Mommy away in London

Cindy left for London this morning to go see her agent and her friend Xinran. Farmor and farfar was holding down the fort during the morning while pappa dropped off mommy at the airport. They clearly had a great time together painting and playing.

In the afternoon, we went out for a walk in the sunny but very windy weathher. Maya enjoyed burning off some energy and Luca sat content in the stroller. When we got back Maya, Luca and I played by the stable and went on a "discovery adventure" as Maya called it. We lived in the jungle and hunted for food, went on discovery trips and had a great time together. Both Maya and Luca picked out a favorite stick which we saved outside the gate for our next adventure.

We were supposed to head out after dinner and Luca's late nap to see Valborg bonfires but unfortunately we didn't make it out. It was a total circus trying to get the kids to eat properly and get them ready for bed. In the end it took me hours to get Luca to sleep and Maya fell asleep next to while Luca was up for 2 hrs fighting sleep.

No pictures to attach, farmor and farfar couldn't find the memory card reader. Hope we can find it tomorrow.

Something about Maya

Have to write them down before I forget.

One month ago, when Pappa was in Ireland, Maya, while dreaming, said aloud and clearly, "I want to be the first!" She's competitive, no doubt, and she's pretty tough. Kelly, one of Maya's teachers, once told me that Maya was the only one who had never cried in the school.

Several weeks ago, at Swati's baby shower in a tea room in the city, a tea leaf reader, an old woman with an British accent, said to me, without knowing much about Maya,"You daughter is very strong-willed. Try not to get into direct confrontation with her. Reason with her and guide her." 

Luca, the Thrower

Luca is a powerful thrower. As Maya put it so accurately, "My brother is a good thrower and kicker." He surely is. He's broken more plates and bowls than we can count. As for Maya, she describes herself as a "swinger" because she loves swinging and is very good at it.

Happiness

Luca is generous with his food. He often shares with you the food he just put into his mouth. Notice the red mark on his cheek? Of course, he was painting minutes ago.

The sun is enticing and the wind is mild. Both kids seem to have rested well. Perfect time for an outing.

Because of cold weather, most horses in the neighborhood are kept indoor. But we do see five or six horses. They are more curious about us than we about them - they run over to check on us, sticking their heads over the fence to get a better scrutiny.

"Come in, please!"

What is farfar doing with his magical hat?

"Luca, do you know that farfar made this car for me three years ago? I was sitting in it just like what you're doing right now."
"Really? That's so cool. But can I share your cheerios first? They're so yummy."

First time since we arrived that Luca sits on Farfar's lap.

Malin demonstrates her fantastic training skills with Lucas.

Is farfar thinking about buying the tractor on the newspaper ad? He looks awfully interested in it.

Bravo, Malin!

Art contest: whose cat is the best?

First prize goes to....what do you think?


Artist 1: Farfar

Artist 2: Farmor

Artist 3: Maya

A new day, windy day

Luca gets up at 5am, ready to play. He opens all the kitchen cabinet doors he can reach and checks what's inside. He feeds Felix the cheese and ham he just chewed in his own mouth. Felix is a peculiar cat and he eats cheese, broccoli, and other vegetables. In the past two days, he has grown very fond of Maya and Luca and often follows them around.

As soon as Maya gets up, the house is full of activities and noises. Though Luca sometimes gets frustrated with Maya because she often grabs toys from him, he truly loves his big sister and loves playing with her - no, he's not a follower; he has his own way to play. By 8am, Luca is tired and being put to bed, while Maya goes outside to play with the swing that was set up yesterday. It's quite windy, which makes it seem colder than it actually is. After Luca gets up three hours later, we go out for a walk. But it's so windy that we turn around pretty soon. It's beautiful outside. Trees are budding, little name-unknown wild flowers, most white and purple, are blossoming here and there (they're not everywhere, unlike the summertime), red houses hide behind trees, the newly-plowed fields, with dark, rich soil, promise a productive year ahead.

For dinner, we have meatloaf, potatoes, and vegetables. Farmor is a fantastic chef, as always.

P.S. Mommy is quite jet lagged - actually, not so much from the flying than from Luca's messed-up sleeping.

The second day in Sweden

We have a busy day today.

Maya doesn't get up until almost 10am, which is good because she didn't go to bed until 11pm the night before. She was very excited to see Farfar, Farmor and Malin again, and ate three servings of bolognese at dinner. After dinner, she walked Lucas with Malin and played with Philex, the most friendly cat among the four. Luca slept fairly okay, considering that he barely slept during the flight. He woke up crying several times through the night but after mommy sang his favorite songs to him he fell back to sleep. He gets up at 7am, his usual wake-up time. He's quite grumpy in the beginning, because, I guess, he's still tired and is a bit confused about his whereabouts. But after I take him out for a walk, he is happy. In the past one or two years, Farfar and Farmor have gotten rid of their two horses, the chicken and the geese, and the three pet pigs died, so the farm is less farm-ish than before. Still, Lucas and the four cats keep Maya and Luca busy. 

After a quick lunch, we set up the swing outside the barn. Maya and Luca have a lot of fun running around and playing with the cats. Hopefully the weather will be warmer from now on so we can be outdoor longer. Then Farmar and Farmor have to go to a car service appointment.  After Farfar and farmor are back, Farmor, Maya, Luca and I take a long walk in the neighborhood. Luca sits in the stroller, dressed with three fleece jackets - the weather is much colder than I thought - and wrapped with a blanket, looking like a Britto. Usually he hates to wear a lot of clothes, but this time he doesn't object, though he still refuses to wear a hat. 

Dinner is salmon with white rice. Very tasty. I ask farfar for recipe so I can make it at home. After dinner, farfar goes to the attic and takes down quite a few toys that daddy and malin used to play when they were kids. A rocking horse, small-piece legos, an RV, puzzles and card games. 

Finally both kids fall sleep, after a lot of playing and a long bath.

Flying to Sweden

At 5:45pm on Sat, we embarked on the SAS flight to Copenhagen. 10 hours and 40 minutes direct didn't sound too bad except that Luca barely slept. He fidgeted with the remote control for the entertainment system, he walked up and down the aisles, he stood on the armrest and played peek-a-boo with everyone, he ate (finished three fruit pouches, his newly-found favorite, on one go on one occasion) and drank often...but, of course, he was tired. It was not until daddy made a tent for him with the red blanket that was given to each passenger that he lied down, and not until mommy massaged his tummy and feet for at least 45 minutes that he drifted into sleep. But not for long, even that he occupied two seats by himself - mommy's and maya's. As soon as he woke up, he was like a monkey again. Honestly, I felt a bit sorry for the guy, a very quiet and good-natured man, sitting next to us because Luca kept staring at him like he was a novelty, and kept hitting his elbow during his playing. It was only that much I could do to make Luca behave. But over all, Luca did amazingly. He was happy 95% of the time. Though we regretted that we didn't buy a seat for him - it was too late to get a seat for him when we wanted to do so because the plane was completely full - we weren't sure that it would have helped. Would he sit nicely in the car seat? Would he sleep in it? We doubt. He's that kind of kids who want to be in the center of activities and who don't want to miss a second of fun.

As for Maya, she was easy. She watched the Dinosaur Train dad had bought for her on iPad, she ate the Chinese snacks mommy had bought for her, she did several drawings on her Hello Kitty notebook, she, for half an hour, managed to cosleep with Luca on the two seats peacefully until Luca kicked her off (she didn't complain; she just rubbed her sleepy eyes and went to dad, who sat at the row behind, and for the following couple of hours, she slept on daddy's lap.) She was an angel.

Farfar picked us up at the airport. Farmor was in Rome and wouldn't be back until 21st. Luca fell asleep in the car before we reached the bridge between Copenhagen and malmo, and was still sleeping when we arrived at Farfar and Farmor's house. Daddy wrapped him with a blanket - it was cold, probably 8 or 9 degree - and carried him to the crib farfar and farmor had prepared for him. So nice to see him sleeping peacefully.