Merry Christmas (a bit late)!

5 days to christmas!

Only five days to go... most of the gifts are bought, I've made a gingerbread house, we have a christmastree, lights in all the windows and plenty of glögg (resembling glüwein, spicy and sweet wine served warm with raisins and almond).

Last week both Ester and I were sick, but we still managed to attend the Lucia-celebration at Ester's daycare. However, Ester chose to sit with us in the audience rather than participate in the singing... but aren't the kids cute?

Preparing for Christmas

October, November...

It's been a while since I wrote... sorry. I've just been a bit busy.

Here's a short version of the past months:

September
Came home from our big trip, and everything was as it used to be. We got a daycare position for Ester (which I've come to realize isn't the easiest thing in the world), and I got back to work again. After visiting our daycare centre before deciding to accept the position, Ester started to walk properly! Now there's no stopping her :)

October
Ester started daycare and had her first birthday party. Celebrating her birthday was all fun, daycare wasn't. It took several weeks of crying until she accepted her faith. She's now going 3 days a week (tues-thursday) 9 am - 3 pm, and she still cries when I drop her off, but I can see that she's playing and having a good time when I pick her up...

November
We went to visit my good friend Andrea in Vienna (or rather Gols, the winemaking village she lives in, just outside Vienna). Ester spent a week at my parents house, and I think they had a great time. She learned a new word: "Cookie". First snow arrived and we had a few cold days (around -10 degrees), but it melted away and now it's mostly raining...

And now it's already December, and we're preparing for Christmas. 10 teeth have found their way down (or up) to Ester's mouth, and two more are on their way.

Back in Sweden

We've been back in Sweden for a few weeks now, landed on the 10th... By now it almost seems as if we were never away!

After rainy Brisbane we had a great time in Sydney. The sun came back and the conference we attended was very interesting. We also had time to do some sight seeing, visited Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley and spent some time with the Johannesens (especially Tanya and Lefty, since we stayed with them for a whole week (!) thank you again for having us, we really appreciated it!).

Rainy Queensland

We're in Brisbane now, and the rain is pouring down... funny you might think, considering that there hasn't been any rain here for ages (years, some people say!). All locals are happy, telling us that it will rain for the whole week. We're not laughing. Hoping for better weather in Sydney.

Ester in Thailand

Ester in Thailand
Originally uploaded by mammamaria

Ester really enjoyed our visit to Ayutthaya (a World Heritage Site!), regardsless of what you might think looking at this picture...

Tired Travellers

Tired Travellers
Originally uploaded by mammamaria

After a long day of sight seeing, falling asleep on a bus might be one of my favourite things... and apparently that gene has been handed down to the next generation.

Thailand!

We're in Thailand! Spent 3 nights in Bangkok before leaving for Koh Chang yesterday. After 8 hours of travelling we arrived at our hotel on the island, and we're having a great time! The long (10 h) flight, was fine, going on buses for hours have been fine too, and Ester seems to enjoy herself a lot. She's SO excited, looking at everything, waving at everyone and laughing all the time. The thai people really love children, and whereever we go someone wants to hold her, or play with her or just touch her fat, white legs :) It's great!

We're staying on Koh Chang for 1 week before continuing to Australia, and I'll try to write more soon!

3 days left...

Getting nervous... sorting out heaps of stuff to bring:

• travel cot for Ester
• smart baby chair thing that is attached to a regular chair
• mosquito net and rain protection for the pram
• kettle
• sun protection (clothes and sun screen)
• thermos
• the whole travel medication set
• and of course diapers and baby food... I know... perhaps not necessary, but I'm not taking any chances when it comes to searching in vain for diapers on a secluded island in thailand, or trying to feed Ester boiled rice and curry for 12 days...

Ester's new sun protection outfit

Ester's new sun protection outfit
Originally uploaded by mammamaria

To make sure that our baby is not burnt by the vicious sun in the south, we've bought her this amazing sun-block-suit. Nice, isn't it?

In less than two weeks - Thailand & Australia!

In less than 2 weeks (4th of aug) we're going on a 5 week trip to Thailand and Australia. Getting a bit nervous now... haven't book all our accomodation, and even though travelling with Ester has been easy so far, this'll be different, 12 h flights, warmth and weird food. But I'm sure we'll do just fine. Being nervous comes with the parenting stuff I guess.

Here's our plan so far:

4th aug - flight to Bangkok, arrive early in the morning on the 5th

5-8th aug - staying in Bangkok at the Viengtai hotel, doing some sight seeing and shopping. On the 7th our good friend Siaan will arrive from Kuala Lumpur to spend a few days with us! :)

8th aug - travel to Koh Chang. We'll probably take a bus, checking the Internet (and with friends who've been to Thailand a lot) indicates that the buses are of good quality, air conditioned etc. Will take approx. 5 hours, but hopefully we'll get to see some of Thailand from the bus window....

9th-15th aug - Koh Chang. We've staying in air conditioned bungalows at the KC Grande Resort on white sands beach. I hope that'll be ok for Ester (and the rest of us).

On the 15th we're flying to Sydney, arriving there around noon on the 16th and continuing to Brisbane. Our plan is to rent a 4WD, pick it up at the airport in Brisbane and drive up to Noosa and spend the night there.

17th - 19th we want to spend on Fraser Island, but we haven't booked any accomodation yet.

20th-24th we're back in Brisbane, attending the big MedInfo conference.

24th aug - 9 th sep - Sydney! That's the part I'm most excited about! 28th-30th I'll be working, attending the ITHC conference where I'll be presenting a paper, but after that it's all vacation. We'll be staying at least a week with my cousin TJ and her boyfriend, and we're all looking fw to seeing them again.

9th sep, flying back to Sweden again, without stop over in Bangkok this time, which will be a long flight, but hopefully we'll be able to keep Ester happy...

First toast as married

First toast as married
Originally uploaded by mammamaria

After the ceremoni we arrived at Norreda Torp where the wedding party was held, and all our guests were there and we toasted in sparkling wine.

First pictures from our big day!

A married woman :)

We got married yesterday! We had a great time, and I'll write more about it all when I get some pictures to show u...

Count down...

Less than 2 weeks until wedding. Still haven't sorted everything out... but at least I've got a dress, shoes, underwear, and jewlery. Puh.

And while planning the wedding, I'm also arranging the trip to Thailand/Australia in august. We've now booked all our flights, registered to one (out of two) conferences and have accomodation in Brisbane (still need somewhere to stay in Thailand and Sydney, although we're spending a week at my cousins place (great wedding gift!!)).

And the wedding trip to Paris (9th-13th july)? Well, we have the flight and accomodation arranged... do we need anything else? :)

So you see why I haven't updated the blog much?

8 months old today!

Ester is 8 months old today! We celebrated with a picnic in the sun. Feels like summer's finally here!

And Ester is growing, 2 teeth have arrived, and she's getting around faster and faster. Today she even ventured out on the grass. Totally fearless, didn't look back to make sure we were still there even once...

Favourite "toys"?

First tooth!

Ester's first tooth is here! Tiny and sharp as a razor... guess breast-feeding is coming to an end soon.

Ester 7 months old!

7 months and a week by now... She's getting really big. If she's lying down she can sit up on her own, and "talks" a lot (mostly da da da da da, and no, she's not trying to say daddy, cause that's pappa in swedish...), and can crawl around a little bit. Not very efficient, but enough to make us start planning the whole make-our-home-safe-for-the-baby-process.

New Nephew!

I have a new nephew and Ester a new cousin! My sister Sara gave birth to little Melvin on the 9th of april and he is so cute! He had even more dark hair than Ester when she was born, and he was bigger, 4043 gram and 54 cm long. Big little guy...

Unhappy Ester

The past few days Ester's been in a great mood. Except for when I leave her alone. Even for a second. Whenever I leave the room she starts crying and screaming...

These pictures were taken about two seconds after the happy ones in the previous post. I had just left the room and leaned in to take the pics without her seeing me (as soon as she sees me she stops crying and just waits for me to pick her up). So, this is what Ester looks like when I leave the room.

Happy E(a)ster!

Ester 6 months!

And still growing strong! :)

8360 gram and 67 cm long. And she can sit up on her own (still falls over sometimes though, and then she can't get up again... a bit frustrating).

Swimming with Ester

Today Isabella came with Ester and me when we went swimming, so now you can enjoy some pictures from the pool! :)

Back home again...

We had a great time in Rome, the weather was fantastic, the food amazing and the sight seeing superb. We also had a terrible time. Ester got really sick, started throwing up, had a feever, and diarrea (is that how u spell it? Otherwise I can describe it... but no, I'll spare u the details). Luckily it was only really bad for one day, so we stayed in and did nothing that day, and then she was better again...

We'd rented a small apartment right next to Campo de Fiori, and it was absolutely perfect. On the ground floor, so getting in and out with the pram was no problem, and actually really quiet.

Tomorrow: Roma!

Tomorrow we're leaving for Rome! Only a short trip, late sunday to late thursday, but I am sooo looking forward to it. We (me, Mattias, Ester, my parents and Mattias brother) have rented a small apartment close to Campo dei Fiore, right in the heart of the city. Can't wait to get there. A bit nervous about the flight and transportation and getting around with the pram (will there be room for us in tiny italian restaurants, and can you get through Forum Romanum with it?), but mostly just longing to get there.

So, for pictures and stories from Ester's second trip abroad check back here by the end of the week!

Ester 5 months old!

5 months... seems like no time at all... and seems like she's been here forever, how can it be only 5 months? She can almost sit up on her own (almost) and she can catch her own feet :) She's started to eat solid food as well, though mostly breast feeding still, and she loves mango (and went a bit crazy when she tasted some ice cream the other day).

Swimming (or rather... splashing and spitting) is still great fun, and going to sleep is the worst thing that has ever happened to her... every time.

First time swimming!

Yesterday Ester and went to the baby swim thing, and it was great! We spent about 20 min in the pool and Ester was so excited, kept splashing water and talking (loudly), and smiling at everyone. And of course she had more hair than ALL the other babies :)

Afterwards she was really exhausted, slept for hours, finally I had to wake her up... looking fw to next week! :)

Hectic week

The past week has really been busy... Ester has eaten solid food for the first time (mashed potatoes, was a big hit :)), I've started working (have spent two days at the office so far, and Ester and Mattias seems to be getting on great without me :( ), Ester's cousin Felix had his christening last weekend (which of course ment going to Kilafors and having a big family gathering, great fun!), and yesterday Ester and I had our first session at our new baby swimming course (the first occassion was just theory, tomorrow we'll get to go into the pool :)). So, you see, not much time for blogging... but I'll try my best!

Ester - 4 months!

Ester turned 4 months old last friday (2nd February)! I can't believe how quickly time's passing. And she's growing... When we visited the health centre last week (for a routine check up) she weighed 7350 grams. Huuuuge :) Getting heavy, too... at least I don't have to do too many push ups these days ;)

Early morning call

I was just woken by a phonecall. At 6.45 am. Now you'd think I'd be a bit upset by this, but it was my dear, dear friends Alice and Siaan, calling from Australia, and no matter what hour, I'm always delighted to hear from them! :) Apparently they assumed that I'd be up at the crack of dawn, being a mother and all, but dawn hasn't really come yet... Winter in sweden means breakfast in the dark. And the lovely miss Ester enjoys sleeping in the morning, sometimes I have to wake her up at 10.30 am...

Anyway, the girls informed me that they're checking this blogg for updates, and it makes me feel a bit guilty, I haven't really written much here... But I'll do better!

Right now, I think I'll go back to bed though... but please enjoy Ester's first appearance in the news: http://direktpress.se/uppsala/files/ut_0703.pdf Article on page 33, Ester is acting as "baby in car seat". Very cute, don't you think? :)

Happy New Year!

Christmas with Ester was great, although she didn't really appreciate her gifts... but I surely enjoyed opening all the presents :)

Celebrating new years eve was a little less successful. We went to a party at a friends place just down the street, and everybody was so happy to see Ester. We had a great buffet, and Ester slept for a while, but at 10 pm she woke up and got upset... refused to go back to sleep, and didn't really want to join the party either, so we decided to go home. Once back home in her own bed she fell asleep again, and we looked at the fireworks from our balcony enjoying a glass of sparkling wine before going to bed. Nice though :) But next year we'll probably plan a little less partying... perhaps celebrate with my sisters and their children.

To add it all up; 2006 was probably one of my best years ever. Finding out we were pregnant, celebrating Em's 30th birthday, Barcelona for easter, soccer world championships in Germany in june, my sisters wedding in july... september wasn't too much fun, but was well compensated with the arrival of Ester in october! A trip to Austria in november and celebrating Ester's first christmas. And hopefully 2007 will be just as good, or even better! :)