Guus Bosman

Yesterday was Sasha's first Mother's Day.

We celebrated with a brunch on our balcony; Nora joined us in her chair next to the table.

I was going down in the elevator to pick up some stuff from the car, and I had Nora in my arms. An older couple joined us in the elevator, and the woman immediately smiled when she saw Nora. The usual baby-conversation started a little different this time: "how old is he?".

In a split second I had to decide whether to correct her mistake, probably guided by Nora's non-pink outfit, or just let it go. I smiled and replied: "oh, two months". She smiled again and said: "oh, see, he's looking around!".

When they left the elevator she proclaimed: "Such a handsome boy!"

Friday night there was a borrel in Frontpage in Arlington, and it was a fun evening. It was a prelude to tonight's Queen's Day celebration and a lot of the same people were there. It's a nice group and both evenings were a lot of fun.

The celebration at the Embassy tonight was very large with several hundred guests. It is a combination of a business event and a social party, with copious amounts of Dutch food including kaas soufflés, a personal favorite.

It is a beautiful day today. The predictions not withstanding, the sun came out and it's around 80 degrees. We are spending our afternoon on the balcony. Nora prefers the shadow but likes to be with us.

In the morning, after her feeding, we put her in her chair and ten minutes later she started crying. Diaper was clean, food had been provided and she had just slept, so I picked her up to see what was going on. The answer was clearly that she wanted company, because she started smiling and cooing to us. Slowly but surely she's turning into a person with real social behaviors.

This morning talks within the Dutch government broke down, and new elections are likely. That is very good news for the dual citizenship for Nora and me. Let's hope that the proposed restrictive law goes away for good.

We are getting ready to receive friends for a drink.

Today was Nora's two-month checkup at the pediatrician.

It was also the appointment for her first shots and oh boy, that was quite stressful. It was painful for Nora for a few minutes, and her parents suffered from stress. Thankfully we all recovered quickly, Nora fell sound asleep in the car.

"She's of average height -- for a four-month old baby", said the doctor. She is very tall for her age, and her weight is good: 24.5" (62 cm), 11 lbs 12 ounces (5.3 kg).

A happy baby, happy parents.

It's been a busy and fun weekend. Yesterday we organized the guest bedroom and even managed to go for dinner together. The weather was amazing and Nora was asleep while we ate at Woodside Grill.

Today the Zane family came to visit us, which was great In Bulgaria Easter is celebrated this weekend so we had a nice celebration together. Before the lunch started we did the 'break-the-egg' game which Ilana convincingly won.