Guus Bosman

software executive and technologist


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dailylife

"Are they twins?"

When we go out for a walk or when we're in the grocery store we get a lot of friendly comments about our big stroller. "Are they twins?" "How old are they?" "Are they identical?". It's special to see baby twins, that's for sure.

A few weeks ago I was in a store and behind me an older man asked: "excuse me, in which aisle are the babies?" (implying that he wanted to buy some babies). I didn't skip a beat and said: "oh, right there and they're on sale -- two for the price of one!".

To be honest, I had read such a joke earlier on Facebook, haha.

Yesterday I went to Giant with the boys and several people smiled and asked about the boys. Then when I left the store I heard: "oh, do you have twins? We are twins!" Two girls in their late twenties -- clearly identical twins -- smiled and waved at Leo and Adrian.

dailylife

Almost five months old

Since about a week the boys have been sleeping really well at night. They go to bed around 11.00 pm and don't wake up until at least 8.00 am. Before last week, they'd wake up around 5.30 am for a feeding and immediately fall asleep, but they've been skipping that recently.

During the day they nap pretty well too. Adrian in particular sleeps easily and long. A month ago Adrian started sucking on his thumb and he is able to soothe himself to sleep, usually. Leo sucks on his fingers during the day sometimes but doesn't quite connect his hand with his mouth when he's angry and tired. They boys are now about the same ago as when I met Jasper for the first time. I remember that Jasper was very interested in his feet. Adrian too, he keeps grabbing them.

They enjoy tummy time more and more. They can hold their heads up well and start to wiggle around. Leo in particular knows very well how to roll over, from back to front and front to back. Sometimes he moves his legs around in a Pilates-like "swimming" move.

The boys adore Sasha and keep her in their sights throughout the room. They started babbling too, very cute. Since a few days Leo started making the same sound that Nora used to make: "maamamamamamam".

dailylife

A literary surprise

The other day we received a thick envelop from the Netherlands that contained quite a surprise.

My uncle Gerrit finished writing his book Bastonisto and has dedicated the book to "all twins in [our] family, and in particular to the latest duo, Leo and Adrian". Two characters in the book are named after them as well, very cool.

The book is a young adult novel with a futuristic theme. A wonderful gift and I look forward to reading it.

dailylife

Fourth of July 2015

We slept in this morning and when we woke up it was raining a lot. But at 10.15 pm the rain stopped -- and we decided to go to the Fourth of July Parade after all. The Parade was cut short because of the rain but we had a nice time in the Lyon Village playground. Hopefully next year the weather will be better.

Afterwards we went for a long walk. We walked to our old apartment building and explored the new development on the Bergman's site -- it looks great. The MOM's grocery store will probably open in a few months; several of the townhouses were already occupied.

We grilled some delicious burgers for lunch.

dailylife

Weekend with the boys

Yesterday morning we spent with the boys and we took care of some long-overdue chores. It was raining all day. In the afternoon Ginny came over for a very nice visit.

Then in the evening we spent some time cooking together.

The boys slept amazing last night. We put them to bed at 10.30 pm and they didn't wake up until 6.45 am. We fell asleep again afterwords and I woke up very late. A great start of the day.

dailylife

Four month check-up Leo & Adrian

The boys went for their four month check-up and everything looks good. They didn't cry this time when doctor Kim examined them, but of course there were a lot of tears when the vaccinations came. Adrian couldn't get the rotavirus vaccine because he had an upset stomach, so we'll go back with him next week.

Adrian was 15 lbs 9 ounces (7.0 kg), Leo was 15 lbs exactly (6.8 kg). Length Adrian 25 3/4" (65 cm), Leo 25 1/4 (64 cm).

The babies slept for a long time after they came home and had a warm bath to lessen the pain on their legs. It took longer than normal for them to fall asleep, clearly the injections hurt.

dailylife

Nora to Bulgaria

Tonight Nora will travel to Bulgaria to spend the summer with her grandparents. She is traveling with Lelya Snezha from Washington tonight, and with a layover in Munich she'll arrive in Sofia around 6.00 pm local time.

Last year she spent a few days without us in Middenmeer and she did very well. This time is much longer -- 8 weeks in total -- but she will be in excellent hands. It is very special that she can spend time with her grandparents in Perushtitsa.

We will miss her terribly, and I'm counting the days (56 to go) but it will be a great experience for her. It will also allow us to spend some more time with Leo and Adrian.

dailylife

YMCA barbecue

Last night we went to the barbecue of the YMCA across the street. We met Eric, Lori and Eric there and saw several people we knew.

Nora and Eli spent some time in the bouncy castle, but then it started raining with thunder and lightning so most activities were halted. We went to the pavilion in the back where the food was and had a nice hamburger and hotdog. A taste of summer.

I spoke with several people from Y itself, including someone who is working on the redesign of the building. They hope to have a plan by the end of the year, which is exciting.

arlington

Voting in the US for the first time

Today I voted for the first time in a U.S. election and it felt great.

I've always enjoyed following politics. For years Sasha and I have followed the Presidential campaigns and watched many debates, and since a few years I also started following the local Arlington politics more closely. I became U.S. citizen in January and today I could finally cast my vote.

The boys woke up around 6.00 am. That's too late to really go back to bed, though also too late to really feel rested. In any case, I was at the polling station at 7.00 am I was voter number 8. The election was a Democratic primary for the Arlington County Board. There were six candidates running for two open positions. The general election will be in November. The candidates were all quite similar to each other; I ended up voting for Fallon and Cristol.

Someone asked: "was it everything you hoped for?" and yes, I am very happy that I can vote now and I was really a bit emotional when I left the polling station.

The last time I voted in an election, then in the Netherlands, was over ten years ago.

dailylife

"I also wanna see!"

Sasha and Nora were sitting at the table and I wanted to show Sasha something. All of a sudden Nora says: "I also wanna see!" -- in perfect English.

We pretended that we didn't understand -- never mind the fact that Sasha and I mostly speak English together, haha. Clearly, her English is getting better and starting to creep in her regular life. Obviously we want her to be fluent in English, but her speaking Bulgarian and Dutch well is also very important to us and the only way to make that happen is have her speak those two languages exclusively when she talks with us.

Her Dutch is very good though. Here are some of the things she just said:

"op maandag als baba Snezha komt ga ik een taart maken want Meneer Prascho wordt weer jarig"
"in die koffer, in die tas, zit nog meer Duplo. Ja. In die tas zit nog meer eten. Er zit[ten] ook nog aarbeien voor taart.

(I guess it is time for her breakfast, haha). She makes jokes in Dutch too. Asides from saying "maar weetje wat het is baby", she made her own joke words: sneeuwpoepje and hagelslak

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