Empathy

Firstly, lets define empathy: "the 'capacity' to share and understand another's 'state of mind' or emotion. It is often characterised as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes", or in some way experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself."

So this is what happened: Yesterday morning we were playing in bed and Noah got a little rough with me. I told him that it hurt and it made mamma sad, and that he has to be more gentle. He then looked at me for a couple of seconds, took his dummy (napp in Swedish) and put it in my mouth and smiled at me. It was such a sweet gesture but at the same time quite funny so I couldn't help myself and started to laugh out loud. And so did he, so we just sat in the bed and laughed together. What a moment!

Birthday Bash

So, a year has passed... Noah turned 1 on the 12th. It feels a little surreal that he is already a year old. Even though it feels like it was yesterday that we took Noah home from the hospital, at the same time it feels as if he has been with us forever. Who knew that so much could happen in twelve months? I'm so glad that we created this blog and we've been keeping notes of the highlights of Noah's first year. In all honesty, I find that each day is a highlight in itself as you see changes in your child on a daily basis.
It has been a very rewarding and challenging year. Some days are great and they run smoothly, and then there are those days when you are ripping your hair out... But when the little one finally snuggles up in the cot in the evening, and you watch him sleep, in some weird way you cherish that "hair ripping day" too, and long for nothing else than for the morning to come so that you get to play with your beloved baby again.

So the big day was spent at Lake Monger's playground, the same spot where we celebrated my 30th in October last year. It was a relaxed birthday party, with balloons hanging in the trees, the BBQ sizzling with sausages for the kids and quiche and salads for the adults. As January is really hot in Australia, I didn't drag along a cake to the lake, and instead we munched on homemade choc chip mini muffins as we sang "Happy Birthday" to Noah.

Picnic Time

The weather is HOT! Some days between 35-40 degrees. So as often as we can we pack our bags and head out for a picnic in the shade, somewhere close to water.
Below are some pictures from a breakfast last week, next to my university, and from today's picnic at Point Walter. Noah got to play in Swan River where he learnt that seaweed is not that tasty after all....

New Years Eve

We had a lovely day with fantastic weather and spent it at our friends, Helen & Hamish, house. We were a small group of people relaxing in the garden all day and night. The food was divine, with oysters & champagne next to the pool in the afternoon and later in the evening a mixed seafood buffet, all cooked up on the BBQ. The dress code was very relaxed: SWIM GEAR, as we alternated eating and drinking with a dip in the pool. I can't think of a better way of celebrating the new year!!!

Australian Christmas Day

And so came Christmas Day! We went over to Shawn's parents for lunch. We started to open gifts and again Noah did well in tearing up the wrapping paper.
After opening all gifts, we sat down for a divine seafood lunch with prawns and crayfish, yummy!
After lunch everyone was pretty full so people kicked back and relaxed and Noah got to play with his new toys.

For dinner we were invited to our neighbours, a Swedish/ New Zealand couple. There we had a lovely Christmas dinner together with some South African and English friends over theirs.
Looking back at this day I'm thinking of how multicultural Australia actually is...I reckon that's fabulous!

Below are some pictures from Christmas day lunch:

Swedish Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve turned out to a very relaxed event at home, just the three of us.
We spent the morning quietly at home and the afternoon watching "Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul" on DVD. Here I'm assuming a big ? from all non-Swedish friends and family so here comes a little explanation;
In English, the show is called From All of Us to All of You. It is an animated television Christmas special, produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is broadcast on Swedish Television at 3 PM every Christmas Eve, in connection to the all-day traditional holiday programme during the day. The show has been broadcast every year since 1959 and has become a holiday classic. Ratings show that around 50% of all Swedes watch it on Christmas Eve!
So at 3 PM we sat down and watched our DVD version of the show and Shawn and I enjoyed a cup of glögg (heated red wine with spices such as cinnamon, cardamon and cloves- a very popular drink in Sweden during the Christmas season).
Later we had dinner and enjoyed some traditional food and drinks. Noah tried most of it and ate gladly with big appetite.
After dinner Noah got to open his gifts and even though he didn't understand the purpose of it all, he quickly picked up that ripping paper is f u n!
Below are some pics from the Christmas Eve:

December Happenings... & Pirates

1: Noah attended Melville Cricket Club's Christmas party on Saturday night, sleeping nicely in his pram. Suddenly he woke up at 10.30 PM with the greatest smile so he got to come out and play in his PJ, and ended up charming the ladies at the club with his clapping games.2: We have picked our first homegrown cherry tomato- beautiful flavour!3: Last night the tree got its place in the house. Whilst Noah was sleeping we put on some Christmas carols and drank glögg while decorating, a really cosy evening.4: Today I came home from the park with a little pirate instead of our Noah.... This is how you look like if you eat black sand: