Lucas Alexander Caspar Matthijs Macdonald

Our difficulties with choosing child names are well documented. We went through the mangle with Eloïse (née Franbert) and it’s been no different this time with Mr. X.

Happily, that process has now run its course and concluded, partially thanks to Dutch law, which gives new parents just three working days to register the monicker of their new progeny.

Henceforth, Eloïse’s new sibling shall be known as Lucas (Luuk) Alexander Caspar Matthijs Macdonald.

I registered the birth this morning at the stadsdeelkantoor on the Koninginneweg. It took only a couple of minutes.

Apart from a birth certificate, I came away with a present from the local council voor de nieuwe Amsterdammer (for the new Amsterdammer). It turned out to be a red, hooded bath towel on the I Amsterdam theme. A nice touch and a pleasant reminder of why it’s cool to live in Amsterdam.

Luuk is doing well. Neither he nor Sarah has left the house since his birth, but we’re thinking we may briefly venture out on Friday. It all depends on how fit Sarah’s feeling.

The house is embellished with blue streamers and whatnot, inside and out, so none of the neighbours can be in much doubt about the fact that a baby boy was recently born here.

Tiny male genitals are proving quite a challenge. At any moment, a nappy change can (literally) erupt in an escaped hosepipe scenario. Sarah, Cora and I have all been sprayed across various parts of our body. The wall by the changing table has also had a good dousing. At some point, we’ll get the hang of this.

Our bed has pretty much reached its maximum capacity now. Eloïse and Lucas both comfortably fit in next to us, but we’re no longer swimming in excess width. If Sarah had surprised us with twins, we’d be scratching our heads now.

With the name and birth registration taken care of, the next item on the agenda today was health insurance. I ticked that one off this afternoon. Tomorrow, I’ll call our doctor and register him with the practice.

The next step will be to get mug shots done and apply for a Dutch passport. The American passport (required for travel to and from the US if you’re a citizen) can wait until closer to the time that it’s actually needed.