Paris - Day 2

Well, we're up to Day 2, and this means the Palace of Versailles! We chose to do the Palace on Saturday because Jess had not done it yet, and we planned an entire day for it because Jess had heard that doing the Palace and the grounds would take nearly all day. We found ourselves on an RER train, which took about an hour to get there, so Jess helped us entertain Carsten :)

Jess with Carsten on the train!

Once we got to Versailles, we walked from the train station to the Palace, which was about a 3 block walk. Once we got a view of the palace, we were amazed at the sheer size and at all the golden accents. It even had a golden gate. Simply amazing.

Initial view of the Palace.

The part that I had been looking forward to most, which I think came from learning about it in my high school European history class, was the Hall of Mirrors. And my anticipation couldn't even begin to describe the beautiful hall. As promised, there were many mirrors with lovely chandeliers, granite and golden accents galore, and a beautiful painted ceiling. The room also looked out on the length of the gardens, which were also quite beautiful. The king's bedroom and apartment were just behind the mirrors, which I had noticed that most, if not all, the mirrors were actually doors as well. So beautiful. Seriously! I should also mention that most of the rooms had beautifully painted and gilded ceilings as well, so this room was not at all unusual except for the mirrors, chandeliers, and sheer size. :)

Hall of Mirrors. Stunning.

Our Huisman family in the Hall of Mirrors. Carsten was sleeping through the Hall of Mirrors, but he was there! 

The only picture of all 4 of us was in one of the mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors. Beautiful :).

As you can see by the many people in this photo, we were not the only tourists to want to see the Palace in March. In fact, in the rooms just after the Hall of Mirrors, the walkway narrowed significantly such that it was difficult to move and even see things due to the crowds. Carsten was sleeping and we were getting a bit peopled out, so instead of seeing the next section of the palace immediately, we decided to walk the grounds instead.

Jess, Carsten, and I in front of the palace.

The grounds included massive, grand gardens where nearly everything was molded into perfection. There wasn't a whole lot in bloom yet, but we did get to see some lovely daffodils and tulips. This picture shows just a very small section of the gardens. There were many lakes and fountains but unfortunately, the fountains were not on yet.

After walking the gardens for a while, we went in search of some food for lunch and found a sandwich shop. So, we elected to have a picnic right on the large pool since it was such a nice day. This was Carsten's first official picnic! Which means that if he wasn't a baby, he'd have high expectations of picnics in the future. Fortunately for us, he is a baby and will be happy pretty much wherever he is :). We ate our sandwiches in the sunshine while Carsten played on our coats that we had laid out for him. Then we even fed Carsten some carrots and potato baby food, which was pretty messy. 

Carsten playing on the lawn of the Palace of Versailles.

Carrots and potatos, the lunch of champions :).

So beautiful.

Next we decided to see some of the other buildings on the Palace grounds, which included the Grand Trianon where the royal family stayed for less formal functions. Think 'cottage'. You can still see the gorgeous pink marble and for being a 'cottage', it was still quite beautiful. The gardens at the Grand Tianon were pretty, but compared to the Palace grounds, they were tiny and a lot less grand...

Apparently this was partially enclosed in glass at one point. I love the tile :).

These were the gardens at the Grand Trianon. And let me tell you, square trees are all the rage. :)

We kept walking around the grounds and found this colonnade in the gardens of the 'petite' Trianon (yes, yet another 'cottage'). We attempted to go into the petite Trianon, but there was a large line and Carsten was fussy, so we opted for the gardens instead.

Carsten and I with the statue in the colonnade. 

Much to our dismay, we started hearing some thunder and the sky was looking quite ominous, so we made our way back to the palace so we could stay dry and see the last section of the palace that we had skipped earlier. This picture shows the foreboding sky and the beautiful palace, which is actually a very pretty combination.

On our way back, we found that a Charlie Brown tree does indeed exist in the gardens. Honestly, it was pretty much the only 'natural' tree in the gardens, such that it actually looked out of place... :)

Charlie Brown tree.

You'll be happy to know that we went through the rest of the palace, which was a much smaller, less opulent part of the palace and retrieved our stroller just in time (you weren't allowed to have a stroller in the palace) before it started raining lightly. We then headed back to the train after a very full and satisfying day at the Palace of Versailles. Carsten was a great baby and really seemed to take it all in when he was awake :).

Ok, next installment for Day 3 will be downtown Paris, which will include the Eiffel Tower and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. :)

Paris - Day 1

We're back from Paris! Which means that now we get to tell you about our trip! I think the best way to do this is to do it in discreet installments so I can keep the posts relatively short. So, here we go!

Friday morning Andy went to work for the morning since our flight left at 1:30, which meant that Carsten and I were relaxing at home before our travels. I must admit that I was a bit antsy since I had gotten everything together (gotta love Excel lists!) and Andy had helped me finish packing on Thursday. After what felt like an eternity, Carsten and I went to the store to purchase our first baby food jars (carrots & potatoes and apples and bananas) and then caught the train to Zurich and made our transfer to the airport. I must admit that we almost missed our transfer, but the important part was that we made it :). At the airport, Andy came and found us (he came directly from work). You might be asking yourselves: how did Natalie get the luggage to the airport by herself? Well, I didn't. Andy took it to work (1 big suitcase and 1 small suitcase, and yes, most of the items were for Carsten), so that all I had to manage on the train was Carsten with his stroller and a couple of small bags. We got checked in and then made our way to our terminal, which took approximately 30 minutes to walk to - no joke. We apparently flew out of the smallest terminal ever as we actually had to take a bus to our plane from the terminal (again, no joke). We were expecting a small plane since we had to board it from the tarmack, however, it was a relatively large plane with 6 seats across. We got on, and a little while later, we were in the air. One of the pieces of advice that we've received is that it's best for babies if you can feed them during take off and landing so that the swallowing motion will relieve any pressure in their ears. In an attempt to do this, we started feeding Carsten some solid foods but since we had to wait a while before take off, we were done with this too soon. Fortunately, he still wanted to eat, so I fed him during our actual take off and he slept through most of the 1 hour flight, despite the 1-something-year-old in the seat behind me that continuously kicked my seat. Btw, I have a new pet peeve: parents who let their kid to whatever while they just talk to each other non-stop - please interact with your child and pay attention to what they are doing, especially on planes, as everyone else will appreciate it.

So, we arrived in Paris with a happy kid - woot! This is a photo of Carsten in the Charles De Gaule airport just after we got our luggage. He's ready for Paris!

We got outside the airport and were greeted with a very disgusting sewer smell. Welcome to Paris I suppose. I had heard that it smelled bad, but I was still not prepared for that smell. Luckily, we either got adjusted to it or it just happened to be at that terminal because I can't say I noticed it the rest of the time, which was nice. We texted Jess, who was on the airport shuttle to our terminal. Again, it seemed like we were stuck in the smallest, middle-of-nowhere terminal, which was only accessible by a long shuttle bus ride. Oh well. Jess arrived and we got to give her American hugs, and then we made our way to our hotel (via airport shuttle bus & train). We chose our hotel because it was next to a major train station, which gave us easy access to the metro, and this is the only good thing we have to say about the hotel. Let's just say that I wouldn't stay there again. After we dropped off our bags, it was supper-time so we headed out to find a restaurant. Since we were so close to the train station (across the street) there were plenty of options. We ended up choosing a nice and compared to our Swiss standards it was nice and cheap :). We went for the 'French' options, which included French onion soup (AMAZING!) and French fries (pretty much like the US). Here's a picture of our French onion soup & a photo of Andy and Carsten at the restaurant (notice Carsten's dinosaur hoodie :) ).

Thus ends Day 1. :) Day 2 is: Palace of Versailles!

Coolest kid on the block

Andy and I have been going back and forth on what to do about a stroller for Carsten. We have a very nice Chicco stroller that fits our car seat and is wonderful in every way (it's even tall enough for Andy!) except that I cannot maneuver it on and off the train by myself. Since Carsten is still pretty little, every time we need to use the train, I put him in our Moby wrap or baby bjorn. This has worked pretty well so far, but since we're taking a 5 day trip to France, neither Andy or I really wanted to carry Carsten full time in a carrier. So, hence our wish to find a better solution.

I started paying attention to everyone with strollers here and found that there were basically two types of strollers everyone seemed to be using: an umbrella stroller or a very nice jogging stroller. There are a couple advantages to each stroller over our current one. The umbrella stroller is lighter & more compact, so it's easier for one person to lift it on and off the train. The jogging stroller type has large wheels, so you can back it on and off the train with relative ease; however, if you get one of these, be prepared to pay $600+ for the stroller plus accessories. Well, in the end after a few days of intense discussion (those who know us know that spending $600 for a stroller does not jive with our Dutch natures), we decided to buy an umbrella stroller. So, Andy graciously went to the baby store in Zurich after work on Tuesday, and came home with a wonderful umbrella stroller that has more features that I would have ever guessed: 1) it's tall enough for Andy! 2) the seat lays down flat for Carsten when he's sleeping 3) it has a basket for a few things and 4) it has a nice brake system as well.

So, on Wednesday we did a trial run to make sure that we wanted to take the stroller to France this weekend. And the result: SUCCESS! I can maneuver the stroller with great ease and Carsten even fell asleep in it. To mark the exciting day, I, of course, took some photos!

Andy chose an orange stroller, and I must say Carsten is stylin' :).

And this picture is why I think he's the coolest kid on the block. He's sleeping in these photos :).

So, since it was a nice day and the train noises would likely wake Carsten up, I decided to take a walk around Zurich. So Carsten and I made our way to the lake and found this street performer. He started clapping and...

...dancing when someone put money in his canister. Also, the bulldog moved too. And, I think he loves Switzerland. Additionally, there's a ferris wheel in the background, and I have no idea why it's there.

See, it was a beautiful day :).

So, the rest of the day for me is going to be packing suitcases as efficiently as possible for Paris. See you soon Jess!

Parade anyone?

On Saturday afternoon it was raining so Andy graciously offered to feed Carsten solid foods while I went to get some groceries (so we didn't have to take Carsten out in the rain). On my way to the store I found a bunch of children and adults dressed up for what appeared to be Halloween with girls in princess outfits and adults in very colorful costumes. Almost everyone had their faces painted as well. I had no idea why (and I still don't) they were all dressed up, but I called Andy and told him about it and we agreed that when I was on my way home, he'd meet me with Carsten so we could gawk and take a couple of photos. However, instead of finding them gathered in a group by the post office like on my way to the grocery store, I discovered that they were having a parade! Here's a photo of the parade:

Crazy costumes, right? They had about a 10 person back in the front and in the back and all the children were walking in between throwing paper confetti. There were a couple of police officers stopping traffic in the front and in the back of the parade. The weirdest part was this: there were virtually NO spectators for this unusual parade. Strange, right?

Later that afternoon at home, I was folding some laundry with Carsten close by in his walker. I found him 'helping' me by reaching out and grabbing the feet of his jammies that I had just folded. In fact, he did this to several of them, so we just had to take photos. :)

This one says to me 'who me?'

This one says to me 'Oh no! She caught me!'

And here, we put the jammies on his head and he thought it was fun :). This begins the part of the blog where we see what things we can put on his head (the rest are hats, don't worry!).

We got this cute Iowa hate from my Mom in honor of my Grandpa Ranschau, who is a farmer. It's still a bit big, but it is quite cute :).

Uncle Nate and Aunt Vicki graciously gave my cousin and I their outgrown boy clothes from Dane and Thor, and I think this is where we found this baseball cap :). Thanks Nate and Vicki! We spent some time this weekend sorting through 12 and 18 month clothes that we brought along since Carsten is now outgrowing his 9 month clothes.

All in all, a great weekend!

Fun with Carsten and 12 month clothes!

So far this week Carsten's new foods are bananas, which he really enjoys, and avocado, which he's still a bit unsure about.

Then after lunch Carsten and I had some fun with some fuzzy food toys from Grandma Huisman. During playtime we came up with an 'Adam' pose, a 'cheesehead' pose, and in the end we were trying to work on sitting up posture with a piece of 'bread' on his head - he did remarkably well :).

And if you'll notice in the previous pictures, he was wearing a 9 month sleeper, and now he's been upgraded to a 12 month sleeper. So, here's a picture of him in 12 month clothes. So crazy!

Carsten is contrary...

Sometimes I think Carsten just lives to prove me wrong, seriously! Frequently, when I think 'he always does this' or 'surely he won't do this', he just proves me wrong. For example, the other day Kim was asking me advice about bedtime routine, and I distinctly remember saying 'I ALWAYS feed him after bathtime right before bed'. And what do you know, that night, he didn't want to eat for the first time. And you know what, he slept just fine and only got up once at 4:30 am. So what do you know, he proved me wrong.

Another example that seems to happen almost daily is I think 'he's going to take a long nap' or having resigned myself to the 30 min nap, I think 'well, I can put him down and then he'll definitely be up in time for _____'. This happened yesterday when I put him down for a nap at 5:15 and he'll definitely be up in time for supper at 6 pm. He didn't fall asleep until at 5:45, and I was thinking, that's ok, he'll be up at 6:15 and that will still be fine for supper. So I got all of his meal ready (peas, rice cereal, and bananas), and just waited and waited and waited. He didn't get up until nearly 6:45 pm, which for Carsten, is a MEGA nap. And he only did that after I was CERTAIN that he'd do his typical 20-30 min nap and I was PLANNING on it.

Or another example is when we started feeding him applesauce, we were like, ALL babies love applesauce and since he seems to like his veggies so much, he's just going to devour the applesauce. NOT so. He ate a few bites and proceeded to get a rash, which I think is probably due to the acidity. And he definitely did not seem to like it. So again, proved us wrong.

This type of thing happens far more than I feel it should. Sometimes I try not to voice aloud my 'ALWAYS' thoughts just so he cannot prove me wrong...

Carsten's first joke

This video has been on facebook for a little while, but there's been a request to have it on the blog.

When are you coming to visit us?

It's time to get organized! Please let us know when you are (or hope to) come and visit us. Feel free to check a range of times if you are not sure when you would come. Don't forget to select the right year (2011 vs. 2012) and add any extra info at the bottom in the notes field. This is especially important if you select a range of dates - otherwise we will expect you to come for the whole month, lucky us!

And no crying he makes

This morning marked Carsten's 6 month check-up. We definitely have a good baby, and each day I'm reminded of it. Today, he woke up at 7:30 and then took a short 15 min nap before his appointment (no, I didn't wake him up, it was just that short). He woke up happy so I put him in his carseat/stroller and we walked to his appointment. He's in the 90th percentile for weight (I think he's somewhere around 18 lbs) and 80th percentile for height, which means he's BIG! But, we actually already knew that. Our doctor spoke English, which was quite nice, so it was fairly easy to communicate with her. And along with this appointment, came the dreaded vaccination. He only had one shot, so that was pretty nice. I had given him tylenol before we left the house, and either that helped a bunch and/or he has a high pain tolerance because HE DIDN'T CRY AT ALL! What an amazing kid. He squealed about 2 seconds after the shot, but then he was just fine. Here's a photo of Carsten as we were leaving the doctor's office (about 5 min after the shot):

He even had a smile for me :)

And he fell asleep right as we were getting back to our apartment.  In fact, he's still sleeping now - go naps!

Month 2 video

For those who may not be on facebook, (AHEM TOM) I am posting our month 2 video here.



I almost succeeded at making it shorter this time, but he is just so darn cute!

Today = futon + baby walker

Today is Saturday, and I love Saturdays! It means that I get to hang out with both Andy and Carsten and since there's two of us wrangling the baby, things are easier to get done. So, today we built the futon that we got at IKEA a couple of weeks ago, and set it up in Carsten's bedroom, which is now completely done, so I'll post some pictures!

Our guest bed. It actually does have a real mattress, and there's even an empty dresser in the corner. So, come visit!

Carsten's diaper changing station/dresser.

Carsten's kinderbed!

Carsten! He LOVES looking at this. Thanks Aunt Shireen!

So, we might have had a bit of fun sticking the stuffed carrot in his mouth... He liked before we took this photo :).

So, after we set up the futon and had our morning fun with Carsten, we went to Zurich where we got a baby walker from the baby store. On our way back, we ended up having to get off the train early because there were protesters on the street. So, we enjoyed our walk back to our train station, which was somewhere in the vicinity of a mile walk, and I took the opportunity to take some photos.

We ran into some people in costume who were playing the steel drums. No joke. 

There are cows in random places, like this balcony. It reminds me a lot of Madison :).

We ran into some other people also playing the steel drums. Maybe it had something to do with Lent? Otherwise, I have no idea what they were doing. I should also mention that Carsten had fallen asleep prior to running into the drummers, and he actually stayed sleeping despite the loud ruckus. Amazing!

A Zurich street! This is a shopping area and is pedestrian only, which is really nice.

Andy carrying the baby walker. What a guy!

Grossmunster church. So pretty!

Fraumunster church. It's Reformed!

Carsten generally has a lot of fun on the train.

When we got home, Andy and I set up the walker!

Tah dah!

It's a hit! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Hoogeveen for the long-awaited Christmas gift! We're definitely looking forward to trying it out more and more! :) And yes, I realize he only has one sock on. He pulled the other one off right before we put him in the walker.