Exactly one week ago farmor and farfar went back home to Sweden. We all miss them an awful lot. It's always hard to say good-bye and I always question why on earth we live so far away from family.
Maya loved having farmor and farfar here and she thrived in their company. She really did have a huge growth spurt during their visit (which will be revealed in the next posting...stay tuned).
We took tons of pictures and video so they have something to look at back home and bore friends & relatives with. Burned two full DVD's with Maya media for them.
Mommy's parents are here now for a while so Maya is still getting awfully spoiled with attention. I shudder to think about what will happen when it's just mommy and me again. We have both returned from the brink of exhaustion and function somewhat normal now.
We hope to see farmor, farfar and aunt Malin soon again.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Good news and lots of tears
First the good news:
Today we had our first follow-up with the physical therapist(PT) for Maya. Apparently all premature babies have the privilege of getting an extra follow-up schedule all the way to 3 years of age. Today was the first one of these visits and they were checking that Maya was developing well, have good muscle tone, flexibility and movement.
Our PT, Mary, was very happy with Maya and told us she was very strong, flexible and was doing everything even a full term baby should be doing by now. Maya is a social butterfly and talked non-stop during our visit and even managed to throw in a few smiles to charm her evaluator. We got a stack of papers for massages, stretches and exercises to do to keep her in good shape (I think daddy needs this more than Maya to be honest).
Then the tears:
After the physical therapy we had to do another blood draw for the kidney doctor. Unfortunately ( or maybe it was fortunate?) dad had to rush back to work while mommy took Maya for the blood draw.
The first nurse immediately admitted defeat in drawing blood from a baby and called in reinforcement. The second nurse did not want to draw blood from the foot (which is what has been done previously) since this would take five pricks and a lot more pain for Maya. She settled for the hand and tried to find a vein to draw from. After a while nurse #2 gave up and called in nurse #3. Nurse #3 was super senior and was assisted by #2. In the end #3 managed to draw the necessary blood while #2 was holding our princess down. Maya was crying at the top of her lungs, nurse 2 was crying and I think a couple of people waiting in the lab cried as well. I can assure you that dad would have cried too if he was there. :(
From now on, we will not agree to any more prodding and poking unless it's urgent and important. Sometimes I get a feeling that these American doctors are a bit overzealous in their effort to follow-up and make sure all is well. Now please keep your fingers crossed/hall tummarna, pray, think good thoughts or whatever strikes your fancy, that this is the last time for a long long time that we have to do this.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Please, please, please make farmor and farfar stay longer daddy!
Maya really loves having my parents around. She is so excited she barely sleeps during the day anymore. Maya is talking an awful lot to farmor and farfar and wants to stay involved in what's going on all the time. She has started smiling so much it's hard to feed her these days. When she cracks into a big smile she forgets to eat and the milk just leaks out on the sides.
Maya, Cindy and I will miss farmor and farfar a lot when they leave end of this week.
Maya has discovered her hands and is trying to learn to control them. Sometimes she even manages to get them so intertwined it takes her a while to untangle them again.
On a positive note Cindy's parents arrived yesterday so Maya will still have grandparents around for a while to keep her occupied. The house is bursting at the seams right now and there are people sleeping in every bedroom. A nice change for Cindy and I to have the house full of family. Most of the time all of our family is so far away and we don't get to see enough of them.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Mayas first restaurant visit
We decided to take a drive along the coast on highway 1 earlier this week. The weather has been amazing and we wanted to take advantage of it and get some sun.
We started from San Francisco, made our first pit stop to refuel Maya and watched surfers on the waves.
We continued down the coast making stops mainly when it was time for Maya to eat. In Pacifica we decided to have lunch and found a nice Italian restaurant right by the water with a lovely view. This was Mayas first visit to a restaurant but she pulled it off like a pro. She even started charming our waitress with big smiles and cooing.
We ended the trip at San Gregorio beach which is a really nice spot. The little river outlet carries down tons of drift wood to the beach which then visitors use to build all sorts of structures. It's like an open air art gallery sometimes and very interesting to visit.
We started from San Francisco, made our first pit stop to refuel Maya and watched surfers on the waves.
We continued down the coast making stops mainly when it was time for Maya to eat. In Pacifica we decided to have lunch and found a nice Italian restaurant right by the water with a lovely view. This was Mayas first visit to a restaurant but she pulled it off like a pro. She even started charming our waitress with big smiles and cooing.
We ended the trip at San Gregorio beach which is a really nice spot. The little river outlet carries down tons of drift wood to the beach which then visitors use to build all sorts of structures. It's like an open air art gallery sometimes and very interesting to visit.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Hanging out with farmor
Maya really has taken a liking to her grandparents and it's amazing to see how they interact. Farmor is so much fun to talk to, can hold her for hours without getting tired of it and makes Maya smile all the time.
Hanging out with farfar
Maya is soaking up all the attention like a sponge. She barely sleeps during the day now since she doesn't want to miss a second of the action with farmor and farfar.
I think she likes her farmor and farfar more then mom and dad. She is all smiles, talking up a storm and attentive with them. Mom and dad are boring and not nearly as much fun.
Maya is so exhausted from reading books, smiling and talking that she has finally fallen asleep with farfar.
I think she likes her farmor and farfar more then mom and dad. She is all smiles, talking up a storm and attentive with them. Mom and dad are boring and not nearly as much fun.
Maya is so exhausted from reading books, smiling and talking that she has finally fallen asleep with farfar.
Napa trip and complete meltdown.
We've been so busy spending time with farmor and farfar that I haven't had time to update the blog much.
Yesterday we went up to Napa to visit some wineries and for a nice dinner. We had a great day and spent the afternoon at Sattui Winery with a tasty picnic and some wine tasting. Maya enjoyed the warm weather and all the new sights. Farmor and farfar enjoyed the cheese, salmon, olives, prosciutto, bread and of course, wine.
In the evening the intent was to have dinner at a nice restaurant in Napa and then head home. Maya had a different plan.... After some shopping to build up our appetite again, Maya decide to have a complete meltdown. It was probably a combination of over-stimulation, hunger and tiredness but she was inconsolable, crying at the top of her lungs. We were stuck in the parking lot for a long long time trying to get her to eat some milk and calm down. She finally relaxed and we decided to drive straight home instead. All of our nerves were shot and we just wanted to get back. It's strange how very very far away it feels with just an hour and a half drive when your little princess is unhappy.
Apart from the meltdown we had a fantastic day out.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Christmas.....again!!
We saved the Christmas tree so that Maya could have a second Christmas celebration with her grandparents. I sincerely doubt that farmor and farfar managed to fit any clothes in their suitcases, both seemed to be filled with Christmas gifts for Maya. Maya almost disappeared in the big pile of gifts she got.
Proud farfar(in his Christmas gift cowboy hat) and proud farmor.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Farmor and farfar have arrived!
We made it to the airport in time for my parents arrival.
I think Cindy fell asleep as soon as we saw them in anticipation of a full night of uninterrupted sleep.
Maya didn't care that farmor and farfar had been on the road for 24 hrs and we had to make a pit stop to refuel her on the way home.
Hmm, what's the name of that bug in Swedish again?....
Maya is very excited to be welcoming farmor and farfar tomorrow. She can barely sleep tonight from being so keyed up. Mom and dad are also very much looking forward to it.
She has been busy all day studying Swedish with her favorite book as you can see on the picture here.
Tomorrow will be a busy day. We start off with a doctors appointment at 10am tomorrow. Followed by vaccinations again. After that a quick lunch and then off to the airport to pick up farmor and farfar. We'll bring them home and then I'm off to IKEA to buy an extra bed for them to sleep on. We only have one guest bed so it's time to invest in a second one. I don't want to put my parents on the big green air mattress we have that slowly but surely leak air.
She has been busy all day studying Swedish with her favorite book as you can see on the picture here.
Tomorrow will be a busy day. We start off with a doctors appointment at 10am tomorrow. Followed by vaccinations again. After that a quick lunch and then off to the airport to pick up farmor and farfar. We'll bring them home and then I'm off to IKEA to buy an extra bed for them to sleep on. We only have one guest bed so it's time to invest in a second one. I don't want to put my parents on the big green air mattress we have that slowly but surely leak air.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Heading out for the park
We are off to the park today. The bitter cold California winter demands thick winter clothes so we dressed her up for the day out. Heading out now to spend some time outdoors together.
Happy New Year
The weather has been really very nice the last few days and we've taken Maya out in the garden to look at all the flowers. She loves to "walk" around and look at all the colors and see the different flowers.
We have four more days until farmor and farfar arrives from Sweden and we are REALLY looking forward to having them here. It will be nice to see them both and we are looking forward to some help with Maya. Just getting a few hours break will be great.
We have four more days until farmor and farfar arrives from Sweden and we are REALLY looking forward to having them here. It will be nice to see them both and we are looking forward to some help with Maya. Just getting a few hours break will be great.
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