Big day for Isak!

Isak has had a very big day today. Started with an appointment at the hospital at 9.20. A doctor checked Isak's tounge and thought that the string under his tongue should be cut. I noticed when Isak was born that his tongue looked a bit funny but didn't really think much about it. The doctor's didn't notice it either until I mentioned it before his 8 weeks check up. He got a referral to a specialist and that is where we went today. It was all done very quicky and I held him the whole time. The doctor started by putting something in his mouth to numb the area a bit. After that she showed me how to hold his hands with one hand and his head with the other hand. She then just gently opened his mouth and snipped the string with scissors. Isak started crying and there was a little bit of blood (not much) but he relaxed as soon as I gave him the breast.

Only a few hours later it was time for the next stressful experience for the day. Isak's 3 months vaccination. Before the shots (one in each leg) Isak was measured and weighed and he is now 65cm and 6.5 kg.

When he had the injections he was sitting in my lap and this time I had to hold his leg with one hand and his arms with the other. He was so cute and happy and smiled to the nurse. Poor thing :-(

For the second time today he cried but relaxed when I started breast feeding him.

The doctor at the hospital said that Isak's tongue can be a bit sore today and that he might be a bit unsettled. I don't think he has been too bad. A few times he has started crying all of a sudden for no obvious reason but stopped quite quickly. Not sure if that has to do with the tongue or the injections.

I thought he would be a bit upset going to bed but he wasn't. He smiled and was so cute that I had to take photos of him.

This is Isak when he is about to have his last nap for the day at about 4.30pm.

Both kids are now in bed for the night and I hope that Isak will sleep well. The injections can make babies a bit sick over the next 48 hours so who knows what the night will be like. Jakob never seemed effeced by injections but that doesn't mean Isak is the same.

Working and playing

Last summer we didn't do any work at all in the garden. This year we will try to tidy up a bit and get rid of some old branches and trim all the bushes a bit. Adam has started and worked really hard tonight. .

Jakob was out there helping a bit and playing on his own

After having worked hard Adam and Jakob played on the swings for a while before coming in and getting ready for bed. Jakob loves the swings.

As you can see nearly all the snow is not gone and now we only need some warm days so it will start getting green. It is light nearly 24 hours a day and this photo was taken about 6.30 in the evening.

Monday

Yesterday Jakob, Isak and I stayed home all day. I have a cold and wasn't feeling so great in the morning but started feeling better after a while. Did some cleaning inside and raking outside before mum and dad came to visit with their friends Sven and Birgitta. We all had a fika outside even though it got quite cold as soon as it got a bit cloudy. Oh well, still only spring and hopefully the summer will be nice and warm this year. Jakob was really excited to have visitors as always and just wanted to play play and play. It is really hard to get him to play by himself when we have people over. Anyway, we all took turns in playing with him so he was happy.

Isak was only outside for a short time and he wasn't in his greatest mood.

Birgitta and Sven playing with Jakob.

They brought us some beautiful flowers that I will put outside as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer.

Tired boy...

Jakob was a very tired boy tonight after everyone had left. Him and I cuddled on the couch for a while before getting him ready for bed. At the end of the day he often wants to talk about what we have been up to during the day or the last few days. I think it is also a way of extending the evening a bit and get me to stay longer with him in his bed. I actually like it too. He says; mummy, can we talk about when we went riding today. Or mummy, can we talk about when Moa came over today. During the days Jakob always talks a lot, he asks millions of questions and he just likes discussing things. Sometimes I get sick of answering all his questions over and over again even though I know it is a good thing that he does it. At night it is different though. I love talking to him in the evenings. He is so relaxed and brings up things he has really thought about, and things that for one reason or another is important to him.

Brother with family

This afternoon Anders, Helena, Moa and Lucas came over for dinner. The kids played outside for a while first, the weather has been amazing today! Nearly all the snow is gone and Jakob and Moa played with what's still left probably for the last time. In the next day or two it will all be gone.

The cousins hanging out on the couch. Lucas is now walking really well. He is very cute and very happy but as any one year old he has to be watched all the time.

Moa and Jakob having fun with Isak...

Spiderman!

Jakob and Moa took turns in trying out the Spiderman costume. Aren't they cute?

Jakob riding

Today we went to the riding club so Jakob could have another go at riding. Last time he tried, a few weeks ago when grandma and poppa were here he did really well. He was pretty much the only child riding that time but this time there were lots of children there waiting for their turn. Jakob was a bit nervous and excited I think when he was waiting for his turn.

This time he picked the smallest horse, Moa, and he looked so happy when he was sitting on her.

I didn't even have to walk next to him!

Jakob was only about 3 months when he sat on a horse for the first time so I thought Isak should get to try it too. Not sure if he really knew what was happening.

Mormor came with us to the riding club to watch Jakob ride and to help looking after Isak. She also brought some fika for us to have after riding.

Jakob

Apart from a nightmare one night Jakob has had a good week. Oh, I forgot one disaster, he couldn't find his red car when leaving dagis on Thursday. He was so upset! we went to Maria's after dagis to play with Alice and it took him some time to get over the car thing and get on to playing.

Friday morning I took the kids to the singing in the city. All week I have been talking to Jakob about how to behave at the singing. Jakob and Finn normally run around screaming, jumping and chasing each other when the singing starts. We haven't been able to control them at all. They have had lots of fun but not really participating in the singing and Zara and I have been so worried about them hurting the babies. Anyway, Zara started talking to Finn about what she expects from him when we go there so I did the same thing with Jakob. All week I have been talking to him about how I would like him to be calmer, participate in the singing, sit with me when the singing start or sit in front of Eva (the leader) and not to scream. When we got there Friday morning Jakob and I walked up to Eva and Jakob told her that he wasn't going to run around and scream this time. And he didn't!! he behaved so well and I was so proud of him. I couldn't believe it! Why didn't I think about this before? I normally prepare him for everything we do like going to the dentist, having his hair cut, visiting someone etc but I haven't thought about talking to him about the way he has been acting at the singing. Finn was also doing great so Zara and I were two very happy mothers leaving the place yesterday.

Maria, Alice and Melvin came over after the singing and we had hamburgers together and Jakob and Alice played both inside and outside. Not long after they left Zara came over with Finn and Lykke and they also had dinner with us since Micke was out partying.

Isak news

Isak is now just over 3 months old. He has started to find his hands. Sometimes he just holds up one hand and watches it moving around in the air. After a while it normally ends up in his mouth after having missed a few times. Once his hands are in the mouth he won't let go and screams loudly if they fall out, until they are back in again.

He sucks his fingers like crazy at times, but still not the thumb. Or at least not just the thumb, it's normally a few fingers in there at the same time.

He often smiles when we give him attention. It's like he is so used to not being talked to (haven't got the same time as when we only had once child) that when we do play/talk with him he gets SO excited. It is starting to be quite hard to feed him at times. One problem is that I have a lot of milk and in the start of a feed it comes out so quickly and goes all over his face and tickles the inside of his mouth that he gets so angry and refuses to keep trying. Another problem is that he sometimes rather wants to play than eat. He sucks for about half a second and then looks up at me and laugh. He does that on and off until I give up and take a break from feeding. Today I tried to cover his eyes so he couldn't see me but that didn't help. I also tried closing my eyes and look bored and that actually helped a little. Feeding at night is still ok because he is too sleepy to play, even though he does try to get me going by smiling at me when I wrap him at night.

This week I have had one great night and one very bad night. The bad night I went to bed at 11, got up to feed Isak at 1, had some pain in my belly so spent 45 min on the toilet, when I was nearly finished Jakob got up and said there were spiders crawling on his face (nightmares...) so I stayed in his bedroom for nearly two hours. He went back to sleep a few times but woke up hitting things around him so I waited until he was in a deep sleep before I went back to my bed. After just 15 min in my bed Isak woke up for his next feed and after that he didn't sleep very well and kept me awake until the morning. Luckily Adam was home that day so I got a good sleep during the day in between Isak's feeds. The night after was a dream night! Isak slept from 7pm until 7am the next morning with just one feed at 3am!!! I couldn't believe it, what a night!!

Thursday

Today was another busy and good day. The weather the last few days have been super nice and I enjoy spending as much time as possible outside. This morning I walked Jakob to dagis, he stood on the board at the back of Isak's pram. After having dropped Jakob off Isak and I continued in to the city, had a morning fika with Stina and met up with Maria and Melvin for lunch. After that I walked to OK service centre to pick up the SAAB from a service and went to my next stop dad's cousin Gerd's birthday party in a nursing home. Didn't have time to stay for long since I had to go and get Jakob at dagis. When I got there he was playing outside with his "best friends" Linus and Efe but he was happy to leave when I told him we were going to the riding club. At the riding club I carried Isak in a sling for the first time, he cried a bit to start with but fell asleep after a while. Jakob kept saying that he wants to have a ride so I think we have to go back soon and let him have another go. He was a great helper though and gave me a hand filling up hay and fixing Robban's feed. Instead of going home we went to mormor and morfar for dinner and also because Jakob needed a bath. When we got home just after 7 I had two very tired boys and a very tired mummy. Adam is working late tonight and I should be going to bed now.

To give you all an update on how dad is feeling I am happy to say that he is doing really well at the moment. Today he was walking around in the apartment without any help, he looks really well, and his apetite is pretty good.

The boys!

Jakob and Isak are so amazing together. The last few days Jakob and I have been singing a lot to Isak, Jakob has helped me in the mornings to get a new nappy for Isak etc, if Isak is crying Jakob either gives me advice like; mummy maybe you should feed Isak, I think he is hungry, Or he runs over to Isak and tries to make him happy again. Of course he is sometimes not so interested in his little brother but he has still never showed any anger towards Isak. I know this could change any day but at least we have had a very good start. Yesterday I dressed Isak in a body with a tractor and Jakob quickly went to his clothes and picked a tractor t-shirt to wear for the day.

We decided to not give Isak a dummy when he was born. So far it is going well but in the last week or so he has started to suck on his fingers. At this stage it is not the thumb, it is normally which ever finger reaches his mouth first. Jakob did the same think and never became a thumb sucker so I hope it will be the same with Isak.

A day with mormor and morfar

Earlier in the week mum and dad came over and ended up staying almost the whole day. Dad cooked some yummy salmon for him, me and Jakob for lunch and we had some leftover cake for dessert. For dinner we had take away pizza.

Jakob and mormor went outside for an hour and played a lot inside as well. As soon as someone comes to visit he doesn't leave them alone and just keeps asking them to play and to play. On Sunday we had Paul from NZ and his wife Marie over for a coffee in the afternoon and Jakob got really bored and wanted us to play with him. When I am home with him by myself it is hardly ever a problem. Jakob plays a lot by himself even though we play lots together as well.

Isak with mormor.

Jakob having fun!

Jakob has nearly recovered from the cold he had last week. He is full of energy and loves playing outside now when the snow is gone and we have taken out some of the summer toys. He has also been down to the playground behind our house a couple of times.
Adam bought Jakob a new pair of sneakers when he was in Wales and I think Jakob would sleep with them on if he was allowed to. He was SO happy yesterday when Stina at dagis said that he could have them on when they went for their weekly walk around the block. He thought he would have to wear his gum boots and when he was told he could have the sneakers he looked like the happiest boy in the world. It is amazing how much a pair of Roary sneakers can mean to 3 year old.

Saturday night.

When driving home from Ale I felt so tired, can't remember last time I felt this tired. I went straight to bed when we got home thinking that I would only get 10 minutes or so before Isak would wake up but I slept for about 2 1/2 hours!! It was amazing!! Isak must have been tired too, he slept for 4 hours! he still went to bed at 7 as normal and I hope he will have a good night.

Ale

After a lazy morning at home, we were all quite tired today, we went to Ale. Everyone was there, Maggi and Åke of course, Åsa and Mikael, mum and dad, Anders and the family and Andreas and Karin. Maggi made waffles for us all, yummy! Jakob fell asleep in the car but was happy when we woke him up. Isak on the other hand was pretty tired and only lasted for an hour before Adam had to put him down for another sleep. When he was doing that some of us went to see the sheep and the lambs. Jakob didn't mind the rainy weather at all and as always get really excited when he gets to see the sheep. Even more fun was it to play in the mud though, Jakob and Moa had the best time getting dirty.

Anders getting rid of all the mud with a hose.

Last night

Last night I didn't get much sleep. Went to bed at 11 and had to get up to feed Isak at 11.30. Then he was awake talking, blowing bubbles, wriggling etc for about 45 min in his bed. He actually went back to sleep by himself but I was wide awak just waiting for him to start crying so that I had to pick him up. 2.30 he was ready for another feed but this time he went straight back to sleep. 5 am he was starting to wake up, he was wriggling and making lots of noise so I picked him up and rocked him to sleep in our bed. 6 am he was waking up but I quickly started feeding him in bed and managed to keep him asleep until about 7.30. I was very tired this morning.

Valborgsmässoafton!

After the singing in the morning we had a few hours to clean up the house and relax a bit before Zara, Micke, Finn and Lykke came over to celebrate Valborgs with us. It is a tradition where you light a big bon fire and celebrate the start of spring.

While Adam was cooking (bbq!!) Micke took the boys outside to play with Finn's plane. They loved it and especially when they had to chase the plane on the neighbours roofs and backyards.

There was also time for a bit of playing inside before dinner, dessert and getting ready to walk to the bonfire.

Adam cooked on the bbq for the first time this year and it tasted delicious!

The bon fire!

After dinner we walked to the bon fire area not far from where we live. It was actually quite nice to walk in the drizzle I thought. There is something nice about rainy weather.

Jakob was extremly tired but did well and climbed on rocks, ran around with Finn, watched the old men trying to light the fire etc.

While Jakob was running around, Isak was asleep in the pram. He cried once for a few seconds but went back to sleep after a bit of rocking. He was in his PJ and wrapped up ready to be moved to his bed as soon as we got home so I did not want to have to pick him up. It all worked out as planned and even though he screamed for a few minutes when we got home he went back to sleep in his own bed without any problems.

While Zara and I made sure that the babies were asleep the dad's and the boys played outside for a while before they came in and we all had a very nice hot chocolate.

Jakob who had been awake since 6 in the morning eventually fell asleep on the couch at 10pm. Finn went to sleep just after in Zara's lap.

Singing

Yesterday we went to the singing in the city. We haven't been there for quite a few weeks so it was nice to be back again. Because it was "Valborgsmässoafton" I think lots of people were busy with other things, the place was very quiet for a change. Finn, Alice, Moa were there with their mum's and brothers and sisters and also Stina was there with Lova so we pretty much knew everyone there.

Isak was awake for a couple of songs before he crashed on my shoulder. I put him down on the floor and he slept like a log in the middle of all the noisy children.

Wednesday

Jakob stayed home from dagis Tuesday and Wednesday this week. He didn't have a temperature and had lots of energy but he had a runny nose and was coughing a bit. Tuesday we stayed home all day and he had a 2 hour sleep in the middle of the day (making up for getting up at 5 in the morning...). Wednesday I was getting really restless just being home. Erika came over to visit in the morning which was nice.

In the afternoon I decided to go in to the city with the kids and mum. I was a bit nervous since Jakob was a bit tired and hadn't eaten much. We parked in an indoor car park next to the mall in case we had to leave quickly but I have to say it went very well! I have to keep and eye on him the whole time and when we sat down for a coffee and to feed Isak I gave him some stickers to play with to keep him entertained. Only once he took off laughing but I managed to get him in to a corner and had a good and serious chat to him and after that he was ok. It also helped that mum was with us and we could take turns with looking after Jakob and the pram. I know lots of parents do this all the time with no problems at all but I think we just need to keep practicing.