Bailey, Our Weekend and Skyping
Pictures posted

Welcome to the world Bailey!
Late Saturday morning, Bailey greeted his mum, Ali and dad, Paul.
As the plan went, Ali and Paul swung by our place and dropped off Dylan. A few hours later, Ali delivered, giving Dylan a baby brother.
We got to visit at the hospital on Sunday - turns out Bailey is not only at the same hospital (Krc) where Mattias was born, but Ali is staying in the same room Maylia did (#10).
Maylia and Ali chatted inside with Bailey. Paul, Jeff, Dylan and Ella walked around the hospital with the new baby mountain goats (did we mention wild herds of mountain goats roam Krc Hospital?)

Comparison between a 1-day old Bailey and a 4-month old Mattias:



Weekend
Our Saturday was mostly with Dylan. Maylia and Jeff took turns between tending to Mattias and entertaining Dylan & Ella.
Jeff walked them to Letna Park's playground, blowing bubbles, chasing, fending off anybody's frustration or hunger.

Two kids, one foot on the ground:


At one point, Jeff SMS'd Maylia: "1+1 = more than 2". Returning home, we made cookies for Ali. Most cookies lasted until the hospital visit the next day.
Maylia's idea of entertainment was more daring: painting. The 2 tykes whipped out about 20 paintings in a half hour. They also colored themselves up to their elbows and some floor, their table... it was amazing.

Artists at work:

Painting ended, but bathtime was fun. Ella and Dylan mostly returned to one color.
Just for the record, Dylan's favorite color was blue. Ella's red. Half the paintings are purple.
If you'd like one, the masterpieces are $1000 if mailed, free if collected in person.

Lack of Skype
May and Jeff have been 'anti-skype' lately. If you've noticed, we apologize.
For a couple weeks, we've made & returned zero calls and we're not entirely sure why.
-Could be our evenings are a blur (6pm-9pm feels like 30 minutes)
-Could be that time FLIES whenever on the phone (causing more blur)
-Could be our soft "boycott" of the computer (ask us about TV 8 years ago)
-Could be the nicer weather. (And it's 21C/70F today)
So, whatever the reason, we've been unreachable... for now, there's the blog.



Lastly, we're looking forward to our next visitors, Jeff & Michelle - see you in 2 weeks!

Are they here yet?

Terezin Thief Caught

Remember we wrote about the loser (actually, then I called him an 'asshat') who stole from the Terezin Cemetery?

He got caught: http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/323/czech_national_news/21900/

I'm curious if the cemetery will use the recovered bronze name plates or if they'll continue with the plan of making resin plaques. I hoping for the former.

Anyway, justice served.

Our Weekend: Sushi & Aussies (& Kiwis)

Wasn't a typical weekend. Typical weekend means some housecleaning, some grocery shopping, kick the ball around in the park, maybe hang up a light or something like that. This weekend, Maylia and I had a date - our first evening out alone since Mattias was born.

Saturday
For our date, we had a new babysitter come over, Anette. Our first time leaving 1 sitter with 2 kids, so we were a bit scared.
Anette handled Ella great (& vice versa). Mattias, however, was tougher. Apparently he refused to take a bottle, so he was real cranky until he passed out.
For our date, we decided it had been long enough since we last had sushi (last in Manchester, NH). Under the Diplomat hotel is Katsura, one of very few (3?) Japanese-managed places in Prague to have sushi. We walked in and noted we were the only non-Asians there, so we figured we chose wisely. The food was spectacular -and so was the bill. We may return just for the miso soup.

Sunday
We all went to a CANZA party. CANZA is a local expat group: "Czech, Australian, New Zealand Association." They always have good parties. This one was a bar-b-que at the Slavia Rowing Club.
Sure CANZA is for Aussies and Kiwis, but every expat knows at least a few, so....
In our case, our closest connection is Paul (Dylan's dad), from New Zealand and Jeff knows a few Australians from work. By the way, Paul and Ali are expecting their 2nd child real soon.

Ella had a good time, getting her face painted, sitting with Ali.

I'll also include one of my new favorite pictures: Maylia nursing both Mattias and her 1st beer. (Note: she continues to plug both Nobis and the NHIS!)

Highlight of the week: Maylia found asparagus today! (2nd time in 2 years)

Talk to you later,
-jeff

Robbery at Terezin

A crime can't get much lower than this one.

Last week, some asshat(s) decided to steal 327 bronze named plaques from the cememtery.
Stealing from any cemetery is low, but what hurts locals most is in this case it happened in the memorial cemetery of Terezin, the former prison and concentration camp in northern Czech Republic.

It's unthinkable how someone can disregard so much for so little.

The local news article in English:
http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/316/czech_national_news/21424/

Our Happy Little Fella!

Mattias turned 3 months old on Sunday. Today was another big day for our little man. He had his 3 month check-up and first round of vaccinations. He was a brave little soldier and only cried for a couple seconds...Ella was there to talk him through it and let him know that this was "only a little shot" and wouldn't hurt like the ones SHE had to get when SHE was in the hospital.

Some information many have been waiting for: Mattias now weighs 6.4 kg or about 14 lbs. Apparently his weight gain is "too much" and I'm supposed to back off a bit on feeding him...how?!?!

Today was also Mattias' first trip to the zoo. He slept through the whole trip - maybe tired out from the doctor visit. There will be many more trips to the zoo as it's now a lovely walk for us through Stromovka Park.

Anyway, he's a happy little fella and here are some photos to prove it:

Ella and dad went out to kick the ball around at Letna Park and around the giant metronome. Dad went a little crazy with the camera. So, I'll just post some pictures...

WELCOME TO THE WORLD, HENRY EASTON GREEN!

Maylia's cousin, Erica, and her husband, Laine, finally met their little boy late last night (April 5). Henry weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 7oz and was 22 inches long. For those of you who know Erica, you gotta wonder how that guy fit in there - he's already about half Erica's height and weight! (hee hee hee)

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE FAMILY!

Mom Has Left the Building

Our last visitor and playmate left us early this morning.

Jeff and his mom left for the aiport around 7 this morning, after a sad but brief goodbye to May, Ella and Mattias. It had been absolutely wonderful having her here, giving Ella more precious memories of her grammy, and giving us more special time with our families overseas.

As we said often in the end - we'll see you and everyone in the summer - we can't wait!!

A side note...

MSNBC online reports the World's Weirdest Museums

The first one mentioned is our very own Museum of Medieval Torture here in Prague.

Here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23676181/

Eric - thank you for our visit to this museum just last November.

Clicking on the picture shows that McDonald's marketing reps could have picked a better place to showcase the McRib sandwich.