Liam 11 months

Liam 11 months

Wow time is flying.  My baby is 11 months and I am so in love with him! Liam continues to be a really happy and content baby bringing lots of you to so many people he meets.  Luckily for him, this past month has been a lot more calm and Liam is not nearly as Mommy sick as he was in the USA.  He will let others hold him again, and doesn't immediately cry if I leave the room.  In a few days he will embark on the life of daycare and as I write this I am tearing up.  I just love spending time with him and I will miss him dearly.  I feel so grateful for all the time we've had together these past 11 months and I try to remember that even though I won't be with him for his every waking hour, I will still get a lot of time with him!  

Some other notable things this month

1) HE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! It was a miracle indeed.  I had asked our small group from church to pray for Liam to sleep better, as I was just so exhausted and anxious every night having to get up 3-4 times a night and needing to stay in with him for long periods of time.  That same night Liam slept from 7pm to 6am without making a peep.  It kept up for the next few days, and then we really started to believe a  miracle had happened!  He is still sleeping from 7pm to about 5:30am...so this is amazing!!! 

2) I installed the bike chair on my bike and Liam loves riding there when we pick up the boys from school.  If he gets fussy, he likes to hold my hand and then he will just say "bah bah bah" the whole time!

3) We swear that he says "hi" when he waves...not every time, but definitely more than once!

4) Lunches are a bit challenging.  Some days he won't eat anything.  At the beginning of the month he didn't like rugbrød at all--I guess not having it for 4 weeks could make a difference--:-) But then we found out if we soak it in water a bit, then it is easier to eat and he can still pick it up himself.  His favorite toppings are: Fig, avocado, banana, chicken salad, salami.  The funny thing is though that he knows what he wants and will pick things off and leave the bread.

5) When his toys play music he starts bobbing up and down to the beat!

6) His hair has grown so much and is really long!  It curls in the back and around the ears! So cute!

7) Especially at meal times we will make really high noises and point at the table until we figure out what he wants.  A lot of times it isn't something he can have or should hold and then he gets really mad.

8) Everyone we meet says he looks so much like me...what do you think?

Silas - Kindergartner! (0.b)

Silas is now a kindergartner, or in danish, he is in the class 0.

His first day was quite short just 9-11 and both Søren and I were there the whole time.  There was a little program in the gym with all the students and the teachers sang a really cute and fun song about starting the new school year.  Also , all of the students in class 0 were asked to come up to the front.  Silas looked really nervous standing up there, but also proud.

We had some time in his class room, hearing about practical things and rules.  Silas found his desk and got some books.  They have an arrangement that the 5th graders at the school act as school friends for the first few weeks.  They show the 0 class kids around and play with them at recess.  Silas' friends name is Lasse and they played together a bit on the first day.

On day 2, his first official day without Mom and Dad, I picked him up at his classroom right at 12:30 when they got done.  All the kids flooded out, but not Silas.  I looked into the classroom and heard him say to his teacher.  "See you tomorrow, thanks for a nice day!"  When he came out to me he had the biggest smile on his face.  "Mom, it was the best day ever, I love being a school."  He just had this aura about him, and I could tell that he really was happy.  This brought tears to my eyes and we talked the whole bike ride home about what he had done, etc.  One of his highlights was beating Lasse, his school friend, at soccer!  We had a little time just the two of us (and Liam) before we picked up Benjamin and we all enjoyed that time.

Wednesday and Friday he went to SFO, which is an after school progam where kids can go after school while their parents are still working.  He had been there 4 days last week to get a feel of it, and he also enjoys it there.  They actually just built the building, so it's brand new and has lots of fun activities, etc.  Here they are quite independent to play with each other and the other students in 0-3rd classses.

We are so happy that Silas had such a great start and we look forward to the weeks to come, even if we do have to get used to our morning schedule of needing to be out the door by 7:30am!

All 0. class to the front

Class 0.b

 A little video from tuesday!

Summer in Minnesota

We had another fantastic summer vacation in MN.  We feel so lucky and blessed to have a whole month together as a family.  This year, as usual, we spent most of our time visiting family and friends and figuring out from day to day what fun ideas we could come up with.  Our time together as a family of 5 is priceless and we enjoyed getting to spend so much time together being goofy and relaxing.

Here are some highlights:

Silas losing his tooth- having the front gap - and having the gap get filled in, all within the same month!

Meeting with my former college roommate and her family at a splash pad.

6 days in the Brainerd Lakes area, where I grew up coming in the summer at my Grandmothers cabin. Including Silas winning the turtle races and Paul Bunyan land.

Trying out the various boats available for use at the resort. 

 

Brotherly fun in the cabin

Turtle Races

Paul Bunyan Land - and yes he still says your name when you walk in

Benjamin wasn't a fan of this one, until we started waving to Liam every time we came around

Lots of swimming at the pool where we were staying with our good friends Holly, Dave, Zach and Adam.

Oh and swimming in Lizzies pool too!

A campout night in the yard

Okee Dokee brothers and MN orchestra concert in the park

Numerous trips to Target and getting to use the MEGA carts!  Plus shopping malls with escalators and a Lego exhibit.

Time with Grandpa, Lizzie and Uncle Johnny

2 family reunions where we got to see extended family on both sides

Overnight trip to Winona to visit my Auntie and Uncle and Cousin + family!

Silas catching his first fish.

Benjamin's first time at the movie theater

Frisbee Golf anniversary date

Minnehaha Falls with former Youth Encounter buddies

Silas learning to play baseball, lots!

 Rails to Trails parade in Watertown

Visiting Grandma's grave at the cemetery.  It was a beautiful experience.  The boys were really sweet and were talking to her.  Silas sat down on the gravestone and said "Grandma, I'm sitting on your lap." and Benjamin said "Grandma, I want you here with me."  We looked at pictures of Grandma and just talked about fun memories.  It was really precious.

Becoming Godmother to my friends beautiful baby boy Luke!

Søren : GUNS n- Roses concert

Visiting the fire station

 Lots of car rides in the awesome Mini-van!