Day 1

The big day finally arrived – the day we officially loaded up Max, all our luggage, and said goodbye to Penny for a week to fly to our new hometown of Amsterdam.

I was incredibly nervous to fly with a three-month-old baby. Not just fly, but fly all the way to Amsterdam. And then go immediately to the ExPat center to get our Dutch social security numbers, and to the bank. Everyone told me he would probably be just fine, and I knew he probably would be as well. But if he wasn’t, well, it’s a ten-hour flight. The morning we left, we said goodbye to Penny Lane (she was flying a few days later) and to Grayson’s parents and loaded up Max and our seven giant pieces of luggage into the rental. We made it to the airport without incident – so far, so good!

IMG_0002

I should also mention that we flew in style. Grayson is a frequent flier with Delta, and we also had three first-class seats. Which is great, except I will tell you now that “normal” people who buy first class tickets probably buy them in part to get away from screaming children. As we boarded the plane and found our seats, we didn’t receive a single “hello” from any passengers around us, and fancy, noise-canceling headphones went on immediately as they glared at us. Gulp. Alright baby boy, we can do this. Just ten more hours.

IMG_0003

Max was about as perfect as a mama could ask. He didn’t sleep a wink, but he smiled, giggled, and flirted with the flight attendants the entire ten hours. He had two small outbursts but quieted down as soon as we made a couple aisle laps with him. As the plane landed in Amsterdam, literally every single passenger in our cabin came to meet Max, commented how good of a baby he was, and donned him a “baby frequent flier.” He continued to be the perfect baby – all the way through customs, baggage pick-up, and the drive to our appointments. Max got his first stamp in his baby passport at three months! At the ExPat center, poor baby had to have his picture taken by himself, with his eyes open (seriously?!), but he went right back to sleep. He was jet lagged and off his sleeping game that night, but other than being tired herself, this mama is a very happy one.

“He didn’t sleep a wink, but he smiled, giggled, and flirted with the flight attendants the entire ten hours.”

Gray was really nervous to show us our new home – he had to house hunt without me, so the pressure was on. I liked the pictures, but after seeing it in person, I love our new home. We live in the Oud Zuid (or Old South), and it’s a great neighborhood with the traditional row-house style homes (think San Francisco style). It has amazing floor to ceiling windows. We have three bedrooms (an extra for company!), and we managed to get one with a backyard for Penny. We have temporary furniture until ours arrives by ocean freight end of November, and I am excited to start making it feel like home. There are some things that will take some time to get used to, like the ladders they call stairs here, a much smaller kitchen, a thermostat and oven in celsius, and clocks on military time. All small things, and all part of the adventure. Once we get more settled, I’ll share some more details and pics of our home and neighborhood!

“All small things, and all part of the adventure.”

All in all, a very successful Day 1, and very promising for the year ahead. Who ever would have thought this farm girl from Montana would one day become a city girl from Amsterdam?! Certainly not me, but I am loving the ride.

 

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *