Week 6 – Project 365

A week free of sickness – hooray! Little O was off nursery (or förskola as it is called here) on Monday and Tuesday, just to make sure that he was fully recovered, so we had a lazy day in on Monday, and on Tuesday, just when I was despairing as the boys attacked each other for the fourteenth time (I think they had had a little too much of each other’s company…), there was a knock at the door and this beautiful bouquet arrived. It really put a smile on my face.

On Wednesday, Little O was back at förskola and ready for the weekly excursion to a local park, all dressed up in his reflective vest. And the week got even better on Thursday  when a letter arrived saying that Baby E has been offered a place at the same förskola as Little O (and, in fact, in the group that Little O has just left, so we know all the staff really well already).

An English Mamma in Stockholm: week 6 project 365 photos bouquet flowers

Baby E was in a good mood on Friday and enjoyed scooting around with his toddler wagon. He has now become interested in trying to walk if we hold his hands, something that he hated to do until recently. It will be interesting to see when he decides to try his first steps unaided, as Little O had already started to walk about ten days before his first birthday. Just another way in which these two are so very different.

Little O demonstrated yet again how active he is – he just does not stop moving. Sometimes I feel exhausted just watching him. And so today we decided to let him run off some steam at the park, although, of course, his favourite thing to do there is swing.

An English Mamma in Stockholm: week 6 project 365 photos snow swings

How was your week? What did you get up to?

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Photo 366 challenge – week 32

This week we’ve been playing with Lego at the local department store (we went in to look at shoes for Little O but he got very sidetracked…), packing, packing and packing more, Baby E has been eating corn puffs for the first time and Little O has been getting more practice on the buggy board.

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We’ve also been spending A LOT of time at the playground on the swings, as Baby E has developed Little O’s love of them too.

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How has your week been?

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Why not head over to The Boy & Me and check out what the others have been up to:

TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

And then check out Country Kids at Coombe Mill:

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

R2BC – the first time

So, my first Reasons To Be Cheerful, and this week has been pretty good, so I can find quite a few things to celebrate:

  • A semi-successful trip to Ikea: I was not able to order the worktop that we wanted (a 5-6-week wait for them to cut it in half!) but I did manage to pick up a few other good bits and pieces. Plus, I discovered that the free Ikea bus is the easiest way to get there from the city and it has free wifi onboard – bonus.
  • On Wednesday, 50 packing boxes were delivered, so I have been able to start packing up the (rest of the) non-essential items that we won’t need for the next couple of months. Suddenly, our move is becoming quite real. On the same note, the progress in the renovation of our new apartment has been phenomenal this week (even Husband has been positively surprised!) and one room is pretty much completed.
  • We’ve been having fun at the swings most afternoons after I pick Little O up from preschool and Baby E has no discovered a love of swinging. My arms will be in great shape in next to no time between the training I am doing, pushing the boys on the swings and bumping the buggy up 40 stairs to the new apartment!

There we go: three reasons why I am cheerful this week.

Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart

Three good things – day 7

  • Another morning spent at the playground, swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides and building and knocking over sandcastles in the sandpit. It is so much fun to watch how Little O plays and to see how much both boys love swinging on swings next to each other. Having two little boys really is an amazing thing.
  • Little O slept at lunchtime today. We must have exhausted him in the playground in the morning, but it gave Husband and I some valuable time to get some bits and pieces done in the apartment.
  • We managed to watch some of the Olympics. I got all emotional at the medal ceremony for the Men’s 10,000 metres, which I found interesting, seeing as when we were back in the UK in the summer it was the first time that I had not felt that it is “home”.

So, I’ve now completed seven days, and although I have struggled on some days, it has been a really good exercise in looking for the good in each day. So as not to bore you (and myself) any further, I am going to just take this as a weekly exercise and join in every Thursday with Reasons to be Cheerful.

Photo 366 challenge – week 28

Little O has been off preschool all this week (and will be for the next two weeks as well), so he decided to celebrate this by coming down with a cold and fever, which he subsequently gave to Baby E, who gave it to me, and now my mother-in-law, who has kindly come to stay to help out for a few days, has got it too. I think the saying is “it never rains, but it pours”, which is also pretty weather-appropriate too at the moment.

The beginning part of the week was quite slow: playing with Duplo at home, a trip to a local park (and an investigation of bicycles by Little O) and the making of baked blueberry cheesecake (with stevia and gluten-free biscuit base). Then it was a visit to an interiors store that is closing down (my suggestion vetoed by Husband) and discovering that Baby E can hold the bottle himself (he’s so much more dextrous than Little O was at this age but so much less physical – so interesting the differences between them). Saturday night, Husband and I had a rare few hours out on our own – sitting under the awning of a near deserted bar and drinking red wine as the rain poured down. Then today a scratch dinner of leftover bits and pieces from the fridge – yum!

See what everyone else has been up to over the past week at The Boy & Me:

TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

Photo 366 challenge – week 27

Right, I am going to do this and get this posted and add myself to the linky over at The Boy And Me. Yep, I am; I really am.

This week has flown by but still Monday seems like an age ago. We signed the paperwork and got the keys to our new apartment on that day and since then it has all been about the renovation work. Most days have seen Husband and I rushing around the city, looking at flooring, paint samples, electrical sockets and more, but with some fun times in the afternoons after picking up Little O from preschool. We’ve been enjoying the sunshine here in Stockholm, playing in the sandpit in our apartment block’s garden and wearing out the swings at the local playground.

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Little O has also had fun trying on my shoes and completing his new Lightning McQueen jigsaw puzzle (“Keen! Keen!”).

TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

Photo 366 challenge – week 23

This week we have been…

© English Mamma

© English Mamma

…hanging out, sick (me), visiting the Estonia ferry memorial, cheering on graduating students, trying Tex Mex, battling for space in a packed playground and eating Kalles Kaviar for the first time.

Take a look at what everyone else has been up to over at The Boy & Me

TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

…and have a look at some of my other pictures on my dedicated photo blog.

Photo 366 challenge – weeks 13 and 14

It has just been so busy here that I simply have not had the time to grab more than half a cold cup of tea most days, let alone sit down and write any blog posts. I feel I have really been neglecting my little blog but I hope to get back on track shortly.

I’m afraid that the photos may have very little info with them in this post, simply because two weeks ago seems like a very long time and I can barely remember what we did yesterday. (Seriously, Husband and I had a conversation yesterday about what we had done on Saturday afternoon and it was three hours before one of us remembered.)

Day 86:

Spring shoots

Spring finally comes to our balcony as my tulip bulbs sprout.

Day 87:

Our little daredevil at the playground

Little O is getting more and more adventurous (or should that be devil may care?) at the playground. Luckily, this was done with Husband’s guiding hand behind him but he now wants to do all these same things when it is me and him at the playground too, and I’m too much of a scaredy cat (on behalf of both of us) to allow it, I’m afraid.

Day 88:

Little O's new Sigg bottle

We bought a Sigg bottle for Little O to use at preschool. He just loves it and wants to carry it around with him all the time.

Day 89:

Little O at Playland STHLM

We visited Playland STHLM for the first time and Little O was in his element, running in and out of the soft play area, scooting around on this model Volvo and throwing himself head first into the ball pool. We’ll definitely be going back.

Day 90:

And now hail - following the brilliant sunshine, torrential rain and snow

Okay, this was just the craziest day weather -wise. We had it all: sunshine, blue skies, black clouds, downpours, snow and then hail. I forget each year that late March and April can be crazy on the weather front. Every time, I am lulled into a false sense of security by the lovely spring weather during March, and then, boom! The cold weather returns. Brrrr!

Day 91:

Little O's first child's portion

Maybe not the biggest rite of passage for a toddler (I guess pretty much most things are actually a rite of passage for them really, if I think about it…), but we ordered a child’s portion for the first time for Little O: Swedish meatballs at Ikea!

Day 92:

And relax...

A well-deserved moment to relax after another hectic day of packing up boxes and cleaning up the apartment, ready for the photographer to arrive on Tuesday and take pictures for the real estate agent’s website. I felt at this point that I never wanted to move home again. You can imagine how I actually felt the hour before the photographer turned up, when we were still doing last-minute work on the place. (Disclaimer: my legs are just blotchy and mottled in this light, rather than in need of a shave! Actually, that doesn’t sound that great either. Well, it is winter and they’ve not seen the sun for many months…)

Day 93:

Clean surfaces

It felt so good going to bed on Monday night knowing that we had cleaned off at least one surface in the apartment. Unfortunately, we still had a lot more working waiting on us the next day (that was about the only surface that was free from clutter at that point…).

Day 94:

Another rite of passage: schnitzel!

Little O and I headed off for a schnitzel dinner on Tuesday evening while the photographer worked his magic in the apartment. I’m pleased to report that Little O is another schnitzel fan. I am not sure how pleased I really am… He managed to polish off quite a lot of mine! The boy has an appetite.

Day 95:

"Ni! Ni! Ni!"

Aaah, the cold weather returned (again!) after the lovely couple of days that we had at the beginning of the week, hence me dressing Baby E up as one of the Knights Who Say Ni…

Day 96:

McMuffin breakfast - the ideal cold remedy?

I decided to try and conquer the cold and sore throat that I’d developed by exposing it to a Sausage & Egg McMuffin breakfast. I’m not sure if it helped the cold but it made me feeling (temporarily) better. And luckily Baby E slept throughout, so he won’t have been influenced by my bad eating habit.

Day 97:

Washy tape wishes come true

The washy tape that I had ordered from easy arrived, making me very happy.

Day 98:

293 hits in 2 days

After being on the market for two days, our apartment’s page had had 293 hits on the home search website. Husband, being the analyst that he is, spent most of the subsequent days checking out the numbers and trying to analyse what they meant, had enough people been looking, did it mean we’ll get a good turnout for the open day, etc etc. I’m not sure what it really means. I am just crossing my fingers and toes.

Day 99:

The taste of Easter

I love Swedish Easter food. I know many people complain that it is too similar to Swedish Christmas food, but we do a mixture of Swedish and Hungarian food for Christmas when we’re in Sweden, so Easter is different for us. And this is my favourite: Mustard herring and eggs on (Danish!) rye bread. Delicious.

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TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky