Jane Turns One Year Old!

Jane is a very good walker now and insists on walking everywhere instead of being carried. She tries very hard to do the same as the rest of her siblings. She understands almost everything that is being said to here. Just like her big sister Tara, she uses lots of baby signs to communicate. I really love using sign language for babies.  She has a high cuteness factor and a huge degree of persistence and determination to get what she wants.

'I love opening presents!' Tara was happy to help her in this task.



'That looks interesting'. Even although she was born in the USA, she celebrated her first birthday in the Netherlands (Edam) with a Dutch birthday cake.



'I wonder what it tastes like'. She had no problems diving right in!



'Pretty good! I can't complain!' Glad she enjoyed the celebration!

Dolphinarium Harderwijk

We spent Jane's first birthday in the Dolphinarium in Harderwijk, in the Netherlands. They have lots of shows with dolphins, seals, etc and aquaria with sharks and more. It is like Sea World, but the Dutch version.

The kids really enjoyed the show and the animals, what we did not like is that it rained on and off the whole day. And when it rained, it poured, literally!



In the picture we all look kind of wet and we were! It rained a lot during the time that we spent in the Netherlands. We lived there for six months and I think it rained for at least 4.5 of them! The picture shows Karen and from left to right Tim (4yo), Tara (2yo), Cees (6yo) and Jane (on her first birthday).

2018 update and disclaimer: This was before I became aware of the issues surrounding places like Sea World and the Dolphinarium and I am not sure whether I would go there now, knowing more about the possible mistreatment of animals which would be better off swimming the oceans.