Hi,
So last time I blogged, I could still call it 'What happened the last 12 months...' but let's call it 2008, shall we?
So what did happen after I was released from the hospital? Obviously Jay turned 3 and I went just before that to San Francisco for a slightly over a week... JavaOne 2008.
The summer didn't have a lot in store for me, mainly because my MR2 had a small problem with its transmission. The problem being that I couldn't use it. And of course those very few sunny days in 2008 I didn't have a convertible. Anyway, they fixed it and it cost me a lot less than initially thought. That was good.
The summer of 2008 was also the first time the four of us went on vacation all together. We went for a whole week to Asten-Ommel, a small town in Brabant. The park's name is Prinsenmeer. I've got to say that the week was great, to be with the family and all without the daily routines from around the house. But th little bungelow we thought we had booked was a big caravan without wheels and it was kind of like not really well cleaned.
On the uptake, the pool they had was nice with two nice water slides, that Jay dared to do all by himself. Jay and I also went for a trip on the waterbikes. That was fun. One of the nicer trips we took that week was to a zoo nearby, which was just big enough to walk all day and see everything. But it was also very well maintained. And the Cheetah's were great. Also our daytrip to Toverland was great. Jay was barely big enough to be allowed in one of the many rollercoasters and he loved the bobsled and the wild-water ride. Unfortunately Ray was too little for most rides. Well, being only a year and a half old... this was to be expected.
More on the proceedings in 2008 of me and my family later (this year).
Iwan
Showing posts with label Ray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Back from the Maldives
Hi,
So I'm back in the Netherlands and already missing the serenity and quietness of Kandooma. But obviously I'm really happy to be with the boys again. And so is Olcay, who's suffering from a flu at the moment. I guess it's best to be sick when you're at home.
Jay and Ray had a great time at my parents who made sure that they wouldn't be thinking about anything else than doing fun stuff.
The flight back was not too good as Air Berlin appearantly doesn't care about leg-room, which is really not much more than a few cm I estimate. And 10.5 hours folded in a chair is not cool... and not to mention the fact that they don't have adjustable headrests on their seats. That sucks.
Last Sunday was Ray's birthday (8th of feb) and we had a great day. Although he's suffering from a serious ear infection. The goo is literally dripping from his ear, no kidding.
Yesterday was my first day back at my main customer at the moment and the last 2 weeks some interesting things had happened. And a lot of realization took place as well.
Iwan
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
December, the month of holidays and illnesses
Hi,
Like I blogged last time, it would be after our trip to the US before I would blog again, and as it turns out, I was right and it is even 'next year'.
So what happened lately. Well first of all we went to our friends Ravi and Mamatha in the Boston area. This was on December 7th, the Friday after Sinterklaas. By the way, Sinterklaas, the Dutch equivalent to Christmas' Santa, was very generous this year, especially for the kids.
We flew at around 3 PM from Amsterdam airport, Schiphol, and because it was in the boy's prime time, they didn't sleep... for the whole flight that is. Fortunately they're both really well behaving boys when it comes to not sleeping, so hardly any crying and a lot of flirting with the North West Airlines stewardesses. It is always a really big benefit when your kids aren't pestering the rest of the plane and the in flight personal loves them. Trust me, it is. Ray needed his diaper changed pretty much right after we took of the ground and believe me, his diaper wasn't the only thing that needed changing. He'd overspend as much as Olcay and I were planning to do in the outlet stores. Fortunately Olcay had been so smart to take additional clothes along in our carry-on luggage, it was needed. Apart from the kids not sleeping, the flight was rather uneventful. We were picked up from the airport by Ravi and his family and drove to their place. As it had snowed, Jay and I played in the snow for a bit and because he didn't want to wear his gloves he found out the hard way that snow is indeed cold.
It was good to see our friends again, as it had been almost two years since the last time we visited them. Scary fact: Jay was 10 months old when we came to Boston with him, and Ray just turned 10 months when we flew there this time. Coincidence? I don't know.
That Monday or Tuesday Mamatha found out that she had pneumonia and needed to take antibiotics and stay inside. As it was really cold and everybody, especially Jay and Ray, needed to rest and get into a new rhythm we stayed around the house. Ravi had to work anyway. Tuesday and Wednesday Ray and Jay both were feeling not to well, probably because of the lack of sleep, the new daily patterns and the fact that the temperature outside was well below freezing point and inside it was nice and warm. That probably left enough opportunity for a cold-bug to strike. Ravi became ill as well during the week, same cold-bug kicked his butt and on Friday we all felt like we were good enough again to drive to his brother in Berlin, CT. Only Mahika, their daughter had a serious infection in both ears and we had to turn around. Since the weather was going to be really bad (again) it was probably a good thing, and we convinced Ravi's brother to stay at their place. Although that took a lot of convincing skills. Man did they really badly want to see us. That was really heart warming. During the car ride, Olcay became ill. Yup, that pretty much leaves me as the only person not catching anything during those 10 days. But on a different note, Olcay stayed flu'ish untill after Christmas.
The flight back was good enough as both Ray and Jay slept for a while. Fortunately they showed Cars on the inflight entertainment system so Jay was happy. Olcay didn't sleep at all, since she had to make sure that Ray wouldn't wake up. It all turned out to be a decent return home, but for the minor detail that the battery of our care was dead. Jay, probably, had turned on the little light in the back and that had drained the battery to a full stop. It took the ANWB, the Dutch roadside assistence, slightly under an hour to help us out and that was our cue to drive home and have closure for this vacation.
This time around I won't bore you with the rest of the proceedings in december. Well maybe I should as it isn't much, so here it goes.
As I said, Olcay caught the flu in the States and that only turned worse in the days after our vacation. Up to a point where she went to see the doctor. She had to try some steambaths etc for three days or else get some antibiotics. This because her whole head was congested and inflamed. This was right before Christmas. Good thing we bought some medicine in the US so there were enough pain relief goodies in the house. The day right after Christmas she called the doctor's office and got her antibiotics. Three pills and all was done. Right before New Years Eve she was up and ready to... comfort Jay while he was a bit scared of the firecrackers and other fireworks that 'made loud bangs'. Leaving me with 200+ firecrackers in the house...
On Christmas day Santa came along and surprised us all with loads of presents. Amina and her daughter where there as well. Christmas diner was really nice and the next day (2nd Christmas day as we call it in Holland) was as good, at my parents with the whole family. Apart from the illnesses and all we had a great December. Most of the time I was off and got to spend with the family.
Iwan
Like I blogged last time, it would be after our trip to the US before I would blog again, and as it turns out, I was right and it is even 'next year'.
So what happened lately. Well first of all we went to our friends Ravi and Mamatha in the Boston area. This was on December 7th, the Friday after Sinterklaas. By the way, Sinterklaas, the Dutch equivalent to Christmas' Santa, was very generous this year, especially for the kids.
We flew at around 3 PM from Amsterdam airport, Schiphol, and because it was in the boy's prime time, they didn't sleep... for the whole flight that is. Fortunately they're both really well behaving boys when it comes to not sleeping, so hardly any crying and a lot of flirting with the North West Airlines stewardesses. It is always a really big benefit when your kids aren't pestering the rest of the plane and the in flight personal loves them. Trust me, it is. Ray needed his diaper changed pretty much right after we took of the ground and believe me, his diaper wasn't the only thing that needed changing. He'd overspend as much as Olcay and I were planning to do in the outlet stores. Fortunately Olcay had been so smart to take additional clothes along in our carry-on luggage, it was needed. Apart from the kids not sleeping, the flight was rather uneventful. We were picked up from the airport by Ravi and his family and drove to their place. As it had snowed, Jay and I played in the snow for a bit and because he didn't want to wear his gloves he found out the hard way that snow is indeed cold.
It was good to see our friends again, as it had been almost two years since the last time we visited them. Scary fact: Jay was 10 months old when we came to Boston with him, and Ray just turned 10 months when we flew there this time. Coincidence? I don't know.
That Monday or Tuesday Mamatha found out that she had pneumonia and needed to take antibiotics and stay inside. As it was really cold and everybody, especially Jay and Ray, needed to rest and get into a new rhythm we stayed around the house. Ravi had to work anyway. Tuesday and Wednesday Ray and Jay both were feeling not to well, probably because of the lack of sleep, the new daily patterns and the fact that the temperature outside was well below freezing point and inside it was nice and warm. That probably left enough opportunity for a cold-bug to strike. Ravi became ill as well during the week, same cold-bug kicked his butt and on Friday we all felt like we were good enough again to drive to his brother in Berlin, CT. Only Mahika, their daughter had a serious infection in both ears and we had to turn around. Since the weather was going to be really bad (again) it was probably a good thing, and we convinced Ravi's brother to stay at their place. Although that took a lot of convincing skills. Man did they really badly want to see us. That was really heart warming. During the car ride, Olcay became ill. Yup, that pretty much leaves me as the only person not catching anything during those 10 days. But on a different note, Olcay stayed flu'ish untill after Christmas.
The flight back was good enough as both Ray and Jay slept for a while. Fortunately they showed Cars on the inflight entertainment system so Jay was happy. Olcay didn't sleep at all, since she had to make sure that Ray wouldn't wake up. It all turned out to be a decent return home, but for the minor detail that the battery of our care was dead. Jay, probably, had turned on the little light in the back and that had drained the battery to a full stop. It took the ANWB, the Dutch roadside assistence, slightly under an hour to help us out and that was our cue to drive home and have closure for this vacation.
This time around I won't bore you with the rest of the proceedings in december. Well maybe I should as it isn't much, so here it goes.
As I said, Olcay caught the flu in the States and that only turned worse in the days after our vacation. Up to a point where she went to see the doctor. She had to try some steambaths etc for three days or else get some antibiotics. This because her whole head was congested and inflamed. This was right before Christmas. Good thing we bought some medicine in the US so there were enough pain relief goodies in the house. The day right after Christmas she called the doctor's office and got her antibiotics. Three pills and all was done. Right before New Years Eve she was up and ready to... comfort Jay while he was a bit scared of the firecrackers and other fireworks that 'made loud bangs'. Leaving me with 200+ firecrackers in the house...
On Christmas day Santa came along and surprised us all with loads of presents. Amina and her daughter where there as well. Christmas diner was really nice and the next day (2nd Christmas day as we call it in Holland) was as good, at my parents with the whole family. Apart from the illnesses and all we had a great December. Most of the time I was off and got to spend with the family.
Iwan
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Whatever happened to me... the story with Ray.
Hi,
Yes, I know it has been several months since the last time I blogged, and if I am not mistaken at the time I made sort of a promise to blog more frequently. And so far I haven't lived up to that promise. Well, there are good reasons for this.
So what happened since February 26th, the date of the last blog? Quite a bit. I can do this chronologically, but I prefer a more elaborate, chaotic approach.
For one, Ray is growing really fast. He's now around 60 cm tall and weighs 6 kg, which is quite an achievement when you're starting from about 2800 grams and 50 cm. Especially considering he throws up big time. And I mean it in the sense that we change clothes every time we feed him, not his clothes but our clothes. This has to do with reflux, the little valve in between his throat and his stomach is not fully developed. According to the pediatrician this is quite common for babies. Since a while now he's getting some medicine to relief his throat from acid-burn, and some medicine to ease his stomach. That helped.
We also started to wrap him in sheets before taking him to bed. His arms were uncontrollable and he was accidentally hitting himself while he was asleep. It's quite a sight seeing him wrapped in what seems a cocoon. And best of all, he sleeps a lot sounder ever since.
Maybe most importantly to mention about Ray is that his 'bad' kidney is not doing anything at all, so nothing bad either. A little recap on the subject; early March we were supposed to have him examined to find out how much each of his kidneys was still functioning. But the doctors had a little trouble applying the IV. After 6 trials they gave up and we were supposed to come back in a month, so we did. At that time it all worked out nicely at the first go and with the IV they injected some radio active stuff that later showed up on the scanner. Only one kidney showed up, the other, the bad one, didn't show up at all. This is actually a good thing, since a poorly functioning kidney causes high blood pressure and infections. So we're quite happy about this one.
Meanwhile, as I stated earlier in this blog, he's doing great. At 6 weeks old we took him swimming and have the photo's to proof this. Last week I took him for a second time, 8 weeks later, and he enjoyed it a lot.
What is rather interesting is that he's very different from Jay. For one, Ray likes the ease and quiet. He's very sensitive to crowds and noises. But he's also very verbal, makes a lot of baby noises and starts to smile and even laugh when you talk to him. As a matter of fact, when he feels like crying, you can start talking to him and it is very likely he'll be laughing instead. He sleeps more than Jay did at his age. On the other hand, Ray can play all by himself for a far longer time than Jay could.
Something that is really great to see is that Jay accepts Ray completely and it's really heartening to see him explain to Ray what it is all out there in the great wide open. And when Ray cries, and we're not acting upon it, Jay's telling us to go see Ray.
Iwan
PS: Check out Ray's website on http://ray.tripleminds.com I try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.
Yes, I know it has been several months since the last time I blogged, and if I am not mistaken at the time I made sort of a promise to blog more frequently. And so far I haven't lived up to that promise. Well, there are good reasons for this.
So what happened since February 26th, the date of the last blog? Quite a bit. I can do this chronologically, but I prefer a more elaborate, chaotic approach.
For one, Ray is growing really fast. He's now around 60 cm tall and weighs 6 kg, which is quite an achievement when you're starting from about 2800 grams and 50 cm. Especially considering he throws up big time. And I mean it in the sense that we change clothes every time we feed him, not his clothes but our clothes. This has to do with reflux, the little valve in between his throat and his stomach is not fully developed. According to the pediatrician this is quite common for babies. Since a while now he's getting some medicine to relief his throat from acid-burn, and some medicine to ease his stomach. That helped.
We also started to wrap him in sheets before taking him to bed. His arms were uncontrollable and he was accidentally hitting himself while he was asleep. It's quite a sight seeing him wrapped in what seems a cocoon. And best of all, he sleeps a lot sounder ever since.
Maybe most importantly to mention about Ray is that his 'bad' kidney is not doing anything at all, so nothing bad either. A little recap on the subject; early March we were supposed to have him examined to find out how much each of his kidneys was still functioning. But the doctors had a little trouble applying the IV. After 6 trials they gave up and we were supposed to come back in a month, so we did. At that time it all worked out nicely at the first go and with the IV they injected some radio active stuff that later showed up on the scanner. Only one kidney showed up, the other, the bad one, didn't show up at all. This is actually a good thing, since a poorly functioning kidney causes high blood pressure and infections. So we're quite happy about this one.
Meanwhile, as I stated earlier in this blog, he's doing great. At 6 weeks old we took him swimming and have the photo's to proof this. Last week I took him for a second time, 8 weeks later, and he enjoyed it a lot.
What is rather interesting is that he's very different from Jay. For one, Ray likes the ease and quiet. He's very sensitive to crowds and noises. But he's also very verbal, makes a lot of baby noises and starts to smile and even laugh when you talk to him. As a matter of fact, when he feels like crying, you can start talking to him and it is very likely he'll be laughing instead. He sleeps more than Jay did at his age. On the other hand, Ray can play all by himself for a far longer time than Jay could.
Something that is really great to see is that Jay accepts Ray completely and it's really heartening to see him explain to Ray what it is all out there in the great wide open. And when Ray cries, and we're not acting upon it, Jay's telling us to go see Ray.
Iwan
PS: Check out Ray's website on http://ray.tripleminds.com I try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.
Monday, February 26, 2007
So much for an up to date blog on the proceedings at home
So here I am with my good intentions to blog about Jay, Ray and Olcay and my well being in their company on a very regular basis now that Ray is born. But it has been more than 2 weeks since my previous blog. I'll make it an effort to blog more often from now on.
What's been happening lately? Not too much I must say. Let's see, last time I blogged, Olcay and Ray came home and we're one happy family at home again.
Ray is doing fine, although breastfeeding was a bit of a problem, resulting in Ray not getting enough nutrition we moved to the bottle approach and that is going really well. Although he's one little sleepy boy, so typically somewhere halfway the bottle he's vast asleep and we have a hard time waking him up.
Olcay's hernia is retreating, ever since the burden of the big belly (BBB) is gone, she's healing quite fast. That is something to cheer about, so here comes; HURRAY.
Jay is being the big brother all over and he's doing really well. One of the things to keep in mind is that he was already used to not getting all the attention from Olcay because of her illness. So that's not much of a change. And he's accepting me to hold Ray more or less. The fact that Ray is only 3 kg or something like that allows me to practically move around with him in my hands without noticing this. So I can still play with Jay. But it is really comforting to see Jay walking up to Ray giving him a kiss when he's crying.
Bit of a downside is that Ray still doesn't understand that he needs to sleep all night, well one bottle of milk is ok, but after that he's crying... big time. Such a little fellow, such a big mouth. At least it was like that the last two nights, which is killing. But my friend Ravi told me it can be worse. His daughter woke up hungry every 2 hours, Ray at least sticks with 3-4 hours in between bottles.
That's about it. As I've said in the beginning, not much happened the past 2 weeks or so. But from now on I'll try to blog more regularly.
Iwan
What's been happening lately? Not too much I must say. Let's see, last time I blogged, Olcay and Ray came home and we're one happy family at home again.
Ray is doing fine, although breastfeeding was a bit of a problem, resulting in Ray not getting enough nutrition we moved to the bottle approach and that is going really well. Although he's one little sleepy boy, so typically somewhere halfway the bottle he's vast asleep and we have a hard time waking him up.
Olcay's hernia is retreating, ever since the burden of the big belly (BBB) is gone, she's healing quite fast. That is something to cheer about, so here comes; HURRAY.
Jay is being the big brother all over and he's doing really well. One of the things to keep in mind is that he was already used to not getting all the attention from Olcay because of her illness. So that's not much of a change. And he's accepting me to hold Ray more or less. The fact that Ray is only 3 kg or something like that allows me to practically move around with him in my hands without noticing this. So I can still play with Jay. But it is really comforting to see Jay walking up to Ray giving him a kiss when he's crying.
Bit of a downside is that Ray still doesn't understand that he needs to sleep all night, well one bottle of milk is ok, but after that he's crying... big time. Such a little fellow, such a big mouth. At least it was like that the last two nights, which is killing. But my friend Ravi told me it can be worse. His daughter woke up hungry every 2 hours, Ray at least sticks with 3-4 hours in between bottles.
That's about it. As I've said in the beginning, not much happened the past 2 weeks or so. But from now on I'll try to blog more regularly.
Iwan
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Brotherhood of the unexpected
Hi,
Last night was Ray's first night at home, and with that my first night with him. I'd already forgotten that when they wake up it takes roughly an hour before they're fed and put back to sleep... really sleeping. So that was an eye opener. But all-in-all it was an okay night. Jay woke up but after putting him back to bed, that was nothing more than an incident. This morning at 6:30 he came back to us and we took him in bed. After some baby-watching he slept for a while and we woke up around 7:15. Sesamestreet bought us another 30 minutes.
Today we had the nicest and sweetest experience with Jay giving Ray kisses and wanting to help Ray when he was crying, because according to Jay, Ray was in pain. That was really great. So we're happy that he in fact is very big brother like already. One pitfall we don't want to find ourselves in, is expecting Jay to be older than he is. That is hard, because all of a sudden he really is a 'big boy'. But we'll manage.
It's gonna be a week of happy family the next week, so little sleep and loads of diaper cleaning.
Iwan
Last night was Ray's first night at home, and with that my first night with him. I'd already forgotten that when they wake up it takes roughly an hour before they're fed and put back to sleep... really sleeping. So that was an eye opener. But all-in-all it was an okay night. Jay woke up but after putting him back to bed, that was nothing more than an incident. This morning at 6:30 he came back to us and we took him in bed. After some baby-watching he slept for a while and we woke up around 7:15. Sesamestreet bought us another 30 minutes.
Today we had the nicest and sweetest experience with Jay giving Ray kisses and wanting to help Ray when he was crying, because according to Jay, Ray was in pain. That was really great. So we're happy that he in fact is very big brother like already. One pitfall we don't want to find ourselves in, is expecting Jay to be older than he is. That is hard, because all of a sudden he really is a 'big boy'. But we'll manage.
It's gonna be a week of happy family the next week, so little sleep and loads of diaper cleaning.
Iwan
Thursday, February 08, 2007
How once there were 3 and now 4 of us...
Hi,
Let me just put out the word straight out: Ray was born yesterday. Who Ray is? He's our son and his full name is: Raiden Sidar Eising. He was 2915 grams at birth and is doing great.
When you've subscribed to my blog and kept yourself up to date, you know that Olcay was suffering from a hernia and that she was onto morphine for quite a while. Although she's not using it for about 3 weeks now, we are still a bit concerned about Ray's health and the impact of Olcay's medication on it. So they're staying in the hospital until tomorrow afternoon and the pediatrician will do a full check-up on Ray. As of yet, there's nothing to worry about though.
The story is that yesterday around 3 PM Olcay called me in the office to tell me that 'it had started', her water broke (if that is how to put it). But she wasn't in labor yet, contractions what so ever. Because of her hernia this actually might be a sign of a serious regression of it and instant surgery might be imminent. So when I got home, we called the hospital and drove over there. As it turned out, labor had started, and she was supposed to stay in the hospital which was fine with us. At 11 PM she called me that the contractions had started and at 12:30 AM today she called me to get to the hospital. Things were getting serious. I called Desiree and Olaf to come and watch Jay while I was in the hospital and when Desiree arrived I went to Olcay. At 1 AM I got to the hospital and 2:51 Ray was born. It was a smooth easy job, were it not for the fact that Olcay was scared as hell for the pain and the impact of the contractions on her hernia. She focussed more on the pain, than on relief of the contractions. Under normal conditions it would've been a breeze, but it was tough nonetheless.
I came home at 5:15 this morning and at noon I was back with Olcay and Ray. Jay was taken there by Desiree already and for him this is still something hard to grasp. Well what is there to expect from a 19 months old great little fella? He's doing great as is his little baby brother. We're all happy and consider this as an end to a couple of months of misfortune.
Iwan
Let me just put out the word straight out: Ray was born yesterday. Who Ray is? He's our son and his full name is: Raiden Sidar Eising. He was 2915 grams at birth and is doing great.
When you've subscribed to my blog and kept yourself up to date, you know that Olcay was suffering from a hernia and that she was onto morphine for quite a while. Although she's not using it for about 3 weeks now, we are still a bit concerned about Ray's health and the impact of Olcay's medication on it. So they're staying in the hospital until tomorrow afternoon and the pediatrician will do a full check-up on Ray. As of yet, there's nothing to worry about though.
The story is that yesterday around 3 PM Olcay called me in the office to tell me that 'it had started', her water broke (if that is how to put it). But she wasn't in labor yet, contractions what so ever. Because of her hernia this actually might be a sign of a serious regression of it and instant surgery might be imminent. So when I got home, we called the hospital and drove over there. As it turned out, labor had started, and she was supposed to stay in the hospital which was fine with us. At 11 PM she called me that the contractions had started and at 12:30 AM today she called me to get to the hospital. Things were getting serious. I called Desiree and Olaf to come and watch Jay while I was in the hospital and when Desiree arrived I went to Olcay. At 1 AM I got to the hospital and 2:51 Ray was born. It was a smooth easy job, were it not for the fact that Olcay was scared as hell for the pain and the impact of the contractions on her hernia. She focussed more on the pain, than on relief of the contractions. Under normal conditions it would've been a breeze, but it was tough nonetheless.
I came home at 5:15 this morning and at noon I was back with Olcay and Ray. Jay was taken there by Desiree already and for him this is still something hard to grasp. Well what is there to expect from a 19 months old great little fella? He's doing great as is his little baby brother. We're all happy and consider this as an end to a couple of months of misfortune.
Iwan
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