Pictures from Farmor.

Pictures from Farmor.

Dad threw 4 tots off bridge after fight, police say

BAYOU LA BATRE, Alabama (AP) -- A day after reporting his four young children were missing, a shrimp fisherman broke down and confessed that he threw them off an 80-foot-high bridge to their deaths, authorities said Wednesday...Lam Luong, 37, was charged with four counts of capital murder, and divers searched the murky waters for the bodies of the youngsters, who ranged in age from a few months to 3 years...Missing and presumed dead were 4-month-old Danny Luong; 1-year-old Lindsey Luong; 2-year-old Hannah Luong; and 3-year-old Ryan Phan. Phan is not the man's biological child, but Luong raised him from infancy, authorities said...

Full story HERE.

A little earlier.

I went to sleep a little earlier last night, not as early as I would like.. but hopefully some kind of progress.. :/ Fell asleep around 03.00 or something. And then Leia woke me up and I got up and went to bed. Fredrik had gotten up with her, so I was able to sleep some then. :)

But Leia woke up a little earlier than we want.. :/ He said she woke up at 04.30. We hope to keep her wake-up time around 06.00.
So, last night she slept from, 21.15-00.15 and 00.30-04.30, so about 7 hours during the night.

And when Fredrik woke me up to come downstairs, when he left for work, 07.30, she had already been sleeping about 40 minutes on the couch. She woke up when I got in the couch with her, but I easily helped her back to sleep, and we slept there until 10.00! So, I'm guessing that is the rest of her night sleep. Now if we can move up the time, and squish it together, we'll be good to go.. :D

Luckily Pappa went to bed so early last night, he was able to get up with Leia, I hope he napped some, too, though.

Leia "likes" (not sure if she likes it, but she does it continuously) to hit her feet on the floor as hard as possible and it makes a thumping noise.. :/ :) She'll hold her legs straight up in the air for a long time and then lower then one at a time really fast.. :/ :) Silly baby.

I am dead tired right now, :/ Much worse than yesterday. Maybe that will help me fall asleep later.. :/ I don't know if I am supposed to nap during the day to help my sleeping, or if I am supposed to stay up.. Because I feel like when I stay up that I am so extremely overtired and stressed that I can't fall asleep.. :/ So, I dunno..
It is extremely stressful and.. difficult without having sleep.. :/

Right now it is difficult making scheduled naps for Leia, until we fix her night sleeping, because then that affects when she gets tired during the day. So, it will take a little longer to get us on a routine. And then I hope to work a daily walk with the stroller into our schedule, but that will have to wait until I'm sleeping again, because I barely have the energy to go up and down the stairs.. :D

I hope that my posts aren't too annoying right now.. :/ :D But I am extremely tired. :/ (Have I said that before???) :))))

I want to sleep.

I really want to sleep. :( I need to sleep.. :(

I have a constant headache that moves from different places in my head.. :/ And now I've started getting pains under my eyes, my upper cheek bones..

I have no idea what to do to fix this sleeping problem. :/
Ehhh..

Leia fell asleep around 21.00, Fredrik went to bed right after Leia and then she woke up at 00.30 to eat. She went right back to sleep; it is nice that that is never a problem.

I think I fell asleep at 5 yesterday morning, and then Fredrik woke me up at 6 to tell me he was getting up..... And then he woke me up at 7 to go downstairs to be with Leia. I haven't slept in a week. :/

It can't still be jet lag, can it?!?!
Ehh... I will have to sleep eventually.. :/

But I read that with time zone differences, it usually takes a day for every hour difference for a baby to fix its sleeping. Which seems to be what she is doing now. So, she should soon catch up to her normal sleeping time.

Pappa's home!!!!

A very tired Pappa. :) But his day back today wasn't nearly as "bad" as he was expecting. :) He is just really tired. That is the problem with pneumonia, it leaves you very drained of energy.

He has some things coming up with work, though. January 23rd-24th, he has to go away to Falkenberg, south of Gothenburg. For some training/educational stuff. Which he is glad about, because he is glad to learn more about some program or something or other.. :/ :)) And then on Jan 31st, he has a retirement party for the old man he is replacing at work, Sven. It won't be anything formal, more of an evening brunch/fika.

Leia has slept well today. It was easy to get her to nap. And she has eaten her night-feeding, her dinner. And she seems very dead.. :) So, maybe she will sleep now and start on a better schedule tonight. :)

We started a bit of a routine tonight after Fredrik got home. He and I had dinner, while she played, and then we changed her clothes, which would also include bath-time on bath-nights, and then we had tummy-time, and then we had reading-time and a little play time and then her food. So, we will keep trying things and see which way works best for her. And now she is sleeping.

Today I worked on her clothes some, and I did this:




We are trying our hardest to take care of drafts through the house. We've decided which windows to replace next: the one in our bedroom, and the 2 in the hallway going up the stairs. We were going to do the office and dining room, to get some air in the house during the summer, but we've decided it would be a better investment to replace the ones that let in cold air during the winter.. :/ Although, it isn't like we are going to replace them now.. Unless we win the lottery, but it is always fun to talk about renovation stuff.. :)

Leia and her favorite toy.

Sleep.

Leia fell asleep an hour earlier last night than she has been, at 22.00 last night. So, I see that as progress. :) And she woke up at her normal time at 02.15 or something like that. She easily ate and went back to sleep and then woke up after Pappa, 06.00.

And when I got up this morning when Fredrik left, I put her in her vibrating chair and she napped in there off and on and played with her favorite frog toy, while I managed to nap on the couch a bit.

I couldn't fall asleep again last night.. :/ But we all got naps yesterday evening, though. :) Fredrik napped in bed, and Leia was in her chair, but she woke up and ate, and then she napped for 2 hours while I held her and I napped during that time, too. The house will just have to wait.. :/ :) It looks like a human-sized tornado has gone through the house. :/

It will take time to get everything put away and situated, and we are just going to have to do a little at a time until it gets done. :/ :)

She is napping now in her swing. It might take awhile, but she will eventually get back to her right schedule. I just wish that I could fall asleep.. :/ Eventually it will fix itself. And once her sleeping gets better at night, then we can work on fixing a more routine schedule.

Fredrik was very stressed, depressed, and with a bit of anxiety about going back to work today. It has been awhile and he didn't want to go back. :))) But Spring is only a few months away, and then I know he will enjoy everything much more, when he can spend lots of time outside again.

We still miss Pappa.. :( Used to having him around these last 6 weeks or so.. But unfortunately he has to go back to work so that we can buy food and pay our bills... :D

Clothes..

Clothes...

Clothes...

And more clothes...


Yesterday evening we managed to buy some plastic storage containers, so I can start putting away her clothes.. :) We have every size, up to and including 4T (4 toddler). :))

Fredrik is back at work and we miss him lots. :(

Midwife and BVC.

Today I had my routine midwife appointment after the delivery. It should have been before we left for the US, but it never happened.

All is well except that my iron is extremely low. She says that it is because I'm not getting any sleep. And I have to go on iron tablets and see her in a month to make sure it is back up.

We waited after the appointment to see the BVC nurse. Since it has been so long since Leia has been weighed and measured, etc. So, Leia slept nice and soundly until we got a chance to squeeze in between some appointments:




She weighed:
6.180 g (13.6 pounds)
in length:
61 cm (24 in / 2 feet)

We have an appointment for next week to start her immunizations.

Leia is doing very well, though. :) We are proud of her. Especially considering the flights and time changes.

She pulls herself up into a sitting position if she is leaning back, and she tries if she is laying down, but she isn't strong enough yet to pull herself up on her own unless she is holding onto a finger or something else. She can sit by herself with just a little help. A hand on her back is enough. Just to make sure she doesn't lean too far to one side. :)

We got home a little bit ago.. and right now Leia is taking a nap in her vibrating chair and Fredrik is taking a nap in bed.
I'm extremely tired, but someone has to hold down the fort.
Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow when Fredrik leaves and I have to stay awake all morning. I am going to try to be as patient as I can with Leia despite my tiredness.

People have been calling Fredrik from work all day, asking when he is coming back. So he has plenty to do, but he doesn't think he will stay very long tomorrow, at least that is what he said earlier.

Now I need to clean up the dishes from dinner, finish unpacking the suitcases, put away Leia's clothes, unpack the other box we picked up today, etc.. etc.. etc..

Really annoying.

So, this sleep thing is really getting on my nerves.. :/ I barely slept at all last night. And I let Fredrik nap during the day while I put stuff away and took care of Leia. I thought that I would be tired enough to sleep. Well, I am dead tired, my eyes are extremely heavy, but I can't fall asleep.. :/ I'm not sure any longer that it is jet lag.. :/

Leia woke up at 02.20. I thought it would be easy to get her back to sleep, seeing as she only slept about 3½ hours. She was very discontented, and then I realized that she hadn't eaten in 7 hours.

Her eating is at the same time it used to be, around 19-20.00, but she doesn't fall asleep until 23.00. She is sleeping fine, and falling asleep very easily, she just doesn't sleep for very long. 2-5 hours on average right now.

But she is falling asleep by herself in bed. And I almost prefer it that way. It will make it easier in the future. She doesn't stay asleep now after her feedings, and you have to put her in bed awake, and then she will go to sleep. Most of the time it works very well. She likes to have something to hold onto, a small stuffed toy works well right now, or a rattle. She will hold it, hug it, or lick it until she starts to rub her eyes and then she falls asleep. I am pretty content with her going to sleep like this.

Right now we just need to fix her sleeping hours. She needs to go to bed earlier in the evening. She is taking naps fine during the day.. but her problem is definitely jet lag. She is falling asleep okay, just at off times.

Now me on the other hand. I can't fall asleep to save my life, no matter how tired I am.

Fredrik is doing well. He is getting lots of sleep and rest.
I want sleep, too.. :(