A distinct lack of pumpkins

Halloween has [reluctantly] made it to Norway these past few years, but only in the form of candy and costumes. It is impossible to find any real pumpkins or even any canned pumpkin! I was looking forward to baking some pumpkin bread, but it's kinda hard when there is a complete lack of pumpkin product to work with. Boo (not the scary kind)!

We had a handful of trick-or-treaters though, each wearing one of the 4 or 5 costumes available from the stores -- mostly witches and devils. Part of me wishes we could have dressed Rhiannon and maybe even Tryfan in some cute outfit and been able to post Halloween pictures of them, but I have to admit that it is only a very small part of me that wishes such a thing! I am happy to just celebrate the last day of October by itself...not that we did much to celebrate it. Today Rhodri, Tryfan and I practiced getting out of the house again. This time we went to Trekanten, the local (Asker) shopping mall. And actually this morning it snowed for about 15 minutes! Nothing stuck to the ground though.

10 days old

We celebrated Tryfan's 10th day of being with us yesterday by taking a walk up to my favorite viewpoint - normally a 5 min walk but we did it in closer to 15 minutes. Tryfan got to go for his first ride in the sling and he loved it!He kept making cute baby noises while we walked up to the small field overlooking the entire Oslofjord.
Bentley was also happy to get out! He really misses the daily scampers through the forest that I was having with Elin before Tryfan came along. Here he is back at our 'hood, with one of the last pretty trees in the background.
Then back at home, Rhiannon loved climbing over Mama while Tryfan was eating. She says "Tryfan spise ['spee-seh'] milk Mama" whenever she sees us together.
In fact, she has been putting 2 or 3 words together a lot more often now. "Spise" (which means eat in Norwegian) is one of her favorite words. The other day, Rhodri was biting off a tag on a little stuffed animal (rather than getting scissors), and Rhiannon said "Daddy spise ashhh", which means "Daddy is eating yuck". I laughed.

A long week

In spite of our cheerful faces and perky posts, it has actually been a long hard week. I had forgotten how hard the first couple of weeks are for the Mama -- most of my body is sore and the ol' hormones are trying to get back to normal (which has meant that I found myself snapping at poor Rhods several times). Anyway, Tryfan is doing great - just eating, sleeping and looking around.On Friday, my midwives came over to go through the details of the birth. Sort of a strange concept, but apparently it is what's done here in Norway. A lot of emphasis is put on talking through the details of the birth sometime during the first 6 weeks so that any negative feelings or memories can be let out in the open and put to rest. Here is Rhodri with Tryfan, Anette, Annett M, and me in our living room.
Rhiannon continues to really love Tryfan, but we have seen a few outbursts of jealousy this week. Also, she has been throwing little temper tantrums and generally acting difficult. Not all the time, but definitely more than usual. None of her jealousy is directed at Tryfan, though.
Tryfan spends daytime sleep in the hanging cradle. When he cries and wants to be held, one of us picks him up and this is when Rhiannon says "Back! Bed!" -- as in, "Put him back into the bed and keep playing with me!" Fortunately there are 2 of us, so whoever didn't pick up Tryfan gets to distract Rhiannon and play something new with her.

Pronunciation help

Since Tryfan is a Welsh name, it is pronounced in a non-intuitive (for English speakers) way! I found that if you think "TRUCK-van" (emphasis on the first part), and then take away the "CK" part, it sounds about right. For our Norwegian friends, we tell them it is like the local (Oslo) downhill ski slope which is called "Tryvann". Hope that helps!

Our lovely neighbors

We have such wonderful neighbors. Beate and her son Max decorated the outside of the house with this happy sight! Beate also baked us some cakes to serve to visitors and she took Rhiannon to a handball match on Sunday afternoon so that Rhodri could rest for a couple of hours. We also have received so many flowers and gifts from our other neighbors -- thank you!Here is the little one in his new cradle (vugge), which hangs in the middle of the main living/ dining room. We take it down when Rhiannon comes home from barnehage though, since she LOVES to push it around in a non-gentle way.Bambino sleeping

Birth continued - the Mom and Heidi part

I forgot to tell the part of the story about Mom and Heidi! We had all been hoping that the baby would arrive before they left, and so when I started having regular contractions on Thursday afternoon, we called United Airlines to see what the options were for postponing their flight. What a total nightmare!! In short, it looked like any option would cost nearly twice the price of the original ticket itself and so we couldn't afford to change them.

They were scheduled to leave at 1pm on Oct 19th, which means leaving our house for the train station to get to the airport at about 9:30am. We had already said goodbye to them on Thursday night when we left for the birth center, and that was awful. They each went to sleep that night with a phone by the bed so that we could let them know the news when there was news! But the night passed with no phonecall to them. At 8:15am, I told Rhodri that he should probably call them to let them know that there was still no baby. As he was going for the phone to do this, my water finally broke and 34 minutes later, Tryfan arrived!

Rhodri was able to catch Mom and Heidi on the phone before they left for the train station and let them know the good news! Yay! So then Heidi and Mom spent the entire trip to the airport scheming. In the end, they were lucky enough to get a sympathetic United counter lady who let them delay their flight until Saturday morning with only a $200 fee (each). So Mom and Heidi left their bags at the airport and took the train back into Oslo, then visited us at the birth center! It was such a happy reunion. Rhodri, Tryfan and I rested for a few more hours after Mom and Heidi left the birth center for Asker, and then we joined them back at home around 6:30pm.

Tryfan's birth

I realized as I started writing the details of Tryfan's birth that actually this complete story is not appropriate to be posted on the internet! The short version is that I was expecting this birth to be a lot (or at least a little) shorter and easier than Rhiannon's birth, and it was NOT.

The first part of labor -- when the contractions were not terribly painful but increasing in magnitude and frequency -- was lovely. We arrived at Foderiket at 8:40pm on Thursday night (Oct 18) and had about 4-5 hours of walking the streets of Oslo, listening to calming music (Sigur Ros, Coldplay, Bjork's "Vespertine"), lounging in warm bath water with candles all around...it was really gorgeous.

And then there was about 7 hours of really hard work and trying to relax through a lot of pain. Rhodri was such a star through it all, even though I ended up really leaning on his dodgy shoulder and in the end, making rather large noises right in his ear! And yes, there was a point where I was thinking to myself, "Stupid natural childbirth! This really really hurts! Why did I think this was a good idea!"

But in retrospect, I would not have done it any other way. There is something so amazing about being able to feel one's body actually give birth to a baby. If nothing else just to know that I have access to that much strength and power, which must come from beyond myself. But I am extremely glad that its over and that we have a healthy son!

PS. If anyone wants to all the gory details, just email me [lisl.lewis@gmail.com] or post a comment here.

The first few days

Now that we have gotten to know Tryfan a little bit better, we are finding that he is so calm and lovely! He does a lot of sleeping and nursing, and when he is awake he just looks around. He really doesn't cry at all. We think he is getting less "weird looking" too in the 3 days he has been alive.We had a very long weekend though, mostly because a certain new big sister was adjusting to life with a baby brother and expressing her frustration in different ways. Rhiannon seems to really love Tryfan, so she doesn't show any resentment or jealousy towards him but she was acting exceptionally difficult and being a real pain in the backside. We really missed having my Mom and sister here to help distract her!
When Rhiannon first wakes up in the morning, she says "Tryfan?" and immediately wants to be taken into our bedroom to give him and me a kiss. She can say his name really well and it is just so cute.

Finally !!!!! A baby boy...

And so at last we welcome Tryfan Buckner Lewis to our family! The name Tryfan (pronounced "TRUH-van") is the name of Rhodri's favorite mountain in Wales and the middle name Buckner is a family name on my side.Tryfan was born at 08:49 on 19 October 2007, weighed 3.73 kg (8 lbs, 3 oz) and was 51 cm (20.5 inches) long.The birth center "Føderiket" (translates to "the kingdom of birth") where Tryfan was born in downtown Oslo. The entrance is on the right and the curved brick turret is the main lounging room. The room he was born in is not shown.
Rhiannon was really curious and excited about him when we got home at 6:30pm last night!
Although not visible here, Rhiannon is smiling really big here and saying "Baby!". She was so gentle when she was touching him here.
More details later, but I am thrilled to say that my Mom and sister were able to change their flights so that they could meet Tryfan and spend one more night with us before heading home. It was a very close call though! Full story next time...

The bright side(s) of still waiting

Waiting for this baby to show up is not all that bad -- I/ we have been able to spend some really good times with my Mom and sister. My Mom has been listening for Rhiannon to wake up in the morning and then playing with her for a bit so that Rhodri and I can sleep in! So nice! Here they are doing a puzzle in the playroom.And of course get out and enjoy the lovely weather at places like the Vollen Bakeri (my new favorite place)
And I am not the only one doing the cooking anymore, which is really nice!
In fact, I am being treated like a Queen! Here I am with my enormous belly in Vollen

Weekend passed and still waiting

Well, this baby is officially late. The due date according to the scan was Oct 12th and according to the calendar was Oct 7th. Either way, this baby is not in a hurry to be here! It is driving me (and everyone else in our household except Rhiannon maybe) a little bit CRAZY. We are trying to stay busy and active and make the most of our time together, but Grandma and Heidi are only here until Friday Oct 19th!I guess the important thing is that Rhiannon is really enjoying having Grandma and Aunt Heidi around. We just don't want them to leave so soon.

40 weeks

Here I am at 18, 29, 36 and 40 weeks. Hopefully this is the last of the photos...I don't think this blue shirt will stretch much bigger!

På tur

I have been trying to catch Rhiannon's class going "på tur" for several weeks now but today I finally saw them! "På tur" literally means "on tour" but in practice it means that the kids get to go on a field trip outside the gates of the barnehage. Usually they go to a nearby "lekeplass" (playground) for a change of scene. Here are all the 2 year olds (or nearly 2 years old) going for their weekly tur. They are all holding onto a rope which is barely visible on the left side of the photo. Rhiannon is the one in a pink rainsuit in the middle of the pack. Every Thursday morning (regardless of the weather, unless it is colder than -15 degrees C), Rhiannon gets to put on her reflective vest and wear her backpack filled with her "matpakke" (packed lunch), "sitteunderlag" (sitting pad) and other goodies.

Velcro fruit and Vigelandspark

Still waiting for New Baby and making the most of our days together...
My good friend Annabel and her two kids Kyrstyn and Skylyr sent Rhiannon some presents for a "Big girl that loves to cook", including fruits and vegetables that can be cut into pieces and re-attached with velcro. Now we have to pretty much hide the velcro fruit from her because she is obsessed!Wearing her new favorite apron, chef's hat and backpack while cutting fruit and veg for Heidi and Grandma
It was a lovely day for visiting my favorite sculpture park downtown Oslo. My friend Elin came with us to enjoy all the pretty colors and tree-lined pathways through Vigeland's bronze and granite statues.The monolith in the background was being cleaned (hence the scaffolding) but the red Virginia creeper vines (or whatever they are called in Norske) were gorgeous.

With Heidi and Grandma

Yes, we are still waiting for the new Lewis to arrive! But in the meantime, we have really been enjoying having Grandma Debi and Aunt Heidi here. Rhiannon is very good at pronouncing "Grammm-MA" and calls Aunt Heidi "Haw-dee", which sounds so cute when she says it. Here she is asking for more tickles from Grandma...And exploring around the fjord beach at Hvalstrand with HeidiReading one of many books with Grandma

Birthday party for Fia

Its been a big day here in Asker! First we picked up Grandma Debi and Aunt Heidi from the train station and then we went to Sofie's birthday party! Rhiannon got to wear her favorite bunny poncho. All dressed up in party duds with Rhods.
On the way to the car with lovely autumn colors behindAt Sofie's birthday party with the other kids (who we didn't know)

It turns out that a 2-year-old Norwegian children's birthday party consists of: (1) opening presents as they come rather than all at once, (2) eating pølse (fancy word for hot dog) wrapped in tortillas, (3) playing a little bit, (4) singing Happy Birthday in Norwegian to a totally different tune, and (5) eating various kinds of cakes, Jell-O, and rolls with brown cheese on them. So now you know!

Rugby in the house

Well, we have just enjoyed an evening of watching 2 exciting World Cup Rugby matches! First we watched England beat Australia 12-10 and then we watched France beat New Zealand 20-18. Two major upsets! Rhiannon was awake for the England-Australia game and by the end of it, she was pointing out Johnny Wilkinson (England's fly half) and saying "kick" and "Johnny", much to the chagrin of her Daddy!
Here is a little photo that I borrowed from the BBC website of our man Johnny getting ready to kick....

One year of Norway

Yesterday (Thursday) we marked the 1-year anniversary of us moving to Norway. We didn't have any kind of celebration but we did acknowledge the occasion with a little Pellegrino and lemon toast to this great year we have had.

In the meantime, no baby yet. I think Baby is going to be sensible and wait for Grandma Debi and Aunt Heidi to travel out here from California this weekend! They arrive Sunday afternoon and so I think that Baby will just continue to sit tight until they arrive and adjust to the 9 hour time difference, and then decide to join the fresh air on Tues night or Wed morning. That is MY prediction.

I have continued to thoroughly enjoy the increasingly vibrant autumn colors and lovely weather. Okay, I have been doing some boring stuff too like cleaning and shopping, but only AFTER I have been outside wandering for a couple of hours. On Wednesday I went into the nearby village of Vollen to enjoy some yummy baked goods and a gorgeous fjord view from the Vollen Bakery with my friend Elianne and her two boys Jack (8 yrs old) and Felix (2.5 yrs old). Here they are...
And the view from our table out the window

All day at Ånnerudtoppen

Today I worked all day at Rhiannon's barnehage (nursery school), called Ånnerudtoppen. There is a new rule that each family has to put in one day of helping out each year, but there are only specific days to choose from during the year. Today was the first day available, so I figured I might as well put in the time now while I can! Here is the Minx looking particularly Minx-like.Rhiannon and Sofie reading books together on the couch. Rhiannon calls her "Fia"Rhiannon and "Fia" watching the goldfish togetherPlaying with Playdough -- Rhiannon is second from the leftHere are all the strollers with sleeping babies inside them during naptime. Rhiannon's is the one with the white netting on it (second in)Rhiannon and "Fia" dancing around crazily
Let's just say it was a loooong day, although I really enjoyed it!