Flying

Some months have passed since the last winter pictures were taken and on one of our spring excursions we noted that the playground on the local airport had been upgraded substantially by a real plane. Some but not all instruments had been unmounted (and the little One tried to contribute to that process...), but needless to say that the remaining plane still proved hugely popular.
And I got a bit nostalgic myself when remembering how my father and me were flying here (for real) or when we were on duty in the control tower.

Winter in Germany

Who would have thought that Tristan's first winter in Germany would be almost as snow-rich and long as the last one in Norway. With exception of a short thawing period in mid-January there was snow and cold for more than two months. We spent a lot of time in the forest and with sleighing even though he remains a cautious little person - "inte sa fort, nicht so schnell" was the most frequent phrase and the snow house I built for him was apparently to dark and scary on the inside to be really appreciated...;)

om mina barn

Tristan (2,5 år) tycker att Astrid (6 månader) är jättejobbig. Hon dreglar på hans leksaker (äckligt tycker Tristan), hon tar hans snutte (oförlåtligt) och hon låter när han försöker prata. Hon sprattlar (av någon orsak är det fruktansvärt irriterande när hon sparkar), drar honom i håret och kläderna, rivs och nyps. Så fort han kommer i närheten kastar hon sig över honom - Astrid älskar Tristan. Men han förstår. Han pratar med henne (på lite tryggt avstånd). Han låter henne vara med på kvällarna i sängen och titta på Fåret Shaun. Han tycker att hon ska följa med när vi ska gå någonstans, det brukar han fråga om ("å Astrid också!?"). När han blir arg på henne brukar han slå henne lite demonstrativt på den kala hjässan så det klatchar. Inte så hon blir ledsen, hon ser mest förvånad ut, men man ser att Tristan är irriterad för han biter ihop tänderna. Jag brukar skälla lite på honom ändå och berätta för honom att hon inte kan hjälpa att hon är jobbig och att hon bara inte kan låta bli honom för hon gillar honom så. Om jag måste gå till Astrid för att hon behöver mig ifrågasätter han aldrig det.

Han ser fram emot att hon ska bli stor så man kan ha någon glädje av henne (tur att han inte vet hur jobbig hon kommer att bli på vägen dit). Han påminner oss om att snart så kan hon prata. Det är lite motstridiga känslor kring Astrid. Men Tristan insisterar på att vi ska ha fler bebisar. Så att Astrid har någon att prata med.

The house in Fossum

Several months have passed without us updating here - I guess the little sister Astrid can be partially held accountable for that...
In the meantime he became much more verbal and also started to refer to himself as "Tissan".

The photos that we are sharing today are from late spring/early summer when we were still living in a little house at the very border of Oslo. In the nearby forestthere is a little lake that we visited quite frequently on our little evening bike tours.
The other picture shows him in our living room after he had arranged all his animals.

Quick Photo Update

It is about time, that we write a more detailed account on what has been going on with the LittleOne in recent months. But before we do that, I just wanted to quickly post some photos, taken about two months ago.

They show Tristan inside Stockholm main station (about to go to Norrköping to visit his grandparents), drinking tea at Oslo Gardermoen Airport and finally on the birthday of the daughter of a colleague of mine. All pics taken with the mobile phone which explains the quality...

Christmas Baby

With the last entry for 2008, we share some photos that show Tristan in his comfy Santa Claus outfit. The first ones were taken on the christmas party at our department at Karolinska Institute. He became an attraction amongst the japanese employees who lived up to all national clichés by taking pictures of him frantically. After trying to scape for a while, he finally decided that it was much more fun to pose together. Later during the evening, Tristan enjoyed the music performances (apart from one archaic hungarian instrument) and almost joined the piano player since the keyboard was just too irresitable...

The last two photos were shot on the island of Vänsö again, where we spent the christmas days together with Åsa's family in the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of the baltic archipelago.

The walking autumn baby

Tristan has been walking along furniture for quite some time but when we were in Germany in the beginning of September, he made his first free steps. All three of us were hanging out in my old room and all of a sudden he made five free steps towards us. And was at least as amazed about it as we were. Very touching.

Ever since he has been rapidly developing his walking skills (during the first weeks the diaper came in handy as an efficient bumper when falling backwards...): varying speed, making turns and even doing something else with his hands while walking such as drinking from his cup.

On a beautiful autumn day we were out in Hagaparken and I took the photos with my mobile phone. The colorful little leaves and the soft grass in which he stumbled around barefoot made him exceptionally happy as you can see on the pictures.

At the same time, the pictures will be amongst the last to show him with his "nap" (pacifier/schnuller) since he decided shortly after that he wanted to quit using it.