not be completely accurate for the theme, but they seemed semi-appropriate.  Last weekend when we were in England we visited my alma mater Oxford and my old college St Antony's to see the new Gateway Building.  I had been a bit sceptic about how it would fit on the premises without taking up all of the lawn and that it would look a bit of of place, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It - or actually they, as there are two buildings - melt in among the existing new(er) and old buildings and they don't take up any of the green space (though perhaps blocking some sunlight), and most importantly, they (especially the left building) hides the Hilda Beast.  I like how their positions are streamlined - and that's where I find symmetry - with the existing buildings and the glass and bronze walls.  Before there wasn't anything special about area between the original (main) building, the Hilda Besse and the grass, it was just empty pavement, but now it feels more planned and decorated, and in many ways more green than before.  The new lodge (reception in Oxford lingo) in the left of the new buildings was closed but maybe next visit we can see the buildings also from the inside, and perhaps also go to high table.

Peeking through.  Hilda Besse at the back, flanked by the new Gateway buildings.

The old original St Antony's building to the right and one of the new Gateway buildings to the left, with the Founders' Building (where I stayed for a year), down the middle at the back.

Better Thursday

• I'm finally feeling better after having developed mastitis, a breast infection, in my right breast. I've had some problems on and off for two months since I started breastfeeding less often, coinciding with me going back to work, but this time it got worse and I couldn't self-treat it. I had similar issues with Isolde after six months (though in my left breast) but never this frequent or bad. I started having a fever and headache (though I had already had a migraine since Saturday morning, which is something I get sometimes but usually not more than once monthly or every other month) on Sunday evening as we were driving back to Belgium from the UK (more on the trip below) and on Monday I had a fever of 39,6 'C. The migraine had gone away (usually lasts 2,5 days) but instead I had a really bad headache and pain in my body, especially in my legs and my neck and shoulders. If it wasn't for my swollen and painful breast I would have been sure it was a reaction from the flu jab from the week before, but I have never had a reaction from a jab before and besides, I don't think it would come four days later. Unfortunately our doctor, which we just listed with, is on holiday this week, and we weren't sure what to do in that situation, but I tried with the other doctor who shares the premises, and he was able to see me at 5pm on the Monday. He prescribed antibiotics and rest and also provided a sick leave certificate, which I need for work from the fourth sick day.
• I didn't know it then but I would take all week to get better. I still had fever Tuesday, and slight temperature yesterday, Wednesday, and the headache is finally almost gone now, Thursday evening, as is the body pain, though I still feel a bit weak. As for the breast, it wasn't until last night, Wednesday, after two full days of three pills a day plus the first dose on Monday evening, that it started feeling better. Still not normal but not aching or super tender anymore. I've only taken half of the antibiotics so I guess I couldn't really expect it to get better quicker but for a while it felt like "I'm never going to get better!".  I'm going to stay home from work tomorrow too in order to really recuperate. Also now I'm a bit worried about my left breast, which is a bit swollen, but I don't think it's inflamed or infected, rather it's due to infrequent nursing, as one of the cures for the sick breast is to use it as much as possible. One of the reasons for my problem in the first place is exactly this, infrequent breastfeeding, as I only nurse morning and evening.
• If after this ordeal is over I'm still experiencing problems, I need to seriously consider giving it up. I hope to be able to continue because the milk is still good for Harald and I really enjoy this special time with him, especially since I'm working during the day. He doesn't really like drinking from a bottle so it wouldn't really be the same feeding him porridge or something else in the evening (of course I feed him other stuff, but you know what I mean, while in my arms). So it's important for me, but not important enough to risk my health of course, especially not at the age he is now, almost 9 months. 
• But despite me having a migraine and coming down with mastitis, we had a really lovely time visiting our dear friends in England last weekend. I was there on a brief visit (literally a few hours) in December last year, but we hadn't been together all of us since Isolde was one and their daughter Imogen was two.  And since then two babies have been born (though I met their youngest Seren in December)!  We stayed at their house, four adults and four children under four, so it was, as in Kim's words "a wonderful kind of madness".  There was a mix of great play, kisses and hugs, fighting over toys and a few tears but mostly laughter and shrieks of joy.  I will post some photos from the visit later but here's a teaser.

• From this week Isolde is attending full days (08:30-15:30)  at pre-school, though this week is a bit irregular schedule-wise, as Monday she was on leave due to us returning from the UK very late Sunday evening, and Wednesdays are always half-days here.  But Tuesday and Thursday went well, including eating and sleeping, although the first day she hadn't want to sit still at mealtime - must have been exciting for her to be in the big refectory.  She really likes pre-school and every morning when she wakes up, even at the weekend, she ask whether she's going to "skolan"?  Hope it continues that way!
• Tomorrow Peter's parents are coming to visit for the weekend before they continue to Nice on Monday.  I'm a bit jealous, especially since we didn't get to go this past summer (the strike, if you remember).  Maybe we'll go in the spring at some point, even if for a long weekend or half-week.  We don't have any plans yet for this weekend - I suspect they just want to hang out with the grandkids and eat some nice food.
• I started watching the BBC series "Ambassadors" - there are only three episodes so far but I hope they will make more!  Highly recommended!

The Harald Report: 6-7 Months

Harald is already 8 ½ months old so this report is well overdue. 

• Let's start with the figures: 6 months: 8,390 gr and 67 cm; 7 months: 8,680 gr and 66.5 cm (apparently shrunk when he came to Belgium...); 7 months & 3 weeks: 9,010 gr and 66.5 cm (hopefully he will have grown taller at the next check-up?!)
• At the six-month check-up in Sweden just before we moved to Belgium the doctor checked to see if Harald could move a block from one hand to the other, but he wasn't able to do it (it wasn't something we had practised) or didn't want to demonstrate it, but obviously the week after he was clearly doing it.  She also checked if he would look for something falling on the floor, and this I had seen him do at home, but at the doctor he just wanted to smile and "talk" to the doctor :)
• He learned how to sit around 5½ months old, not as early as 4 months and 3 weeks like his sister, but she was very early.  Here in Belgium the child health centre (called ONE) was impressed that he could sit at 7 months but isn't it quite normal to sit at that age?!
• Harald made his first attempts to crawl at 6+ months.  First he was pushing himself a little bit backwards and trying to get up on his knees. From 7 months onwards he has been pulling himself forwards and is also standing on his knees and "wagging". Sometimes it looks like he is doing push-ups as he gets up on her toes and pushes his bum in the air. At almost 8 months he started trying to combine the two into proper crawling.
• His nickname is sälen, the seal! :)

• He has two teeth that came up in our first few weeks here in early September. He bites me sometimes but he did that even before he got teeth and it's less and less lately.  However he does bite or nibble our shoulders when we carry him, which can really hurt if he doesn't only get the clothes.
• We started giving him solids properly at 6½ months when we moved here and gradually he started eating more and more. He still hasn't get how to drink from a bottle or a sippy cup and only chews on it, but somehow manages to drink some anyway. During the day he doesn't need to drink much (except a little bit of water) but sometimes when he's tired it would be useful if he'd drink some formula instead of having to fed with a spoon.

• He has continued to sleep through the night from around 21 to 6 or 7 in the morning and if he wakes earlier he goes back to sleep after a quick feed.   I remember that Isolde used to sleep through the night 21-05 but she would cry out in her sleep and more often have "restless" sleep (and still does today). He usually naps twice a day or more but only shortish naps. I think there is usually one longer session but it depends on what Peter and the kids are up to, whether they are at home and he sleeps in the crib, or whether they are out and about.  But he rarely sleep for three hours, more like one-two hours.
• Harald is almost always happy and content and he's very easy-going most of the time.  His sister can be quite rough with him at times but he mostly accepts it. He only whines, doesn't cry, when he's not content or wants something.

• He has a wonderful laugh, especially when we play baka liten kaka with him, or when his sister is tickling him or running around being the grazy girl she is.
• He has practised with the toddler wobbler since we moved here when he was almost 6½ months old but he hasn't really walked with it until recently.

• He is liking the bath tub more and more and since we moved here Harald and Isolde have taken quite a few baths together, but not every time, as Isolde likes to splash a bit too much for Harald's liking.
• He likes the swing at the playground but unfortunately there is just one playground which has baby swings around here (what's up with that, Belgium?).
• When we first arrived here Harald had a period of a week or two when he just wanted to sleep on his tummy and with his face down, not on the side.  I had to go and turn him around, as I thought it was a bit scary, but he turned back all the time. 

• He likes his friend in the mirror.  We should have probably kept the toy mirror, especially since he hasn't met so many other babies here yet, poor thing.
• I feel a bit bad that Harald hasn't had the chance to go to baby swim and baby rytmic classes but on the other hand he has a sister who is always entertaining him so I don't think he's bored.  I also realised we haven't read to him that much, mostly just Isolde's book when we read to her and he joins in, but now I try to read more age appropriate stuff for him.
• We changed from the pram bassinet to the seat at around 7 months, as he only wanted to sit up anyway. He was sleeping better in the bassinet but he didn't want to lie down anymore when he was awake.

• Harald's favourite toys are his sister toys, including her Duplo blocks, and a Lamaze octopus Isolde had when she was a baby.  Also, phones and remotes are so much fun too.  Otherwise he probably doesn't have any real favourite toy or blanket or cuddly toy either for that matter. 
• He can be very cuddly, more than I remember Isolde being at this age, especially since I started working and he's missed me all day.  He puts his little face against my neck and sniffs me.  But mostly he just wants food when I get home (as I breastfeed him morning and evening).

Friday Gallery: Still Life

Channal is Friday Gallery hostess for the month of November and for today she's chosen "still life" (stilleben).

As we're on a mini-break to England, I just have my phone at hand, but I actually found a really fitting picture. 

Have a nice weekend!

Thursday Bullets

• Halloween will probably go largely unnoticed here today except that I will try to make pumpkin soup for dinner. I had plans to buy a pumpkin and carve it together with Isolde but we never got around to it. She doesn't care yet though so it doesn't matter and besides, she already celebrated Halloween at school last week. This weekend we will probably visit a pumpkin patch (with the usual Halloween activities) though when we see friends in the UK. 
• Isolde has autumn holiday this week and has been home with Peter and Harald (and keeping her dad busy). They had planned to go to the Swedish church to check out their play groups but turns out it is also closed this week. So instead they've been frequenting playgrounds and met up with P & kid(s) a couple of times. 
• Early tomorrow morning we're heading to the UK by car. Hopefully the kids will sleep part of the 6-hour journey. I'm really grateful that we hadn't planned to go last weekend with the storm that we felt parts of also here in Belgium even though we were just on the periphery of it.
• We will be coming back from our weekend trip very late Sunday night so I've taken Monday off (tomorrow Friday is a Belgian and also Commission holiday, All Saints Day).  I'm looking forward to sleeping in a little and hanging with Peter and the kids. We may take the opportunity to go to Ikea for some supplies (candles for the approaching dark season) and we also really need to buy some plants for both indoors and the balconies. It gets very humid in the flat due to tight windows so I hope the plants will help a little. 
• Peter has bought tickets to go home to see friends in December when my mum visits. I'm happy that he decided to go, as he doesn't have as many opportunities to meet people as me at work and I don't want him to get bored. That weekend is also his office's Christmas party so a good time to go home. And of course it's also good timing, as my mum will be here anyway to keep me and the kids company. 
• Last weekend we had a really nice time when P, O & kids came over for dinner. We managed to eat a three-course dinner even though it took us a few hours :) We clearly need to have more friends with kids over so Isolde learns how to share her toys. At the moment she's in a very non-sharing mood also with her brother. But I guess it's a phase and probably also due to the fact that she isn't used to having friends over anymore since we moved here. 
• We have registered the family with a doctor (thanks P for the recommendation). It's a one-minute walk from  home so very convenient.  To continue on the medical theme, I took this year's flu shot (offered at work) yesterday. I have never had the flu but I don't want to risk anything so since a few years back I usually take it every year. 
• I finally put Harald on the waiting list for the Commission's crèche (childcare) and also started contacting a few alternatives where we live (the Commission one is near work but it would be more convenient to have one near Isolde's school). He won't start until next autumn (September 2014) but there are queues almost everywhere so it cannot wait. 

Friday Gallery: Doors/Portals

I decided to tackle today's theme - doors or portals (portar in Swedish) - by taking some photos on my way home from the metro station after work today.

Every day I pass this beautiful entrance to someone's home just outside Isolde's school. 

And further down almost the same street there's a little chapel in disguise. Or a electricity station in disguise depending on what direction you are coming from. I wonder if it was a chapel (or altar, as you can't actually go into it) first or an electricity station first. 

And after that I'm almost home. I like the entrance to our building and especially the name of our building. Why don't Swedish buildings have names? 

Brussels Points on a Thursday

Just a few things I have discovered about Brussels/Belgium since I moved here.

• There is no hot water in public toilets (or in the lavatories at my workplace either for that matter).  A bit of a contrast to e.g. the UK where there's usually only hot water and often too hot water (e.g. Heathrow).
• Similarly, there is only cold water in the guest loo in people's home usually as well, including in our flat (luckily we have hot water coming out of the taps in the bathroom ha ha).
• What's up with all the dog poo in the street??  Have you heard of those little bags?  Or show your dog to a bush at least where it can be hidden.
• The police often close of streets for no apparent reason??  I think they just need something to do and/or assert their power.
• At work, the men (who are from a range of European, and mostly continental, countries, so this is not particularly or only Belgian) are all very gentlemanny and want to open doors and let you lead the way, but that's all wasted on a Swede of course.  I don't see the point of having to squeeze by someone from the back of the lift or through a door, just because the man should hold the door to the woman.  It makes more sense for whoever is closest to the exit of the lift to go first and that whoever is closest to the door, man or woman, opens it and holds it for the other.
• Belgian houses are made of brick, brick and brick.  In different shapes and colours.  I like it!  Very little maintenance for house owners and it's easy to vary the design of the houses.
• Speaking of house design, almost every house is different from the next one, even if they are townhouses in a row and share a wall.  Well, except that they are all made of brick.
• Very few parents (seen a handful since we got here) use (or even buy) a carrycot for their pram and instead only use the carseat.  It can't be that "dangerous" as some Swedish parents seem to think (not me, though I do think babies sleep better in a carrycot), as then the majority of European children would have crooked backs.
• Why do some metro stations play such loud music?  I don't mind some background music but in some stations it's like small concert.  Aren't commuters already stressed enough (not even lous classical music is relaxing in my view)?
• I'm often surprised at how many young, well-educated people (e.g. doctors and teachers) don't speak English.  Okay, I know the Belgian complexities with language, the French v. the Dutch speaking, etc., but still.
• More people seem to smoke here, and also many young people.
• Our neighbours are friendly and polite and not only says hi/bye (which our neighbours in Sweden also do, yes, I promise), but also wish you a good day.  This is also the case at work.  There is a lot of bonne journée, bonne soirée and bon appétit (at lunch time they assume you're going out for lunch).  I will start wishing my neighbours god kväll when we've moved back to Sweden, even if it's not a neighbour I see that often.
• Belgian (and many other European) supermarkets have not "discovered" the brilliant idea of dividing the checkout band, which means the next customer have to wait until the other person has paid and packed their stuff, before the cashier can start scanning the products.  And sometimes the band is so short so they the cashier has to take pauses in the scanning to allow the customer to pack.  We shouldn't stress, I know, but I rather spend 10 minutes less in the supermarket and 10 minutes more with my children on a given evening.  (I'll deal with customer service and efficiency some other time...).

Friday Gallery: Lock(s)

This was a difficult theme.  I couldn't really find any photos of locks (lås) in my albums and I didn't have time to take any new photos. But in the end I found one that fit the theme.  It's taken by Isolde at last weekend's visit to the automobile museum Auto World.  Isolde has just recently become interested in taking photos herself - before it was just looking at the photos afterwards - and you can see that she needs some practice :)

Birgitta is our hostess for the month of October. If you want to participate in Friday Gallery, let us know through the widget on Annika's blog.

Thursday Again

This post is dedicated to Mette! ;)

• This week has been busy work-wise (not too many extra hours but hectic while at work) and I can't wait for the weekend to come! I'm looking forward to getting some sleep (as much as you can get with two small children - luckily they don't wake up as early as they used to) and hanging out with my family.
• This weekend I'm also looking forward to having our lovely neighbours over for dinner. Peter has seen them (or at least three out of four family members) several times but I haven't seen them for over a month (since E was one week old and now she's six weeks!). 
• Today and tomorrow I'm attending a conference on youth unemployment. I discovered that the venue also has a spa - must check if it would be a nice place to spend a day or even spend the night. It's located outside of town in the - currently very autumn beautiful and colourful - forest. 
• Harald turned 8 months last weekend (12th) and it reminded me that I haven't posted his 6-7 month-old report yet. On the to do-list for this weekend!
• Last weekend we had a lovely visit by my parents. The weather wasn't cooperating for most of the visit except for on Saturday when we were even able to have lunch outside. But more about visits in a separate post!
• We have finally booked tickets to go and visit friends in the UK at the turn of the month! We'll be driving and on the way there we'll cross the English Channel by ferry and on the way home we'll take Le Shuttle, i.e. the train for cars. 
• Isolde will have a week off pre-school at the end of the month (just before our England trip) and when she returns she'll start attending full days (08:30-15:30), which means she will also eat and nap there. We just filled out her food order for November. The food sounds really good - it's always three-course lunches - and sounds much better than Swedish preschool and especially school lunches, but I heard at the parent teacher conference that there's a new provider and people aren't that happy, so we'll see. But you have to agree with me that this sounds delicious! 

5 November: turnip soup - salmon, macaroni and spinach cream - gruyère - biscuit
6 November: split pea soup - diced chicken, haricots provencale, bulgur - fruit yoghurt
7 November: parsnip soup - beef stew, garden vegetables, parsley puré - dried fruits

8 Months Today!

I almost forgot that Harald turns 8 months old today!

Friday Gallery: Windows

My plan was to show my windows and our new (or recycled from our previous homes really) curtains but I didn't get around to take any pictures yet so I had to think of something else. A quick look through my iPhone, which I recently emptied, didn't come up with much but I did find two pictures of the kids (of course) who fit this week's theme.

Harald was looking through the window at Isolde playing with her friend Daniel in the garden last weekend. He was really interested in what they were doing and would have crawled outside if the glass hadn't stopped him. It made me reflect over how amazing the world is to him all the time. He's experiencing new things every day and his big eyes are following his sister wherever she goes and whatever she does. He's almost always happy and hardly ever bored. And even she's picking a fight he's smiling :) 

Thursday Points

• My parents have just arrived to spend the weekend with us. My mum came with the kids and me when we moved here at the end of August and also visited me when I lived here back in 2002/2003, but my dad has never been to Belgium. So we'll do some touristy stuff at the weekend, probably a repeat of when Maria and Daniel were here a couple of weeks ago. Tomorrow I am working but my parents, Peter and the kids will explore our neighbourhood and/or go to Tervuren (forest/park). 
• This week I've attended a three day training course on working for the EU covering everything from basic EU knowledge (mainly on institutions and the links between them) to working in an extremely multicultural environment (I'm still amazed every day just how many nationalities there are - I knew it already of course, but now I'm really realising it) to problem-solving skills to procedures. It was a really interesting and good course that really concentrated on our work situation and personal skills and competences. It was extremely interactive (sometimes a bit too much for my taste, such as making short plays to illustrate situations; acting is not my thing) and almost everything was done in pair or groups. The majority of the participants were newcomers like me who have arrived within the last six months. Really good crowd, and I hope to see some of them again. 
• Tomorrow it's back to (real) work again and I have several urgent tasks waiting and next week looks to be a busy one too. The honeymoon is definitely over! But it's fun so I'm not complaining, just stating fact! 
• We're planning to drive to the UK to visit friends for a long weekend at beginning of November. We just need to book the train or the ferry to cross the channel. Can't believe we can actually drive from here to see our friends! It's supposed to take 5,5 hours non-stop but travelling with two young children means we'll take our time. 

Friday Gallery: Walls

I had missed that Friday Gallery started up again in September due to our move to a new country (I think I'm excused for missing it!), but now with life having returned to some sort of normalcy, I should be able to blog on a more regular basis.  So here's the first post for October.  Birgitta is our hostess (as in picking the themes) this month and for today she has picked "walls".

Today I can only think of one thing when I think of "walls", and that is the grim pictures from the latest accident involving people wanting to get to Europe from across the Mediterranean.  Over 100 are dead and even though many have been rescued from the burning and sinking boat, about 200 are still unaccounted for.  I know the issue is very complex (or, you could actually argue it is not), but in principle I think we should really welcome everybody.  I don't like so-called Fortress Europe.  If we had more normal routes for migration, whether it is political, economic or human reasons, we wouldn't thousands of people arriving dead (or never arriving at all) on the shores of Europe.

Image borrowed

Thursday Points

An update is long overdue.  What has happened since last?

I like the "Thursday in bullet points" that Annika started so will try to post a list every Thursday at least, even if there's no time to write much else (and I'll try to join the Friday Gallery crowd too).

• To pick up where I left off last, Isolde is still enjoying maternelle.  She did have a dip after that first week and after the weekend, where she was really miserable on the following Monday and Tuesday, and didn't want to go and was very upset when we left her.  But Wednesday it was a little bit better and Thursday and Friday she was back to her happy self, and skipping into the classroom.  The week after went well, not a single tear, and this week has been the same.  She has a new teacher - unfortunately the first one was only substituting while the ordinary teacher was recovering from appendicitis - but the ordinary one seems good too, even if she isn't as sweet as the old one (and the new one doesn't speak English, which the old one did*).
• Last week I attended a two-hour parent-teacher conference in French and even though I didn't understand more than a third of the words spoken, I think I got the gist of it.  I was pretty tired afterwards after all that concentrating!  We first gathered in the refectory for the first 45 minutes or so and then continued in the classroom for class specific information with the teacher.  It was interesting to find out a little bit more about a day at preschool, or half-a-day in Isolde's case.  For example, in the morning they assemble and sing a welcome song and go through who's there and what day it is.  They have a painting of the school building where they put cutout dolls made of photos of the children and the school mascot to show who's at school that day.  And they learn the names of the days of the week through putting a different stuffed animal in the basket for that day.  Isolde's favourite activity at preschool is painting and gymnastics. 
• We've had our first "dinner party", to which we invited our friends Chris and Jacqui whom we know from Stockholm (C. and I used to be colleagues) and who have been living here now for three years but will sadly move to the UK in April.  We took the opportunity to eat some crayfish for our starter dish, since we had discovered that Ikea sold crayfish packets.  They were actually pretty good, considering they came from Ikea!  C. also invited us to join them for "champagne tea" at the British Embassy, which sounds fancy but was a low-key affair, although the surroundings were very nice as the Residence of the Ambassador (or Ambassadors, as the ambassadors to Belgium, EU and Nato share the building for entertainment purposes) is an old château-like house, which has recently been refurbished to its original glory. It was the first time since we moved here that we had available babysitters - Peter's parents - so it was nice to get away just the two of us for a few hours. 
• We've had our first sets of visitors (not counting my mother who accompanied us when we arrived and stay over that first weekend).  Our friends Maria and Daniel were here this past weekend and Peter's parents the weekend before.  Now we have a "free" weekend before my parents arrive next Thursday.  When Peter's parents were here we mostly hung out in the neighbourhood, as they lived in Brussels for three years in the mid-2000s and know the city very well already, but as M & D had never been here we spent Saturday exploring the usual tourist sites including Grand Place and Manneken Pis.  We took both sets of visitors to a brasserie in Parc Woluwe , as they serve great food but also have a playground, and we'll probably take my parents there too.  Otherwise we had almost all meals at home, and took the opportunity to have three-course dinners and drink plenty of nice wine.  When Peter's parents visited Sunday was a car-free day as part of mobility week, so it was a perfect day for a long walk, and we took M & D on a similar walk to show them our beautiful neighbourhood.  We were very lucky with the weather both weekends, especially this past weekend (and today it was 20 degrees and I had lunch outside with some work colleagues).
• We celebrated our dear neighbours' son V's second birthday, and of course the arrival of his baby sister E a few days before. I visited P and E in the hospital and it was interesting to see the insides of a Belgian maternity ward and hear about giving birth in Belgium. Not that dissimilar from Sweden but at the same time some differences in practices and methods. 
• The "honeymoon" at work is over and I've started being quite busy, which is fun but also a bit "scary" since there's still so much to learn.  Today I had to give a presentation to a group of Swedish visitors.  It was on quite basic stuff but since I only found out about it yesterday - my colleague who was supposed to present has back problems and couldn't come to work - it resulted in a little bit of nervousness.  It went well, but they had a few tricky questions that I had to admit I couldn't answer right now.  Anyway, good to have that first presentation out of the day!  I have also been to my first conference and also attended several training courses.  Next week I'm doing a three-day course that is mandatory when you're new, Working for the EU, which I'm really looking forward to.
• Peter has taken Harald to the child health centre (called ONE here; BVC in Sweden), once just for a weigh-in a couple of weeks ago, and for a check-up, vaccination and weigh-in this week.  He's now 9 kg and 67 cm tall (or short, as he hasn't grown much length-wise in the last month).  He's starting to crawl now and he also wants to stand up - holding our hands or standing against a piece of furniture - all the time.  But more about Harald in a separate post!
• We now have a dishwasher since a couple of weeks back - having to live without one our first few weeks here was horrible haha! 
• I've tried to start going to bed earlier now that I'm a working girl, but usually I'm failing, and so too tonight as the time is already 23:30.  But it's Thursday and only one more working day, so I don't care!  But Sunday night onwards it's bedtime at 10pm!  Wish me luck, I need it :)

* I'm astonished over how few speak English here, especially (or mainly) among the Francophone (the Flemish are better), even young(ish) people, and even among those with higher education, e.g. teacher and doctors.

Maternelle

Monday Isolde started maternelle, which is what Belgian preschool is called, and she has now completed her first week.  The Belgians call it school and it's also (usually) housed in a regular school, but in effect it is like Swedish preschool förskola, with some differences.  Some maternelles don't admit children until the age of four (e.g. the European Schools) but most Belgian schools, and especially the municipal ones, welcome children from the age of two and a half.  Before that there are nurseries, crèches, for babies and toddlers from three months old and up, and most of them welcome children up to four years old.  Maternelle, as it's considered school, is free of charge (but not free of expenses), whilst crèche can be quite pricey (at least compared to Swedish fees), around 6-800 euros per month. 

Isolde is only attending in the morning to start with, 08:30-11:45, but eventually, when we feel she's got used to it, especially a new language, she will stay the whole day until 15:30.   Then she will eat lunch and also nap there.  Once we're both working she will have a longer day, but then she will take part in after-school care (and before school if we need it), garderie, that is offered in the school but not necessarily in her classroom. 

So what is different from a Swedish preschool?

• As it is in a school the activities take place in a classroom rather than in several smaller rooms (at least at Isolde's school; some maternelles are different), though the toys and materials are similar to Sweden (just a bit more plastic haha) and they have organised the room so it feels like several rooms.
• The children wear their shoes indoors, i.e. the same shoes they arrived in (and that is also true for a lot of other countries of course but not Sweden).
• The children must have a backpack so that they can bring a snack and also take home notes from the school.
• There are set school hours (but garderie outside of those hours as explained above).
• There's no induction and parents are not allowed to stay, not even on the first day.  Crèches on the other hand have an induction period, but usually they are still only babies when they start there.  Two and a half is not that old either in my view, but when in Rome...
• The school requires the children to be potty trained though accidents are allowed of course and some schools help more actively with the training than this particular one.  This is why we had to get Isolde dry and as you know, we were successful!  Though she had two accident this week but only two in a whole week is alright I think.  The toilets are very typically French/Belgian - no seat and they have to sit directly on the cold porcelain, poor things! The children attending all day are allowed to wear nappies for the sieste however.
• We have to provide the school with certain items such as wipes (2 packs), tissues (2 boxes), paper towels (1 roll), glue (3 sticks) and plastic bags for dirty or soiled clothes, as well as a box for Isolde change of clothes. 
• We have to pack a snack, mainly fruit, every day for morning snack time and when she goes a full day, also for the afternoon I think.
• Once she starts attending all day we will pay for lunch.  It's not too expensive though and they get a two-course lunch (main meal and dessert), and also soup if we want.  At some school you can also pay for milk to go with morning snack time but I haven't heard anything from our school about that yet at least.
• Staff levels are lower.  I don't know yet exactly how many they are in Isolde's class but I think at least 12 and there's one teacher and one teacher assistant.  Many of the children only attend the morning like Isolde though.
• They follow school hours, so this means the day starts 08:30 and finishes either 11:45 or 15:30 (garderie available outside these hours as mentioned earlier) and if you want to pick them up earlier than 15:30 you can't do it before 14:30 because before that it's lunch and nap time. 
• On Wednesdays, like in France, school is only a half-day (earlier there used to be a half-day on Saturday instead but while that has been abolished the half-day Wednesday remains.  Not very practical for working parents, but fortunately the garderie simply opens earlier on Wednesdays.
• As it's part of school, once we're both working we need to find a solution for the school holidays such as Easter and the summer (Christmas we'll be in Sweden for two weeks anyway), as the school closes during these periods.  Crèches on the other hand are open throughout usually though apparently close for a certain period around Christmas and Easter.  In the summer there are other places that offer activities, so eventually we'd have to enrol Isolde in camp or similar during the summer.

What else could be interesting to know?  Most schools in Belgium are divided according to language (French and Dutch), and some are very strict and only allow one language to be spoken and sometimes even have separate school yards (won't go into Belgium's historical political, cultural and lingual complexities now...), but as Isolde's school is a municipal school, both languages are spoken but I think the teaching is in French only, or at least the main language is French.

Beyond the two Belgian languages (well, actually there are three; German as well), many other languages are spoken at Isolde's school as it's a very international area we live in.  Apparently it has as many as 40 nationalities.  In Isolde's class there are several Japanese children, and in the school in general, which is due to a Toyota factory and test runway nearby.

You can read more about the school here and if you go to galerie there are lots of pictures.

So how was Isolde's first week?  Well, it went far beyond our expectations.  We were quite worried about the first day, as we wouldn't be allowed to stay with her.  And we were also worried about the fact that the doesn't understand the language.  And finally we were worried she would not want to use the toilet or that they wouldn't be able to remind her often enough (or that she wouldn't understand), and that there would be a lot of accidents (and we were really hoping she wouldn't do no 2 there!).

Isolde ready for her first day

But turns out we didn't have to worry (although we are prepared there could be a backlash at some point)!  Isolde is just amazing, we're so proud of her!  We had talked about her going to preschool again and she was looking forward to it.  We had also talked about making new friends but I think maybe she still thought it was her old preschool in Sweden she was going to, or maybe not as she seems to have understood that we now live here and Sweden and other things are not here.  So even though she didn't really want to stay long when we visited the week before (although it might have been because there weren't any other children there then), she was very happy on her first day and wanted to start playing right away and she didn't mind being left there at all.  When Peter picked her up three hours later there had been no tears and no wee wee (well, only in the toilet where it should be). 

The week has continued in the same fashion - she skips happily through the corridor to her classroom and says "bye mummy" even before I've had the chance to help her take her sweater off and hang up her backpack.  Wednesday morning I didn't leave right away because on the Tuesday she had peed her pants after I had left, so I wanted to double-check that she didn't need to go to the toilet.  But then she wanted to leave with me again.  But I started talking about the toy cars and that maybe they would get to paint (she loves painting) and then she was fine again and I took the chance and left.  One day she had been a bit upset because we had packed peach for her and she apparently wanted other fruit, and on Thursday she didn't make it to the toilet again, but otherwise, no difficulties.  It probably helps that she's been to preschool before and that the concept is not new to her (even if it's a bit different from what she's used to).  And maybe the fact that she's quite a late talker, and she's used to people not understanding her and having to make herself understood with body language, helps her now in an environment where she doesn't understand the language.  They say that the language won't be an issue before long.  They told us that the children usually pick up quite a lot in two-three weeks; they have more trouble with the parents!  Luckily Peter and I speak a little bit of French (and we're planning to refreshen our knowledge of course) and one of the teachers also speak English.  So a very good first week!

Now a well-deserved for all of us before another week of preschool, work and daddy duty!