Family photo....

Taking a family picture is not alway so easy!  Telling babies and toddlers to focus and smile is more of a theory than a practicality ....but we finally got one (kind of) right!

 

Happy One Month, Markus!

Milestones are a great thing to look back upon...

So here is the Markus update:

He has started smiling, cooing, sleeping up to 5 hours at night.

He is getting into the babywise 3 hour pattern pretty well, which makes life a lot more predictable.

Loves to take baths in the sink (with an enthusiastic Lydia helping),

Just hit the 5 kg mark (11 pounds),

has the typical hormonal facial pimples, had a stopped tear duct, and loves to get lint stuck between his toes and fingers.

He does the same as Lydia, getting red in the face and flaring his nose when he is ready to let one rip, and Lydia loves to yell BAAAAAJS! (poo!) whenever he does anything.

Sweet kid, and so laid back.

We love you Markus!

Botanical gardens...

I have just discovered the botanical gardens of Gothenburg, and while they are not that amazing, it is a great little trip to see a relaxing greenhouse, plus playground and coffeeshop. Lydia is trying to "sniff" the flower...great face she is making! And this is even sweeter than all the flowers there... I was laughing to see that they have the rare species called, "spanish moss" on show. This stuff is a pest and overgrowing all over where I used to live in Mississippi! We are going back there again...

you never know who you're gonna meet...

In general Lydia loves to ride on the local tram system around in Gothenburg here. She has memorized the names of the stops around our house and can imitate the man who says,

"next stop, Bergsjön!"

That being said, you can really see a whole different side of the citizens of Gothenburg when you ride the tram.

Like these guys (or women?). At least they look friendly!

(Afternote:  I have often thought it would be interesting to collect pictures of the variety of people one meets on the Gothenburg tram). 

Farmor hid a big swedish easter egg for her granddaughter Lydia and son Jonas....

Notice how serious Jonas is about the egg hunt...

And how easily Lydia forgets the search for eggs when she sees other toys....

And how the word GODIS (candy) draws her back to the search

And how she totally misses the egg which is RIGHT in front of her!

Happy Easter!

Musiklek....Lydia's musical playgroup!

When my parents came to visit, I thought that they just HAD to come along to MUSIKLEK, the kids singing playgroup that Lydia loves to go to every Friday. And you need to get a glimpse of the fun too....

First of all, it is only here you can get a true view of how international our part of town is. One time we counted 16 different nationalities represented in our little group!
Here, Lydia is over-excitedly helping create "waves" in the ocean, as we all sing about a boat on the waves...
To the far right is our dear Monica, who leads the playgroup by playing fun kids songs on her guitar and we all sing along. My parents might not have understood so much from all the swedish singing, but they could see how fun it is!

Educational note: I am totally amazed how much kids can memorize if it is simply in song form....Lydia has memorized and often belts out the songs from this playgroup at home and when we are out. Another little girl from Azerbijan was having trouble starting to speak (she is lydia's same age). She couldn't speak any Swedish, but somehow she could also learn and sing out loud the swedish songs from this playgroup!

the Norens like to snuggle!

Let's start with Maria....she is going to have a baby in May, so she needs a lot of practice holding newborn babies! Her husband Emanuel put his fist up next to Markus' hand....what a huge difference in size! And then there is farfar Danne...he has had his fair share of experience holding babies, with 7 kids of his own! Even though it was almost two decades since he held his own kids as newborns, he looks very comfortable!
Auntie Jenny is clearly happy holding Markus, but looking at the double hand hold she has on him, it is clear that she is worried about not DROPPING HIM! :) Ok, just kidding Jenny, you are a great Aunt for Markus!
Monica is right at home and can't get enough of baby snuggling.
And then there is the nurse to be, Auntie Linda...she put this photo up on facebook and several people asked if it was HER baby! Nice try Linda, but maybe one day you will have a baby as handsome as our little Markus.
Jonas has also effectively employed the "I'm not gonna drop him" double hand grip, and I love seeing how proud and glad he is to hold Markus.
Jonas has also not forgotten about Lydia, who does much more interesting things than eat/sleep/poop....here they are playing in the sandbox...
And finally Lydia is old enough to try out their little homemade wooden car at the Noren's house!
It is fun having a big family-in-law to enjoy our kids with!

Markus had a baby dedication at our church last Sunday; for some reason Lydia felt especially snuggly with her little brother throughout the prayer time, and most of the pictures came out with her holding his hand, leaning over towards him, etc. While everyone else was praying, Markus decided to raise his hands too...hallelujah!
One more photo of Lydia trying to snuggle with her little brother during the dedication.

bathtime for Markus

One day we will look back on this and think, "Man, did Markus really fit in the kitchen sink?!"

I had the fun of having my mom here visiting for Markus' first bath, plus the childish excitedness that Lydia showed to see something other than dishes being scrubbed and cleaned in the sink...

It looks like we are about to do some complicated surgery, but in reality my mom and Lydia are just getting Markus ready for his bath. Lydia is all hands in to help!

I think if Markus could talk, he would say something like, "wow, this feels just like that womb thing that i was in for the past 9 months!"

It's like a joke, how many people does it take to clean and wash one little 3.5 kg baby?

Lydia thought that the post bath lotioning of her little brother was the funnest part.

And throughout all of that, our little boy didnt cry at all!

(Afternote:  I think bathing newborns in the kitchen sink might be a very Swedish thing).