Reading and Ice Cream

I have to brag about my little girl today. At 4 1/2 years old, she just finished reading her first chapter book. The book she read was called The Chalkbox Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla. It was an easy read as far as words go, but her problem is usually staying with a chapter book long enough to finish it. As a reward, we are going to the ice cream restaurant in Söderkoping. I am always happy to have an excuse to get ice cream, even if I do have to have the milk-free stuff until Hunter's stomach can handle my drinking milk.

Passports and Pastimes

Yesterday we visited the United States Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Purpose: to finally register Hunter as a US citizen. Armed with completed forms, passport pictures, and the proper identification, we headed north to Stockholm at about 6:30am to make a 9am appointment.

The appointment was actually more like permission to go to the window on that day. I think everyone who was there for similar purposes had an "appointment" at the same time, even though there was only one lady working in that department the first hour or so we were there.

We arrived at the embassy, and I saw a long line had formed. Without reading the sign at the head of the line, I stepped behind the last person, ready to wait until they let me in. Along comes Timothy (he was in charge of K and AJ, and I only had Hunter), and he tells me I am in the wrong line. The correct line wasn't even a line, yet. There was another sign for "US Citizens" that had no one behind it. I liked that line much better, and, after surrendering all electronic devices, we soon found ourselves at the window for US Citizens inside the embassy.

Although we were at the head of the line, we soon discovered that we would still have to wait. After submitting our paperwork, we were sent over to the cashier to pay for everything. Then, Timothy got in line again to show them the receipt as proof of payment so we could sign the documents and go. However, when he finally reached the window again, he was told that they would call him and to please be seated. So, we waited some more. They finally called Hunter's name, and, within a few short minutes, we were able to leave.

We had dropped off Erika, my niece, close to Gamla Stan in Stockholm so she wouldn't have to endure the tedious embassy experience. When we left the embassy, I gave her a call to let her know we were on our way to pick her up. There was a surprising amount of traffic on the way to get her, and it took longer than we expected, but she waited patiently for us to show up at our predetermined meeting spot. After finally rescuing Erika from people-watching on the pier, we drove south to Södertälje to visit a science museum.

The museum, Tom Tits Experiment, was an incredible place. Located in what was probably an old factory (just a guess, I really don't know), it is four floors of hands-on fun for kids of all ages. We could have spent a week in there, but we instead opted for about four and a half hours. The kids played with water, sand, bubbles, and balls. They slid down a four-story slide, climbed a wall, and learned about the human body.

This place is about an hour and a half away, and that distance can get a lot longer if you have an unhappy baby on board. Fortunately, everyone was mostly happy during the car ride this time around. There was so much we missed that I want to go back another day. I think the kids would like that, too. :)

K on a chair where she could pull herself up using a rope.

Playing with bubbles

K on the climbing wall

AJ playing with water

AJ looking at the model of a human body.

K checking out the models of a developing baby

The kids having fun on a huge table and chairs.

Erika and I playing with sand.

Weekend Adventures

Last weekend, some of our Swedish friends invited us to eat breakfast at a little place by the Göta Canal. This place has chickens (where they get the eggs for breakfast) and rabbits that the kids enjoyed viewing. It is also right off of a lock, and K and AJ really liked watching the boats go through. Hunter was a little fussy when we first got there, but we were eating outside where it was windy and a little chilly. When we gave him another blanket, he calmed down.

Afterwards, we decided to visit Gamla Linköping, which has an outdoor museum (Friluftsmuseet) that is great for kids. K and AJ learned about doing laundry the old fashioned way, making rope, and building wooden toys. We visited many of the little "stores," before eating lunch at an old restaurant in an historic building. My niece, Erika, who was with us as well, ate a typical Swedish meal, but I opted for a bacon burger. Maybe I should have gone for the complete Swedish experience. After we ate lunch, Hunter and I headed to the car for his lunch, and everyone else went to a cute old-fashioned ice cream parlor. When they were done, we decided we had had enough fun for the day, and we all drove home.

Doing laundry... Plunge and scrub. Plunge and scrub.

Hauling water for the laundry.

The rope place.

Making rope.

Building a car.

Using a hand drill for Kristen's car.

A cute old-fashioned telephone booth outside the restaurant where we ate lunch.

First Trip Out

My mom's 74th birthday was four days after Hunter was born. I felt pretty good, so we decided to be adventurous and visit some castle ruins about an hour from our house. The first part of the trip went well. Hunter slept in the car on the way there, and we walked around the castle for a little bit.

Then, Hunter woke up and wanted to nurse. There wasn't exactly a good place for this, so I sat on part of an old interior wall, covered up, and let him have at it. He did okay for a while, but I finally decided to take him back to the car to finish up. When we were done, we ate lunch at a little restaurant off of the Baltic Sea. It was peaceful to watch the boats sail by on such a beautiful day, and my parents really enjoyed eating "al fresco" next to the water. After lunch, we headed into Söderköping to eat dessert at a famous ice cream restaurant off of the Göta Canal.

My mom really enjoyed her birthday, but I think it was a little too much for me to do such a short time after having a baby. There was a lot of walking involved, and I went straight to bed to rest after we got home.

Me inside the castle.

At the restaurant off the Baltic.

The kids by the water.

Fun Snacks

I ordered Kristen a subscription to FoF's Clubhouse, Jr. as a late birthday/Christmas present. Her reading level was definitely up to it, and I thought it would be fun for her to get some mail every month.

Her first magazine contained some cute ideas for bug-themed snacks. The ingredients are apples, bananas, raisins, and pretzle sticks. Check them out.

Labor and Delivery

After 9 months of waiting and learning a new system when it comes to prenatal care, I finally delivered my baby on June 24.

I started having contractions somewhere around 5:30pm the day before. They were really light, and I didn't tell anyone what was going on at first. Timothy was playing soccer that evening, and I didn't want to bother him unless I knew it was the real thing. My parents were here with me in anticipation of the arrival of my latest model of tiny people. We were impatiently awaiting the completion of the development phase, and I didn't want them to get their hopes up if it turned out that there was still another segment of expansion pending completion. I finally sent Timothy a text message, letting him know that he might need to come home a little early from soccer. He called me back around 7pm, and I told him that it would be best for all involved if he headed toward his residence at that time. I knew he still needed to take a shower and eat dinner before we left for the hospital, and I was unsure as to how fast I would progress through labor.

We finally announced our intentions of going to the hospital around 8:30pm or so, but we didn't leave for a while, during which time Timothy grabbed a chance to play some Wii Football. Around 9:30pm, we drove to the hospital, leaving my mom to put the kids to bed (late, I know, but this was a special day).

Upon arrival at the hospital, they hooked me up to two monitors -- one for the baby's heartbeat, and one for my contractions. Lying there, I noticed that my contractions were not as regular as they were before we left, and I dreaded the thought that this was false labor. When they checked me after about 30 minutes of monitoring my progress, I was at a whopping 1cm. Timothy and I decided to take a tour of the long hospital hallways at this time, and we thoroughly explored those deserted corridors while my contractions continued at about 2 1/2 minutes apart and grew stronger. At about 11:30pm, I was in too much pain to continue walking around so much, and I went back to the bed. They hooked me up again, monitored me for about 20-30 minutes, and then checked me. I was only at 3cm, and I couldn't believe it. At least it was real labor, but the progress was painfully slow (yes, pun intended). The midwife asked me if I wanted an epidural, and I said, "Yes." She hooked me up to an IV, and then she called the anesthesiologist. About half an hour later, I was getting hooked up to some pain relief.

The midwife then hooked me up to the monitors again, and I started feeling a need to push. I was unsure as to whether this was just because of the way the epidural was working (it provided different pain relief than the ones I had in the US) or if it was because I was really ready. The midwife came in to check me, and she was surprised that I was at a 10. After about 15-20 minutes of pushing, Hunter was born. 2:22am was his official time of birth. I couldn't believe I went from a 3 to a 10 in less than 2 hours.

After the birth, I got to hold my little guy for about an hour to warm him up and just bond. He nursed very well, and it was nice to just hold his little body outside of mine for a while.

After I got up and showered, they took me to the recovery ward. I had planned on staying at least one night, but I found that I was sharing a room. This provided little rest and no privacy. My parents were not allowed to come into the room to see the baby. I had to go out into the hospital hallway to show him off. I then decided to go home that day. So, at about 4:30pm (after the doctor's permission), we headed back home, where I slept better and felt more peaceful than at the hospital.