Weekend in Stockholm

We had to go to the US Embassy in Stockholm to take care of the paperwork for Alice's citizenship, passport, etc, so we did some fun stuff for Haylie while we were there. We took the ferry to the mainland (with our car) on Thursday morning, and stayed at Kungens Kurva. We were at a really cheap hotel. No frills, but the price was right. We went to IKEA on Thursday and picked up some stuff we needed, and then O'Leary's for dinner at Heron City.

Friday, we got up and went to the Embassy. The security is even more rigorous than airport security. We took care of all the red tape, and then went to nearby Junibacken on Djurgården. It has a play area, stage shows, and a storybook ride, all based on Swedish children's books.

Here I am, coming out of the Mumin trolls' house.

Haylie and Alice were riding Lilla Gubben, Pippi Longstocking's horse.

Haylie was intently watching the show with Lennart Hellsing characters. Alice had a hard time settling down, since she doesn't much like being held a lot. She finally got to sleep once we left, and slept all afternoon and evening.

Friday night, we met one of Stefan's childhood friends and his family for dinner near our hotel. Haylie and Alice fell asleep that night with their heads touching. It was really cute.

Saturday, we drove down to Södertälje and went to the pool there. Haylie had a good time swimming with Stefan. Alice fell asleep on a sun chair after a little dip. Here she was when she woke up, playing with her fingers. They are her favorite toys at the moment.

We drove over to the ferry at Nynäshamn. Alice was sick of sitting in her carseat, so she got fussy. Haylie was sick of putting her pacifier back in, so she got crabby. We had to go into the ferry terminal and wait, so we brought Alice's stroller bassinet. As soon as she got to lay down, she was calm and happy again, and was busy kicking her legs. She just can't relax unless she is laying down.

Haylie got to buy a long-awaited ice cream cone, and so she was happy too. Then we slept on the ferry the whole way to Gotland, getting home just before midnight. It was so nice to be home in our own beds.

Just a few pictures...

Today we had Alice's 2 month checkup. She was almost 5,6 kg and 58 cm long. She was in a very good mood while we were there. Haylie reminded me of her Grandma Taryn, messing with all the equipment. I think she is sick of people asking how she likes being a big sister by this point. Next month, Alice gets her first shot.

2 months

2 months already, and time has gone quickly. We are really enjoying having a baby this time.

Today we went to Visby to get Alice's passport photos taken for her American passport. It was a challenge, but thankfully the photographer liked babies and was patient. We had to get her head just the right size, her hands kept getting in the way, and Stefan's shadow was in the way.

This is the first one from 4 weeks. I couldn't get her to wake up for the life of me. So we decided it was safest to try again, in case they didn't approve it with her eyes closed.

Nice shot, but head was too big.

Once again, head slightly too big.

Finally, her head was the right size, and her hands were only slightly in the shot, and not mostly in her mouth. If she could fit both fists in there, she would. Not for lack of trying, however.

Relaxing with dad, while big sister is playing with a friend from the neighborhood. I made brownies, and we had a little "fika".

I thought this looked like some kind of ice monster trying to crawl off the roof.

Can't be too long left before the snow disappears.

8 weeks

This week is winter sport break, so Haylie is off from school. Today, we went to the museum. We had lunch there then looked at the exhibits. I wore Alice around in my ring sling and she slept the whole time.

Attention-starved?

I did manage to finally get a picture of Alice without her sister's head in the way.

Laughing at Haylie

Haylie saw these three deer through the window as she was eating her lunch. They were just across the street. Stefan had seen two a couple days ago, and they ate up our neighbor's apple tree sapling. We were having fun watching them until Alice coughed and they scattered. You can see how one was listening to us all the way across the street and inside the house.

Action shot

Today, I cleaned the house while Alice napped and Haylie played Barbies and had the chimney sweep come. He didn't look like Dick VanDyke in Mary Poppins, but he was pretty grimy. I am not sure if it had anything to do with his profession. And he had a vacuum instead. Hard to dance with a shop-vac compared to those brushes.

7 weeks

Alice is 7 weeks today, and so far, so good. She sleeps at night and is awake during the day. I am okay with feedings every 3 hours, when I get to sleep again afterwards. Haylie, that little stinker, thought it was play time at night when she was this age. It is hard to be mad at someone smiling at you at 2 AM, however. Amazing to have one with her days and nights straight from day one. This means that morning is happy smiling time every day. We drop Haylie off at school at 7:45 AM and then come home and Alice is happy and awake until nap time around 10 AM. Unfortunately, this means that I am not able to nap during the day, since not long after she goes to sleep, it is time to pick Haylie up from school again.

This is her "that is so funny" face. Other than just smiling at me for no reason, she smiles at her mobile above the changing table, and every day when Stefan gets home from work and says hi to her.

Smiley girl

Alice likes when you tickle her mouth and lips - here I was teasing her with her pacifier.

She hasn't laughed a big one yet, just little laughs that sound like a frog croaking.

This was a couple days ago - she was smiling at me while I was talking to her.

6 weeks

We have now hit the 6 week mark. Things are going pretty well, but I am starting to have a little cabin fever. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so we can be outside. We did go to the library yesterday, but Alice had an exploding diaper with a mess ensuing, so it wasn't that fun for me. Haylie got to borrow books and have a cookie, so she was satisfied. Alice was pretty happy too, after getting that out of her system.

The little sleepyhead spent most of the day napping today. I think she napped in about every room in the house, plus in the car.

Here is Haylie, looking evil.

5 weeks

So relaxed

4 weeks

Haylie got a hold of the camera today, so I have about 20 pictures of various toys, her socks, self-portraits, and Alice from different angles.

I also took a few pictures. Here is Alice, who started being awake most of the day this past week. She actually has her days and nights right, something Haylie didn't figure out until 3 months. Now we are just dealing with burps, hiccups, and gas, which have been bothering her. Other than that, things are going smoothly at the moment. If you don't count the numerous exploding diapers, that resulted in 3 wardrobe changes today.

Here are my girls. I wonder how soon Alice is going to start getting annoyed at her sister for kissing her constantly. She looked utterly baffled when Haylie gave her "eskimo kisses" today.