Water table fun

I bought the boys a water and sand table yesterday. They love it. We've only used it with water because I can't figure out where to buy sand.

Let's start with the video, because it's great:

I knew August would like it, but still I was surprised when the first thing he did was take off his pants and climb in.

These magnetized Tegu blocks were a gift for August for his first birthday. He was largely uninterested in them until recently, and now he's been playing with them almost nonstop for a few days. It's so wonderful to see him absorbed with something.

This is an airplane he made, with no pattern, direction, or help. I say it looks a bit more like a helicopter, but still - not bad!

The boys at home

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

I think I've shared this with you before, but here it is again. It always cracks me up: An Immigrant in Sweden. These are so funny and so very true. I'm also loving how absolutely luscious this blog is: Modern Hepburn. So often the images here give me pangs of inchoate longing, for fresh sheets and foamy lattes and crisp white shirts and puppies.

James and I are neck-deep in the anxiety and hand-wringing of mentally preparing to buy a place: will we like living there? is it a good investment? will the boys like it? will we be too isolated? will we love living on the water? And also: it will be so nice to have a dishwasher! and to do laundry whenever we want! and to wake up to a sea view every day of our lives! and to immerse our boys in nature, nature nature!

Oh my goodness, how does anyone ever buy anything? There's just so much to consider - and we're doing it in a foreign country in a foreign currency. Yikes.

But, we have these two little squirts to keep us occupied:

Hanging out and waiting

We've had a lovely weekend, mostly hanging out at home and relaxing. Ah Mah took Augie to the park both Saturday and Sunday mornings, so we were able to stay home and relax - and by relax, I mean organize, rearrange, and do other baby preparations without having to chase (or be chased by) the toddler. We've had some delicious meals and nice, calm together time. It's weird to feel a comfortable sense of stasis while knowing that everything is about to be sent into chaos (but who knows when?!).

Augie really has been such a joy lately (well, he always has been). It's wondrous watching him learn and interact with others. He's repeating words all the time and putting together sentences (short sentences, like "I carry" (which means "carry me!") or "I sleep" or "Mama sleep!"), and he's picked up a couple basic Swedish words. He's learning to care for his friends - primarily his inanimate friends, like baby doll Anna, whom he feeds, brushes her teeth, puts her on my lap, and puts her to bed. Sometimes he feeds other dolls/stuffed animals that we have, or even drawings of animals in books. When he sees another child crying, he seems genuinely concerned and wants to help. We had new friends come over this afternoon, and when the little boy (19 months) came into the apartment, Augie immediately rushed to put a raisin in his mouth.

He's stopped coming into our bed in the middle of the night (well, probably until I post at this, at which point he'll start again), and has been sleeping in his bed until morning wake-up, which comes way too early (these days usually around 5:15-5:45am). Though this morning, I awoke at 5:15am to realize he was calling my name from his room, which he's never done; I went to his room and he was sitting up, waiting for me. I asked if he wanted to come to our bed, and he laid down and said, "Mama sleep." So I laid down next to him and we both went to sleep until 7 o'clock.

As always, though, I'm sure you're here for the pictures, so here they are.

Kitchen action shots:

 Augie loves red tea (rooibos) and demands to have some whenever he sees the kettle on.

And some fruit:

Freedom day

Happy American Freedom Day! Oh wait, that's not what it called. Happy 4th of July, especially to all the Brits reading this.

We had a fun, laid-back day; Augie and I spent a few hours playing at Linden's house this morning, then we came home for our naps, then we went back to Linden's (or, really, Malin & Kristin's) for a 4th of July gathering. I think Augie loved spending the day with friends. As we were still at Linden's house fairly late, the dads threw the boys in the bath together - but those aren't pictures I can share here. You'll have to settle for our afternoon couch cuddle session.

 Selfie!:

Augie had just been using my belly for a pillow, but James wasn't able to get the shot in time. As you can see, I'm rapidly expanding:

Hanging at home

Let's start with some humor. I discovered this hilarous tumblr page written by another immigrant to Sweden (I have to assume an American). You probably have to be fairly familiar with Sweden (and Game of Thrones) to get it all, but it's still funny; and too true. Last night I went to the premiere of Welcome to Sweden, a new TV comedy about to air in Sweden (and it was purchased by NBC, so will also be showing in the US soon, so keep a look out for it!). It's about an American who leaves his NYC life to be with his girlfriend in Sweden. The premiere was funny, and I'm looking forward to watching the show (if only we can find out how, without a TV here or in the US).

Anyway, back to Augie. His chest is still rattling and you can hear him sleeping from the other room. I've picked up his cold now, too, but I think I have it worse. Which is to say that it's not been fun around here. We've been doing a lot of this:

And as always, this:

We've been making faces:

Making faces while doing the laundry:

Playing with pens:

And gazing out the window:

Augie made 15 months yesterday! And I was going to write a post about all the cool things he's doing lately, but I'm so tired that I can't remember any of them. Nothing.

But two weeks ago, he did something funny. Remember that he's sleeping in a Montessori bed? Well, I got up to pee in the middle of the night, and when I came back into the bedroom I realized that he was sleeping on the floor, his head resting on his bed. He had wiggled and squirmed all the way onto the floor! He did it twice in one week, without even waking when he made it to the floor. Now we put a pillow at the end of his bed so he doesn't roll out. Not that he'd notice anyway.

He uses utensils! He's getting better all the time. And he can drink out of a big boy cup without help, from table to mouth and back again (usually) with no mess. (Other times, there's a steady stream of milk pouring into his lap). We have to admit to being happy we skipped the sippy cup, even if it has meant more work and more mess for us. Helping him learn to do something all by himself is rewarding for all of us.

You! Stop harassing me while I eat!

One of the coolest things he's doing right now is trying to help with house chores. I can't get any sweeping done when he's awake, because he takes the broom or the dustpan (or both) and takes his turn sweeping the floor. He also likes to use a washcloth to wipe up the floor or table. And yes, we're encouraging this behavior.

Obviously, we're also encouraging pants-free Saturdays. (As though this is different attire from any other day at our house.)

Augie and I have a few games that we play while nursing, and this is my favorite: I point out a part of my face, and then touch that part of his face. He always giggles when I get to his ears. And no matter what part of my face I touch, he just points to his forehead.

Augie still doesn't use any words regularly, except "mama", which we finally think actually refers to me. All of our other friends with babies his age are talking up a storm, and have a vocabulary of at least a dozen words. I have to admit that we are a little bit worried about this, and his general lack of communication (he doesn't wave regularly either, and it seems like he's stopped using sign language). It's not anxiety-inducing worry, but we are paying close attention to this. He's always been a very physical little boy, so probably his brain is just still plugging away at all the physical feats he has to master. Did I tell you he can dribble a soccer ball??? Probably in a year or two he's going to start speaking in iambic pentameter or something.

Okay, so obviously I remembered some things that he's doing now, but that's just because I had pictures to jog my memory. I'll try to do better with posting things as they happen.

Baby bed head

We haven't been taking many pictures lately. Maybe it's because we see the sun only once every few weeks, and even then, only for a few hours. I think James and I are both feeling a bit drained from the lack of light - though it doesn't seem to have affected Augie at all. The days are getting longer, of course, but when the sky is constantly overcast, you just don't get that much-needed dose of feel-good sunlight. And when everything's always dim and cold, I'm not inspired to take out the camera.

But sometimes Augie tries to take some selfies. These are Baba-assisted, after he played with the phone camera on his own for a bit (we also have a few shots of the floor).

Sunrise and selfies

Yesterday was the 1-year anniversary of this blog! I made my first post on January 28, 2013, on Augie's 2-month birthday. (Which means that Augie reached 14 months yesterday). I've loved having a record of our little life together, and being able to share our life with you, dear friends and family spread so far around the world (we have regular hits from California, Michigan, New Jersey, England, Australia, and Hong Kong -- wow!).

If I'm being honest, I have to admit that I wish my posts were more thoughtful, that I shared more of the thoughts and feelings and experiences going on here in Augieland; I won't make excuses, I'll just say that it's hard, and that my better self hopes to write more thoughtful, more engaging, and funnier posts in the coming year. It may mean fewer posts, but if so, I promise they'll be better.

At this time of year, we get up before the sun does; on the rare day when it's not cloudy, we get to watch the sun rise:

After dinner yesterday Augie got his hands on my phone and somehow got the camera going, and then he took his first selfies:

Okay, I helped with this one: