Axel has so much energy and just wants to move constantly that it has always been a struggle to take him to restaurants. But after my birthday trip in Paris, I was in awe of all the toddlers walking and not in strollers, sitting at restaurants, and doing all of these things with the grown ups, instead of the grown ups following the kids around, doing everything the kids wanted to do. So we started taking him to a local cafe, sitting, and getting him used to sitting at a restaurant. It's gone pretty well so far, but our time limit is pretty short. We pretty much get max a half hour, but we'll take what we can get.
Last weekend we went to Sweden for Easter. It was so nice to be back and see Johan's family and walk to the shops in town. It was also bone chilling cold....either at or below freezing. All of the lakes were still frozen over as well, that was crazy to see at the end of March.
Axel has a couple of new words. They are not actual words, but a deformation of what he thinks the word should be. For example, "door" in Spanish is "puerta", so he says "gggggga". Kind of sounds like if you would gurgle then add an a at the end. I think he says it this way because he can't roll his r's yet. He also points to where he wants you to sit and says "sits". So I guess that's Swedish, "sitt"? He can't say he's hungry yet, so he will put his hands up to his mouth and say "nom, nom, nom" to let us know he's hungry. He is absolutely obsessed with trains, or "choo choo", as he calls it. All day every day he asks for choo choo. He is also obsessed with his sippy cup of water, or, "agua", as he calls it. It is his security blanket. We take it on stroller rides, have it in hand around the house, and he takes it to bed with him.
Sleep has been interesting lately. We were on such a good schedule, then we went to Sweden. We didn't bring his tent, so it was really hard getting him to sleep in the pack n play at Johan's parents' apartment. He climbed out of it and cried and cried. So we ended up reclining the stroller and taking him for walks. He'd fall asleep and we'd just wheel him into the bedroom. At bedtime, we'd take a walk, then transfer him to the crib after he passed out. Now back in his tent in Turnhout, it was rough the first night. He didn't want to be left alone and woke up the entire night, and I had to lay next to him until he fell asleep. But he's getting adjusted again and is starting to fall asleep by himself and is finally sleeping through the night again.
He has become pickier with what he eats. I try to give him new things every once in a while, but the foods I can be sure he'll eat are shepherds pie (with carrots), spaghetti bolognese (also with carrots), avocado sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, and yogurt with granola. Green veggies are tough, I might have to blend them into the sauce somehow. And if he hates my food, I always have a large jar of toddler food on hand, which he loves. Why don't they sell this in the U.S.? It's a lifesaver.
Now we have two weeks left here in Turnhout. I am feeling ready to go back home, but am also really loving my Mom group and all the wonderful people I've met here. I love Ramona, Marjan, and Saartje. They are all fun to talk to and have the cutest kids.
Today we actually jogged to daycare! When we got there I noticed the Muslim woman who runs it wasn't wearing her head scarf. I don't know much about Islam, so I asked her why she wasn't wearing it. She said because there were no men around. I didnt know that was why they wore the scarves, to cover their upper bodies. I was curious, so I asked her more questions. She told me about the religion, and how important it is for Muslims to pass the religion on to their kids. But she also said that it's hard being a Muslim in Europe, because they want to raise their kids with this religion that many people dont understand. for example, the head scarves, and they don't eat pork, etc. She also said it's harder after September 11th.
I told her I thought it was sad how some Christians have acted toward Islam after 9-11. I told her that we were Christians, but that our church teaches the importance of loving people from other religions. That our former church invited leaders from other religions such as Judaism and Islam to come and speak. Not with the goal of changing what we believe, but to encourage a respect, understanding, and hopefully, a love for those who believe differently from us. We talked more, and at the end, I had such an immense respect for her. I could tell that she had a huge heart for God and that she was truly loving and kind. I have never really spoken deeply with a Muslim before, and now I feel like I have a very high respect for them, regardless of our religious differences. It's also really cool to see that Muslims in our mom group in Turnhout are not segregated, they all talk and seem to really respect each other. You would expect the women with head scarves in one corner together, and the ones without in another corner, but it's not at all that way. Everyone is friends. That is so refreshing. Why can't the rest of the world be like this?
