Day Three and Four

With a Thursday anti-pause disrupting our first week we suddenly arrived at the day we call Friday. Our first week together has already flown by... showing once again that time is a passing constant on which your daddy has no grip... especially when he is spending it with his daughter. Today your mother was working from home, which was a good enough reason to go and get some walnut raisin bread and some croissants. I had to make it up to her because I left the house in a hurry yesterday and ate all the croissants she had gotten for a breakfast spread with JAM. You will learn that giving food is a solution to many arguments, but that is a lesson you will learn when you bring your daddy breakfast in bed, because you painted on the walls again...



After a planned visit of an old colleague of your mothers for whom your father made a caricature, which was meant for another one of your mothers old colleagues... we had to retreat upstairs so not to disturb her delicate working balance. This was fine because the sun was shining upstairs and I could do some small work related things on my laptop while you could practice your fixation on the heart-decorated-mobile you got from yet another old cookie partner of your mothers. I must say it is a privilege to be working next to you. It puts my work in perspective. Time spent on working is time not spent with you...

After a while we took our first amsterdam sling-walk to the apple store, zigzagging back home. I must say that with you in a sling around my neck, I am getting more positive looks then ever! Japanese people seem to be really impressed with your hang style transportation mode. I will try to take you out more often, but with the sling I feel the situation of every pregnant woman... you are pushing directly on my bladder! The rest of the day was pretty normal...except for the fact that you did not have a very good evening, which in turn made me feel kind of helpless.

here's a link to your pictures on flickr:
and a picture just to show everyone how cute you are when you are crying...

day three - hanging out at the office

There comes a time in every persons life that he or she comes back to the same place every day to perform a repeating task, set within a professional and social frame and hopefully within one or two talents. We call this situation Work and a lot of people do it at the office. Today was not your introduction into the workforce ( that will happen as soon as you are able to hold and manipulate a pen...) ... no today was your first day at daddies' office, checking up on your uncles and DOING LUNCH.

When we walked into the hallway that leads to our office, we were surprised by a picture we know well. But now it had been blown alllll out of proportion...

It seemed that your uncles had rented a machine that can reproduce pictures on a very large scale... a Plotter / Printer.
This made your daddy really really happy. You will see why once you are a bit older and when the PRODUCTION gene starts to kick in...

We had lunch and you were passed around from uncle 2 uncle until we realized that your daddy forgot to pack some diapers, which resulted in a shortened stay. Before lunch though..you were serenaded by Uncle Mike and Uncle Jan. I hope in the future your little book will have movie playback... just press play.


Tomorrow daddy has one more workday... so I will catch up with you on friday!

Daddy D.

DAY TWO: reading about the fabric of the universe

You know Elsa... today we found out that by accessing you gift-tree we can start to activate your curiosity and see if all your wonderful gifts can be used to explore the beginnings of your infinate imagination. The furry play book that we looked and “read” from today is a perfect place to start.



It is funny, but out of all the toys you received the little cuddly play book just jumped right out and got your fathers attention. I have been wondering all day who gave that to you, but writing about it sparked my memory. Then it got corrected again by your mother when I returned home …so we still have no idea who gave you this particular book.

It is only about 8 pages, but it is the start of an ongoing story about shapes and sounds that date back to the beginning of time. In this simple and childish looking book you will find the basic shapes that make up the fabric of our existence! Each page tells a story that has been reduced to such a basic form that everybody (!) will agree upon their definitions of dimension and meaning. You might even call this unsuspicious looking book of yours the most holy of bibles… the only book that summarizes all lines of thought and lines us up as equal before the universe…But then again, they might still just be shapes...

There is another thing which has your old man worried which sparked his attention to the fluffy book...I wonder if you will grow up having the same urge to collect... The same urge that keeps your mother and I busy in our mid thirties :”Does owning a book satisfy more then reading it… ?“
The reason for this thought is because of the western state of digitalization (2009). We are transferring almost everything which is precious to us to the digital realm (so not to lose our memory of it…) and my worry lies in the fact that you might grow up without an innate respect for the art of “the BOOK”.
My generation already reduced the definition of “book” to a “a stack of FAXES”… (just punch that into Wikipedia or for a real challenge… check a real life encyclopedia …you will laugh you little tooshy off!). But your generation might grow up missing the commercial and emotional need for owning books all together!? You might be focusing on a lean and flexible existence without possession... I can tell you now Elsa that you have been born into the wrong nest when it comes to such a life goal... A whole lot of family characteristics will be passed down on to you without you knowing or realizing it, but you will most definitely inherit all of our STUFF… including BOOKS.

The uprising of book-buying-websites like Amazon and bol.com are responsible for rekindling the passion for owning lots of books (the operative word being owning, because reading is sooo 90-ies…). The BOOK-BUYING phenomenon has been blossoming because of low pricing and well organized distribution channels (I think…)and will eventually result in a growing group of open source believers who will share these books with others. So they might also enhance their view and understanding of life and STUFF.



You interacted with your first BOOK-shape gave me great joy!…looking at you looking at shapes, that will become the foundation for your interpretation of meaning and comprehension of thought, is proof enough for me that we are going to be great explorational partners in your future! I am looking forward to you unique perspectives and hope in some way to contribute to forming them...hopefully we can figure out how to flow within the system...together!?

Thank you for a great 2nd day!

Daddy D.

DAY ONE - Elsa and daddy kick off

Ok elsa...
Today we woke up around nine... had breakfast and started our first day with a DVD. Not so much for you even though you seemed oddly interested. VICE magazine has a DVD out about all kinds of strange places in the world. Worth watching when you are older...(15 according to the dvd cover...)

Your day is centered around two main events, which rotate about every two to three hours...Food and Changing your diapers. These are the things which make you not cry and which keep you happy...and in turn make me feel like I am doing a good job!. After taking care of these primary actions we are free to do whatever we want! And because today can only be described as a beautiful and mainly bright and crisp winter day, we had to go out:


We toured around the museum park and doubled back, got some turkish bread...had lunch and tried to cope with the fact that our central heating is failing to do its job according to code. Disregarding the slight cold conditions, my first day with you had a great flow to it! Especially when I realized that you were more interesting then the pictures I was making of you and I hurried back to the actual reason for the pictures...YOU! Thank you for a great day. See you tomorrow!

Daddy D.


Daddy has got you back!

Daddy stays home

After three and a half months since Elsa's birth... the time has come for Anna to go back to work and give up care to the next best thing... DADDY! I have been looking forward to this coming month with great anticipation and a little nervousness, but in about 6 hours I will officially start my working and caring at home phase. The main thing I will have to tell myself is that I should take out Elsa for a walk every day, give her about 200ml of Anna Produce every three hours and bath her every other day. Outside of these basics there will be fun, bonding, sleeping and learning...and that is just for myself!

Through the writings on this blog I will try to post a picture or drawing every day! Determination and love will literally tell the story of Elsa and her days with PaPADennis.

Good luck to us both!

D.