One Year Older

• Breakfast with bread and croissants from the bakery and freshly squeezed orange juice
• Back to bed for two hours while Peter's up with Isolde so I could catch up on some sleep after the work week
• Fika with my parents and gift-opening (boots, perfume, sweater, theatre tickets, purse for cocktail parties, tea towels, napkins and candles)
• Responding to 50+ birthday messages, mainly on Facebook
• Dinner with Peter at Lux while my parents baby-sit (my treat though, as Peter's birthday present 2011)

Things You Miss When Not on Maternity Leave

The sight of Isolde stuck behind the bathtub (we have one of those old-fashioned ones with legs) after having crawled under and then not finding her way out again. I would have taken a photo before "rescuing" her but Peter is a good father :)

Isolde at 12 Months

Right now Isolde...

• 's most used word is still "där" but now she's rediscovered "mamma" and "pappa" and she practices often on them, though not necessarily to us.  One morning she said "mamma" while looking at me and then she smiled like she was both proud of herself and a bit embarrassed.  So cute!  She's also trying to say "ja" and "nej" and she babbles a lot of "rappakalja" that we don't understand.
• likes waving goodbye to me in the morning and it's always with a smile.  If she's slightly whining it's because she wants to come out to the exciting stairway beyond the door.  When I come home she comes crawling - or walking, but crawling is faster - and when I pick her up she hugs me hard and sometimes takes my face in her little hands and gives me a kiss (well, sort of a kiss, more like a nose kiss).
• took her first (unsupported) steps just after Christmas (at 11½ months) and since then she's been taking more and more steps and getting steadier and steadier and in the last week (12 months & 1 week) it's like she's finally really got it and she can now walk across a room and over dorrsills and carpets, even if it's still a bit wobbly.  See video!  It was interesting to see how it progressed from standing without supporting, to learning how to stand up (rise) on the spot without holding on to anything, to taking almost like running steps and then sitting down hard, to walking a few steps and then stopping, i.e. exercising being in control, to finally walking without much effort.
• at the moment likes books with flaps for lifting or other ways to discover new things in the book and we read Tippen säger god natt (Spot says good night) and Miffy på bondgården every day.  She still likes one of her first favourites, Vad lilla Anna fick se, in a very read and falling apart version from when I was little.  She seems to prefer books with more text and longer narratives now.
• usually sleeps from 8pm to 7 or 8 am.  In her own bed and room until 5 or 6 am and then in our bed for another couple of hours.  I love cuddling with her in the morning and going back to sleep together but I'm really grateful we get most of the night to ourselves! One or two nights of week she wakes at midnight or 1 am and sleeps with us for the rest of the night, since it's usually difficult to get her to go back to sleep in her bed at that hour.  It usually takes her between 5 and 15 minutes to go to sleep in the evening but sometimes it can take up to 30 minutes.  She almost always fall asleep by herself in her crib but it often takes a few times of picking her up, giving her another hug, putting her down again, more singing, and patting her back and bum, not exactly in that order, before she finally lets go.  She has so much energy in her little arms and legs right now so sometimes it actually helps to hold her legs so she can't kick around in bed.
• doesn't mind being fed (jar food or other wetter food) but prefers feeding herself, mostly with her hands but sometimes with a spoon or fork.  She's really good at being fed with a adult-size fork.  It's like she's understood that it's bigger and sharper and she opens up wide and carefully.  She often eats two lunches and two dinners since she eats quite a lot of our food too (our mealtimes don't really match yet).  Her favourite food is corn - she could live on it if we let her - and of course raspberries, but she's still not keen on banana unless it's mixed with a lot of other fruits.
• is such a little proper person now.  She's always been her own little person - it surprised me how the personality was there from the beginning - but now we can literally see how she develops and grows mentally every day.  It's amazing how much a little brain takes in every day, every minute, every second.  She's learning things every day that shapes her.  She is showing more and more will and she can be a little dramaqueen sometimes.  We can tell that she already is trying to "manipulate" us (not maliciously of course) and tries different techniques to get what she wants.  But she gives up quite easily and her "tantrums" can hardly be called that yet.  We just think it's cute at this stage :)
• probably weighs at least 8.3 kg and is 70 cm tall now but I'm not sure since we haven't been to BVC for a month and a half.  The next appointment is not until she 18 months so we'll have to try and weigh and measure her at home at some point to keep track.  We can see that she's healthy and growing but I'm a bit of "keeping track"-geek so I want to know the numbers! :)  We have now put away all her size 68 clothes (though some still fit, especially Polarn & Pyret stuff) and she wears size 74 and some 80.
• gets so happy when it's someone she recognises, like her grandparents and her godmother Maria (who's probably the friend of mine who she's met the most and who she's really close to).  It's lovely to see her interact with people and especially people who know her.  She's very social in general and when we had 30 adults and 10 children here for her birthday (we had an open house so they were not all here at once but most people were here the first two hours) she didn't mind the chaos at all and was her usually happy self.
• had her first proper injury (including some bleeding) a few days before her first birthday.  Or so we thought.  Turns out she had hurt herself once before at her grandparents (farmor & farfar).  But it can't have been that bad at all since she didn't even have a swollen lip when we picked her up after a couple of hours.  Anyhow, it was bound to happen at some point and there will be many more injuries in her lifetime I'm sure even though we'll of course do our best to prevent them!
• still toothless!  Well, she has her two bottom teeth but when will she get more??  I fear she'll get ten at once and we'll won't sleep for a week!
• has her mouth wide open when she's doing something exciting, like riding on her new bee car or playing with something new she's found.
• takes after her father and has rhythm in her blood (Peter is quite the dancer).  She moves her little tushie almost to anything and lately she's started doing some sort of jazz hands thing too.   It's so funny how it's almost impossible for her to listen to music without "dancing". 
• wants to play the baby apps (Pekaboo farm, Pekbok and Soundtouch) on our iPhones or the iPad so much that we have to hide them.  If some of those apps weren't so good, especially Soundtouch, we would regret showing her the iPhone in the first place!
• wants to be with us and see what we're doing, and especially in the kitchen, but can also play for a while with the stuff in her room or her toys in the living room while we eat dinner (after she's eaten half of our food) or watch TV.  We have started playing some imagination games, such as pretending to cook food and eat as well as cuddle with the stuffed animals.  It's still mostly her wanting us to pretend while she's watching and handing us the stuff.
• thinks the hoover is scary but at the same time really interesting.  She doesn't cry but she practically jumps into your arms when the hoover starts.

Height of Futility

This must be the most useless and unnecessary device ever!!  Who buys this sort of stuff??!! What's wrong with a little bit of reflective tape (since the sales argument is "both for decorate purposes and for safety reasons when out during dark hours"?!

Première!

Restaurant Prose

The British restaurant reviewer A. A. Gill visits Stockholm and writes a food piece that's both informative and funny (Swedish and English version available).  I especially liked the part about the vikings:

This is the only Viking-themed restaurant in Stockholm, so that’s a blessing. But it is still one too many. You should invite the Saxons to come and sack it.  Considering how much the rest of Europe suffered from the bloody Vikings, it would be a cruelty to make a visitor relive the trauma here.

Fight for Kisses

Great commercial!



Better video quality here.

Twenty Twelve

Since part of my job right now is related to the London 2012 Olympics (nope, I cannot get anyone tickets; I don't even get to go myself) I just have to watch the BBC comedy show "Twenty Twelve" about the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Love Refugee

Today one of my best friends, Jenny, has left Sweden for her new home country, Brazil.  Her plan is to return to Sweden at some point but not until 2025 at the earliest when her partner, Mauro, retires.   It still feels a bit surreal that she's actually going to live there and I'm not going to see her on a regular basis but I guess it will sink in eventually, and there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

It's quite an adventure she's embarking on!  Less than a year ago she didn't even know Mauro (I think they first met online in March 2011) and now she's moving across the Atlantic to be with him!  She went there for a month in August and he came here in November, when we also got to meet him - such a wonderful man! -, and now she's going there for good.  It reminds me of another brave woman, Beverly, who made a similar life-changing decision 10 years ago.

I will miss her so much and wish she could stay here but at the same time I'm so happy she's met the one!  And I'm happy it's 2012 and not 1912 and that there is air travel, Skype and Facebook!

See you next Christmas, if not before then!

Jenny, hope it's okay I borrowed a photo off your FB page!

Read Books 2011

Not even worth a post but...

Best - "Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann" by Jonas Jonasson
Next best - "Himmel över London" by Håkan Nesser
Third best - "Luftslott" by Sheila O'Flanagan
Useful - "Att möta förlossningssmärtan" by Gudrun Abascal

Seen Films 2011

If anyone is looking for film recommendations.

5+
Never Let Me Go

4+
Contagion
Crazy.Stupid.Love
500 Days of Summer 
Friends with Benefits
Bridesmaids
Paul
Source Code
Just Go With It
The King's Speech
Fair Game
 It's Kind of a Funny Story
Easy A

3+
Cashback 
Hangover 2
Adam
Super 8
Horrible Bosses
Harry Potter 7
Burke & Hare
The Adjustment Bureau
Limitless
Taxi 3
Unstoppable
Anchorman
Due Date
Tangled
Rallybrudar
The Joneses

2+
Take Me Home Tonight
Did You Hear about the Morgans?
Rango
Rio
Love and Other Drugs
Megamind
Forces of Nature

1+
The Green Lantern
Where the Wild Things Are 

In Remote Heaven

She has loads of new toys following her first birthday party yesterday and what does she do? Discovers the house's four remotes and dad's iPhone lined up on the sofa.

2011 Recap

Happy New Year!  A bit belatedly perhaps but I haven't managed to post a new year blip until now.

This year's...
...happening
Becoming a mother

...project
Moving before the summer and renovating the kitchen at the end of the year

...song
Blinka lilla stjärna (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), Trollmors vaggsång, Sov du lilla videung, which are the three songs I sing to Isolde every night

...trip
Nice, France in April and the US (Delaware and Florida) in October

...hip hip hurray!
My grandfather turned 90, my dad 60, my cousin 40 and we attended one wedding (Anna and Richard)

...person
Isolde

...toil
Giving birth!

...garment
Nursing top

...best book 
Read a grand total of four book :(  But of those, I enjoyed "Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann" by Jonas Jonasson the most

...worst book
Not applicable

...purchase
Our new car, a dark blue Passat 140 TDI, which runs on diesel and is a green car according to the Swedish definition

...TV moment
I follow very few series except for sitcoms so difficult to choose a moment.  Maybe the British royal wedding?

...change
Becoming a parent and being home with a baby instead of working

...film
Never Let Me Go was the only one I gave a 5 (list of all viewed films coming)

...daily joy
Waking up to baby babble and laughter

...gratitude
To have a healthy baby and as a bonus, a very content baby that is seriously one of the happiest babies I've ever met (I don't lie when I say that she very rarely cries)!  And I'm grateful every day for my little family.

...greatest expectation
Isolde's next development leap as well as moving to a new home

...greatest disappointment
Can't think of anything.  Perhaps that I had planned to change jobs during my parental leave but time flew and I didn't even try.  But when I did return to work, I had the opportunity to do almost 100% new stuff so going back didn't end up too bad after all.

...greatest joy
Isolde and Peter as a father

...greatest "I wish more had happened this year"
Before I went on maternity leave I had great plans about how to spend the leave (besides taking care of the baby); I was going to bake sourdough bread, plan our wedding [party], scan all my old photos, etc. but I have done none of that...

...most wonderful weekend
Maybe not wonderful as such since it involved 30 hours of gradually increasing pain...but the Saturday and Sunday of 8-9 January when we were about to become parents is probably the most memorable weekend.  It was such a fascinating experience and despite the pain (which I have in many ways forgotten - it's so true what they say) I have only good memories from the delivery room and especially from our room at the ward afterwards.

...ponder
How come time flies?

...restaurant
Pontus (like last year) where we had a big dinner the evening before I went into labour

...hardest and saddest
My grandfather and two friends still having health issues.  I also still think a lot of a friend whose mother passed away in 2010 already - my friend had a baby this year and I think about the fact that her son doesn't get to meet his grandmother and my friend doesn't get to share what I do with my mum.  But she has her dad of course but becoming a mother is perhaps a time when one's mother becomes extra important.

...best party
We haven't thrown any parties this year except for Isolde's christening but I promise that next year we'll finally have our big wedding celebration!

...gadget
The iPhone.  Still.  Again.

...personal greatest success
Being the best mother Isolde could have! :)

...memories
So many, especially with Peter and Isolde of course.  The birth feels like it just happened and at the same time so far ago.

...forgot to do (deviance from normal behaviour)
Didn't hug and kiss Peter as much as I should.  It's like you're both so pre-occupied with the baby that it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon before you realise that you haven't said "good morning" to each other yet!

...greatest lesson
Carrying around a baby builds really good arm muscles and you can't really complain about not sleeping when you should have really gone to bed when the baby did at 8pm instead of at midnight when you ended up going...

...spending
Buying and renovating a flat, buying a new car, baby clothes...

...new people
The mothers and babies of my "mummy group"

...most romantic of the year
Peter continuing to make me breakfast every morning - during my maternity leave when he got up to get ready for work and now when I'm the one working he gets up and makes me breakfast while I shower and get ready even though it should be me making him breakfast now!

...New Year resolution
Even though I lost all the pregnancy weight I still have some excess around tummy and thighs which will need to go this year.  So go to the gym (that I'm actually paying for every month)!  And read more books!

Urgent Design Help Needed!

Which bed spread should we choose?! The off white goes better with the dark grey bed and gives a lighter look (it's even lighter in the picture as it's near the window). The brownish goldish beige goes better with the wallpaper and gives a cosier look. I want to have some accent colours, maybe dark purple or cerise pink - which one would they match best with?! And what colour curtains with either spread?! Apologies for the bad quality iPhone photos - didn't have time to take out the camera.

Cool Pink

Check out the jacket Isolde got from her farmor & farfar (grandparents) for her birthday!

A Regular Tuesday?

Work. Dentist appointment (major filling but avoided a root canal, yay!). Electricity only in half the flat after Peter's fiddling (as an electrical engineer he's allowed but jury's still out whether he caused the problem or our contractors' electrician has messed up). A bath and some quality time with the husband instead of TV and computers is not that bad after all.

Update 22:50: Unpacked all our books instead and did some other post-renovation stuff instead of the bath but I enjoyed doing it! Fun chores exist!

12:04

Now Isolde is officially 1 year old!  Can't believe it's already been a year since she arrived!  And now we cannot imagine a life without her!

Grattis vårt lilla busfrö!

Wallpaper

For those of you curious about our newly redecorated flat, here's a sneak peak at Isolde's wallpaper* on my friend's blog.  I promise I will post more photos once the contractors have finished some bits and pieces and we have tidied up after them.

* We're painting Isolde's crib this week so soon she won't have to sleep in a travel bed anymore!

This Time Last Year...

...Isolde started knocking on the door.

First Injury

Isolde hurt herself for the first time today. She's fallen over and bumped her head a few times but never hurt herself properly or bled before. But there has to be a first for everything.

Tonight she was trying to open the drawers of a cabinet while at the same time getting up to stand, when she slipped (she didn't wear non-slip socks at the time) and hit her mouth on the cabinet. Luckily the outcome wasn't too bad. There were lots of tears and some bleeding (already washed off in the below picture), as she cut the "string" of the inside lip on the upper gums (which I googled and found out is called the superior labial frenulum). She was soon her usual self again albeit with a swollen lip and she didn't have any difficulties eating a little bit of cucumber or drinking välling before bedtime or, most importantly, sucking her beloved thumb. I suspect I will want her to be a little bit more careful in the near future though.

Sales Finds

I haven't bought anything for myself yet (though I really need a new pair of jeans so I should really take a shopping day for myself before the sales end) but Isolde's wardrobe is just getting fuller and fuller...