A dumpling and his dad

I owe you a few posts, don't I? I have two happiness project posts to do (reviewing my second month and introducing my third) and a 5-month Leif update. You'll get them eventually.

I find his bug-eyed look so funny.

And James's hair! I also find that funny!

Major Dumpling

Band aid boy

When Ah Mah visited she brought us several winter headbands - which August calls "band-aids." This morning he decided to try them all out - at once. He experimented with how he could wear them: all around his torso...

...or all around his head:

A bit later, James had his first Superdad moment:

The sweetest thing happened yesterday at dinner. As we were all sitting at the table eating, I said, "August, isn't it nice to have Baba back with us, and to all be eating dinner together?" He didn't say a word, but he climbed down from his chair, walked to James, and wrapped his little arms around James's neck and gave him a big squeeze. Then he went back to his chair and continued eating.

Just a couple pics to let you know I haven't forgotten about you.

Rolling around Gamla Stan

Yesterday morning we visited Gamla Stan. We started our trip with hot chocolate and a super-decadent Valhrona chocolate ball with whipped cream. August was in fine form after that, as you can see below.

In other news, Ah Mah arrived this afternoon for a visit of nearly two weeks! August is SO excited to have her here. James will be going to the US and Spain, which is why she came to help us - I still feel totally overwhelmed at the prospect of caring for Captain Chaos and Major Dumpling on my own.

At the cafe with Major Dumpling:

Captain Chaos getting revved up:

I have no idea why he started rolling around on the ground. It reminded me of his first trip to the sea last spring:

And then again on the subway:

And then he tried to crawl into a building across the street:

My kiddos

Not much to report around here...we had two gloriously sunny days that have made everything fresh and new again. Still no news on the apartment, we're waiting on some things.

August was still sleeping when I arrived at dagis to pick him up today - look at that mane:

4

Return of the light

You guys, I have the best news:

Do you see that? That tiny little sliver of light? For about twenty minutes today, there was light in our apartment! We had about two weeks of grey days, wet with rain and snow. By the time the clouds lifted, the days had grown nearly an hour longer. James and I both feel so different - our small, cramped, dark world feels a bit more expansive now, our home less like a cave, us less like troglodytes.

And this guy - oh, this guy. Sigh...

I am so, so lucky to have these boys in my life. All three of them. 

Reaching four months

A couple days ago (or is it a full week already?) Leif reached four months old. Not much to report - he's so very close to rolling over back-to-front but he isn't quite there yet. He's been playing with sounds a lot lately, pressing his lips together and humming, and making a gorgeous squeal-purr, and sometimes just plain shouting and shrieking. He's very good at reaching out and grabbing things (which he must be learning from his brother, who snatches everything out of Leif's hands if we aren't watching, and often even if we are!). When he's well rested he's as happy as can be, just waiting to share his chubby smiles with us; when he's not well rested, which can happy all too easily as we chase Captain Chaos around, he shares his screams and squirms with us.

Teaser: we're hoping to give you news about a home in the next week!

First, a totally unrelated photo of Augie and James finger painting with homemade finger paints:

(Here's Augie at four months.)

I love that he looks a little terrified, a little confused; and just look at those tiny hands!

4 month preview

Hoping to get more pictures and an update soon, but for now:

Little chubster

I love babies lying on their sides. I don't know why, I just do. Leif doesn't sleep on his side yet but I'm hoping he'll start to soon (if only to get off the flat spot on his head!).

Look at all the chubby goodness:

Boys at home

Augie was off of school on Friday, so we're just finishing a three-day weekend. Augie was sick on Saturday and spent almost the entire day lying on the couch burning up.

(A little scary to have a toddler sleeping with no pants, right? He's done it four times now and hasn't wet himself.)

I think it's also because we haven't been doing huge trips each day. We used to spend at least one weekend day packing up and heading out for six hours or so, and that just exhausted us and the boys, and evenings would be so tough. Recently we've just been hanging out near home, going to the local cafe, watching movies in the evenings, doing the shopping, etc. It's making our days together so much smoother. It also helps that we've really nailed a routine with Leif, and so he's napping well and he's just full of smiles when he's awake. For example:

Today we went to a couple open houses in Sundbyberg, and found one place we really liked. We're strongly considering bidding on it! One of the best things is that there's a great playground right across the street, visible from the living room window.

James is going to Oslo this week for three days, and I'll be alone with the boys for the first time. I'm terrified. Thank goodness Leif has become such a good sport lately - I'm hoping he'll cut me some slack (because August most likely won't!). Wish me luck.

Oh - and Leif made four months on Saturday! Photos coming soon...