Bjorn's surgery

This Monday was the day for Bjorn's surgery, we went to Maine Medical at 7:10 in the morning, to arrive and check in around 8, we were called in to the exam room almost immediately, thereafter Bjorn was examined by the nurse, weighed and measured (11.1 kg and 77cm), and then the anesthesiologist came and talked with us about the procedure, and finally his Dr, Dr. Jumper. Laura and I were both emotional wrecks, while Bjorn was his self, he was playing, walking up and down the halls and seemed to do very well. The most difficult part was when the nurse walked him off to surgery on a little truck, we walked with him, but did not want to see him go under anesthesia (the Doctors did not recommend it, as it is very emotional to see your own child going to sleep on the operating table), we both cried.

Then the longest wait of our lives began, from 9:35 to 11:37, when Dr. Jumper came out, he had excellent news, the surgery went very well, he found his right testicle in a hernia (a pocket inside his body), and he was able to move it down successfully. We were then walked in to recovery where Bjorn was still asleep, once he woke up he was not very happy, groggy, and confused, just as they explained he would. We were in recovery for about 2 hours, and Bjorn went in and out of sleep, drank some apple juice, but was not himself. We came home around 15:30 and he started playing a little more. By late evening he was almost 100% again, and yesterday he was full speed ahead : - ) . We are both so relieved that this is over with, I do not want to go through something like this again, it made me think of our friends who went through a much more serious surgery with their daughter, I cannot even imagine how they must have felt...

Walking & Talking

Bjorn out in the snow, loves the taste of it, hehehehe

It has been 2 weeks now since Bjorn's first birthday party, we had so much fun and he had a lot of fun playing with his friends who were here. He has started walking more and more now since he started taking a couple of steps before Christmas, now he gets up and goes, still a little wobbly, but overall better for each day. It is so much fun watching his expressions and how mobile he is, and he is saying several words now, most of them are in English, but I can hear him say "lampa" and "kopp", and I believe he understands what I say to him in Swedish, the other day when we were in the car I asked him "vart ar mossan" and he pointed down on the floor and said "daah", which could be "dar" or there, not sure yet, but he knows what frukost is, middag, bada, etc. I guess with time we will know if he can speak Swedish or not.

Trying on a shower cap

This morning we watched Saltkrakan for a little while, he loved hearing the children sing, Tjorven, Pelle, m fl. Now when we go to Sweden in April, we have to make sure to buy some more classics, such as Pippi, Emil, Madicken, and some of the other great Swedish movies.



For those of you who may now know, we are taking Bjorn over to Sweden for the very first time this April, we are staying for 10 days and I know it will be hectic visiting everyone, but while we are there, we have planned a dop for him (baptizing), so that will make for a good opportunity to meet with everyone.

The Bjornado

Laura coined a new term for our little bear the other night, the Bjornado, which he truly is now, every night when I come home from work, the living room looks like a tornado, or in this case, a Bjornado, went through. There are toys everywhere, books on the floor, toys in the kitchen, sometimes a shoe, socks, and much more, but most importantly, a smiling baby greeting me when I walk through that door. He has been calling me "Baba" and the other night, Laura heard him call me Pappa for the first time :- ) .

The Bjornado leaving his crime scene

This coming weekend is his birthday weekend, his actual 1st birthday is not until Tuesday the 15th, but we are going to celebrate with everyone this coming Sunday, which will be fun. We finally got the rocking moose for his birthday, they did not have it at IKEA before Christmas, but when I went down there after dropping off my dad and Moniqa, they had it in stock, so I bought one for his birthday (pictures will be posted after this weekend). Of course, with both of us having some time off over the Holidays, we had a lot of quality time to spend with Bjorn, and opportunities for pictures were plenty, below are some samples of our latest favorites:




Laura had her first sonogram this week, we went to the Doctor's on Monday, Laura is seeing the same Doctor as with Bjorn, we both really liked her and felt comfortable with her, even if it means driving down to Portland, we both felt it would be worth it. We saw the pictures of the baby, which was very active and moving a lot, its heartbeat was a lot faster than Bjorn, and everything looked really good so far. We will not know for another 7 weeks whether it is a boy or girl, either way it is very exciting for us and for Bjorn to have a sibling coming.

Pappa and Bjorn cooking pizza dough on New Year's eve

First Christmas

This was a week with many firsts for us and Bjorn, it was his first visit from his Swedish side of the family, his Farfar and Farmor Moniqa, as well as his first Christmas. We picked up Farfar and Farmor Moniqa at the airport in Boston on Thursday evening (20th), of course there were some delays, not only weather, but also US customs (another story, hehehe), but finally we were heading back home. Friday morning when Bjorn awoke and saw the new visitors, he was not sure what to think, but after a few days he was very used to his Farfar and Farmor Moniqa and loved seeing them in the morning and after naps.

At Gritty's for lunch on Friday

We had time to do and see a lot during their visit, a trip to the Mall, Old Port for some shopping and dinner (at Norm's East End - my favorite!), and of course celebrate Christmas, with Kalle Anka's Julafton and risgrynsgrot. Bjorn did not really know or understand what was going on with Christmas, but he did enjoy the attention he received from everyone at home and at his gramma and grampa's house. He loved cheese soup which we had on Christmas eve, as well as many other types of foods, in a few years he can try Gramma's famous lobster rolls on Christmas Eve. He received a lot of fun gifts from his family in Sweden as well from us and his family here in the US. He received some fun new toys from IKEA, a playtable (Thomas the train), a rocking zebra, a set of Swedish movies, Alfons Aberg books, Bamse CD (audio books), as well as an Alfons CD and some other music, a new set of PJ's, a new set of plate, cup and silverware with paintings of Elsa Beskow and so much more. Now that Christmas is over, we are settling down and getting ready for his first Birthday.

3 Generations celebrating Julafton

Bjorn and his new Crocodile from IKEA

Almost Christmas

It is almost Christmas, and I have not updated by blog in so many weeks now, so much going on, school, work, spending time with Laura and Bjorn during my free time, but in 2 weeks I get a week off, my dad and his wife are coming to visit, and we all get to spend some nice, quality time together.


Bjorn has changed so much the last few weeks, he is showing more of a temperament, very persistent and knows exactly what he wants and does not give up. He is moving around everywhere, standing on his own, trying to walk, but not quite there yet. He loves reading books and every night we each read at least 2 books each to him, Laura in English and I in Swedish. We can tell he begins to understand when we talk to him, I especially notice how he understands Laura when she asks him to do something, like crawl to the bathroom so he can take his bath at night.




I am not sure yet if he understands me speaking Swedish with him, but I will keep doing so as most studies we read say that you have to be persistent and never to give up. The other night I played Pelle Svanslos for him, but I think he is too young still : - ) . This Christmas, we are watching Kalle Anka as I have it recorded on DVD for him, the older version with Arne Weise, hehehe.