Tage had his first outside bath of the year this afternoon, Olof gave our lawn its first mowing, and Lydia’s on an outside sleepover down at her grandparents’. All of these things add up to incontrovertible proof that summer has finally arrived. The temperature soared to above 20°C (~70°F), and for a time it actually… Read More Summer

Lydia’s summer vacation started today and I think it’s going to be as much a vacation for me as for her. I really need a couple of weeks of being able to sleep in before the baby is born! There was no sleeping in this morning, as we had to be up bright and early… Read More Avslutningen

I’ve actually been getting a bit of a boy vibe from the baby lately. If he were anything like his big brother I think I could live with that just fine.

Sunday afternoon I went out to Helena’s for what I thought was a brunch with Helena, Debbie, and Melanie and what turned out to be a surprise baby shower with the three of them and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law! It was a complete surprise, and all of them–and Olof–kept the secret very well! It was… Read More Update

On the first Thursday of every month Lydia’s after-school program has what’s called a föräldrafika, which means they serve coffee and cookies and parents can drop in and chat a while. I don’t especially like these kinds of things since I’m not terrifically good at making small talk–particularly in Swedish–but the women who are the… Read More Native Tongue

I’m just back from an appointment with the midwife, which was more or less uneventful. My weight is up and my blood pressure is down, which is as usual. I had my blood drawn so they can do yet another check of my iron levels (and no doubt admonish me to eat blood pudding when… Read More Thursday

I fear Lydia has misunderstood our family dynamic, particularly the chain of command. We watched Supernanny this evening, and not long after the show ended she came to me in the kitchen and said, “I don’t think we need Supernanny.” “Mmm,” I replied, non-committally. “Yeah,” she continued, “Tage and Olof don’t scream and hit like… Read More Who’s the Boss?

Whenever I travel it takes me a while to settle back in to my daily rhythms and routines upon my return home, even if I’ve been gone only a short time. Lydia’s and my recent trip to Stockholm took us away from home for scarcely more than seventy-two hours, but that was enough to leave… Read More The Stockholm Report

As seems to be my standard practice these days, I’m posting a picture instead of a real entry. This time you get to see my big belly … this picture was taken last Saturday, when I was 33 weeks pregnant.