Pediatric Care

Starting a week ago today, Lauren's been getting a skin rash when she steps outdoors.  Frightened at first by the reaction, we eliminated most foods and racked our brains to figure out what has changed in her environment (other than the obvious moving to a new country).  

We still don't have an answer.  She's been to the local ER, a new pediatrician and next week I'll take her to a lab for bloodwork.  It's scary not knowing.  She doesn't seem phased.  She's not uncomfortable which is a good sign and the best case scenario is an underlying virus.  What seems so common online is something I've never seen before in any of our kids.  Hopefully this too shall pass.

Ireland

I met Jesse in Dublin for the spouses end to his meeting.  Flew Ryan Air, a European budget airline.  It's a tight fit.

The first day we visited Dublin Castle which is actually a government building and then Trinity College which was established by Elizabeth I to teach Protestant students in Ireland.  Everything here is divided by Protestant/Catholic, even the public schools.  

Our first evening we joined geriatric tour groups at this hall called the Merry Ploughboy.  It was a legit pub downstairs but upstairs there were four old guys playing Irish songs and then a group of 5 college aged kids doing a Irish dance show.  It was a bit odd but fun songs, hearty food and the kids danced really well.

The next day Jesse and I walked to the peak behind the hotel and saw the most beautiful late sunrise over the ocean.  The hotel was by Bono's house, but try as we did, we didn't get an invite.

We met the group and all went down to the Wicklow Mountains.  We did a relatively strenuous hike for over two hours and the scenery was gorgeous.  Afterwards we went to yet another large pub and ate more meat and potatoes.  

Because we were with Jesse's work we didn't get to explore Dublin as I may have liked but I'm very glad I got to see Ireland at all.  It's a beautiful place, stereotypes seem to ring true and there's no shortage of Guiness.

"I want to introduce myself."

When I picked Cole & Lauren up from school today, Cole asked me to wait until he completed a little task he chose for himself.  He wanted to introduce himself to the Class 3 (1st grade) teacher because as he said, "We're going to be here next year and she should know who I am."  I asked who she was and saw that she was engaged, talking to a current parent and kindly told Cole he could talk to her tomorrow about it.  He refused, saying we could wait.  So we did.  I watched my son politely wait for her to finish her conversation, then confidently approach Mrs. X and although I couldn't hear what passed through their conversation, this young woman's smile broadened as he spoke.  She looked over his head to see who was watching and when she caught my eye, she gave me a big thumbs up and wave.  She shook Cole's hand, he said good bye and we were off to swim class.  We shall henceforth call him Ferris.

At the Club

This morning I brought Mom & Caroline to the club for a coffee and snack after dropping the older kids at school.  After pick-up Lauren, Cole & I had lunch in the cafe since it was the kids' half-day Wednesday.

I've already determined that I eat much more than other moms here.  I eat in public so that's a start.  I really enjoyed my towering chicken club sandwich with a green side salad and chips, thank you very much.

Lauren's class is first.  Last week her teacher was a surly blond woman who resented that Lauren couldn't speak French.  This week, her new teacher is a twenty-something well toned, bronzed Belgian man - the kind of man who should wear his tiny little white Speedo to teach three year olds to swim.  And he cares enough to ask if Lauren understands what he's saying. They are learning to swim here so that's sort of important.

Cole's class started with another swim the distance test which he confidently passed.  Then he had to do the same on his back, which made him nervous, but go mini-backstroke.  Lap after lap, my little dolphin was in his element.

Lauren played in the kiddie pool during Cole's lesson and I was able to speak with a very kind Greek mom watching her son in Cole's class.  

Then out of the pool, down to tennis.  Lauren's first class holding a racquet and it wasn't pink, but Daddy will fix that when he comes home from DC. Success on all fronts.

Alarms

This weekend didn't go exactly as I'd planned and being the planner i am, that usually annoys me. Sometimes the surprises can surprise you.  

I didn't plan on having a chaotic dinner at a '50s diner with delicious burgers and French wine with new friends while the boys played video games and Lauren colored. I didn't plan on places opening late on weekends if they opened at all so we walked a mile or more with the kids around the lake in the Bois de la Cambre on a perfect end of summer day.  I didn't plan on watching Caroline run around the empty plaza in front of the European Parliament when she couldn't stay quiet at church.  I didn't plan on hearing a marching band playing trumpets at a street fair that went on for blocks like a neighborhood garage sale when I walked to a sporting goods store on the other side of the commune.  I didn't plan on ending the weekend at a pool party in our building organized by my friendly upstairs neighbor, her friend from Israel, the French family upstairs and eight kids under 10.  Lastly I didn't plan on watching the kids run around in towels in the courtyard because Cole and his new buddy Anton made the building fire alarm sound by playing with the sauna door by the pool room.  

But then Jesse & I ended up outside Chez Franz late Saturday night, sipping drinks in the cool autumn air, listening to incessant French babble.  And we walked home.

Moments like these are what I'd dreamed of when we contemplated moving to Europe.  Sometimes it's what you expect that thrills you.

Half Day Wednesdays

The kids began school on Tuesday.  Why the Brussels English Primary School begins the day after the U.S. Labor Day instead of the first Monday in September like every other Belgian school is a question for them, not me. 

The kids were so excited.  They dressed up, grabbed their big backpacks and I drove them to school.  Lauren was such a big girl.  She put her backpack in a cubby and sat down to begin to draw.  A big hug and kiss and she was set.  Her first all-day school experience in a class called the Lion's Den.
I walked Cole over to his building, where the second year of Primary school is what we call Kindergarten.  He was confident, said hello to his teacher and then he too sat down and begin to draw.
There is one American boy in Lauren's class, but none in Cole's.  His favorite classmate is from outside Tokyo.  Lauren's teachers are Lebanese-Belgian and Lebanese/American-Belgian.  Cole's teacher is from Cameroon.  Cole says they call jackets jumpers.  He was sad he was placed in the non-Francophone French class and is going to work really hard to be moved up.
Wednesday, their second day, went really well too.  We walked to school which wasn't too hard.  Cole called it exploring as we can walk through part of the Bois de la Cambre on our way.  I went home, went to the park with Mom & Caroline and planned to be early to pick the kids up as I knew there was an early dismissal every Wednesday.  As I was pulling out of the garage the phone rang.  Unknown caller so I didn't answer it.  Then Jesse called and I just knew I'd made a mistake.  I was late to pick up the kids and they were wondering if I was on my way.  So I picked them up a half-hour late on their second day of school in a foreign country.  Not my best moment.  Luckily they were happily playing in the main office, chatting away.  Even luckier, we were headed to swim class and they quickly forgot I'd been late.
Swim classes began at the swim/tennis club we joined - David Lloyd Uccle.  Lauren started first and did really well with a teacher who didn't speak English.  Then Cole took his turn in the next class and swam the entire length many times in a very formal practice.  He (and I) was so proud.
It was a beautiful sunny day.  Amazing for early September.  We played in the outdoor pool, had lunch outside and headed back to join Mom & Caroline for dinner.

All Clear

Today was Cole's quarterly abdominal ultrasound and physical exam.  By the grace of his fantastic medical team at Children's National in Washington DC, we were referred to an excellent pediatric oncologist at the University of Leuven Hospital in Leuven, Belgium.  This meant Cole did not have to travel back to DC shortly over a month after we moved and also right before starting kindergarten.
The experience in a world of socialized medicine was very pleasant, though to assuage the universal healthcare doomsdayers, there are tiers of service based on what you're willing to pay above and beyond what the state provides.  From a precursory glance at the lobby, everyone present had private insurance or some other wherewithal to pay for the specialists at this medical facility.  Registration was done en masse in the main lobby organized in DMV fashion by taking a number.  The queue moved 36 numbers in 20 minutes and although we do not speak a word of Flemish/Dutch (I use the / because I can't tell which is which), every single person, from the lobby attendants to the radiology staff to Dr. Van Gool himself spoke fluent English.  The facilities were not state-of-the-art, but the care provided was on par with anything we've experienced in DC.  Cole will return home in April and October 2014 to visit his regular oncologist but limiting the trips home while we're overseas is a tremendous help.
After we left the hospital, we drove Jesse to work in Antwerp and as a treat, I rode the train back to Brussels with Cole.  After lunch at McDonald's.  Anything for my amazing baby boy!