March report

Hello there. Yeah we were terribly absent cause mom and I were both sick and then busy with lots of work and play and parties... you know the life. But we have some cool updates. The major news is my latest vocab skills. It all went very fast from saying one word at the time and then two and now I'm like a parrot repeating everything I hear, even songs. Mom is so proud! We've been having the usual fun together, I'm helping her clean the house, she took me to this giant flea market with uncle Peter and bought me this cool Volkswagen, and auntie Karen got me this super cool vintage design chair as a present. Spring is almost here so we're all ready for the garden life & now I have my own terrace with lounge chair ;-)

Geisha Deven

I rediscovered my Japanese kimono which still fits me fine. Mom was not too fond of me running around naked with the cold, but this silk geisha dress feels just as nice. So we got a bit giddy Araki style during our daily jumping and fooling around on the big bed routine ;-)

Complete Fluzy

I just passed this terrible stomach flu that's going around like crazy and that lasted for over a week. I kept mom and grandma pretty busy with loads of laundry, food experiments and long disrupted nights but it looks like I had the worse of it. I did get the hang of sleeping in mom's big bed a lot and our regular schedule got all messed up with me sleeping in every morning being the best part for mom. Also I'm showing the first sighs of a disease called 'terrible two' which involves me screaming NO NO NO a lot but apart from that we are definitely having a great time taking our usual trips and reading piles of books. I'm quite the scholar learning lots of new words and concepts and names lately, that I all run by myself before I fall asleep. Here's some pics of all the fun, and just to prove I'm not just wearing mom out being sick, unreasonable or playing soccer: I also do her least favorite chores ;-)

Natural Born Stripper

At least once a day I like to run around completely naked, not even a nappy on. Mom usually grants me a moment, after heating up the place, when I get out of the bathtub or before I get into my pajamas. It's delicious, I get all funny or indulge in mom's big bed. We have tons of pictures of me doing the nudie but mom's a bit hesitant to post them in this day and age with all those ugly-spitited people out there on the web so you'll just have to imagine my bliss.

Welcome to my new office ;-)

Look, Mom installed a real nice home office in our little front room and she put in a little bureau just for me. It's a vintage school desk with matching chair that mom got from an old friend of grandma's and it has all my drawing equipment in it. Ok, it's still a bit big which figures because I am not due for school for another couple of years but I love it already! Now all I need is my own laptop 'cause mom and I keep fighting over using hers. I'm pretty hooked to playing Bob the Builder games for example ;-) Anyhow, Monkey is also happy with the new office, he got a spot all to himself. By the way, did I tell you that I can finally say "Monkey" now? Yeah I'm a real talker these days, I just keep forgetting my own name. Confusing. Am I supposed to say 'I' or 'me' or 'Deven'?

My first lampionnenoptocht

There was a real cool new year's party at the daycare center a couple of week ago (yeah, mom is a bit behind on this blog of mine again). We got to make our own lantern from an old milk carton and some colored foil, and there was lights on batteries (no real candles like mom feared). Then there was a cool saxophone player playing the pink panter theme and other nice songs and all the kids and the parents walked over to the kids farm around the corner for drinks and party food. It was real pretty but hard to photograph, sorry ;-)

Chasing Butterflies

With the cold and all we spend most of our time at the zoo in the butterfly garden. It's so nice and warm there I get to take off my coat and chase butterflies (but I'm not touching them, don't worry ;-)

Bedtime story

My favorite time of the day is the bedtime ritual when I finally get to rumble around in mom's big bed without all those clothes on. We brush my teeth, read some books and do pillow fights until mom says it's time to zip up in my sleeping bag. I usually do not agree... but alas...

Boxing Deven

Mom got a big present from a nice UPS man the other day and while she was raving over this new designer bag by Vlieger Vandam I was delirious about the box with paper. I played with it for a couple of hours and then Monkey took over hiding in the box under a mountain of paper. Great stuff!

Ice Ice Baby

The whole country seems ecstatic since the new year starts off with the finest winter weather thinkable. There's actually snow and all the water is frozen so yesterday grandma took me to this frozen pond where mom learned how to ice skate when she was a kid. I kept to the sled and shuffled my way across this cold surface but boy was this fun! I don't care about the cold, this winter fun is just too good!I even helped to shovel some snow in the garden.

Happy New Year!!!

Whah I saw fireworks for the first time in my life and I think I am addicted! Mom had told me all about what was going to happen that night while she got dressed up for a little private champagne party with aunty Karen. I woke up shortly after midnight and mom and Karen took turns showing me the fireworks, warm and snug inside behind the window. I was a bit drowsy but I liked the party and had some snacks before mom and I went back to bed an hour or so later. Mom says it's going to be a good year, the year of the Earth Ox, so let's see. We already had a real productive first day of the year, cleaning out the garden and stuff. So... Happy new year and hopefully more fireworks soon!

Sunny and... cold!

I finally figured out why mom is trying so hard to make me wear a warm hat. Up until now I refused but it's so cold out that I finally budged ;-) The sun in the park was nice and warm though hmmmmmm

Bean bag

Apart from all my new Lego and books I am super stoked with the bean bag mom made me for X-mas! (and so is Monkey the cat)

X-mas day II

Then we went to the grant parents in riverland where I had to be entertained through a long brunch with uncle Bert and auntie Annie so they just threw presents at me until I fell over and hit the sack ;-)

X-mas day

we were off to a good start; I got to run around naked YEAH!... uh, until I peed all over my new Lego

Pre X-Mas delights

It's not even X-mas and I already had my first presents from Santa. When we got back from our Holiday uncle Joff - who had looked after Monkey the whole week - installed a surprise Christmas tree including presents and cards. I totally got the hang of unwrapping presents so mom hardly had time to grab her camera. I love my new Lego set and played with it all day. Mom and I also went to visit my daddy and Nolan yesterday. (Oeps no pictures, but it was real fun playing with Nolan and his old toys!) They too had a big Christmas tree with presents for me. I got an even bigger Lego set, a complete farm, so now our house is filled with bits and pieces that fit very well together and I am not even looking at my old toys any more. Tomorrow we'll visit another Christmas tree at the grandparents so I wonder if there will be more lights and presents and goodies to munch. I love X-mas! ;-)

Holiday with the grandfolks

Mom and I spend a week with grandma and grandpa at this luxe holiday cottage park in the south of Holland, just next to a war museum. I had delicious bubble baths with mom every morning, and almost every afternoon mom took me to the indoor swimming pool which was definitely the climax of my day. It was a bit cold and wet outside so I got a bit under the weather and I a had quite a few of those strange anger tantrums which drove the whole family up the wall but apart from that we had a great time and I learned lots of new words like 'aan' and 'uit' ('on' and 'off' goes for lights as well as clothes), 'pap', 'auto', 'huis' and 'thuis'... stuff like that. My new favorite hobby is fooling around at the sink. It's not exactly a swimming pool but if there's water I'm happy!

Deven dopt zijn eigen boontjes

(That title only works in Dutch but it comes down to Deven discovering the delights of helping out with the housekeeping)