Lucas and his friend Milo as the backbone of the Swedish police.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
366 days
On October 16, our little boy turned one. One! The year that has been passed has been filled with joy, wonder and amazement -- starting with his bursting onto the scene, screaming his lungs out for hours and hours as if to fill the air with his presence. I know no better way of describing that moment than this:
Since the midwife placed him on my belly, he has truly been bundle of joy for all that encounter him. Until Nicholas was born, all of us were nervous about what changes a new baby would to our family. But once he came along, we all immediately had a sense that "of course Nicholas belongs here". He has always belonged here. Until he arrived, though, we just didn't know it.
Imagine what an experience that first year must be for a baby... the first breath, first food, first smile. In fact, in his first year, Nicholas has experienced thousands of "firsts" and achieved many of them on his own. Meeting his brothers, crawling, burping, banging his head with Lego blocks... The list is endless. I feel so lucky to have been able to be home with him this year, to watch him grow and learn and become the loving, cuddly little burst of energy that he is today.
Mom and Dad were here to celebrate that special day with us, and we were so happy to spend a week with them. Nicholas particularly loved his new Radio Flyer bike, which he can already move on his own and is daily crashing into the walls (only when his daddy isn't home, of course).
For his birthday, we made an egg-less, milk-less chocolate cake, which actually tasted quite good. Nicholas seemed to enjoy it....
Here are just a few of our favorite photos from Nicholas's first year.
He was actual! An actual baby, pulled from the dream of my body into the shocking wakefulness of earthly life.
Elizabeth McCracken
Since the midwife placed him on my belly, he has truly been bundle of joy for all that encounter him. Until Nicholas was born, all of us were nervous about what changes a new baby would to our family. But once he came along, we all immediately had a sense that "of course Nicholas belongs here". He has always belonged here. Until he arrived, though, we just didn't know it.
Imagine what an experience that first year must be for a baby... the first breath, first food, first smile. In fact, in his first year, Nicholas has experienced thousands of "firsts" and achieved many of them on his own. Meeting his brothers, crawling, burping, banging his head with Lego blocks... The list is endless. I feel so lucky to have been able to be home with him this year, to watch him grow and learn and become the loving, cuddly little burst of energy that he is today.
Mom and Dad were here to celebrate that special day with us, and we were so happy to spend a week with them. Nicholas particularly loved his new Radio Flyer bike, which he can already move on his own and is daily crashing into the walls (only when his daddy isn't home, of course).
For his birthday, we made an egg-less, milk-less chocolate cake, which actually tasted quite good. Nicholas seemed to enjoy it....
Here are just a few of our favorite photos from Nicholas's first year.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Autumn entertainment
Steen's parents and his brother, Christian, were here this weekend to celebrate Nicholas's first birthday (which is on Thursday). As always, we had a great time with them. We visited a traditional Swedish Christmas market in a small town north of here, where we filled up on free tastes of Christmas sausage, candy, cheeses and fudge.
We also spent part of the weekend decorating for Halloween. Matthew and Lucas were in charge of the decorating...
and then they utilized their Bedstefar's expertise with a knife to carve their pumpkins.
Nicholas even got in on the Halloween fun.
Nicholas got to open his first birthday presents, taking great joy in ripping the paper into tiny pieces. He immediately fell in love with this car he received from his Aunt Susanne and Uncle Jesper. It's now the first thing he plays with in the morning.
He also got a way-cool garage from Steen's parents and Christian, as well as a hammer and a board with kid-safe wooden "nails".
It's always a pleasure for us to have family visiting... and the boys obviously enjoy all the extra attention too.
Now we're looking forward to the arrival of mom and dad in a few days!!!
We also spent part of the weekend decorating for Halloween. Matthew and Lucas were in charge of the decorating...
and then they utilized their Bedstefar's expertise with a knife to carve their pumpkins.
Nicholas even got in on the Halloween fun.
Nicholas got to open his first birthday presents, taking great joy in ripping the paper into tiny pieces. He immediately fell in love with this car he received from his Aunt Susanne and Uncle Jesper. It's now the first thing he plays with in the morning.
He also got a way-cool garage from Steen's parents and Christian, as well as a hammer and a board with kid-safe wooden "nails".
It's always a pleasure for us to have family visiting... and the boys obviously enjoy all the extra attention too.
Now we're looking forward to the arrival of mom and dad in a few days!!!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The long and winding road
I want to start by wishing my cousin Trish and her husband Brian a huge, heartfelt congratulations on the arrival of their beautiful little girl, Kylie! As you can see from their blog, she is a heart-stopping beauty. I can't wait to meet her! Or Zoe, or A.J., or Sophia! Or anyone who is now part of our family but I haven't yet met!
This past weekend, the long-awaited link between the two major highways north of Stockholm opened. The link saves Steen fifteen minutes in commuting time if he goes straight from here to work or vice versa. I tell you all of this relatively irrelevant information because prior to the grand opening, the highway link was opened for a few hours to anyone who wished (for whatever reason) to take a walk along it. Guess what we did?
The weekend before that we spent with our Danish family. Steen's sister, Susanne, turned the magic 3-0, so we joined her for the celebration. Despite my attempt to lose all of our passports and the ensuing race around Sweden to find them again, we had the chance to see Susanne and Jesper's beautiful new home for the first time. We generally had a great time hanging out in northern Zealand.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the party, but perhaps Susanne and Jesper will send me some and then I can post a few?
Here's a photo of the boys during Nicholas's very first adventure into a McDonald's playland. He absolutely loved it... especially since he got to hang out with his revered big brothers...
This past weekend, the long-awaited link between the two major highways north of Stockholm opened. The link saves Steen fifteen minutes in commuting time if he goes straight from here to work or vice versa. I tell you all of this relatively irrelevant information because prior to the grand opening, the highway link was opened for a few hours to anyone who wished (for whatever reason) to take a walk along it. Guess what we did?
The weekend before that we spent with our Danish family. Steen's sister, Susanne, turned the magic 3-0, so we joined her for the celebration. Despite my attempt to lose all of our passports and the ensuing race around Sweden to find them again, we had the chance to see Susanne and Jesper's beautiful new home for the first time. We generally had a great time hanging out in northern Zealand.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the party, but perhaps Susanne and Jesper will send me some and then I can post a few?
Here's a photo of the boys during Nicholas's very first adventure into a McDonald's playland. He absolutely loved it... especially since he got to hang out with his revered big brothers...
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