Anatomilektion

Blodomloppet, matsmältningen, skelettet, delar av nervsystemet.

Pottränerskan

Julia, 19 månader, kissar på pottan varje dag och i går bajsade hon också. Och hon visar inga tecken på att tröttna på detta roliga. Hoppas att detta inlägg inte omedelbart skall jinxa processen.

Some Recents

Julia: The baby that LOVES babies. She squeales in delight, laughs out loud and chants "beebee, beebee" if she so much as sees a picture of a baby, let a lone a live one in, say, another person's shopping cart. She kisses her own picture if she sees it and can barely fit in her bed for all the babies that she has to have in there. If we are careless at bed-time and leave a baby out of her bed where she can see it, she is likely to wake up in the middle of the night, look around and cry incessantly "beebee, beebee" until someone (me) comes in, sees her pointing and retrieves the baby, at which point she cuddles it tenderly and goes right back to sleep.

They are also cared for during the day.

Isak and Elina didn't like that I had not posted a picture of our gingerbread house on the blog.

You're welcome.

Playing in Elina and Anja's room. Isak and Elina are by the Furry Frenzies track that Elina got for Christmas.

Lastly, here is Elina practicing for the Daddy-Daughter Dance that she and Mark are attending in February.

Rabid Readers

Isak was the "Thunder Reader" for his class in December. 1750 minutes of at-home reading. He is a good reader in English and reads well in Swedish too, just not as fast. When his teacher heard about my "college-fund" for the kids (teaching them to speak, read and write Swedish so they can - if they want to - attend University there at no cost) she allowed Isak's Swedish reading to count towards the mandatory minimum of 400 minutes of at-home reading.

I was reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Swedish to Isak and Elina in November and then came that weekend when I was with Elina in the hospital at the beginning of December. We were half-way through and Isak could not stand the suspense so he finished it on his own - was rewarded by getting to see the movie (dubbed in Swedish, ha!). He is now close to finishing The Chamber of Secrets. (Can I add that the translations of both these books leaves something to be desired? Shh, don't tell the kids!)

Elina reads in both English and Swedish, too. But recently she does something more. She'll read an English book to Anja doing simultaneous translation into Swedish - including translating names into Swedish counterparts on the fly. Very amusing and impressive at the same time.

Christmas Day

We've hosted Christmas since 2006, Mark and I, but never before in this house. Last year we were ready to get together (all of the Fisher brothers and the cousins) but it snowed and snowed and snowed some more on Christmas Eve making travel impossible. This year Jim and his kids could not join us, but we had a great time and the kids were not disappointed.

 Troy, April, Craig, Cecilia and Donna

The Table

 Our presents for the newly-engaged.

 Constant huggers: cousins Liam and Julia (wearing stockings from cousin Nike)

Elina, Troy and Isak

Julafton

Den helt klart största julaftonen hittills, vad gäller julklappar, men det beror väl dels på antal barn. Väntan var lång, förstås - det ska den ju vara. Jag handlade lite på morgonen inför morgondagens stora släktmiddag som jag ska stå för, och sedan åt vi en väldigt enkel julmiddag med bara vår familj. Anja hällde nästan hela pepparkaret i salladen medan jag vände ryggen, så jag plockade bort de översta spenatbladen, men den var rätt pepprig ändå. Julduken måste köras i tvättmaskinen precis innan middagen, men annars gick det väl ganska smidigt.

Vi såg sista avsnittet av Gyllene Knorren, som barnen tyckte var jättebra, men kunde inte hitta Kalle Anka och hans vänner på svt.se. Lite synd. Kanske kan vi se Trolltyg i Tomteskogen i morgon. Jag är verkligen glad över min 17 tums screen på datorn. Det blir så bra när man sätter upp den på fotpallen framför soffan. : ) Sedan tände vi adventsljusen igen och läste en dikt för varje ljus och pratade lite så där lagom högtidiligt om julen. Och så öppnade vi julklappar. Alla var JÄTTENÖJDA. Vi började med de mindre presenterna och trappade upp mot de mest åtrådda klapparna mot slutet. Här är lite fotodokumentation. Med Mark bakom kameran för en gångs skull.

 

 

 Halsband från mormor och morfar!

 Pippi play-tent from Oldemor.

 Julia picked this doll out in the store. 

Do you think she likes it?

 

 From mormor och morfar. A huge hit! 

(Look how big his pants are, poor kid...)

At first it was just white noise. The constant pleas for a Princess Anneliese Barbie. Anja's babysitter Samantha had one - and it happens to be Anja's favorite movie (Barbie's Princess and the Pauper). We visited Samantha in June and during this short visit Anja held The Princess Anneliese Barbie for 5 minutes and cried all the way home in the car because we couldn't stay longer for her to hold it some more. The chant has been recurring since then, but not incessant - I have brushed it all aside. I've learned to ignore all requests for so long I paid little attention to them anyway. But then as it got closer to Christmas I realized something - Anja had not written a wish list, but if she had it would have only had ONE item on it. When we asked what she wanted for Christmas, the answer was clear and simple. Sigh. Four days ago I scoured the internet for this item that is no longer made. Found several on eBay, most were ridiculously expensive. But there was one that was reasonable and lucky for me it arrived TODAY, just in time to be wrapped and put under the tree. The expression on Anja's face says it all. She truly did not expect to get it!

Julstrumpor

The Faces of Anja

I took these pictures of Anja while in the waiting room at the dentist office in July 2010. I didn't realize I had no memory card in the camera. I have not been able to retrieve them from the camera until today. Long story. But involves this same lovely child, her teeth and a cord.

Lucia 2010

For the real thing, click HERE.

Lucia tåg i vår stad är officiellt en tradition nu eftersom vi gjort detta två år i rad. Se förra årets firande HÄR.

Det kan väl nämnas att årets Lucia program var något av ett hastverk med bara en enda övning och sedan framträdande utan uppsjungning. Isak och Elina kunde sångerna bra, men Isak har tydligen inte gått grundkursen i Luciavördnad. Den måste han gå nästa år. (Filmsnuttar längst ner!)

Mammorna: Marie, Carolina, Victoria och Malin

 Daniel, Benjamin, Elina, Anja, Isak, Hannah
Julia, Christian, Jonathan, Max

 Det blir inte bättre än så här!

 våra Lucior

 Söta är dom i alla fall

 Anja

 Elina kunde sångerna!

På grund av min temperamentsfulla kamera (som ska bytas ut) kommer framträdandet i 3 korta snuttar:

The Littlest Sister

Julia is in such a hurry to grow up. She understands everything it seems, and wants to do everything that her older siblings do. And if she can't, then she gets MAD.

Julia is also very capable of finding entertainment for herself. Anja is happy to assist when needed. Yesterday, for example, when I was in the shower getting ready for a chiropractor appointment, I was greeted by two soaked girls who had turned the kitchen and dining room into a lake, and who stomped happily in the water while laughing. This was only 45 minutes after the laundry detergent was knocked down and a gallon ran out onto the floor.

Julia has also recently been found
- Pouring out milk, juice or water and spreading it around with her hands/arms/sleeves (daily, if given the chance)
- Bathing the little green Toy Story alien (or various other objects) in the toilet while splashing toilet water everywhere
- Dumping the dog water on herself and the floor (at least once a day)
- Packing the toilet with toilet paper (I should add that we are constantly closing the bathrooms doors, but Anja usually forgets)
- Taking hold of the end of the toilet paper and running down the hall, in and out of rooms until the paper is completely off the roll and spread throughout the house
- Opening the dishwasher (even if it is locked) and standing on the lid for the purpose of unloading the dishes (clean or dirty) onto the kitchen floor (the dishwasher is now loose, no longer attached to the wall!)
- Using a drinking cup to scoop water out of Sadie's bowl to drink and eating dog food in between sips
- Removing any and all DVDs out of their cases and spreading them over the living room floor
- Pulling all the tape out of a cassette tape
- Eating crayons (any chance she gets) and decorating walls and furniture, too
- Changing the channel when others are watching a movie (she can reach now and knows the exact button!)
- Pulling out pots and pans, tupperware and other kitchen ware she can reach
- Dumping toys from their bins just for the sake of dumping them

This is not a comprehensive list. I could add more.

No matter how frustrating this is, however, I can't really blame her. I am swamped with things to do - cooking, cleaning, laundry for a big family and on top of that my school work which takes time every single day. And there is only so much being ignored Julia can take without finding her own stuff to do. Next semester I need to find a babysitter that can take Anja and Julia one day a week for 4 or 5 hours so I can be effective at doing my school work, as opposed to have to do it while taking care of kids or I might just give myself a hernia.

Julia really is very sweet and super family-oriented. When given just a bit of attention she is as good as gold. She loves to read books. Elina and Isak will often read with her while I fix dinner or tend to other duties. When she wakes up in the morning or from a nap she calls everyone in the family by name: Mamma, Ika, Enina, Aja, Pappa and wants hugs and kisses. She LOVES her family. She does so much for spreading love between siblings. We are glad she is here.