Family Madsen Blog: August 2013

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Baby #2

I am now almost 21 full weeks pregnant, which means just over 4 months left until Baby arrives. I am feeling a lot better with the naseau (got better around week 16) so that is amazing. I am definitely still very tired and need lots of sleep, but all the baby kicks make me remember how amazing this journey is.

We were blessed to see our baby on the "halfways" ultra sound. It is so amazing what the midwife can see with that thing. We could see the entire spinal cord, 2 feet with all the individual bones, the heart as well as the different chambers, and even the direction and how the blood was running in and out. We also saw the brain and the upper lip area, stomach, and the bladder that had fluid in it which is a sign that the kidneys are working. We saw the nose but couldn't get a good profile as the baby was turned with its back outwards. The last thing she mentioned she saw was a........yep it's a boy! We are so excited for Silas to have a little brother to share his life with. Now just to come up with a name!!! It was so amazing to see our little boy and to hear that he is healthy and growing as he should!

As mentioned above, we couldn't really get a good picture at the ultra sound, but here is a picture of what he looks like from the outside instead.

20 weeks

A milestone of sorts

Søren and I look at each other quite often and wonder how our little baby has become such a little man. He is really expressing himself these days. At times in temper tantrums, but also with a lot of verbal communication. He can say so many words now and string up to 7 words together. His memory is crazy and he can remember something that we told him weeks earlier and haven't mentioned since.

Due to his increased verbalizing, Silas often says some funny things. In fact lots of things sound funny coming from his mouth, just because they are almost complete sentences and we thing that sounds funny coming from a 2 year old. For example: "No go neighbors house" -- "Be right back, okay?" -- "Silas crying ikke (not) more" -- "Ew, dog poop stinky" --

Silas continues to switch back and forth between Danish and English. When we first got back from the US, he was using a lot of English words in his Danish sentences. That is long gone now, and I am experiencing the opposite. It makes for some funny sentences! He hasn't seemed to grasp that "ikke" in Danish means "not" in English, so whenever he wants to say not in an English sentence, he says "ikke" instead.

Some other "newer" things lately:

1) He can now say "Silas"...for a long time he called himself "Si-saw".....(thanks Uncle Johnny!)

2) He really likes watching TV now...well he really likes Handy Manny, and Rasmus Klump, and sometimes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

3) He loves motorcycles--Every scooter or moped he sees is "MOTORCYCLE!"

4) Can sing along to songs "ABC, Jesus Lille Lam/Twinkle Twinkle, I love the mountains"

5) Really likes Far (Daddy): For awhile Søren was the only one allowed to put him to bed, etc.

6) Says "tractor" in a funny way with his lips sticking out and a german like flem noise in his throat

7) Copying every sentence or thing that we say

8) Yelling peoples names and getting them to yell "Silas" back---then he will whisper names to get the same reaction

9) Jumping where both feet leave the ground

10) Can climb out of his crib

This last point brings us to another point and the so called milestone of sorts. Since he has been able to get out of his crib we have found him playing in his room in the middle of the night. We wake up to the noise of him turning on his light. The other night, we didn't hear him get up, but around 2:30 we heard noises coming from the living room...Søren got up and saw that the light was on and Silas was playing with his train on the coffee table. He also has gotten up in the morning and played for over half and hour in his room before coming to get us!

With all this we figured Silas was ready for a bigger bed. A colleague of ours had given us a junior sized bed, so after buying a mattress we set it up today. We put him to bed half and hour ago and after getting up 2 times we haven't heard or seen him since. Lets hope it can be that easy. He was pretty excited about his new big boy bed, and the poster of Cars that is now hanging where he can lay and see it! Our big boy!

Before

After

Goodnight story in bed

Monday, August 26, 2013

Happy 30th!

Happy Birthday to me!! Yes, I turned 30 last Tuesday. Lots of people kept asking me how I felt that I was going to turn 30, and well I had to admit that it hadn't even crossed my mind. 30 had just been and number to me, and even after turning 30, I never really speculate about it. Turning 30 has, however, made me think about all my blessings. There is nothing to complain about turning 30 when I look at my life with thanks and awe to our God for the richness He has provided. My loving husband and amazing son + 1 are what makes my heart beat....what makes me smile everyday with joy and thankfulness. I have a job I enjoy and a beautiful house where we are growing as a family. We are making new friends and are able to use our musical talents serving the Lord. I really feel incredibly blessed and humbled by the way my life has turned out.

On my actual birthday, I had to work most of the day. It was a tiring day, but I really enjoyed all the birthday songs and hugs from friends, colleagues and students. The morning started out great too, with Silas coming into the bathroom singing "Happy Birthday Mommy" to me, all by himself. Around 4, Søren and I cut out a bit early from work and headed up to Hostebro where we had invited Søren's family to Bones restaurant. We had a wonderful American inspired meal of BBQ ribs and enjoyed brownies and ice cream at Ulla and Peters house afterwards. We ended up staying until almost 9:30 before the birthday girl was tired out...even Silas was still kicking. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of joy.

Birthday breakfast

Bones

Balloon from Bones

Opening presents at Ulla and Peters

The kiddie table

The following Friday I held a girlfriend birthday party. There were 15 girls who came around 5pm. We had burgers on the grill, baked beans (my Great Grandmas recipe) and 3 different salads I had ordered from the deli. (I had even baked the burger buns myself) The weather was beautiful, so we sat outside eating and chatting. I opened my presents and then we had ice cream sundaes with Oreos and Snickers!! Silas and Søren sat inside while us girls sat outside talking and giggling. Søren was my "waiter" and was so amazing making and cleaning up all the food and getting the entire house back to normal afterwards. Silas also enjoyed the company!

We just hung out the rest of the evening, we talked a lot and played a game of Taboo! At one point Søren came in with a cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday and I blew out the candles. It was a perfect evening, just as I had hoped for!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Summer in the USA

13 playgrounds, 14 swim diapers, 30 days and 29 naps. 15 peanut butter sandwiches, 14 restaurants, 4 trips to Subway.

This about sums up our trip to the USA. We had an absolutely wonderful time visting family and friends in Minnesota and Florida. The weather was quite warm, but we also experienced a week or so of beautiful Minnesota cooler weather. It was amazing to see how Silas adapted so quickly to the new world around him. Speaking English most of the day, taking many car rides, and constantly seeing unfamilier people. One of the most fantastic experiences for me was seeing Silas how Silas could recognize his Grandparents and Uncle Johnny. Although it had been a long time since actually seeing them, with all the Skype conversations, it was clear..he knew who his Grandparents were and he felt more "at home" around them. That made me smile, as it is very difficult to be so far away.

I think it would be impossible to tell about every single activity we did, so I will leave the most for the pictures to tell. But here are some tidbits.

Silas took the plane ride over very well. We only slept for a total of 40 minutes of the 9 hours, but handled it well. He sat fairly still and enjoyed the TV screens on the back of the seats. Bob the Builder was a hit after he got his own headphones. We made it to my Mom's around 3am Danish time, and althought he was exhausted Silas began playing and instantly speaking English to Mom and Johnny. He went to bed easily and slept 6½ hours straight. (9-3:30) This interval became increasingly better and soon he was sleeping like normal.

On our trip Silas got to hang out with his four American guys buddies. Andrea and Jason's - Westin. Julie and Josh's - Alexander. Dan and Tara's - Charlie and Holly and Dave's - Zach. He played well with all of them, and it was fun to see how their interaction had changed in a year.

Some of the outings we took:
--The beach---playing in the sand and swimming in the water
--Children's museum---a life like town for toddlers, slides and other fun things for a 2 year old.
--Shopping---lot's of shopping here and there
--Mall of America---Nickolodeon Universe and trying the rides
--Visiting my cousin Beth in Winona
--Bluegrass festival in Hutchinson, MN---hearing the grammy award winning Okee Dokee Brothers, of which I sang in the college choir with one of the members. Silas now loves their CD and calls them "Okees and Okees Brothers."
--Lots of playgrounds---a favorite was in St. Louis Park where they also had a splash pad
--Date night on our anniversary at Chanhassen Dinner Theater seeing "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
--Another Date Night at Big Bowl, Hopkins Theater and Cold Stone Ice Cream
--Lot's of delicious restaurants.

We also took a 6 day vacation, in our vacation to go to Florida. We stayed with my Grandparents for 3 days and then went to Miami for 3 days. It was so precious to see Silas with his Great Grandparents. Calling them "Great Grandma" and "Great Grandpa", running towards them and giving them hugs. Silas' favorite game was to yell "Great Grandpa" and have him respond with "Silas"...then he would whisper it too. We had a wonderful time visting and were sad to leave. We had some wonderful meals and fun outings as well. We felt so happy to be able to have those 3 days.

The 3 days in Miami were also incredible. We really enjoyed spending lazy mornings on the beach. Our condo was right on the beach so we could just walk out and enjoy the water. Silas was completely fearless and loved when the waves crashed over his head or knocked him over. In the afternoons we checked out various parts of Miami and ended each day with delicious meals dining out.

There is so much more to tell, just the development of Silas in our time there was incredible. But I will save that for a separate entry. I will just say that his language and speaking skills seemed to take leaps and bounds and we were often laughing at the funny comments Silas would come up with.

So now for the pictures...Enjoy.