Friday Gallery: Big and Small

The whole text I had written just disappeared! Stupid app! :( So now this is a teaser photo only and I will rewrite text tomorrow because now it's bedtime.

Girly Week(end)

Peter whisked off to the airport in the wee hours of today to visit a friend in Israel for a few days so Isolde and I are on our own until Sunday evening.  Isolde's pre-school happens to be closed tomorrow and Friday for teachers' planning days so I've taken some leave and we have lots of fun things planned for the next few days, including the weekend.

• Tomorrow Thursday we're meeting up with Malin and little rocker Jack for shopping and lunch in Skärholmen (I may pop over to Ikea if Isolde is in the mood afterwards).
• Friday my mum and aunt (who's visiting from the west coast) are coming into town for shopping, lunch and fika, and they will also watch Isolde while I go to see my midwife*.
• Saturday we go down to Södertälje in the morning and Isolde gets to spend the day with her grandparents (my parents) and my aunt while I go to see my good ol' girlfriends for a day of chatting, eating and massage (the massage therapist is coming to my friend's home). 
• Sunday we head back home after spending the night at my parents and have nothing definite planned for the rest of the day.   However, the first Sunday of the month is usually when we try to meet up with our parent group (mummy group that turned into a daddy group when the fathers took over).  Weather permitting it's the park and otherwise an indoor alternative (I think I'll invite them here for fika).

* First visit since the initial visit, except for the two scans.  When it's your second child they don't need to see you until towards the end of the second trimester (week 26 or 25+4 on Friday), unless you wish to see them before then or there are medical reasons for extra check-ups.

Friday Gallery: Books

I have hardly read anything this year. The list of read books on my blog is the shortest ever and I should be ashamed. Not sure what happened. I've always been an avid reader. Well, I do know what happened. I blame a combination of smart phone ownership (and all those blogs out there I want to read, as well as Facebook), motherhood, work and too many magazine subscriptions.

So what's the cure? I don't really want to give up those other things either. I really like actual books and having a library at home so I don't want to stop buying real books but I'm starting to seriously consider asking Santa for an eReader this year. What's more important? The experience of reading or having a full bookshelf that looks good in the living room? The former. Really. I could always continue to buy the books I like the most so I have them IRL too.

Having an eReader is no guarantee for me actually reading of course but since it's at least thinner and probably also lighter than a book I'd be more prone to keep it in my handbag. What do you think?

Hormones

I'm not the kind who seems that affected by the extra pregnancy hormones in my body in terms of mood swings or temper problems (ask Peter, he will confirm), but I'm very close to tears several times a day.   There's so many sad - or happy - triggers out there...

• Reading brief headline on the front page of one of the tabloids about family tragedy where a depressed dad killed his son and himself
• Seeing an obituary for someone who has died too young
• Hearing a teenage boy read a poem about his late mum whom he still wanted to tell so many things
• Getting a brief cuddle by Isolde before she whisks off to her toys in the other room
• Listening to a speech on the vision and values of Fryshuset regarding the young people they work with (check out their latest initiative, to be launched on 4 December)

And that's just today.  I have become much more emotional in general due to age and also since I became a mother, but the pregnancy is adding an extra layer of emotions.

Isolde at 22 Months

Time for an update on the adventures of Isolde!  At 22 months, she...

• can count 1, 2, 3, 4, but mostly just to 3.  She obviously hasn't understand the concept of counting for real yet but she's learned the pattern.
• doesn't say that many completely clear words but some three-word sentences like "ut och gå" (go out for a walk). 
• has had her first "serious" illness and was precribed antibiotics for an ear infection.
• hogs the slide together with little friend A at pre-school. 
• wants us to play the same two songs all the time and she does her standard dance moves.  Gotye's "Somebody that I Used to Know" is the favourite and the other one is Alizée's "J'en ai marre" but Peter says she doesn't like it as much anymore.  But when we play Gotye it's "igen" and "igen" and "igen" (again).
• likes to draw and does it several times a day.  She had a period of making dots but has now started making circles, which I guess is the first step to figuratives.
• has an irregular sleeping pattern.  It takes 30 minutes to put her to sleep most nights instead of perhaps 10 minutes before.  And she still wakes up around midnight and it's tiring to get her to go back to sleep in her own bed so she almost always sleeps with us.
• likes walking to and from pre-school and holding the frame of the pushchair.  I think those that walk when they go to the park with the pre-school group have to hold onto the prams, so she's following the "routine" :)
• throws little tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants but they are not that bad (yet) - short high-pitch screaming - and you can still talk her out of it quite easily by distracting or giving her something else to do and preferably a choice as well.  She just wants to be in control and make her own choices I guess.  Within safe and sound limits set by us of course.
• favours daddy but not to the extent that she gets upset when he leaves or that she minds if she and I part from daddy if we're out and about and he's off to another shop or what have you.  But she asks about him a lot when he's at work or with friends and there's a lot "pappa, pappa, pappa".
• is interested in all body parts and points to every limb and wants us to say what it is; nose, mouth, knee, toe, etc.  And then she tries to say them herself.
• is a bit more interested in stuffed animals now and sometimes wants to take one or more to bed. 
• takes off her nappy and wants to run around naked.  But doesn't tell us before she needs to pee even though we try to keep a check on her.
• says "hej då" (bye) all the time and to everyone and to everything.  Even when she makes sandcakes at the playground, she waves goodbye to them before destroying them.
• likes to cuddle and kisses and hugs us a lot and she likes sitting close on the sofa or in bed.  She also likes sitting or standing behind me when I sit on the sofa, with me leaning on her.  It's a "game" she wants to play every night.
• plays at the sink almost every day when we cook dinner and there's always a bit of a puddle of water in the kitchen afterwards.  She loves taking baths and she's started "swimming" with her tummy down in the tub. 
• likes being chased around the flat and is starting to play hide-and-seek.  She hid in the space between the bookcase and the corner the other day and I passed by her twice without spotting her.  But now I know her secret hiding place :)

Secret Santa is Back

Emma has launched this year's Secret Santa.  Visit her blog for more details (in Swedish) or send the following details to her email:

- Name and address
- Blog url (if you have a blog; not required)
- Three wishes / things you like
- Three things that are not you
- If you participated last year, include who you sent to and received from respectively so you don't get the same person again :)

Let Emma know by 25 November if you want to participate.  The gift has to be sent before 5 December and the value is around 100 SEK.

This will be the fourth year I participate.  Here's last year's account, 2010 and 2009.

Bring on Christmas season!

Friday Gallery: Buttons

Victoria's third theme for November is buttons.  Remote controls can be quite tricky and so can modern microwaves and (induction) cookers.  So Peter has prepared a "baby-sitter's guide" for our less techy baby-sitters (usually our parents - and especially his parents...).  We actually have a third remote that we use, which combines to two in the lower picture, but since it took me a while to learn how it works (and I still forget many of its functions that I don't use very often) we figured it would be too difficult for occasional sitters :)

I don't know how to turn this picture around!  It looks fine on my computer but then Blogspot rotates it *argh*

Friday Gallery: My Favourite Room

Victoria has chosen "My favourite room" for this week's theme. I like all rooms in our home - and I promise to show you more of our home later - but if I have to pick one it will have to be our living room because that's where we finally have some curtains in place. Just a year and a half after moving in. Well, 10 months since our renovation was complete - we never planned to put any up before then. It's difficult to choose fabric and then find the time to sew when you have lots of other things to do, and sometimes not the inspiration. Luckily my mum helped me start and a few weeks after our first sewing session I finished them. It's not the exact pattern I was looking for but it will do until I found the right one. 6 metres of this fabric only cost me 150 SEK so it was a bargain anyway. I haven't taken any nice shots of the curtains yet but this photo of Isolde convalescing on the sofa shows the pattern and colour at least. We have to buy some new pillows that match because I moved the cerise one for our bedroom. Once we have new pillows the room will feel properly finished.

I have sewn curtains for the kitchen too (and am very proud over the fact that I managed to buy the fabric in France using only my rusty French) but will show them some other time.

Have a nice weekend! Except for some family activities (e.g. my brother's birthday) we will be resting all weekend so that Isolde will get well from a stubborn virus that has now turned into an ear infection and I from the cold I've caught from her and a migraine that started yesterday :(

Friday Gallery: Cooking

Victoria is the new hostess for Friday Gallery for November and her first theme is "cook food" (laga mat). 

For a few weeks we've been trying out what it's like to subscribe to a food service (matkasse) and so far we're very satisfied customers.  We've tested both of the two biggest Swedish providers, Middagsfrid and Linas matkasse (now also available in the UK), and both are really good, but Middagsfrid is top notch.  It's a bit more expensive but also provides more organic and less frozen ingredients, and  it is slightly tastier and has more exciting recipes.  So Middagsfrid is the one we will continue with.  Their recipes are perhaps slightly more complicated (i.e. takes more time to cook) than Lina's but that's alright with us.

We both enjoy cooking and what's great about these recipe bags is that we still get to cook but without the hassle of having to come up with ideas and actually going food shopping (except for breakfast and other basic supplies).  And since they only provide ingredients for five meals we still get to use our own creativity two days a week.  That said, since we subscribe to a four-serving bag, we get enough to eat leftovers for several days, though we usually opt to bring it to work for lunch. 

With the 895 SEK it costs for a week, we've actually been saving money in total as we don't have to buy lunch every day (well, I used to bring leftovers most days before but Peter would usually buy) and we don't end up buying unnecessary stuff at the supermarket.  So money well worth spending in my view!  And it saves times too of course, time that can be spent on other things (including blogging, ha ha) and others (like Isolde). 

One of the weekly vegetarian dishes: oven roasted root vegetables, halloumi, tomato and red onion salad, with houmus and garlic sauce.

One of the weekly fish dishes: haddock cooked in the oven with rice and peas

Victoria's themes for the rest of the month is:
9 November: My favourite room
16 November: Buttons
23 November: Books, books!
30 November: Big and small

All for Children

A couple of weeks ago Miss Marie recommended a look at H&M's All for Children collection for UNICEF. Of course I couldn't help myself and a few clicks later...

The garments in the first picture is all from the collection and in the second picture the black and grey cardigan is, whilst the rest is H&M's regular collection.

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.

Friday Gallery: Autumn Feeling

As I have most Fridays off this autumn and Peter's work hours are pretty flexible, we decided to head out to the summer house (which is really a year-round house) for the weekend already around 2pm (after a lovely lunch with friends). It's been one of those miserable autumn days with rain and with 12 degrees in the air, the house was pretty cold when we got here. But now after a few hours of working the fire (and the radiators) and cosying up underneath blankets with a cuppa, the house is starting to reach a decent temperature. Tomorrow I'm hoping for a bit of sunshine so we can go for a walk to look at the changing leaves, pick apples and get into that real autumn feeling.

Isolde at 19-20 Months

Double-whammy this time as I never got around to publish the 19-month report.  In bullets, in no particular order.  Right now (or lately rather) Isolde...

• is a bit obstinate (though in a cute way) and throws a lot of tantrums (terrible twos already?) with exaggerated reactions and behaviour.  Sometimes when she gets frustrated she sort of scratches herself on her face before she realises that the only one it is hurting is herself.  
• likes to draw with crayons and play with pegs.  She can sit for a while but soon it's more fun to sort the crayons or the pegs in boxes (or throw them on the floor).

 
• is talking a little bit more but not that many clear words still though it seems to be coming now when she's started preschool (as they don't understand what she wants as well as we do)
• has always liked to dance but seems to be in a dancing period including spinning around and doign some sort of tap routine.  Maybe time to teach her gangnam style?!
• is really good at some iPhone app games.  It's also amazing how she knows where to find stuff in the phone and recognises the icons even if they are so small.
• still hates to have her teeth brushed and it hasn't helped with an electric brush
• likes wearing a hair pin but we're losing them quickly and need to buy a new batch soon.  Her hair is getting really long but I want her fringe to grow before we cut it.  She seems to have inherited my type of hair: lots of it!
• climbs all over: chairs, tables, and at the playground, and is also getting more creative in getting to stuff by pulling up chairs or similar to get where she wants.  The other day she took her little children's chair and put it on top of glass coffee table and was about to climb up when I discovered what she was up to!
• likes a quite varied diet but could also eat pasta and sausage (falukorv) all the time if we let her.  She eats pretty well at pre-school but korv is probably her favourite there too.  The other day she ran and sat down at the table as soon as they said they were serving korv even though they hadn't set the table yet.
• likes playing with water, both at the dinner table and in the tub
• knows most animals even if she can't say the words.  Imitates some animal sounds but mostly the cat and the horse.
• is very attached to her clothes and dressing and undressing (but mostly undressing) is a daily struggle.  Sometimes when we've succeeded to get them off her she wants to cuddle with them.  My mum says it's about change she's going through having started pre-school.  What's good about her liking clothes is that she likes wearing shoes, jacket and a hat so so far we don't have a problem dressing her warm enough when we go out into the Swedish autumn.
• likes to kiss and cuddle a lot and she still likes picking on an ear when she cuddles.
• has a few favourite TV shows (Charley Bear, Shain the Sheep and Babar among others) but is sick of Teletubbies now
• doesn't like to sit in the pushchair too much but luckily she can walk quite far now
• tries to jump but can't do it yet
• is not interested in the potty but she tells us when she wants her nappy changes and as soon as she's done no 2
• likes to stand on a chair and watch (and taste) when we cook dinner
• plays with her kitchen and having us taste from the pot and the (soft toy) vegetables and also likes driving cars (that are actually Brio trains - we need to get her some proper cars) through her toy garage
• has slept a lot in our bed over the summer as we've been too lazy to get her to go back to sleep in her own bed again when she wakes around midnight or 1 am (or later).  We want to get back to the routine where she would only sleep in our bed in the early morning, if at all, but we'll wait until she's more used to preschool and the new "regime".  But I hope that's soon because I don't sleep very well with her next to me.  Peter is not as sensitive and she also sleeps more towards my side and kicks me as she constantly moves around in her sleep (as all children seem to do!).
• weights around 9.5 kg now but I have no idea how tall she is but maybe around 80 cm?

Trying adult size bouncy chair

On the Fifteenth Day at Preschool...

...Isolde marched in, wanted to immediately take off her jacket and shoes and start playing, and just turned around quickly to wave to daddy. Let's hope for the same tomorrow!