Christmas 2016

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Traditionally in Denmark the 24th is the biggest celebration day.  We start with church at 11am where I again this year sung "O' Holy Night" as the praeludium.  It was extra special to sing it this year as in my heart it was in memory of my Mom.  We came back home for lunch and naps before heading to Søren's sisters house.  We had such a wondeful time celebrating with Ulla, Peter, our 2 nephews Lukas and Nikolaj, niece Celina and Søren's Mom Inger.  It was a real party with so many of us.  Our kids absolutely adore their cousins so it was just a joy to see them all hang out and play together.  The afternoon went fast and soon it was dinner time.  We had "flæskesteg" (pork roast with crispy fat strips on top), duck breast, 2 kinds of potatoes, red cabbage and french chips (ha ha...regular potato chips...it is considered fancy in Denmark).  Then for dessert we had the traditional rice pudding with the almond hid in it.  This year we had 2 hidden almonds; one for the adults and one for the kids.  Lukas and Inger won!  Silas was cute, he really wanted to get the almond but took it well that he didn't.  Benjamin didn't even want to try the dessert.

After dessert it was time to dance around the tree and through the house before distributing presents.  Nikolaj, Celina and Silas distributed and we took turns opening presents in a circle.  All of the kids were really good at watching what the others got and took joy in seeing others happiness.

Then there was time to play a little bit and have some candy, etc before driving home.  It was a great night!

Christmas morning the boys had filled stockings and enjoyed looking at what was inside.  We had saved the present from us for the 25th so the boys got suprised with new (used) pedal tractors and trailers for outside! They were excited and it'll be fun to really break them in when the weather gets nicer.

Otherwise the rest of the day consisted of building legos and playing with new toys! It was a wonderfully relaxing day which ended with Farmor (Inger) visiting for dinner!  We are so blessed to have so many days together as a family!

Playing in the wrapping paper!

Enjoying the new gifts!

Enjoying the new gifts!

Liam 3 months

Liam is now 3 months and still changing a lot.  He is still a very content baby who likes to sleep.  I think that he is so content because he is so good at sleeping.  We know him now and he likes and needs longer naps.  Many times after 30 minutes he wakes up and looks totally awake.  If we take him up then he will get fussy after 20 minutes or so, but if we use 10 minutes on trying to get him to sleep again, then he will sleep for another 2-3 hours!  He has begun to sleep outside in his baby carriage for most naps and somedays he has slept until 7pm outside.  Silas and Benjamin still adore Liam and enjoy trying to make him smile and laugh.  Liam still sleeps really well at night usually taking a 5-6 hour stretch the first bit and then just eating and falling back to sleep.  He will then eat again around 5 or  6 am and sleep another 3 hours.  What a blessing!

In general we feel so blessed to have gotten such a good start with Liam.  We all love him so much and he adds so much joy to our family.

Other notable traits:

1) Losing hair.  He had so much long and dark hair when he was born, but it is now falling out.  Mostly in a ring above his ears, and in front.  What is growing in is a lot lighter!

2) Makes a lot of eye contact.  He can just stare down anyone.  If you first catch his eyes he will just look at you forever.  If you talk to him in a high voice he will give you the biggest smile, and if you pretend to sneeze he laughs!  It is so enjoyable!

3) Is becoming quite chatty.  He will look at you and give these high screech noises and coos.  Silas and Benjamin try to imitate him and then Liam really gets going.

4)Rolled over once from back to stomach. He can be on his stomach for 10 minutes or more.

5)Likes to follow things with eyes.  He can be a bit fussy and then if you hang something above him to look at he will calm down and follow it.  (It also works to talk to him...I guess he just gets bored some times)

6) Will smile at strangers and doesn't mind being held by others...but you can tell he smiles extra easily to Mom, Dad and his brothers.

7) Even if he hasn't been up from a nap very long, he almost always falls asleep in the car.  Also if its just a 5 minute drive to pick up the boys from preschool. 

8) Started going to baby swimming with Mommy.  Liam enjoys laying on his back and looking up at Mommy.  He smiles a lot and likes to kick in the water.  We have also tried going under water a few times.

9) Weighs 6.7 kg and  is 63 cm tall.

Benjamin starts preschool

Proud boy with his lunch box!

On December 1st Benjamin started at the same preschool as Silas.  He had no troubles starting, at all.  He was used to coming to the preschool and it seemed like already on day 1 it felt like home.  Already his first weeks he has gone to sing at the church 2 times, had a gift exchange game, made a Christmas present for Mom and Dad, tried multiple different puzzles, etc.

In the morning he is in his own group with others his age and has made a few new friends already.  In the afternoon he takes a nap on a mattress inside and then gets to go outside and play, where I often find him when I pick him up around 2.30.  He is often playing with Silas outside when I pick him up and it is fun to see.

Benjamin is so proud of being a big preschooler now and every morning when we drive by Margit, his former daycare place, he says "Mig not go Margit...mig go preschool"!  It's great it is all going so well. In the morning he just runs in and starts playing and doesn't have time to even wave goodbye!

Ambulance ride....

We had a scary experience on Thanksgiving afternoon, November 24th.  I had picked up Silas at daycare at noon and we came home to make Thanksgiving dessert og cookies and pumpkin pie.  We had a good time even though Silas said he was tired of it halfway through, but he sometimes gets bored so I just thought it was that.  After the baking was finished Silas and I built Legos until it was time to walk up and get Benjamin. It's been a bit colder here lately, so that morning when we walked to pre-school Silas said he was cold and now he didn't want to walk up to get Benjamin because it was too cold.  I just said we should put warmer clothes on, so he put his snowsuit on and we walked. Just before we left I thoguht Silas was acting a little strange so I asked him if he was okay and  felt his forehead. He was a bit warm, but nothing alarming. On the way up to daycare Silas was shuffling his feet and yawning, but we talked about Christmas and all the fun things to do in December.  

We got to daycare and Silas went in and talked to the other kids.  Then he sat on the floor waiting for Benjamin to get his jacket and shoes on. When it was time to leave, I told Silas that we were leaving, but he didn't respond.  I went over to him and then I could see his eyes were completely blank.  His eyes were just staring and he wouldn't answer me.  I thought he was just playing a trick at first.  But quickly I could see that something was really wrong.  I felt his forehead again and it was burning up. We tried giving him some water,  but Silas couldn't even swallow and made choking noises.  I told Margit, the daycare mom, to call 911. We got him out of his warm clothes and waited.  The paramedics came really quickly and they were quickly alarmed.  They got Silas out to the ambulance and started an IV for medication.  I had to leave the other boys with Margit and called Søren on the way.  We didn't know what was wrong, but people were definitely concerned.  After a little bit, the paramedic told me that the doctors suspected meningitis and they were treating him for that in case.  The sirens were going and it was quite scary.  

Right before we got to the hospital (normally 45 minutes away) Silas started coming out of it and was able to sit up on his own.  When we got into the hospital room there were at least 10 doctors, but they left quickly when they saw that Silas was okay.  There were lots of machines hooked up to Silas and I just kept talking to Silas about how you could see his heart beat, etc, but he wouldn't answer me.  Finally one of the times I asked him..Silas can you see that? he answered..."Um huh" and my heart just dropped.  I was so relieved.  It had been over 45 minutes where he couldn't talk or be in contact with anyone.  

They needed to take his blood for some tests and that was not fun for Silas.  He was scared of all the people poking and prodding him and it hurt to get the needles put in,  He was hysterical and I could just sit behind him and hold him.  Poor guy.  Then he got to pick a toy from the box and there was a little lego bag so that cheered him up a lot.

Søren showed up and we were moved to a different room for the night.  They weren't worried about meningitis anymore, but needed to keep him overnight for observation and to wait for the blood tests.  Silas had a huge appetite and ate and built his legos.  Then we got into bed and was able to watch TV from bed with Søren next to him and he loved that.  Søren stayed the night and I went home to the other boys.  Jette, our friend came over to talk that night as I was quite shaken up after the experience.  Silas and Søren held hands at night and I think they both really enjoyed some time together.  

The next morning Silas was ready to come home and he got a box of legos to build.    The doctors are 95% sure that it was a Feber Cramp that he experienced but due to the fact that he is almsot 5½ and the kramping lasted for 30 minutes, the doctors aren't 100% sure. But we are hoping and praying that it was just that and that he will be fine. So in the end he just thought the whole hospital thing was great.  Yoghurt for breakfast, movies in bed and LEGOS! We are so happy that he is okay and are holding him extra tight.  He seems completely fine, running around and teasing as usual.

   

Liam 2 months

Liam is now 2 months old and growing and doing new things.  He still LOVES to sleep. He sleeps usually for 3 hours at a time with a 1 hour wake period in between.  He sleeps by himself in his baby bed now and sometimes in the carriage outside.  Liam is still a really calm and relaxed baby.  He doesn't make much of a fuss about anything.  He enjoys sitting up just looking around, and LOVES being on the changing table talking and looking around.  He started to smile a few weeks back and it is heart melting. He smiles with his entire face and there is a glow in his eyes. Wow!

Otherwise Liam and I are enjoying life back home after a trip to the US.  We have had a few days to just let Liam have his routine and hang low.  A normal day for Liam is waking around 8:30 am... awake for 1 hour, then a little nap until 10.  Then he is up for an hour or so until 11 and then takes a 3 hour nap until 2.  Then it all goes weird as it is time to get the big boys and Liam gets in a car seat or for a walk and sometimes falls asleep.  He sleeps on and off until the boys go to bed and then he takes a 2 hour nap in peace until around 10 and goes back to bed by 11 for the night.  At night he wakes up around 2am and 5.30am to eat but always falls back asleep and I can put him over in his own bed. We all sleep better so that is wonderful!

So for now we enjoy our cuddle times, smiles, quiet coos and little giggles. I really love it! We are so thankful for such a good start to being a family of 5 and really feel blessed.  Silas and Benjamin continue to love on Liam and we can't imagine our lives without Liam.

Weight and height to come.....

Wears size 62 / 3 month clothes

Big brother Silas always ready to help in the backseat