Thursday

Today was one of those days at work when you're taking it easy and looking forward to having some time off (only worked two days this week) and you're already in holiday mood when you realise that "oh, s**t, there's lots of stuff I need to finish before the end of the day and it's already 3 pm!". So I had to stay an extra hour (which is not that bad after all) but now I can relax until the next day in the office, 9 January.

In other news, Isolde has slept through the night for the first time in over six weeks! Last night she slept from 8pm to 5:20 and then in our bed until 06:45, and the night before, our first night back in the flat, from 8pm to 7am. If it's not a one-off, or two one-offs to be exact, it proves that we were disturbing her (and she us) when we were all sleeping in the same (tiny) room in our temporary accommodation (first my parents for 1 1/2 weeks and then Peter's parents for 3 1/2 weeks). The last two nights she's been in her own room (her new room, pictures coming soon!). The last six weeks have been really tiring with Isolde waking literally every night and often staying awake for 1-2 hours. Not what you need in general but especially not when you are working every day. She's had periods of irregular sleep before but never so long and so consistent. And those times one of us could go and sleep in a different room (the couch) but that wasn't possible at our parents (but we're so grateful we had somewhere to stay during the renovation!!).

So fingers crossed this new sleep pattern is a permanent one!

God fortsättning!*

I forgot to wish everybody a Merry Christmas here on the blog but maybe Boxing Day (where it's celebrated) is not too late to do it?!

Isolde is on the move now.  She stands without support and she has taken mini or semi-steps.  I wouldn't call them real steps but she's definitely almost there.  Will keep you posted!

* One of those expressions that is difficult to translate

Secret Santa

One of the highlights of the year, Emma's Christmas Present Exchange, just took place.  My gift travelled to Karin in Åland (hope she has received it?!) and I received a package that had travelled much further.  Thanks Annika!

"Who are these jolly people?"

"Mummy, let's open this one first!"

"I like the Christmas ornament - and especially the bell inside - but mum likes the cards the best.  And the iPhone gloves will come in handy when I want to play Peekaboo Barn while out in my pushchair."

Isolde at 11 Months

Our soon-to-be-one-year-old girl...

• can stand by herself for up to ten seconds.  Just yesterday she didn't want to practice even though she sometimes stood for two-three seconds but today it's like she found her balance and now she she's getting steadier and steadier.  Walking soon?!  She hasn't wanted to walk just holding one hand but maybe that will change now. 
• has been very picky with her food lately. She doesn’t want to be fed but cannot work a spoon yet so dry finger food is what goes right now. To her dad’s frustration (and I'm secretely happy I don't have to deal with it every day). Fortunately she had still grown as much as she should when we checked last Friday.
• weighs just over 8 kg (8,070 gr) and is 68.5 cm tall.
• has started drinking välling (formula) in the evening but sometimes oat cereal is her evening meal, sometimes she has both (dinner is earlier around 4-5 pm).
• doesn’t sleep very well at the moment. We usually have no problem putting her to bed in the evening but she wakes up several times from 1 or 2 am onwards and is sometimes awake for 1-2 hours. She still takes two naps a day, one in the morning and one after lunch but if she continues having trouble sleeping once we move back home we may need to shorten those or remove the afternoon nap. I think may be separation anxiety that only shows at night? Otherwise she’s her happy usual self during the day (except the food business).  Or it's just a phase.  Or it's because all three of us are cramped up in a small room (at Peter's parents, due to the renovation of our flat) right now.
• wants to be up and in someone’s arms if we’re doing something, especially in the kitchen. Why stay down on the boring floor when you can observe what’s going on.  You might miss something otherwise.  It seems like she's very interested in cooking but maybe it's just because we spend quite a lot of time there (or especially her grandmother whom we've been staying with for a while)?

• gives you books to read or the iPhone to open the picture book. The meowing cat is the favourite.  I love that she loves books so much already.
  
• is a fast crawler nowayds and she never tummy crawls (ålar) anymore.  She often stands on her knees and watches, plays or holding up her hand to be picked up.
• still thinks the baby swim lessons are fun and when we started again you could tell she had missed it. But this time the group is so big and she’s more interested in watching all the others than diving or practicing climbing out of the pool.
• she has become more and more cuddly and shows affection by giving us nose kisses or wet kisses (mouth wide open).  In the morning she's busy playing but in the evening when I get back to work she wants to cuddle and she puts her head on my shoulder and sucks her thumb.
  
• she got her first booboo a week ago at a playdate.  She walked into the door frame, cried for 30 seconds and Peter didn't think of more of it.  But in the evening we noticed a bruise on her forehead, a small one but it took a few days to disappear.
• is impossible to change because she doesn’t stay still, not even if you give her an exciting toy, which makes especially no 2 changes a bit tricky to say the least.
• waves goodbye.   She has understood the word vinka (wave) and you don't have to actually do it yourself for her to start waiving.
• sticks her tongue out half-way when's she doing something.  It's like she concentrating and being mischievous at the same time.  Very cute!
• still has just two teeth.  I sometimes wonder if she'll ever get more?!
• talks a lot but no real words yet except där (there), which she says almost all the time, pointing to things or taking up a thing to show us.  But she doesn't say mamma or pappa more than a month ago.

Show & Tell: Saint Lucia

Friday's Show & Tell theme was Saint Lucia, a Swedish holiday (one of the most cherished and celebrated?), and since it's always on 13 December, today, I figured I'd wait until today to write my post.  But turns out that I don't have much to tell.  Or show.  We didn't dress up Isolde in a Lucia gown or as a little Santa's helper - she couldn't care less of course - and slept through the Lucia celebrations on telly this morning.  Some years we've been treated to a little Lucia performance at work but this year (and last) there were no willing singers.  We did meet for a quick glögg in the afternoon though but turnout was small, as many of my colleagues with children had already left for their children's Lucia celebrations at pre-school or school. Next year will be very different though I suspect because then it will be Isolde's first real Lucia, first real Christmas, etc.  Bring it on!  But until then, some calm!

Little Friends

Two tired and serious-looking girls on the rocking choo choo train but they did have fun together even though it may not look like it in the picture :)

11 Months!

How did almost a whole year pass already?!  Crazy!

Sleeping in Gothenburg

I am in Gothenburg on business and I don't know what I'm looking forward to the most, the prospect of interrupted sleep* for one night or two hours Christmas shopping tomorrow after my meetings have finished... Irrespectively I should probably turn off the lights now, as it's 10:30 pm and I need to get up by 7 am the latest.


* Isolde has had trouble sleeping lately.  She has no difficulties turning in sometime between 7 or 8 pm but then wakes up every night between 2 or 4 am, usually around 2, and then doesn't want to go back to sleep for at least 1½ hours... Don't know if it's a phase or because we're not in our own home or due to other changes in her life (me going back to work).  She's her usual happy-go-lucky self during the day though - except that she's picky with her food right now - so I think it's probably a phase. 

Promenading

If we didn't already have a Bugaboo (or weren't  happy with it, which we are) I'd consider getting a Phil & Ted Promenade.  It's similar to the Bugaboo in many ways, not as ugly as the iCandy for example, reminds me of Brio Go (but better-looking) and has some features that are lacking on Bugaboo - it's fully collapsible and have much more (storage) space under the bassinet/seat, to name just two.

Shop 'til You Drop

Isolde just remembered she never showed you what she bought for herself on our US trip. She didn't realise it while she was busy shopping but there was a certain blue theme.  Matches her beautiful blue eyes though!

Striped onesie, two tees from OshKosh and a polo blouse from Ralph Lauren (RL) to the left and three dresses from Tommy Hilfiger (TF) to the right. 

Knitted sweater from RL, two leggings from RL and one pair of soft, leggings-type trousers from TF to the left and three blouses, top one from TF and the bottom two from RL, to the right.

Hat from TF, blue Toms (one pair for you, one for a child in need somewhere) and red Converse.

Show & Tell: The December of My Dreams

I thought I'd jump on the Show & Tell train again.  Annika is hostess for the month of December and she has given us five seasonally appropriate topics :)


2 December - The December of My Dreams.  The hostess has assisted with some questions: what would the ultimate month of December be like for you? Maybe you want to skip everything to do with Christmas?  Or would you go away?  Or do you want to maximise Christmas [like Annika herself]?  Tell us!

9 December - Saint Lucia

16 December - Half-year check.  A Show & Tell tradition where we show what happened July-December.

23 December - The day before Christmas.  What do you most look forward to?  What food would you not want to be without?  What traditions must be there for you to call it Xmas?

30 December - Thoughts for the new year




I'm going to be very "right now" in my post today.  I'm not really going to answer Annika's question but just tell what's on my mind right now:


My dream this December will be that our kitchen (and the rest of the flat, but that work will be much quicker in comparison) will be ready by Christmas!  And with a few days left until Christmas so we can make it Christmassy and cosy.  And I hope that we can actually move back (staying with Peter's parents right now) next weekend so that we can start unpacking and decorating, both design-wise and Christmas-related.  Peter's parents are not too much for that sort of stuff, not for Advent at least, so the don't even have a single advent light up (just four real candles).  I'm quite minimalist in terms of Advent and Christmas decorations but I want at least one advent light in each room/window.


Even if the kitchen will take right up to Christmas (and maybe longer because the stone counter that we've ordered might not be fitted until after New Years), it looks like our bedroom will be ready any day (though it's next to the kitchen so we'll be sleeping in Isolde's room for the remainder of the works) and next they will wallpaper the living room and the hallway.  So it's getting there.  I can't wait to see it all ready, or even part ready. 


I don't know if I ever told you what wallpaper we chose in the end... so here is hopefully what our bedroom will look like!  Though the bedroom picture shows another colour combination than the one we chose, the one in the first picture (Ludlow from Cole & Son). 

For the living room we chose a wallpaper in white with stripes with three different widths but unfortunately I don't have a photo yet (Décor Maison). 


Have a nice weekend!

Cottage Cheese* Music

Maybe this is already old to most people but I just discovered Erato!



* They are drumming on Swedish cottage cheese boxes

Hard Currency?

Someone broke into our basement and stole a screw gun and Bugaboo winter wheels.  Not the DVD or other bits and bobs.

Advent

A little update. We're now 1 1/2 weeks into our kitchen+ renovation and yesterday we moved to Peter's parents after having stayed with my parents until now. We'll stay here for a week and then see if we can move back. At the moment it's just too dusty. The liveable part of the flat, i.e. Isolde's room, is fine (except we discovered last Monday that they had turned off the electricity the previous Friday and we had to throw out everything in the fridge and freezer...) but we'd have to go into the dusty part to access the shower (there's only a toilet adjacent to Isolde's room, for now; that's our next renovation project) so that's not an option right now.

It's been a busy weekend (the preceding week was "just" work and a looong commute). Friday we had a little family birthday dinner for my dad who turned 60 today (we had a bigger celebration in the summer) and Saturday we ran some renovation related errands and went to Wera's 2nd birthday party, in addition to "moved" from my parents to Peter's. And today we had an Advent get-together at our friends Maria and Daniel together with two friends of theirs and their two children. One of the children is just three days older than Isolde and we've been planning to get together for ages but it took 10+ months!

Happy first Advent!

Pearl Necklace

No, it's not what I want for Christmas (well, jewellery is always on a girl's list...).  It's the string of cars driving in the middle lane on the motorway between Stockholm and Södertälje tonight on my way home from work.*  Always when I'm driving I get so annoyed (in a calm way as I'm a rather calm person) with all drivers who stay in the middle lane, even though it's empty in the right lane or they are driving too slow for the middle lane, or both.  Is it that so many Swedes are nervous drivers and stay in the middle to prepare for a shift of lanes or exiting (even though exits are mostly to the right) 13 km down the road, or because they don't want to have to change lanes if another car is entering (even though it's the entering car that has to yield and you don't have an obligation to move).  Tonight was extreme with a string of cars in the middle lane even though it was completely empty to the right.  Why?!  In a way, tonight was less of a problem since there wasn't much traffic, but when there is traffic, which is most of the time, these drivers are really blocking off a big part of the road.  The third lane between Södertälje and Stockholm is rather new (and there are now lights all the way) but if people are not using, what was the point of building it?!


* I decided to drive back and forth as it saves a lot of time, especially in the evenings.

First Week

It's Sunday evening and tomorrow I start my second work week post-maternity leave. The first two days of week 1, I didn't think that much about Isolde and actually just thought it was nice to get a "break" from motherhood. But towards the end of the week I was really missing her and missing her development (well, I didn't think about her that much during the day but when I got home and saw her I felt like I had been missing something). The second part of the week felt worse not only because the change had started to sink in but also because I had to commute from Södertälje, and had a longer day away from her than at the beginning of the week. I shouldn't really complain about commuting though since I'd only do it temporarily and so far I have only commuted for real one day (Friday) as Thursday Peter and Isolde also went to town and we took the car. But Friday's commute felt sooo looong - I left the house at 7:30am and returned at 7pm. Driving on Thursday took only a little over one hour. I'd like to be green but I think I may be driving even those days when Peter isn't going to town. We're probably just staying in Södertälje for another week so it's not like I'm polluting that much/for that long. If it hadn't been this early after going back to work I wouldn't have cared as much maybe but now it doesn't feel good to leave a sleeping baby in the morning and return just before her bedtime.

This weekend I also - which was perhaps bad timing but I didn't want to bail out - spent Saturday night at a friend's house for a party. But I didn't leave until 5pm Saturday afternoon and returned today at 1pm so I still got to catch up with Isolde over the weekend. By the way, it doesn't seem that she has really understood yet that there's been a change of "management". She's happy when I come home from work but she doesn't seem to really know how long I've been gone and she doesn't seem to have started missing me yet. Part of me is happy that she's so content with her dad but the other part would want to see more hurt feelings haha :) But all in all it's good of course since I think it's the right choice to go back to work now and share the parental leave 50-50. And I'm really enjoying work and look forward to getting down to business with my new responsibilities.

In other Isolde news, she had her 10-month check-up this week. This one was not just measurements (but those were 7,740 gr and 68 cm) but also a developmental update with the doctor (normally we just see the nurse). Everything was in order and we learnt a few interesting things about children's development at this age, for example that eating food on her own (i.e. not being fed but picking pieces of food with her fingers, also stimulates speech development because when she's putting stuff into her own mouth she uses her mouth differently (basically more the front than the back of the mouth) and thus trains different nerves and muscles. So now she'll only get finger food for a while! Haha, maybe not but definitely more than before. As she's also rather a lightweight still, the doctor also recommended cold pasta (fusilli or similar) as a snack - many calories but also a good finger food and easy to bring with you when out and about.

Where There Was Once a Kitchen...

Tedious

Not much time to reflect on the first day of work / parental leave for either of us... Sold our cooker (and with 15 interested I probably priced it too low but I just think it's good it doesn't end up on a dump) today and a friend is taking the dishwasher. We'll keep the fridge and microwave for now so that we can stay here on and off during the renovation. Peter finished the last touches on Isolde's room (except for wallpapering which the contractors will do for us later) so we have somewhere to sleep (as we're not just having the kitchen redone but also the rest of the flat painted and wallpapered). Can't wait for Christmas when it's all supposed to be finished!

Father's Time & More

Today, the day before Peter starts his parental leave (and I go back to work) was very appropriately Father's Day.  We didn't celebrate much (not Mother's Day in May either) this year*, as we were busy packing all our kitchen stuff ahead of Wednesday, the big day, when our complete kitchen renovation starts.  We also need to pack all loose items in our bedroom, living room and hallway, and move some furniture around, as the same company will paint and wallpaper those rooms too, but that's for tomorrow and Tuesday night.  I don't understand how we have so much stuff, even though we left some stuff in the attic when we moved in, as we knew we were going to do some work later on in the year... Wish us luck for the next couple of days, we need it!

* I suspect these days will become more of a big deal as Isolde grows up and comes home with Mother's/Father's Day drawings from pre-school :)

Bird Walk

Today took Elvina and Isolde for a walk while Malin and the rest of her family attended her dad's funeral (70 years old is too young to leave this life!). The chapel was next to a little lake (Lötsjö, Sundyberg) so we walked around the lake and stopped at the playground for a while. It was rather chilly though so the girls thought it was quite nice just to sit in the buggy and look at the ducks.

Even though it's a chilly day today (5-6'C), it doesn't feel like winter is on its way. It's been so mild and apparently there's no snow ANYWHERE in Sweden right now, not even in the far north, which is very rare. But they say harsh winters come in fours and we've had two in a row now so I think it'll hit us soon! And I don't really mind because I like snow!

Isolde at 10 Months Old

Our 10-month old:

• has two teeth.  The second one appeared our first days in the States and we completely missed it coming through so it must not have hurt as much as last time (which wasn't that bad either but she was evidently cranky then), maybe because it's next to the other one and the gums are already soft.
• is now a hands-and-knee crawler but still tummy crawls when she wants to get somewhere fast.
• can sit up herself, i.e. pull herself to sitting (she's been sitting since she was 4½ months).  Before she had to pull herself up, first to her knees and then to standing, and then sit down. Now she quickly moves between lying down on her back or tummy, crawling, on knees or any position, to sitting.
• sits and play sometimes but mostly stands and walks along furniture or anything she can find, as well as with her toddler wobbler.  About a month ago we had to constantly watch her* but now she can move around the living room without us following her around.  She tries to climb the sofa as well so when she's in that mood you need to watch her carefully.

• is basically never still!
• has much more hair than before we went on holiday.  It seems to grow in spurts.  A bit like development leaps.
• has in the last few days started talking more - more "words" and with more melody in the language.  Says "mamamama" and sometimes "pampampampa" (for pappa) but it's more like she's practicing the words rather than saying it to us or calling for us.
• is becoming a little bit interested in what we eat but still doesn't care that much and is happy being fed and is not interested in holding the spoon or trying to feed herself yet (except some finger food).
• likes bread and especially sourdough - think it grew on her in the States where she ate a fair share of it as a compensation for - in her view - the lack of tasty baby food.  She probably didn't need to eat as much food while we were in warm Florida, and fruit and smoothies provide plenty of nourishment too, but it was quite a relief to come home and see her want to eat cooked food again.  One of the brands of baby food that she did eat was Happy Baby (and to some extent, Earth's Best).
• continues to be super-social and easy-going and it was in many ways very easy to travel with her, especially in child-friendly US (where people would come from the other side of the room to talk to her).  She can sit for quite a while in a high-chair in a restaurant as long as you have a supply of toys and some bread.  That said, it was quite nice to come home and get some routines back in her and our lives, especially when it comes to food and sleep.
• has still not shown any separation anxiety but at night only mummy will do, which is kind of interesting because in the last few weeks she's been quite "want-to-be-with-daddy-all-the-time" (pappig) during the day.  If Peter is at home that is; she doesn't seem to miss him when he's at work.  Or maybe the realises that she has missed him because she's so happy when he comes through the door.  It will be interesting to see how it will be next week when we switch roles and I go back to work.

• started sleeping a bit irregularly before we went on holiday - from sleeping 8-5 to waking up at 3 or 4 and wanting to breast-feed - and the first week back suffered from jetlag, which wasn't helped by her parents dragging her to dinners with friends and the like, and is not back to "good" nights yet.  Initially I planned to stop nursing her when I went back to work but I have decided to continue as long as it works for me sleep-wise.  So most nights I nurse her before bedtime (she eats oat cereal earlier) and in the mornings (partly to get her to sleep longer).  I try to get her to go back to sleep without feeding if she wakes up before 5am (as a 10-month old doesn't need to eat at night) but sometimes I cave in... I guess it might get "worse" when I start work, as she might want to "make up" for not seeing me as much during the day. We'll see.
• often sleeps on her tummy now and rotates 360' several times a night.  It's sometimes difficult to put her to sleep because she has so much energy and can't always unwind.  Sometimes we have to hold her little leg and arms so that she can come to rest.  Sometimes when she's falling asleep she's sort of whining.  She can go on for half-an-hour and she's half-asleep, half-awake.  Sometimes she wakes up and grinds on for a while before going back to sleep.
• when she wakes up, sits up in her bed and chats away by herself or calls for us - but she's almost always Little Miss Sunshine when she wakes. If she's still tired she sucks her thumb and looks at us with her big eyes.
• is very interested in small(er) babies and tries to "talk" to them - she gets so excited and it's very cute.  She has also shown interest in dogs and cats even though she hasn't met many - the first dog she met for real was our friends Suvi & Nick's dog Bramble (then she was more interested in Bramble than their newborn son actually) and my American host family's cat Sammy.  She was a bit afraid of Bramble at first while she tried to crawl after Sammy almost right away - probably meeting Bramble earlier had helped, as she probably can't distinguish between a dog and a cat.

• plays more and more with us and shrieks of laughter if we tickle her or play imitation games.  She loves playing peekaboo in different ways, even the "simple" ones are fun: looking away and then turning your head quickly towards her (and sometimes making a face).
• can be quite rough when she plays with you.  She pulls and pokes at our noses and eyes (and my hair) and thinks it's fun and obviously doesn't realise it hurts.  We try to teach her to "be nice" but at the moment she thinks it's a game.  It's probably also a way to show affection but she cannot control all her movements completely.  At night she can lie still and just twist my hair softly though so she knows how, really.  By the way, she has started picking her own nose.  She has picked ours for a whole, or stuck up her finger in our nose rather, but now she's "discovered" her own :)
• doesn't always want to ride in the pushchair anymore.  Either it's a phase or she got used to being carried in the BabyBjörn or just in our arms on holiday.  Peter is not used to as much complaining so he lets her "escape" much earlier than I usually do.  I.e. he spoiled her and it will be interesting to see if he's going to have to carry her throughout his paternity leave?! :)  This week she's better than last though, even though the trick is often to let her ride forward-sitting.
• learned how to clap her hands properly while we were in the US.  Before that she did it very softly and not very often but now her hands make a real clapping sound and she claps a lot.  She also "claps" with two toys (or whatever she can find).
• is probably approaching 8 kilos (will find out next week) and wears more and more size 74 but can still fit in 68.

Earlier posts at 9 months and 8 months.

* As a parent you're on a constant watch of course but you know what I mean, you don't have to be there ready with the parachute.

10 Months!

Isolde turns 10 months old today! She celebrated by having her favourite, raspberries.  Actually, she gets this "treat" quite often, but loves it every time.  She could eat an endless amount if we let her and as you can see in the film she seems to be looking for more berries under the plate and wondering why she can't have more but somehow accepting her fate :)



Last Two Weeks...

The count-down has started! 11 days until I go back to work and lots to fit in that limited time!

Past...
Mon 31 Oct: We came back from the US mid-day, unpacked (half of the stuff), did laundry, rested...
Tues 1 Nov:Peter went back to work while Isolde and I slept until 11 and didn't do much the rest of the day except for meeting up with Peter to buy food for our anniversary dinner.
Wed 2 Nov: (today): Away Day with work (quite exciting for me; I'm going to have an almost new job description, which is the challenge I was looking for). Isolde had a great time with her grandparents.

Ahead...
Thur 3 Nov: Roadtrip to Sandviken to meet and spend the day with Anki and E. Looking forward to seeing Isolde and E. play.
Fri 4 Nov: Lunch date with Malin and all three kids, dinner with Peter's parents and his sister and husband to celebrate three birthdays
Sat 5 Nov: Baby-sitting Wera in the afternoon and then staying for dinner with her parents Åsa and Rikard
Sun 6 Nov: Visit by my parents and brother including brunch at Villa Källhagen, dinner at Peter's cousin Sandra with husband to meet their newborn son Axel.

Mon 7 Nov: Quick work meeting in the morning for me while Isolde visit Peter's work, baby song and dance mid-day
Tues 8 Nov: "Open pre-school" (öppna förskolan) followed by walk with the mummy group, my last time with them for a while at least :( Show/Stand-up (Ljust och fräscht) for me and my friend H. in the evening.
Wed 9 Nov: No plans yet
Thur 10 Nov: Might go the Thursday baby song and dance group, as we missed one session when we were in the US, otherwise no plans.  Work reception for me in the evening.
Fri 11 Nov: Dinner with friends Maria, Daniel and Jenny AND Jenny's new boyfriend Mauro from Brazil - first time we get to meet him!
Sat 12 Nov: Fika at Suvi &Nick's to meet little Edward again
Sun 13 Nov: Probably going down to Södertälje to celebrate my brother's birthday and Father's Day, unless we go Saturday instead

And in between: sort photos, start making some photobooks, write in Isolde's diary (I'm so behind!), maybe bake some saffron buns for Christmas (before our kitchen renovation starts on 15 November), pack all kitchen stuff and more ahead of the renovation, take long walks (though Isolde doesn't like the pushchair at the moment...), and cuddle a lot!


- via Isoldes padda

Anniversary

Peter and I have been married for a year today! How fast the year has gone! Isolde is a lot to "blame" for that I guess! :)

Since we just got back from the US yesterday we celebrated in low-key style: at home with some champagne and food from Östermalm covered market. Isolde liked Norway lobster (havskräfta) too - she has expensive taste, that one!

We're still planning to have a big party, or our second wedding, soon, just need to set a date (looking at April/May next year)!

Layover

Now we're on our way home after a great vacation (more about it and travelling with a baby later). When we arrived to Washington D.C. (Dulles) around 1pm after a short delay, we picked up our luggage and planned to check in on our 9pm flight to Stockholm and then leave the airport and meet fellow Swedish blogger Annika (Life in the Suburb). Great plan! If only Iceland Air had an open check-in or ticket desk... No lockers to be found either, and I doubt they would fit two suitcases, a pushchair transport bag and three carry-ons anyway. So instead we had to haul our stuff around until check-in opened at 5pm, which meant we mostly sat around waiting, had lunch, had some Starbucks...

Now we're finally checked in and inside the terminal and Isolde can let off some steam. Luckily it's a pretty new terminal or at least the carpets look quite clean, or clean enough (but why no play area for kids anywhere?!).

Miami & South Beach

Our second full day in Miami was spent here in South Beach where we're staying (at Congress Hotel on Ocean Drive). We headed to the beach at 11 to try to combine nap time with beach time (she slept 12-13:30ish) and stayed until 3pm. It was very cloudy and at one point there was even rain drops but I still managed to get red even though I was using sunscreen and it was only sunny for 30-45 minutes out of the four hours. So no sun for me tomorrow!

This evening we checked out the shops in Lincoln Road, South Beach's "pedestrian mall" or "gågata" in Swedish, and ended up buying a few items at Banana Republic as well as Toms (shoes where for every pair you buy another pair gets donated) for Isolde and me and a pair of dressier sneakers for Peter at a shoe shop called Mixx. The street was well-designed but we thought it was going to have fancier stores as it's located near the posh hotels such as Delano. Where do the rich and famous shop in Miami?! Post-shopping we stopped by Jerry's Famous Deli for some dinner. It was approaching 8pm and Isolde was tired so we thought take-out was in order.

Yesterday, our first full day here, we drove out of Miami to the posh sticks; Coral Gables and Coconut Grove (though there are other much posher areas in Miami too!). We only drove through the latter but in Coral Gables we stopped at Biltmore Hotel where we had a really nice lunch by their super-sized pool, and toured (en voiture) the famous neighbourhoods planned and built by George Merrick in the 1920s, the first planned communities in the US, and had a quick peak at the neighbourhood's famous Venetian pool (which was overrated). Back in South Beach we stopped at Whole Foods supermarket for some baby food (and diapers, which didn't keep Isolde dry through the night so we'll try to return them - that has never happened before so it must be the diapers) and dinner from their deli and salad bar (our hotel room has a kitchenette so it's easy to heat up food or do easy cooking).

When we arrived from Key West on Wednesday it was 4pm already so our first evening here we just took a walk down to Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant where we discovered the waiting for a table was 1 1/2 hours but also that they have a deli/cafe next door where we could eat almost the same food in a more baby-friendly (but still designed and atmospheric) environment. Recommended!

Here are some pictures from the beach today (don't know how to insert pictures in the text where I'd really want them with the Blogger app?!):

Baby food

A while ago I joined Buzzador, a site for word of mouth marketing, and a few weeks ago I participated in my first campaign: I received a box of free baby food - Nestlé sweet potato and beef - to try on Isolde and also to distribute to other parents. Isolde actually liked it so much that she ended up finishing all jars herself, but I guess that's a good result if any!

Normally I'm not too keen on Nestlé's food, as I prefer to buy a Swedish brand and I also find Nestlé's food too watery once you've fed directly from the jar (like now on vacation) and want to feed the leftovers later. Instead we usually buy Semper and sometimes Hipp (German, so not Swedish, but organic). Semper also has several organic dishes, which I haven't seen among Nestlé's products (?). There's also a brand called Ella's kitchen (American I think, as I've seen it here in the US too; or British), which is organic and comes in really smart packaging, but it's a bit pricey so Semper "wins" usually.

Here in the US while on vacation we have bought the Semper equivalent, Gerber, and Isolde seems to like them almost as much even though they are a bit too much puréed for her (usual) liking and also has a lot more tomato then the Swedish (e.g. lasagna or spaghetti bolognese) kind. We've also tried a brand called (I think) Beecham Farms but they were so watery and not tasty at all according to Isolde.

Key West

A little update. Following Kristin and Doug's wedding on Saturday we left Dover* early Sunday morning and drove to Washington DC for our flight from National/Reagan airport to Key West via Miami. Even though Isolde's cold was still pretty bad she didn't seem to mind take-off nor landing. In Key West we have enjoyed the scenery and walking (otherwise we've mostly taken the car to go places) and today we first visited the Hemingway home and then went to the beach at Bahia Honda State Park. It was Isolde's first swim in the ocean ever and she seemed to enjoy it even though it was a bit cold (compared to what she's used to). After her bath she got a treat, her favourite, raspberries, and after that she tasted some sand :)

* Friday evening we did some more tax-free shopping by the way...

Tax-Free

Since we're in Delaware, the tax-free state (as in VAT; there's still income tax of course), shopping is a must. Including shopping at the outlets at the beach (Rehoboth). We were quite lazy in the morning but got to the outlets at a pretty decent hour - 11:30 - and had about four hours to spend before we had to drive back at 4pm. With Isolde in tow and fitting in meals and nappy changes we didn't do as much shopping as last time we were here (3 years ago), when we filled the whole trunk with bags, but we still managed to pick up (and spend) a decent amount.

This evening we had dinner out with (my aupair host mother) Karin and (her partner) Steve, made a quick diaper and baby food stop at Walmart and are now watching telly. Isolde played with the rocking chair and befriended the cat before she fell asleep. The cat also cuddled with Peter and slept on his lap before it suddenly threw up a hair ball on Peter and the sofa :)

Tomorrow we're going to hang out with Kristin (my aupair daughter, the real reason we're here right now as she's getting married on Saturday) and the check out the shops at the mall.

Fly Report

First morning in the States this time around. We stayed at a hotel last night but for the next few days we'll be staying with my old aupair family in Delaware. We figured it was better to stay at a hotel the first night instead of arriving after midnight. Now I'm very happy we decided to do that since our flight (to Dulles, Washington DC, via Iceland) was almost one hour late and immigration took a while (and the drive to Dover would have taken two hours).

Isolde did so well on the flight! She was her usual happy-go-lucky self and she slept at least four hours plus a couple of power naps. She even slept through some heavy turbulence that made me cry a little - did not want my little family to perish yet! We had a free seat in between us where she could either sleep or sit and play. So the adults could even enjoy the in-flight entertainment!

After the flight I was more worried about Isolde's jetlag, something I hadn't thought of beforehand, but I managed to get her to sleep better that I thought last night, even if I didn't sleep as much as I wanted, and we slept until 07:30 US time (and 13:30 Swe time). We'll see how the day goes. I think getting the meal routine going will be the trick to also get her to sleep when she should.

Family Friendly Flying

Pushchairs for loan at the airport. Things you don't know before you have kids and travel with kids. Now we don't have to use the BabyBjörn as much.

Isolde at 9 Months

And here's the 9-month post!  As we're busy packing for our US trip I don't have time to post any photos.
Right now, Isolde...

• is a fast crawler, but still flat on her tummy and not on her knees though she uses her feet and knees; she looks like she's in military training (or been injured in action). She easily crawls over doorsteps including a pretty high one to our bathroom.
• walks with the walker wagon (toddler wobbler/gåvagn). This means busy times for this mum now (so happy Peter will take over soon hehe!) because in addition to the wagon she stands up against anything she can find and walks along some furniture.  She's rather capable on her own now but I still want to be nearby just in case.  She easily entertains herself with crawling, "climbing" furniture and generally exploring, so now I have to be there for safety and not necessarily because she wants me there :)
• still can't move from horizontal to sitting up unless she first pulls herself up on her knees, then to standing and then sits down.
• has no more teeth since her first came a month ago and there are no signs of a second one coming. 
• continues to be easy-going and easy to bring to cafés and restaurants.  I have however noticed that while she sleeps well in the seat during the day she doesn't sleep well in it in the evening.  So we bought an extra Bugaboo frame (second-hand) to reattach the bassinet so we can easily switch (otherwise it's a hassle).  Not sure why I didn't think of it earlier.  Since she's pretty short she still fits in the Bassinet.  The first time we tried it she slept very well for several hours. 
• likes being read to more and more and has a few favourite books, e.g. Stina Wirséns Aj
• is interested in holding and chewing on the spoon when being fed, though not necessarily trying to feed herself.  Sometimes letting her hold the spoon or the sippy cup is the only way to get her to eat.
• is quite outgoing and forward in our mummy group but at the baby song and dance we go to when there are 20 babies she's not as "brave".  But last time we went she actually crawled up to Lotta and tried to stand up against the drum like some of the other babies do but when the others were in the way she looked a bit unhappy and came crawling back to me.  She's pretty tough though and doesn't mind if another baby comes close or tries to crawl on top of her or wants to touch her.  Instead she pushes them away if it's too much but doesn't cry.
• is still a very happy and content baby.  People are always telling us how harmonious she seems to be.  Only really cries sometimes during the night, when she's very hungry or very tired, especially if she's in the pushchair and she wants to be out and home.
• eats all the time!  Or at least it feels that way.  She eats oat cereal for breakfast (between 8 and 9am), then lunch at 11-12, snack (before crackers and fruit, now more fattening stuff such as Greek yoghurt) at 1330-1430, dinner at 4-5pm, oat cereal at 6-7pm.  If Peter's is alone with her she can go to sleep on oat cereal but if I'm at home (most evenings) I also nurse her before bedtime around 730pm (though we're planning of making her bedtime around 7pm as she's pretty tired by then.  She probably eats 75% jar food and 25% home-cooked but that will change gradually. She seems to like most food though she was a bit sceptic when there was too much dill in the fish dish I made. I rarely cook just for her but try to think also of her when I cook for us. She doesn't like broccoli and is not keen on banana anymore but she loves raspberries!
• makes lots of noises and "talks" a lot but she hasn't said a "real" word yet.  I read that some babies say "mum" and "dad" now but she doesn't seem to call out for us yet.  Except maybe at night sometimes.  She does say something sounding like "hej" (hi) sometimes and sometimes she waves at the same time.
• tinkles on her toy piano; sometimes hard and sometimes soft and slowly on one key, as if she's really trying to listen to the sound she makes.
• does well with baby-sitters.  Our friends Maria and Daniel sat for the first time last Friday, otherwise we've "hired" the grandparents.  She still has shown no "only mummy (or daddy) will do" tendencies yet or fear of strangers or separation anxiety. She likes cuddling, mostly in the morning and in the evening and tries to kiss me (which is mouth wide open and wet), but no kisses for dad yet.
• has mastered the "pincer grip" now even if it sometimes is with the thumb and the two first fingers.
• has taken off her socks for a long time now but now she also attempts to put them back on sometimes.
• used to just flop happily in her bed when we came to take her up but now also reaches out her arms and shows she wants to be picked up sometimes.
• starts games, such as making specific sounds and shouts and wants you to make a noise or shout back.  She also likes playing that game where she drops stuff and we pick it up...
• still tries to eat and chew on everything!  When does that stop??

There are really lots of things happening now both in terms of physical development and personality wise.  Fun times for a new parent!

Isolde at 8 Months

Isolde turned 9 months one week ago so this is perhaps slightly overdue but I want to keep it for my records :)  9-month report can be found above!

   

At 8 months Isolde...

• started crawling tummy-style (not up on her hands and knees). She was very frustrated around 7½-8-months before she cracked it.

• started pulling herself up against the coffee table and tried to walk along it but was quite unsteady still. I wished then that we had that padded playpen at the Children's Library!
• was able to go to sleep without being breastfed, on oat cereal alone, but when I was home (most of the time) I'd nurse her before bedtime in addition to oats. I think she can benefit from mummy milk a while longer.
• slept 1930-2000 to 0500 but sometimes woke up at 02, 03 and/or 04.  This is still her routine at 9 months. Most nights it's easy to make her go back to sleep (after 1-5 minutes) but sometimes I have to revert to nursing here before 5am, if we've tried unsuccessfully for an hour or more to get her to fall asleep again.  If I feed her at 5 or 6am she sometimes nurses for 30-60 minutes and I doze off 50% of the time.  But then she's wide awake and wants to play.  So we're usually up from 6 or 7 am and then she (and usually I) sleep again from 9 for 1-1½ hours.  She sleeps again after lunch for 30-45 min, maybe an hour.
• had not shown any sign of separation anxiety or "only mummy will do".  She had a period of frustration around 7-8 months when she wanted me to play and be with her all the time but it felt it was more because she needed help to do things than she was afraid that I was going to disappear.
• first showed her love of raspberries!  Since they are so soft it's a great dessert/snack for her with no risk of choking!
• laughed a lot  - proper laughs and giggles. She played games with you, usually imitation of faces and shrieks, whereby she'd start and we'd imitate her and then she'd imitate us in turn.

• was really studying people, both adults and other children.  She'd crawl up to the other babies and stare at them, sometimes scaring a few by making some sort of sudden noise.  She'd also sit for a long time studying a toy; she seems like an investigative girl.
• she also started (or maybe it was even at a younger age) tilting her head to the side to get contact with another person, adult or child.  Very cute!

• got her first tooth.  Her first teeting experience was a couple of days of bad sleep.  I noticed on a Tuesday that she didn't want to eat crackers (smörgåsrån) and thought maybe a tooth was on the way but didn't see anything.  But the next day her lower gums were swollen and you could see one was definitely on the way.  The following day it was through and she could eat crackers and was sleeping much better again. This was around 8 months and 1 week.
• had another phase of blowing/spitting out her food when she was being fed, again not because she didn't like the food but because it's fun.
• loved the mirror (like all babies?) and found it curious that mum could be both in the mirror and next to her at the same time.
• liked the BabyBjörn a lot even though we don't use it very often at all since mum prefers the pram, which can be piled with lots of stuff!

• remained a calm and content person; she seems very even-tempered.
• still loved water and swimming.  She'd want to play with the water and touch the taps when washing her face and hands.

• had a few favourite books.  I thought she tried to close the book all the time but then I realised she tried to turn the pages.  But chewing on the books were second-best.

Stuck in the Toy Box

And mean mum takes photos before helping...

Books Etc.

Finally I have had a chance to play detective and find out who my secret book friend is (I participated in the book exchange Pocket & prassel in case you don't remember) even though the package arrived over a week ago. I think it's Mrs E who's the culprit!

Look at the lovely content!  In addition to the book - which sounds really good - and a film that I haven't seen either, I got some tasty licorice (all gone already!), chocolate (almost gone!) and tea, a shopping list note pack, ribbon and a little gadget for curling ribbon (can't wait to try it!) and a nice card.

Thank you!

9 Months!

Today this little Miss Charming turns 9 months old!  9-month-old report coming soon (and the 8-month report which is way overdue...)!

Kavat

Of course Isolde had to sport her new shoes when we visited work (only 5 weeks or so until I go back for real) today for fika.





Via Anna's iPhone