updated 14-09-2009

11-3-2006. Amber fills her four years fully today. And she is having a double birthday party: today and tomorrow! Many happy returns of the day, little puppet! So many people were expected, that mother D. had to split the parties... 

Of course we went ourselves down to Den Bosch... But we were late, and the family was kind enough to wait for us. But the moment we were in, the cake had to be cut, after the candles were kindled and blown out again... Amber had a special headgear, and took it off in order to be closer to the birthday cake... A beautiful one, with Cinderella and Belle and Snow White, if I'm not mistaken. A big, big part was cut of for Amber and the other small ones, but after 2 or 3 spoonfuls professed Amber that she had enough...  Mik was the only one who managed (nearly) the whole piece... 
The grown ups had less problems with the size of their spoil... 
This week Amber had to say a definitive farewell to the Kindergarten called The Little King, where she had been for nearly 3 1/2 year, 2 days a week... 
And Monday she has to go to school. Regulations! Life starts at four?
Anyway, it did not. On her very birthday Amber had a fever, and she had to stay home, that first official day at school. She is coughing just as loud as her mother does!

27-2-2006. Cousin Charlotte is having her second birthday today, so we were all invited to go and celebrate with her yesterday. Of course Amber came along and took her dad (he had to drive her, you know), but she left her mother at home, since D. had had a bout of flu and was still shaky... Anxiously Amber looked if Charlotte did like the little present she brought, but that was quite OK. 
Too many unknown people in too small a room made her retreat to the kitchen, where she played happily with the kitchen magnets on the door of the fridge. The play of attracting and repelling fascinated her. 
Later she and her dad brought us back home, in Daddy's new (lease) car, and she was having fun with him, trying to escape sitting in her personal little stool, at the back of the car... naughty-naughty! 

24th of February 2006.

Amber had a real romantic Snow-white look today... 
She could just as well play in the real movie...  
Grandfather Wim took the pictures... 

And tomorrow her grandmother Riet is having her birthday. 

Many happy returns, in the presence of your lovely granddaughter! :-)

23-2-2006. In Oeteldonk, the carnival-name for Duke Town or rather: Dukes Wood, granddad Wim took these pictures of his little 'mèske'... (Slang for girlie) 

A real carnival time princess... 
She had a lovely time at the kindergarten....

10-2-2006. All of a sudden Amber simply loves getting letters!

Yesterday she made a polite phone call to say thanks, and for a change she was quite audible. Usually one has to listen very hard in order to capture her small voice.

7-2-2006. Amber felt very lost, all of a sudden, when the teacher left the classroom for a moment. When her Mother asked her later, well informed as she always is, why she had been crying, Amber replied: I wanted to be with you at that moment...

6-2-2006. Our girlie is making progress. In the month of march she will be 4 years old, and deemed to be fit for school. Today she went for a round of reconnaissance. Her mother writes: 
There she was, this morning, ready and eager to go and see how the land lies, with her beautiful Princess backpack and all. She was so full of expectation, that she had not been able to sleep well this night. At 4 a.m. we woke with a start: she could not sleep any more, and had put on the light, in order to go and play with her Lego stones in her little playhouse. We had to send her back to beddy, but she didn't sleep until 6, nor did we, and we had to wake her at half past seven. 

Everything went smoothly at school. Merrily she went in, she gave me a kiss, sat down at a table, and there she was! She took no notice of me anymore. 
At a quarter to twelve she came hopping out of the school. As happy as ever. Tomorrow she'll go again, and she can't wait!

4-2-2006. Ambers father told us how a little friend of theirs tried in vain to grant something he had forbidden her by squalling on the top of her voice. In a very matter-of-fact way Amber told her to stop it, since it didn't work with her either. 

Here Amber is trying to blow her fathers nose...

The family had an outing on the 14th and 15th of January, somewhere in Belgium. Amber was ambling around on her double-iron skates, and loved a different kind of ice just as much, some hours later. 

That evening she had a drawing session with her maternal grandfather, mirroring him in many details... look at those mouths!!! 

 Naturally Amber wanted to go for a swim as well, since there was an exciting pool with tunnels (she is emerging from one here) and all kinds of contraptions. 

She is quite able in the water by now, but it will take some time before she can qualify officially.

7th of January 2006. Today we met Amber in the flesh, for her Daddy had his birthday yesterday. She had even made a drawing for both of us, and she had made a point of packing them with great care. 

Here she is phoning her granddad.

She has lots of fantasy, and brought us a never ending array of pancakes, drinks and things, all from her new play kitchen. 

But when she had done her duty, she did not understand why she could not go and enjoy herself at her very own room upstairs, just because her grandparents from Utrecht were present...

26th of December 2005.

Amber was with her maternal grandparents, yesterday. There was a beautiful stable with a crib and a Child, lambs and a camel. And lots of lights. Besides there were some Christmas presents.  I saw and heard! a Santa and an Snowman, both shaking their heads, and emanating X-mas jingles. Glory be to God: there is always a way to make them shut up. But Amber thought them super. Very early in the morning she made herself heard to her parents, who had hoped for a lie in... No go! Mik came for an hour to listen and to play with Amber. He did dance to the music... They played very peacefully together. So there was a real Christmas feeling in Dukes Wood... ;-) Isn't Amber a little Christmas angel?

12 December 2005. Amber loves Pippi, (the Astrid Lindgren figure) and has her hair styled that way. To make it even more Pippi-like, she adds some ornaments herself.

6 December 2005. Here is Amber with her Saint Nicholas trophies... The Holy man gave her a lot of beautiful things, and she was overjoyed, as you can see.

28-11-2005. Amber en her nephew Devon are very close. HE lives next door to her grandparents, and as soon as he sees her, he comes over. They are like twins....

26-11-2005. This morning Amber enjoyed a romp with her father in this years first snow. She liked it...

22-11-2005. Amber assisted at an Oracle party, along with about 200 other kids. They were supposed to enjoy themselves with creative activities, so you see our granddaughter busy with a Santa mask. He did not put it on, but they shook hands in the end. The doll she was presented with did not rouse too much sympathy in her. She is not a doll lover. But on the whole Amber loved the party.

15-11-2005. Amber went to have a look at the coming of Saint Nicholas to Empel. Very interesting, she thought. And she got a handful of the special Santa cookies, as you see here. She likes them well enough, but prefers a bit of cheese or some sausage. 

10-11-2005. Amber loves to jump around, and the parental bed makes a perfect trampoline. Mama first takes a picture, and then says she can't jump on the bed. 

Now, isn't that mean?. 

It seems that Amber wants to be an understudy for Jaws. Or do you think she would like to be a dentist in due time?

14 of October 2005. Amber passes her time now in a different way: no more thumbs in her mouth, but toes. 

13 October 2005. Amber is rather well. There is some school hunting going on, for in 2006 she will have to go to school. At her tender age! Funny on-goings nowadays,,, 

8 October 2005. Amber is ill and at home. Very boring. When she made a call to say thank you for a little gift, she forgot we couldn't see her through the phone, and she kept just nodding and shaking her head in denial. So we had no great conversation. 

Yesterday she had a most interesting conversation with her mother. Amber had broken something, and asked D. to repair it for her. Which retorted: I don't think that I can. 
And no doubt quoting her mothers own words, Amber answered: You're not to think, but to try and see if you can do it...  
Well, so be it.

27 September 2005. Amber is not always inclined to do the desired thing. When she is playing, she does not like to be disturbed for a boring phone call from her grandparents. So she'll quietly refuse to take the horn and speak to us. But sometimes she has quite long talks to her Daddy, when he is driving home. Or most likely: queuing on the way home. This picture dates back from 19-9. A ray of sunshine.  

3 August 2005. My apologies, for letting you wait so long for an update...

This is a picture her grandfather made, when Amber was crossing around on her new bike, as if she was a new Lance Armstrong...

Cute, isn't she?

14 July 2005. Amber was not in bed when we came to congratulate her mother with her birthday. Since Amber is three years old, her mother must be four now, is her reckoning. It has been a hot day, and we were able to sit in the little garden plot they have now. But it was difficult for Amber to keep her eyes open!

11 july 2005. Ambers has a spare set of nearly everything at her doting maternal grandparents. Her little bike over there didn't fit her anymore, and today she got a new one! But you understand that she cannot be allowed on the street, unless she is accompanied... 

25 June 2005. Summer party at the Kindergarten! The theme was  Circus, and Amber made a new hat, saved a lion, and hopped up and down on a real trampoline. The had a great day!

24 June 2005. Today Amber, angry for being corrected, threw a bucket of cold water on her Granny's legs. 

Her grandfather just caught the moment!

The young lady knows what is what. 

She had been playing at her grandparents home, and her grandmother took her for a walk. 

When they re-entered the house, Amber says accusingly to her grandfather: My! Haven't you even put all this stuff away!!!
(Her own stuff!!!)

Amber likes to sing, and the words are changing with her mood, some combinations may be a bit bizarre... Like: Grandma you've such a big nose, it seems a champignon...

10 June 2005. Miss Alina, who works at the Kindergarten, was the bride. And as a surprise all the children came to congratulate her. They were even for 5 minutes in church, to sing a little song, but the were tong tied! Amber had a veil too!

31 May 2005. The neighbours of  Ambers grandparents are family, several times removed, and they have a little boy... Amber likes to play with him, but this kissing bit is not her idea! 

She seems to have planned a future in the cleaning business... 

24-5-2005 Amber had a fall yesterday. Humpty Dumpy. 

We came to look her up this afternoon, but she is quite well again. She showed us her capability of fishing and of cleaning the floor, after eating some cookies, and putting crumbs all over the place.

21-5-2005 Amber is doing better and better... :-)

20-5-2005 15.03 hrs. Amber is in the bath tub fishing for magnetic fish, calling: Fish, fish, come to me!!! . 

19-5-2005 Amber had a relative good night, and the pain in her throat is becoming less stringent. She is playing along, and understands that today the word 'no' will hardly be used to her, so if there is something she does not like, she cries out. Won't last a week.  

For her pleasure her parents put up a small tent in her room, because that is what she likes most: make a tent from her bed clothes etc. She is radiant about it. 

18-5-2005 From a medical point Ambers tonsillectomy went well, today. But she insists that it was all bloody awful. And at least awfully bloody and painful, the poor wee child... 

15-5-2005 Day of the Spirit!!!... Ambers parents are in the UK, for a short holiday, and Amber takes care of her Grandparents. They took her to Rhenen, a very famous Zoo, and rightly so! Maybe the lamb didn't care for it, and the ice bear had no care in the world, but Amber loved every minute of it. Pictures by grace of granddad Wim. 

30 April 2005. Amber has a lovely Queens day, and felt that with this crown she would even endure the trooping of the colour. Her granddad Wim took the picture! 

27 April 2005 It is about time that this tonsillectomy of Ambers gets done with. Next month, they say. Ever so often she has a fever, and you can see here that despite her laugh she does not feel well.

This does not prevent her to play and be pleasant generally. 

At moments she can be very grown-up in her manner and correct her mother in tiny things. 

She now knows that shops are no welfare institutes. Things have to be bought with money, and she is very proud when she is allowed to put the coins on the counter. Electronic payment is not of her liking.

13 April 2005. Since they moved home, Amber has a real bath tub to play in. Much nicer than a shower. If mummy thinks she has to leave the bath, she threatens to turn the shower on, and all of a sudden Amber is more than willing to come out of it. It is obvious that her set of teeth is complete! 

9 April 2005. What about this: Amber calls poor Cinderella (in Dutch: Assepoester) Cinnerpolish (Afvalpoetster) (literally: Trashpolisher). Creative, aren't they?

5 April 2005. When climbing the climbing frame in the playground round the corner, Amber will accept some help, but only up to a certain point. If Daddy is pushing too much, she says indignantly: Amber sure will get there!

24 March 2005. Amber enjoyed the first sun of spring, and her grandfather Wim took this nice picture!

19 March 2005. Amber has not yet got rid of her 'birthday virus', and walks happily through the house, singing :

12 March 2005. An important day: Ambers birthday! She shows three fingers when asked how very old she is now. ;-) 

You see her delight in her birthday cake, and she is quite willing to show her present from Dad and Mom: a cat that can be groomed and pinched until it piteously says: Meow...

The blowing of the candles on the cake had to be repeated two times, because she thought it SUCH FUN!

The 13th there was a lot of visit from Daddy's family, so it happened all over again, but now Amber knew immediately what to do with the lovely presents: tear the paper and unpack! It was fun to have all those nieces and nephews and what-ever to play with her, and it was equally nice when they all went away and Amber could have her treasures for herself again. Here she says goodbye to Charlotte, both seated on their parents arms... 

27 February 2005. Charlotte had her first birthday, and Amber was to go there! She talked excitedly about it, and she they were both adorable during the visit.

Alas! This proved too much for little lady Fauntleroy, once at home she began to make fusses, had no intention to eat, just wished to go up and play, but her cruel parents made her repent that attitude... ;-)

26 February 2005. Amber does her utmost to produce the same quality of shining floating balls as everybody else can make with this piece of yellow plastic. Even her granny, who is having her birthday, can do it....

Why Amber not? It is nót fair... she is blowing as hard as she can...

16 February 2005 It seems the carnival has loosened Amber a bit up. She danced around without clinging to her mothers frock and even so when she did not know most people around..

She becomes a bit talkative as well: I had her on the phone today, and she told me about her friend Lula, who had a little brother, and about Miffin, who had a flag... We'll have quite some conversations, later!

3 February 2005 In the dark deep South of Holland the locals are preparing for Carnival. Quite a festivity, and it starts in the Kindergarten. It seems that it is a Grandpa-garten as well, for it is the maternal grandfather who made this cute picture of Amber, dressed to the colours. A painted face is one of the features, and as one can see: she loved all of it! For the next few days, until Wednesday coming, nobody of the family is within reach. Maybe if you text them, that they react in the long run, but now there is nothing to be done but wait. ;-)

25 January 2005 We had some snow here, but only some. The besotted parents ran to the shop, so that our little darling could have her first sleigh ride. And yes, she does sing: Jingle bells!

17January 2005. Mom writes: Amber had been a bit ill last week, but on Saturday she was her radiant self again. That day she went and 'helped' her father 'do' the garden. It took twice as long as usual, and both Amber and her coat were in for some washing! On Sunday we went walking and biking, so that Amber fell asleep on the way home, on the bike. All this clean air! 
She is doing quite well again, talks ones head off, and tries to be the boss at home. 
When called to order she appears to be totally deaf. All normal for her age, they say.

6 January 2005 In Den Bosch the children carol along with the Three Magi, as happens in the East of Europe! Here a lampion is included, and, as we can see, some paper hat is donned. Methinks it is the one from 2-12, but who cares? After some admonishing of her mother, Amber seems to come forward singing! :-)  

2 January 2005 Amber has been to a children's mass today in the vast Saint John cathedral of 's Hertogenbosch. Outside there were camels and goats, which were highly appreciated, but the ongoings inside inspired no engagement on her part as yet. Next year better.

1 January 2005 Amber was in Utrecht this night, but she slept through the night, in spite of the fireworks Mommy's friends had bought. And it was a lot!

For the pictures of the second half of 2004 please be so kind to click on the following dot: