Last weekend we got on the ferry, rented a car on the mainland, picked up my friend Ragnhild and her son Iwo in the middle of Stockholm (not as easy as it may sound) and headed to Dalarna (county northwest of Stockholm, pretty much the epitome of "Swedishness"). There, my friend Moa and her family had arranged for all of us to borrow a cabin on her parents' property for the weekend. It was great seeing everybody and getting to blab away most of the couple of days that we were there. Between having just learned how to move around and being around so many people, Inara also had a great time.
On the ferry
Saying hi to the horses
The place (hard to see the main building in the middle, bit it was very pretty)
Moa
I love how this horse looks like it's smiling
Inara's first horseback ride!
Ragnhild and Inara
Sigge and Inara with Moa's parents
They each got a rattle and kept switching them back and forth
All of us
Helping dad drive
We stopped by a castle on the way home and met up with my friend Rebecka
And now we're back home and the snow is melting. Andrew only has about a month left of classes and then he's supposed to work on his thesis until June or so. Time really has been flying by and we're looking forward to seeing what comes next for us. Ideas?
Oh and now with MOVIES! (Maria forgot to add them, so as usual Andrew has taken over.) The movies are as follows: Inara riding an Icelandic horse, Inara riding a sled pulled by an Icelandic horse ridden my an Icelandic man. Oh and Andrew is there too.
Just a quick post to let you know that Inara is now crawling. Not just moving at the pace of a snail in a small area, but actually getting places. She leans forward from a sitting position and then uses one leg and both arms to move, while the other leg just kinda drags beneath her. As a result, she has been absolutely thrilled and absolutely exhausted today. Now we're off to bed to catch an early ferry to the mainland tomorrow morning!
One of the benefits of living in a small town: If you just get outside enough, sooner or later you will end up in the local newspaper. So, here we are, Inara and I at the library. They're asking me how long I've been on parental leave as part of a report on how more dads are taking advantage of the 460 days of paid parental leave available to parents in Sweden. Of course they managed to misspell Inara's name (surprise, surprise) although I watched the guy write it down.
Inara had what they call a "three day fever" last weekend and was not a happy camper. She lost all energy and just wanted to be held. It was pretty much the first time she's been sick, not counting the bad jaundice she had when she was born, so we've been very lucky that way. Here are some pictures from those few days:
A couple of days later she was back to her normal happy self:
She now knows how to clap her hands and how to wave, although she's still pretty inconsistent. She also gives big, slobbery, open mouth kisses with lots of tongue. One of her favorite pastimes is looking out the window, so now our windows have little paw prints smeared all over them. She's also getting very close to crawling, as you can see in the first video. The problem is, that what she really wants to do is walk and she would prefer us to constantly help her do so, crying if we sit her down. In the second video she is almost standing on her own for a while, only holding on to a sweater hung over the edge of her crib, not actually providing any support. We'll see if she ends up crawling or walking first.
Every night around 7.30 our home goes quiet as Inara falls asleep and we look around, wondering how a person so small is capable of making such a huge mess. And every night we tidy it all up, wanting to give her a clean slate, I suppose. The funny thing is that in everything she leaves behind, I see her and her unique little personality.
I want to begin by assuring you that I'm feeling well again, as I'm sure Andrew's detailed description of me being under the weather had you worried. Winter has finally arrived here, bringing a bit of snow, colder temperatures and recurring dreams sandy beaches and palm trees.
Inara went sledding for the first time. She was... uninterested? Indifferent? Bored? You decide.
We invited Andrew's classmates over for a dinner party between the hours of 5.00 pm and 8.00 pm. The first arrivals, the Greeks, were 35 minutes late. The rest trickled in 45 minutes late. All were made to leave on time though, as Inara's beauty rest is very important to all of us.
The hostess.
After getting a taste for blogging, Andrew now thinks that my posts are so boring in comparison to his that I might as well not write anything. I think that since he thinks he's so funny, he should probably just stop going to school and make a career out of being such a comedian. We'll see who laughs then. Not to bore you further by my complete lack of humor, I leave you with these pictures:
Getting bigger.
Inara sits with her feet crossed most of the time.
Okay, so Maria is under the weather with what Swedes call the Winter Vomit Sickness. Pretty accurate name. I, being an American, only vomited once before defeating it utterly. Inara only being 50% had a bit rougher go, but the good blood won out. Maria on the other hand has been completely leveled by this disease for going on three days now. She attempted to go to the hospital but sitting in the emergency room puking was worse than sitting at home puking. They also don't like committing people who are projectile vomiting around others with weakened immune systems. Go figure.
I have, valiantly, taken it upon myself to post some stuff. I know how you folks yearn to hear/see the goings on here. Also it has come to my attention that the U.S.A. is sending many fewer hits to this page than the Swedes. You can do better U.S.A. people. You know who you are.
So last Sunday it snowed a small amount here. We walked out in the snow and got some pictures of Inara's complete lack of interest in the snow.
Meh.
Inara has also taken great interest in standing and walking, with assistance. She is able to stand up with no lifting assistance, other than an object to steady and lift herself on. So better than Maria right now. Here are some pictures of her little feet.
And a short movie of her standing solo, sorta.
She is a bit of a narcissist so we frequently find her kissing reflections of herself such as here:
Big sloppy open mouth kisses. This one probably involved some tongue.
I just found this picture that Maria apparently took while I was at school. Gonna make an executive and post it. Maria will probably take it down when she recovers. Enjoy!
Like mother like daughter. Nice.
Inara's morning hair just keeps getting better and better.
Inara may be a dentist based on her interest in teeth. Probably not though, I think she was grabbing at my uvula. What occupation does that?
I'll close up with this movie of Inara watching one of her stuffed toys fall repeated on its face. She loves it. Good girl.
Please show your approval at this blogs marked improvement since I took the reins by commenting below.
...Inara is on the move! Earlier this evening, Andrew was doing dishes and I was on the computer while Inara was playing on the floor. All of the sudden Andrew asked me if I had moved Inara and when I looked back at her she had moved a couple of feet (few decimeters) forward. Turns out she started scooting around on her bottom. She's still pretty slow, but she managed to scoot about a meter (yard) in ten minutes. I guess we have to start locking things up!
Also, she started giving me "hugs" (or at least I like to think of them as hugs) where she wraps her arms around me and snuggles into my shoulder. Last night, I though she might top it off with a kiss as she gently put a little, chubby hand on either side of my face, pulled me close to her... and burped into my mouth. Tonight Andrew was trying to get her to burp, but was having a hard time, so he jokingly asked me to come open my mouth so she could burp into it. I laughed and walked up to kiss her and she burped right in my face, again. Oh, the joys of motherhood!
