Santa's grotto

This afternoon we went to visit Santa's grotto at a plant nursery in Glan Conwy. There was a lot of build-up to this outing, and I don't know if Rhiannon saw what she expected to see. Santa wasn't there (thankfully!) but we got to peek into his house and admire the elaborate display. Tryfan loved the fake candles in the window and immediately pointed to them, saying "hot" and holding his hand out. For about 10 minutes, he continued to stand there nodding his head and saying "Yeah! Yeah!" to himself and the candles, refusing to leave!
I was pretty impressed with this grotto -- there was a real stream flowing under the little bridge with a water fountain and lots of sparkly lights and decorations. In the lower right of the photo you can see the candles that Tryfan was pointing at. Pretty good for a little plant nursery in a small village!
Rhodri and I have been able to leave the kids with Nain and Auntie Sioned and sometimes Taid (if he is not working) and go do our own things! Bliss! We have done a bit of shopping, played squash, went on a walk up the Vardre (hill near the house that has remnants of an 8th century castle still standing), met up with friends, and even went to see a movie. Rhiannon and Tryfan seem to hugely enjoy their time with their grandparents and Auntie as well, so its a win-win-win all around! Rhiannon is speaking really well in Welsh now. She still throws in the occasional Norwegian word, but her vocabulary has increased by about double just over the past couple of days. It is really cool to hear her 'siarad cymraeg' (speak Welsh).

Cousins reunion

Yesterday we went to Auntie Mary's house (Nain's sister) in Aberystwyth for a family reunion. Rhiannon and Tryfan didn't know they had so many cousins! Most of them are 2nd cousins, but hey - a cousin is a cousin and that's what makes them great.
Here are (l to r): Dewi (almost 3), Gabriel (2), Rhiannon (almost 3), baby Katie (9 weeks), Hannah (14), Sara (9), Tryfan (1) and Iwan (10).
This picture doesn't really convey the chaos that characterized this get-together, and what is not visible is the layer of old school Tonka trucks, tractors and trains that covered the floor in this conservatory playroom. Needless to say, the kids had a really great time and nobody got hurt (despite the mischievious look on Rhiannon's face as she points a power drill towards Tryfan's face with Gabriel cheering her on in the background). That is Dewi in the foreground of the photo.
Anyway, it was a great day with a good amount of driving (2 hours each way). Fortunately, the colors of the trees, clouds and mountains were gorgeous and we had a great time looking out the window and listening to music in the car. Thanks Auntie Mary for organizing this!

Made it to Wales!

Well, considering that it is only a 2 hour flight from Oslo to Manchester, and then a 1 hour drive to North Wales, it sure was hard work traveling with these two! They were good kids the whole time but Tryfan is not one to sit still and he was very squirmy - VERY squirmy - on our travels. Here is a rare moment (about 10 seconds) when they were peacefully munching "boller" (buns) on the floor of the airport while Rhodri waited in line to check in.
Anyway, we made it to Nain and Taid's house and we are so happy to be here. Auntie Sioned came over on Thursday afternoon and we got to meet her puppy Bella.
The Princess-mobile was popular as ever and both urchins love riding it around as well as pushing the other urchin.

Waiting waiting

We are going to Wales on Thursday and we can't wait!!
Now the snow has melted and it has been raining really hard here the past few days. All of us are just antsy for a change of scene. Today Rhiannon was stomping around with a pout because she wanted to go see Nain and Taid right NOW! Not Thursday!
Just another couple of days to go...

Second word!

For the past week, Tryfan has been communicating by pointing urgently to something and saying "asdfdncxjvoiwekslkfj..... YEAH!" (the latter part coming as soon as Rhodri or I touch the item he is pointing at). It is so funny to hear!
But this afternoon he busted out with his second real word. (Actually, I guess if you count "yeah" it is his third real word..) Here is the story:
I had just put dinner in the oven and Tryfan came into the kitchen and touched the [closed] oven door (which is room temperature). I said "Don't touch, Tryfan. That is HOT" and pulled my hand back like I had just touched something hot. Tryfan then turned around, walked over to the fireplace in the living room and pointed at it, then said "HOT". He pronounced it perfectly, and I was so surprised to hear him say it! Such a smart little guy!

Pushing strollers

Good thing we have two strollers in our house because Tryfan has decided he likes pushing one also!

First 'real' word

Tryfan is really trying to say words now. He consistently says "thanks" whenever someone hands him something (okay, it sounds more like "taks", but its the right idea!). So I guess that is his official first word aside from Mama, Dada and Nanon. So cute! But he has been especially whiney and irrational lately, and he has been such a wriggler. He must be about to reach a new stage of development with all of this frustration he has been showing. In the mornings when I try to breastfeed him in our bed, he is just climbing, pinching, pulling and squirming the whole time. Not the blissful cuddle moments that we used to have as we were waking up. Maybe we won't make it til he is 5 years old...
Anyway, these photos are from the annual "Autumn Soup and Art Exhibit" at barnehage which was a couple of days ago.

Clinging to autumn

Well, the snow hasn't melted yet from last week's flurry. We have had temps of ~-5 to 2 deg C (~20-37 deg F) with bright sunshine. We can't complain about this! It is so lovely to have colorful autumn leaves intermingled with snow.

I was dreaming all night of the election results and it was such a relief to wake up and hear the good news. I am so glad that this whole ordeal is over and we can move on. But it made for some interesting discussions...though none of them in person since I haven't met any McCain supporters here in Norway. Anyway, this is the end of my short-lived political blogging...back to our normal world of kids, dogs and changing seasons!

Party party party

This weekend we were busy at Halloween parties on Friday and Saturday, then went to a birthday party Sunday. Fortunately, only Rhiannon went to the Halloween party on Friday with her friend Sofia (the blonde one) and none of the rest of us had to endure the pain and sweaty foreheads of Hoppeloppeland. Rhiannon went in her devil costume and I have no photos of her in it. I can say that the devil outfit is size 18 months and she is wearing size 3T now, so I think the tail was sticking out of her back rather than her bum area. And as promised, she came home caked in dried sweat and full from eating 6 pølser (hotdogs). Anyway, Tryfan went to barnehage dressed as a cow. Its hard to see in this picture, but this outfit is way too small for him, too! And I think the cow ensemble is meant to be worn on a little girl since the sleeves were frilly and there was a nice bow in the front with a flower, but he was a cute little cow :-)
On Saturday we went to a Canadian colleague's house for an afternoon Halloween party. This time Rhiannon was a fairy princess...pullleease don't tell me that the age of princesses is upon us! I hope and pray not! Anyway, she was most excited to wear wings.
Here is the original Lil' Minx, making a swift getaway on a stolen bike at the party. Poor David (whose house we were at and whose bike she stole) was having a rough time sharing toys with so many invaders.
I am still just happy to have found a seasonal pumpkin source! And now I have cooked, pureed and frozen enough pumpkin to survive at least until it is gingerbread season....

First snow of the winter!

This morning we woke up to another normal dark autumn day, but then around 7:15am it started snowing, and snowing and REALLY snowing until we had about 8 inches on the ground! Wow! When Rhiannon saw the snow, she turned to me and said "Mama, its my birthday today! And Santa is coming!" Well, nooooo, not really, Sweetie. But we can still have a great day because it's snowing!
And here is the view out the window in Rhiannon's bedroom
I have been so busy at work that I haven't been monitoring the weather forecast so we were completely surprised. Fortunately we already had our winter tires on the car so we didn't have a problem getting to barnehage and work, but LOTS of people were less fortunate. All day at work we were hearing stories of cars in ditches, abandoned on the road side, piled up at the bottom of a hill, sliding sideways backwards....yeow! It would be lovely if this snow stuck around until April or so, but chances are that it will melt and freeze and get yucky in a few days. But for today, it was wonderful.

Motor skills

Tryfan got this wooden car ramp set with 4 wooden cars for his birthday. It didn't take him long to work out how to make them go! Look how proud he is of himself in this video...

One, two

We are at a stage now where Tryfan copies whatever Rhiannon does, says, eats, etc all the time! They are starting to have a good time together and it is so funny to watch them. There are a hundred little episodes I could describe, but the latest one this evening was when Tryfan was finished with his dinner and he wanted to get down. He got down, made a bee-line for the "Bob the Builder" book, carried it into the kitchen, then sat down to read it on the middle of the kitchen area rug. This is one of Rhiannon's favorite places to plop down and read so I guess he must have been studying her on previous occasions and couldn't wait to try it out while she was still at the table eating.
This time Rhiannon copied Tryfan. He climbed into the laundry basket so she decided to do the same. Its been chilly here lately (right around freezing) so we are all wearing our wool clothes. We have many sizes of red wool jammies now
Tryfs has also become very proficient at communicating LOUDLY what he does or doesn't want. He points to things and grunts, he nods his head and says "yah" when we bring the right thing, he throws his head back and screeches when we bring the wrong thing! The screeching isn't very nice but it is an effective way of communicating.

Red playsuits, dirty faces

This has been a tough week, and it's only Wednesday! Both Rhodri and I have been super busy at work and so the troops have had to put in extra long days at barnehage. The highlight of my day is when I (sometimes we) go pick them up after work. They are almost always both wearing their red playsuits and have dirty faces and big smiles. It is just the best scene ever! Quite often Rhiannon doesn't want to leave barnehage, but Tryfan always toddles quickly over to me with the biggest, happiest smile and hugs me tight like a little monkey. I will never be able to catch moments like this (the best kind!) on camera because I would never want to sacrifice the feeling of living in those precious moments. I took this photo after one such reunion while Tryfan was clinging to me and I was trying to coax Rhiannon towards the car so we could go home!

Tryfan turns 1 year old (part 2)

...the party continues...
So after everyone took naps in the early afternoon, we had our 'real' birthday party for Tryfan. We invited just about all of our friends here in Asker/ Oslo, and everyone came! Here is some footage of us singing Happy Birthday.

It was a bit crowded in the house with 20 kids running around and 18 adults mostly ignoring the running kids, but we spilled out into the backyard too. Fortunately it was a gorgeous day. In fact, it was so gorgeous that we probably should have had the whole party outside but somehow it was too much effort to mobilize for that. Anyway, it was a very full and thoroughly celebrated birthday, and I think Tryfan was glad to see the end of it! He was pretty overwhelmed with so many people in our space and as the afternoon wore on, he kept breaking into tears and burrowing his head into my shoulder. But it had to be done, because it's the only time he will turn 1 years old! Oh yeah, and I baked some "Pumpkin Apple Harvest" cupcakes which turned out really yummy. I chose this recipe because it had minimal sugar, lots of moist pumpkin and tangy apple -- perfect for kids to eat and not get too crazy on sugar.
Thanks everyone for coming and making it a special day!

Tryfan turns 1 year old (part 1)

Yes, today was the big day. And it was a Big Day. We ended up having two parties!
First we had a "Barselgruppe* Birthday Brunch" for all the babies this morning from 10am- noon. This was a nice gathering because it was a potluck and the babies -- oops, I mean 1-year-olds! -- were mostly happy to hang out and play on the floor together.
Here is Tryfan with some of his barselgruppe homies: Maximilian, Malin and Astrid with Rhiannon in the background (the other 3 babies in the group couldn't make it today).
* The barselgruppe is the group of babies born in the same part of town around the same time, and is organized by the community social service.
Coming up, footage from the afternoon 'main' birthday party...

Oh my beauty

As you may recall, last year I was moaning about the fact that I could not find pumpkins anywhere in Asker! I was so sad because how could one celebrate autumn without any pumpkin carving or baking activities? Well, this year I found my pumpkin source! None of the regular Norwegian-chain grocery stores sell pumpkins (although there are plenty of fruit and veg imported from around the world), but the one "international market" in town had a big bin of gorgeous pumpkins from.....Norway! How ironic is that? Needless to say, we are catching up with baking plenty of pumpkin recipes.

Our first hytte experience

This weekend we rented our company "hytte" (pronounced "huttah" and means 'cabin') for the first time! The hytte life is something that seems to be very near and dear to Norwegians' hearts. Most families have either a hytte in the mountains or one on the coast and quite often people flee to their hyttes for the weekend or longer. 'Ours' was close to the ski resort of Beitostølen and so on Saturday we went for a wonderful spectacular hike! There was snow on the ground in some places and we got very lucky with the weather again. Both kids fell asleep in their backpacks, so Rhodri and I were able to do a nice big loop trail.
Here is Rhodri and Rhiannon after she woke up from her nap. She did walk for a little bit early on in the day, but I think she was happy to ride in the pack all cozy with her winter clothes on.
Here is our company's hytte -- not anything too special to look at but it was very well kitted out and maintained. We even had electricity and a toilet that was indoors (it was the incinerating kind)! We all slept in bunkbeds except Tryfan who had his travel crib/cot.
The 3 hour drive there was gorgeous because all the deciduous trees were golden and lit up the hillsides like fire.
Unfortunately Bentley couldn't come with us, but he got to stay with 2 other dogs at my friend Hanne's house. We missed him though!

Teambuilding

Today Rhodri and I were both invited on a "teambuilding" event for work that lasted all day and all evening as well. Unfortunately, we both had to opt out of the fancy dinner and evening part so that we could look after our kids and get ready to leave the next day for a weekend adventure. Anyway, our teambuilding event turned out to be mountain biking in Nordmarka (the huge forested mountainous area on the northwest side of Oslo). Here is part of the team at our starting point with downtown Oslo in the background.
What a great day! Yesterday it absolutely poured rain all day and night. Today, however, was the most brilliant sunshiney glorious autumn color day in awhile.
As one of our colleagues pointed out, it was fortunate that today was the day to play outside in the guise of teambuilding because all of us would have been useless at work anyway -- we would all be gazing outside and daydreaming. Here is my friend Michel jumping crazily. There was a contest to see who could take the best autumn picture and this was one of my submissions. The winner hasn't been announced yet but the prize is a bottle of champagne. In my mind, I've already won and I already know when I want to open it -- next Sunday when a certain little person turns 1 year old!

(moving swiftly on...) A year ago this day

...was the day that I had expected baby #2 to arrive! It's so strange to look at Tryfan who is so big and funny and playful now, and to think that a year ago this day we had no idea what he/she was or would be like or anything. Of course, he didn't actually show up for another 12 days.
Lately he and Rhiannon have been playing hide and seek. Rhiannon hides and Tryfan seeks. And as soon as he finds her (in one of her two hiding places behind either the bathroom door or Tryfan's bedroom door), they both cackle with laughter. They really love each other. Rhiannon is always going to "check on Tryfs" at barnehage, and he always lights up when she walks into the room. How grateful we are for the two of them :-)

Do I dare?

I have a confession to make: I have been following every movement of the US Election saga from my outpost here in Asker. I read the Economist, BBC News and this political blog. And just like every educated person living outside of the USA that I have talked with, I am desperately hoping that Obama will win. It's not just because Palin is under-qualified to be VP or because McCain has so nonchalantly lied on many occasions. No. In fact, I find Palin charismatic and fascinating, although I truly believe she would be too dangerous if she was in a powerful position at this time in our nation's history. And while at first I didn't mind McCain, after reading more about him I find him so sleazy and fickle.

Anyway, these are not the reasons that I will not vote for McCain/ Palin. I really think that Obama and Biden will be the best representatives for our country in the context of our world today. I feel this so strongly that I find it hard to write about, but I feel I must because it has become a big part of our life here at the Lewis house. I came across something that expresses part of how I feel. The link to the full article is HERE but below are some excerpts that totally resonated with me...

Dare I believe Obama can win?

By Courtney E. Martin

Like so many Americans, I feel as though I am holding my breath.
Could the quiet seed of joy that was planted in my heart the day I heard Barack Obama speak for the first time take root and grow without fear of the brutal storms of disappointment?
Could a leader that evokes awe in me actually win a presidential election? Could the beauty – and logic – of his words win over the majority of this country's voters? Could they see past the lies and distractions to the center of a human being who sincerely wants to invoke citizens' higher selves?
Could a system that seems so broken, so moneyed, so corrupt actually serve to help the American people elect an authentic, complex thinker? Could it be that – despite all that is wrong with the electoral process – there is enough right to allow a thoughtful candidate to get through the muck and emerge earnest and excited to lead?
Could the inspirational, not aspirational, America that I was raised to believe in – Eleanor Roosevelt with her Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Martin Luther King Jr. with his dream, and John F. Kennedy with his "ask not" encouragement – be the America that I live in?
And finally, and perhaps most profoundly, could this country reflect the best within me?

...I watch Obama, a leader who articulates my own ideas and intuitions with the most eloquent grace, on the brink of a presidential miracle. His words about the critical nature of cohesive community, about injustice, about personal responsibility ring so true in my ears. But I'm scared to believe....

It is not his inevitable fall from grace that I fear. It is the possibility that on Nov. 4, I will find out that my acute craving for a kind and complex leader is not shared by the majority of Americans. That conclusion to this breathtaking story would tempt me, not just to be alienated from American politics, but from the American people. I fear that the worst part of me would bully the best part with cruel words: "I told you so. Hope is dangerous and naive."

But what would Obama himself say to that sentiment? I imagine he'd stay calm, in his top-of-the-lake-on-a-still-day kind of way. He'd remind me that his candidacy was never about him, but about me, about all of us. That it isn't his victory that confirms America's greatness, nor his defeat that disproves it; it's our own capacity to be resilient and committed to change every day, in all sorts of quiet, nonpresidential ways....

What I like most is Obama's call to be true to our best selves, to rise to the challenge that faces our nation and the world around us. My Dad was always drilling this into me as well as into the rest of my siblings. Why would anybody choose someone like McCain over someone like Obama? Comments, anyone? Post your comments here if you dare...

PS. I am a registered Independent voter, not a Democrat.

I wanna talk about ME

Lately (okay, for the past 6 months or so) Tryfan has been very wiggly and unhappy when it is time to change his diaper or clothes. He doesn't like laying down and being still. However, this week I learned that if I sing the song "I wanna talk about ME" by Toby Keith, Tryfan lays very still and just stares as me! As soon as I switch songs, he is back to wiggling. So, there is a lot of Toby Keith goin' down in the Lewis household these days...
By the way, Rhiannon took this picture of Tryfs -- isn't it cute!? Also, I want to encourage my readers to view the Toby Keith video of this song using the link above if you haven't already. It's quite funny.

Hoppeloppeland

Today we went to Shaun and Sophia's (4 year old twins from Trinidad) birthday party at Hoppeloppeland. I had only heard about this place before, so I was a bit curious to go. We decided to leave the boys at home and carpool with Sofia (from barnehage) and her Mama. I am so glad we did this because this place is rather overwhelming to enter! Their motto is "Norways main supplyer of big smiles, red cheeks and sweaty forehead" (those are not my grammatical mistakes, they are straight from the website.) Anyway, this place is all about sugar, fluorescent colors, and foam padding. Rhiannon and Sofia were happy to have each other to run with because it is such a big and crazy place. And they sure did have big smiles, red cheeks and sweaty foreheads. When it was time for cake, these two were first at the table and waited patiently for the other 10 kids to sit down. We were there just over 2 hours, and I think we left just in time before they got too tired. It was a different way to spend the afternoon, though.

Spontaneous afternoon

Today I picked up the troops from barnehage a bit early (~3:45pm) and felt brave enough to take them both shopping on my own (Rhodri was away on business for the past couple of days). It turned out to be a grand success -- the most enjoyable outing with them I have EVER had, and that's saying a lot! We had to go buy some birthday presents for our friends so we even drove the extra mile to go to my favorite toy shop in Sandvika (Sandvika Storsenter is ~10 minutes drive away). We managed to get out of the toy shop without breaking anything and without any whining or asking for Mama to buy anything! Huge success already!

The Storsenter has 3 levels and an open area in the middle on the ground floor with a cafe and a water fountain. Quite pleasant. This afternoon there was a man playing the piano in this area, so I decided to go sit at a proper table, order some food and attempt to eat out in public. (We have not attempted this in a long time, mostly since it is so expensive to eat out in Norway.) By the time we were finished with our meal, Rhiannon was cozily stretched out sideways in her armchair, wearing her denim dress with a white thermal top underneath, pink flowery tights and lime green wellies, gnawing on a calzone crust and saying hi to whoever walked past us. What a little Minx she is! Then she decided that she wanted to dance, so she got up and went over by the piano and started dancing. Not crazy dancing, just a little bit self-conscious but still swaying and wiggling her rompe (pronounced "roompeh", meaning bum/bottom). Needless to say, this sort of public happy spurt of spontaneity isn't really done here in Norway unless it is ~2am and the adult who does so is extremely intoxicated. All the people who were taking the stairs or escalator down towards the ground floor were watching Rhiannon and smiling. The pianist was overjoyed - we totally made his day, he said - and he came over to chat with us for a bit afterwards. It turns out he is Italian/ Romanian and has lived here 20 years but is quite disenchanted with how un-exuberant most Norwegians are. Anyway, we stayed there later than I planned to because the kids were about 45 minutes late for bed, but it felt really great to have a spontaneous afternoon like this.

Rains

Now the rains have come. Not torrential rains or fierce dramatic stormy rains, but just the gentle steady wet type of rains. It's not too bad, although we are still "transitioning" to this new scheme of everyone being at work/ barnehage all day and the rain doesn't particularly help! We are struggling to keep edible (not moldy or stale) food in the house, at least some clean clothes to wear, minimal wildlife feasting on floor crumbs, getting Bentley outside before he pees on the rugs, and fitting in some kind of exercise at least once a week for both Rhodri and me. Dude, it is tough! Getting out of the house in the morning is the worst and we still don't have it figured out. All this work makes for good nights of sleep, though, and that's where the pitter-patter of raindrops is extra nice.

Autumnal weekend

Aside from our stroller-buying expedition on Saturday, we were able to spend plenty of time outside this weekend. On Sunday morning, we went up to the lekeplass and our next-door neighbors Gaius and his Mama were there too. Tryfan and Gaius looked so cute in their matching red playsuits! Gaius is only 3 months older than Tryfs. Can you tell who is who in the photo below?
Later that afternoon, we went on a walk in the hills/ forest with my friend Anne-Stine and her family. Her daughter Astrid was born the same day as Tryfan and they have a border collie dog also! We put all the kids in backpacks and went on a little hike, then stopped for a picnic on top of a hill. We saw loads of people picking wild mushrooms but we didn't dare.
On our walk back to the car, we thought we would cut through this field of friendly looking horses (there were about 10 horses altogether). The pinto one below turned out to be very curious and quite a bit too friendly. We were happy that we had Bentley with us if we needed some horse-scaring to take place! It didn't come to that, fortunately!

Caving in

After many weeks of Rhiannon borrowing our neighbor Cristina's baby stroller, we finally caved in and bought her one. It was just too painful to go another day of her begging to go outside so she could knock on Cristina's door and ask to borrow the stroller, although it was a good opportunity to teach good manners. Rhiannon learned how to ask politely, return it at the end of the day, say thank you, and all those other good things. We were initially planning to get a baby stroller for Rhiannon's birthday, but we just couldn't hold out for another 2.5 months! So here is the Minx with her new baby stroller.
In other news, it was Tryfan's first full week at barnehage and it went great! He and Rhodri stayed home Tuesday with the sniffles and raspy voices, but by the next day they were both a lot better and it went on to be a really good week. All of Tryfan's teachers said that he loves to play inside and especially outside, he loves to sit in a tall chair at the table and eat with his classmates around him, and he is always smiling. He does get sad when his special teacher Anna leaves for the day in the late afternoon, but by then it's only another 15-20 minutes until we get there to pick him up. Rhiannon has continued to be a good big sister and comes to cuddle him when he is sad. Here has been the typical scene when we come to pick them up -- both kids playing in the sandbox.
This week we had stunningly gorgeous weather here - all the trees are turning colors now and it was sunny and ~60 to 65 degrees F in the hottest part of the afternoon. So lovely! I have been looking longingly outside from my office desk and reminiscing about last year at this time when I was outside enjoying the gorgeous autumn and waiting for Tryfan to come along...

A big day for 2 reasons...

First of all, Happy Birthday Rhodri!


And Reason #2 for why today is a big special day is because my cousin Jody is getting married to his longtime girlfriend Tammy at their family ranch in Montana! Congratulations you two! Wish we could be there in person to celebrate with you :-)

PS. Tryfan's top 2 teeth are peeking through the gums in the 3rd to last photo above

Happy people dancing on Planet Earth

My best friend Annabel sent me the link to this video that is such a happy thing to watch!


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Morning medley

Here is some footage of Rhiannon singing a morning medley of songs to her "Pink Baby"...

Tryfan's real first day

Today Tryfan had his first real day at barnehage and it went great! We got there around 9:45am and I said goodbye to him at 10am and he didn't cry at all. He happily played in the sand with Anna (who is pictured below in blue, Tryfan is the one wearing the red suit), went inside for lunch at 11am, and then went to sleep in his stroller until 11:45am. Not such a long nap, but it was good for the first time in a foreign stroller with different people.
So by the time I got back up to the barnehage around 12 o'clock, he was drowsily sitting in Anna's lap and playing with a toy car but not crying. She said that he only cried when he saw another teacher slicing bread in the bread-slicing machine! I suppose if you were small and had never seen one of those in action, you would get frightened too because it makes a lot of noise and crumbs fly everywhere! Anyway, we went home and he slept some more later on in the afternoon, then we went back to barnehage to get Rhiannon. When we walked into the yard this afternoon, Tryfan let out a little happy yelp and smiled at Anna. Yay! I think we are onto a winner now.

Tryfan's first day at barnehage

Well, today was Tryfan's first day at barnehage but in a way it didn't count because I was there with him for the entire 2 hours that we stayed. But that was the plan, so it's not a problem. Rhiannon was really happy to have him there and she kept trying to visit him in Revehiet (Revehiet means "fox den" and that is the name of his class). The sign below says "Welcome to us at Revehiet, Tryfan" in case you couldn't decipher that.
Tomorrow is the real test because I am going to stay there for an hour or less and then leave him in their good care for about 3 hours. He is going to have his nap there also, in a stroller parked outside the classroom just the way Rhiannon did for the 1.5 years that she was in Revehiet.

New(ish) neighbors

Our friends Ravi and Harini and their 8 month old daughter Riya moved into a house close to us this summer. Its so nice to have them as neighbors! Today Harini and Riya came over to hang out on the floor and pester Bentley with us. (I at home with Tryfan this week while he transitions to barnehage in a few days.)
Bentley didn't mind Riya pulling his hair at all. In fact, I am certain that he enjoyed it. Riya loves Bentley and keeps wanting him to lick her face.

Tryfan walking 2

Here is Tryfan walking after having had 9 days of practice (this video was shot several days ago). He loves to walk around!

Vanlig helge

This weekend we didn't do too much -- just our vanlig helge (normal weekend) activities of taking turns sleeping in, spending some time up at the lekeplass (playground), going on a family bike ride, and catching up with friends and neighbors. Since Tryfan is going to start barnehage on Wednesday this week, I decided to give him a practice run in his winter playsuit and boots. He had a hard time walking in them and fell flat on his face the first time he stood up in them...poor little guy! - no bruises or bumps from it though. Tryfan watches absolutely everything that Rhiannon does and he is so quick to catch on! Here is he watching her make a sand cake.
On Saturday afternoon, we had our friends Ben and Claire over and Rhiannon was very fast to warm up to them. She talked Ben into squeezing into this playpen so she could feed him yogurt. Bentley loves yogurt too so he wanted some of the action!The other thing we tried to do this weekend was to get out our winter clothes and put away our summer clothes. Its been chilly lately (~45-50 deg F)! We managed to get out the winter stuff but didn't have time to deal with the summer clothes so our upstairs level of the house (where the bedrooms are) is an absolute bombsite. I guess you get that on the big jobs.

The other person's shoes

As you may know, Rhodri has been at home last week and this week looking after Tryfan while I have been at work. Tomorrow is the last day of this regime and it's been a good experience for him, I think. Somehow it just feels really great to come home to a messy house with dinner not-quite-ready, laundry not done, beds still unmade and to hear a certain father figure complaining about how Tryfan has been whining all day, clinging to his legs and wanting to be carried around. Hearing that made me smile...there is nothing like wearing the other person's shoes for a bit!

Good times

Rhiannon has been really enjoying her new class at barnehage since they started back a few weeks ago. She is in with the 3-5 year olds now, and when Tryfan starts going next week he will be in her old class right next door. Today her class and the other class of 3-5 year olds went on a field trip to a farm about 40 minutes away. They all got to pick apples from the apple orchard, stand in line to put apples through an apple press, and drink as much apple juice as they wanted to. Then all the kids got to ride in a red tractor trailer across the farm fields. Good times! She is talking all the time to everyone she encounters now, and her default language is still Norwegian.

Tryfan gets so excited when he sees her! He has started making loud screechy-squealy noises when he is excited. The first time he made a noise like this was last night during bathtime and it shocked all of us at first, but they we all laughed together. More good times! Tryfan has also started kissing people. If someone puckers their lips and leans forward, he will do the same and hone in on the person's lips. AND Tryfan has been sleeping like a champ. Both kids have! They go to sleep around 6:30 - 7pm and have been waking up making happy noises around 7:15am. I hope I didn't just jinx this pattern by putting it in writing...
Finally, the other great thing about right now is that I get two hours paid leave off during the workday so that I can continue breastfeeding Tryfan. How cool is that?! And there is no age cut-off, so guess who is going to get Mama's milk for the next 5 years? Ha ha, just kidding...probably...

First week of a new regime

Well, its been a long but good week. Rhodri has been home with Tryfan (& Rhiannon also on Friday) while I have been back at work, and its been an interesting week. It's great to be back at work -- so much easier to 'only' think about myself and my work! It is also great that Rhodri gets to find his own rhythm for managing Tryfan, the house, laundry, Bentley, grocery shopping and preparing meals...more on that later.

This weekend we didn't do much at all - just took turns sleeping, cleaning the house, and hanging around with our neighbors. Here are Gaius and Tryfan on center stage, with Gaius' Papa, me, and Rhiannon in the background. Gaius is 3 months older than Tryfan, but they seem to like being together. Rhiannon also loves talking to Gaius' Mama and Papa in Norwegian, which is so interesting for us to hear since she always speaks English to me and Welsh to Rhodri.
Ideally, Rhodri should have been out this week enjoying the autumn weather on walks with Bentley and Tryfan while Rhiannon was at barnehage and I was at the office. Alas, poor Rhods has had to continue his "Ops Support" role for the crews out in the field even while juggling the baby and preparing dinner. Hopefully this next week will be a bit calmer for him.

Tryfan walking

This video was taken yesterday (Sept 2nd) -- the highlights are not until the last 20 seconds but its worth the wait!

First step!

Of course, Tryfan had to take his first step on this first day that Rhodri is home looking after him while I was at work! Typical! All of Tryfan's firsts have been on Rhodri's watch -- rolling over, crawling, saying "da-da", and now walking. Geez, are these boys are in cahoots or what? No video yet, but stay tuned.