The only way is up!
Ja men visst, här har vi årets bästa bloggerska. Det var ett år sen jag skrev senast. Ett år! Applåder!
Och vad hände ett år sen? Jo, jag började jobba efter föräldraledigheten. Det var visst tuffare än jag trodde. Skrivandet försvann helt och hållet och musiken likaså. All energi och must sögs åt jobbet. Kvar hemma existerade en zombie-Hanna. Jag tror jag aldrig sovit lika mycket som förra året. P-a-r-t-y woohoo! Bara den slutar innan 20.30, I'm game.
Men det vände till slut och egentligen handlade det bara om att bestämma sig för att vända det. I december fick jag nog och tog ett beslut av att må bättre både på jobbet och privat, se glasen halvfulla och se och höra det fina och positiva i livet. Och det funkade! Urskönt! Så nu ska det skrivas och lyssnas och sjungas och nynnas. KOMMER att köpa piano det här året. Får nog ge mig lite på den punkten och inte skaffa the real deal, men ett piano i nån form kommer det finnas i det här huset. Längtar redan:)
Får se om jag kan lista ut hur man byter namn på Blogget, för här kommer det att stå om oss alla, inte bara Daniel. Fast who am I kidding, det troliga är ju då att namnet är detsamma även i fortsättningen:P
At The Museum of Natural History
In the end of March when mummi (my mother) was visiting us, we went to the museum of natural history here in Stockholm. Daniel wanted to see some dinosaur bones. At the museum he kept running from one place to the next and didn't stop and look at anything. He couldn't care less about the bones. The thing that got most his attention was a boat they had in the water section. A boat. Yawn. But we're culturally more educated now. We'd better be. Because the next time I'll take him anywhere remotely cultural at all will be in the next decade.
Pink!
Last week Daniel and I had a discussion about teeth. Isabella doesn't have any yet and I was wondering if she would get them before she goes to daycare in August. Daniel looked at me with disbelief and said
- Mom, Isabella does have teeth, haven't you noticed. They're pink.
- I didn't know those were her teeth, I said.
Daniel sighed.
- Mom don't you know that baby girls have pink teeth and baby boys have blue teeth, he said.
- I didn't know that. So your teeth were blue when you were a baby, I asked him.
Daniel sighed again and rolled his eyes.
- NO, I had white teeth, he said.
I don't really get the logic here, but there must be some in the picture, Daniel says so. And he KNOWS.
- Mom, Isabella does have teeth, haven't you noticed. They're pink.
- I didn't know those were her teeth, I said.
Daniel sighed.
- Mom don't you know that baby girls have pink teeth and baby boys have blue teeth, he said.
- I didn't know that. So your teeth were blue when you were a baby, I asked him.
Daniel sighed again and rolled his eyes.
- NO, I had white teeth, he said.
I don't really get the logic here, but there must be some in the picture, Daniel says so. And he KNOWS.
Blur
Last month we finally had the eye doctor's appointment at Huddinge hospital to see if Daniel needs glasses. We've been there once before already and that time the doctor basically did the same exam as the Child-health station nurse; Daniel was supposed to look at a board and say what the doctor was pointing at. To make life easier for everyone, he had a little board in his hands where he could point at the symbol that he thought the doctor was pointing at. He didn't have patience (or manners?) to do this properly, so he guessed wildly. This is not to be recommended at the eye doctor's, since you might wind up with thicker glasses than you need. After this he was all over the place touching everything in sight. The doctor got nervous, so I got nervous and was shoving Daniel here and there, mainly towards his chair, hissing no, don't do that, stop that and listen. At the same time I tried to hear what the doctor's verdict was. She said that she couldn't tell for certain this time, and that we'd get a new time for eye drops and an exam later.
Weeks and months went by and then finally we got a letter from the hospital for an eye examination. I had talked to Daniel earlier and tried to make him behave with willpower (=pribe). If he did good, he would get something from the hospital store. At the hospital he got the eye drops from a nurse and then we had to wait for an hour so that the drops would start working. While we where waiting we had soda and donuts at the cafe. After an hour we met with the doctor who looked into Daniel's eyes with about five different kinds of lamps and other gadgets. In the end she announced that there's nothing wrong with Daniel's left eye, but his right eye was in need of a little correction. She thought though that he doesn't need glasses right now. We will get a new time in a year and then we'll go from there.
So yay! No glasses yet. And he behaved beautifully and got a Ben 10 magazine and ice cream from the store. The rest of the day was a little blurry for him because of the eye drops, and he didn't appreciate the sunny day that much. But he read the Ben 10 magazine anyways, it doesn't matter if he is blurry or not, he's still a cool dude.
Weeks and months went by and then finally we got a letter from the hospital for an eye examination. I had talked to Daniel earlier and tried to make him behave with willpower (=pribe). If he did good, he would get something from the hospital store. At the hospital he got the eye drops from a nurse and then we had to wait for an hour so that the drops would start working. While we where waiting we had soda and donuts at the cafe. After an hour we met with the doctor who looked into Daniel's eyes with about five different kinds of lamps and other gadgets. In the end she announced that there's nothing wrong with Daniel's left eye, but his right eye was in need of a little correction. She thought though that he doesn't need glasses right now. We will get a new time in a year and then we'll go from there.
So yay! No glasses yet. And he behaved beautifully and got a Ben 10 magazine and ice cream from the store. The rest of the day was a little blurry for him because of the eye drops, and he didn't appreciate the sunny day that much. But he read the Ben 10 magazine anyways, it doesn't matter if he is blurry or not, he's still a cool dude.
Dan the ham
I don't think Daniel is quiet for more than two seconds at a time during the day. Even when you ask him to be quiet for just a little bit, he either starts whispering to whoever he was talking to or he starts humming Star Wars theme, thinking that not talking is being quiet. Some days this constant noise drives us up the walls. Isabella loves this though. Whenever she hears Daniel's voice, she immediately turns her head toward the voice and smiles. Daniel loves the attention. And then the Daniel-entertains-Isabella - show begins. He babbles or jumps or claps his hands or whatever makes Isabella laugh.
Last week he pulled out a kitchen chair, stood on it and announced: "Ladies, gentlemen and Isabellas". And then he jumped down landing just in front of Isabella and she laughed out of pure joy. Daniel of course thought this was so great and amazing that he had to do this about fifty times. Isabella laughed every single time.
Last week he pulled out a kitchen chair, stood on it and announced: "Ladies, gentlemen and Isabellas". And then he jumped down landing just in front of Isabella and she laughed out of pure joy. Daniel of course thought this was so great and amazing that he had to do this about fifty times. Isabella laughed every single time.
Daniel teaches mom about insects
- Those monsters scare me and I don't want to see them, Daniel said and kept on talking about the x box game his dad was playing.
- They don't really exist, I tried.
- I know mom, but they still scare me. I ate an ant.
Just like that. Out of the blue. He ate an ant.
- Really? Today? I asked him and glanced out the window. Snowflakes were slowly coming down like feathers and landed on the snowcovered garden table, where there was already at least half a metre of snow. No ant in sight...
- No not today. Earlier.
- Why did you eat an ant?
- You know you're allowed to eat ants.
- No I didn't know that. But why did you eat an ant, I asked again not realizing that he had already answered my question.
- Because you're allowed to. My daycare teacher has eaten a worm.
- That doesn't sound very yummy, I said and knew that I would always see that teacher in a different light.
Daniel laughed.
- I bit the ants head off. You have to be very quick if you want to catch an ant, they're fast, he continued.
- You can't eat spiders though, Daniel continued. Because if you do, you'll get spiderweb in your tummy. And that's not good.
I couldn't keep a straight face anymore, so we started laughing.
What a wonderful kid we have!
Ants, beware!
- They don't really exist, I tried.
- I know mom, but they still scare me. I ate an ant.
Just like that. Out of the blue. He ate an ant.
- Really? Today? I asked him and glanced out the window. Snowflakes were slowly coming down like feathers and landed on the snowcovered garden table, where there was already at least half a metre of snow. No ant in sight...
- No not today. Earlier.
- Why did you eat an ant?
- You know you're allowed to eat ants.
- No I didn't know that. But why did you eat an ant, I asked again not realizing that he had already answered my question.
- Because you're allowed to. My daycare teacher has eaten a worm.
- That doesn't sound very yummy, I said and knew that I would always see that teacher in a different light.
Daniel laughed.
- I bit the ants head off. You have to be very quick if you want to catch an ant, they're fast, he continued.
- You can't eat spiders though, Daniel continued. Because if you do, you'll get spiderweb in your tummy. And that's not good.
I couldn't keep a straight face anymore, so we started laughing.
What a wonderful kid we have!
Ants, beware!
Growing pains
When Daniel's brother Nicholas was in Daniel's age, he had a period when he wouldn't sleep the whole night in his own room. So he slept in our bed for a while. We had a rule that he would always start the night in his own bed, and then if he woke up during the night, he could come to our bed. Like most kids at that age, he was extremely active in his sleep. He would kick and hit and twist and turn. And we were painfully aware of this and didn't get that much sleep. We would wake up several times a night with Nicholas sleeping with his head on Marcs tummy and feet on my face. Or the other way around. So we came up with an idea of having an extra matress on the floor in our room. Whenever he wanted to sleep in our room, he could, just not in our bed. A win-win situation; he got to sleep in our room and we got to sleep.
Daniel got the same way a little before Isabella was born. He couldn't understand why he had to sleep all by himself, when we got to sleep in the same bed and when Isabella was born, she got to have her bed next to ours. So we took out the matress again. And he would come to our room most nights and sleep on the matress.
Last weekend we could put the matress into storage. Daniel hasn't been to our room in a long time. Although this is a good thing, he feels more secure in his own room and is more self assured, I'm a little sad. He is growing up too fast. All too sudden there will be a day when he doesn't want to hold my hand anymore or give me a hug just out of the blue. Right now when I hear him playing in the living room making up conversations between Batman and Obi-wan, I know that it's not happening any time soon. And I'm happy about it. Who has the most growing pains Daniel or me?
Daniel got the same way a little before Isabella was born. He couldn't understand why he had to sleep all by himself, when we got to sleep in the same bed and when Isabella was born, she got to have her bed next to ours. So we took out the matress again. And he would come to our room most nights and sleep on the matress.
Last weekend we could put the matress into storage. Daniel hasn't been to our room in a long time. Although this is a good thing, he feels more secure in his own room and is more self assured, I'm a little sad. He is growing up too fast. All too sudden there will be a day when he doesn't want to hold my hand anymore or give me a hug just out of the blue. Right now when I hear him playing in the living room making up conversations between Batman and Obi-wan, I know that it's not happening any time soon. And I'm happy about it. Who has the most growing pains Daniel or me?
Snow - does it get any better than this?
During spring, summer and fall I forget how it is with kids in snow. The first day of winter, when it snows, I remember. Everything goes in slowmotion. Just to get to the car 20 metres away takes at least ten minutes. Daniel has a need to jump into every single pile of snow at least twice. Or he walks reeeeally slowly towards the garage with his tongue sticking out trying to catch snowflakes. I know I should be patient and let him do his thing, but I'm carrying Isabella and all of Dan's winter gear and trying to get to daycare before sunset. Or at least before lunch. And preferably with Daniel.
Yesterday morning when we finally got to the car he suddenly remembered a christmas gift he got last christmas. We never tried it because there wasn't any snow when he got it and then we forgot about it. It's an inflatable snow tube. He remembered it and said ooh, mom! I'm going to try that on Saturday (because it's dark at 4 PM when I pick him up), I'm so excited! The tube is made of plastic and I'm not so sure it's going to stop ever. So don't get too surprised if you see Daniel swinging by your house on Saturday on a snow tube.
Yesterday morning when we finally got to the car he suddenly remembered a christmas gift he got last christmas. We never tried it because there wasn't any snow when he got it and then we forgot about it. It's an inflatable snow tube. He remembered it and said ooh, mom! I'm going to try that on Saturday (because it's dark at 4 PM when I pick him up), I'm so excited! The tube is made of plastic and I'm not so sure it's going to stop ever. So don't get too surprised if you see Daniel swinging by your house on Saturday on a snow tube.
Wish list
Here comes an edited version of Daniels wish list. The unedited is basically the whole of Toys R us catalogue ( not the baby stuff and the girlie stuff of course!) and especially everything they have of Star Wars and or Clone Wars stuff. You can't go wrong with that. If you want to get something from the list, please right a comment here, so that we don't get two of a kind.
* Star Wars/Clone Wars stuff.
* Wrist watch with hands and all the numbers (some watches have just 3, 6, 9 and 12. What is that? How can a 5 year old tell the time at any other time? Weirdo childless watchmakers...)
* A calender. For instance by Mauri Kunnas.
* Pyjamas, size 128/130.
* Books. Mauri Kunnas (like Robin Hood, Kuningas Artturin ritarit), Lennart Hellsing...
* Ben 10- figures.
* Star Wars/Clone Wars stuff.
* Wrist watch with hands and all the numbers (some watches have just 3, 6, 9 and 12. What is that? How can a 5 year old tell the time at any other time? Weirdo childless watchmakers...)
* A calender. For instance by Mauri Kunnas.
* Pyjamas, size 128/130.
* Books. Mauri Kunnas (like Robin Hood, Kuningas Artturin ritarit), Lennart Hellsing...
* Ben 10- figures.
Monsters inc
Daniel and his daycare buddies have come to the age when it is VERY important to have a friend over in the middle of the week. This must happen at least once a week. If it doesn't happen for some reason we get the I never get to play with anybody ever EVER - whine followed by the you're not my mother/father anymore - comment. Sometimes we even get the you're not even nice, daddy is nicer than you - preach or the If I can't have a friend over I will throw all your things away - threat. Lovely to be a parent sometimes...
Anyways, I called a daycare buddy's parents yesterday to offer to pick him up from daycare today so that the kids could play for a while after daycare. His dad was pleased over it and we decided that I would pick the kid up and that they could come and get him after dinner. Daniel talked a little while with his friend on the phone and was really excited about the play date. Ten minutes later the dad called back and said that his kid thought one of his parents would be at our house as well, so when he found out that his parents wouldn't be here, he didn't want to come. He's a bit shy and thought it would be a bit scary. Maybe we could reschedule this for a weekend instead. Daniel was absolutely heartbroken over that. He couldn't understand why the friend didn't want to come. When I told him that the friend thought it was a bit scary to come without his parents, Daniel said :" But we're not even monsters." And then he went on" OK (said with a very hurt voice almost crying), when he wants to come to my house the next time, I won't let him in. Not even ever. Not on a weekday and not on Saturday or Sunday."
Luckily Daniel has a playdate with another friend tomorrow, so he got over this quickly. He also felt a lot better this morning and understood that different people are scared of different things. Growing up is not an easy job!
Anyways, I called a daycare buddy's parents yesterday to offer to pick him up from daycare today so that the kids could play for a while after daycare. His dad was pleased over it and we decided that I would pick the kid up and that they could come and get him after dinner. Daniel talked a little while with his friend on the phone and was really excited about the play date. Ten minutes later the dad called back and said that his kid thought one of his parents would be at our house as well, so when he found out that his parents wouldn't be here, he didn't want to come. He's a bit shy and thought it would be a bit scary. Maybe we could reschedule this for a weekend instead. Daniel was absolutely heartbroken over that. He couldn't understand why the friend didn't want to come. When I told him that the friend thought it was a bit scary to come without his parents, Daniel said :" But we're not even monsters." And then he went on" OK (said with a very hurt voice almost crying), when he wants to come to my house the next time, I won't let him in. Not even ever. Not on a weekday and not on Saturday or Sunday."
Luckily Daniel has a playdate with another friend tomorrow, so he got over this quickly. He also felt a lot better this morning and understood that different people are scared of different things. Growing up is not an easy job!
Now you see me, now you don't
Look what I can do, Daniel said, as he sucked in his tummy. I can make myself slim. All fat people can do this too. Even you, mom.
Not my proudest moment in life, especially since I'm trying to get rid off the baby fat. I'm not sure if the pause before even you mom meant that I am fat too or that everybody can do that, even me. I choose the latter option for peace of mind.
Not my proudest moment in life, especially since I'm trying to get rid off the baby fat. I'm not sure if the pause before even you mom meant that I am fat too or that everybody can do that, even me. I choose the latter option for peace of mind.
Glasses anyone?
Had an appointment at the Child-health station last week with both Isabella and Daniel. Isabella just got her weight and length checked while Daniel had his 5 year control. This is where they check kids length, weight, eye sight and give them a vaccine shot. He didn't know about the vaccine simply because I forgot about it, so it was a "pleasant" surprise for the both of us...He took it well though and was more concerned about what kind of band aid he would get than about the shot.
When it was time to check his eye sight, he got to sit on the nurse's chair and got to say what letters the nurse was pointing at on the board two, three metres away. He had the letters on a piece of paper that he could point at himself since he doesn't know all the letters yet. When the nurse came down to the last line with the smallest letters (which 5 year olds apparently are supposed to see) I saw how Daniel started to hesitate. Whenever the nurse pointed at a letter on the board, Daniel would point at all the letters on his paper guessing wildly. This is what I did when I was a kid and had to go to the opticians. I couldn't see that well and didn't want to admit this to anyone, so I just guessed wildly and thought that nobody noticed. Of course I got the thickest glasses a la the 80s and hated every second I had to wear them. So Daniel's guesswork gives flashbacks and I feel guilty giving him those genes. The nurse tells us that Daniel will get an appointment with an eye doctor at the hospital just so that a professional gets to check his eye sight one more time. And then we go from there. I hope he doesn't get glasses just yet. I hope he gets to be a kid with no worries for a little bit longer.
Same same but different
I was changing Isabellas diaper and Daniel was keeping me company as usual talking non stop. All of a sudden he stops his story about knights and dragons or ghosts or Star wars and goes:" Mommy! Isabellas willy looks like a butt!" Then and there it became clear to him that the difference between girls and boys is not just about what color clothes you wear or what kind of toys you play with, there are physical differences as well. Our little boy is growing up:)
How to hear your dreams
Words of wisdom from Daniel:
Mom, don't let anything disturb your dreams. When you snore, you can't hear your dreams. We should get that spray from the commercial that makes snoring better so that you hear your dreams.
Just to point out, I don't snore. But then again what do I know, I'm busy sleeping trying to hear my dreams.
Tv
Daniel gets totally mesmerized by commercials on TV. And he remembers them forever. He also thinks that we should buy everything that the commercials are selling. There's a commercial that they show a lot at the moment for Babylis curler. After Daniel saw that he thought that I definately need one of those babies. And his motivation was that because it gives you glamorous curls, mom. Since I lack every other kind of glamour in my life at the moment, I'm actually thinking of getting one.
He has also seen the commercial for the TV-show Roomservice, which is a home improvement show with two handymen and one designer. When the show actually started Daniel was running back and forth in the house shouting "Roomservice is on TV! NOW MOM! Come NOW!" And when I did join him and asked him what the show was about, he said that the two guys on the show fix groovy rooms. And then he watched the whole show. I know it's a bit early to get worried about his career-choices, but it really seems like he will not get into rocket science any time soon.
He has also seen the commercial for the TV-show Roomservice, which is a home improvement show with two handymen and one designer. When the show actually started Daniel was running back and forth in the house shouting "Roomservice is on TV! NOW MOM! Come NOW!" And when I did join him and asked him what the show was about, he said that the two guys on the show fix groovy rooms. And then he watched the whole show. I know it's a bit early to get worried about his career-choices, but it really seems like he will not get into rocket science any time soon.
A baby for sale?
Daniel's been pretty jealous of Isabella so far. He has his moments when he wants to give her kisses, but a lot of the time he gets upset with us parents and says he's not our son anymore and that he will move to Finland to mummi and Kari-pappa (grandma and grandpa). Or he wants us to go back to our countries and he'll stay here with Nicholas (who somehow can do no wrong in Daniel's eyes). We of course feel guilty, because every time we can't focus on Daniel it is because of Isabella. I'm feeding her or Marc's consoling her or some other baby stuff. Daniel isn't the only little one anymore and he's not the only one who gets attention. Of course he's upset! So last weekend when Daniel got upset with us again, he came up with a masterplan: we sell Isabella. So according to Daniel his baby sister is for sale for 3 crowns. Not to rain on his parade, but we think differently once again: we're not selling her. Not for 3 crowns anyway...
Yet another Johnson in da house!
On Mothers Day, 31st of May, I was about to put Daniel to bed. All of a sudden, in the middle of brushing Daniels teeth I felt water gushing down my legs; my water broke, almost five weeks before due date. I just couldn't believe it was happening. Daniel needed to go to bed, Nicholas was out with friends, Marc was way too calm, I had one more week at work and then I was supposed to be home for three weeks and, well, chill and clean. I didn't have a hospital bag packed, the cradle wasn't put together yet, we had no diapers and what else do you need? Panic! But the water broke, so I had to rethink everything. We would have a baby within 48 hours! Crazy.
So I called the hospital, Marc called Nicholas, I threw some stuff in a bag and off we went. At the hospital they told me that since the pregnancy wasn't a full length one, it was week 35+3 days, they wanted me to stay until the baby was born. So Marc went back home to take care of the boys and I stayed at the hospital waiting for the labour to begin. It began on Tuesday. And after a couple of hours of not so much fun, we had our daughter on Tuesday 2nd of June. She was small, but perfect in every way. 47 cm and 2505g. 
Stupid sun
Different countries generate different problems in raising your children. There's malaria and slum and too hot and too cold atmosphere and what have you. Sweden gives parents issues with the sunlight. First the kids learn their bed time routines during winter. You go to bed when it's dark. You wake up just before the sun. But now, during spring and further on in the summertime, the stupid sun never sets. So far Daniel is pretty easy to get to bed, but he wakes up earlier and earlier every morning. Because the stupid sun is shining at like 4 AM or something. Yesterday and this morning he got up at 6 AM. Not ok for Saturday and Sunday in my book. Then again during the week, he is cranky and tired and just doesn't want to wake up. What ever happened to being consistant? I guess it's not the first priority when you're almost five years old... Maybe we'll just make him sleep with sunglasses on or something. Or just realise how this really is not a problem at all. After all there's the countries with malaria and slum and too hot and too cold atmosphere...
Cooking advice
Marc was "volunteering" at Nicholas football tournament this past weekend. He and Nicholas were gone most of the day. Daniel and I had lunch at home (warmed up some pancakes in the micro), took the bus to Tumba Centrum and went to the local library, took another bus to the football tournament and then Marc drove us home. When it was time to make some dinner Daniel got concerned since Marc wasn't at home. Marc does all the cooking since he is way better than I am at it and he likes cooking way more than I do. Daniel asked me if I knew how to cook. I said that I wasn't sure and asked him for help. He gave me this advice:" Have you never seen daddy cook? Well, first you put the apron on, you know, the one with the flowers. Then you turn the oven on and then you just put the food in the oven." Easy peasy! Now I know all about cooking!
Dreamcatcher
Daniel had a period for about two weeks with trouble sleeping. He'd wake up in the middle of the night calling out for mommy. He'd wake up anywhere between 1AM och 3AM. Not too much fun for him or for me who gets up at 5.25AM every weekday. At first I would sit by his bed side and wait until he went back to sleep. That worked maybe twice. Then he would wake up again the same night and do the same thing over again. So I took him to our bed just because I got way too tired. We've been really lucky so far with Daniel with sleeping routines, he sleeps in his own bed the whole night. So we were not too keen on changing that now when there's a baby on the way, which most likely means even less sleep for all of us. Every morning Daniel would give us a full statement of his dreams. If they were good or bad, nice guys or monsters. A night without any kind of dreams was the best night for him.
So we started talking about what we could do to get rid of the bad dreams. His brilliant idea was to build a machine with a laser beam that would slice the dreams before they got to him. Since we are not engineers and experienced machine-builders with laser beam technology, we suggested that we would draw a picture of that machine instead. We thought that Daniel would be a part of that project and draw most of it, but he just gave us a piece of paper and ran off to play. So Marc and I drew the machine and Daniel approved of the end result. We put the picture on his night stand for the night. He went to bed and slept through the whole night without waking up. The next morning he announced with big amazed eyes that the dreamcatcher worked! He didn't dream anything. We are happy and well rested again :-)
This is what a dreamcatcher looks like:
So we started talking about what we could do to get rid of the bad dreams. His brilliant idea was to build a machine with a laser beam that would slice the dreams before they got to him. Since we are not engineers and experienced machine-builders with laser beam technology, we suggested that we would draw a picture of that machine instead. We thought that Daniel would be a part of that project and draw most of it, but he just gave us a piece of paper and ran off to play. So Marc and I drew the machine and Daniel approved of the end result. We put the picture on his night stand for the night. He went to bed and slept through the whole night without waking up. The next morning he announced with big amazed eyes that the dreamcatcher worked! He didn't dream anything. We are happy and well rested again :-)
This is what a dreamcatcher looks like:
