Friday Gallery

I missed last week so two-in-one this week.  It's Erika who calls the shots this month and she has chosen from another angle/viewpoint and abstract for last week and this.

I brought Harald along to a course in EU lobbying and negotiating at work this week.  EU countries approach policy issues from different angles...

Maybe not abstract enough but Isolde perhaps created a modern work of art in her room the other day...

Erika has also found a widget for us Friday Gallery bloggers to link our posts.  See below.

Harald!

He has a name!  Finally!  The more time passed it got more and more difficult.  "What if we pick something that doesn't fit and we regret it later?"  And we got used to calling him lillebror or lilla gubben and other nicknames.

One of my favourite names for a boy has been Leopold and I've also really liked Theodor.  Another name on my list was Julius, one of Peter's second names, but he doesn't like it, or at least not as a first name.  Peter was instead quite keen on Vilhelm.  He didn't mind Leopold or Theodor but we both didn't like that fact that both those names are very easily shortened to Leo and Theo.  Leo and Theo are VERY common names for children in Sweden at the moment (for the last decade) with Leo given to 666 boys last year (while only 16 for Leopold) making it the 11th most popular name, and Theo/Teo to 567 boys, landing it at place 19.  The longer (or real name in my view) Teodor/Theodor/Theodor is very popular with 371 boys last year (no 39 of 100).   In addition to not wanting a name on the top list we also prefer names that do not have a given nickname.  And, needless to say, we wanted the name to go well with Isolde (and our surname too of course), and I quite like to have a 'd' or even both 'l' and 'd' in the name.

So we went back to the drawing board, or to the list of names given to at least ten boys a year between 1998 and 2012, and went through A LOT of names.  The aforementioned names made it into our favourites list again, but one newcomer stood out more and more, and after a week or so of trying it out, we decided it was the one.  With a few moments of second thought :)  I made up my mind earlier than Peter but he soon came around too.

So I'm proud to introduce...

Harald!!!

Taken today.  He's getting chubby!  (And yes, he has a scratch on his chin, courtesy of Isolde...)

A bonus with the name Harald is that it's a family name (though only a couple of generations back) on Peter's side.  It's was Peter's great grandfather's (gammelmorfar) name and it's also Peter's dad's second name (or third to be exact).  Harald isn't too common - 34 boys last year, which is not enough to make it into top 100 - and there's no "standard" nickname even though we don't mind Harry.

We're still deciding on his other names.  It will definitely be Harald Leopold...something... maybe Vilhelm (which is a Coyet family name many generations back).  Luckily we still have another two months to register his name with the authorities (not like 3 days in Belgium or 7 days in Spain).

A collage of Harald's various looks and poses.  Click on the photo to enlarge.

All Our Children

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Girl Effect and Save the Children's most recent Swedish campaign.  I meant then to also write about Fryshuset's project/campaign Jag brinner för dig (I burn for you).  You can read more about the project at Fryshuset's page, on the website of one of their social partners and on the initiator's blog. 

The aim of the campaign is to encourage all of us to think and care more about other people's children; all children: 

Your children are my children.  My children are your children.  Together all children are our children.  I promise to see you and act for you.  Through the simple [things] I will and can make a difference for you.

Those simple things can be:

• I say Hi to children around me, and learn their names
• I invite everyone to a meal when my child has friends at home
• I give attention to and praise children around me
• I provide an extra packed lunch when my child has a field day
• I bring a football or a skipping rope outside and play with the children
• I give away those things I don't need by putting up notices in the neighbourhood
• I ask if I can help when I see a child looking sad or lost
• I provide extra mittens, Lucia outfits or Halloween costumes for activities at preschool and school
• I and my child share buckets, shovels and toys when we're outside playing
• I pass on these actions

So pay it forward by doing these things and recommending others to do so too!

One Month!

Yesterday was his due date but he's already been with us for a month today! Will write more about his first month later in the week when I have more time (had both kids at home today and it was a bit of a handful...). And no, still no name. We're down to just two or three options but it's just so difficult to decide!

Baby Humour

Funny text that did the rounds on Facebook the other day.

Birth order of Children:

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your doctor confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
_____________________________________________________
 

Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.
_____________________________________________________
 

Clothes:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?
_____________________________________________________
 

Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
_____________________________________________________
 

Dummy:
1st baby: If the dummy falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the dummy falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
______________________________________________________
 

Nappies:
1st baby: You change your baby's nappy every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their nappy every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their nappy before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
_____________________________________________________
 

Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
______________________________________________________
 

Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
_____________ ________________________________________
 

At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
______________________________________________________
 

Swallowing Coins:
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin, you deduct it from his pocket money.

Friday Gallery: Magic

Apologies for being repetitive but right now my life is pretty occupied by two little magic human beings :)

Isolde has an ear fetish ;)

Friday Gallery on a Saturday

Erika is our hostess for March and her first theme is Friday Feeling. With a new baby in the house and for me especially, being on maternity leave, every day is like Friday now. Almost :) And the best moments are when we're all together, the four of us.

Push Present

Or push presents rather.  My husband has really spoiled me this time, especially since it was a relatively easy* delivery this time (although I felt rather spoiled  last time too).

A saltwater pearl necklace that will go very well with the bracelet Peter gave me for my birthday.  Now I just need an occasion to wear them! 

And one of the newest Kindles, Kindle Paperwhite, that comes with a very nice leather cover.  Perhaps now I will actually get some books read!  I welcome book recommendations!  Speaking of books, guess what book is no 1 on the top 100 books on Kindle?! "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared" by Swede Jonas Jonasson, a book that has become very popular and has now been translated into English (and perhaps other languages?) and is also being filmed.

* Although it's never painfree or pleasant of course, except for the finale, or the end-product really :)

Spinning Fun

Smell that Baby

I wish there was a way to bottle that newborn baby smell! Wouldn't it be great if you could keep it in a jar and have a quick sniff once in a while! So far the little guy still has that smell - especially his head - so I'm making the most of it and getting my daily dose. I want to stop time and stay in this moment forever. They grow up so quickly but I'm going to try not to think about that and instead live in the moment.

Friday Gallery: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Annika's last theme for the month of February (who's taking over in March??) is A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

It wasn't difficult for me to find a picture (well, two pictures actually) to illustrate this week's theme.

The Girl Effect

It's not a new project but this video has just done its rounds on Facebook (again?) and I wanted to share it here.

 


I've also been crying (those new baby hormones...) at Swedish Save the Children's child poverty campaign, Fattigskolan, about poverty in Sweden.  Yes, it does exist.  It's all relative of course so poverty in Sweden is not necessarily about access to clean water and food on the table (although sometimes it could be the latter too of course).

 

Four at Home

A little update. The little guy is one week old today and we've been home since Saturday (Peter left the hospital on Thursday to go home and take care of Isolde who'd been staying with her grandparents, while I stayed for another two days with the baby).

We're slowly getting used to having a baby in the house again and to life as a family of four. Isolde is adjusting really well. She's still a bit perplexed, especially in the morning or when she comes home from nursery, like she's thinking "oh, he's still here?" and she still sometimes asks "what's/who's that?" At the same time she's really sweet with him; wants to touch and kiss him and goes and gets nappies for him and worries about his socks having fallen off. She's a bit jealous and wants to sit with me when I feed him and preferably cuddle with me at the same time and wants daddy to pick her up too if he's holding him.

Since I had a relatively easy delivery this time (more on that later) it doesn't feel like I gave birth a week ago. Already the second or third day in the hospital I wasn't even feeling sore anymore (apologies for the details). I do suffer from some fatigue from nightly feedings, which hasn't been helped by a migraine over the last two days (evidence that my body is not yet completely in balance of course). I was also a bit optimistic when I upon return home thought I could get into my old jeans. Haha, no, my tummy wasn't THAT flat yet so pregnancy jeans it is for a bit longer, me thinks.

We haven't done much yet except had the first sets of visitors. Yesterday I went back to the hospital (it was a bit weird to go on my first outing by myself with him even though it was just a short car ride) for his hearing test (which was fine) but otherwise Peter has been running the errands while I've been breast-feeding and resting at home. The nurse from the Child Health Centre (BVC) made a house call yesterday so we didn't have to go outside again but on Thursday we'll go there for another weigh-in. We have to keep a close check on his weight in the beginning so we've bought some formula to give him if necessary. But so far he's not managing to drink much out of the bottle we have so we'll buy another one tomorrow that has more flow. I'm really happy that breast-feeding hasn't been a problem this time either - I know so many people who have struggled in the beginning - especially considering some preemies have problems suckling, but luckily not this one.

Time for the last feed of the night - will write more later!

Friday Gallery: Water (and longing)

Missing my little swimmer at home and looking forward to seeing her tomorrow and introducing her little brother.

Lillebror!

He surprised us with arriving four weeks early last night (12 February)! All is well but we have to stay at the hospital a couple of nights extra so they can keep an eye on him and make sure he gains weight (or doesn't lose too much, as most newborns usually lose some in the beginning). He's already nursing well but we have to supplement with formula in the beginning.

Birth weight 2,8 kg and length 47 cm. Looks a lot like his sister but perhaps more and darker hair. Name still under discussion :)

Will write later about the delivery but it was much quicker and easier than last time and I already feel partly recovered. Just still a bit surprised! What happened to my five weeks' of being lady of leisure before the due date?! Only got one week! ;-)

Friday Gallery: In My Neighbourhood...

Annika's second theme for the month of February is In my neighbourhood (or environment/surroundings).  I thought I'd illustrate it with photos in my phone (and taken by me) that would fit the theme.  Let's start from above...

Stockholm is my home

We're very fortunate to live near Gärdet and Djurgården so nature is never far away even though we live in the city, and this is also where I work

We can walk in the direction of "town" and the shops either by beautiful Strandvägen, in its winter clothes in the picture, or straight through Östermalm

On our way home we can pass by Humlegården for some playtime

And our last stop may be Ett bageri, my favourite bakery (tied with Valhallabageriet, but Ett bageri is much closer)

Have a nice weekend!

Baby Guesses So far

Here's the baby pool  list so far, will update as I receive more entries.

4 March: Mrs Clapper (boy; 3295 gr and 49 cm)

5 March: Anne (boy; 3700 gr and 49 cm)

7 March: Miss Marie (boy; 3900 gr and 49 cm); Karin (girl; 3325 and 48 cm)

8 March: Millan (girl; 3410 gr and 50 cm); mamma/mormor (girl)

10 March: Malin (boy; 3780 gr and 50 cm)

11 March / due date: my own guess, and only based on that Isolde arrived on her due date (girl; 3525 gr and 50 cm)

12 March: Annika (girl; 3250 gr and 49 cm)

Keep the guesses coming! Parameters to help you with your guess can be found in the original post!

 

Guess That Baby!

With the due date only five weeks away it's time to launch a little baby sweep!

Prizes* for the winner of course!

There are three categories (but two prize categories as there would be too many prizes to give out if I included gender):

• birth date
• weight and length
• gender

Some background information and hints:

• The estimated due date is 11 March (apparently only 4.6% of babies arrive on EDT)
• Isolde arrived on her due date but it was a long delivery so it started the day before
• According to the old wives' tale whereby it's possible to predict the gender with the expectant's hair and wedding ring, as performed below by my boss, I'm having a girl...

Apologies for the blurry photo

• This pregnancy has been very similar to when I was expecting Isolde in terms of morning sickness (a bit more this time) and size and shape of my tummy (though perhaps slightly rounder this time and I've gained a couple of more kilos) - if you believe any of that reveals the gender...
• I'm hoping for a boy but it feels very much like a girl since the pregnancies have been so similar and it's also difficult to imagine something you're not already familar with
• Isolde's birth weight and length was 3,365 gr and 48 cm
• Feel free to ask me anything else that may help your guessing!

* Emma won the last one as she predicted Isolde's birthday but I can't remember now if I ever sent her a prize?!  Emma, I promise to do send you the same as this year's winner(s)!

Winter Drinks

With only weeks to due date we thought we'd take the opportunity to throw a party before we'll be busy getting used to life as a family of four.  So yesterday we had about 25 people over for drinks and nibbles. Just 48 hours before the party we thought 40 people were coming but then the calls/emails/texts started coming: "we're sick", "our kid is sick", "the babysitter is sick"...  There was no end.  It got hilarious after a while.

In the end 25 people was plenty - I had a great time and I had time to talk to most people and refill nibble trays (Peter was responsible for drinks) - and it looked like people had a good time, but we were sad to miss those who couldn't come (hope to see you soon though, even if perhaps more on a one-to-one basis) and we got a lot of alcohol over*.

So, or despite that...

Note to self!  Don't throw a party at that time of the year which Swedes call "vabruari" (from VAB - care of sick child - and February)

I didn't take any photos at the party except one at the very end when everybody had left except for a couple of people and Peter put Gangnam Style on as the grand finale ;)

* Grateful for Systembolaget's return policy

Friday Gallery: Addiction

New month and a new Friday Gallery hostess, Annika in Umeå.  Her first theme is addiction*, which I thought I'd illustrate with an interesting development in Isolde's life: she stopped sucking her thumb. 

She started sucking on her index finger on the same hand though so she's not rid of her addiction, but I was surprised to see how fast it happened, almost from one day to the other.  What happened was that she got a cut or a chap on her thumb due to a combination of a constantly wet thumb and very cold weather, and we put cream and a plaster on and told her to suck on the left thumb or a finger instead.  At first she was just trying to remove the plaster but after a day or so she asked for more cream and a new plaster if it had come off (this seemed to coincide with her becoming more conscious - or perhaps this was the cause - of boo-boos and wanting us to blow on the "wound" and comfort her even though she hasn't really got hurt at all) as well as for sympathy for her wounded thumb.  And after two days she started sucking on her right index finger and even though a couple of days later her thumb was fine and she didn't have to wear a plaster anymore, she didn't go back to her thumb, not even in her sleep when you'd think the reflex of putting her thumb in her mouth, something she's been doing since the age of five months, would be the strongest.

So now we have a little finger-sucking girl.  Her dad sucked the same finger when he was little - though with the palm of his hand up while she does it the other way around - so maybe it's genetic ;)

Isolde before...

...and after

It will be interesting to see if it will be as "easy" to get her to stop sucking her thumb or finger altogether.  If we tape all fingers?  Anyway, we're not really going to force her to do that yet but maybe when she's three years old, if she hasn't stopped on her own.  Peter apparently stopped without much difficulty around the age of three so let's hope for that.  That said, they say nowadays that as long as she stops (and the same goes for pacifiers) before she gets her permanent teeth, there shouldn't be too much damage to her teeth.


* I noticed later after I had written my post that it really was "I'm addicted to..." but hope I'm excused for using Isolde's bad habits :)