Little Swimmer

We've been getting Luna used to her splash pool. The first try was a little rough, she didn't care for it much. But we tried again today, this time using the little seat from her bath, and she did much better. She even smiled a few times! We splashed a bit and squirted water on her and each other with the pool toys. She might have stayed in all afternoon if we hadn't heard her fill up her swim diaper and decided it was time to clean up!

More photos and videos of the swimming pool adventures here!

Another Facebook Whore

I finally gave in and signed up for Facebook. I had no choice, very few people can be bothered to read my blog and I do want to keep in touch with everyone from back home. Besides, I wanted to play Farmville. :P I've reconnected with a bunch of old friends already.

I will keep blogging, and I appreciate those of you who read it regularly!

New videos and photos up on Photobucket!

Luna is learning to talk, she makes the greatest noises!! She's growing so fast! Her sleep issues are getting worse and worse - she still will not sleep alone, and now she is starting to have trouble sleeping in the wrap as well. Her eczema seems to be better most days. The reflux medicine works, but not 100%. We love our difficult baby!

By the way, the hat I am wearing in this pic is one of two Red Sox hats I wear all the time! Spreading the Sox love here in Belgium. :)

Family and a Friend

This is Luna with the toy frog Grammy N sent her over with my mother. She loves to eat him. :D

Its been several days since my mother left, and I miss her very much. It was so nice to have her here. G says I was happier than he has seen me since I moved here. But, as she says to Luna, Gramma had to go back into the box (the box being the computer screen where she talks to us on Skype).

One thing that has made it much easier is my new friend A. I spent the day at her house on Tuesday, just hanging out and talking. Both babies slept most of the day, but at one point they were both awake and sitting on our laps and they just stared at each other. It was so funny! A and I get along great, its like we were meant to be friends. We have so much in common!

G had Wednesday and Thursday off, and we enjoyed two lazy days at home. He is working tonight, but he has the weekend off as well. We've been enjoying playing with the baby and watching her smile.

Luna continues to grow and change faster than I can believe. Unfortunately, she continues to refuse to sleep alone. I've spent hours over the past few days trying to convince her to sleep in her cradle, her crib, and her bassinet, but she absolutely refuses. When she's in a good mood, she lays in them kicking and talking and staring at a mobile or whatever, but never ever falling asleep, no matter how tired she was to begin with. When she is in a bad mood (as she was this afternoon), she lays in them and screams until I give up (I lasted 40 minutes this afternoon). She simply will not sleep alone. She sleeps in the Moby wrap and in bed with me, but if she accidentally falls asleep somewhere else, such as in the carriage or in the swing, she wakes up within 15 minutes and will not go back to sleep. So, does anyone have any suggestions??

Ghent

Yesterday we visited Ghent. It was a long day - we were out for 11 hours altogether. Luna travels like a pro, she was so well behaved! Our little world traveller!

Ghent WOULD be beautiful city, in fact, G says its his favorite city in Belgium. But we got there and discovered the entire city is under construction! Its massive in scope - imagine hundreds of tourists crowding through little makeshift bridges and walkways made of loose boards. It was nearly impossible to get a picture without scaffolding or a dump truck in the frame, and it was insanely dusty! We were all filthy when we got home.

We just wandered around the city, picnicking next to the river and meandering through streets. We had dinner at a little pizzeria called Pinnochio's. We first tried another pizzeria down the street, but the asshole waiter was giving us a hard time about parking Luna's carriage and was being extremely unaccommodating, so we got up and left. Some places are really not baby friendly! G said we should have taken a picture of the place so I could post it on my blog and warn others away, but we didn't. :)

Today is Antwerp, another long hot day. Hopefully Luna continues to behave like a little angel!

Shot to the Heart

Luna had her first immunizations today and it was awful! For me, that is. She screamed like crazy when it happened, but five minutes later was smiling again. I nearly cried. I asked the doctor to give them to me instead, but she said it doesn't work that way. :P I haven't noticed any fever so far, so hopefully she will escape reaction free, but we have a fever medicine handy just in case. She's been very restless today and hasn't really settled in for a good nap, but I don't know that its related to the shots.

Though we saw some early improvements in the reflux with the new medicine, the last couple of days haven't been quite so good. She's been very fussy again and we've noticed some of the old symptoms returning. Hopefully things will continue to improve from the medication.

The most exciting thing happened today while we were at the immunization office! I had Luna down on the floor playing, and I heard another mother talking to her baby in English! We started chatting, and it turns out she is the "other American" that was on the maternity ward in the hospital at the same time as me! She's from Arkansas originally, and like me, she married a Belgian. We exchanged information, and will hopefully be getting together soon.



Mom and I took Luna to Leuven the other day, and we were out for about 6 and a half hours altogether. Luna woke twice to eat, but otherwise snoozed happily in the wrap all day. All three of us got new shoes - Luna's are the most adorable tiny pink sandals! Unfortunately, tiny as they are, they are too big still.