Pictures from recent days

James is gone again, to Princeton, and I'm here holding down the fort. So far - eight hours in - all is well. 

A smattering of shots from the last few days:

Leif can stand!

James left early this morning, before the rest of us woke up, for a short trip to Denmark. He'll be back late tomorrow night, but then he's leaving again on Sunday for a trip to Princeton. He missed a busy day around here!

I was clearing up after breakfast and looked into the living room to see this:

I was shocked - Leif has never in any way even attempted to pull himself up to standing before! And here he is, his first attempt successful! I had just enough time to snap the picture and run to him before he tumbled over (I caught his head before it bonked). I am amazed at how sudden this development was. 

Within minutes of that happening, I realized that Leif was sitting up in the middle of the floor - not where I had left him. He can now go from crawling to sitting (he's been doing sitting to crawling for about a week). It's an awkward thing, he sort of leans onto his side in a drunken sailor pose and muscles his way up, and it isn't always successful. 

Looks like we've entered a new era of parenting with this one - the can't-ever-let-him-out-of-our-sight era. Yikes.

And I just realized that August is 2.5 today! Portraits of him coming in a few days...

Last of the Leif portraits (for now)

This guy. Those two little teeth. That smile.

He's much easier to photograph than August is, because he sits (fairly) still.

Leif in black and white

Leif approaching eight months

I haven't given you an update on the boys in so long. Things are slowly beginning to settle after well over a month of stress and constant activity, and I've taken the time to get the camera out again and am just beginning to have spare moments here and there.

There's so much going on with Leif right now: he's crawling everywhere on his tummy and just beginning to push onto all fours; he sprouted four new teeth (four!) in the last two days; he can sit up unassisted for as long as he'd like; he's practicing going from his tummy to a seated position. Consequently, his sleep is horrible. I know I've complained about this before, but I do feel that right now it's the worst it's ever been. Oh, and he has a cold, which doesn't help anything.

But he's also a happy little boy, quick to smile, and he seems to adore August - who adores tormenting Leif. Leif loves to eat - we try give him bits of whatever we're having. Broccoli has been a winner thus far, and roasted zucchini, and peanut butter. 

 

I've started taking him to öppna förskola (open preschool) this last week, and we're both enjoying socializing and getting out of the apartment. (I think it's also where he picked up the cold.) We have our first appointment with the new BVC (barnavård central, or pediatrician/nurse's office) this week, and we'll find how exactly how big he is now. 

I have lots more portraits of him to share over the next few days - stay tuned!

A sneak peek: portraits

Finally connected the big camera to the computer to find 179 photos I hadn't uploaded - including some great portraits of Leif. No time to sort through them now, but here's a teaser:

Leif's first swing

Do you think he likes it?

Shots around home

I have realized that we will never finish unpacking. That we will always have an entire room full of stuff that needs to go somewhere. That I will never know where the envelopes are, or the Really Important Files (yikes on that one, huh?), or the other beach chair. They are in that room, I think, somewhere. For people who have made two large moves in the last few years (California to New Jersey, New Jersey to Sweden), and who have done a lot of purging with those moves, you'd think we wouldn't have so much stuff. But we do. Perhaps the most symbolic of all are the WEIGHTS that we paid to pack and ship to Sweden. Yes, weights. What were we thinking?

Which is to say that I truly can't relax, can't get comfortable, can't feel like I have even a minute to do anything but unpack, organize, forget to pay bills, do laundry, vacuum--oh, and take care of the kids. So blogging remains far, far down the priority list.

But--

Walking the trail that leaves west of our property:

August having a snack at dagis last week:

Walking the trail that leaves east of our property, and August's first proper piggyback ride:

The double nap:

The Buddha on the train

Leif discovering broccoli

We gave Leif a single floret of steamed broccoli, thinking he might take it to his mouth and munch on it. Instead, he squeezed it in his hands until it was many pieces of broccoli.

And yes, some landed in his mouth. Not very much, but some.

August and Milan

We had to go back to the old place today to do some rearranging and cleaning (there's lots left to do), and the mother of August's friend Milan offered to have him over while we worked. They had a great time - and we're so grateful for the help! Lotta, Milan's mom, sent these pictures over.

The boys at home

Okay, so this was in the stroller, not at home.