Eloïse has joined the Amsterdam branch of The Little Gym. We went along to the open day on Saturday and liked what we saw, so, after a free lesson today, we enrolled her.
She gets to clamber up and about on padded obstacles, take part in fun group activities and generally have a whale of a time with the other children. Since she doesn’t attend a creche, the gym also serves the important purpose of providing her with some opportunity for socialisation.
The gym also affords me the opportunity of some nice, exclusive papa/daughter time, as Sarah was off doing the second part of a three-day inburgering evaluation.
Similarly, yesterday, Eloïse and I went to Artis for the morning. She had a really nice time and has clearly developed a much greater interest in animals since we were last there. In particular, she enjoyed the elephants and found the giraffes hysterically funny. The whole experience wore her out and she quickly fell asleep in the bakfiets on the way home.
Yesterday evening, it was time for Eloïse’s first ever Halloween party. It also happened to be my first, too. It was nice to meet some of the people that Sarah has got to know at her American Women’s Club meetings, even if Eloïse was too tired for trick-or-treating in the rain.
There’s still not a peep out of her on the speech front, although she understands much of what we say to her in both Dutch and English and has no problem making herself understood. When she does finally decide to say something to us in formal language, we have no doubt it will be worth hearing.
Autumn has arrived in earnest now. It’s scarely 10°C outside and we’ve had variously sunshine, rain and hail throughout the day. The cellar is stocked with logs for the fire and we’re looking forward to cosy months ahead.