Robot

Last day of the year. This is the day when, apologies to my Dutch friends, the whole of Holland turns into a 12-year-old boy. Fireworks are thrown about willy-nilly and, for those of us brought up on firework safety adverts, it's generally wise to stay indoors and "tut" lots. Check out the pics of Sophie, helping to construct a Lego robot.

Thank You

So thanks to all who kindly sent presents for Sophie. She had a really fun day. We will try to be better next year at sending out cards and presents on time but, with one thing and another, we missed the boat this year. Here's a picture of a tired little girl on her way to bed at the end of a fun day.

Fairy

A fixer-upper

Sophie got a doll's house for Christmas this year (amongst many other things). We decided on a fixer-upper rather than anything too expensive ... the bottom has really dropped out of the doll's house market here in NL and there are some real bargains to be had. The wallpapering and carpeting have already started. She really likes it and has spent several hours already organising the inhabitants. The dog has had several baths.

Happy Christmas

Thanks Trudi ... delicious!

Thanks Paul ... cute!

Sophie in the House

Sophie has now been home for over a week and so far things have gone better then I expected. She is managing to stay fairly cheerful but obviously gets very frustrated at not being able to move around. Highlights of the week included a noisy jamming session with her Auntie Val and Nanna and some DJing on the decks of her new music system courtesy of Auntie Nikki (see vid). Lowlights include getting her finger caught underneath the evil wheely contraption, which the evil physiotherapist lent to us. This happened just as Dani was ringing the bell coming all the way from Qatar for a vist (... well, kind of). Sophie cried and cried for an hour ... sorry Dani. I'm tempted to destroy the evil wheely thing and forego the 25 Euro deposit to prevent some other unfortunate kid from having a similar or worse experience. We've been out in the pram a few times and have generally passed the time trying to keep Sophie entertained which was greatly helped by the arrival of Jo's mum and Auntie Val. When we're just too shattered, Tinky Winky and Co are called upon for back-up.

Road to Recovery

Yesterday Sophie was discharged from hospital, where she was becoming increasingly distressed and had pretty much stopped eating and drinking. The combination of a virus, scary nurses with needles and a particularly rough physiotherapist had all become too much . Anyway since getting back home she has come on in leaps and bounds. She slept well last night and is now eating and drinking pretty much as normal. She's slowly getting used to life in the cast. The arrival of La-La (with Jo's mum and Auntie Val) has greatly helped.

The Operation

Just got in from the hospital after a very long day and thought I'd do a quick entry to let you know how Sophie's operation went. She was trundled into theatre at 8 am this morning and was in surgery for 3.5 hours. When she came out she was very relaxed and had a big cast on her leg to immobilise the joint. In essence, it starts close to the navel and extends down to the ankle on her left leg and to just above her knee on her right leg. There is a strut placed diagonally between the legs to improve rigidity. Sophie has been a little star and only cried a couple of times during the day. This is remarkable given the fact that the epidural she is currently receiving for pain relief is not functioning correctly ... most of the morphine is soaking into the bedclothes rather than her bloodstream. Anyway, we saw the surgeon at the end of his busy day and he told us that he was very pleased with how it all went. He had to do a bit of bone surgery on the hip to reduce the gape of the socket and then put everything back in its correct place. So I've just left Sophie with Jo in hospital and hopefully they'll have a good night. And what of our other little bionic hipster (see entry March 17 2006)? Well she's had only a few hours of company in the past couple of days so I'd better go and throw some stuffed animals around the living room.

Keyword: walkies

Do you like my tomato?

Is your dad cool?

Trampoline

I'm taking a long weekend this week (... worked too many weekends of late). The weather is very grey and drizzly in NL at the moment. Yesterday, myself and Lottie enjoyed a walk on a very cold and deserted beach. This morning's fun took place in a children's play barn near Delft (see video). Only a week until Sophie goes into hospital so we're trying to pack it in. Not much to report here. Lottie had a run-in with the neighbour's Beagle the other day. Since they moved in they've both strained at the leash to rip each other's little throats out, with Lottie usually being the main aggressor. However, the other day the Beagle ran out of its house and the two of them had a fight. I wasn't there but Jo tells me that Lottie is not a good fighter ... in fact she squeeled like a pig. It's a bit embarrassing that our dog is so weedy, particularly as she's all mouth and trousers when it comes to kicking off.

Date for Op

We just heard that Sophie's due to go into hospital on 10 December and have her operation on the following day.

Mummy, Sit Down!

Recently Sophie has insisted on a bedtime story before she goes to sleep and yells "boooook!" if you try to put her in the cot without at least 3 stories. In addition to bedtimes, she sometimes climbs into a chair with her suggested reading matter demanding, "Mummy (or Daddy), sit down!", while pointing to the place next to her.

Her top four bedtime books are:

(1) Hooray for Fish;

(2) The Hungry Caterpillar (Thanks to Aunty Amy and Uncle David);

(3) That's Not My Fairy (Thanks to Aunty Nikki); and

(4) Noisy Noisy Mermaids.

First chuck

Whenever we're at the beach, Sophie likes to try to throw Lottie's ball using the stick device. I got this first successful attempt on film today. Go Sophie!

Wrapped up

It was a bit bracing at the beach today. Even Sophie, who normally eschews thermal hats and gloves, kept covered up.

Sinterklaas has arrived

Today Sinterklaas landed at the harbour in the Hague and processed throught the streets accompanied by 400 Zwarte Piets. They will spend the next few weeks assessing the local children and the lucky ones will get presents on 5th December. The naughty ones will be carted off to Africa to be sold into slavery.

Waiting in anticipation with the neighbours

Enjoying the parade

Do not approach the Sinterklaas!

One of these small things ....

... is staring at the TV

We've been to IKEA

Miniature furniture .... as promised!

Storms

The dearth of activity here is probably related to the fact that we haven't done too much. We saw the storm surge photos on Amy's blog. On the opposite side of the North Sea we've also had a bit of a hooley. I just got back from taking Lottie for a walk to the beach and there we had to climb over the flotsam and jetsam (... how come people at sea get through so much Right Guard?) and battle the wind, surf and spray. The foul weather meant we've had to find alternative forms of entertainment for Sophie. Jo and Sophie are now season ticket holders at Sea Life in Scheveningen. It's a short bike ride away and you can watch sharks from a transparent underground tunnel. You get the idea. There are also buttons to press which is what Sophie likes best I think. This morning we went to one of those soft play warehouse places out of town where parents can sip coffee and watch their kids clamber through spongified scaffolding. It's bitter sweet watching Sophie enjoying clambering around, knowing that she'll be fairly immobile in a few weeks (... no date yet). Sophie has also got some miniature stuff from IKEA (furniture, easels etc). I'll post some pics later.

Slide

Sophie enjoying a ride on the slide

Gurning ...

... doesn't get cuter than this.

Oh No!

If Sophie titled these entries then this one would be called "Oh No!". During a routine check-up last week a problem with her hip was diagnosed. She was promptly dispatched for an X-Ray and today we had a follow-up appointment with a specialist at the local children's hospital. It transpires that she has a displaced hip. Basically, her femur is not fitting snugly inside the socket in her pelvis. This is often detected in younger babies and fixed with a cast. However as Sophie is a bit older (20 months) she will need to have a bit of surgery to correct things followed by a period of convalescence (at least 8 weeks) in a cast. The final outcome will be good but she'll be a bit static when the cast is on. She's due to have the op in about 4 weeks so visitors are more than welcome during December and January.

Cold mornings

The mornings are starting to get colder. Sophie decided to wake up at 5.30 am this morning and here's a pic of her eating some toast. Poor girl can't get any privacy. The hat was her own idea. Not much happening here, a week after getting back. I've been to work, Jo bought a bike. OK, time to end this entry.

In the Park

This bear has sausages for eyes

Yesterday we drove back from Cambridge to The Hague via the Eurotunnel and all went smoothly on the 7 hour trip, mainly because we got some extra strong knock out pills for the Beast. They made her eyes go wonky but she seems to be better now. Jo and Sophie are very happy to be back in NL; Sophie's been reunited with all her old toys and now cheerfully counts all her skittles out 1 to 6. This afternoon we did a bit of baking. Sophie enjoyed making these. Do you like your teddy with sausage eyes or olive eyes and cheese hair?

Always Happy to Meet the Fans (II)

Just before we left Cambridge, Blog regulars Auntie Nikki, Auntie Val and cousin Alex came for a flying visit. They agreed that Sophie looks just like her Mum did at that age.

Look what I found

Here's Sophie making friends with one of Center Parc's scrawnier attractions.

Center Parcs II

Just back from a week in Center Parcs. Thetford is not the most exotic holiday location but it's close to home and Sophie really enjoyed herself. I'll post more pics later.

Sophie and Dan get serious