Lily's 13 yr old check-up

Het is zoals altijd druk met school en werk, maar gelukkig kunnen we ook 1x per maand op zaterdag bij de dokter terecht en dus had ik Lily's jaarlijkse check-up voor vanmorgen gepland. Ennio kwam ook mee zodat hij zijn griepprik kon krijgen. 

Lily is 13! Een echte tiener! Ze is nog steeds erg groot voor haar leeftijd (98e percentiel) en gelukkig is ze de voorbije maanden ook wat in gewicht toegenomen. Haar BMI is nu 19,5 wat als normaal wordt beschouwd. Vorig jaar was dit maar 14,4 wat veel te laag was (tussen 18,5 en 24,9 is normaal).

Hier zijn haar meet- en weegresultaten:

Lengte: 1m72 (98e percentiel) (6 cm gegroeid op een jaar) (Ze is nu even groot als ik!)
Gewicht: 46,6 kg (52e percentiel) (6,6 kg bijgekomen sinds vorig jaar)
BMI: 19,5 (95e percentiel) 

Bloeddruk:  90/48 en polsslag 71 (normaal)

Zicht:  20/20
Vaccinaties: griepprik + een Gardasil

IN ENGLISH: 

Length: 67 3/4 inches or 5'7" and 3/4 (that's almost 5 feet and 8 inches!) (98th percentile) (she grew a big 2 inches)
Weight:  102.8 pounds (52nd percentile) (she gained almost 15 lbs!)
BMI: 19.5 (95th percentile)

Blood pressure:  90/48 and pulse 71 (normal)

Vision:  20/20
Vaccines: flu shot + Gardasil

Ennio also got his flu shot!

28 days in Germany and Belgium

As the Coronavirus (or one of its many variants) still hold the world in its grip, we again did not travel to remote and exotic places this summer, but decided to keep it safe and see our families in Germany and Belgium.  

This was our itinerary:

• Monday, July 12, 2021: Flight Los Angeles - Frankfurt with Lufthansa ✈️  Yay, only one flight - and a direct one! What a relief after last year's trip which took us 3 days to get to our end destination (Los Angeles - London - Milan - Brussels) 

• Tuesday, July 13: Arrival in Frankfurt around noon. We got our rental car at the Hertz counter at the airport 🚗 and drove straight to Opa Gerhard's and Birgitte's place in Lahnstein (near Koblenz). It was raining a lot - and it would keep on pouring for a couple more days to come.

• Wednesday, July 14: We got to sleep in and rest in our big and cozy apartment! It was nice inside. Outside, it rained and rained and rained... and many towns in the area got flooded 🌧🌧🌧. We did some grocery shopping 🛒 (oh, how I love the German supermarkets and their amazing and affordable selection of fresh foods!) and Ennio got Covid-tested 🏥 which was required for him to be able to go to Phantasialand the next day. Marcus, Lily and I didn't need a test because we had our Covid-19 Vaccination Cards 💉. Poor Ennio (who's 10 and too young to get the vaccine)  would have to get tested multiple times during this holiday!!! Fortunately, playing 🎮 with Opa provided much needed relief!

• Thursday, July 15: Drive to Phantasialand. It took us over 3 hours to get there because so many roads were flooded due to the heavy rainfall. Many people lost their homes, their cars, their belongings... it was a national emergency 😢. I kind of felt guilty staying at the beautiful hotel Ling Bao 🐉 while so many were suffering.
• Friday, July 16: Day 1 at Phantasialand 🎢
• Saturday, July 17: Day 2 at Phantasialand 🎢
• Sunday, July 18: Wildpark Forsthaus Remstecken 🦌

• Monday, July 19: Koblenz 
• Tuesday, July 20: Koblenz

• Wednesday, July 21: Limburg + dinner at the local Greek restaurant 

• Thursday, July 22: Opa Gerhard's birthday and drive to Belgium. We visited Virginie who lives in Antwerp on the way. We arrived in Stekene in the early evening.
• Friday, July 23: Staying at Wouter's place, hanging by the swimming pool 🏊 and enjoying a delicious BBQ at night 🍗.
• Saturday, July 24: Knokke 🏖
• Sunday, July 25: Knokke
• Monday, July 26: Knokke
• Tuesday, July 27: Knokke
• Wednesday, July 28: Gent 😸 + 👶 🍼!
• Thursday, July 29: Bellewaerde 🦁

• Friday, July 30: Roeselare

• Saturday, July 31: Drive back to Germany. We spent the night in Lahnstein 🏰 and drove on to Stuttgart the next day.
• Sunday, August 1: Arrival in Stuttgart where we saw Oma Eva and Mia again! 😍
• Monday, August 2: Ruit 🍦
• Tuesday, August 3: Ruit 🌈
• Wednesday, August 4: Sinsheim Technisches Museum where we saw lots of ✈️ and 🚘
• Thursday, August 5: Marcus, Eva and Ennio went to Tripps Drill 🎢.  Lily, Mia and I stayed in Stuttgart and took the metro 🚇 to go shopping in the city center 🛍
• Friday, August 6: Ruit

• Saturday, August 7: Drive to Frankfurt and return of the rental car.
• Sunday, August 8: Flight Frankfurt - Los Angeles with Lufthansa ✈️

A trip to Disney California Adventure Park for Ennio's Birthday!

It was Ennio's big wish to go to Disney's California Adventure Park for his 10th birthday. He had written in his school agenda on April 30: Disneyland reopens! Tickets and reservations went for sale on April 15 (note: only for California residents) and he was begging us to please, please, please go to the park. We were very hesitant and told him that it was just not safe enough to go to an amusement park on the first day it reopens... but as a compromise, we told him we would consider going after mom and dad were fully vaccinated (+ 2 weeks) which would most likely be by the end of May. OMG, he got so excited. He started planning out the whole day already (see below the list of rides he did not want to miss out on). 

We ended up going on May 29, exactly one month after his birthday. All in all, it was a good experience. There were more people than I expected, but everyone was wearing face coverings (which was mandatory) and we were able to keep a safe distance from other people. The rides were not riding at full capacity so there was enough space, and the lines were not long at all (except for Radiator Springs Racers, the new Cars Land attraction,  where we stood in line for an hour and 15 minutes). The only thing that I should have been more prepared for was the food situation. I hadn't made any reservations and every restaurant was fully booked (understandably, because there was no inside dining, only outside seating available). We had to order food on our mobile phone and then pick it up at one of the food stands at a certain time slot (2 hours later) which meant we had our lunch around 2:30-3 pm! Oh well... the kids didn't mind too much - we just did a couple more rides in the meantime.

It was a top day for Ennio. He wanted to stay until the very last minute (the park closed at 9 pm). In the car, he kept on saying that he wanted to rewind the day, and every day after, he said he misses California Adventure. I'm so happy we were able to fulfill this little boy's big birthday wish!

Starbucks!

Remember Lily got that Starbucks gift card from Ms. Zhong for doing well in PE? Well, today we went out and got her her drink!

Ennio's 10 yr old check-up!

Very excited to receive his German sour candy and a Disney+ Gutschein! 

We visited our pediatrician today for Ennio's 10 year old annual check-up and this is how Ennio measured in:

Nederlands

Lengte: 149,5 cm dus bijna anderhalve meter (bijna 5 cm gegroeid op een jaar) (95e percentiel)

Gewicht: 37 kg, wat ongeveer hetzelfde is als vorig jaar. Hij is amper 225 gram bijgekomen. De dokter zei dat ze dit toch in het oog wou houden. Hij kan niet blijven groeien maar niet in gewicht bijkomen! Momenteel is het echter nog niet verontrustend want hij bevindt zich nog altijd op een normale gewichtscurve (78e percentiel).

BMI: 16,6 of 50e percentiel

Ter vergelijking: Op 10 jaar was Lily 148,5 cm groot (95e percentiel voor meisjes) en woog ze 30,75 kg (30e percentiel voor meisjes). Ook een lang lichtgewicht dus - en nog steeds. Kon ik ze maar een aantal kilo's van mij geven 😉!

English

Length: 58 7/8 inches (he grew 1 5/8 inches in one year) (95th percentile)

Weight: 82 lbs. He only gained 1/2 pound or 8 oz in 1 year which is very little considering that he grew a lot. It's not alarming, but the doctor will keep an eye on it. His weight is in the 78th percentile for boys.

BMI: 16.6 or 50th percentile.

To compare: When Lily was 10, she measured 58 1/2 inches tall (95th percentile for girls) and she weighed 67.8 lbs (30th percentile for girls). She's still so (too!) skinny. I wish I could give her some pounds of mine 😉!

Ennio's blood pressure was 100/58 (normal). His vision was tested and is 20/20 for both eyes L and R!

No vaccinations today, hooray!

Thank You, Teachers!

Ennio loves his teacher, Ms. Thompson, and it is indeed amazing how she has handled distance learning during this pandemic. She was always so enthusiastic during the school Zoom-classes - you can tell she's passionate about her job and she really cares about the kids. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week (May 3-7). Ennio wrote a letter to his teacher: 

Dear Mrs. Thompson, Thank you for everything we did this year. It was very fun learning. You were the best 4th grade teacher. I liked doing the Rube Goldberg machine the most. You were the nicest teacher. Thanks a lot Ms. Thompson. You are very silly and fun to teach us. Sincerely. Ennio. 

She must have liked it, because she sent me a photo of herself and Ennio giving her the letter!

Here are some more pictures from his classroom. It gives you an idea of what the in-person teaching looks like in the hybrid model:

Finally, the thank you banners every grade made for their teacher, which are proudly hanging outside the school gates!

Poetry Week!

This week was Poetry Week at school!

Ennio learned all about different types of poems: Cinquain, Diamante, Haiku and Limerick

A Cinquain is structured as follows:

Line 1: 1 word (title: a noun, the subject of the poem)

Line 2: 2 words (adjectives that describe the title)

Line 3: 3 words (verbs/actions relating to the title and ending in -ing)

Line 4: 4 words (a phrase that describes feelings about the title)

Line 5: 1 word (synonym of the title or a word that sums it up)

Here is Ennio's poem:

SOUP

TOMATO-CARROT, GROSS

NOODLE SOUP, NOT BAD, OK

DISGUSTING, GROSS, BAD, YUCKY

VEGETABLES

(Line 3 could have been better, but I thought it was funny how it shows how much he hates soup and vegetables - Did you notice he even used the word GROSS twice!!)

A Diamante Poem is a 7-line poem that makes the shape of a diamond. The poem can be used in two ways, either comparing and contrasting two different subjects, or naming synonyms at the beginning of the poem and then antonyms for the second half of the poem. In the poem, the subject is named in the first line (one word) and the poem also ends with one word. Each line has 1 more or 1 less word than the last line. The longest line only has 4 words in it, and none of the lines in a diamante are complete sentences.

Ennio wrote:

ROLLERCOASTERS

THRILLING, EXCITING, SOARING, AMAZING

BUTTERFLIES, ARMS, HILLS

FUN, SCARY, AIRTIME, FLOATING LOOP

EXCITEMENT, FEAR

AGAIN

(Line 2 should only have had 2 words and he forgot Line 5 - I guess he got too excited describing his rollercoasters!)

A Haiku has a 5-7-5 structure. The entire poem consists of just three lines with 17 syllables in total. The first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, the third line is 5 syllables like the first.

Ennio's Haiku:

Line 1 - 5 syllables: Rollercoaster Ride

Line 2 - 7 syllables: I can't wait for 20 hours

Line 3 - 5 syllables: Royalty hand shake

I couldn't find back a Limerick in his notebook... Maybe that was setting the bar a bit too high for him. But I definitely enjoyed the other forms of poetry!

Back to school for Lily!

On Wednesday, April 28, it was Lily's turn to go back to school! Lily's in 6th grade - Middle School in the US - and her return was not the same as it was for Ennio, who's in Elementary School (4th grade). She only gets to go back 2 or 3 days a week (Mondays are alternating) and she doesn't get live instruction, but is Zooming from the classroom. What's the point then? you may think... Well, we decided to send her back for the social-emotional aspect of being "in-school". Lily missed seeing her classmates and teachers in person, so I hope this will help ease her social anxiety which I believe she developed from being at home all this time! Her first day went well: all her teachers came to her classroom to say hi, she met the 3 other students (the rest of the class opted to continue to stay home for online learning) and her homeroom teacher, Mr. Purdy, is really nice. She goes on Mondays (every 2 weeks), Wednesdays and Fridays, and her school days are from 9:00 AM until 2:30 PM. We hope for Lily as well that she'll be able to enjoy this hybrid model until the end of the school year!

When I picked up Lily, we stopped by Sweet Lily Bakery to have a treat!

The rewards for going back to school!

Daily Pass to be allowed entry into school

Online school in the hybrid model

This is what Ennio's mornings look like in the hybrid model:

In the afternoon he goes to school in person.