I can feed myself.

This week was supposed to be all about getting extra snuggles and time in with the grandparents but Felipe's mom had a horrible accident on our stairs and they had to fly back home on Monday. We've said it before and this is a reminder-we have some crazy Dutch stairs in our place. I have gotten used to them now but I always follow 2 simple rules: 1. Always have at least one hand on the handrail; 2. My butt is always touching the handrail closest to the wall. Every time I have slipped down the stairs has been because I've lost contact with the handrail. So, we are so sad that Sue got injured and we hope that the doctors in the US have some good news and that she will be on her way to a speedy recovery soon. We miss her already and hope that she is 100% when we see her at Christmas!!
The weather has been super rainy this week and this morning I was reading about various activities I could do to keep Enzo entertained. One activity mentioned serving his food "bento box" style so that he could sort the different types of food whilst feeding himself. So, today I chopped his steamed carrots and cucumber into nice little bite size pieces and made 2 little lamb meatballs perfectly sized for his mini hands. I then put each food in its own little container. I had everything neatly lined up and was ready for him to sort and explore....the first thing he did upon sitting in his chair was pick up the container with the cucumber and empty the contents onto the floor. He then dumped the carrots on the table. At this point I had to laugh-really what 10 month old baby sits down and sorts their food and then neatly places it in their mouth? Not mine for sure! Anyways, despite what I thought was a failed lunch activity actually was a success. Enzo fed himself his entire lunch today. Yes, it was extremely messy and at times there were containers, carrots, and meatballs flying but he had fun and finished most of it. Below are a few photos from our Super Sorter lunch.

The Zo-li cups are the best!!

Tiny hands at work.

I'm ignoring you. Nobody likes to be photographed while they are eating.

What shall I go for next? As you can see the meatballs went quickly.

Okay, just a quick smile for you.

I was prepared. Not too bad for the first time with no help.

 

I'm the strongest boy in the world.

Time flies when you are having fun they say. We must be having so much fun because I have no idea where the last 4 months have went. We had a super busy spring with a trip back to the US to visit family. It was a great time and Enzo got to catch up with both of his aunties, Grandma, Great-Grandpa, and cousins. As soon as we got back to Amsterdam, we had some good friends from San Francisco come visit and then we were off to Spain for some fun in the sun, so we thought. The temperature ended up being a little cooler than anticipated so I rocked the same cardigan and scarf almost everyday.

Lost luggage, that was also part of our trip, and unexpected weather conditions teach you how little you really do need to pack when on vacation. After Spain, we headed to Turkey for some warm weather, pool time, and quality time with our friends from Amsterdam. Enzo was teething the majority of the trip so I got extra cuddles in place of pool time. Ha.

We rented a boat for the day while in Turkey and this was our view at lunch. I'm ready to go back!

And now we have been back in Amsterdam for a little over a month now. We started going to a Baby Sensory class that Enzo is really starting to enjoy. The first two classes were spent in my lap on the verge of tears. It's been fun to watch Enzo gain confidence in a new environment and become a bit more social with the other babies. At the end of August, we will start another music class and I'm looking forward to see how Enzo reacts to that as well. I'm sure he is going to love it! He's eating all sorts of food now and it's even better if it comes straight off of mom or dad's plate. We've taken to enjoying lunch and breakfast together and it's fun watching him explore new tastes and textures. Like his papa, he is already showing a preference towards a little spice.

I love eating with a fork like mom and dad!

Enzo has also started crawling and pulling up on anything he can grab. Like all other babies, he loves cords, remote controls, phones, and laptop computers. I keep the majority of his toys in 2 gray felt boxes and his favorite activity in the morning is to empty both of the boxes. I can't wait until he has a preference to put things back into the box. He also loves bubbles so we take lots of breaks when we are out and about to stop and I blow bubbles while he giggles and tries to grab them. It's an activity that always leads to my giggling as well and people that see us probably wonder if I am actually having more fun blowing the bubbles than him.

This morning was a beautiful sunny morning and after breakfast we walked over to Museumplein to snap some photos. Since I just needed to get myself posting again, here are some unedited photos from this morning.

 What am I sitting on?

So happy.

Waiting for another bike to pass by.

What can I find next to try and put in my mouth?

Don't mess with me. Na, I'm just kidding. No really, if you touch my food you will pay.

Goodmorning.

Hmmmm...what's on the other side? 

6 months and Cherry Blossoms

Enzo turned 6 months on April 1st. I can hardly believe that he is already half a year old. I feel like he has been part of our lives forever and that he was just born yesterday all at the same time. He is developing such a sweet little personality. He seriously is the happiest most mellow baby I know. He loves looking at himself in the mirror and smiles the biggest smile when he sees himself. When he is eating something he really likes, he shows gratitude with lots of "mmmms". He also likes to grab a hold of the spoon and help guide the food to his mouth. We can no longer sit him at the table with us while we are eating unless we plan on feeding him too. I love it though as breakfast and lunch have now become this social time where we can sit and eat together. He is such a little daredevil and loves being lifted high, turned upside down, being bounced, and anything else that doesn't involve sitting still. He loves balls and rattles and is putting everything in his mouth. Alternately, he hates being left in a room alone. Car rides are for the birds and he screams from Point A to Point B. You can tell that he is a city kid that either walks or rides the tram everywhere because car rides are this foreign concept that he would like to do without. He still doesn't really take a pacifier and will not take a bottle if I am in the house. We are just so blessed with this little guy and I can't wait to see how he develops over the next 6 months.

Enzo is the "crunch master" He probably does 100 of these a day.

The eyebrow raise.

Somebody has found their toes.

His hair is finally coming in. Tummy time is not so bad after all.

Seriously love this little guy.

He is so long and outgrowing my "photo shoot" blanket.

Enzo and Dad on his first bike ride. This makes Mom a little scared.

We just had the most amazing weather last week and also heard that the Cherry Blossoms were in bloom at Amsterdam Bos so we packed up the car with our neighbor and had a picnic under the trees. It was a little messy but worth it!

Enzo feels grass for the first time.

Enzo and Clotilde. 2 weeks apart. 

Chiara getting a workout holding Enzo up.

The picnic spread.

Someone has had enough and it is time to go home. 

Meanwhile, Enzo will work on his crunches.

Glasgow

Spring is upon us and the travel bug is in the air. We just got home from a very quick weekend trip to Glasgow for the Scottish League Cup Final between Aberdeen and Caley Thistle. This would not only be Enzo's first football match, but mine as well. More about the game in a bit. First, we took the Saturday morning flight out and arrived in Glasgow at about nine in the morning.

Enzo giving me a "kiss" on the plane. 

It was a typical Scottish day-overcast, slightly chilly, and a steady mist of precipitation in the air. We took the bus to the hotel and since we were quite early our room was not ready. That was fine as we were ready for some breakfast so we dropped off our bags and headed to the city center. Felipe did a quick search online for "Glasgow best breakfast" and discovered a place called Cafe Gandolfi. After taking a bit of the scenic route to get there we found the little gem, walked inside, and were instantly welcomed and told that we may sit wherever we'd like. We found a nice table in the back and I took the bench so that Enzo could spread out next to me a bit. He had fallen asleep on the way over and was still waking up. The waiter brought us the menu and after a few moments Felipe decided on the Scottish Breakfast and I went for the French toast with fruit and yogurt.

My French Toast. I had already tasted a blackberry by the time I took the photo. 

 Felipe's Scottish Breakfast. After this he was ready to conquer the city.

By the time we ordered, Enzo had become fully awake and was also hungry. I had a little mango in the bag so got that ready for him. As the waiter saw me getting food ready, he came over with a gift. It was a bib that said "Deagh bhiadh, deagh bheannachd", meaning well fed, well blessed. Such a sweet gesture.

Enzo in his new bib. 

After breakfast, we walked back to the hotel so that Enzo could take a nap. This also meant that mom and dad could take a nap because it is all or nothing in the hotel room. We were able to get Enzo to sleep for about 2 hours with a little 20 minute break in the middle. After that, we gave the Glasgow subway system a try and headed to the West End near the university.

Enzo on the subway. I don't think he was quite sure what to think of it all. This was pretty much his standard look the whole trip. A little frightened, a bit in awe, and trying to take in every single detail.

We walked around The University of Glasgow for a bit and marvelled at all of the old buildings. The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 and is the fourth oldest university in the English speaking world. That is just crazy. I felt like I could be on the set of a Harry Potter movie. We walked through one of the courtyards and if we didn't know any better, we could of stepped back to the year 1500 because there was nothing in the courtyard, besides us and our modern day phones, that hinted at the year 2014. It was very cool and I enjoyed walking around taking in the history.

Enzo getting his first "red telephone booth" photo. Someday I will have to explain to him what a phone booth is and I'm sure he will be very perplexed.

The Unicorn. 

This was the court yard I was referencing. So cool.

And another shot.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to get ready for the game. We started the morning off by grabbing coffee and bacon sandwiches at Starbucks. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit our Starbucks fuel stop but sometimes convenience and familiarity rules. After that, we met up with some people for a little pre-game Guinness and by the time we were finished with our beers it was time to make our way to the brunch. The brunch was a great precursor to the game because that were playing past Aberdeen games, there was chanting, and Enzo was able to get his face painted for the game.

Such a little fan! 

After brunch, we jumped on the charter bus and headed to the game. Glasgow was packed with soccer fans so what would have normally been a 10 minute ride took a bit closer to 30 minutes. We had plenty of time though so it wasn't a problem. The but dropped us off as close to the entrance as he could and we jumped off and made our way to the stadium.

Our tickets. Seats were pretty amazing.

Family photo before heading into the stadium.

Like I said earlier, pretty amazing seats.

Super tired baby. Shortly after this photo, Enzo and I headed back to the hotel so he could nap. 

The game was fun and I'm happy that Enzo and I got to go even if we did only last the first 25 minutes. I actually thought he did quite well. Felipe stayed and said the game was pretty exciting with Aberdeen finally taking the win.