Hopla

It's still snowing today, but because there is some sun, it feels already less cold. While I'm writing this, Auro is sleeping.
I hope that he can sleep for another hour, because the longer his afternoon nap, the less he cries towards the evening.

Last night, however, we had one of those evenings where Auro was displeased with everything around him. There wasn't a place where he could sit/lie for longer than 2 minutes without crying as if the whole building was on fire. When my arm got tired of carrying him around, I put him in front of my computer and started one of the DVD's I brought back from Belgium. I chose for "Hopla", which is a 3D animation, developed by (as far as I know) a Belgian guy and starring the rabbit 'Hopla' as it's main character. It's made especially for 'very young children'. Anyway, as soon as I put in that DVD, Auro went quiet as a mouse an did not take his eyes of the screen for about half an hour!!! Auro was completely captivated by the colourful Hopla and his friends. See for yourself!!!

Waiting

It's cold today and it has started snowing again. And because there isn't the usual sunshine to warm up the apartment, both Auro and I had to put on something extra to keep warm. We were planning to go out for a walk to the supermarket, but remembering how Auro cried when the cold hit his face last time we went out, I decided against it and to wait for another day or two until the temperature rises a little again.

While we are waiting here in the cold for Remo to come home (next Tuesday!), we have managed to find a daily rythm quite agreeable to, I think, the both of us. I get up around 7 or 7:30, have breakfast and wait for Auro to wake up for his first feeding, which is usually around 8 or 8:30. Five (or sometimes four... or six...) feedings and a full day of playing, crying (yes!) and some occasional napping later, Auro is carried off to his bed by 9 (sometimes later) where he (most of the time) falls asleep until the next morning!
Now, I am aware how lucky I am that Auro lets me sleep during the night and I fully realise that by sharing this information with you I risk to loose this nice agreement I have with my baby son. On the other hand, I also know that most of you are reading this blog to know about Auro, so, please, do me the favour of hoping with me that many more undisturbed nights are waiting for me!

Boat and graduation

Well, now I am back in Japan. My last student left behind at the Osaka University has to graduate. It will happen on the 18th so I had to come here to check on him. But, of course, in Japan there is the lovely boat too. I had the plan to haul her out during this period but unluckily the crane which was supposed to do the work broke down. So no hauling and repainting until the next Summer when I will be back once again. Because of it I had to find something else to do. On a boat there are always hundreds of things which need to be checked/fixed and I had no problems to find a couple. For example the Sika-flex holding the front hatch came off completely so I had to reseal the thing. This time I have used 3M product which I consider better than Sika-flex. Also one of the winches was not working properly so I had to take it apart and fix it. Finally I have also decided to start working on the last part of interiors which are still missing in the boat: the table of the living area. At this moment there is no table but we need one. So I started to work on it: I got the material and I designed the lay out. Then I started to cut and saw. Little by little it is coming and I predict about 5 full days of work to have it done (plus 30% because I never get it right at the first shot). As always hand crafting is a pleasure and OP Dejima Harbour offers a great facility to do any kind of work. At night you can even turn the radio on and work while you are listening to some music. Nice way of making things. Here you can see a detailed photo of the cockpit of the boat: it is made out of teak and it was built inside the workshop of OP Dejima Harbour. Oh, my student is going to give his final presentation. I better running ;)

"prrrr" and "pffff"

Auro discovered a new consonant: the "p"! Actually he discovered it about a week ago, but the last couple of days he has promoted it to his favourite sound. So now, whenever he is happy, he "prr"s and "pff"s until his chin and most of his shirt are completely covered in saliva. His "pff"s are sometimes so well articulated that even my face gets some of his watery spit. I don't mind at all of course, but I hope that he is not just practising his newly acquired skill as an excuse to condone a certain unmentionable local custom here;)

Peace and quiet

According to the lunar calendar, yesterday was the 15th day of the new year. This day marks the official end of the New Year celebrations and provides the final excuse to light up the sky with extensive fireworks. Much to the delight of little Auro, whose eyes were as big as saucers, every window of our apartment offered a view of this spectacle of colourful fireworks last night. The deafening sound of firecrackers all around us just made him more excited!
Today, for the first time since we've been back, it has been a cloudy and grey day. The ground between the apartment buildings has turned red with the leftovers of the numberless strings of firecrackers. The spirits have gone back to wherever they came from and the usual peace and quiet has returned to Changchun (or at least to this part of the city). Believe it or not, but I actually feel a little sad. But not too much, because there will (hopefully) be no more sudden bangs of firecrackers waking Auro up from his (already fragile) naps.

Yellow water

Since not much new has happened since we came back to Changchun, I want to use this opportunity to dwell on some of Auro's more intimate moments of the day: bathing time! In an attempt to help him recognize the difference between day (when he is allowed to be awake and hungry) and night (when he should sleep and not cry for milk), we've worked out a sleeping ritual. Before putting him in bed for the night, for example, I always change him into his pajamas and feed him one last time. Bathing him before changing him into his pajamas is also a part of this evening 'ritual'. We usually bathe him every other day, but for the first 10 days, to help him get over his jetlag, we let him enjoy his bath every evening. And he really enjoys it! As soon as he is in the water he starts smiling and babbling. The fact that the rust in the pipes makes the water a little yellow doesn't bother him in the least!

20 weeks

Yesterday Auro was exactly 20 weeks old, so we decided to weigh him. We don't have the professional tools to weigh babies, but after some improvising with a spring scale from Walmart and an old curtain, we managed somehow. Auro didn't seem to mind at all and was staring up at us quite happily from within his curtain-hammock.

We don't know how accurate the scale is, but it read 6,4 kilos! So even if it is of by 100 or 200 grams, it still means Auro gained some weight since the last time he was weighed (which was on the 16th of January, when he was 17 weeks old... he was 5,9 kg then). Hip hip hooray for Auro and his big belly!!

Men with beards

The last couple of days Auro has been crying and screaming unceasingly. All the books say that 4 months and a half is a difficult period for babies, so I'm trying very hard to comfort and support him through it, but... Yesterday, after he had shown the usual signs of tiredness (rubbing his eyes and yawning), I put him in bed for his late afternoon nap. After one (yes!!) hour of angry crying I gave up and took him out again. He seemed quite happy that I did that, so after a while I tried to feed him. As was the case during many of the feedings over the past days, he drank and cried at the same time. In a desperate attempt to calm him down, I then started singing to him and almost immediately... he stopped crying!!! I could not believe it. Since there is only one song I know the words of, I ended up singing "Al die willen te kaap’ren varen" for more than 30 minutes! I just hope from the bottom of my heart that I will never have to calm him down like that when there are other people around, as I’m quite certain my voice would not have the same effect on them as it (luckily) seems to have on Auro.

Just below zero

Today, and also the last couple of days, Changchun hasn't been that cold. The temperature is just a little below zero, so perfect to take Auro out for short walks. We dress him well though, just in case (see picture)! Just as he enjoyed being taken to 'Colruyt' in Belgium, he enjoys being shown around in his new home-town. Two days ago we took him to Walmart where he fell asleep listening to the Chinese background music. Yesterday we walked to the university where he closed his eyes once we were inside Remo's office (it's a really boring office!) And today we took a taxi to a babyshop downtown. They don't have that many things as the baby shops in Belgium (or Italy), but, except for an electrical breast pump, we did manage to find the things we needed. Our biggest purchase was a baby stroller!! It was the most expensive one in the shop, but still a good buy (about 170 euros).

The magic of a new bed???

They say babies need one day for every hour of time difference to recover from their jetlag. In our case that is 7 hours, so 7 days for Auro to find his rythm again. Well, last night Auro fell asleep around 22:20 and this morning he opened his eyes at 11:00!!! I can not believe he was asleep for nearly 13 hours!! I had heard stories about magical super-babies sleeping 12 hours without waking up even once, but this... this I thought was something impossible!!! Maybe it was the magic of a new bed that made him sleep so long? Maybe it was the fresh Chinese air that did the trick? Or maybe he is just a wonder-boy!!! Whatever it is, I hope this is the rythm he was looking for!!

Caroline

Happy Niu Year

It has finally happened: we have decided to start a blog! The reason for this is simple: since the arrival of Auro, the need for us to 'stay in touch' has increased so drastically that we (read: Caroline) can not write to everyone personally every day anymore. On the other hand, there is also an urgent desire on our (read: Caroline's) side to talk about our everyday encounters.
As for the language, we will try to write in English as much as possible, but there might be some episodes in Dutch or Italian too...

Well, to start this this blog let me tell you about our first week back in Changchun (yes! one week has already passed since we left Belgium behind...). The trip went perfectly fine until we arrived at the airport of Changchun and we had to take a taxi to go home. Auro and I stayed inside of the airport while Remo faced the cold and went to look for a taxi (the note with our address written on it in Chinese in his hand). After a good 10 minutes he gestured to me that we could come out, but as soon as the taxi driver saw me and Auro, he started complaining and asking for more money. The price went from 150 rmb to 250 rmb and no begging or cursing from our side could change that, so... we got out again and ran back inside. Remo then called the dean of the Physics College to come pick us up. In the car the outside temperature read -16 degrees!
At home we were greeted by a warm apartment and lots of dead cockroaches!! I guess they had a party here while we were gone. The next couple of days, we still found some survivors, but the last 2 days we haven't seen any anymore... let's hope...
Sunday then was the last day of the year for the Chinese and was celebrated with fireworks from the early morning until late in the night. There was a peak between 10pm and 1am, during which it felt as if we were in the middle of a war zone. Auro, who was still struggling with his jetlag (though I think it was more me who was feeling it) woke up around 1 and asked for a 'comfort-feeding'. The next dayS people around our building continued setting of fireworks, but by now (it's Thursday!) they have almost stopped. The new year is the year of the 'niu' (=bull/cow/ox) according to the Chinese calendar. I don't know if that's good, but let's hope that it will bring a lot of happiness for all of us. I wish you all a happy and prosperous Niu Year!

Caroline