belgianwaffle

Princess

Elves and illness


Posted in: Princess, Reading etc.

I saw the Lord of the Rings on DVD last night. Very good.  Mr. Waffle rang at one point.

Him – Hi, it’s me.

Me – This isn’t really a great time.  They’ve just reforged the sword of Elendil.

Him – (Deep sigh – he’s not much of a Tolkien fan, why do you think I never saw it in the cinema?  He refused to take 3 hours of elves.)  I take it everything’s ok then?

Me – Yeah, fine.

At 11.30, the Princess started roaring.  I ran to her room to find her sobbing convulsively and when I picked her out of her cot, she was like a little oven.  I brought her into our room and fed her nurofen which she promptly threw up over herself, me and the bed and continued roaring.  I sponged her down. Still roaring.  I gave her a perdolan (paracetemol suppository).  Crying and shaking (her not me).  Anxious mother worries – is she having febrile convulsions?  But I held her in my arms and she started to calm down and after about half an hour fell asleep.  Put her back to bed.  Tried Mr. Waffle, phone out of range. Then worried that she hadn’t thrown up all the nurofen and that with the perdolan she might get liver damage.  Rang my unfortunate parents, who know about these things.  Roused them from their beds.  Got the boxes of medicaments and told them of the dosages.  Was reassured that she would be fine. Had I sponged her down? Yes.  With tepid water?  Yes.  Call again if there was a problem.  Went to bed.  Lay in bed.  Had the sponging water been tepid enough?  Maybe she was cold.  Went to her room.  Felt her arm and head.  She wasn’t cold but she did want to chat.  Burbled at me for half an hour and finally went back to bed at 2.00.  Woke promptly at 6.00 ready to face the day.  Poor little thing, she isn’t really 100% today but then neither am I.  I blame Tolkien.

Comments
Locotes

on 25 July 2004 at 19:36

No, I’d blame Mr W for not taking you to see LOTR in the cinema in the first place – then this whole mess could have been avoided. Oh yes.No offence intended here, and feel free to disagree, but I’ve noticed a few times now that you seem to worry easily about herself. Though I’m sure it’s fair enough that parents are quite anxious when it’s their first child. It’s just that I wonder if these episodes where she’s bawls her eyes out (possibly mortifying you at Belgian parades) are because she know’s you guys will come running and attend to her every desire. Is that fair of me to say?

ps – I notice that you’ve joined the ‘new background’ gang also – even more cosmopolitan than before! 😉

belgianwaffle

on 25 July 2004 at 20:02

Beth, she is not a Mr. Bloom fan, particularly not with those long golden tresses…must have been something else.
Locotes, alas, we are all too conscious that we readily give in to her whim of iron. We were discussing the other day whether we could change her habit of chucking her food overboard for the hell of it. This is our new target. So far, results have been poor, much wailing (on our part) and a refusal to eat (on hers) until she has been given the wherewithal to create a dreadful mess. Will keep you posted on how the battle of wills develops. So far Princess 1: Parents 0.
Yes am v. proud of background. You should try it, go on, you know you want to..

Locotes

on 25 July 2004 at 20:22

Maybe she’s an Aragorn kinda girl instead. Or Gimli even…he’d be more her size I suppose…Despite it all, I can’t help but admire herself’s innate feeling of self-worth and self-importance that any proper Corkonian feels. True, it makes your lives that smidgen more harder – but at least they’re qualities that will hold her in good stead in later life. I look forward to battle of wills updates. 😉

I had actually made a note of the code involved with backgrounds at least 6 months ago, but of course never got around to it (yet again living up to my blog name) – though I don’t know if 20six handle it easily now? I’ll have to wait until this blog-changing fuss dies down, I can’t be seen to follow the crowd. 😉

belgianwaffle

on 26 July 2004 at 12:57

Locotes, yes, I think you’re right, Gimli would be more her size and she would love that beard. Of course, she’s only half Cork, but yes, still showing through. Only changed my background because I found the option when I inadvertantly deleted my photo. But I am very proud of myself now and feel I am surfing the wave of youthful trendiness. If you had had it before it was easy to do, we would all have been very impressed but it’s too late now..

Locotes

on 26 July 2004 at 13:55

Don’t worry, your youthful trendiness has always been apparent.
So there is a new option for the background. Dang. There goes my opportunity to impress you all (as you so generously pointed out) – I’ll have to find something else now. Some sort of dancing art-loving squirrel perhaps…

belgianwaffle

on 27 July 2004 at 22:46

Loc, I LIKE the dancing squirrel. Impress us.

Oh Mr. Rops!


Posted in: Belgium, Family, Princess

The publishing exec arrived on Friday night clutching to her bosom an array of exciting presents. Books all round and a teapot. The Princess is particularly taken with her book which, as a token of supreme approval, she has not even tried to tear. Publishing exec was full of tales of glitzy parties and famous people. She works in non-fiction at the moment and though I think, in her heart of hearts, she would like to be working with brilliant unknown authors on their difficult, yet brilliant, works of fiction, non-fiction has its compensations. Her bit of non-fiction appears to be the “you’re a famous person, why don’t you write a book?” end of things which I imagine doesn’t guarantee quality (think of Victoria Beckham’s biog or Bill Clinton’s) but does guarantee regular meetings with famous people. Famous people seem to be tortured by their book writing deadlines. And I can tell you that, even now, there are a couple of famous people who are being tormented at the prospect of spending the summer trying to finish that book that was supposed to be delivered for last Christmas. Being rich and famous isn’t everything, you know.

Saturday, we decamped to Namur. We felt that it was time that the publishing exec sampled the joys of Wallonia.  I haven’t been to Namur in a long time and I was pleased at how pretty it was.  I had only remembered the long tramp up to the citadel and not the appealing old town.  It was very warm though.  I was sorry that I had told the publishing exec to pack for March weather and, I suspect, so was she as she sweated in her jeans.  We took a trip into the Felicien Rops museum which was air-conditioned and full of steps so all conditions were met for the Princess’s entire felicity.  I had vaguely heard of Mr. Rops as a belle epoque artist and knew he had done some erotic stuff but I hadn’t realised that it was almost his entire output.  The guy was a 19th century pornographer (oh yeah, now you’re all going back to check on the link) but it was quite entertaining stuff in a mildly outrageous way.  Mr. Waffle, the publishing exec and I gasped while the Princess proceeded up and down the stairs watched over and attended to by the kindly middle aged ladies who were the guardians of the house of porn.

On Saturday night we left herself in the hands of the babysitter and went out to dinner.  All very nice and I weighed myself on the antique but, I hope working, scales outside the bathroom (we have none at home in the interest of everyone’s well being) and weighed less than I expected which I was able to report to the waiter who was peering over my shoulder in mild interest.  When we got home, I drove the babysitter back while Mr. Waffle and the publishing exec got stuck in the lift and had to effect a dramatic escape involving jumping between floors and potential risk to life and limb.  All parties, including the lift, are now fine.

On Sunday, myself, the Princess and the publishing exec went to the Horta house which is Mr. Horta’s own art nouveau house.  It is all very beautiful and everything but, if you check out the link, you will see that it is distinguished by its many flights of stairs which I walked up and down numerous times while holding a small girl by the hand.  She never tires of stairs, our girl. All of the chairs in the house have little labels on them saying “please do not sit on this chair”.  I presume this was meant to include, “please do not use this chair as a means of support for your filthy little fingers while cruising round the room” but they didn’t say so and as all of the other visitors were Italians who are notoriously indulgent to small filthy fingered people the Princess was free to cruise in peace.

Speaking of Italians, you will be delighted to hear that after many, many faxes (email? “no, non e possibile”) and a 300 euro postal order as deposit (credit cards? “no, non e possibile”) our guesthouse in Sicily has finally confirmed our reservation.  This is a relief as I was responsible for booking in the entire extended Waffle family.  I can’t help feeling that a pall would have been cast over my brother-in-law’s wedding had his parents had nowhere to stay due to the ineptitude of his sister-in-law (oh come on, I mean me…do try to keep up).

Comments
belgianwaffle

on 19 July 2004 at 12:00

Don’t be sarky miss. Very, very glad you’re back. I missed you. Hope you are feeling great.

silveretta

on 19 July 2004 at 12:10

Ta BW – sadly wasn’t being sarky though…

Locotes

on 19 July 2004 at 13:23

House of porn eh? And trying to justify your visit in the name of ‘art’. Tsk. I knew all you art lovers were a dodgy bunch behind it all…
Good news with the booking though – when’s the trip?

belgianwaffle

on 20 July 2004 at 21:45

Silveretta, it’s so difficult to guage the tone of a blog comment…
Locotes, you’re right about art lovers. Trip is end August, so it should be nice and warm.

State of the Princess


Posted in: Princess

Language skills. She can do all the vowels and b as in baby, c as in coucou, d as in dada, no f, g as in aw gon, no h though she does say i for hi, no j, k (although koukou is a possibility, I suppose), l, m as in mama, n as in no (first word, frequently used), p as in uppa (little arms stretched in the air) no q, r, s, t as in ta ta, no v, w as in wah, wah WAAH, no x, no y, no z.

Sleeping skills. And speaking of no z, I see Minkleberry is taunting me by complaining that her tiny baby woke up once the other night. Meanwhile our baby continues to wake at least twice a night with no real sign of improvement. I hold very bitter thoughts about the people who told me that a bottle of formula at bed time would have her sleep through the night.  I now have to get up in the middle of the night make up a bottle and, in darkness, put a bib on the Princess, to make sure she doesn’t soak herself in her enthusiasm to gulp down the contents of the bottle and sit holding the bottle in one hand and baby in the other until she polishes it off and pushes it away.  For all its disadvantages, breastfeeding is useful for those middle of the night feeds.  If you have any advice to offer on this situation consider carefully whether it is possible that I may have heard it before.  If yes, don’t offer same.  I am a sleep deprived maniac and I refuse to be responsible for the consequences.

Motor skills.  She is excellent at step climbing and has mastered slides which she loves.  She still hasn’t got the hang of walking though.  She can, however, stand and clap herself enthusiastically while doing so.  When we were on holidays with my parents the week before last, my mother was sure that she would walk very soon after we got home.  She hasn’t.  She’s consolidating her standing.  I had the following conversation with my mother.

M – Is she walking yet?

Me – No, still standing though.

M – Are you sure she’s not walking yet?

Me – Yes.

M – Could you have missed it?

Me – No.

M – What I mean is she might be walking and you might not have noticed.

Me – Yes, I know what you mean and no.

M – Well, I’m amazed, I was sure she’d be walking by now…

This is a girl who likes to be sure of herself before making any movements. She didn’t crawl until she was 11 and a half months.  However, I can exclusively reveal that she will stumble for two steps between myself and her father.  If we try to go any further apart she will just get down and crawl between us which was not the effect we were looking for.  This morning while standing she fell over quite dramatically cutting the back of her head on the bedside table and giving herself a Harry Potter like scar on her forehead.  She seems to have recovered from the pain and trauma but I am still a shadow of my former self.  Frankly, she’s right, walking can wait.

Other skills.  She eats almost anything. Well, at least, she will try anything including soap and cardboard boxes.  She is very affectionate doling out hugs and blowing kisses on the slightest provocation.  She is stubborn.  When she doesn’t get what she wants she can work herself into a frenzy of hysterical tears.  This is maybe a trait we could do without.  Fortunately, her attention span is short so the tears abate rapidly.  She loves being read to.  She adores her doggy and is quite fond of us.

Comments
Beth

(Homepage)

on 12 July 2004 at 16:18

I love the idea that she might be walking and you just hadn’t noticed. Maybe she is climbing out of her crib at night and strolling around the house? 😉

on 13 July 2004 at 16:11

Yes, DX and quite fond about covers it too…
I know, Beth, my mother thinks that I have the observational abilities of a sight impaired goldfish. She is, of course, completely wrong! Well, almost completely wrong…

Intercultural meetings


Posted in: Belgium, Mr. Waffle, Princess

On Friday the Princess and I went to the Royal Museum for Central Africa where we met the best dressed diplomat and various cousins who were visiting her from distant Chicago.  The little boys had no interest in the Princess but the little girl (6) was delighted with her and showed her round the museum leaving me to stroll in their wake chatting to the adults.  All very pleasant.  And they were all nice Americans, you know the way we used to laugh at our American cousins for being so nice when we were all growing up?  Well, I can tell you, there is nothing as nice as polite, well-behaved, little Americans when you are spending a wet afternoon in a museum with a one year old.
The museum itself is a funny place.  It was built on an imposing scale by King Leopold II to celebrate his conquest of the Congo.  The exploitation of the Congo was particularly dreadful.  Joseph Conrad wrote a book about it “The Heart of Darkness” and Roger Casement wrote a damning report for the British government.  But the museum is curiously unaware of these developments.  Nowhere is there an acknowledgement that dreadful things happened in the Congo when Leopold and co. were in charge.  This may be partly because a lot of the exhibits and display cases don’t seem to have been updated since the museum was built in around 1900.  This is part of the charm of the establishment, in many ways.  There is a piece of wood from the tree under which Livingstone’s heart was buried accompanied by a handwritten note from the donor confirming its authenticity.  There is Stanley’s case which has a handwritten note pasted on to it in fading writing saying “This suitcase accompanied my brother across Africa.  It is not to be used under any circumstances or to be removed from my bedroom.  Dorothea Stanley”.  There are old maps of Africa dating from the 1400s.  The one that impressed me most was one from 1825 where they were truthful about what they knew and almost the entire of central Africa had “lands unknown” written across it.  Best of all, from the point of view of the children, there were stuffed animals.  Lots and lots of stuffed animals. The Princess reached febrile levels of excitement when she came to the enormous elephant.  She grabbed the rail round it and stood on her tiptoes squeaking and pointing.

Friday, was terribly thrilling also as it involved a birthday party.  This was Mr. Waffle’s first children’s birthday party in a long time and, fortunately for him, it was a relatively civilised affair where the adults outnumbered the children by about 3 to 1.  Still and all there was falling, vomiting and crying, so it wasn’t entirely untypical.  One of the attendees was the birthday boy’s minder who is a very nice girl from South Carolina. The Princess was most taken with her and sat on her lap for a considerable time poking at her train tracks.  “These European kids are always fascinated by the braces” she said gamely.  “Right, I see, well, proof that we don’t believe in orthodontics over here” I said in mortified tones.  Princess continued to poke with interest and then offered Ms SC a paprika crisp to show that there were no hard feelings.
We got the birthday boy two books.  I began to feel a bit inadequate as the other presents emerged.  Ms. SC (who let’s face it, must have no cash as a childminder who’s “starting school in the fall”) got him a very elaborate turtle that makes lots of interesting noises when you poke it.  Other people got him a coat and a bottle of wine for his parents; and two very elaborate cuddly toys.  Had the following conversation with Mr. Waffle on the way home:

Me: Did you feel that we should have got him a bigger present.

Him (in tones of deep bafflement): No, why?

Me: Well, the other presents were all bigger than ours.

Him: Really, were they?  Well, I’m sure ours was fine, didn’t his mother thank us for it?

Me: Well, yes, of course, but…

Him: Well then.
Sometimes, I feel that I worry too much.

Travelling


Posted in: Princess, Work

I have been rejected for three more jobs (two of which I interviewed for) and spent 17 hours on trains with the Princess since I wrote last.  It’s no wonder I’m too depressed to pick up a keyboard.

Also did have a very nice week with my parents in La Rochelle where the Princess learned to love the ocean (provided that she was not immersed above her chubby knees) and continued her love affair with sand.  However, my memories are hazy as all of my brain power was required to keep my sanity on the 10 hour train ride home.

Princess update perhaps not of interest to the general reader.  She continues to stand occasionally but resolutely refuses to walk. She loves slides and was able to go down one all on her own in La Rochelle.  Very thrilling.  She has now extended her vocabulary to say “baby” and “all gone”. The latter sounds like “aga” when she says it but we know what she means.  She will now also say “ta ta” when given something she wants, provided it’s done in good time.  Any delay in giving her what she wants is met with fury. Quite terrifying.  If you say “where’s your choo choo” or “where’s your doggy” she will crawl off and retrieve those items.  She blows kisses.  She imitates. So when I said “shush” on the epic train ride and put my finger to my lips she did the same to all of our long suffering fellow travellers.  If I sigh, she will sigh back.  She beats her chest and makes tarzan noises which is something, I would like you to know, that I only do in the privacy of my own home.  She’s fantastic.

Comments
Angela

(Homepage)

on 06 July 2004 at 16:20

If I owned a company, I would hire you in an instant! And then I would constantly come over and force you to leave your desk and talk babies and books and beer with me. (And, of course, I wouldn’t let the pesky managers fire you because of all the time you spend away from your desk talking babies and books and beer. Because, you know, I own the place!)

Locotes

on 06 July 2004 at 16:40

Sorry about the interviews – something will come up in the end (I know that’s a horribly annoying thing to say, but it IS true – keep the faith…though not necessarily in a Bon Jovi-esque way).
As for the Princess update – it’s all very impressive. A career in method acting awaits possibly, with all the sighing and inner fury. I’m at a bit of a loss with the beating of chest however….whatever keeps you happy in the confines of your own home I suppose.

jackdalton

on 06 July 2004 at 21:29

Hang in there, ‘waf.
You only need a bit of luck to make that breakthrough: and it will come. And as Locotes says, don’t lose perspective: it will all fall into place soon enough 😉
Princess updates are much enjoyed…

belgianwaffle

on 08 July 2004 at 13:23

Thank you, thank you. I feel all virtually supported. Frankly, I need all the support I can get. One of the interviewers offered feedback to unsuccessful candidates. I got my feedback yesterday. Can I offer a little tip here: if you didn’t get the job, don’t bother with the feedback, it’s just too depressing.

jackdalton

on 09 July 2004 at 00:27

nooooo you must get the feedback; at the very least it inconveniences the buggers, epecially if you ask for notes and jottings from the interview board. 🙂

belgianwaffle

on 09 July 2004 at 21:04

I know what you mean Jack and that was entirely my original motivation but the humiliation is CRUSHING.

jackdalton

on 10 July 2004 at 11:40

Only if you let it be. I’d suggest you make a list of the things they said and then rate each – in a balanced, honest way – as either A: ‘they may have a point here and this is something I can work on’, B: ‘perhaps, but there’s noting I can do about this’ or C: ‘stupid jerks they lack vision on this, so sod them’. Then set about fixing the A’s, don’t apply for jobs that need B’s and be proud of your C’s.
Not too scientific, but it works… 😉

belgianwaffle

on 11 July 2004 at 22:31

Yes, but it’s so hard not to feel that all their comments are Cs even though I know they can’t be really.

Brussels Childbirth Trust Fete


Posted in: Mr. Waffle, Princess

They didn’t need me on the champagne and strawberry stall after all so we all got to wander around in the drizzle together.

It was very English and very organised. You were given a time to go and queue for the various entertainments and marshalling was done by girl guides of varying degrees of ferocity. My English friend F asked whether I thought any other nation would be so horribly organised.  I pointed out that I had already seen a German lady leaving in a huff pulling her two children along behind her muttering under her breath “Hier ist alles sehr disorganasiert”.  These events tend to reinforce national stereotypes.

We took the Princess for a ride on a shetland pony and while waiting for our turn we saw a 10 year old girl guide saying sternly to a small child “don’t climb on the pony – hop on”. Since he was only about three we felt that this might be a challenge for him, but she was adamant and eventually there were tears and a parent had to lift him on.  This boded ill for our adventure. As we waited, a five year old said loudly to his parents “What a big willy that horse has”. Everyone chatted nervously about the weather. Finally it was our turn. The Princess took one look at the pony and refused to go next or near it. As we tried to put her in the saddle she clung to us in a most affecting manner and shot evil glances at the girl guide. Eventually she consented to be photographed pulling the pony’s mane. Our photographic archive is complete.

We also took her to dig for buried treasure. This involved digging up sand from a small basin with a spoon. Eventually you would come across a worthless small object perfect for babies to chew and choke on. To be fair she didn’t come across any small object because on being given a spoon and a basin she, not unnaturally, assumed that the contents were for eating and began spooning sand into her mouth enthusiastically. We managed to stop her before she got to the treasure.

After winning a small prize in the raffle (every ticket wins a prize) and chewing on the plastic tape securing the three legged race area (I leave you to determine which member of our party decided that this was a good idea) we decided to head home. “Well” I said perkily to Mr. Waffle “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”  He hissed in an undervoice as we made our way through the phalanx of range rovers parked in the grounds “if you ever make me go to something like this again, I’ll divorce you.”  Not so good either then.