Friday Gallery: Something New

Somebody is kicking, wanting to get out. But not until March!

Isolde at 21 Months

Time for a catch-up on our little rascal!  Isolde...

• waves her index finger and says "akta" (watch out) and wants us to sing Lilla snigel
• has also started putting her finger to her mouth and hushing if someone is sleeping or she's going to eat or there's something in the story on one of the children's TV series she's watching where they need to be quite.  I think she must have picked that up at pre-school, as well as the Lilla snigel song because even if we have sung it at home we haven't waved our fingers.
• has started sleeping with pillow and duvet now (didn't like it at all before) although she still moves around so much in her bed that she, the pillow and the duvet don't always stay in the same place.  Also wants to listen to the music box some friends of ours gave her for her first birthday to fall asleep, but we have to wind it up a few times before she settles in.  She still wakes up around midnight or 1 am and we're too lazy to put her back in her bed so she sleeps with us the rest of the night.  But some nights she doesn't wake until 4 or  5 am. 
• is talking more and more and tries to repeat words we say, but still it's mostly bla bla.  Even though she says few clear words she has said her first two-word sentence, or three even: "e de?" or "va e de?" (what is that?), which she asks a lot.  If that counts.  It's funny how she sometimes tries to explain something and she looks at you intensely wondering "don't you understand what I'm saying" but usually she gives up instead of getting frustrated.
• is getting better and better at jigsaw puzzles though sometimes she gets frustrated - or is just lazy - and wants us to fit the pieces.
• has much more body control than before and can climb almost everywhere and maintains balance in (or most often on) places I didn't think she would.
• gets to make a lot of every-day choices as it simplifies our lives and means less conflict - and is also good for her development.  This means we give her a choice between for example two shirts to wear or she gets to pick what book we should read.  It's amazing how clear she is in telling us what she wants, from mundane choices such as which of her children's favourites on SVT Play she wants to watch right now, to what she wants to play and eat or do (or us to do).
• always wants to help out when we're cooking and even if we're just heating somethign in the microwave she thinks she's missing out and drags her chair to the counter so she can see what we're doing and help.  She climbs up and down her Tripp Trapp highchair without difficulties and we removed the rail some time ago.
• still a major thumb sucker, but it feels like she's dong it a little bit less, but it might just be wishful thinking from my side.
• really likes pre-school now.  She runs - or almost jumps - inside in the morning and hardly has time to say goodbye.  The only times she wines a little is if we're too slow helping her take off her coat and shoes or put rain gear on if they are starting outside, and she has time to realise I guess that we're leaving.  They call her "Little Sunshine" there so she must be really happy-go-lucky there most of the time.  She eats and sleeps well.  When we pick her up she wants to leave right away though, but she's in happy mood.  It's good to know they get to see her real personality now.
• likes playing her way of hide-and-seek: she covers her eyes with her hands and because she can't see us, she thinks we can't see her.  And she likes doing the loop in our flat through the hallway, kitchen and our bedroom and back to the hallway, or in the opposite order, and having us chase her, or vice versa, with an element of hiding as well.
• In her room she plays mostly with her kitchen, builds with Duplo or runs around with my old wooden pram (well, not just in the room but all over the flat).
• likes washing her mouth and hands after a meal, and her hands when we come home after having played outside, and she's always telling us to put back the towel on its hook afterwards. She's a lot into routine and order now - must be from pre-school or something normal at this age anyway.
• is very affectionate, more than ever, and wants to hug and kiss and cuddle all the time. It's the best feeling ever when she comes and puts her arms around your neck and gives you a big kiss.
• tries to dress herself but is usually only successful with wellies and other shoes that are easy to put on.  And she can put hats on and she likes wearing them, which is fortunate now when it's getting chillier.
• takes off her nappy herself and wants to be "free", however, that doesn't mean she's ready to use the potty unfortunately.  But maybe feeling nappies are uncomfortable is the first step.
• hides things in the subwoofer next to our sofa all the time.  We thought she had stopped but now we find things inside it all the time.  If something is missing, check the woofer first! :) 
• weighs about 9.7 lg and I think she's 80 cm tall now.  Her hair is getting really long (but I want her fringe to grow longer before we have it cut) and she has 12 teeth now (four front teeth both in upper and lower and then two molars both up and down).

Friday Gallery: Joy

Today's theme, as chosen by Désirée, is something that makes you happy.  Shopping makes most of us happy, right?!  So I have to show you my latest purchase!  Mums and dads out there should pay particular attention!

We've been thinking about getting an extra pushchair that is smaller than the Bugaboo Cameleon and that we could bring on trips, be they abroad or to Ikea or to the supermarket, and our plan was to get a MacLaren.  But then I joined this pram group on Facebook (and got addicted...) and heard about the Babyzen Yoyo.  Such a cool and clever pushchair!  And since both Peter and I like "gadgets" (and Peter is an even more avid tech fan), we just had to get one.  Watch the video and you'll see why!




Yoyo hasn't come to Sweden yet (but will do in February-March next year and maybe as early as December to select shops) so I ordered it from a French site (which also had it in black fabric, most of the other sites only had the other four colours).  I ordered it on Monday and today it arrived!  I unpacked and put it together (which wasn't too difficult) this evening and I'm looking forward to taking it for a ride tomorrow! 

Shopping abroad for prams is becoming quite a big business these days actually as it almost always means money and time saved (the lead times for buying a pram in Sweden can be 6-8 weeks compared to not even a week from some other European country - UK, the Netherlands and Poland seem most popular).  Before this purchase I had only used British Pramworld and they've been great in terms of service and return-policy, and so far Little Design seems very good too.

The Great Outdoors

We spent part of the weekend at the country house (and the rest at a two-year birthday party as well as dinner at my parents). On Saturday we had beautiful autumn weather, chilly but sunny, perfect for some play by the lake and a walk in the woods.

Friday Gallery: Evening

I think I forgot to mention last Friday that Désirée is hostess of the month and has picked this month's themes. This week's theme is evening and I've picked a selection of Instagram photos to illustrate what our evenings are usually like these days.

This is where we spend most of our evenings - in bed or on the sofa. 
 




And Isolde doesn't only watch Teletubbies, we read books too!

And sometimes these parents get to go out, like to a Lady Gaga concert!

Happy (but perhaps a bit tired) concert goers!



And let's finish with a beautiful summer evening pic!



Can't wait for evenings on the balcony to return in the spring!

21 Months (yesterday)!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Friday Gallery: Colourful

I'm on a business trip to Malmö (going back home tomorrow morning) so will have to make do with whatever I can find on the iPhone (have an iPad with me too but no photos on it) for today's theme.