A great surprise

On Monday of this week I got a phone call from my long lost friend Neville, who was calling to see if we wanted to have a visitor any time soon...like maybe Thursday? So he arrived Thursday afternoon and stayed until Saturday afternoon. On Friday we went to Vigeland park and enjoyed seeing the statues covered in powdery snow.Someone had donated this outfit to the "tantrum toddler"
"Nev" got coerced into reading Rhiannon the book "Go Dog, Go!" about 30 times
Ever since Nev left, Rhiannon has been saying "Nev...bus! Then airplane!". It was wonderful to have a spontaneous short-notice visit from an old friend :-) Thanks, Nev!

Oops

Rhiannon has been really into eating oats lately, which she calls 'oops'. Strange! She knows how to open the pantry now -- so she does -- and up until this week she would always ask for 'pepperkake' (gingerbread). But now she asks for 'oops' or 'oh-me' (oatmeal). Her favorite way of eating them is to put a handful into a plastic cup and drink the dry oats.

Anyway, here she is decorating the Christmas tree, which she calls 'coeden' (Welsh for tree).

More Tryfan video

I couldn't resist posting this clip of Tryfan smiling and talking to me

Barselgruppe

Today was the first meeting of my 'barselgruppe', which is a group of 6 or 7 mothers who live in the same area and have just had babies around the same time. 'Barsel' means the time period for the mother and baby when the baby is newborn, and 'gruppe' means group. The groups and the first two meetings are organized by the local 'helsestasjon' (Health Station) and after that it is up to the group members to arrange their own meetings. It's such a good idea! I have been trying to learn more Norwegian so that I could maybe understand or speak a little bit with my barselgruppe, but I have a long way to go yet.

Anyway, today was the first meeting. There were 7 of us - 4 with baby girls and 3 with baby boys; for 4 of us this is the 2nd baby and the other 3 this is their first. There is one woman who seems quite young - maybe 20 years old, and there are two women who are in their late 30s or even early 40s, the rest of us in the middle somewhere (we didn't discuss our own ages!). Actually, one of the older ladies is an opera singer who lived in the US for a long time and is now back to her native land. I talked to her a bit (in English) afterwards. It was quite an interesting meeting, though it is exhausting to concentrate so hard on following what people are saying. I was able to say a little bit, but I couldn't contribute to the conversations about nursing, sleeping, or eating. Maybe next time...

White week but no snow

For the past week, it has been really cold here - temperatures between -5 and -11 deg C (20 to 12 deg F). We haven't had any snow, but the world is blanketed in a very fine frozen powder anyway... freezing fog I guess? It hasn't melted even though the sun has been shining quite a bit -- so pretty! Here is the view from the nursery (Rhiannon's room but soon to become Tryfan's):
And the view out the living room window:Rhiannon invited Tryfan into the crib to hang out for a little bit yesterday while we were getting the car warmed up. Fortunately she was taking a break from 'hoppe-ing' on the mattress and she was happy to snuggle with her little brother!It was a nice weekend - we went for a fancy company dinner on Friday night (left Tryfan here with a babysitter (a mother of 2 kids who lives 2 doors down) and a pumped bottle of milk), then Rhodri and I took turns sleeping and we went for a walk with the kids into downtown Asker on Saturday, and on Sunday we got a Christmas tree and had our friends Ravi and Harini over for dinner. Maybe tonight we will decorate the tree...

8 weeks old

Tryfan is such a sweet little guy. He is doing a lot of cooing and smiling these days.

St. Lucia Day

Yesterday was St. Lucia Day, which means that all the kids dress up wearing white and parade around with candles (pretend candles - no actual flames) singing about St. Lucia. We had to have Rhiannon at barnehage by 7:45am! That is about 1.5 hours earlier than we are used to getting her there, so it was a frantic morning. Here she is holding Fia's hand getting ready to parade and sing.The entire barnehage was lit by real and pretend candles. Its amazing how calm a large group of small children can get when a room is lit only by candles!My camera's flash lit up the parade going by since the room was mostly dark. Can you spot the Minx?
Tryfan wasn't too impressed at the early morning or the candles and singing. Fortunately he slept through most of the event. He is starting to smile quite a lot now.
Nobody seemed to know that much about St. Lucia except that she was a blind Italian girl (or something). It was a nice morning once we got out of the house -- we were served 'luttekass' (sweet bready things with raisins) and 'pepperkake' (gingerbread) along with 'glogg' (mulled cider-type drink) after the parade and singing was over.

Nisse-Pia

Rhiannon's class has a tradition where each child gets to take home the Christmas doll named "Nisse-Pia" for 1 or 2 nights during December. "Nisse" means Christmas and "Pia" is a sort-of-common Norwegian / Swedish girl's name. Well, Nisse-Pia got to visit the Lewis house on Tuesday night ! Here is Rhiannon showing Nisse-Pia the blog of one of her 'Homies' back in San Diego.Before giving Nisse-Pia back to the teacher, we had to write in a traveling journal about what she experienced at our house. Some highlights...she was fed some bits of gingerbread, she got to play with the wood sushi, she almost took a bath (before being rescued!), and she got to sleep in Rhiannon's crib with her.

Birthday aftermath

Since Rhiannon's real birthday was Monday, she got special treatment at barnehage. She had this crown made for her with a little photo of her taped on the front, and in the morning everyone in the whole school gathered to sing Happy Birthday to her. Apparently, she didn't like being the center of attention and she got all shy and embarrassed. Here she is wearing the crown.Then when Rhiannon got home in the afternoon, she got to open her present from Aunt Heidi - a wooden sushi set!
Some Daddy time on the favorite chair
On Sunday, we had a visit from almost 2-year-old twins Magnus (left) and Finn (right). They were so cute together!

Rhiannon's 2nd Year Birthday Party

Rhodri made it home safe and sound yesterday afternoon - yay!
We spent the first part of today getting ready for Rhiannon's birthday party which started at 2pm. I had invited 5 families but only 3 came since the other 2 families were sick. We had a great party, if less chaotic than it would have otherwise been with more people. Nevertheless, we had plenty of running, screaming, laughing and jumping -- especially out of these two below!
It turns out that everyone who came was Norwegian, so we sang Happy Birthday in Norsk. Well, WE didn't sing of course -- it doesn't sound anything like the English version. Rhiannon was a little bit overwhelmed and I don't think she knew quite what to think! She liked the Monkey Face carrot cake though.
I love this picture (below) because each child's expression is so different. Sofie, Rhiannon and William are on the couch while Tilda is on the left and Victoria is on the right below. Tideman (Tilda's brother) was being uncooperative and is missing from the photo. Anyway, Rhiannon had a HUGE poo in her diaper and she literally stank up the whole room. Right before this photo was taken, William was complaining because he had to sit next to her and he was holding his nose to compensate. The scowl he wears here is because his Daddy made him stop holding his nose for the photo, and you can see that he is really edging away from her!
We didn't have anything structured except for first sitting to eat Jello and Fruit & Nut balls with juice, and then a second sitting for the birthday cake. Otherwise, it was just a free for all. Sofie gave Rhiannon a train set, so at one point all the kids were playing with some part of the set. There were no tears from any of the kids, so I think that in itself qualifies this birthday party as a success! Happy Birthday Rhiannon!

Extreme fluctuations of a difficult week

We have had a tumultuous pattern of weather this week...lovely blanket of snow, melting to puddles which freeze into ice patches, then higher temperatures melt the puddles, sun and wind comes to dry things out and then some more snow followed by some pouring rain, etc.

The climate in our house has been similar. Rhodri has been gone since Sat Dec 1st at 4am (working in Louisiana), and we have had some truly awful moments without him. But we have also had some peaceful lovely moments like the one pictured below, taken after Rhiannon and I had given 'our' babies a bath.The trouble started on Saturday (Dec 1) when it poured rain all day. I had planned on meeting Elin so that Sofie and Rhiannon could play at the annual "Asker Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony" scheduled for 3:30pm in the town square. Since it was dark and pouring rain and I had never attempted walking somewhere with both kids on my own, I was dreading this event. But somehow the thought of staying inside and keeping the peace for another 4 hours (til bedtime) was worse, so we went. You can't tell from the photo below, but Rhiannon and Sofie were little Puddle Banshees, running and laughing and having a brilliant time!The Asker community marching band performed and there were lots of torches (w/ real fire) being carried by people who paraded behind them. The tree was lit and then Santa arrived on a real sleigh pulled by 2 horses and he distributed bags of candy to all the kids. Rhiannon and Sofie partook in the first dose of candy they each had ever tasted (as far as we know) and they weren't that keen on it...soon they were back in the puddles!
We didn't stay too long and so we walked home at 5pm. Then around 1am when we were all sleeping, I woke up with a breast infection. Terrible! Rhiannon woke up at 4:15am and didn't go back to sleep, and so we all got up around 5:30am on Sunday morning. I felt unbelievably awful and just could not cope with a tired, whiny, jealous Rhiannon who cried whenever I picked up Tryfan, so I called (and woke up) our dear neighbor Beate to come rescue me. She is such a saint. She took Rhiannon for the entire day while Tryfan and I laid in bed all day. Our other neighbor Berit and her daughter Ida came over to take Bentley to their house so he could play with their dog Vicky, and then Berit kept coming by to make me cups of tea and things to eat. She also changed Tryfan's diapers and gave him a bath -- so nice! I am so very grateful for our wonderful neighbors.

I was able to be rid of the infection by Wednesday morning, but that stretch of time between was ugly... lots of episodes with everyone crying and Bentley acting concerned. Now it is Thursday evening and can finally say that today was a calm day with minimal tears. But I have had to lean heavily on my neighbors and friends -- asking people to come over and help in the evening from ~5-7pm, then again in the morning at 7:45am for half an hour. I have started leaving Tryfan at our next door neighbor's house while I take Rhiannon to and from barnehage.
And Rhiannon really misses Rhodri. Her latest thing has been to climb up onto our bed and lay down on his side of the bed with her head on his pillow. We are so grateful that he will finally be home tomorrow!

Alone with the troops and a long lost friend

Today Rhiannon's barnehage was closed so that the teachers could go do some 'bonding' at a nearby spa. Rhodri was at work, so I spent the day with the troops. It was snowing when we woke up, so we had about 0.5 inches on the ground by the time we were ready to go outside and play. Bentley got to scamper and sniff around, Rhiannon got to play at the playground and push the lawnmower around, and Tryfan got to snuggle underneath my coat in the sling I wore him in.Then when we went inside and a certain little person (not Tryfan) started to be whiny, we busted out the gingerbread dough for about the 4th day in a row (hey, that rhymes!).
This afternoon I left Tryfan to chill out in the hanging basket while the rest of us were busy elsewhere. He was sleeping initially but then I heard some noises, so I went to investigate and this is what I found...Tryfan smiling and laughing while curled up with Mr. Monkey!
Then we found out that our long lost friend Yamane-san was in town for the day, so we quickly arranged a babysitter for Rhiannon and made dinner reservations at the HolmenFjord Hotel. Superb!
Tryfan loved looking at Yamane-san and was content to just lay in his arms
I think that it must be rare for people to go out to dinner (at least at this place) with babies because everyone was looking at us like we were aliens! But nobody complained or told us to leave, so we enjoyed a fine meal together.

Growing

Well, little Tryfan ("Tryfs", said like "Truhvs", as we often call him) is certainly growing! He is almost 6 weeks old now and he weighs 5.35 kg, up from 3.73 kg at birth. (That is 11 lbs, 13 oz up from 8 lbs, 3 oz). He started smiling and even laughing this past week! He likes laying on his back on a slightly inclined surface and watching all of us, which is fortunate because it is quite handy to have him hang out in a peaceful state and just watch and smile. Hope this stage lasts awhile! Rhiannon continues to love him and want to kiss and hug him whenever he is accessible, but she also tries to feed him raisins, tangerine pieces, and bits of toast when we turn away for half of a second!
She also goes through moments of jealousy, saying "MY Mama, MY Daddy" (except she says it in Norwegian). Rhiannon has also just learned how to say "shame on you, that was bad" in Norwegian, which turns out to be just one word: 'fy', pronounced 'fu' or something sort of like that.

Nicer to baby doll

I realized I hadn't posted any video for awhile...this isn't that great of a video, but its better than nothing. Here is Rhiannon putting her baby doll into the high chair. Note the fantastic bedhead!



She has been speaking so much more Norwegian lately, and she talks with a little accent and a singsong voice like all of her buddies at barnehage. We are still learning what sorts of things she says, but lately she has been saying new things everyday.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is usually my favorite holiday and although today is Thanksgiving, it feels so far away. I miss my family in the USA. I wish I could spend the day with them just enjoying each other's company as we have in the past. But no. Not this year. And so I will celebrate Thanksgiving in my own quiet way -- by giving thanks for all of the blessings in my life and making the most of the day.

Today I have 2 new things to be grateful for: (1) We had our first snowfall last night! and (2) I am the proud owner of a Norwegian Drivers License now, after having to surrender my California Drivers License and then take a practical driving test today (in slushy and icy conditions)! Here is our backyard after the snow started to melt late this morning.
Otherwise, things are fine here. Poor little Tryfan has had a real case of 'baby acne'. I don't remember Rhiannon having it, but I know it's common. Poor little guy is just covered in zits, although maybe you can't tell in the photo below.
And now, a little poem titled "Thanksgiving" -- actually these are the lyrics to a song of that name by the band Poi Dog Pondering. These lyrics have meant different things to me in different stages of my life but it seems appropriate to share these now. Enjoy...

Somehow I find myself far out of line from the ones I had drawn.
Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that...but I'm keeping on.
Would our paths cross if every great loss had turned out our gain?
Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us was paid in vain?
There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow lighting my way.
But I will be true to the red, black and blues that colored those days.
I owe my soul to each fork in the road, each misleading sign,
'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude can dissolve my sweetest find.
Thanksgiving for every wrong move....that made it right.

A year older

Well, I am officially a year older now. Usually I don't like my birthday, but today was fine. No fuss, no big plans, just a nice mellow Monday. Here is Rhiannon looking very minxey in Aunt Heidi's hat that she left here.
Rhodri and the kids (its so nice being able to say "kids"!) each gave me a present at breakfast -- Rhiannon gave me a pretty necklace and earrings, Tryfan gave me a music CD, and Rhodri gave me a digital photo frame. I got to go on a lovely walk with the usual morning suspects (Elin, Bentley and the babies). And then I did stuff around the house in between Tryfan feedings! A very normal day that was made brighter by some thoughtful phonecalls, emails, cards and presents.

New mittens and a shopping story

Well, we had a pretty good day today. It was cold but mostly sunny, a little bit foggy, and we all went outside to play for a bit this morning. Rhiannon loves wearing her outdoor gear and is especially fond of her new mittens!Bentley's friend Vicky came out to play too
Rhiannon got really tired just before naptime and nearly fell asleep on the see-saw!
Here is a funny story: Rhodri took the car to help our friends Ravi and Harini do some shopping (they don't have a car), and so of course Rhiannon kept asking where was Daddy? Each time I told her that "Daddy is shopping with Ravi". Rhiannon would say "Daddy Ravi hoppe" and I would just agree absentmindedly (as you do when you are not really listening). Eventually she did a little 'hoppe' and said "Daddy Ravi hoppe" again and I realized that she must have been thinking that Rhodri and Ravi were out hopping together rather than sssshhhopping together. I laughed to myself about that.

A little help from our friends

Rhodri had to go to Milan for 2 days this week. Yikes! It was our first time alone since Tryfan arrived. Fortunately, we received some much-needed help from our friends and neighbors! First, Elin picked up Rhiannon from barnehage yesterday and brought her home so that Tryfan and I didn't have to face the freezing temperatures. Then our friend and neighbor Beate's daughter Carina came over yesterday and today from ~5 - 7pm so that she should play with Rhiannon while I nursed Tryfan and made dinner.
Beate also drove Rhiannon to and from barnehage today! And then our other neighbor Ida took Bentley for a little scamper this evening since I didn't get a chance to take him out earlier today. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and neighbors :-) Thank you!

TGIM

So our weekend had a great start, but then apparently all the 'good' tokens were used up because the rest of the weekend was quite a struggle. Thank Goodness It's Monday! We didn't have any serious problems, but Tryfan wanted to nurse constantly and Rhiannon was being "difficult". And then Tryfan wasn't sleeping very well so then Rhodri and I were not sleeping very well but Rhiannon was full of the dickens....

This morning, however, I went for a walk with Elin, Bentley and the babies. It turns out that their household had nearly an identical weekend experience to ours! Maybe next weekend we can combine forces with them?

Good start to the weekend

Last night Rhodri, Tryfan and I went to a party! Our friend and colleague Michael and his wife Charlotte hosted a dinner party for our group at work. Tryfan's first party! (I did take a photo but not on my own camera so I have to wait for it to be emailed to me.) We stayed up quite a bit later than we are used to, so Rhiannon waking in the early morning today came way too early for poor Rhods. Rhiannon and I gave Rhodri a break by making some gingerbread cookies while Tryfan slept a bit more. Rhiannon didn't really like the initial feeling of having flour all over her hands!Tryfan woke up so we all made gingerbread
This afternoon, our friends Sarah and Patrick and their 3 kids came over to meet Tryfan and spend the afternoon. We had sort of a chaotic visit with all the kids running around and Bentley following them around. Here we are [l to r]: me, Rhiannon, Charlie, Hattie, Sarah holding Tryfan, and Joseph. Rhodri and Patrick were taking refuge in the kitchen!

Autumn art exhibit

Tuesday afternoon from 3-4:30pm was the Autumn Art Exhibit in Rhiannon's class. Her teachers served vegetable soup with bread, sparkling apple cider (non-alc), cupcakes and coffee for all the parents and of course the kids! They have been doing many kinds of art this past month and wanted to show it off. Here is Rhiannon enjoying her vegetable soup and bread while wearing the t-shirt that she decorated with paint!One of Rhiannon's masterpiecesThis event was also the first time that I have been back to Rhiannon's barnehage since having Tryfan. All the kids were so curious about the baby (who was sleeping when we first arrived as I had walked from home 45 minutes to get there) and Rhiannon was SO proud of him. She guarded the infant carrier he was in and fiercely growled "Mee-nuh" ("MINE" in English) to any of her little buddies that got too close. She also wanted to share her cupcake with him, but we put a stop to that.

The two Tryfans

I thought I would post a photo (from www.wilderness-wales.co.uk) of Tryfan the mountain along with a photo of Tryfan the 2.5 week old! Tryfan the boy is changing so much every day. Now he seems to be able to focus pretty well on objects that are close to him. He continues to be a good baby who just wants to eat and sleep and look around (most of the time).Tryfan the mountain is not a high mountain, but it is so distinctive and regal looking.

Helping Daddy

Yesterday (Sunday) Rhodri and Rhiannon pruned the plum tree and cleaned up all the leaves in preparation for winter. They kept working until it was too dark outside, but they got the job done!

A sunny Saturday

Today Rhiannon and I got to hang out together without the boys for a little bit. We took Bentley up to the community playground in the morning while Tryfan was sleeping. We just explored around and picked up leaves, and then played in the sandbox for a little bit. It was so nice to be alone with my girl! I miss her and always try to give her extra cuddles when I get a chance. Rhodri was able to lean out the bedroom window and whistle for us when we needed to come back for Tryfan to eat. Here is the Minx looking very minxey in the cool morning air.Around noon, we put both kids in strollers (separate ones) and walked into downtown Asker. I have been on a hunt for scones ever since Oct 20th when our midwife Anette brought the most delicious scones to our house. The places that used to sell scones are not selling them now! What the heck?! So I suppose I will have to make some....
Anyway, since we were around town, we decided to call in with Emily and Phil. We hung out for an hour or so, then made our way back home. Here is the Minx wearing Billy's (Phil's brother) hat.
A family photo on Emily and Phil's couch

Tryfan meets Johanne

Today we laid low (again). Actually, we did go to the Vollen Bakeri since Rhodri had never been there and his 2 weeks of initial paternity leave is nearly over. It was a lovely day anyway so it was nice to go down to Vollen and admire the fjord views and baked goods.

Then this afternoon we finally went to visit Elin and her new baby Johanne! Johanne is 5 days younger than Tryfan. They barely acknowledged each other. Initially it was just us adults and babies enjoying the late afternoon, but then the toddlers arrived and kept everyone entertained by running and screaming around the house. Here are Elin and I with the babies and Sofie playing behind us.