Update! Growing like a cabbage

We were totally debilitated by this growth spurt-- Will went from sleeping in two hour increments at night to shortened periods of sometimes 45 minutes to an hour between feedings. As I logged onto blogger this morning I saw that Mike had started three-- that's right THREE different blogs about the last few days, without entering more than a line-- or sometimes getting only as far as a title. So here is a week's worth of photos and media for our viewing public.

Photos are: Mom and James at the Viermarken fair, James holding baby Will, a few shots of our growing cabbage, and one of dad with Will in the hugabub.

Whereas in the United States we would say someone is "growing like a weed", here in the Netherlands they would say you are "growing like a cabbage".

The Dutch version fits Will quite well-- he is a round little fellow, and we often joke about the number of chins we can count on him on a given day.

We have taken shifts in napping today. I (Katharine) was able to sleep a little while James was at school and Will was being held by dad. That was after we spent the first few hours of James' time away taking care of the house, dogs, bathing, laundry-- the very basics in hygiene and home care. Now James is down for his nap and Mike is trying to catch a little quiet time, while Will is napping in mom's lap. This guy prefers to be held in the daylight hours.

We went last Sunday to a GREAT outdoor fair and market at an organic farm and store set in the middle of a park and farm. James was in heaven, as there were tractors everywhere. He liked the tractors more than the ponies! Mom and dad enjoyed the food-- organic home made ice cream, fresh bread... we only sampled a few things before it was time to get James home for a nap but it was wonderful. The weekend was gorgeous and we are hoping for another.

Soon after the weekend we were side-swiped by the growth spurt. I cannot believe how little we remember even from two years ago of parenting James. After about 24 straight hours of nursing I finally asked Mike "is this normal?" We pulled out the parenting books and soon realized it was a spurt. We went into survival mode-- with Katharine and Will plunked on the sofa for an eating binge and Mike doing everything with James, house, dogs, etc. A recipe for stress anyway, without Mike's head cold issues. (Mike has been dealing with a lot of sneezing since his return to the NL). Mike requested some cold meds from his mom last week, but after hours of ear-splitting sneezes he decided to go to the pharmacy to try to get an anti-histamine. They are not available for regular purchase-- and after a frustrating visit to the pharmacy Mike found they are not available to a walk-in customer either. He did not call our GP for reasons that really should fill another post but have to do with the fact that the GP's secretary is a little mean, very intimidating, and unhelpful. We avoid her at all costs, which may be their strategy, after all! Anyway-- in desperation and after MANY tears from his wife we finally found an answer-- our friend Robin! She is American and married to a Dutch man, and is the perfect resource for this type of information. She assured us we were not crazy, and that an antihistamine is not readily available. She brought some theraflu right over, with gifts for the baby and a bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup. How is that for service!

The theraflu allowed Mike to sleep relatively well, and most importantly to breathe easily. We are hoping that the spurt is nearing to a close and that better and more sleep are in our future.

Finally, here is a video of James saying the word Hippopotamus-- or as he calls it, Itchy-pot-mus.

Enjoy!