A Good Sign

It is nap time for the only child in the house. I just dropped Elina at school, where Isak has been since this morning. But there is a constant stream of chatter coming from Anja's bed. Who is she talking to?

She's reading a book to her doll. I hope this means she'll be a great big sister.

Anonymous

Here she is. No name, but a face at least. We don't have a scanner so I just snapped a shot of the prints we got from the ultrasound last week. I asked the technician about the bump to the right, and she said it is an elbow.

Snow Pics

Mark got to back to work today and all three kids got to play outside. By tomorrow the snow will likely be gone. Anja's "new" winter jacket was pulled out from the stash of Elina's outgrown things. She was so pleased with it, even though the sleeves were too long and made her mittens fall off. She calls herself "Janna" (Yanna) and repeated this over and over with regards to her new things, and then correctly admitted that other things belonged to Elina. Isak was the only one without proper snow shoes and after a good, long play he came in just because of that. But he had made and thrown lots of snowballs by that time.

Snow Day

Yay! My prayers were heard!

Luckily, expectations for snow are low for kids who have grown up in Oklahoma. The quality and amount of snow we received this time weren't top grade or anything, but for Elina (who has told me repeatedly that she has prayed "in whispers that no one but [she] could hear" that we would have snow) this was a miracle. Isak had a fever and could not go out, but Elina and Sadie (and I confess, yours truly) played in the white stuff.

Sadie, who is 9 human years, acted like she was 9 months, max.
But then, she never really acts her age...

Anja looked on through the window and clearly wanted to go out too, but Mark would not allow it. ("She'll get pneumonia.") Never mind that I routinely walked to school in weather FAR colder as a kid, and then played for hours in it afterwards, until sometimes I could no longer feel my toes. I don't recall getting pneumonia a single time! :)

January Fun

Årets så kallade Multicultural Fair på Isaks och Elinas skola gick av stapeln som vanligt i Januari. Isaks klass studerade Sverige, medan Elinas klass lärde sig om Indien. Isaks klass hade sett en film om Sverige berättade Isak en dag. Jag frågade honom om han såg något som han kände igen från Sverige på filmen. "Jadå, man kunde höra att de pratade svenska i bakgrunden och jag såg Maxi! Inte Maxi i Alingsås, utan ett annat Maxi, men det var Maxi, det såg man tydligt!"

Vi tog med oss massor med svenska saker till skolan hemifrån som de ställde ut på utställningen på kvällen. Isak tog på sig sina svenska fotbollskläder. Jag protesterade inte, fastän det är januari, för det var nämligen 25 grader varmt ute! Det var i onsdags. I morgon ska det bli snö. Vi håller tummarna för att det blir så, för Elina har bett flera böner om snö, "så det kan bli en riktig jul!"

Att gräva i sanden är ju roligt, och det gör både Elina och Anja mer än gärna. Sen lagar de geggamoja i sina hinkar också, för det måste man, och rör om med pinnar. De kan roa sig med detta i timtal utan kiv.

Anja säger alltid att hon vill se "bebin" i kameran efter att vi tagit kort. Det är förstås henne själv hon vill se. Men hon älskar bäbisar i ren allmänhet, och nu för tiden ser hon mindre och mindre ut som en bäbis, och hon uppträder faktiskt ganska mycket som en stor flicka. Tur är väl det, eftersom lillasyster kommer om några månader.
Nu följer en liten ordlista på en del av Anjas vokabulär.
ko - sko
gonna - skorna
suus - shoes
mine
min
jamma - ramla
jamm! - varm
Nina - Elina
bebbi - bäbis
Sadie
wa-wa - (woof) hund
mamma
pappa
miu - mjölk / milk
mao - (mjau) katt
kacka - anka
kom
mat
mah-ma - macka
gö - gröt
go - yogurt
aoui - ont
baj - bajs
bänne - spänne
fiiin - fin
blä
kama - krama
munnen
näsa
ga - öga
acka - jacka

Ultrasound

Anja sat perfectly still at my side the whole time, looking gravely at the ultrasound tech. A bit different from two years ago when Elina scolded the lady for putting "yucky water" on my belly and explaining angrily over and over that the baby on the screen was HERS and not theirs. Of course, Elina was 3 years at the time, and Anja is only 21 months. Anja still has time to let her personality blossom.

Everything looked good on screen. All the parts are there. And it's a girl. We tried 4 times before she saw it. I picked up kids at school and then went back again for a fourth try.

And Mark and I are hopeless at agreeing on girl's names. It is all but impossible for us to narrow one down, because we have such intense dislike to the other's favroite picks. So please comment with your favorites. Keep in mind, must work in both languages.

Girls

Elina and Anja

Elina manages to squeeze Anja into the toy stroller - a game they both LOVE.
I am not as enthused.

The call of "Niiiiina!" echoes through the house as 20 month old Anja loses sight of her soon-to-be-five year-old sister, Elina. Isak tries bravely to hide his disappointment at not being the favorite sibling. But he just isn't as good at playing with dolls and the play kitchen as Elina is. True, Anja has been known to engage in light saber battles but she would rather put shoes on Barbies or serve elaborate meals at the little table. And then Elina and Anja have every morning until noon to play without Isak while he is at school and before Elina leaves for afternoon pre-K. They play well 75 percent of the time. The other 25 percent of the time consists of screaming, pulling hair, biting and pushing. If Anja has inflicted injuries she is the best about comforting her big sister, non-grudgingly hugging and patting. Not so great the other way around. I sometimes force Elina to retreat to her top bunk (where Anja cannot climb) and play with her itty-bitty pieces and special things undisturbed.

One day while doing dishes in the kitchen I hear Anja crying in their room. I walk in to inspect which doll they are fighting over. Instead I find Elina hugging and kissing Anja to make a boo-boo better. "What happened?" I wondered. "I had some trouble getting Anja down from the top bunk," Elina replies. [Silence while I try to form a reply] "But you did not have any trouble getting her up?" I finally asked. "No, that was easy!"

Sort of like when she took the dog for a walk without telling me and after circling the neighborhood on my bike several times I find her 7 minutes walking distance away. "I told you not to worry about me, mom!" (She did say that before she went outside, presumably into the YARD). "But I did worry about you. I did not know where you were!" "But I am not bugsquashed, I look both ways before crossing the street." Good thing! She crossed about five of them to get to where I found her. "But what if a bad guy comes?" I asked. "Sadie would just kill them!" Hmm. Yeah, I can see the headlines now. "Child perpetrator licked to death by Labrador while trying to get to his 4-yr old victim." No, I actaully have lots of faith in Sadie, our dog, to protect her pack in all sorts of incidences. It's the over-confident 4-yr old I don't trust.

Merry Christmas, and Lucia

Before I had three kids, our Christmas cards were usually prepared right at the beginning of December and sent with ample time to reach Europe. Now I send most electronically, and the hard copies that are sent this year will land somewhere before New Years - I hope.

Anyhow, here's a Christmas wish from our house to yours. And below, a picture of the Lucia celebration in Dallas on the 13th. Elina can be seen to the right of the Lucia herself, Isak is in one of the two star boy hats. Yours truly is somewhere on the back row. The light is not the best, but clicking on the picture should help.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A bit of December

We went to Dallas for a truncated weekend. My kind brother-in-law not only lets us stay at his nice condo, he literally evacuates to let us have it all when we come down. The kids are so enthralled with urban living, the grand view over down town from the balconies, and the stores and people just below. When we were there we saw horse carriage rides every night, below on the street! Elina was in heaven. We saw the Dallas Temple (spire above) and met all the Swedes of Dallas for the annual Christmas celebration.

No pilgrimage there is complete without an IKEA stop, especially before Christmas when we have to stock up on essential Swedish Christmas food supplies. (I may add a video later of the Lucia performance). No pictures were taken. Mark had his hands full with Anja, I guess, and the rest of us were in the performance. Elina endured the entire dress rehearsal then backed out of the actual performance because she did not feel well. Sure enough, at IKEA later that evening, she threw up after I - very motherly - insisted that she take "two more bites." Elina throws up no matter what her illness is. This time it was upper respiratory.

At the IKEA cafeteria, minutes before Elina 'personalized' our area, poor thing.

I am also adding some pictures of the annual Christmas photo shoot. Last year we somehow managed to get everyone facing the camera at a snapshot in the church foyer. This year blood, sweat and tears would not get my kids to cooperate much. And forget taking them to the photographer. The photographers tear their hair out before we leave and insist that every picture is "really cute", just so we will leave, even though my otherwise gorgeous kids look like caricatures of themselves. Isak and Elina did fine during my hopeful session, but Anja would have none of the posing stuff, would not be still for even a second and never mind looking in the camera. Isak and Elina came up with the idea of chasing Anja down and putting her in an upright wrestling hold. It worked better than any other thing we tried. My kids just don't get enough practice posing, I guess. Worse things could happen to kids, but I would like just one good Christmas picture one of these years. Is that too much to ask? (All I want for Christmas is a frameable family picture, or one of the kids.)

Anja, 19 months

Isak, almost 6 and a half

Elina, 4 and a half

How to make hair like this, you wonder? After bath, let dry without any brushing. Voila.

The trick to making Anja sit long enough to snap this picture: removing one of her new shoes. "Ko!" she says while putting it back on, her version of the Swedish "sko" meaning "shoe."

Cold Blooded

Elina: "Mamma, can I go outside in my swim suit and play with the water hose?"

Mamma: "It is only 5 Celsius outside (41 F), that's really cold. You'll freeze!"

Elina: "No, I won't. Only for a little while, please?"

Mamma: [plan response, anticipate answer, form retaliation, steel myself against the emotional fit...Is there not a better way?] "Hmmmm. Okay. "

Elina: "I can?"

Mamma: "You can."

Elina zips through the house and in no time is dressed in her swimsuit.

One of those affordable lessons, right? She'll learn it is cold, come in on her own and then we won't have to have this discussion in December again.

She stayed outside, undaunted. Then I remembered that she has Viking blood, and despite the 3% body fat, playing with water outside is simply too much fun to give up just because it is, well, winter. The eighteen-month old on my hip (the one with the runny nose) moans and whines. She, too, wants to get down and play. Ouch. Plan has backfired.