6 months, day 13 - The ordinary, and some thoughts about stuff

Nothing much to report today; we didn't do any major exploring, just hung around the neighborhood, cleaned the house, and relaxed. Augie is much calmer today, I'm happy to report. His second top tooth has broken the gums now, so maybe he's in less pain. Or maybe he, too, needed a day off from wandering around the city.

Today's pictures are from the last several days.

We went on one small walk this afternoon. Guess Baba's driving was wild enough that Augie felt he needed to hang on:

Playing around in bed this morning. Rather unfortunate about the orange lamp coming out of Baba's nose, and his new hook-hand:

The other day in Gamla Stan, as I was finishing my latte and carrot cake (I love carrot cake), I caught this guy spying on me:

I just found this picture on my phone. Looks like Baba and baby woke up before I did some recent morning:

If you've made it this far, and want to read on, go ahead. If you just came for the pictures, you can stop now.

I wrote to a friend earlier tonight and though it might be fun to share an excerpt of that email here. 

Stockholm is beautiful. We're staying in a neighborhood just north of the city center, mostly residential but not without cafes and shops and subway stops. The buildings are 5-6 stories tall and painted in the most beautiful colors, shades that hold the sun's light and then release it, slowly, radiantly, as the evening wanes. Each street is a view; that is, each street is a view when you stop to consider it as such, when you aren't toting a baby, when you aren't so preoccupied with being yourself, when "yourself" is someone who forgot that she likes to stop and enjoy the view when walking alone in foreign cities. Babies change things, and what used to pass for success: days spent walking, admiring, being enchanted, drinking lattes and glasses of wine, having an epiphany here or there - has been supplanted by what now passes for success: surviving a day in a foreign city without a baby melting down in public or at home, seeing at least a little bit of the place, maybe taking in a hurried meal or latte or view of the rooftops from a quiet corner of the park. As more days pass I notice more about the city: how most windows of residential buildings have small lamps and an orchid placed on the sill; how most sidewalk cafes have soft blankets dropped over the backs of the chairs to warm a cool summer evening; how every park is full, no matter the time of day, with people enjoying themselves. We've also been surprised that nearly every other couple we see walking has a stroller and a baby or two; that the babies are invariably asleep or zonked out; that they usually have pacifiers; that they all look alike (yes, I'm stereotyping!). That we haven't yet seen a couple interacting with a baby under 12 months, that the young babies are toted around but not particularly noticed.

August, while a handful (an armful, a life-full), is a little bundle of happy and cute. His top two teeth have come out in the last 3-5 days, which has caused him some discomfort, but other than that he's handling this international travel thing like a champ. He's experimenting with different foods and putting up with entire afternoons spent wandering around, either in his stroller or our arms or, when he's lucky, squirming in the grass at a park. He loves when I sing to him or dance for him, and making him laugh thrills me; I want to be ridiculous for him, which is a great way to step out of myself.

So, here's to being ridiculous!