IT Girl

I promised Marie and Anki I'd post these photos ! :)

Stop taking photos and help me!

Are you going to help me or what?!

It's not funny anymore!

Pekaboo Farm happy again!

Isolde at 14 Months

• Has started eating porridge with a spoon in the morning.  Otherwise she mostly wants to eat with her hands but we figured porridge was a good dish to practice with since it's not too runny and sticks to the spoon and it's at a time she's usually very hungry.
• Likes books with longer texts now so we have put away most of the picture books. She also likes when we sing to her and often picks a song book over a story.  She tries to do the gestures to Itzy Bitzy Spider.
• Understands instructions such as "go and get a book" and "bring mummy that toy" and understands every day things like "let's go to the kitchen and make välling" and "do you want to take a bath?".
• Stopped the-waking-up-at-7:30-8:00-routine and started "wide awake at 5:30 or 6:00" instead, at her parents' detriment.  At least she usually sleeps in her bed all night, except for when she's sick when she comes to our bed any time between midnight and 5 am.
• Is still very "daddy daddy daddy" and I get a little heart ache when I can't comfort her.  This is more prevalent when she's sick (two weeks ago and then this week when she's had a cold) or is upset for some reason; then she only wants daddy.  But I'm still convinced sharing the parental leave is he right decision and that it is good for all three of us in the long run.  It's also only very normal he's no 1 right now since she spends so much time with him. 
• Says "babba" more and more, which we assume is "pappa" (daddy), and once in a while "mama" (more and more over the last few days).  She used to say "ma ma" several months ago but then stopped.  She otherwise babbles with more melody in the language but nothing that anyone else can understand :) Never says "där" (there) anymore, which she did all the time when she was 11-12 months old.  (Although I think I heard her say it today.)
• Gets frustrated when we don't understand what she wants.  It's usually a doll or a teddy bear that she wants us to do something with but apparently even though we try different things we are doing it wrong!
• Likes olives!  And still eats raspberries and also blueberries like there's no tomorrow.
• Has been properly sick for the first time - two days with fever (first proper fever as well) and then a light case of the stomach flu - the week after we came home from London.
• Is not shy at all and especially with other children and even older and bigger children.  It's good to see that she stands up for herself.  Although she's sucking her thumb a lot in new situations - guess that's her comfort.
• Loves walking outside now when the snow is gone and spring is in the air. 
• It's always difficult to measure and weigh at home but we think she's almost 72 cm and 8.5 kg now. 
• Has figured out how to wind up one of those stuffed animal that plays a lullaby.
• Likes putting stuff, such as her bottle or sippy cup, on coasters.  The bottle can't be next to the coaster, it has to be on it!
• Still only has two teeth!  Is that normal??!!  But a third one is coming soon but it hasn't broken through yet.
• One of her signature moves is stretching her arms over her head and saying "heya" when she enters a room, like "here I am".
• Another cute thing she does is walking with her hands behind her back like she contemplating her next mischief.
• Seems to be moving to only one nap a day instead of two, despite the fact that she waking up earlier than before.

Sad

Thinking of good friends who are having a very difficult time right now. 

You're in our thoughts and prayers!

Feedback

Last week I donated blood and yesterday I got an sms*: "Thank you! The blood you gave has now been used by a patient."

What a great way to make me feel like I've made a difference and make sure I come back!

I know not all of you are able to give blood for different reasons, but if you can, do!

* They also text to alert when the blood bus is in my preferred location.

First Birthday

I can't believe it's already been two months since Isolde turned one!  About time I show you some pictures from the birthday festivities then!

Goodies



Happy birthday to you!

Cake!  First she was a bit sceptic but then it went down quite easily.

Presents!



Little friends

Update

I have wanted to blog but at the same time, haven't really felt like it, even though there's plenty to blog about and lots of photos I'd like to post. But the last week in short:

• Isolde's fever was gone Wednesday morning but instead both Peter and I started having stomach ache and feeling nauseous mid-Wednesday and Wednesday evening it was clear Isolde had it too. I left work a bit early and ended up staying home Thursday as well. Luckily we only had a light case of the stomach flu - Isolde and I both threw up once, but that was it, and Peter avoided it completely. Friday we were all well again except for Isolde's tummy which took a few days to completely recover but she's been fine otherwise. Our appetite was back already Thursday evening but she's still a bit picky with her food today Sunday. But who knows, it could also be a phase.
• Friday was my grandfather's funeral. Difficult times but again, happy to know he lived a full and long life (almost 91), and the service was beautiful and also uplifting in many ways. He hadn't expressed any specific wishes more than that he left it to my mum and my aunt, so they modelled it very much on my grandmother's funeral 20 years ago, which my grandfather was very much involved in of course. It was also nice (despite the sad circumstances) to see my cousins who I don't see that often and we're going to try to see each other more often (Oslo and Varberg/Uddevalla are too far away really).
• This weekend we couldn't not take advantage of the lovely, sunny weather.  Saturday we walked to Staland furniture shop in Södermalm and made a spontaneous call to some friends who live in those parts of town, which resulted in brunch (or a very late buffet lunch at 3pm rather) with them and some friends of theirs.  Today we also took a long walk but otherwise hung out at home before finishing the day with supper at Peter's parents.

I should also tell you about the rest of our London/Oxford trip but I'll do that separately and with pictures.

Commenting

The latest update to the comments form on Blogger seems to mean that one no longer can subscribe to comments or is it just me who doesn't get it?!  I get an email every time someone comments on my blog but when I comment on someone else's I want to be able to know if that person has replied without having to go back and look for replies.  There used to be a little box to click to subscribe to comments, which meant they sent an email to you every time someone else commented on the same post, but I can't find it anymore.  Doesn't anybody know how to get it back??!!  Argh, so annoying!

Fever

Poor Isolde has a fever!  Guess she picked something up on the plane.  It started last evening when I thought she felt a little bit warm.  She only had 37.7 then but in the middle of the night around 1 am I woke up next to a very hot little girl (she slept in our bed as she was already cranky at bedtime).  Turns out she had 39.6.  We've been very lucky and she hasn't been ill at all in her first year of life except for two colds but then she didn't have a temperature so this is her first fever*.  After some paracetamol it went down to 39.2 and today she's had between 38.2 and 38.5 all day.  She slept quite a lot during the day but tonight she cannot come to rest.  Peter's trying again right now and I'd better go and join him.

* Except once when she had 37.6 for a few hours.

Like a Celebrity

I like reading about celebraties' kids and when we were in Oxford this past Saturday it was like Isolde and her little friend Imogen were such mini celebs!  Except for the fact that us parents weren't of any interest at all, which I guess would be the case with real celebrities.

I took quite a lot of photos with the real camera but here's one with the iPhone as well as a short video for now.  Unfortunately I was too slow with the filming when these Japanese girls went the most crazy.

Shop a Little

Peter was the big shopper last week but I managed to pick up a few things in between coursework. A dress and a pair of shorts for Isolde and a Barbour jacket (International Summer Wax model) for myself, something I've been wanting to buy for a long time. I also bought some presents for people but won't show them here!

Another Day

Another course day for me and a day of leisure for Peter and Isolde (the course is really great but I wish I had at least one day just strolling). In the morning they just went to the local playground but after lunch they visited the Swedish church for a weekly play group (where they offered semlor, cream buns for Shrove Tuesday!) and then ventured to Jermyn Street for some shopping (they had a buy-one-shirt-get-two-for-free-deal so Peter bought three shirts and one tie for only £86!).

When I got "home", we walked across the Embankment bridge to the London Eye for some London views from above. I've gone once before when the wheel was new but Peter had never been on it. It's perhaps not worth its ticket price but it's still something to check off the list. And I can watch Houses of Parliament and Big Ben at night over and over again! After the 30-minute ride we walked up to Covent Garden and Neal Street and spent quite a lot of time at Barbour - Peter bought a quilted spring-autumn jacket but I'm still deciding - before devouring moules frites at Belgo's. Finale of the day was a crêpe to share from the crêperie in Covent Garden on our way back to the hotel - Shrove/Fat Tuesday is Pancake Day in the UK after all!

London Continued

Today was the first day of the course (International Communication Skills) I'm attending (very interesting so far) so Peter and Isolde were on their own. They spent their day doing a bit of walking, shopping and checking out the nearest (unfortunately not that near) playgrounds. Yesterday we were all together though and the sun was shining (though it was still rather cold)! We walked on the north side of the river from Embankment down to the Tower of London where we had fish & chips with all the other tourists, before crossing over on Tower Bridge and walking all the way back on the south bank. We finished the day with a visit to the Courtauld Gallery, which can be recommended if you've already been to many of the other art museums in London.

In the evening we went out for dinner. First we tried Porter's English restaurant in Covent Garden but it was full so we ended up at an Indian chain place, Masala Zone, which had received good reviews on Trip Advisor but that I would NOT recommend! Sure, they were friendly and it was quick - it's sort of like Indian fast food but with table service - but the chicken was fatty and the rest was rather bland. So we didn't stay long, which was perhaps good because Isolde was tired and not in restaurant mood. She has started screaming in a high-pitch fashion when she doesn't want to do what we want her to do, such as putting on her jacket, or when we're stopping her from doing something she wants. I really hope it's just because she's been tired and bored from sitting in her pushchair all day, as I really don't want our restaurant days to be over!

London, Baby!

* Rise and shine at 4am in order to be at the airport at 6ish for flight at 7:30.
* Exciting and somewhat scary finish to our flight, as when we're just about to land in pretty windy weather, a gust of wind forces the pilot to ascend and turn around to try again (or rather, he made a judgment call that it was better to divert). Luckily the second attempt was successful and was actually a very soft landing, considering. There was probably never any real danger to our lives but it was still pretty scary!
* Quite a trek from City Airport to our hotel in Trafalgar Square, as both the Circle and District lines were suspended for weekend engineering works, causing us to make a couple of extra changes and have to use less accessible lines. Not so much fun when you have a baby and quite a lot of luggage including a pushchair (in a transport bag).
* Once we had got to our hotel and fed Isolde lunch, a looong walk from Trafalgar Square down the mall and through Green Park, past Knightsbridge and through Kensington Gardens, down Oxford Street and New/Old Bond Street and back to T Square.
* Afternoon Tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace, during which we just missed most of the heavy rain.
* Some excitement at the end the day to match the morning; power cut in our room due to a defect toaster. Luckily the hotel was quick to come to our "rescue" and restored both the electricity and (new) toaster within minutes. Well, the first replacement toaster didn't work but third time lucky!

How was your day?!

Isolde at 13 Months

Want to keep up these updates for a while longer!

Our little one-year-old at 13 months old is:

• showing more and more emotions.  She's making a lot of new faces and you can really tell that she's trying out both feelings and faces and waiting to see what we do.  Relatedly, she's also developing stronger and stronger will and is trying to show it by exaggerating (or so it seems).  So there's a lot of trying different cries and wining and looking at us to see our reaction.  And sometimes if I say "no", e.g. no to carrying her right there and then, she goes to daddy and "complains".  And vice versa.  Her cries are still very soft but they are getting stronger and higher and she's starting to try high-pitch screaming to get what she wants too.
• not much of a talker yet but has recently started saying "noo, noo" (not English [noe] but more like Finnish "nu" if that makes sense haha).  She shapes her mouth like she's going to make a kiss and says "noo noo noo".  It is very cute!  Otherwise she's not saying many clear words even though she's constantly "talking".  She's not saying mamma or pappa very often right now. Guess she's practising on other words.
• learning how to play.  She brings us toys and she wants us to play with them.  It's not always easy to understand what she wants so sometimes it's obvious we're not doing what she had in mind.  It's not always fun for me in the mornings because that's when she's in her best mood and she wants to play or be read to but I have to get ready for work :(  I know she has Peter who will play with her but it gives me a little heartache to turn her down.  She's doesn't seem to care that much herself yet.  As long as daddy reads instead she's fine. 
• struggling to walk in her winter boots and snowsuit but otherwise she's always walking and hardly ever crawls anymore.  Lately she's often been walking backwards like she's practising that.  She's not running yet but you just wait!
• eating more and more with utensils but still mostly with her hands, or fingers, really.  Sometimes, even if she manages to get a piece of food on her fork she takes her other hand and picks the food from the fork and puts it in her mouth with her fingers. 
• not very patient and has a short attention span right now.  This means we usually read two pages - and sometimes just two lines - of a book at the most before she wants to read the next one, and so on.  She also throws little tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants but it's still easy to distract her with another toy or "ignore" (i.e. let her get a bit mad for 30 seconds before she gives up and is happy again) her so that she decides to find something to do anyway.
• still a lightweight at 8.4 kg and 70.5 cm (according to our attempts to weigh and measure at home) and wears mostly size 74 but some 80
• not keen on wintersuit and boots (as mentioned above).  I think it's because she feels very immobile.  She hasn't really learnt how to walk properly in her boots yet, mainly because she's mostly in her pushchair when we're out and about anyway.  So we should probably make her practise more.
• drinking less and less välling (formula) in the evening so we've actually stopped making it, at least for now.  She seems to be fine, i.e. sleep through the night, without it.  Maybe because she usually eats a second dinner with us ha ha.
• learning how to kiss goodbye and good night.  I usually make a kissing mouth and kissing sounds and after a while she leans towards me and rubs her nose towards my nose or my mouth.
• sleeping in her own bed throughout most nights, 19:30-20:00 to 07:30-08:00, but one or two nights a week come to our bed either in the early morning or around midnight or 1am.  Every two weeks or so she has a night where it's impossible to get her to fall asleep again and we (or mostly Peter) have to stay up with her for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night as nothing we tried works - välling, new nappy, sleeping in her bed, sleeping in our bed...  It's like you just have to wait and tire her out by letting her play.  She is tired but it's like she's on the fifth roll.  Any tips?!
• often playing in her room provided we stay with her.  Otherwise she goes in there on her own and brings a toy out to the kitchen or the living room. 
• still very interested in cooking and it's difficult to do anything in the kitchen with her attached to your legs, wanting to be picked up.  If someone is in the bathroom at the same time that's pretty interesting but not for very long.
• getting pretty good at the sorting box at least with the square and the round one - the triangle is difficult - and she knows she's done a good thing when she fits the right one in the right hole because she's stretches her arms out like "ta da!"  But sometimes she goes "ta da!" when she does very easy things too, like just putting something back in a drawer when she's playing in the kitchen.  She already knows praise is good haha! 
• a little bit afraid of the hoover.  She doesn't cry or scream or anything but she wants to be picked up immediately and then she wants to follow the hoover around at a safe distance, i.e. 1,5 metres up in your arms.  With thumb in mouth.  But when the hoover is off she happily plays with it. 
• loves the iPhone and the iPad so much we have to hide them sometimes.  It's pretty cool how she's pretty good at the baby apps.  However, she's discovered the menu button and turns off the programme all the time (and hasn't learnt how to turn the app on again yet).
• still sucking her thumb but also her right index finger, mainly when she's in the pushchair or in the car

There's lots more to write about her but I need to continue packing for our UK trip!  Stay tuned until next month for Isolde at 14 months!

Bringing Winter Inside

Sort of :) If you ask Isolde sledding is even more fun indoors without that cold white stuff and all those uncomfortable clothes.

My Hearts

Low-key Valentine's Day with my darlings. After work Isolde (sporting my old 70s hat) and I took the walk to the covered market (Östermalmshallen) and bought today's dinner and in the evening we ate said dinner in front of the fire while it was snowing outside. Post-dinner, very fittingly, my preoccupation has been emailing possible venues for our wedding celebration that will hopefully take place (finally!) this summer. Suggestions welcome by the way!

Breather

The boss is away all week, which usually means less ad hoc tasking.  On the other hand, we're two people down in the team (training course) this week, which usually mean more random requests.  So plus minus zero, as we say in Swedish.  I sure hope though that this week will allow me to catch up on my backlog (two-three hectic weeks have caused major pile-up) because next week I'm going to be in London on training all week and I'd really want to clear my inbox as much as possible before then!  We'll see how much work I'm able to do tomorrow though because at the moment I have a sick husband (flu symptoms but I sure hope it's just something temporary or light) so I may have to stay home with Isolde (and this being Sweden I could actually take VAB - compensation for staying home with a sick child - if he calls in sick even if he's on parental leave right now). 

Origami

A bit tempted to get one but we don't really need another pushchair.  But it has a button and it's automatic and it self-charges and... Fitting name by the way! 

First-Time Sledder

Sled première!

Northern Friends

Gotta love BBC's reporting from the Northern Future Forum!   Can't embed the video for some reason so you have to go directly to the page.

More serious reporting from BBC here and here.  And a short clip from SVT:

Morfar

My beloved grandfather has left this world and is probably catching up with my grandmother over (half*) a cup of coffee somewhere in the heavens.

I will always remember this past Christmas when he was in good spirits and played with Isolde.  It is sad to think that he was doing pretty well just weeks ago and now he's gone.  But at almost 91 it's okay to let go I guess.  He has been unwell on and off for the last two years so we're happy to know he didn't have to suffer for long now in the end.

Hej då morfar! Vi ses i Nangijala en dag!

*My grandmother would always answer "I'll have half a cup" when asked if she wanted some coffee and was once given an actual half-size cup (half-moon shaped) as a gift (by my dad I think).

Birds

A must have for Isolde's room!  Which will probably stay on the wish list considering the price tag... Why are beautiful, stylish things so expensive?!  And why are cool lamps always so expensive?!

This Week

Highlights from the week, which has been work work work for me, but family time too.


Before the snow arrived today (Friday) we had several days of cold but sunny winter weather when Stockholm is at its best. This picture shows Stockholm's changing silhouette with the new Stockholm waterfront building to the right of the City Hall. The front building is pretty cool but not the boring office building behind...

Isolde is still a major thumb sucker but she's sucking more and more on her index finger, just like her dad when he was little, especially when she's in the pushchair.

One of the week's work highlights was a visit to Saltå kvarn...

...and looking good...or not...in protective gear for the visit inside the mill and the bakery.

Last weekend Isolde had a great time on the swings of Humlegården but wasn't as happy when she fell forward like a log on the snowy path.  She's not used to wearing boots or snowsuit and not being as mobile and flexible as she's indoors. 

Not a great photo it will have to do; we finally found a lamp for the living room that we liked! 

Here's a better picture.

One Year Older

• Breakfast with bread and croissants from the bakery and freshly squeezed orange juice
• Back to bed for two hours while Peter's up with Isolde so I could catch up on some sleep after the work week
• Fika with my parents and gift-opening (boots, perfume, sweater, theatre tickets, purse for cocktail parties, tea towels, napkins and candles)
• Responding to 50+ birthday messages, mainly on Facebook
• Dinner with Peter at Lux while my parents baby-sit (my treat though, as Peter's birthday present 2011)

Things You Miss When Not on Maternity Leave

The sight of Isolde stuck behind the bathtub (we have one of those old-fashioned ones with legs) after having crawled under and then not finding her way out again. I would have taken a photo before "rescuing" her but Peter is a good father :)

Isolde at 12 Months

Right now Isolde...

• 's most used word is still "där" but now she's rediscovered "mamma" and "pappa" and she practices often on them, though not necessarily to us.  One morning she said "mamma" while looking at me and then she smiled like she was both proud of herself and a bit embarrassed.  So cute!  She's also trying to say "ja" and "nej" and she babbles a lot of "rappakalja" that we don't understand.
• likes waving goodbye to me in the morning and it's always with a smile.  If she's slightly whining it's because she wants to come out to the exciting stairway beyond the door.  When I come home she comes crawling - or walking, but crawling is faster - and when I pick her up she hugs me hard and sometimes takes my face in her little hands and gives me a kiss (well, sort of a kiss, more like a nose kiss).
• took her first (unsupported) steps just after Christmas (at 11½ months) and since then she's been taking more and more steps and getting steadier and steadier and in the last week (12 months & 1 week) it's like she's finally really got it and she can now walk across a room and over dorrsills and carpets, even if it's still a bit wobbly.  See video!  It was interesting to see how it progressed from standing without supporting, to learning how to stand up (rise) on the spot without holding on to anything, to taking almost like running steps and then sitting down hard, to walking a few steps and then stopping, i.e. exercising being in control, to finally walking without much effort.
• at the moment likes books with flaps for lifting or other ways to discover new things in the book and we read Tippen säger god natt (Spot says good night) and Miffy på bondgården every day.  She still likes one of her first favourites, Vad lilla Anna fick se, in a very read and falling apart version from when I was little.  She seems to prefer books with more text and longer narratives now.
• usually sleeps from 8pm to 7 or 8 am.  In her own bed and room until 5 or 6 am and then in our bed for another couple of hours.  I love cuddling with her in the morning and going back to sleep together but I'm really grateful we get most of the night to ourselves! One or two nights of week she wakes at midnight or 1 am and sleeps with us for the rest of the night, since it's usually difficult to get her to go back to sleep in her bed at that hour.  It usually takes her between 5 and 15 minutes to go to sleep in the evening but sometimes it can take up to 30 minutes.  She almost always fall asleep by herself in her crib but it often takes a few times of picking her up, giving her another hug, putting her down again, more singing, and patting her back and bum, not exactly in that order, before she finally lets go.  She has so much energy in her little arms and legs right now so sometimes it actually helps to hold her legs so she can't kick around in bed.
• doesn't mind being fed (jar food or other wetter food) but prefers feeding herself, mostly with her hands but sometimes with a spoon or fork.  She's really good at being fed with a adult-size fork.  It's like she's understood that it's bigger and sharper and she opens up wide and carefully.  She often eats two lunches and two dinners since she eats quite a lot of our food too (our mealtimes don't really match yet).  Her favourite food is corn - she could live on it if we let her - and of course raspberries, but she's still not keen on banana unless it's mixed with a lot of other fruits.
• is such a little proper person now.  She's always been her own little person - it surprised me how the personality was there from the beginning - but now we can literally see how she develops and grows mentally every day.  It's amazing how much a little brain takes in every day, every minute, every second.  She's learning things every day that shapes her.  She is showing more and more will and she can be a little dramaqueen sometimes.  We can tell that she already is trying to "manipulate" us (not maliciously of course) and tries different techniques to get what she wants.  But she gives up quite easily and her "tantrums" can hardly be called that yet.  We just think it's cute at this stage :)
• probably weighs at least 8.3 kg and is 70 cm tall now but I'm not sure since we haven't been to BVC for a month and a half.  The next appointment is not until she 18 months so we'll have to try and weigh and measure her at home at some point to keep track.  We can see that she's healthy and growing but I'm a bit of "keeping track"-geek so I want to know the numbers! :)  We have now put away all her size 68 clothes (though some still fit, especially Polarn & Pyret stuff) and she wears size 74 and some 80.
• gets so happy when it's someone she recognises, like her grandparents and her godmother Maria (who's probably the friend of mine who she's met the most and who she's really close to).  It's lovely to see her interact with people and especially people who know her.  She's very social in general and when we had 30 adults and 10 children here for her birthday (we had an open house so they were not all here at once but most people were here the first two hours) she didn't mind the chaos at all and was her usually happy self.
• had her first proper injury (including some bleeding) a few days before her first birthday.  Or so we thought.  Turns out she had hurt herself once before at her grandparents (farmor & farfar).  But it can't have been that bad at all since she didn't even have a swollen lip when we picked her up after a couple of hours.  Anyhow, it was bound to happen at some point and there will be many more injuries in her lifetime I'm sure even though we'll of course do our best to prevent them!
• still toothless!  Well, she has her two bottom teeth but when will she get more??  I fear she'll get ten at once and we'll won't sleep for a week!
• has her mouth wide open when she's doing something exciting, like riding on her new bee car or playing with something new she's found.
• takes after her father and has rhythm in her blood (Peter is quite the dancer).  She moves her little tushie almost to anything and lately she's started doing some sort of jazz hands thing too.   It's so funny how it's almost impossible for her to listen to music without "dancing". 
• wants to play the baby apps (Pekaboo farm, Pekbok and Soundtouch) on our iPhones or the iPad so much that we have to hide them.  If some of those apps weren't so good, especially Soundtouch, we would regret showing her the iPhone in the first place!
• wants to be with us and see what we're doing, and especially in the kitchen, but can also play for a while with the stuff in her room or her toys in the living room while we eat dinner (after she's eaten half of our food) or watch TV.  We have started playing some imagination games, such as pretending to cook food and eat as well as cuddle with the stuffed animals.  It's still mostly her wanting us to pretend while she's watching and handing us the stuff.
• thinks the hoover is scary but at the same time really interesting.  She doesn't cry but she practically jumps into your arms when the hoover starts.

Height of Futility

This must be the most useless and unnecessary device ever!!  Who buys this sort of stuff??!! What's wrong with a little bit of reflective tape (since the sales argument is "both for decorate purposes and for safety reasons when out during dark hours"?!

Première!

Restaurant Prose

The British restaurant reviewer A. A. Gill visits Stockholm and writes a food piece that's both informative and funny (Swedish and English version available).  I especially liked the part about the vikings:

This is the only Viking-themed restaurant in Stockholm, so that’s a blessing. But it is still one too many. You should invite the Saxons to come and sack it.  Considering how much the rest of Europe suffered from the bloody Vikings, it would be a cruelty to make a visitor relive the trauma here.

Fight for Kisses

Great commercial!



Better video quality here.

Twenty Twelve

Since part of my job right now is related to the London 2012 Olympics (nope, I cannot get anyone tickets; I don't even get to go myself) I just have to watch the BBC comedy show "Twenty Twelve" about the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Love Refugee

Today one of my best friends, Jenny, has left Sweden for her new home country, Brazil.  Her plan is to return to Sweden at some point but not until 2025 at the earliest when her partner, Mauro, retires.   It still feels a bit surreal that she's actually going to live there and I'm not going to see her on a regular basis but I guess it will sink in eventually, and there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

It's quite an adventure she's embarking on!  Less than a year ago she didn't even know Mauro (I think they first met online in March 2011) and now she's moving across the Atlantic to be with him!  She went there for a month in August and he came here in November, when we also got to meet him - such a wonderful man! -, and now she's going there for good.  It reminds me of another brave woman, Beverly, who made a similar life-changing decision 10 years ago.

I will miss her so much and wish she could stay here but at the same time I'm so happy she's met the one!  And I'm happy it's 2012 and not 1912 and that there is air travel, Skype and Facebook!

See you next Christmas, if not before then!

Jenny, hope it's okay I borrowed a photo off your FB page!

Read Books 2011

Not even worth a post but...

Best - "Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann" by Jonas Jonasson
Next best - "Himmel över London" by Håkan Nesser
Third best - "Luftslott" by Sheila O'Flanagan
Useful - "Att möta förlossningssmärtan" by Gudrun Abascal

Seen Films 2011

If anyone is looking for film recommendations.

5+
Never Let Me Go

4+
Contagion
Crazy.Stupid.Love
500 Days of Summer 
Friends with Benefits
Bridesmaids
Paul
Source Code
Just Go With It
The King's Speech
Fair Game
 It's Kind of a Funny Story
Easy A

3+
Cashback 
Hangover 2
Adam
Super 8
Horrible Bosses
Harry Potter 7
Burke & Hare
The Adjustment Bureau
Limitless
Taxi 3
Unstoppable
Anchorman
Due Date
Tangled
Rallybrudar
The Joneses

2+
Take Me Home Tonight
Did You Hear about the Morgans?
Rango
Rio
Love and Other Drugs
Megamind
Forces of Nature

1+
The Green Lantern
Where the Wild Things Are 

In Remote Heaven

She has loads of new toys following her first birthday party yesterday and what does she do? Discovers the house's four remotes and dad's iPhone lined up on the sofa.

2011 Recap

Happy New Year!  A bit belatedly perhaps but I haven't managed to post a new year blip until now.

This year's...
...happening
Becoming a mother

...project
Moving before the summer and renovating the kitchen at the end of the year

...song
Blinka lilla stjärna (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), Trollmors vaggsång, Sov du lilla videung, which are the three songs I sing to Isolde every night

...trip
Nice, France in April and the US (Delaware and Florida) in October

...hip hip hurray!
My grandfather turned 90, my dad 60, my cousin 40 and we attended one wedding (Anna and Richard)

...person
Isolde

...toil
Giving birth!

...garment
Nursing top

...best book 
Read a grand total of four book :(  But of those, I enjoyed "Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann" by Jonas Jonasson the most

...worst book
Not applicable

...purchase
Our new car, a dark blue Passat 140 TDI, which runs on diesel and is a green car according to the Swedish definition

...TV moment
I follow very few series except for sitcoms so difficult to choose a moment.  Maybe the British royal wedding?

...change
Becoming a parent and being home with a baby instead of working

...film
Never Let Me Go was the only one I gave a 5 (list of all viewed films coming)

...daily joy
Waking up to baby babble and laughter

...gratitude
To have a healthy baby and as a bonus, a very content baby that is seriously one of the happiest babies I've ever met (I don't lie when I say that she very rarely cries)!  And I'm grateful every day for my little family.

...greatest expectation
Isolde's next development leap as well as moving to a new home

...greatest disappointment
Can't think of anything.  Perhaps that I had planned to change jobs during my parental leave but time flew and I didn't even try.  But when I did return to work, I had the opportunity to do almost 100% new stuff so going back didn't end up too bad after all.

...greatest joy
Isolde and Peter as a father

...greatest "I wish more had happened this year"
Before I went on maternity leave I had great plans about how to spend the leave (besides taking care of the baby); I was going to bake sourdough bread, plan our wedding [party], scan all my old photos, etc. but I have done none of that...

...most wonderful weekend
Maybe not wonderful as such since it involved 30 hours of gradually increasing pain...but the Saturday and Sunday of 8-9 January when we were about to become parents is probably the most memorable weekend.  It was such a fascinating experience and despite the pain (which I have in many ways forgotten - it's so true what they say) I have only good memories from the delivery room and especially from our room at the ward afterwards.

...ponder
How come time flies?

...restaurant
Pontus (like last year) where we had a big dinner the evening before I went into labour

...hardest and saddest
My grandfather and two friends still having health issues.  I also still think a lot of a friend whose mother passed away in 2010 already - my friend had a baby this year and I think about the fact that her son doesn't get to meet his grandmother and my friend doesn't get to share what I do with my mum.  But she has her dad of course but becoming a mother is perhaps a time when one's mother becomes extra important.

...best party
We haven't thrown any parties this year except for Isolde's christening but I promise that next year we'll finally have our big wedding celebration!

...gadget
The iPhone.  Still.  Again.

...personal greatest success
Being the best mother Isolde could have! :)

...memories
So many, especially with Peter and Isolde of course.  The birth feels like it just happened and at the same time so far ago.

...forgot to do (deviance from normal behaviour)
Didn't hug and kiss Peter as much as I should.  It's like you're both so pre-occupied with the baby that it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon before you realise that you haven't said "good morning" to each other yet!

...greatest lesson
Carrying around a baby builds really good arm muscles and you can't really complain about not sleeping when you should have really gone to bed when the baby did at 8pm instead of at midnight when you ended up going...

...spending
Buying and renovating a flat, buying a new car, baby clothes...

...new people
The mothers and babies of my "mummy group"

...most romantic of the year
Peter continuing to make me breakfast every morning - during my maternity leave when he got up to get ready for work and now when I'm the one working he gets up and makes me breakfast while I shower and get ready even though it should be me making him breakfast now!

...New Year resolution
Even though I lost all the pregnancy weight I still have some excess around tummy and thighs which will need to go this year.  So go to the gym (that I'm actually paying for every month)!  And read more books!

Urgent Design Help Needed!

Which bed spread should we choose?! The off white goes better with the dark grey bed and gives a lighter look (it's even lighter in the picture as it's near the window). The brownish goldish beige goes better with the wallpaper and gives a cosier look. I want to have some accent colours, maybe dark purple or cerise pink - which one would they match best with?! And what colour curtains with either spread?! Apologies for the bad quality iPhone photos - didn't have time to take out the camera.

Cool Pink

Check out the jacket Isolde got from her farmor & farfar (grandparents) for her birthday!

A Regular Tuesday?

Work. Dentist appointment (major filling but avoided a root canal, yay!). Electricity only in half the flat after Peter's fiddling (as an electrical engineer he's allowed but jury's still out whether he caused the problem or our contractors' electrician has messed up). A bath and some quality time with the husband instead of TV and computers is not that bad after all.

Update 22:50: Unpacked all our books instead and did some other post-renovation stuff instead of the bath but I enjoyed doing it! Fun chores exist!

12:04

Now Isolde is officially 1 year old!  Can't believe it's already been a year since she arrived!  And now we cannot imagine a life without her!

Grattis vårt lilla busfrö!

Wallpaper

For those of you curious about our newly redecorated flat, here's a sneak peak at Isolde's wallpaper* on my friend's blog.  I promise I will post more photos once the contractors have finished some bits and pieces and we have tidied up after them.

* We're painting Isolde's crib this week so soon she won't have to sleep in a travel bed anymore!

This Time Last Year...

...Isolde started knocking on the door.

First Injury

Isolde hurt herself for the first time today. She's fallen over and bumped her head a few times but never hurt herself properly or bled before. But there has to be a first for everything.

Tonight she was trying to open the drawers of a cabinet while at the same time getting up to stand, when she slipped (she didn't wear non-slip socks at the time) and hit her mouth on the cabinet. Luckily the outcome wasn't too bad. There were lots of tears and some bleeding (already washed off in the below picture), as she cut the "string" of the inside lip on the upper gums (which I googled and found out is called the superior labial frenulum). She was soon her usual self again albeit with a swollen lip and she didn't have any difficulties eating a little bit of cucumber or drinking välling before bedtime or, most importantly, sucking her beloved thumb. I suspect I will want her to be a little bit more careful in the near future though.

Sales Finds

I haven't bought anything for myself yet (though I really need a new pair of jeans so I should really take a shopping day for myself before the sales end) but Isolde's wardrobe is just getting fuller and fuller...