Summer Days

July has been a great month so far. Preschool is closed and therefore I took the whole month off. Today Shawn officially start his holiday and it is quite a challenge to decide what where are going to do! There are so many things to choose from and we want to do it all.

So far we have had a fantastic summer. The weather is that good that the Swedes (including us) are starting to complain it is too hot. We have had lovely visitors from both Perth and Stockholm.

Noah loved having his old friend, Nathan, from Australia here and happily shared his toys and room with him and his mum Hanna. We spent four days together which of course was way too short- time flies when having fun! Noah didn't like to see his friend depart so luckily we had the pleasure of welcoming our friends from Stockholm shortly after Nathan and Hanna left. Our little boy is very social and was so happy to see "Mamma Isa, Pappa Benny, Ludwig och Cornelia" again. At first he told us that he was "lite blyg" but after five minutes he forgot about his shyness and it was all play.

This weekend we just spent at home lazing about with a visit to the beach and BBQ at Annelie & Tony's place. Noah is very fascinated of his godmother as she is due in 3 weeks. Noah knows it's a baby in there - he once stated that she ate the baby (!) - and you can tell he is still really puzzled by the whole "big belly situation".

Today we are thinking of what do during the next two weeks. The weather is going to be hot, hot and hot so the best is to be at the beach all week. We are thinking of renting a car for a week and go down to Skåne county´s coast line and visit some friends and then pay mormor and morfar a visit. Time will tell, life is hard when on holiday ;-)...

Mother´s Day

A great, slightly different gift on Mother's Day:

It was time for nappy change and we were about to put on a fresh nappy. "No" said Noah. "No nappy". "Ok, but then you need to go on the potty instead" we answered. Noah went to the bathroom, picked up the potty and carried it into his room. He sat down on the potty and did his business. And that's that.

Puddles and Worms

Jumping in puddles is a blast and even the adults in our family have invested in gum boots! As it rains the worms come out and you find them everywhere on the streets. Worms are animals, Noah stated one afternoon last week. We watched the crawling worms and then spotted a dead one. Noah looked at it for a minute and said "Mask (worm) tired". Interesting observation...

The laugh of the day

We were walking alongside the boat harbour in Sannegårdshamnen. Just had a lovely waffle lunch with some sparkly on our friends' sunny balcony overlooking the water (yes, Sweden is pretty darn great half of the year). Anyway, Noah is in a great mode checking out everything that we pass. Then we walked pass a couple with a tiny, tiny dog and Noah burst out in excitement :"Look the cat!".

Mr. Chatterbox

Here is someone with lots to tell - I think children must long for this moment, when they finally can start to communicate so others can understand them. To be able to tell stories and sing along to music.

The development of speech is very noticeable from week to week. Very social and bubbly. He tells us about his experiences. He is happy too, so he tells me; almost daily he says that he is happy: "Noah lycklig". The language is still a mix of Swedish and English, where the English is coming through much better, especially when talking about dagis. And daycare is a favorite one to talk about; what they been up to, the names of all the new friends and the new things they've learnt.

Today we came home and Noah sang a new song for me; "Noah loves friends, Noah laughs with friends". He likes to dance and wiggle along to the new songs - proudly showing off the latest moves also learnt at dagis. It's such a energy booster to see him being so happy at daycare and that he has adjusted to this new lifestyle so well. In fact, he likes it so much that when we are at home and we have to discipline him, he just looks at us and then says: "Noah åka tåg till dagis". Oh little Noah, the grass is never greener on the other side... ;-)

The experience of Christmas is still a strong memory. Yesterday someone was hammering in a hook in the wall next door and Noah looked at me with big eyes and said "tomten". I replied that Santa wasn't here but when he does come he always asks "Are there any nice/good children in the house?". Noah remembered the answer to this one, probably since we practiced it every day throughout December. So then I asked him if Noah was a good child - he replied promptly with a yes and a smile. "So what does the children get from Santa then?" Noah looked at me and said "Train track". Indeed Santa did bring, amongst a lot of other things, a train track.

2nd week at work...

...and I'm tired. Nothing unusual though since I'm normally ready for bed when Noah goes down at 7.30 pm. Work is good though - I'm enjoying the 7am starts (my choice as it allows for an earlier pick up at dagis) as I'm alone in the office and can quietly eat breakfast, read emails and slowly get into things. Once into the job properly, and not to mention the new family routines I believe things will be great. Noah is already getting the hang of the "dad drop off" and the "mum pick up" thing and knows what's going on - you better not be late cos then he starts asking the staff where we are. Didn't know that little kids had such a built in body clock when it comes to such stuff but I guess they just can sense it. Thinking about it - the pick up is an important part of the day so of course you would know when it's time...

Last weekend we had a great family weekend and enjoyed the lovely spring sun, lazed in bed watching kids movies and Noah helped out in the kitchen making bread and other things. Unfortunately we're experiencing problems with the uploading and it's quite impossible to upload pictures to a "normal" size, hence the massive pics in the last posts. Also, not being able to upload seems to affect the spirit of writing..but soon it should be back to normal, we hope..

The Week in Spain

A week goes quick...Noah had such a good time. I truly don't know what he loved most..maybe the flight..maybe the beach, picking stones and seashells..maybe tourist train that went up on the hill..maybe going by car through tunnels..maybe the food..maybe hanging around mormor and morfar and getting spoilt..?

Anyway, if you would ask him what we did on the Tuesday, Noah will answer: "Noah åka flygplanet!" meaning that he went on the aircraft. Back here in Göteborg, he is now telling most people he bumps into, in the shop or on the tram, about his trip to Spain. Similar drill every time, something like this; "Noah Spanja mormor och morfar. Noah åka flygplanet. Noah åka tåget berget. Noah stranden. Plocka stones. Noah campjinget. Noah åka tunnelet."