summer is here

The last couple of days have been H O T. Temperatures in the mid 30s have left us switching between blasting the air condition or hanging out on the balcony when it cools down or staying inside gets too boring. We made a picnic in the nearest park yesterday but that ended up being too hot, especially for poor Jonas. 

He is growing so fast. He has almost doubled his weight and is completely melting our hearts with his smiles and his new little laughter. He was seen by an orthopedic at Boston Children's Hospital this week, because two ultrasounds (postpartum) showed he was right on the border of having early hip dysplasia. We thought they were going to put a harness on him for a couple of weeks, but luckily the orthopedic thought the radiologists had overreacted and didn't understand why we had been referred. I left the hospital feeling like wasting time and resources with all these extra tests and examinations. It's all for the best, I know, but when all (thankfully!) turns out to be fine in the end, then is it really necessary with so many doctor visits. 

A bucket of water and Silja is entertained for a good while. We made a little garden box with tomatoes, bell peber, flowers and herbs (overkill?) and last weeks rain combined with this week's sun has produced a lot of new little sprouts. Yay!

I'm experimenting with homemade popsicles as a healthier alternative to the store-bought. Here is pureed watermelon with chopped peach and plum. Simple and good!

And one last one of these two... As they seem to end up on every picture I take.

It's Friday night, and Bjarni has promised to play backgammon and drink a cold beer with me on the balcony. Life is good! Hope you have an enjoyable and summery weekend.

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morfar

For the past many many months we have been counting down to welcoming my dad (morfar) and Else to Boston. Like many others who live far away from dear ones we use Skype and FaceTime to keep in touch, and my dad is so good at it! He has a stuffed animal he uses to keep Silja engaged and entertained, and as a result of our regular through-a-screen conversations Silja has developed a strong loving for morfar, although she only sees him in person a few times a year. I'm happy and thankful beyond words she (and hopefully eventually Jonas) can have a close relationship with our extended families despite long distances, because being far away from them is really the main downside to living abroad.

Weather wise Boston didn't really show itself from its most charming side during their visit, but there was time for touristy things like walking the Freedom Trail (about time for me..) and walking through Harvard Yard in Cambridge as well as just hanging out at our local playground, making puzzles and playing cards. It's a shame good times pass by so fast, but we are lucky to have more family coming soon, so the next count down has already begun. 

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two years nine months

• I cut her hair last week for the first time, and had to bribe her with a lollipop (despite much explanation she kept thinking it would hurt).
• She has progressed from speaking English words to English sentences. She is very interested in the different languages she is in touch with, and is often asking or telling us what things are called in the different languages she knows.
• If she could decide herself she would be having a pacifier in her mouth all day long (she is only allowed to have it for sleeping). I wonder how it will be when the pacifier has to go entirely?
• She is currently so incredibly stubborn about what she wants to wear, and is testing our patience every morning when she refuses to wear most of her pants, and pulls everything out to look and try to decide an outfit. She prefers to wear pants and dresses simultaneously. We are quite excited for this phase to pass!
• Her special friend is Ely from Israel, who lives in our building and is also in the same class as she in daycare. She tells us she loves Ely. Ely tells his parents and the teachers in daycare he loves Silja. Once they met on the way to daycare and held hands all the way. Reminding her that we might run into Ely in the morning if we hurry to get dressed sometimes work to ease the clothing crisis. 
• Now that the weather is better she loves hanging out on the balcony and looks for people passing by on the parking lot yelling 'hi hi... bye.. have a nice day'. 
• She is VERY excited about turning three in July.

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