Deh.

Yup.. :) Leia playing in her baby gym. :) I cleaned out all the toys that was in it, and put them other places, so that we could finally put away the baby gym. It has been "protecting" the TV cords and I guess I realized that we just don't need it anymore. She doesn't mess with too many things around the TV, besides her toys, and it is nice having the extra floor space with it gone!

Yesterday was a horrible day.. :/
Fredrik came home early, he got home around 13.30. To give me a helping hand. And this morning he stayed home a little longer, to give me some help. She was.. unpleasant this morning for her Pappa.. but it is good for him to have to deal with it too.. :/

It can get pretty stressful to be with her all day alone and get no help with dealing with her behavior. :/ Sometimes Fredrik wonders why I am sad or depressed some days when he comes home from work and I say to him... how would you like it if you had someone at work following you around screaming at you all day ??

Hmm.. maybe some people DO have jobs like that.. :D

I hate asking.. and don't ask him to stay home, so that I can have a little break or at least some help.. Especially now because he is so busy with work. He has his normal sanitation project, and he is working with some Dutch on a new housing area. And then always lots of little things going on. And last week he fixed a map for Åmål. He delivered the file in person so that he could ask someone about getting our sidewalk repaved. He got a person to talk to about it, so at least we are a step closer.

He barely gets 2 hours a day with Leia during the week. And I feel like I get even less with him. :P

Someone (3 people) came and took one of our doors away yesterday. It is the door between the pellet machine room and the rest of the cellar. The door has to be fireproof..... So they took the door and today they brought it back with metal protection on it and a new handle and lock. It is really heavy now but it is really nice. I'll try to get a picture or two. :P

Leia was better though after Fredrik left for work. We didn't go on our walk today. She just hates it too much. She hates being constrained and forced to sit still. She screamed 30 minutes straight yesterday on our walk. Then she stopped and laughed and sang for about 5 minutes, then she screamed the last 10 minutes home...... Lots of fun!!! *sarcasm*

So today we stayed home and that was a lot better. Our morning wasn't as rushed with time, to try to get out before she gets cranky(ier). I decided to try something different today and I opened the baby-gate and let her walk around by herself, wherever she wanted, ALONE. I did my own thing and she walked and went around to the rooms she wanted, by herself, and she behaved very well. She didn't try to eat the cat food, or pull the books off the shelves. She did take things out of the trash, but that was okay. :) I think she enjoyed her bit of independence and she remained happy.

That is the thing with her though, she can and is very, very happy, she is just never content.

We think she might be a vegetarian, too.. :D
She isn't too fond of meat, but she loves her veggies. We have to mask meat behind her green beans and peas. But she hasn't been eating much as of late.. She will take a bite or two and then scream like crazy if you offer her anything else. So we try to not push it.

She.. she is.. a strange baby. :)
How she can be so happy and yet so angry..
But I guess she isn't a baby anymore, huh? She has graduated to "toddler" I suppose. :)

When she was having cranky, screaming moments, I would just set her on my lap, facing outwards, leaning against my chest and sway back and forth and hum to her and that would calm her down. She really liked that and I did it for as long as she wanted me to, and when she was content, she would get off my lap and start playing with her toys again. We did it several times throughout the day and it really helped her to refocus. Sometimes when I stopped humming, she would hum instead. :)

She sings. :)
When she is in an okay mood, I will leave her in her play pen and try to run around and get things done, like dishes and laundry, etc.. and she will look through her books and sing to herself. :))

I have to leave her in her play pen, because she won't sit in her high chair. She screams a lot when she is in it, and she stands up.. :/ she desperately tries to get out of it and it is a little dangerous.

She puts her hands on her hips.. :)) And she sighs. :) Deep sighs when putting her hands on her hips. Is she impatient with us ?? :)

She says "deh."
And that means "tack" (thank you).
She says it when handing something to you or when taking something from you, she says "deh." :))

Now it is the weekend. And I will have some help for the next 2 days. :) So I am going to try my best to enjoy it, which means trying to get as much school work done as possible.

Inside with shoes.

A nice day!

Today we had a nice day today. Leia was more her normal self. :) She was happier and calmer. She can easily get upset, especially when she is told "no," so I try to keep that word at a minimum, and only take things away from her that she should NOT have.


As Fredrik suggested, we skipped our walk yesterday. She has been just screaming, for both of us, when going on walks. This morning we took our walk and she was much better. So hopefully this will continue! :) I didn't complain when she threw her treats over the side of the stroller, and after a short while she stopped doing it. Treatless, but quiet. :)) She had woken up sometime between 10-11 last night.. :/ We gave her some tylenol and orajel and some milk and she went back to sleep pretty easily. We first tried to let her go back to sleep on her own, but that wasn't going to happen. :)


Today I took Leia outside after our walk, and put her shoes on her. She barely complained, and then we walked around the yard. She was pretty happy about the whole thing. :) She didn't complain about the shoes, and she stuffed handfuls of rocks in her mouth.. :D







She has a little trouble walking in the grass, as it is a bit bumpy and the land slopes a lot. The gravels are okay, but she tries to eat them, so the deck was a great place for her to practice walking in shoes.


After dinner, we took her out again, so that Pappa could see his little girl walk in shoes, and I got a few videos:

The second one is a bit longer, so I'll post it on its on.

Today, for Swedish class, I read a horrible "love story" about two leaves. :/ I think I'm going to take a break with school after the New Year.

That is all for tonight. :/ We're tired and heading to bed.. I'll try to write something more tomorrow !

All done up.

Leia brought me one of my hairbows that I let her play with (the green color just isn't for me).. :)) She kept rubbing it over her hair, and then looking at the one in my hair, and then she kept rubbing it over her head.. so I helped her.. :))






And we've discovered that she can completely undress herself.....

"They're here..."

At least the stroller didn't get wet...

Wreath that I bought on Saturday!

First Cleveland Indian's shirt.

Marknad.

marknad [²m'ar:knad] :: market


Today we "went into town" for the market. Obviously it goes around from town to town and this weekend it happened to be here in Åmål. I bought Leia an adorable pair of slippers, wool slippers. I wish I would have skipped buying some for her and got them for myself.. :P They are really nice and not cheap, and she screams when she has them on.. :/ And she takes them off the first chance she gets. :/ We really wanna take her outside and let her try to walk around, but until she wears shoes......

All you have to do is hold shoes up to her, and she starts screaming, tears come down and she starts to shake a little. If you give them to her to play with, when she comes across a shoe, she takes it and throws it away from her.








But we also bought her a pair of gloves, and she complained and fought. Fredrik and I each took a glove and put them on at the same time, and.. she kept them on for a lot longer than we thought. :) They have no thumb holes, so they worked well. We've had a horrible time getting gloves to fit her, her hands are pretty wide.

And a few pictures of the backside of a few of the booths.

Fredrik really enjoyed himself. :) It was a whole bunch more than we thought it would be. Reminded me of the Lorain County Fair that I went to every August growing up.. but of course.. not nearly as big. :)) But all the booths and food reminded me a little of home.

Leia complained quite a lot while we were out. We thought she would really enjoy herself, being out and seeing so many new people and things going on.. but she was actually pretty angry the entire time. :/ :( And it made the experience not so much fun. She screamed plenty, until I finally bought her a play, Hello Kitty cell phone.. and then she kept quiet for a little while.

We aren't really sure what is up with her. We talked about several possibilities.. poss..ibilities.. is there too many 'i's in there ?!? hmm.. about her behavior. She is so moody, has a horrible temper, incredibly impatient.. We've decided to talk to her BVC nurse about her temperment.. and see if it is a common thing or not. :/

We have.. 2 reasonings:
1. She is incredibly intelligent and gets bored so incredibly quickly that she gets frustrated and angry, etc..
2. She has ADD (attention deficit disorder).

Now.. I think my friend Carie had the same ideas about her little boy, so she is going to have to fill me in now on... how their thoughts are presently about the whole thing.

I changed her diaper and set her on the floor to play, in her room, like I typically do. And while she is playing I pick out some clothes for her to wear. I picked out a gray, fleece pair of pants.. I was holding them and took a couple of steps to her, and she looked at them and started screaming and tears running down her face. I got on the floor with her and she climbed into my lap as if she was afraid.

I really honestly don't understand the child at all.. :/

I have been a babysitter (barnvakt/barnflicka) for about.. 12-13 years of my life or something like that, in the US and in Sweden. I've taken care of.. 20 kids that I can think of off the top of my head, ranging from newborn to 12 years old.. And I have NEVER seen or taken care of a baby that has been so .. angry. For awhile I thought that it was me.. that I was a bad mom or something like that.. but she behaves the same with Fredrik, and with both of us together.

We'll figure it out I guess when she gets older... :/
She can be just fine and we're all playing and she is laughing and having fun, and then she will just start screaming and tears.. and.. I dunno.. Maybe she is just an extremely moody baby girl.. I really, REALLY hate to see her when PMS shows up then..... :/ :D

But ooh we love her to death though.. :))
Maybe that is why it is so much more annoying!! :D That we try so hard to figure out what it is she wants and why she gets upset but sometimes nothing makes her happy, and it gets so very frustrating. :(

Okay.. :) That is enough for tonight.. :P I need to do some more school work.

Arms.

I put Leia in so much clothes this morning for our walk, she could barely move her arms.. :D It was a little colder than it has been, so I put on another layer. :) She won't wear gloves.. :/ She screams, so maybe I add more clothing to make up for her lack of gloves.







We had a very yummy Thai dinner. Leia was much calmer today.

She is starting to respond more to things we say, to show that she is understanding us. :) When she is sitting on my lap and I say "give mommy hugs" she will lay against my chest and hold onto me. :) And when I say "give mommy kisses" she wil reach her check into my lips. :))

We're all a bit frustrated with her lack of talking. :/ She gets frustrated and gets out a lot of gibberish. And Fredrik and I are a bit anxious for her to say more words. She only says "mamma" and "uh-oh" clearly. I think Fredrik and I are both "mamma" and "dada" is just a sound right now.

Of course we know WHY she isn't saying more and we were prepared for this, but it is.. difficult! I didn't think this would be something that would bother me. It probably doesn't help either that I make her watch cartoons in French, Spanish, Finnish and Norwegian. :P

But it will come eventually.. :) And then she'll have cute little sentences like "Jag want some godis." :)) (I want some candy.) Then ALL she will do is talk and then we will wish that she never learned how to talk.. :D

Birthday wishes..

So what do I want for my birthday..?

I want to sleep in in the morning, and have breakfast in bed. And then a long, hot bubblebath...

If only. :))

I asked for a pumpkin for my birthday. :) One for me and one for Leia.
Although I don't think there are any anywhere. :/ Only the really small ones.


I told Fredrik at the beginning of the week, that my birthday is sorta anti-climatic, which he agreed, cause we have Fredrik's 30th birthday, and then Leia's 1st birthday... and then "my birthday".. :/ :)) This year was a special year, having Fredrik's 30th and Leia's 1st in the same month. Every year though, it is going to be "uggghh... ANOTHER birthday??" :D


So I went through Leia's 2nd and last box of clothes that we bought while in the US (and presents, too, from people). And there was a pair of slippers, and she screamed at first, but she finally accepted them, and she walks around in them just fine. So we hope that this will be a start for to accept shoes.. :/






Her walking is almost perfect, even with socks. She is even going faster, running almost. Especially when Fredrik gets home from work, when she hears him.. :) She is usually sitting on my lap and she climbs off and goes running towards the door. :)

Yesterday morning at breakfast, she looked at me and pointed at Fredrik's chair. :( She misses her daddy.

There is a market in town on Saturday. I told Fredrik that as my birthday present he has to take Leia and I and look around. :)) Not sure he is exactly thrilled, but he agreed. :)