On Tuesday morning, we took Lucas out for the first time in the car. It was also his first trip outside of Amsterdam, but only as far as Amstelveen, so he’s not exactly a globe trekker just yet.
We all went to the Amsterdamse Bos, specifically to Boerderij Meerzicht and had pancakes for lunch. It was Sarah’s idea and she’d picked a gloriously fresh spring day for it. After pancakes, Eloïse played in the playground and I took some photos. Why don’t we do this every morning?
That first trip in the car was hopeful. Lucas was quiet and patient. Only on the return trip, when we were just around the corner from our house, did he begin to get restless and cry.
I still remember Eloïse’s first trip in the car, from Mountain View to Los Altos in California, to get a passport photo taken. The return trip was hellish, and that was even shorter than our trip to the Amsterdamse Bos on Tuesday.
Speaking of passports, we picked up Lucas’s passport yesterday afternoon from the mercifully bustle-free stadsdeelkantoor.
Getting a passport is a relatively efficient process in this country. Lucas isn’t yet three weeks old, but he already has his travel document. We’ll eventually have to get him a US passport, too, because of the silly rule there that you must travel in and out on an American passport if you’re a citizen (which he automatically is, thanks to his American mother). This can wait until he’s about to make his first trip, however.
A woman from the Consultatiebureau came to the house this afternoon to do a check-up on Lucas. He’s growing well and has now passed the four kilo mark at 4010g.
We had a good conversation with this woman about why we don’t have our children vaccinated. She wrongly assumed, as do many people, that we were selfishly choosing to reap the benefits of herd immunity, whilst not having our children contribute to the herd. Not so. The reasons we don’t have our children vaccinated are many, but can basically be summarised as follows: we don’t believe the vaccinations are effective. In fact, we believe they are actually detrimental to society.
I could fill many on this subject alone, but people far more knowledgeable on the subject than I have already done so. I can give pointers if you’re interested.
Finally, the new boy in town has also gone on the waiting list for Eloïse’s peuterspeelzaal. You can never enrol your children too soon for anything here.