First birthdays are a big deal....for the baby's parents! Lydia doesn't have any idea really who strawberry shortcake is (our theme), although she was attracted to the colorful poster and balloons. She was a bit surprised that we kept singing this happy birthday song to her all day, and got a bit overtired by her own party. But all in all it was a sweet day. She even got an early wedding dress ...I think its a bit over the top, but still cute. I guess when she anyway has a cute dress on, she might as well act like a ballerina and stand on her own... Then came the whole cake part. I had to help inspire her a little bit by getting her started... and she finished the job pretty well...and enjoyed her cupcake while we enjoyed a "homeade" cake. (No, it is not just a blob, it says Lydia and has a big strawberry on it...and so don't even ask about the lengths i went to to FIND food coloring here or how strange food coloring comes here) Lydia's little friends had fun...drawing pictures, looking at the turtles we have on loan, and playing "pin the strawberry on the strawberry shortcake." I think my mom is the inspiration for me to try to make fun birthday parties. Happy Birthday Lydia! Den första födelsedag är en stör grej...till barnens föräldrar! Lydia har väl ingen aning om vem strawberry shortcake är, (våran tema), men hon gillade alla teckningar och ballonger. Hon var lite fundersam varför vi sjung till henne hela dagen och på slutet blev för trött och gråt på hennes egen fest. Men överallt var det en söt dag. Hon även fick en tidigt bröllops klänning...kanske för mycket, men söt. Nästa kom hennes tårta. Jag hjälpte henne börja och hon absolut tänkte om det! Vi hade en lilla tårta till henne och en till gäster som jag gjörde själv. Ser, det står Lydia på det med en bild av en jordgubbar. Har var det rätt så svårt att hitta färg till tårtan. Lydia's lilla kompisar had en roligt tid, målat på papper, kollade på sköldpaddar som vi ta hand om just nu, och även en lek då man ska binda för ögonen och fästna en jördgubbar till strawberry shortcakes mun. Jag trö min Mamma är en bra inspiration för mig att göra roliga fester! Grattis på födelsedagen, Lydia!

It appears that Lydia has made a very impressive discovery. The rock which she is holding (and sometimes eating) belongs to this magnificent Roman Ruin that she happened to stumble upon. Really, Lydia...you can't have this as a playhouse all for yourself, you should tell the world what you have found! Ok, really...we just went on a bit of a road trip around to several Roman ruins in the area, and it got heavy to carry Lydia around. So everytime the ground was clean and stable enough, we let her down for a bit of freeeedom. Who knows, maybe this will be a good job for her in the future.... Det ser ut som att Lydia har upptäckt en stör ruiner! Den har sten som hon har i handen (och smaka på) tillhör en Romerska ruin som hon har hittat alldeles själv. Nej, men Lydia, du kan inte har det som en lekhus! Du måste visa världen vad du har hittat! Ok, jag bara skoja. Vi åkt runt till många olika ruinerna i närheten, och Lydia blev väldigt tungt att bara. Värje gång det var bra och ren, vi sätt henne ner för lite frihet! Man vet aldrig, kanske Lydia ska jobba med sånt i framtiden....

Birthday girl!

One year old! Congratulations Lydia, you just get better and better with time! Seriously, did you really look like this a year ago? Among her list of abilities now, she has added: Walking if we hold on to ONE of her hands (soon walking alone?) Saying a mixture of words, including some swedish: "Titta" (Look!) "Nej" (No!) and some international words: Mamma Papa mmmmmmm (food time) Clapping her hands, waving goodbye, dancing/wiggling to music Reading books...hmm, maybe she IS watching and copying us! Eating everything we eat mostly with her own hands (even hard things like steak and weird things like pomegranates) Sleeping on average a 12 hour night (Hallelujah!), 9:30 pm to 9:30 am, and still talking to her stuffed animals in bed before she falls asleep. Not to mention her two daily naps on top of that- Here's a sneak preview of her enjoying her birthday cake.... Weight (as of a month ago) : 8,2 kilos / 18 pounds. Length (a month ago): 72 cm / 2 feet 4 inches We love you Lydia! Ett år redan? Grattis Lydia, du blir roligare och roligare över tiden... Kolla, var det verkligen dig ett år sedan? (ser bild) Nu, du kan... Gå, om vi ta en av hennes händer, Säga Nej, Titta, Mamma, Pappa, och mmmmm (när maten kommer) klappa händerna, vinka hej då, dansa till musiken, Läsa hennes bokar (har hon lärt det från oss?!) Äta allt som vi äta (även om det är seg som steak eller konstigt som granatapplen) Hon sova nu 12 timma i nätt, och prata med hennes gössedjur innan hon sova, och sen sover hon två tupplor på dagen. Har kan du ser hennes födelsedagstårta...snart kommer mer bilder om hennes födelsedagsfest. Vi älskar dig, Lydia!

Happy birthday Nancy!

Here is what YOU, Nancy, were doing exactly one year ago! And then fortunately the baby didn't come at the same time as your birthday...but that was a nice belated birthday gift for you last year.... But she grows up so fast so we had to come out to the deserts of Saudi to show you how long she has gotten! I think Lydia likes Abayas...more than we do anyway! Lydia doesn't know it yet, but she is very lucky to have such a fantastic grandma.... Mom, you have taught me so much about making life FUN for kids, and raising them well! Happy birthday...love you hot mamma!

beach bum

Things have changed.

Round one, 8 month old Lydia vs. the beach

We went a couple months ago with Lydia to our nearby beach...imagining that Lydia would frolic in the sand with her little 8 month old self. Instead, she clung to us, cried at the waves and when she did dare to go out in the sand, she managed to find every cigarette butt in a 1 yard radius to try to stuff into her mouth.

Round two, 1 year old Lydia triumphs over the sand!

This time things went a bit better. After a hard workout this summer in the grandparents sandbox in Sweden, Lydia was fit for the fight. She had this whole crawling in the sand thing down pat, and pat pat pat the sand she did. She squealed, literally squealed with delight as she discovered this ENORMOUS sandbox we live near to!

The whole issue of going into the ocean water was still perplexing her...but we fooled her good.
If we put her in the sand, VERY close to the water, she had no idea that the water filling up her sand castle hole was actually those terrible horrible waves. She played until she was shivering and blue-ish on her lips, and then we bundled her up and called it a day.
Who knew that sand tasted so good?! And how is it that all babies end up looking like this after a day at the beach...sand everywhere, especially all around their mouth!

Vi åkt till havet några månader sen, men Lydia var rädd om allt...vågarna var för stör, cigarette fimparna var för mycket frestelse att äta, och hon vill bara krama oss så nära det går. Men nu har hon övat hela sommaren i Sverige med farmor och farfars sandlekplats. Nu älskar hon allt som heter sand, och när hon upptäckte att vi har en enormt sandlekplats so heter stranden har, hon var så lycklig! Hon lekte tills hon var blå om lapparna, och om vi byggde en sandslott med henne bredvid vatten, det var ingen fara om vatten kom opp på henne lite. En mysterium...hur är det att alla barnen gillar att äta sand? Smakar det gött, Lydia?

babies and birthday parties

Lydia was invited to a couple birthday parties of her "friends" this summer. Unfortunately, both parties BEGAN around 9, which is precisely her bedtime! So she was generally an overtired, giggly mess.

She got some good cake, Lydia style. And it was a lot of fun (fireworks in the cake, overcrowded room with relatives of the celebrated baby, loud Arabic children's music, juice, tea, fruit, pastries, and cake... and Lydia being passed around because they think she looks like a babydoll).

Now in three weeks it is Lydia's turn! She will turn the big ONE year old, and we have to decide what to do. We'll see what happens...

Swedish wedding culture

And you thought that Sweden was so similar to America, right? Maybe from the outside their weddings and traditions seem similar....but there are many differences. Let's take a look.

• First of all, they like to surprise the bride for a möhippa....kind of like a bachelorette party, but a lot more involved! This is not your average girl's night out at a restaurant. As you can see, Maria got dressed up as a little Swedish lady (and her future husband was out with the guys dressed as the incredible hulk), and Frida was Jasmine from Alladin.

• They were forced to do all sorts of embarrassing stuff like belly dancing in the streets for money, be a tour guide on the metro, play kids games with strangers that they had gathered on the main street, sing for people, and much more.
• Next comes the birch trees. Daniel's dad went and chopped down quite a few young birch trees to decorate the church, front doors, inside, etc. Hmm. interesting tradition.

• Maria and Emanuel mixed the Swedish love of lakes and water and actually travelled by BOAT from the church to the reception, which was situated across the lake. Don't worry, Emanuel is not actually fishing here, he's just playing around.

• Next comes the skits. This goes on the whole night, where family, friends, and guests take turns doing silly skits about the bride and groom, singing silly songs they have made up, and of course a couple serious toasts which involve "i remember when i first met Maria when we were just 5 years old...."

• And then, all of a sudden people will start singing, "we want to see the bride kiss her father in law, we want to see the bride kiss her father in law, and on the lips it must be!" This is a gross tradition, but, well, it happens.

• This is a typical view at a Swedish wedding. Any ideas of what it could be? The bride and groom have painstakingly organized the seating of all the guests, with bride/groom, and their parents at the head table. And then they usually make a booklet with funny descriptions of each person.

At one of the weddings, they described me as, "has a green thumb but lives in the desert. Likes to set herself on fire, and is married to number 73."

• Oh, one last thing. You better rest up before a Swedish wedding, because one of the weddings went from 2 pm until 3 am, and apparently that is fairly normal!

I am sure there is more, but there it is, swedish weddings in a nutshell. Vi ska kolla på skillnaden mellan svensk och amerikansk brollöperna! Det börja med möhippa, som är mycket mer involverat an vad Amerikanerna gör. Maria fick klä på sig i national kostym, och frida var som Jasmin. De fick göra massa pinsamt grejer, som dansa i gatan, sjunga och leka med främlinger, bli en turist guide på en metro, och mycket mer. Sen kommer björk träderna. Danne har huggat ner många träd för att dekorera kyrkan. Brudparet har åkt båt över en sjö från kyrkan till festplatsen....men Emanuel fiska inte just nu, han bara skoja. I Svensk tradition, det är roligt att göra en sketch, ger en tal eller skål till brudparet, och det går hela natten. Helt plötsligt, folk börja sjunga, Vi vill ser bruden kyssa svärfar, och på munnen ska det bli. Det tänker jag inte så mycket om, men så är det. Kan du gissa vad det är för nånting? Brudparet har laggat mycket tid att bestämma värt alla ska sitta och sen skriva en roligt mening om alla gäster. De sa om mig att, Hannah har gröna tumme men bo i öknen, hon är gift med nr 73. En sista grej. Du måste sova tillräckligt dagen innan bröllopet, eftersom en av de bröllopen vi gick till i sommar började kl. 14 och slutade kl. 3 på morgonen! Så är en svensk bröllop (enligt mig!)

Here is the bride and groom from one of the weddings we went to this summer!

Daniel's sister Maria is really beautiful, and her husband Emanuel is quite a beef,
(but of course Daniel is more of a beef than him).

clearly, Lydia was quite an attraction.

I guess thats what happens when you are a cute little baby.

Here is the big ol' Noren Family...now we are 13 in the family!

Looks like they are getting some practice with Lydia before the wedding...
Maria is studying to be a kindergarten teacher, so this stuff comes naturally to her. And Emanuel built their house with his own hands, so he would probably prefer a boy to work in his steps...

I guess we'll see when and who their gonna fill up their big house with! Congratulations, Maria and Emanuel!

Här är en av de brudparet som vi var med i sommar! Snygga Maria och Bifiga Emanuel (men vi vet att Daniel är mer bif än Emanuel). Själv klart var Lydia ett större attraction, men så är det när man är en söt lilla bebis! Då har vi Noren familj, 13 stycken just nu!
Det ser ut som att brudparet öva lite för främtiden...men det är val naturligt, eftersom hon plugga att bli en lärare till småbarn. Emanuel har byggde huset med sin egna hander, så kanske han ska hellre har en pöjke som kan jobba med honom i framtiden!

Tiden ska visa vem och när de ska fylla opp deras stor ny hus! Grattis, Maria och Emanuel!

What happens when you put a baby on a boat? I had all sorts of apprehensions to this little trip, imagining Lydia crawling out of my arms and right over the edge.
The reality? Her life jacket was just about bigger than her, which meant that she wasn't going anywhere! Her little face got squished up as we zipped up the jacket, and she spent the rest of the time sucking on the salty lifejacket.

As soon as we got on the boat and started moving, she literally fell asleep...every time!

Once we got to the island, on the other hand....Lydia really enjoyed herself!

Vad hander när man åka båt med en bebis? Jag tänkte att Lydia ska krypa överbord eller nånting, men hennes flytväst var nästan större än henne! Hon sug på det och sov så snart båten började köra. Men när vi kom till land, hon hade det mycket roligt!

giggling

It's pretty easy to get a laugh out of our daughter these days... Who knew we were so funny?!