Little baby boy

We've been happy and busy around here. My job is going well - I'm loving going into the city by myself, talking to other adults about things other than poop, and, of course, earning a paycheck. We've got two very exciting trips coming up - Christmas and New Years in Devon with James's family (and some friends!), and then in January and February we're going to Portugal for a month! We'll be spending time with another family who live here in our town, with kids the same age as ours. So the next two months or so will be a whirlwind of (happy) activity!

But, entirely unrelated to that, I've been digging through photos and finding some gems that I've never shared with you. Like these:

Don't you want to just get in there and shnarffle the heck out of him?

Mr. Happy

This guy, almost every day:

Leif's singing birthday card

Before I get to the video, it's time to admit that I'm just not going to be posting every day anymore. Between the general exhaustion of running after these two, taking Swedish class two nights a week, dinners with friends and neighbors, and parent meetings at school (not to mention a job I hope to start next month!), I'm just out of energy for updating so often. I'll do what I can, though, to keep great pictures and videos coming to you.

Grandma sent Leif a very fun singing birthday card, and both boys have been over the moon about playing with it. Look how excited Leif is! (Email subscribers, click here to view the video.)

A day at Hornstull

Today was a beautiful autumn day, so we decided to head into Stockholm and run around our old neighborhood. We had such a lovely, laid-back day.

In this picture, he's telling me stop taking his picture. "It makes me angry."

May I present to you...

...Leif, the walker! (Email subscribers, click here to watch Leif totter about!)



Leif LOVES walking. He is so happy and proud to be bipedal. He has also become quite the cheeky bugger, too; I can't say quite what it is, but ever since he's been walking, he's seemed a bit more mischievous to me. There's a new glimmer in his eye, and that glimmer means trouble.

Guys, remember this and this? I can't believe August was ever so little! Listen to those screeches, look at that little toodle-toddle (I just made that up). Where does the time go? {Tear in my eye.}

Dinner with the neighbors

We are so, so lucky to have amazing neighbors, Henrik and Agneta. We share a balcony with them and their two-year old Chesapeake Bay retriever. They invited us over for a traditional midsommar lunch back in June, and since then we've been sharing (almost) weekly dinners. We host one week, they host the next. It's been great on so many levels: James and I get other adults to talk to on a regular basis; we get informal lessons on Swedish society, history and language; the boys get spoiled with ice cream (see below!), and at least one night every other week, neither of us has to cook or do dishes. We're always saying that we won the neighbor lottery--we're so lucky to have them.

Big baby Leif

The big, big news around here is that Leif is walking! A couple weeks ago he took a few steps, and he went on for a couple weeks with just a step or two here and there. And then, a few days ago, he just started walking as much as he could. Two days ago was the first day that he walked more than he crawled. I don't have a good video of it yet, I'll try tomorrow. But in the meantime...

I don't have many days of this left, do I? This cute little squiggle crawling up to my knees, then climbing up onto my legs and wrapping his arms around my neck -- soon he'll just be crashing into me, arms outstretched.

(I know they aren't in focus - he was moving too fast - but the series was too cute not to post.)

When I walked away with the camera that he'd crawled all that way to get:

Getting ready to eat!

He remains a serious eater. We have to feed him far more than we feed August! He's getting better with a fork and has the idea of a spoon, but he usually holds it upside-down.

Leif the little reader

Leif at 11 months

Here are a couple almost-successful photos of Leif at 11 months (which happened about a week ago, on the 29th of August). The big developments of this month are, in fact, big: he's walking and talking! Leif consistently says three words in an appropriate context: "baba", "uh-oh" (usually when he drops something), and "hej hej" ("hello" in Swedish). About a week ago, he took his first major steps - seven assisted steps in the kitchen to me! He took a break from walking, and then in the last two days he's started walking more and more, a few unassisted steps here and there. He's quite confident on his feet, so I expect he'll get better quickly.

Ah mah and Auntie Tina are here visiting for a few days - will share pictures soon.

Leif at 10 months

While James has been away, the boys and I have slipped into a lovely rhythm, sleeping late in the mornings, getting August off to school, spending quiet time around the house, and being outdoors after pickup. I've even managed to figure out how to get Leif into the baby carrier on my back all by myself for our evening walks. The bedtime routine has been anything-but-lovely, though, as suddenly this week Leif is having lots of early wakings (but his sleep the rest of the night has been great). I think 9:30 is the earliest I've gotten them both sent off to sleep. It'll be nice to have reinforcements with us tomorrow - James is coming back!

I've been wanting to do individual posts about the boys, but haven't had the mental energy to get them up. Let me try now...

These photos are from a couple weeks ago, when Leif made ten months. At ten months he can stand fairly well without holding on to anything and he's just started cruising on furniture. He babbles with a lot of ma-ma-ma and da-da-da and especially ba-ba-ba. All of our neighbors remark on how happy he is, greeting everyone with a smile. I've been using (very basic) sign language with him, and in the past week it *seems* like he's starting to sign back, things like all done, more, and waving hello and good-bye. (I've added in some other signs like airplane and boat and dog, and August seems to enjoy using those.)

We didn't quite figure out the framing here, did we?

His seventh tooth broke the gums a week or more ago and I think he has another on the way out, so he'll have all eight of his front teeth very soon. He loves to clap and play in the water table. He eats everything, copiously. Often, as soon as I start to set the table for a meal, he'll crawl to his chair and wait - though not so patiently, he usually screams to be fed.

Look at these photos of August at 10 months! Can't you see how cheeky he is?

Grinda, again

We took a short trip to Grinda last week, an island in the archipelago where we spent a few nights two years ago. a last trip before our summer holiday ended. We spent way too much money, but we had a great time.

The same beach we went to last time:

This little blueberry eater: