First day at daycare...

And Lovisa was of course behaving like a real daycare pro! Sharing toys, making friends, eating with a good apatite, napping an hour and didn't feel like leaving at all! It takes 13 minutes to walk from the daycare to our home. That's nothing! According to my new app on my phone: "Endomondo", I burned 87 kcal walking home, that's like a big apple or half a banana. Well, better than nothing I guess.

And tomorrow February is here! That's way better than January, isn't it! Brighter times here we come...

Sleeping baby...

Andréa's been sleeping for almost 2 hours. To bad because Lovisa's going insane inside and the beautiful February sun is shining outside, but who wants to wake up a sleeping baby?

But imaging all the spare time I will have from tomorrow when Lovisa's starting daycare! What am I going to do?

Winter, mooseburger and daycare!

The Swedish comedian/actor Henrik Schyffert once said that dressing up a toddler in a wintersuit is like getting a drunk Peter Harrysson (another Swedish actor) in a wet suit. Well, I have to agree...

Imagine to get this guy, drunk, in a wet suit at least once a day...

Besides the little hell to get the kids in winter clothes, the winter is amazingly fun and beautiful right now!

 Lovisa on the horse in wood at "our" closest park

H and Lovisa going down the hill!

And you get both hungry and tired from this winter weather!

 Sleeping beauty in the stroller...

My lunch today: a mooseburger at the mall!

Now we're ready to face next weeks big happening, Lovisa's starting daycare!

Tuesday luxury...

Luxury is to sit for 2,5 hours and be spoiled at the hairdresser. Highlights, massage of the scalp, haircut, chatting and of course reading some fashion magazines!

 Before...

After...

At last some real winter!

View from our balcony

 Andréa in her new hat...

 Lovisa in her new hat...

And the best snack after playing in the snow:

Yoghurt, müsli and most important maple syrup directly from Canada!

I hope the snow will stay for a while...

Saturday entertainment!

Mr Johnny Cash in the background...

Daycare here we come!?

The Swedish daycare system is a debated topic among parents. Here you put your child in line for daycare and you can select 5 different daycare in the community where you live, where you want your child to start. However, it's not for sure that you'll get one of them. But you are guaranteed to get a daycare place in your community within 3 months from the day you've applied. I've heard that the line up in Stockholm is terrible and that they can't keep the 3 months guarantee. The newspapers also has big headlines about the groups with children are getting bigger and bigger, making it harder for each child to be seen and heard. So, it was with mixed feelings I put Lovisa in the daycare line and I wasn't convinced that we were getting a place for her within 3 months. Today I received a message that she's offered a spot in 1 of the 5 daycare I choose and she's welcome to begin end of January which means they'll also kept their time guarantee. So tomorrow we're going to visit the daycare and after that say yes or no to the place. It seems good. 45 children separated in 3 different groups depending on their age. So Lovisa will be in a group with 15 children and 3 teachers. The daycare has their own chef so the food is probably good and they also have a playground outside.

So in comparison to the line ups for daycare in Quebec this seems almost to good to be true! In Quebec you can stand in line for years and they don't have a time guarantee. Actually, there you put your unborn child in line for a daycare from the day you know your pregnant! The private daycare are the save for many parents.

I can't help feeling a bit nervous and sad, my little baby's going to daycare! Andréa and me will miss her during the days! But I really do believe that it's the best for Lovisa and her whining mother...

A mothers bad conscious, hopefully Lovisa will watch a bit less TV and play more at daycare... And maybe she's not going to climb the walls at home as often as now...

Back to work!

Holy moly! I could hardly find my way back to work yesterday, the place is a total renovation object! Once I got in it was really nice to meet my colleagues and to fill my brain with something else but baby language! 

My "hospital"

And Lovisa loved it at "morfar and Lena" (my dad and his wife). She chased the cat, ate icecream and SLEPT 13 HOURS IN A ROW WITHOUT WAKING UP! How about that?!

Semla!

This time of the year Swedish people traditionally forgets darkness and depressions by eating a good old "semla". This weekend we ate our first one for the season and I'm sure we're going to have several more... A "semla" is a Swedish pastry with a cardamom spiced wheat bun which is filled with almond paste and whipped cream. It's delicious, not to sweet but very filling!



The whole family absolutely loves them (Andréa tasted a bit of the wheat bread and actually ate it)!

Finally some adult activities...

The past week was a little hell. The kids were sick, first Andréa, then when she got a bit better Lovisa got a fever. Again we had a number of sleepless nights and it's really driving me and H insane. Anyway some good news in the middle of our every-day-life-misery: I'm taking a course at my work this week! It's only 2 afternoons but I feel so happy about it! Lovisa will go to my dad and his wife for 2 days and H will be working from home to take Andréa. I feel so relieved! And a bit nervous. Not for the course, but for the kids! It's probably going to go much better than I think...

Andréa is still refusing to eat food. Last week she ate a whole pancake I was overjoyed, but it was a one time thing. I'm so sick of making her new food only to see her turning away her head and shutting her lips. So to every one that wants to say enjoy this time, they'll grow up to fast: well, thank god it goes fast! I can't wait for Andréa to be a bit older, being able to eat herself.

How to bring out the worst in a 2-year old...

Just put her in an apartment with me and Andréa for a few days. It's terrible with Andréa being sick and Lovisa being her usual energetic little rascal. She needs to run, play, climb and swing. She's not allowed to do all that at home (yes she is allowed to play, no she's not allowed to climb on the walls), so when she got frustrated enough she torn down the drapes. OK, they're ugly but she didn't need to show it like this...

Andréa seems better thank god! Today we saw daylight in the park and it was a happy little Lovisa running around. Please, please can we be healthy for a while now?

Dreaming away...

Andréa has her 5th infection (or something like that, it's hard to keep track...) in a month so the past night we didn't sleep much. So instead of going to the playgroup we're inside trying our best to get better, poor Lovisa's turning into a little TV freak.

When things gets really boring, the kids are whining and the place is a mess I dream myself away. All the way to the 1st of September when I'm going to run (yes - run!) "Tjejmilen" in top shape (ha, ha!). The kids (healthy with rosy cheeks) and H (happy with a beer in his hand and the stroller in his other hand) will stand beside and cheer me on.
Yes, I have signed up so as soon as my annoying cold is gone it's just to start working out!

End of this dreaming session, now I have to stop Lovisa from feeding the baby with raisins...

Weekend fun!

It's nice with a long weekend. Andréa is still very hard to feed but she's eating more and more, hence she poops more and more. Today we changed 6 poop diapers.
Besides changing diapers we discovered the area a bit and it turns out we're living ridiculously close to a indoor pool so tomorrow we're taking both kids to the pool! I'm so excited because they really enjoy taking a bath together.

My little water animals!

I try to be a bit healthier (try is an accurate word, yesterday H and me ate a big bag of chips and a bowl of popcorn while watching a movie... well, who's perfect?) and I actually did 2 core sessions this week. Only 20 minutes per session but with a 2-year old climbing on me and an 8 months old whining in her walking chair I think it's pretty darn good! I still need to get moving in the exercise department and I'm thinking about signing up to "tjejmilen" which is a 10 kilometers running race for women. I think I might be more motivated to get my ass moving if i have a goal to work for... Anyone wants to join me?

8 months check up...

Thank god! Andréa's following her weight curve. I really like the Swedish child care system (BVC). It's free, the staff are professional and they tell you that EVERYTHING is NORMAL! Perfectly normal! Since she's still refusing to be fed she's eating on her own now. That doesn't work very well but at least she's happy and she gets something in her mouth sometimes...

Making a mess...

To many good suppers...

It's always the same story after the holidays. Feeling fat, inflated and a bit disgusting I wish that I could spread out all the good suppers and deserts over the year instead of piling them up over a few weeks. These are just a few examples of what I've been stuffing myself with:

 H:s birthday supper: pasta with feta cheese and spinach sauce...

 Chicken á la Mats on Christmas Eve (yes, we DIDN'T have the classic Swedish smörgåsbord and I didn't miss it one bit!)

New Years Eve was a food party all night thru! Or how about:

 Toast Skagen

 A wonderful mushroom risotto

Turkish coffee with chocolate mousse

I'm feeling stuffed to say the least. Muffin edges over the pants and I hate it! So, no more goodies during the week days for me. And hopefully I can take more walks now that the kids aren't sick (there, I said it, bet one of them is in for a fever tonight)... Secretly I'm dreaming of going out for a run or going to the gym but it seems hopeless to find the time for that right now. The kids are so demanding, with Andréa being sick a lot and I'm so tired in the evenings.

I wish I could give a bit of all the food I've eaten to Andréa because she's not eating anything. Or, that's not entirely true, she's eating her gruel from the bottle, fruitpuré, small pieces (ridiculously small) of white bread with butter and a few corn kernels and pees. That's it. She refuses to eat if I feed her. Shuts her mouth, turns her head away and if I continue to try she screams and cries. It's annoying and a bit nerve wracking. My common sense tells me that she's not starving and it's just a phase after her terrible stomach flu but my mother sense screams "she's going to starve to death! Feed her! Feed her! Feed her you worthless mother!" I even have nightmares about Andréas eating habits. Oh well, tomorrow Andréa is going for her 8 month check up at BVC (Swedish healtcare system for kids) and I hope I'm going to be more at ease after that. 

A little peace and quite please...

I hope 2012 is going to be a little less stressful than 2011. 2011 was a great year for me but it was also filled with stress, huge tasks and big decisions. And when I say big decisions I mean big decisions, life changing decisions. And I'm tired of those big things. I long for usual, common, every day life problems. Secretly I'm jealous at people telling me how stressful it is to buy a house and move or put your kid in to a new daycare. I want to scream to them "but you don't have to chose countries! You're going to live in that house for a long, long, time! What are you complaining about? You're kids are small, they'll adjust!" But instead I nod understandingly because I know everything is relative and for them that's a big thing.

I just wish I could have a little, little peace and quite now. Otherwise I might really go insane.

What a year!

Remembering 2011:

In March I went to Sweden to take my PhD.  

One of the hardest things I ever did was to be apart from Lovisa 

for almost 1 month

I took my PhD, very pregnant and very happy when it was over without the water breaking...

Reunited in Sweden we waited and waited for Lovisas little sister... 

She was a bit late...

The 22nd of April she finally came! Andréa Kristina - a miracle!

We returned to Canada and bought our house and moved in end of July... 

It was a hot summer...

We baptized Andréa on our vacation in Sept-Iles in September...

...and celebrated Lovisas second birhtday!

In November we moved back to Sweden! 

Maybe it's not that strange that I feel a bit exhausted. 

Happy New Year!