Friday, July 24, 2015

May 17, 2015

This is our second year to celebrate May 17th in Norway. Last year was a rough time for me as I was deep into issues with my back and hips so it was nice that I could get around much more easily this time. 

In typical Norwegian fashion we dressed in the national colors (red, white and blue) and headed downtown to watch the parade and celebrate. May 17th in Norway is similar to July 4th in the US. It's the day that Norwegians celebrate the signing of their constitution and their separation from Sweden.

Xander looked ADORABLE in his bunad...the national dress of Norway. It was fun to have him dressed up as a Norwegian.

Two Texans and a viking.

Xander and his bunad :)

Down on the harbor.

One more shot of the bunad before calling it a day.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Family Pictures - Alexander's First Birthday

This is the third time Theresia has taken our pictures. We are SO very lucky to have a good friend that also happens to be an incredible photographer. The pictures speak for themselves and it was hard to pick a favorite so be prepared :)
































Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Alexander - 11 Months

Another fun month is in the books. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of this whole parenting thing and with Alexander's first birthday rapidly approaching I am painfully aware that my baby is rapidly turning into a toddler. This is NOT OK!
  
This month you learned how to say "dada". The feeling of hearing you call for me was something I really wanted your dad to experience. So we have been working on "dada" for a while. And now a small part of me wishes I had left well alone because now that is ALL YOU TALK ABOUT! I mean...your dada is pretty freaking amazing but even I don't gush about him every 5 minutes. It's the first thing you say when you wake up in the morning. You yell it out to him when he walks out of the room. You even murmured "dada" in your sleep a few nights ago. Now I only hear "mama" when you're hurt or upset. But it's true, you have a pretty great dada so I can't blame you for being crazy about him! I am too :)

You are getting more talkative in general. I would say you now use 5 words consistently..."dada", "mama", "wawa" (water, you also do the sign for water), "ba" (means hungry), and "more". And I'm the proud speech pathologist who will take all the credit for your words. But in truth, you're a very social kid and highly motivated to communicate so it makes it both fun and easy to teach you words. You're also imitating sounds and oral movements so there seems to be an increased awareness of the mechanics of language. Maybe this is babble to anyone but an SLP but it is fascinating to me! We're working on "up", "eat", "out" and "go" for next month. A little ambitious but shoot for the stars right?

I thought for sure you would be an early walker but you're still in the standing, cruising, and balancing phase. You love the walker we borrowed from the Stingerie's and are FINALLY learning how to turn it around yourself instead of yelling at me to turn it for you every 30 seconds when you bump into a wall. I'd really like you to be walking before our trip to Texas in June. You get really cranky when you're in the stroller or have to sit anywhere for too long. So when we are out we end up having to find a relatively clean and empty floor for you to crawl around on. But the idea of you crawling around an airplane floor gives me hives! Adding that to the list of things to work on for next month.

You have now taken 17 flights and visited 5 countries in your short 11 months. Your favorite part of traveling seems to be getting attention from new people. You attract attention everywhere you go because you refuse to accept anyone ignoring you. You will smile and coo until they give into your charms...I mean, really, how can anyone resist!?

There were a couple of rough weeks this month as your 7th tooth was on its way. You have been sleeping through the night since January but you started waking up 1-2x each night crying inconsolably. It would take almost an hour and some baby Tylenol to get you calmed back down. Your tooth finally came in and all is back to being well with the world...that is until tooth #8.

You are now only taking one nap a day, despite my efforts otherwise! While it is nice to have more predictability in our schedule I really miss having two breaks during the day. But you're a great napper...you go to sleep easily between 11-12 and sleep for 2-3 hours.

My favorite new "thing" this month is you giving kisses. I'm not exactly sure how you learned it but one night as Arthur was reading you "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" you started to kiss all the animals. The next morning I asked you for a kiss and you crawled across the bed, grabbed my face, and gave me a long, slobbery, open-mouthed kiss on the cheek. Now, if you're in the mood, you'll give us kisses when we ask, and sometime when we don't. And from someone who never liked PDA I'm proud to say I absolutely love it.

Alexander- we are entering your last month before you turn a year old. Each day I am surprised to find that you have learned a new skill without it ever explicitly being taught. Each day we discover new things about your personality...you are independent and get upset if we try to do things for you. It can be frustrating but I love it at the same time. You still won't cuddle for more than a few seconds so we appreciate it when we get it. I'm looking forward to and dreading your birthday at the same time. Happy 11 months to my favorite little stinker!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Mother's Day 2015

It's not every year that you get to add a new holiday to your list! But I've now joined the ranks and earned the right to celebrate Mother's Day as both a child and a mother. To be completely honest I was worried that Arthur and Xander wouldn't be as excited about celebrating me as I was (that's not self-centered...right?) But my boys did NOT disappoint. In fact, as usual Arthur exceed my expectations!

We started the day with my favorite breakfast...American style pancakes with peanut butter. My son takes after his momma because it also happens to be his favorite breakfast! I think he ate 4 large pancakes!

My first gift was perfect...a gift and a memory. We made a planter box with Xander's hand-prints on it. I loved that Arthur got it all set up and planned out so we could make it together. That little planter box now sits in the kitchen window with fresh basil and mint growing inside and I absolutely love it!

Xander was too excited about spending time with me to take a nap (ahhh!!! seriously kid!!!) so after an hour and a half of trying we gave up and went for a Sunday drive. Another surprise from Arthur, we ended up at one of my favorite places in Norway, the Solastranden Hotel for CAKES!!! I mean brunch. The CAKE, I mean meal, was delicious and Xander was so good, despite his unnappingness, that I even got to enjoy a glass of wine.


After eating we went for a stroll on the beach then headed home. Xander was so exhausted he was asleep almost as soon as we put him in the car. While we drove we talked about how it was almost exactly a year ago to the date that we had gone to Solastranden Hotel to celebrate me almost/sorta being a mom. I was about 30 weeks pregnant and feeling extremely uncomfortable to say the least. This year we woke up much earlier, were much busier, and our day was much noisier...but it was perfect. 


I'm the girl who never yearned to be a mother. Honestly, babies have always seemed a little weird to me. Like only half-cooked humans. But then this little guy came into my life and opened up a part of me I didn't know was there. He has taught me how to love so much it hurts. He has taught me that I can give and give until I have nothing left unless he needs more, and then somehow I find even more to give him.




Motherhood has been the most challenging, beautiful, heart-wrenching, backbreaking, and earth-shakingly transformative experience of my life and I'm so grateful to be trusted to raise this incredible little guy.