Tandoori Viking: 16 months and finally, SPRING!

Well, hello there :)
A few little landmarks have been reached, again. On May 2nd, our Little Viking turned 16 months. He is just fantastic. Such a smart little guy. He mimics everything we do and surely tries to say so much. His favourite word is, of course, "mamma" and he repeats it very often. Usually, he calles for me, saying "mamma" whichafter I reply with a "mmmh?" (remember, Swedish is a language with "melody", hence I sound rather joyful with my "boring" answer :-). It was kind of funny the other day, when I noticed that he was sitting and playing, repeating "mamma! - mmmmh?" No need for me to fill in, haha!

As the good weather has arrived (FINALLY!) we have been outside as much as possible. Since my last post, where I was whining about Jennifer not wanting to ride her bicycle, things have really changed! After observing how Jennifer was trying to ride her trike without further success, I decided that we would try a bigger bike with support wheels instead. A couple of hours later she was happily biking and declared clearly that Erik can have the trike now. A perfect solution, truly! Nowadays, Jennifer rides a couple of kilometers every day (she is still so proud when she can show everyone at the daycare how she is going to ride home). Erik is being pushed on his trike and he LOVES it! His legs are still a bit too short to reach the pedals but he is so happy when sitting there, with his helmet on :)

Having fun at the playground

A mouthful of sand was not as tasty as he thought....

A wonderful, wonderful sight and such a joy for Jennifer

enjoying his ride

On May 4th, it was our fantastic surrogate, N's, birthday. On the same day, it was also 2 years since the embryo transfer that resulted in our little miracle. We sent her flowers, dry fruits (the only "gift" she spontanously said that she liked during her pregnancy) and a card with our greetings, of course. Also, our dear friends, who are currently in Mumbai and fresh parents of a little miracle girl, were kind enough to bring a photo book about Eriks first year and some more fresh photos of him for N. I am SO very happy that SI is helping us to keep in touch with N! Our gratitude is huge and we would be sad if there was no possibility to let her know how much we think of her.

While the summer is approaching, I'm thinking more and more about my working situation. I must get back to work in september. I do love my job and my ward, colleagues and my boss deeply and feel a great loyality towards them. But I'm very worried for how everything will be. Due to my husbands frequent business leaves, I could not work more than 50% - if we don't want that our kids would be at the daycare day and night. Working 50% might sound great for you, but for me this means working almost only at weekends and getting paid less than I get now, during my maternity leave. My economy is so poor already and I would really need a lift here. IF I would get a job with daytime working hours, I could work a lot more - easily 75% or even full time if I want and our children could be at the daycare. A lot to think about for me here, but I am looking for other alternatives. I have to - even if I love working at the hospital.