Breakfast with my boys

This is what breakfast generally looks like in our home. (Well, usually Augie is wearing clothes). Augie could eat three breakfasts a day, and sometimes does. He's much less interested in dinner.

We found a new park

Our Norwegian neighbors tipped us off to a park we hadn't been to, across a long bridge on an island called Kungsholmen. We all three (four!) walked there this morning, then James took the bus to work and Augie and I played. It was fantastic! It's got so much for little ones to do and explore, both climbing/play equipment and areas designed to ignite the imagination. I saw a dad from our local park there, too, and he was there for the same reason I was - sometimes we just get sick of going to the same place every day (twice a day). I'm very excited to take Augie there again and again!

 Flying high on the swings:

This slide was really big so I tried to go down with him the first time - but he just pushed off without me and left me at the top! He ran up the stairs and went down again about 5 times. He loved it.

These are Augie's favorite things on playgrounds: he rocks back and forth like a wild man.

One of those high-imagination areas: a "garage" where the kids can give all the bicycles and tricycles and carts tune-ups and such:

Apropos of nothing else in this post, the view from our living room window:

Mmmmm!

Augie enjoying his mid-morning snack (email subscribers click here to view the video):

Waking up

This morning we went to check out a town where we'd considered buying a house; but, like most towns around here, it was missing the town part. There was a concrete shopping center and a nice little bakery, but no cozy square or central area for gathering, eating, people-watching. We'll have to keep searching.

We were all exhausted when we got home, so Augie and I took a nap together. These are the "after" pictures.

(That's my belly his heading is resting beside):

Relaxing

Ahhh. We've arrived.

It finally feels like it, at least.

We had friends come over on Friday and they were magnificent with helping us move furniture, watch Augie and vacuum as we went. And the result is that we have a layout we can live with. There's still a lot to do - we're going to swap bedrooms once we buy a new bed (our backs are killing us!) - especially when our things arrive in a few weeks, but we're comfortable enough now that we can relax a little.

This is Augie's new bedroom (remember his old one?):

It's a big room for a little boy, and it takes a lot of space that we could use in other ways, but there's just no way we can have him in that little dark cell anymore. And he has definitely relaxed - yesterday was the shortest bedtime we've had (since overcoming jet lag) and tonight was the first scream-free bedtime we've had! As soon as our bedtime routine began last night, everything just felt different - he was so much happier, so much more relaxed, better able to understand what was happening and what was expected of him (go to sleep!).

Baba also finds it relaxing:

Today we went to Ikea (reputedly the largest in the world) to look at beds and rugs and curtains and all the other things one goes to Ikea to look at. We were hoping to get a king-sized bed, but that's not a standard size here and they didn't have anything as large as we wanted. We're going to need a lot of space for all those babies sleeping in our bed! And we ran into one of Augie's old preschool teachers while we were there! Remember when he went to preschool a few days per week when we were here last winter? I saw her and thought she looked familiar, but then thought, I don't really know anyone in Stockholm so I can't know her, but then James saw her and figured it out immediately. She seemed thrilled to see Augie. She lives nearby, so we're going to try to get in touch with her.

I took a big nap after we got home, as I was utterly exhausted (I could use a 2-hour nap each day just to feel normal - this baby's taking it all out of me). Before dinner we went for a stroll through the neighborhood:

Augie was hilarious at dinner - I gave him a bowl of frozen peas, and he'd hold each one up before putting it in his mouth, waiting for me to name it. "Pea!" I'd say, then he'd grin and put it in his mouth. Over and over and over again.

I forgot to tell you that yesterday we went on a tour of Augie's new preschool, where he still start on August 29. It's about a 15-minute walk from here (also a bus that goes right there). We were really impressed. His age group there is called the Trolls, and he'll be in the green group. We liked the layout, the light, the rooms, the teacher we met, and they serve 60-70% organic food! We know it will be a difficult transition for him, but we are really excited about this place and think it will be great for him. They speak Swedish there, but because almost everyone speaks English they'll be able to communicate with him until he understands Swedish.

That's all. Hope you're having a great weekend.

Our local park

We're starting to feel really excited about making this apartment our home. We have big plans to rearrange all the rooms tomorrow (seriously, three out of four rooms are changing their purpose entirely!); the most important thing about doing this is that it gets Augie out of this little hovel of a "bedroom":

And they call this a civilized country!

We also have to do some major rearranging before our things arrive in a couple weeks - we're going to be overwhelmed with stuff. We got rid of so much before we left, but I'm sure it will still be a shock to see how much arrives. Luckily there's actually a decent amount of space here, we just have to figure out how to use it well.

We've been sleeping on a terrible mattress, and James and I have been waking up with backaches; this weekend we're going to buy a great big bed that we can all sleep in. Augie has been sleeping with us the last few nights, and we love it. That said, we want him to get back into sleeping in his own bed before the new baby comes. Back in Princeton, he would sleep most of the night in his bed, and then come to ours when he woke in the night (anywhere between midnight and 6am, though usually around 4am).

* * *

We spend a lot of time at the local park. It's just a block away, there's an area for Augie-sized creatures, a little splash pool, and lots of space to run around. James usually takes Augie there in the morning while I get a little extra sleep (the baby needs it!), and then there's usually another trip there in the afternoon.

Augie wheeling around Parklek Högalid:

Here he is in the splash pool. We love that children here often go swimming naked, and it isn't a big deal to let your kid run around with no clothes on (though last week there was an accident in the pool, from a kid right next to Augie, but we've learned that they empty and clean the pool out regularly). After they swim, you'll often see kids running around the rest of the playground naked.

Tomorrow we begin the big apartment rearrange (with some help from James's friends for the heavy lifting), and then in the afternoon we're hoping to go check out a town where we're considering buying a house.

Staying in Söder

After an emotionally trying 12+ hours, we've decided to stay here in this apartment in Södermalm. We love the neighborhood, the parks, the connectivity, and we're getting to know the neighbors. We are more than a bit surprised by the utter lack of human decency the property owner has shown us (not too surprising when you consider he has books about the "Aryan Christ" in his home), compounded by a similar lack of sympathy or assistance from our so-called representative at the letting agency. Nevertheless, we're going to find a way to make it work here, and we're going to go out of our way to find kind, helpful people who can show us a different side of Swedish/Stockholm nature. Augie starts at a great preschool in two weeks, the weather is beautiful, and we'll soon be blessed with another bundle of poop and energy and love.

Duck duck duck

Last weekend we went walking in Djurgården with James's interns. who are visiting from Princeton. Augie chased ducks and grabbed onto an electric fence! He didn't even react, but it sure scared me when I went to help him.

That hair!

Can you believe the hair?:

We finally feel like we are getting settled. The exhaustion and stress from packing, flight delays, and arriving here are passing; today was the first day that I actually felt good (rather than tired, cranky, and unsettled). Augie seems happy, except when bedtime comes: I think he hates his room (which, in all fairness, isn't really a bedroom and is just an entryway with a bed thrown in it, with no natural light - it depresses me going in there for just a minute), and bedtime has become a major endeavor. The first few nights bedtime was fine, as he was so exhausted and jet-lagged he fell asleep nursing with a few minutes and that was that; now that he's settled into a normal wake-sleep routine, he fights bedtime with all his little might (and this kid has a lot of might).

We're considering staying in this apartment if we can find a way to make the stairs manageable, and rearranging the rooms so that Augie has a humane place to sleep. It's shocking how little concern or care is given tenants here, and we're having a funny (only in that it isn't funny at all, but borderline offensive/abusive) conversation with the property owner about what we can do to make this place livable (and fix the small things that were broken when we moved in). You'd think we'd asked the owner to change the airport's flight path so planes would no longer fly overhead, the way he's treating us. Alas - just some of the bumps on the road to acquainting ourselves with the Swedish culture, I suppose.

James has been easing into work while spending a lot of time at home while we also get used to a new routine. I figure that just when we all get used to our new life, the little one will pop out and everything will be on its head again.

Långholmen

We're having internet connection problems, so here's just a quick post. We live within short walking distance of a great island park with a small beach. We took some visiting friends/colleagues there this afternoon. 

Arriving

I'm sorry that it's been so long since my last post, and that I didn't warn you that I'd be going on hiatus. I won't say that I'm back for good, but I'm hoping for more consistency in the coming days/weeks. Here's a recap of what's been going on the last week or so.

We moved out of our apartment last Saturday night to spend a night at the Nassau Inn in downtown Princeton the night before our flight to Sweden. We'd sold all of our furniture and the rest of our belongings had been packed and put into the shipping container. We had a lovely last dinner (or so we thought) with our friends Malin, Kristin and Linden. Sunday morning we woke to find that our flight, which was supposed to depart at 9:30 that night from JFK, had been delayed seven hours and was now scheduled to leave at 4:30am. We decided to rebook to the following night, because we didn't want to take August on a middle-of-the night flight. Unfortunately, the flight we were rescheduled onto was also seven hours late, but we took it anyway. We stayed at the hotel for three nights (the last night only until midnight, when our car arrived to take us to the airport), and had another afternoon and another farewell dinner with Malin, Kristin and Linden. It was so much fun, during our last week in Princeton, to watch Linden and Augie spend so much time together. They both seemed to really enjoy being around each other, and it was a delight for us to watch Augie's interactions with another kid (well, except when he was hitting Linden or snatching things from him).

The flight was fine; we were placed on a EuroAtlantic flight (instead of Norwegian Air, which we had booked), but we had business class seats. Flying business class internationally makes all the difference: we all slept for about five hours, nearly horizontal, with Augie lying on my chest and between my legs that whole time. He spent the rest of the flight exploring our cabin and the service areas. The flight crew was Portuguese, and it was surprising to me that the men on the crew took to Augie and were patient and understanding with his constant running around. At one run around the cabin, two of the male attendants interrupted what they were doing to reach down and tousle his hair. Although we must have been disruptive, the crew didn't make us feel that way.

So now we've moved into our apartment and are settling in. We're in a great neighborhood with parks and shops and cafes everywhere around us, only about 75 meters from the water (though we can't quite see it from our windows). However, as much as we had looked forward to settling into this neighborhood and spending a year or so in the city before moving farther afield, we don't think living in this building is going to work for our family. The biggest issue is the stairs: just to get in to the building from the street, you have to walk up a set of stairs before you reach the main level (where the teeny-tiny elevator is). It's quite difficult to pull the stroller up the stairs, especially for a pregnant lady. And it's going to be even harder when there are two babies in the stroller! Yesterday we went grocery shopping and I tried to pull the stroller up with Augie and one bag of groceries in it; I couldn't! In fact, the effort gave me a Braxton-Hicks contraction (a so-called "practice" contraction). By peeking through entryways, we've noticed that almost every other building in the neighborhood has an inner ramp to guide baby-toting parents into the building - we seem to be in the only one that doesn't.

The elevator fits three people, if they really like each other and if they aren't carrying anything; again, I don't know how I can get from the stroller storage room up to the apartment if I am carrying two babies, a diaper bag, and even a small bag of groceries. We met a couple the other night who moved out of this neighborhood when they had children for these very reasons.

We have some other small issues with the apartment itself that compound the accessibility question (miniscule bathrooms, odd layout, the apartment already being so full of someone else's stuff that there's hardly room for our things). We are in the process of looking for something else, which has taken no small amount of pleading and wrangling with the property owner and the rental agency. And it's been shocking how unsympathetic, even unhelpful, the rental agency has been. I imagine Swedes don't ever complain, or that they would never consider moving out in the way that we are, so they just don't know what to do with us. It also demonstrates that Stockholm is very much a lessor's market, and the slim pickings for lessees mean there is little negotiating room - or sympathy - when something doesn't work.

All of this said, now that we have some of our basic errands out of the way and the jet lag is diminishing, we are starting to enjoy being here and beginning to imagine what our lives might be as we integrate ourselves into the life of the city. After going to the bank this afternoon (we had to talk our way in, because counter service for customers ends at 1pm!), we sat in a park while Augie played in a sandbox (below) and chased pigeons. We watched families coming and going, young children playing, watching and listening to the city around us. At least for a few moments, it felt good to be here.

Augie's adjusting well, exploring his new home and getting into the new time zone, though evenings are difficult as he's tired and overstimulated and prone to hitting and fit-throwing. We've taken some evening walks along the water, which have been lovely. We're quite torn in our decision to leave, because we love the area more the longer we're here; but we just can't see, from a practical standpoint, how we can make it work.