A special time has come to its end

Omar has been exclusively breastfed since birth. He has never had a bottle and didn't start eating regular food until well after 6 months. Today his most favorite comfort time has come to an end. Omar is almost 22 months now. I wanted to stop on his 2nd birthday but with life's pressures and the negativity I have been getting I woke up this morning and felt it was time. I enjoyed this special time with my son very much, We have a very close relationship which I think will last forever.

This morning was really rough though. He woke up at 5am. Normally he would go right back to sleep with a sip of milk from mommy. But without it he cried and screamed and kicked until 11am! Exhausted he fell asleep on my lap. When he woke up I told him he could have something from the toy store if he would give up nursing. So we went to the store and he picked a train set. We set it up and he loves it. He has asked for milk through out the day but no crying so far. I wonder how tonight will go...

8.30pm

Well, bed time wasn't as bad as I expected. I offered him milk before bath time but he wasn't interested which really surprised me! He took a bath, watched 5 minutes of his favorite show Nijntje and we went to the bed. I told him he could have 5 minutes of milk and he did, after that he fell asleep right away, no crying! Since this morning he has taken to a new 'lovey'. It is this little blue dog which he grabbed while he was crying. Now he won't part from it. I am so glad he is finding comfort somewhere else as I've been his 'lovey' all his life. I will miss our special time together but there are a lot of other special times that I look forward to and the memories will always be there!

The Wiggles concert

Last night I took Omar to the Wiggles concert in Baltimore. I had gotten two tickets months before and after getting back from Holland I kind of had forgotten about it. The concert started at 6.30pm, we left the house around 4.30pm so we would have enough time for traffic and parking. There was a lot of traffic in the city as there was an Orioles game at the same time, but we managed to get there early enough. Omar was really excited every time I mentioned the Wiggles but I don't think he really understood where we were going. That all changed when we walked into the arena and he saw the stage. The arena was pretty small which was great as everyone had a good view that way. There were two large screens on each side that were playing the Wiggles movie. The guy showed us our seats which were really close to the stage. Omar didn't want to sit of course, he ran all the way up to the stage and was so excited! He kept yelling for the Wiggles. They had the guitars there and the Wiggles house and Dorothy's hot air balloon. I tried to let him sit on stage for a picture but it was not allowed. We then went to look at the merchandise and Omar picked out a t-shirt and a wand with the big red car on it. He also got a Captain Feathersword hat. He put the shirt on immediately and was waving the wand to everyone. We had about 30 minutes left before the concert started so we just walked around the stage area and made some pictures. Omar was super excited!

When the concert started the dancers came out first, and then one by one the Wiggles. Omar clapped like crazy and had the biggest smile on his face. He sang and danced to all the songs and did all the moves. Half way through the concert, I moved to the beginning of the stage as there were some empty seats and Omar had an even better view then.
I spotted the Popples in the audience and they came down and sat with us. Omar and Ella were really excited to see each other and had fun dancing together.

At the last song Omar and I walked up to stage and danced to the last song. The Wiggles and the rest of the gang came by to wave hello and shake hands and Sam said hi to us and Captain Feathersword shook Omar's hand. I think that must have been the high light of the evening!

Omar was wide awake after that, so I tried to go into the harbor for a bite to eat but as it was Friday night there was no parking so I gave up on the idea and went home.

When Omar woke up this morning all he could talk about was the Wiggles. I am so happy he liked it!

On our way to the US!

We are on our way to Detroit right now. We had to leave the house at 5am to go to the airport. Omar had a real fun day yesterday, we took him to this very big play area with an air mattress, tons of slides and climbing things and sprinklers. He had a blast! Then I went into town for a little bit to get him some Dutch dvd’s and cd’s. Omar stayed with Aunt Vera at the play area and when I got back there they were just leaving. It was my first time riding a bike in at least 10 years and it was fun! Omar got to sit in a front seat on the steering wheel. He cried at first but when we started going he loved it. After that we had lunch and drove to my dads house. We were having dinner there and sleeping over as we had to leave so early. My dad took us to a pancake house in the woods with a huge play area and a petting zoo. Omar was so happy! He ate really well and had a really good time. There was a really creepy guy there, and when Omar, my brother and I went into the play area I noticed he was taking pictures of Omar. I told my brother and we watched him for a bit, then I really started freaking out as he was following us. My brother went over to him and he was trying to hide his camera. We then left the area and went to sit down to eat. He kept looking over at us and I got more upset. When he finished eating he went into the play area and started making pictures of the kids there. He tried to make more pictures of Omar so I went and complained at the restaurant about him. Another lady had already
complained as well. Omar was walking back into the play area and as soon as the guy saw him he tried to make more pictures, then my sister in law went over to him and had a long conversation with him. He stopped bothering us after that but it totally creeped us out. I wanted to take his camera and look at the pictures and delete them all. You can never be too careful that is for sure!Omar ate a lot and had so many snacks and juice that he usually doesn’t get. We got home and he had a nice long shower. When I was putting him to bed all of a sudden he threw up, it was a huge projectile and as it was going up in the air it landed on top of his head and all over his face. I didn’t know what to do, so I just held him until he was finished. We were both covered and the bed too, I felt really bad, for him and for my dad’s bed. I stuck him back in the shower and cleaned him up, then my dads wife was really nice and helped me get out of my puky clothes while holding a crying Omar. It was really disgusting.
When I woke him at 5am he cried so much it was unbelievable, he kept asking to go back to bed so he made me feel so guilty. We even had to pull over because it was getting unbearable. Luckily he was fine at the airport, we got to go check in at first class which was so easy, then at security I was in the back of the line and a woman came up to me and escorted me to the front, so we were through in two minutes. This flight is even nicer than the first one, the seats are really nice. Omar has his own seat again and I reclined it to a bed and he slept for two hours. While he slept I got served an incredible breakfast. I am really enjoying this experience. I know I will probably never fly first class again in my life but it is a memory I will not forget. Omar is watching baby einstein right now on his private monitor with head phones on as they have kids movies. I am just sitting here relaxing and writing about our trip. We will arrive in Detroit in six hours and then we have a two hour wait before we head back to DC. Omar knows we are going to see daddy so he is really excited. I think that is it for now. The two weeks have flown by, I can’t believe I will be back in the US today. I miss Holland already and already looking forward to our next trip back.

Back in Holland

We had a crazy day yesterday leaving Spain.
We had a very big delay and arrived in Holland 3 hours later. My brother picked us up and then we drove to my moms house for some dinner. The weather was very warm so we sat outside. Omar had a good time. We then drove to my brother's house and Omar slept the whole way, we got there around 10.30pm. We went to bed right away, and this morning when we woke up Omar was very excited to see his aunt Vera. He even went upstairs to wake uncle Jeffrey. We had a nice breakfast outside and then Vera took Omar for a long walk to the park. He took an hour nap and then we went to a friends house for a birthday.Omar really enjoyed himself, there were three other little kids there and a kids pool! He was exhausted on the way home and fell asleep in the car. Tomorrow is my last day here and then we will be coming back to the US to see Ramy! We are going to a big play area for kids in the morning and in the afternoon I have to do some last minute shopping. Omar and I are spending the night at my dads house as we have to leave for the airport at 4am. I will miss Holland and the lovely food but I can't wait to see Ramy and I know Omar can't wait either!

Last night in Spain

The time has come to say goodbye, I am feeling sad but also happy I got to experience this. It has been an interesting week, with good things and bad. Tomorrow we have to leave the house at 9am, our flight to Holland is a little after 12pm. We had a nice day today, went to the beach in Nerja in the morning, I took Omar in the ocean, and he loved it. There were a lot of jelly fish though so we had to be very careful. All the Spanish old ladies kept coming over to tell us about the jelly fish and to be extra careful with our little ones. We then walked into town and had some pastries. After driving back to the house Omar didn’t want to nap so we went shopping and he slept for two hours in the stroller. We got back later in the afternoon and drove to the board walk for some food. The waiter was very rude, and when we were paying he actually yelled at us and started throwing things. We just smiled at him and thanked him for the great service which made him more mad. The food and drinks were really good though. Omar played a little on the beach, had some ice cream and we drove back to the house. We went for a swim in the pool and then Omar went to bed. I just finished packing, and about to go to bed myself. Our last night in Spain...

Update

August 3, 12.46am
The days have gone by really fast. We only have tomorrow left and then we leave. I guess the saying ‘time flies when you are having fun’ is true. The last couple of days we’ve been at the pool, exploring different towns, and just relaxing. I am sad the week is almost over and that I might not see my old friends for a while. I hope of course we can do this reunion every year, but who knows, a year is a long time and lives go on. I really hope we don’t lose touch of each other, as it was wonderful getting to know everyone again. Omar has made good friends with Benjamin and I know he will miss him. As I am typing this I am looking out of the window in my room at the moon and the spectacular view. The nights are wonderful here. Tomorrow we are going to the town Nerja and spend our last time at the beach. After that we don’t have any plans, there is a mall nearby where I would like to go to for a little bit, and hopefully I get to spend some time at the pool when Omar takes his nap. He is finally back on schedule after almost a week.. I wonder how he will do once we get back to the US. I like Spain, it is pretty here, and the people are very nice.

Spain day 4

We got up early to go to the market, unfortunately it was not there so we decided to just keep driving to the next town. We stopped at a small town called Nerja. It was pretty, especially the beach side. We are planning to return there for a swim sometime this week. Today was the hottest day of this week, and we really felt it. We spend most of the day in the pool, it was so hot Omar couldn’t take his nap until late afternoon. I had a really hard time getting him to sleep tonight as our room is boiling. He was drenched in sweat. Poor kid, I gave him a glass of water which he drank within seconds. I then put him in my friends stroller which fully reclines and has a bug cover. We walked around outside for about 45 minutes, until he fell asleep. I just checked the room but it is still so hot, so we are all outside now, Omar in the stroller and everyone else is in the pool. My friend brought a fan and I wish I had too. I still don’t understand why there are no fans in this house. Hopefully it will be a bit more windy tomorrow so the house can air out a bit. I think tomorrow we are driving to one of the nearby towns to do some sight seeing. Should be fun!

Spain day 3

We had a pretty lousy night again, Omar woke up around 5am screaming and crying, he must’ve had a bad dream. It went on for an hour or so and woke up some of the people in the house. He did manage to fall asleep again for an hour before waking up for the day. I think he was over heated as he felt hot and had a rash. I gave him a cool shower and he was better after that. We then headed to the beach. As it was early it was deserted. We rented a couple of chairs and umbrellas, and the kids were loving the water. Both boys are fearless and kept going in the ocean and then the waves would knock them over. They thought it was so funny! The beach is with a lot of stones and pebbles, not white and soft with shells. Omar really liked it though, he kept collecting the stones and there were some really pretty ones there. He cried a lot when we had to leave but he was very tired and hungry. He cried all the way back to the house, and went straight to sleep when we got there. There is a huge market further down and I really want to go check it out. Hopefully it will be there again sometime this week. It is very hard to find fresh fruits and vegetables and even meat in the stores. Some of the girls went out looking for a big supermarket. I hope they find one so maybe we can do some grilling tonight!



1.06am They did manage to find a regular supermarket and we got to eat some fresh food tonight. I got the grill ready and the others got the meat marinated and so forth. The grilling area is nice, it is all stone, I really enjoyed grilling on there and the food came out perfect. Omar and I were so hungry. We both haven’t eaten much since we got to Spain, the food hasn’t been very good. We spend most of the afternoon in the pool, Omar practiced swimming back and forth for so long his hands looked liked dried prunes. He is getting better and better and he is loving it. After dinner he had a long bath, I was trying to get the last remnants of sand off of him and to soak the blisters on his feet he had gotten from the friction of the sand in his pool shoes. He stayed up for quite a while, it took me a good hour to get him to sleep, it is just so hot in the house. We then all got together and took out our pictures from 1996 and had a good laugh. It was really so much fun looking back and sharing memories. Tomorrow we are going to see if the market is there again, and after that we don’t really have any plans.

Spain day 2

After a restless night, Omar and I got up around 8am. It was already very hot as the sun had been shining for a couple of hours. The shower felt great but after getting out I was already wet with sweat. We decided to go to the supermarket to pick up some things. We were lucky to find one that was open on a Sunday. We then went into the pool. Omar had a great time, I put these arm floats on him and he swam by himself all the way to the other side of the pool where the beach balls were. I am very proud of him! Now he refuses to sit in a regular float. He was exhausted after being in the pool for over an hour and took a three hour nap. I actually fell asleep with him and I didn’t know we slept that long. It was really nice and we both needed it. We drove to the board walk and walked around until we found a nice looking restaurant for dinner. Omar was very excited to see the beach and the ocean an it was hard to keep him on the board walk with me. I had ordered fish for us, and he ate the whole thing, he was so hungry. After dinner we did a bit more walking got some ice cream and went back to the house. The boys played a bit and we watched the sun set which was breath taking. Omar asked to go to sleep around 10.30pm so we are slowly getting him back into routine. Tomorrow we will go to the beach early in the morning as it is so hot. That is it for now:)

Arrived in Spain

We have arrived in Malaga Spain. The flight was okay. It was packed and the seats were tiny. Omar was good though, he sat on my lap for the three hours, and he let me sleep for a bit. I had 3 hours of sleep the previous night, and I am still exhausted. We got out of the plane to find my stroller was at baggage claim. We had to walk so far to get there, with me carrying an overtired toddler, two bags and portable seat. We got the stroller and the travel bag but the stroller is missing its cupholde now, what a bummer. I tried waiting to see if it would show up but Omar was falling to pieces. It was awful. I finally got him calmed down a bit in the bathroom and into the stroller and he fell asleep right away. I can’t figure this airport out, it is a lot different then described on the net. There is one hall for luggage and a café. I can’t find the rest of the airport. It is also wonderful that nobody speaks (or is willing to speak) english. I am at the café right now having some juice and a really old sandwich which cost eight dollars. I hope when we get into town it will be less expensive. I have to wait now for my friend Nina so we can rent a car and go to the house. Later tonight the rest of the gang will arrive and then the reunion will start. It will be very strange to see everyone after 11 years, but I am looking forward to it. There will be one little boy Omar’s age so I am very glad he will have someone to play with.
Although I haven’t gone out of the airport yet, I don’t think there is air conditioning in here as it is very hot and muggy. I think I have to change out of my clothes to shorts before we leave the airport.
I don’t have much to report other than that. Omar is still sleeping very poorly at night. We were up the previous night until 1am again, my dad and his wife came and we all went into town, did a little shopping and sat in a coffeeshop/bakery and had some wonderful coffee with pastries. Boy, how I am going to miss that. Omar and I haven’t been eating much, not really had an appetite for some reason, I hope that will change when we get back to Holland after Spain, as there are still so many things I want to taste before I go back home to the US.
My brother drove us to the airport this morning and Omar had a hard time saying goodbye to him. He kept giving him kisses and was waving a lot. He will be so surprised to see him again next week.
Will write more later tonight, I can’t wait to see what the house looks like. I hope it is nice, or at least clean...

July 29, 12.08am I am glad to say we are settled and Omar has finally fallen asleep about 5 minutes ago. This has been such a long day, my friend Nina came out an hour later so we waited for 4 hours. Then we had to take a bus to the car rental, from the car rental we had to drive to the meeting point for the house. It didn’t take us long to get there, but the person meeting us didn’t speak a single word of English. Although I did bring a translator he didn’t have the patience for it. Finally we understood to follow him to the house. We drove through town, which was beautiful, then we took a turn on some dirt road, and I thought that was a bit odd. We kept on going until we took another turn on what didn’t even look like a road to me, heading into the mountains. I told Nina to lock all doors just in case. It was all so weird. The ‘road’ was very scary as there were ravines on both sides, I was very nervous, but we took it slow. We finally got to the house, which is beautiful but lays in the middle of no where. There is no street, just that path. If I would have known I would not have picked the house. It took us another hour and a half to converse with the man and get directions to the supermarket etc. Then it was time to pick up the rest of the girls at the airport. We made a quick trip to the supermarket then I stayed at the house to feed and change Omar. He totally had it. We both hadn’t eaten, well, Omar had a muffin in the morning and we both lived off of teddy grahams and water. The trip to the airport took a long time due to heavy traffic, so I didn’t get to see the girls until after 9pm. Two of them went back out to get dinner and I got reacquainted with the rest. It is funny, but it seems it has only been a couple of weeks instead of 11 years. Everybody looks the pretty much the same except we are not girls anymore, but women. Omar was very excited to have a friend to play with. The other two girls came back with pizza around 11pm and it tasted so good! Omar was still awake of course, he didn’t even seem tired. We have a big pool in the back yard and Omar keeps trying to go in it. I have to keep a real close eye on him as it is not fenced in. Tomorrow we are finally going to go for a swim and explore town. I can’t wait! I am really excited! I have to go to bed now as it is 12.30am and I really need to catch up on some sleep. Oh, and it is hot here, 91 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. The house has no air conditioning so you can imagine how hot it is right now.