Hopefully better.

Here are Pappa and Leia at our lunch-date yesterday with B+R. We had a very nice time there, even though Leia was feeling under the weather. She had been fine all morning. She ate 1 portion of breakfast and she had a yoghurt in the early afternoon. We got home and she wouldn't eat or drink anything, and we gave her some pear juice (she drank about ½ a box), which she projectile vomited onto the dining table.. :/ :D Poor thing.

Thankfully, Farmor and Farfar had bought a really cool table cover, to help protect the usage of the table from babies. I think we have gotten full use out of the cover. :))

After that, we called a.. nurse hot line number and the woman said it sounded like a mild case of the European illness called "Vinterkräksjuka" or "Norwalk illness/virus" (Norovirus). (The same illness that Fredrik got while in the US a few years ago, and that I then had on the Air France flight between Cincinnati and Paris. What fun!)

A mild case probably because she wasn't vomiting everything she was eating, and didn't seem to be in any abdominal or back pain.

The nurse gave us a recipe:

- 1 liter (4 cups) of water
- 6 tsps of sugar
- ½ tsp salt

Bring to a boil and let cool.
Give 1 tsp every 5 minutes, until it is certain the child isn't going to vomit. Then start giving larger amounts. When everything stays down 3-4 hours, then try giving food.

She said that if Leia won't eat, at least this will give her the essentials she needs and keep her hydrated. Leia LOVES the mixture and drinks it without a problem. But she won't eat anything. She took a small nibble from a cracker at dinner. And she took a bit of potato from my fork, she spit a bit of it out, and then realized it wasn't dangerous and tried to put it back in her mouth again. :) But she wouldn't take anything else.





We are a little worried about her not wanting to eat anything, but we are happy that she is taking the liquid without a problem. She had 1 cup full (8 oz / 250 ml) before going to bed last night. And then she had 1,5 liters today (6 cups)! So she has had a good amount of liquid and she is wetting her diapers.

She has the worst gas ever. She is very, very gassy, and she is trying to poop - which isn't going to happen because she's had no food! She stinks.. oooh.. her gas is rancid.. :D Very disgusting smells. After her bath this evening she passed a lot of gas, and she was much happier afterwards. So we know that made her feel better.

She went to bed at 19.30 last night, and didn't wake up until 09.15 this morning. :) She slept.. 13hrs 45mins. :)) Poor thing. I had checked on her twice during the night and she was sleeping soundly. So she was up at 09.15 and then at 11 she wanted up in my lap; she laid her head down on my chest and went to sleep. :)) So I got in the couch and Pappa put a cover over us and she slept for an hour. :)





She had woken up at 11, then at 13.00 she went to sleep in bed and woke up around 15.00. :) We had dinner and she had a bath, and she went to bed then around 18.00. But the fireworks have already started so we aren't sure how her sleeping will go tonight of course. :/ Each State in the US makes their own fireworks regulations. But in Sweden all fireworks are legal, so .. it is often very loud and bright in the sky no matter where you live. :) (Which can be a good thing for watching fireworks - but not if you have a sick baby!!) :))

We are glad she is sleeping so much - she is working everything out of her system. We are also pleased with how much she is drinking. And her passing gas is good as well. We aren't happy about her not eating. If she doesn't eat tomorrow, then we'll call the "hot line" number again, and see what they suggest.

We absolutely love the nurse-calling numbers in Sweden. We don't even fool with going to a doctor. We call the "district nurse's number" if we need to see a doctor. Otherwise Fredrik calls another number, I'm not sure what it is for, but they just answer your questions and give you tips or make an appointment, or give you the best hospital to go to at that present time. I honestly think that nurses should run the medical system in Sweden. Just completely get rid of the doctors and let the nurses take charge.


A couple of pictures from our drive yesterday:






Hmm..
Leia hasn't had a fever at all. It has been on the high end of average (99 degF / 37,2 degC). So that is good. But she was very dehydrated before we started giving her the sugar/salt liquid. I definitely suggest the mixture to others! Leia really likes it and she has kept down every drop of it and she isn't licking her lips anymore (when she was dehydrated).

We just want her to get better of course. Not fun at all. :/ She has been a little active: walking around, playing with things, and laughing/smiling. So we know she hasn't completely lost touch with reality. :)) I even felt of her tummy and rubbed it some, to make sure she wasn't having tummy pain. She didn't complain when I pushed and rubbed, so she hopefully doesn't have any abdominal pain.

We'll see how she sleeps tonight; she'll probably go in and out because of the fireworks, but if she won't eat in the morning, then we'll call and see what they suggest. :)

Otherwise, it is a pretty boring New Years.. :D Not exactly in any kind of celebration mood. :)


From yesterday:








Leia's colorful dress she got from Mormor + Morfar for Christmas. :)
Love that sweater, too, no? Fredrik and I got that from Target when we were there last year. It is a size 2T (24+ month). It was.. maybe.. 7$ (45 sek). :))

So keep sending even more positive Get-Well wishes for Leia! She needs them!

Sjuk.

Swedish entry word
sjuk [sju:k] sjukt sjuka adj.
som inte har bra hälsa (also used figuratively of objects, "shady, suspicious")

English translation
ill, sick
as opposed to healthy


_______________________________


Fredrik has a cold. Which we hope quickly goes away.
And Leia threw up this morning in bed. (Ugh! What a mess!)

We don't think she has a virus or anything like that. She doesn't have a fever and she has a pretty good amount of energy. She is wetting her diaper and she has pooped plenty today. We think she either ate something that didn't agree with her or she has an upset tummy.

She hasn't eaten much today, but we haven't offered her much either. We kept it simple: yoghurt, apple sauce, ice cream, water and milk. She drank a little milk for her nap during the day today, and she slept almost 4 hours.. I even had to wake her up. :) And this evening, she wouldn't take the bottle at all. She pushed it away and just wanted her pacifier and she laid her head on my chest and started falling asleep. I gave her her normal forehead kiss and put her in bed, and she hasn't made a peep.

Poor thing. :/ :( Hope she feels better.
This is her first time throwing-up though! She has only ever spit up her formula, and the last time she did that was.. when she was 4-5 months old or something. When she was still laying on her stomach. It had to happen a first time I suppose.. :/ :)) The first of many to come. :)

I gave her some tylenol before her nap today, and then again before bed tonight. So we hope that that will help her feel better. To take away any aches she has so that she can get a good nights sleep and get better.

Send positive get-well thoughts our way! :)

Inskolning.

Here are pictures from Leia's "inskolning" (assimilation) into daycare. Before Christmas we received a few things (drawings, artwork, etc..), including this CD with pictures on it, even a video of Leia. So I've been spending time resizing the pictures, because they are enormous..... So here are pictures that the teachers took from Leia's first two weeks at daycare:


All the Mommies and Daddies are on the wall. A good way for everyone to learn each other better.





Theodor, the only boy, in the background.

They go for a forest trip every Thursday, and they have a little snack (fika) outside. Anna-Karin and an unhappy Leia, Theodor, Sanna/Julia (the twins), Ellinor, in the back: Elwira (the second oldest at 3 years old) and Sara (the oldest at 4 years old).



Anna-Karin, Leia, Sanna/Julia (the twins), Theodor (standing), Elwira, and Ellinor.

Leia and Anna-Karin.

Leia and Anna.

Leia's turn to choose a stuffed animal out of the bag, then they sing a song about that animal: spider, troll, squirrel, crocodile, cat, etc.. (Swedish songs that everyone knows - but I was pretty lost when singing the songs).

Anna-Karin with Leia and Nili.

Leia holding onto mommy's finger.

Mamma getting her picture taken for the wall.

Pappa getting his picture taken for the wall.



Leia and her doll. In the background is Nili and Elwira.

Leia's first (delicious) daycare lunch.

Leia putting her doll on the board. If the children are present that day, they put it in the blue squares, if they are home, they put the absent children in the house, and if they are sick, they go in the bed. :) Here Leia is admiring the other dolls and trying to figure a way to grab them for herself.

Leia and Theodor playing in the sandbox.

Theodor, Leia, Elwira "Elvira", and Sara. Leia LOVES the playhouse!





Me making Leia's little doll.

Töcksfors.

Today we went to the shopping center in Töcksfors. It is near the Norwegian border, only about an hour away from us. There are lots of shopping centers near the Norwegian border, since it is cheaper in Sweden than in Norway, and stores are open more hours in Sweden, so the Norwegians always make their way to Sweden for plenty of shopping. I think we were the only Swedes there. :D

Fredrik looked at their open hours on the Net, and it said they opened at 10. We ended up leaving an hour later than planned, at 10 and got there a bit after 11. Which was for the best, considering the stores didn't open until 12! There were only a few other people walking around in the mid-size, oval mall, so we let Leia run around A LOT. Which was good. :) She got rid of lots of energy. Then we took a walk around the mall again, and she rested and relaxed and fell asleep. :) She slept about.. at least 2 hours in her stroller. :) While we walked around and shopped. :) It was awesome.





The mall is really very lovely and built on a lake, and they were decorated for Christmas. Leia kept trying to take off the decorations on the tree. And everyone that walked by was in-love with her. :)) It was SO nice being out and having Leia behave. :) She fell asleep without a problem and she even looked happy while she slept. :) Fredrik and I were able to enjoy a nice time shopping together, without rushing, able to chat and look at things.. it was very nice and relaxing. :) It wasn't nearly as crowded as we were expecting. And we got some great sales.










They have 2 grocery stores, and I wanted to try one of them, with the hopes of them having some American food products. As luck would have it:



They had TONS of stuff!! Fredrik got mac+cheese and I got Reese's cups. :) I even got some Goldfish. They had so much stuff.. I wanted to buy at least one of everything. :)) So we got plenty of food stuff there.

We really like the shopping center. They don't have very many stores, but there are plenty that we like: a BRIO store for toys, a baby store for Leia, some good clothes stores, and even an Indiska (one of my favorites). I was able to get some mugs to match 2 bowls I have. Got the mugs for almost ½ price. ;) Fredrik got 4 sets of old computer games that we both played growing up. Games we wanna share with Leia when she gets older. And we got another baby-gate for upstairs. So she can run around without us having to hold our breath about her falling down the stairs.

We had a very nice day and Fredrik and I are very tired. :) We walked around that place many, many times. :) I don't think we've ever had such a nice family shopping day as we did today.

Christmas 02.

Here is our Christmas tree. Very plain and boring this year. :/ :) We didn't put our beautiful, glass ornaments from Prague on there this year, for fear of the tree being tipped over and having them broken. We bought the tree at IKEA when we lived at the radhus (townhouse). The ceilings were pretty short there, but now we have an old house, with high ceilings, and the tree just looks silly now. The fake trees here aren't as full as the American trees. Even Fredrik wishes the Christmas lights were like the ones in the US. Next year we hope to.. put a little more effort into everything.. :/ :) When Leia will hopefully be a little more into the season (maybe). :/ :))

She wasn't interested in the presents at all. She didn't even try to open one present. She played with things after we opened them, but she wouldn't sit still long enough to even hold a wrapped present. Her favorite present was Mommy's set of Rubbermaid Tupperware containers from Mormor and Morfar.. :D She played with those the most. :))






We all received some very nice presents. :) For Fredrik I bought him a very nice work bench that he really liked and wanted. :) For the cellar. :) It was delivered about a week before Christmas, and the nice delivery guy that is always at the house carried it in for me because it was.. a bit heavy. :)) So it stayed unwrapped in the hallway until yesterday. :) And Fredrik put it together today.

But we all received very nice presents and we had a very nice Christmas. :) So we want to thank everyone for the nice presents we received, and that Leia received. :)


Leia having some Julmust:






For Christmas Eve/Day dinners, we had our favorites from the Swedish Julbord. And a few favorite additions of our own, including some delicious cheeses and crackers.


And a few pictures from our present-opening:

















Tomorrow we'll be going shopping! Or at least we'll be going to a "mall" and looking around. :) We left a lot of pacifiers at Farmor and Farfar's when we were there. We went with 3, bought 2 while we were there and came back with 3. So we need to buy more. We can't keep up with them, and Leia always keeps some at daycare. We'll be going to a place we took my parents this summer. We know it will be crowded, so we are mentally prepared for that. ;) We decided to go somewhere where there aren't as many stores, for our trip tomorrow, so we won't be too upset if we don't get to do too much because of the crowds. We'll save other trips for hopefully at least less-crowded days during vacation. :)

Leia has been very happy and pleased and content, and we are all really enjoying her happiness. :) She laughs constantly and loves to play.. even if she doesn't stay with one thing for very long. She loves to make us laugh and she loves to give hugs and cuddle.

It.. annoyingly has been making us talk a little more every day.. even just passing comments.. about having another baby.......