Laughing with Ah Mah

I picked up my iPad this morning and found these fun photos:

Circuit training

As of yesterday, I've completed 38 weeks of pregnancy and am working my way through the 39th. We're at that "any day now" stage; in fact, last weekend I felt so sure that baby's arrival was imminent that we asked Ah Mah to come stay with us considerably earlier than she'd planned. Now that she's here, I'm feeling like it's going to be another few weeks! Though every time I call for James, he comes running and asks, "Did your water break??!?"

Ah Mah arrived yesterday, and we've been putting together IKEA furniture (well, that's what I've been doing for nearly two days straight), cleaning, eating, and just sort of waiting for the baby to come. Now that we have the new furniture (a couple dressers and side tables, include the same blue dresser we had back in Princeton) and most of our things are put away, I'm feeling much more settled and ready. Ready to bring a new baby into the world, ready to cocoon at home, ready to be tended to by James and Ah Mah and ready to focus on loving and nurturing my babies.

I'm also feeling a bit sad that this time with Augie - just us and Augie - is drawing to a close. Though it certainly hasn't been easy (he doesn't make anything easy!), I've loved beginning our little family with this wondrous, funny, resilient little boy, and loved that I can devote so much love and energy to him (well, less energy in recent months). It's going to be wonderful in entirely new ways to have the four of us, but I'll miss him being my first baby. My only baby.

Actually, I probably won't even notice. I'll probably be too tired, fatigued, and whacked out on roller-coaster hormones to even remember when it was just the three of us.

Dagis seems to be getting a bit better for Augie every day - James said he didn't even cry this morning when he and Ah Mah dropped him off. He spent most of the day in his stroller again, but the nannies said that he was engaged and watching the other kids and was otherwise happy. She also said this is totally normally - the hanging out in the stroller all day thing - and that they see it a lot.

I picked him up this afternoon and we stopped to play at the circuit-training area of a little sliver of park on the walk home. He had so much fun.

I'll try to get some shots of Augie with Ah Mah up soon! He loves having her here, and she seems to be really enjoying him, too. It's so great to see.

Family goof time

It's getting better

Today was much better than last week for Augie at dagis. He cried when James dropped him off, and did spend part of his day in the stroller, but he also got out and played - and he even fell asleep in the nap room, rather than in the stroller. That's a huge step!

One of the nannies, Åsa, sent this picture to us this afternoon. He woke up when she moved, so he only had a 40-minute nap (he's been sleeping for three hours when he naps in bed at home), but we're so pleased that he went right into the nap room with all the other kids and sat down. We're also so pleased that they're taking such good care of him. Though it looks like we need to get him his own pillow.

When I picked him up this afternoon he was sitting in his stroller, but he was happy and looking around (rather than his shell-shocked expression last week) and he gave me a great big smile, rather than tears. As we walked home, he chatted away and pointed at things and was his usual silly self. What a relief for all of us.

The only thing that isn't getting better is bathtime. He used to love his post-prandial bath! Some evenings James couldn't get him out. But since he started at dagis he refuses to go in the water; we've resorted to taking him into the shower with us, where he screams and screams - but we need to get him clean somehow, at least every few days. We can't figure out why he suddenly hates the bath (and shower), and we don't know what to do to fix it.

This is him when we got home:

Augie loves to play in the elevator. He gets a cheeky look on his face when he goes inside and closes the door on me, so that I'm standing outside watching him. Today he managed to close both doors (they both have to be closed for the elevator to run), and apparently someone had called the elevator, because as soon as he closed the inner door the elevator started going up! So I turned and ran up and up to the fifth floor - can you imagine that, me at 8.5 months pregnant, running up three flights of stairs? All the while I could hear Augie, happy, saying "bye bye" every time he passed a floor. When I got him out at the top he was all smiles. Cheeky chap.

Waking up is hard to do

...well, it is for some of us. Others of us are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed way too early in the morning.

Eating elderberries

We didn't make any social plans this weekend, so we've had some time to putz around the apartment and to hang out together. After a lovely family nap, we had lunch and went to the beach at Långholmen. When we arrived, Augie climbed out of the stroller and started running around. I love watching him run - he's so happy and free, his blond little head bouncing. I could watch him run all day. He played in the sand, he dipped his toes in the (freezing!) water, he made friends with other kids in the sand. We take him to the playground often, but it's so nice to have a park nearby where there aren't toys and structures - a place where he can just run around and make up his own games, explore nature, and run free.

Walking home, we stopped into the community garden on the island. Augie found an elderberry tree (or black currant?) and started eating the berries. Yum yum!

Queequeg update

Today's ultrasound confirmed what we suspected: the baby's head has dropped. Way down there. The woman who performed the ultrasound even seemed surprised at how far down Queequeg is. The dip is my uterine measurement is now officially explained. They say that with second pregnancies, the baby doesn't usually drop until labor has begun. Guess I've got a couple-week head start on labor, huh?

And we also confirmed what I already suspected: this baby is big (at least by American standards), too (Augie was 8 lbs 1 oz when we arrived one week early). The estimate is that Queequeg currently weighs just over seven pounds - so if s/he keeps cooking for another 2.5 - 3 weeks, until my due date, s/he'll be coming close to nine pounds! So, please, let's get this thing out of there sooner. I'm hoping for about another week, and in all honesty I feel like I can't handle much longer than that. The baby sitting so low makes everything uncomfortable, especially walking and bending over. Thank goodness I rarely have to bend over with a toddler around. =)

Our goal for this weekend is to get to the point where we feel fully ready for the baby to arrive - apartment in order (James put up the bassinet yesterday!), all the newborn clothes and textiles washed and folded (halfway there), new dresser and lights purchased, maps and guide sheets for all our helpers printed, etc. Though of course we already have all that we really need for a new baby - loving parents, fully functioning breasts, enough clothes and diapers to keep everyone clean and dry for at least a few days.

Oh - and we got more good news today - Augie did much better at dagis than he has all week! Åsa, the "nanny" at dagis who seems to care of him the most, said that today he was "back on track", even though he cried after James dropped him off. He played, he flirted, he ate, and he napped! When I went to pick him up, he was up and playing with the other kids (rather than sitting catatonic in his stroller, as he was yesterday). I'm sure that after being home with us over the weekend Monday will be difficult again, but we're hoping next week is much better.

An Augie self-portrait:

The view from up here

This is what things look like from my point of view:

Yikes! It looks like I'm going to blow!

For my birthday yesterday, James arranged for me to have a pedicure - my first ever - and a massage. We were going to spend the day together, visiting the photography museum and getting lunch, but Augie developed diarrhea the night before and we couldn't take him to dagis. So James took care of Augie while I was pampered.

That morning the three of us enjoyed a latte (well, 2.5 of us did) and chocolate croissants (well, 2 of us) from the chocolate shop across the street. Then James took Augie to the park while I went home.

We took Augie to school again today, as his diarrhea cleared up, and he had another horrible day of it. He started crying before they reached the school, and he spent the entire day in his stroller. When I arrived to get him in the afternoon, he has sitting in the stroller, looking shell-shocked. He cheered up on the way home, but it was terrible to see him looking so...numb and abandoned. We've spoken to some friends who say it's taken their kids anywhere from three weeks to three months to get adjusted; let's hope to be on the shorter end of that range.

Adjusting - road bumps

I may have mentioned before that Augie's first week of preschool (dagis) went very well; this second week is a different story. He has cried both days when James dropped him off. On Monday, they said he cried all morning and was so exhausted they had to put him to sleep before lunch (they saved some for him); he cried again today when James dropped him off, and they said that he was upset all day and spent most of the day in his stroller, uninterested in playing or eating. Both nights have been very rough - when James and I set to getting dinner on the table he gets incredibly clingy, demands to be carried, and refuses to eat much. We can't get him in the bath. As I write this he's screaming in his bedroom as James tries to put him to sleep (I did my bit, which wasn't enough). He only napped for about 35-45 minutes both days, so he's incredibly tired in the evening (hence the difficult dinnertime), but tonight he just can't seem to calm down.

We knew this transition would be difficult but were lulled into false comfort when last week went so well. Of course this is good for him - getting some independence (and separation from Mama) before the baby comes - but it's so hard to watch him go through this.

As for the baby - as of tomorrow I will be full term! 37 weeks is considered "early term", I think, which means that the baby is fully cooked but could still use some time in the womb. As uncomfortable as I am (and I'm quite uncomfortable), we'd like #2 to stay inside another couple weeks. I met with my midwife yesterday, and everything's fine though my uterus is measuring a bit small. She thinks it's because the baby seems to have dropped already (which would explain the discomfort, especially while walking/standing) and she isn't concerned, but standard protocol is to send me in for an ultrasound, which has been scheduled for Friday.

When Augie first gets home from dagis he's usually in a great mood and ready to play. For example:

Here's hoping the week gets easier, not harder for him (and us).21

Sunny afternoon in the orchard

This afternoon we visited friends we made while living here last winter - they live in the building next to the one we lived in. They had us over for tea and apple cobbler (made, I think, from apples from orchard!). It was neat to revisit our old "neighborhood"; the grounds are so much nicer in summer than they were in the winter!

Eating berries in the archipelago

On Saturday we visited with friends who have a summer house on an island in the archipelago. We took a bus about an hour out of town, and when we got off our friend met us in his boat to take us to their island. After a 15-minute boat ride we climbed a narrow path to their house, and were greeted with wonderful views, glorious sunshine, and more Quasian babies! Ahh, they're living the Swedish dream (sooo much nicer than the American dream!).

The path to the house, and the house itself, were bordered by lingonberry and blueberry bushes - it was the first time Augie's shown interest in picking and eating berries. I loved watching him forage for blueberries.

Our friend's younger daughter (also quarter Asian, in case you missed that above) and her grandmother:

Decorating

Augie's been helping place our art on the walls here. He loves to take this little painting off the wall and put it back on. The painting above is one of the first ones he ever made.

My morning boy

You'll probably see a lot of breakfast pictures on here - we get the best light, and it's the stillest Augie is all day. It also means his face is covered in food and he's often chewing.

Augie's at dagis (that's the word for preschool/daycare here) right now - completing his first-ever full week of preschool! It's gone better than we'd imagined so far. James was with him at school all day Monday, I was with him all day Tuesday, and since Wednesday he's been there without us. He hasn't cried at all when James has dropped him off! And he hasn't cried when I've come to pick him up, either! He seems to feel very at home there, and he comes home in the afternoon full of energy and words (so far we aren't picking up any Swedish vocabulary, but I'm sure it's coming).

When I was with him on Tuesday, just after snack time a boy - probably a few months younger than Augie - was standing alone and crying, crying, crying. Augie stood watching him, looking concerned. Then Augie got his cup of milk and offered it to the boy; when the boy didn't want it, Augie found a pacifier on a bench and tried giving that to him to cheer him up. The boy didn't want that, either, so Augie ran off and found another boy and stuck the pacifier in his mouth (that boy continued to suck on it for some minutes!). It was touching to see him caring for another baby, trying to help him feel better.

On the home front, we are mostly unpacked! I won't say that we're organized or that everything is in its place, but most of the boxes are empty and now we're opening up the last few and desperately trying to decide where to put everything. It's so nice to have our dishes and our silverware and our glassware and our cooking pots! Our big struggle now is to find somewhere to put all of our clothes; we're probably going to have to make another IKEA run to buy some sort of wardrobe, as we were out of drawer space with just the few bags we brought on the plane with us, and we have six or seven big boxes of clothes to put away.

Even though I know that I'm eight months pregnant and my body is under much strain baking this little baby, I've been surprised by how quickly I fatigue while unpacking. I can only get through two-three boxes before I have to sit down (or better, lay down and nap). And because of the amount of work and energy I'm putting into unpacking, the whole yoga-and-Swedish-lessons everyday thing is going to have to wait until next week to become a reality.

And I haven't even packed a hospital bag for the birth, or figured out the route to the hospital!

One last pic before I go: