Late night greetings from Dhaka!

We really, really enjoy our trip so far. The flight went very well, our life here is wonderful. Here are a few pictures from today :)

13 months already!

Our Little Viking is walking really good now and clearly prefers this new mode of moving ahead. He manages turning around, carrying things and is about to start running, too. Cute as an apple!!

Yesterday, on his 13-months-day, he got his 4th molar. Which means that he has 12 teeth now. I was truly surprised as I read Jennifers baby book the other day and realized that she had only 8 teeth on her 1st birthday. Erik had 11, still he got his first teeth a good month later than she did. Jennifer was an extremely poor eater, especially when there was another teeth on it's way - which it constantly was. Erik, on the other hand, is an exellent eater and used to pop a new teeth the 18th every month followed by bad sleep and refusing to eat from a spoon for a day or two before the teeth was out.

It is so amazing how kids are different, still so alike. Jennifer was very interested in books, balls and animals, learning to imitate their sounds very early. She also adored Pingu and loved to play simple animal-learning games on my iPhone. Erik looooves everything on wheels. If it rolls, it's fun and brings the "car sound" to his lips. He doesn't care much about books, even though I really try to have book-time with him anyway. He doesn't want to look at the pictures or learn what's on them. I so hope he will discover books some day.
Right now the only thing he likes about books is to open and close them, again and again.

 Balls are fun, too, but he isn't as obsessed about them as Jenni was. Erik is also not that interested in TV, which is actually great.
Erik loves milk. He goes nuts if he sees the milk package on the dinner table and you won't give him his zippy cup fast enough. Jenni doesn't care about milk. She likes "bubble water", allthough she drinks her milk anyway, with a whole lot of pep talk about strong bones, good teeth and growing, cows sending their milk to her etc. etc.
Erik loves bread. Jenni would never finish a sandwich or even a cinnamon bun, if you please. A typical situation at our dinner table is one kid being fussy because she must eat (faster than a snail, please!) and the other one being a drama queen since he is not being fed fast enough. :) But both of them like music, eating fruits, kicking ball, drawing, sledding, playing in water and getting their nails done.

Oh, just getting my weekly manicure

Singing together is an important part of our days

Cute in her hair, Jennifer is showing off her coloring book :)

With his big sister looking so cute in hairclips,
 Erik wanted to have his hair fixed,too. At least Jennifer thought so :)

A couple of weeks ago, Jennifer (3 years) found an anatomy book for kids. It's a book for children about double her age but she insisted on reading it and as a nurse, I couldn't resist it either. So, we looked on all the pictures - you know, the ones with our sceleton, muscles, nervous system, digestive system etc. She was very interested and asked me a LOT. Especially about digestive system and fetal development. I didn't think she'd understand it but she surprised me by explaining it pretty much as it is for daddy afterwards. Next day she wanted to read the book again. And again. Then she started to draw the digestive system. And yesterday she obviously decided it was time to teach her little brother, too. She made a sketch (which, by the way was totally understandable) and wanted him to sit and learn. Talk about her frustration when Erik was just not that interested! Nevertheless, this really made me thinking of how much children can learn and understand if you just let them to.

In January, I've also started to put Erik on the potty after his meals. Here's our potty odyssey aka what to do when mommy is waiting for poop and pee :)

Put rings on a stick...

...watch Pingu

... read (=chew) a book

...drive my car

...eeeee, what more...

... yeeee, make a phone call!!

Outside, it's still cold winter and we try to enjoy it as much as possible. Getting dressed is not our favourite but we try our best.

Continuing on this boring getting-dressed theme, we are happy not to need to dress our kids Micheline-man-style for a while soon. In 10 days, we are leaving the cold Sweden. My husbands best friend is posted at the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and we are going to visit him and his lovely family there. We are so excited and look very much forward to the trip. We are also planning a long weekend to Sri Lanka all together. Our primary plan was to visit Mumbai, but unfortunately there was a big risk that our visas wouldn't be ready and sent back to us on time before we leave. Hence we just didn't dare to take a chance, allthough we are so sad not to be able to meet our very missed and beloved friends in Mumbai - and of course our surrogate, N. I so hope we meet again some day.

On January 7th...

...our Little Viking took his first steps :)
Yesterday he also built a brick tower with 3 bricks. He loves putting things into or upon eachother. He has 11 teeth. Intrestingly, all of his teeth in the left side of lower jaw seem to come a bit later than all of his other teeth. Hence, the last of the first set of molars is missing yet.
Erik loves to sleep while holding my hand. Most of all, he loves to put my hand under his cheek and hold it with both of his hands while falling asleep. Very, very cute but not practical at all when I'm home alone with both children.
He really really loves everything on wheels. He often crawls, rolling a big truck in each hand.
Erik is both a biter and pincher but "fortunately" he does it mostly on mommy who obviously tastes and feels very very good. I'm thinking of pasting myself full of mustard....

1 year ago...

... we standed, with huge excitement, weak knees and bumping hearts, waiting for a new miracle to be born. Born in a completely different way compared to our first child. Born thanks to a very brave and kind lady, who will be in our hearts forever. N, not a day passes by without thinking of you and your family.

It was dr. Yash who brought our Little Viking to us, wrapped in a green operation sheet. "It's your little brother," she softly told Jennifer. Our family was complete - two precious miracles. No matter how they are created and born, they are made of  LOVE.

The arrival of two past years - 2011 and 2012 - my hubby, Jennifer and I celebrated in Mumbai with fantastic, huge, delicious dinners. Hence it was almost a bit strange to be in the cold Sweden to welcome 2013. But it was wonderful as we could be with good friends. 

Joyris, Jorell, Lars and DJ celebrating New Year with us

Nevertheless, my thoughts were in Mumbai many times during this evening and when the New Year bells rang in India, I had to take a break for sending a text message to our friends and doctors, wishing them a happy new year. 

These past weeks truly have been hectic and we realized, that's how life is going to be every year: it starts with my birthday celebrations (=dinner) on December 18th, continues with Christmas Eve (=tons of food preparations), then New Years Eve (=fancy dinner, again)  and on January 2nd, Eriks birthday (well, you guessed right, dinner again). 

Our family on Christmas Eve

My sister with her family visited us for Christmas this year which was fantastic

Crazy Estonian sisters and their kids :)

Back to today, we have a big boy now and no more baby! Indeed, even if it's hard to realize, also these longed for miracle babies, made in India, grow and turn one. As you wait for your little bundle of joy and happiness, you don't think of them turning 1. At least I was very much focused on the moment of holding my new baby, breastfeeding and feeling the "complete family feeling", which obviously was going to overwhealm us totally (which it did, too!). Today, I looked at my cheeky little boy as he was admiring his birthday balloons, saying little (real) words, I was overwhealmed by pride, joy and LOVE. He got many extra hugs, while I was thinking of how grateful I am for him being our son. We love you so much, little Erik! And, you have the best big sister in the world. A big sister, who gladly helped you with blowing out your candle today and opening your presents, too :) We are the luckiest parents on Earth!

New Years Eve

Our happy girl on New Years Eve

Erik is saying "hej" ("Hi") as daddy takes the picture on New Years Eve

Happy happy birthday, our Erik!! 

.... and I'm so so sorry, but tomorrow it's time for your vaccinations. I'll return with his weight and length tomorrow!
***
Weight at 1 year: 11 505g, height 75cm, head circumference 46,5cm
Erik doesn't walk by himself yet, but he rises up from the floor without support, walks along furniture and can walk next to us when we hold one of his hands. Cuteness all over! He loves to say "Hej" and "Där!" ("there"). He has got 2 new teeth (molars) (10 teeth totally) and there is more to come soon. The only trouble right now is actually hes slee. He is weaned - I stopped breastfeeding on December 11th which went great. After a week he slept really well in his own crib all throgh the night. Unfortunately, right now he wants to hold hands (with me) when he sleeps and wakes up many times in his crib before we go to bed around midnight. Inbetween us he sleeps tightly and well. I suppose, it is a combination of guests in the house, learning so much new, a slight cold and teething. I spoke to our childrens nurse today at our appointment and she recommended to give him the extra closeness he obviously needs at the moment, wait until teething and his cold are over and our everyday life is back to normal. She said, Erik will probably sleep better again since he just won't wake up as easily if nothing bothers him.  Longing for a good-sleep-period!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From our family to you! Happy Holidays!

My blueberry babies :)

Birthday kisses for mommy

Look what I can do now!

It's....

DECEMBER 2ND, ERIK IS 11 MONTHS AND IT'S SNOWING!!

Happy 11-months day, our darling!

Erik is such a strong little boy. He gets and stands up very easily now. He has been standing without support a couple of times but yet it's nothing he seems to desire to do, really. (Which is a bit funny, since Jennifer was standing without support at 9 and walking by 10 months of age). He's a super quick crawler and a real p..n in the a.. for Bessie since he loves to climb up on her too, which she strongly dislikes. Our Little Viking really loves a big plastic police car. He makes car noise and drives it around a LOT. As it comes to words and sounds part, he definitely says "Hej" (Hi), "Mamma" (mommy), "Oj" (wow/oops), "Nej" (no). Besides that, he can make different funny sounds which we have learned him.  

Heading towards the hill

It was very slipery

Our snow dog, happy and relaxed. She LOVES snow.

Hungry!!

In the swimming hall, we all loved it

Jennifer and I did som Christmas-time baking

It has happened. As Jennifer was about the same age, she fell asleep while eating.
Now it was Erik's turn :)

Eye candy :)

Now I stand most of the time.
Sometimes I stand by myself a couple of seconds, too!

Doctor Jennifer gives me an injection.

Right before bedtime

Just a moment before it all fell into the floor :)

¨

AND GUESS, WHO'S GOT 7 TEETH!

10 months! (picture heavy)

Our happy little Mohican :)

At 10 months, Erik:
* Weights 10540 grams
* Measures 72,5 cm
* Has been crawling for several weeks now

* Can stand up against furniture - or me
* Loves to walk with support
* Is still breastfed but only a few times per day - mainly between 3-7 AM
* Loves the bath time with his big sister

* Continues to be a good eater. At the same age, Jennifer weighted 2 kg less than Erik, while being almost as tall as he. Jennifer, on the other hand, has never been a big eater - at least not after 6 months of age when we introduced solid food. Today Erik most often eats as much as she does - at the age of 3. And I wouldn't say he eats supersize portions. Here we really need to think, what's normal for Jennifer and what's for Erik. They are SO different when it comes to food.
* Loves to bite my shoulder when he sits on my hip. He bites HARD. He also fancies my other body parts and I have bite marks that look like snake bites here and there. Nevertheless, he is clever enough not to bite when he is being breastfed.
* Tries to say "tack" ("thanks" in swedish) - "tah-tah," he says. Cute!
* Is getting pretty good at going to sleep in the evening and can self soothe, at least until early morning hours. At that time I just want him to fall asleep ASAP so I pick him up from the crib and nurse him back to sleep as we co-sleep the rest of the night. It works good for us right now. He goes to sleep at 8PM and sleeps until 7-8AM, waking up 2-3 times. During daytime, he has his first nap around 10:30AM as we walk to the daycare to pick up Jennifer. He usually only sleeps around 30 minutes or so. In the afternoon he sleeps somewhere between 2-5PM. Sometimes he sleeps really well, about 2-2,5 hours, sometimes only an hour.

* Loves to swing

* Has got his BCG vaccination which is developing perfectly

November is one of the worst months of the year here in the South of Sweden. The weather is really ugly, being windy, rainy, cold and dark as there is no snow here yet. The days are so short and the trees are naked. We have raked the most of our cherry tree leaves past weekend and there is only a little left for this weekend ahead - if it won't pour the whole time. I wish we could pack our bags and fly to Mumbai...

If you look closely, you can see our cats in their outdoor fence in our backyard

Jennifer has discovered baking and I try to do that with her as often as I possibly can. It's a lot of fun! I wish she would eat what we have baked though, which she rarely does...

Jennifer also has pretty quickly learned how to play Memory. This is a daddy-princess thing. They often play Memory after dinner. I love to see them do that.

Today, as we were walking home from the prescool, Jennifer said she wanted me to take pictures with her and Bessie. I got some fantastic photos, I must say. Jenni is so big now that Bessie trusts her not to be that kind of a terrorist that Erik is, hence she really loves her attention. 

We tried to take a family picture couple of weeks ago. It wasn't the easiest thing to do. We need help with getting a good one!!!

Sending a lot of love to you all. Tons of baby dust to those who still are on the bumpy road of infertility. I deeply hope you will be able to snuggle your own babies soon!!!