Who's birthday is it? Inara's!!

Someone's been extremely pumped about their birthday for about a month, reminding us several times a day that she's going to "fylla år" (have a birthday), while showing us how many years with her fingers. Finally the big day came! Inara started out by sleeping in (!) until 7.30 which made for both a happier birthday girl and happier parents. We got up and made American pancakes:

 

We put a candle on her pancake and let her blow it out. It's a bit hard to hear the conversation in the video, but Andrew asks what day it is and Inara says it's her birthday and shows us how old she's going to be. 

 

Then she got to open the gifts from us. You can hear her exclaim "a doctor's bag!" when she opens the second gift. 

In the afternoon we had a birthday party at the park. We had invited three of Inara's friends and their families.

Since Inara doesn't like cake, Andrew made her a melon cake.

Everybody seemed to have a good time, especially Inara. 

When we got home we still had a few gifts to open from grandma Nitz, grandpa Barney and aunt Annie. Then all her cousins sang her happy birthday on skype. After dinner, she left the table to go play in the living room and we could hear her singing the Swedish happy birthday song to herself in the other room. I think she had a really good day. 

I realize all parents say this, but I can't believe she's two now. I actually thought she looked older this morning when she sat at the breakfast table. Having a newborn again is probably going to make her seem even bigger. I also can't picture what life was like before we had her. Even though things are busy, I can't imagine anything more worthwhile than than spending time with her.  

30!

As you probably know, we celebrated Andrew's 30th birthday last weekend. Andrew and about ten friends of his went to play paintball in the afternoon and then we had a big bbq in the evening. The paintball seems to have went over well with only minor injuries. I'll let Andrew tell you more about the paintball in the next post. The day had started out with rain so we were a bit worried about having to cancel the whole thing, but it cleared up just in time and turned into a beautiful evening. We were too busy to take pictures, but fortunately our friend Reagan saved the day by being our photographer. The pictures are largely of Inara and her Casper, but who I'm pretty sure no one will mind.

Rolling in the grass - providing hours of entertainment since the beginning of time.

Buddies

There is a SNAIL on my SHOE!!!

Check it out!

Dessert

Patiently awaiting the strawberries

Casper helping Andrew open his gifts

Another snail!

They chased each other around and around in the grass, laughing hysterically the whole time

Kisses

Dandelions

After dinner we decided to walk over to the store in this (finally) beautiful weather.

 

Some updates:

Inara: We had a meeting with her preschool teachers a few weeks ago where they just gave us an update on her progress, what she needs to work on etc. Apparently she is very determined and knows what she wants (we had no idea!). She'll explain what she wants and if you don't understand the first time, she'll explain again. If someone takes something from her she will let the whole school know what happened by demanding it back (even the older kids back off), but she rarely takes things from others. She's very kind, polite and helpful, but still struggles with waiting her turn and table manners (although the last part has gotten a lot better). She has advanced motor skills and has had a chance to spend some time in the older classes to prepare to transfer there. She has a positive outlook and is usually excited by the suggestion of a new activity or event. Needless to say, she's great! They didn't say that, but I'm sure they thought it. 

She's also using the potty about once a day, but it's totally up to her. We're not pushing it, just praising her when she goes. Her speech is advancing everyday and she's using more English words. The other day, she translated what Andrew was telling to Swedish for me. She talks a lot in her sleep, saying things like: "I want those blueberries", "my turn now!" and "Inara will fit there."

Baby:  I went in for a check up the other day and the baby's heartbeats are nice and strong and my belly is measuring right on the line. This baby is a lot more active than Inara was, it's pretty much a party in there 24/7, so we'll see what comes of that. 

Andrew: Andrew went to a wind conference on the mainland for a few days two weeks ago. He got to dine in a castle and ride a crane, so it seems like he had a good time. He got his Swedish driver's license on Monday, so we're pretty excited to be able to drive (legally) here now. He's done with his Swedish classes tomorrow and has to work for another month before he gets to go on a six week "vacation", but don't worry, I'm already lining things up for him to do on his time off. 

Maria: Apparently I was a bit anemic last time I had my blood checked, so now I'm taking some more iron and it seems to help with the jet lag-like fatigue I've been experiencing. Work is going well, although it's a bit depressing to be cooped up in an office when the sun is shining outside. I just have to make until middle of august though when I get to go on vacation.

That's all for now!