Major update II: Bachelorette party

Half of May I left Remo in Genoa and Auro with his Italian grandparents to travel back to Belgium for my final wedding preparations there. It was a bit strange to be away from Auro (it was the first time for us to sleep in different places), but I was so busy I hardly had time to think about it. A little more than one month before the wedding I had started to have some serious doubts about getting married and I needed a break, so my bachelorette party was the perfect escape for me. Me and my girlfriends first went for an afternoon of relaxing in sauna and jacuzzi and then for a nice dinner. The dinner was followed by a brief stop at home where my cousin had spread out tens of boxes on the dining room table with heavily down-prized women's lingerie. As soon as the necessary purchases were made, we head off to a small bar in the local town of Heist-op-den-Berg to continue the 'festivities'. I will spare you the details, but let me just tell you that it ended in the early hours and that I, for one, went home with a big smile on my face ;-)

Major update I: return to Genoa

OK, more than one month has passed since the last time that I have written on this blog. Not good! Especially because MANY things have changed since the last time... So, here is MAJOR update, part I.

After arriving in Belgium, Auro and I stayed with 'opa' for 10 days, during which Auro played and enjoyed himself and I did some spring-shopping and prepared our luggage for the trip to Italy. We then, for the second time, drove all the way down to Genoa in my father's car packed like camels (and there are still things of mine in Belgium!). My father was going to stay with us for a week or so and do some sightseeing, but after only 4 days he decided to return to Belgium (staying in an apartment with nothing to do really isn't for him). Auro and I waited for Remo to return from China.

Back to nature

On Easter Monday, Auro and I got on the plane again and flew back to Belgium. Auro slept most of the trip due to a slight fever, which turned out to be a fairly high one by the time we arrived in Begijnendijk. In fact, we called the doctor when I noticed he had a body temperature of 40 degrees. As it turned out, his common cold had changed into bronchitis and needed to be treated with some antibiotics... Two or three sleepless nights later, however, Auro already looked much better. But, not only did he recover quickly, he all of a sudden started sleeping 12, 13 hours during the night! After months of a really irregular sleeping pattern (= 3 out of 5 nights waking up, usually screaming as if he had had a nightmare), he finally went back to sleeping peacefully. I had almost forgotten what it was like to sleep through the night. I don't know what it was that brought on this sudden change. Was it the medicine? Was it his return to the house where he spent the first months of his life? Had his uncle's lessons in assertiveness anything to do with it? Or was it simply the fresh air of Begijnendijk? Whatever it was, I'm very grateful for it ;-)

Pingyao

Finally I have found some time to write here again. One month has passed since the last post... so, here is update number one!

Some days after the last time I wrote, I packed my suitcase and we left for a short trip to Pingyao (平遥). The city of Pingyao, which is located about 700 km southwest of Beijing, is not very big, but it is known for it's high concentration of Ming-and Qing-style residences (especially within the city walls, which, by the way, also happen to be among the best preserved walls in China). In fact, in 1997 Pingyao became a UNESCO World Heritage site and they have been restoring many decaying buildings to it's original splendor. Even though Auro was fighting a nasty cold (runny nose during the day, completely blocked nose during the night which kept him from sleeping soundly, the poor thing!), we still enjoyed our short stay. One day we left the city and visited a village nearby which is not on any World Heritage list yet, but, to our humble opinion, should definitely be! Anyway, here are some pictures.  

Happy dance

We have booked our tickets to fly back to Europe next week. By Easter Monday Auro and I should be in Belgium! Remo has to finish his teaching course first, so he will follow later. Either way, Auro is so happy that he made a little happy dance in Eurasia last Saturday!
Auro danst

What's in a name

How many of you know that Changchun (長春) translates as 'eternal spring'? I don't know what the Manchurians were thinking when they gave this so promising name to this city, because we are nearly at the end of March and I still have to see one sign of the coming spring. Three days ago it was still snowing and the temperatures are still not even close to pleasurable. Unless 'spring' stands for 'icy cold season that seems to last forever', I believe the Chinese might be the most ironic people in the world! Or, and I've just realised that now, maybe they meant that if you live here it feels like an eternity until spring comes?!

Blue

One of Auro's favorite things recently is climbing on and off the sofa. Even though we knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, we still got quite the scare when he accidentally rolled off the sofa yesterday and hit his head on the foot of the standing lamp. After a lot of crying and several cold compresses, the swelling went down a bit and he fell asleep. This morning only a huge blue bruise on his forehead reminded us of what had happened (not him, because he immediately climbed on the sofa again).

Eurasia fun

Since the temperatures here are still way below zero, going outside for a walk is not the thing to do on a free day. So, on Saturday, we did what all the other Chinese people with a small child do, we went to Eurasia, the biggest department store in Changchun. They claim it's the biggest in the world and, I have to admit, I believe them!. In this huge department store you can really find anything from food to electronics, from clothes to furniture. And, they also happen to have a mini-amusement park for children, complete with merry-go-round, amusement arcade, mini roller coasters and other fun attractions for even the smallest children. Auro had a good time watching all the other children (or as he calls them: 'titta' = 'kindjes'), pushing all the buttons on the game computers and riding in a speedboat on wheels!

one and a half

Today, Auro is exactly one year and 6 months old! To celebrate, I am preparing only the food that he likes: for breakfast he ate 5 or 6 mini-croissants with cheese, for lunch he ate a full plate of vegetable risotto, after his nap he finished a complete banana milkshake with some cookies and for dinner we are having minestrone soup! We have also tried to measure him: he is about 84 cm tall and weighs about 12,5 kg.

Wéi!

Again... it has been a very long time since I wrote last. But, this time I have something to tell you: we are in China! Remo, who is still employed at the university here, has to teach at least one course per year, so Auro and I came along to keep him company. Auro and I will stay until half of April (after which we will fly to Belgium) and Remo has to stay until he has finished his teaching obligations... probably until the end of April.
In the 2 weeks that we have been here, we haven't been outside much, because it is too cold for Auro (temperatures between -20 and -5 degrees!). Luckily Auro doesn't seem to mind staying in the apartment, which might be because there is almost no furniture and hence no obstacles when running around! And when we do venture outside, people gather around Auro as if he is a local superstar. While other children might feel a bit overwhelmed by this, Auro absolutely LOVES being the center of attention.

Carnival

 Here in Genoa, spring has decided to give us a sneak preview of what's (hopefully) soon to come. Little by little, the cold of winter is loosing the battle against the pleasantly warm and sunny spring. Last Sunday was one of those days on which spring most definitely had the upper hand. On that day, some friends we had met while living in Japan (Italian husband, Japanese wife and beautiful Italian/Japanese daughter!) came to visit us in Genoa. Together we went for a walk along the "Corso Italia", the road that runs along the coast line. Since the carnival period has started it was crowded with children dressed as spiderman, zoro, fairies and princesses. Everywhere there were vendors selling confetti (actually, the Italians call it 'coriandoli', 'confetti' refers to the sugared almonds they hand out on weddings) which children were throwing at each other with great joy! Ora, the 7 year old daughter of our friends and even Auro joined in the excitement and had the best time throwing confetti at each other.

La Befana

The holidays are over and we are back in Genoa. However, to put away the tree and all the other Christmas decorations, we decided to wait until after the visit of 'la Befana'. 

In Italy, this old (and I must say, scary looking) woman visits the houses of all the children on Epiphany Eve (the evening before the 6th of January) and brings them gifts. Children hang a sock near the chimney, through which she is believed to enter (sounds familiar?), and hope La Befana will fill it with sweet candies and not with lumps of coal (black candy that looks like coal). La Befana, luckily, deemed Auro too young to have candy, so she filled his sock with small toys!

Now that all of Auro's important 'visitors' (Saint-Nicholas on the 6th of December, Babbo Natale on the 25th of December and La Befana on the 6th of January) have left, each back to his own magical world, I am ready to put away the Christmas tree and start looking forward to warmer weather (because, everyone who claims that Genoa is a warm place in winter is soooo very wrong!).

First molar

After Christmas, Auro came down with a fever (40 degrees!), so we had to call the doctor. Luckily it's just a viral infection in the throat, so he doesn't have to take any antibiotics, but the past days have been a bit tough for him. With all the crying that (apparently) comes with a viral infection, I discovered a new tiny little tooth in the back of Auro's mouth: his first molar! For those of you who are still counting: this is tooth number nine ;-)

Buon Natale da Cesenatico!

I know! It's a little bit late to wish you a merry Christmas, but nevertheless: "Buon Natale!", "Zalig Kerstfeest!" and "Merry Christmas!" to anyone who is reading this!

Last week, we left Genoa and drove down to Cesenatico (on the Adriatic coast) where my in laws have just moved into a brand new (and I must say, really beautiful!) home. Then, on the 24th, my father, brother and his 'morosa' (girlfriend) joined us from Belgium. From the day my family arrived until the day they left, we stuffed ourselves with all kinds of delicious food carefully prepared by 'nonna Valeria' (Remo's mother). Two days ago, slightly heavier than when they arrived, the Belgian part of the family left and things quieted down a bit. My jaws now have some time to relax after all the laughter of the previous days. Definitely one of the better Christmases I've had!

 

Milestones

I can not believe I haven't posted any news in almost 2 months. It's definitely not because there was nothing to tell! Actually there have been some big changes! So, to get started again, here are some of the 'big' things that happened during the past 2 months.

We bought a car! With the help of my cousin and my father, we found a second hand Renault Scenic in great conditions and for a very reasonable price. We were actually looking for a smaller car to maneuver down the narrow streets of Genoa, but we were getting such a good deal, we couldn't let it pass by. And so now, for the first time in my life I have a car registered to my name!

Auro started walking! I believe that  Auro was physically capable of walking by himself for a while already, but psychologically he just wasn't ready yet to let go of my hand!(Or is this one of those things that every mother thinks of her child?) Anyway, on the 25th of November (so at the age of 14 months) Auro, all of a sudden, started walking around the room by himself. Unluckily for Remo, this blissful event took place while we were still in Belgium, three days before Remo joined us from Italy.

And then there was the big move to Genoa. On the 3rd of December, we (my father, Remo, Auro and I) left Begijnendijk with 2 cars (ours and my father's) to arrive 16 (!) hours later at the entrance of our new home in Genoa. The trip was long (1085 km) and tiring (2 hours of traffic jam in a tunnel in Switzerland due to an accident), so, needless to say, we were very relieved to arrive and get some sleep. My father stayed for the weekend and then drove back by himself. Strangely enough, the drive back took only 12 hours! What is it that they say about horses when they small their stable?