So, Petra had her birthday today.  Two years old already!  When I told Tage this morning that Petra was two now, the first thing he asked was, “Am I still 4?”  He was a little disappointed when I told him that it’s a few more weeks until he’s officially older, but he quickly moved on to other things, namely cake and presents.  Even though the celebration was for his little sister, he got very much into the spirit and has been singing “Happy Birthday” under his breath for most of the day.

The festivities today were very low-key, because when my mom was here we had a combined birthday party for all of the kids–their birthdays are all within six weeks of each other, remember–that included extended family and friends (or friend, anyway — of my three compatriots in Skellefteå, only Melanie was not away in the States).  That was a to-do to remember, with dozens of presents and three fancy-schmancy cakes and to-die-for chocolate-raspberry coffee brought all the way from Texas.  Today’s party was memorable, too, though, not least for the way that the birthday girl exclaimed, “Oj!  Musse Pigg!” when she unwrapped her Mickey Mouse comic book.  Trust me, that was darn cute.