Verjaardag

This week we celebrated Klaus's first birthday. Being a younger sibling myself, I am always concerned with making sure that we do at least as much for Klaus as we did for Leif at the same age. When we began planning this sabbatical one of my first thoughts was the Klaus would spend his first birthday here. I was a bit conflicted about it. For Leif's first birthday we had his portrait taken at Sears and we had a huge party with family and friends at our house. I was a bit worried about not being able to provide the same for Klaus in Holland since we have no friends or family here and also there is no Sears. Logic however prevailed; Would I really give up 6 months in Europe to avoid a future guilt trip that my child may or may not impose? Obviously I went with no.
 So I have already failed to have his portrait taken. I know that studio portrait photos are silly and campy. But my parents took us when we were kids and it always made me feel special. I am not talking about professional artsy places. I am referring to a JCPenney or Sears type department store portrait studio. The ones with giant plastic numbers and ridiculous fake backdrops with snow scenes or quiet meadows. These photos are a must for any future family nostalgic giggle-fest.
 I had planned to take Klaus to Sears before we left (I was just going to accept that fact that in 10 years I won't remember how Klaus differed from 10 months to 12 months) but when I went to make the appointment I was greeted with a web page that simply said that all Sears Portrait Studios are closed for business. Curse you, digital age! I was disappointed but tried to think of it positively; now I would have a grand adventure to embark on in a foreign land.
 When we got here, following my rule of researching before making any moves in the commercial sector, I asked the Leiden Expat web group if any one knew of any places of the Sears portrait studio level. One person suggested the V&D which is a department store in Leiden. Unfortunately it is currently under construction so it was hard to tell if there ever was a portrait studio but I can tell you there is not one right now. Another person suggested AH but I could not figure out what she was talking about. Still another person offered up her husband's photography credentials. The samples of his work on his website were gorgeous and definitely not what I was looking for. I resolved to keep searching.
  At a routine trip to the grocery we stumbled across what seemed to be a pop up photography studio advertising kids portraiture. It was perfect! White backdrop with a wicker chair and teddy bears. Totally the amount of shmaltze I was looking for. There were several people waiting so I decided to get the groceries first. Bad plan- there were even more people waiting afterward. I looked at the sign I thought that I understood that this happened every Wednesday. Since Klaus really wasn't wearing his finest I figured I should just try back another day. Another bad move. Upon later research I discovered that this pop up studio travels around all of the Netherlands often stopping in shopping centers and grocery stores (Albert Heine is a grocery here. This is what the expat meant when she said 'AH'). So my current plan is to just wait until it comes around again. I was willing to have Klaus's picture taken two months prior to his first birthday so I will also be willing to pretend that he is the same at 14 months as he is at 12.

While we have so far failed at the portrait, we did pull off a pretty good party. We rounded up a motley crew of the people we have met here so far- Jasper, a few people from the research group, and a very nice couple from Texas that I met at the playgroup. It was not as many people as we had had at Leif's party but I think the space to people ratio was equivalent. My family joined the party briefly via google hangout. We grilled up some sausages and veggie sausages and made some pasta salad. Kurt pulled off a delicious chocolate cake despite not having been able to find any cocoa powder (It took us a month and a half to find baking soda here. We had to get it from the British foods store. Apparently the Dutch don't bake much. Or a least not the way we do).  There were balloons (thanks, Jasper!) and decorations. I had really wanted a sign that said "Happy Birthday" in Dutch but all the stores sell signs that just say "Happy Birthday" in English (stand up for yourselves, Nederlanders!). I finally found one that read "Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd" but that really translates to 'congratulations'. I went with it anyway.
  We had a great time and it seemed like everyone else did too. Hopefully when Klaus is older he will be impressed with our efforts.