Christmas is here...soon

Wow, it has been over 3 months since I last blogged here, I cannot believe time has flown by. It has been a very busy fall for us, with school (2 classes), swimming lessons, all kinds of activities like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. Bjorn and Freja are growing up so fast, it is hard to believe. I have always been speaking Swedish to Bjorn since he was born, and I do the same with Freja, but sometimes it is hard not to speak English only to both of them, but I try to do Swedish only. The other day I mentioned to Laura that maybe I should only speak English, and of course, she was angry with me, but I felt a little frustrated and I felt like maybe I was confusing Bjorn. I did not stop, and the other night Bjorn really surprised me, it was probably the best surprise ever.



I usually sing Ba, Ba, Vita Lamm and a few other Swedish bedtime songs, and last night he asked me to sing "Ba, Ba", and before I had chance to start, he started, in SWEDISH, and he knew almost the whole song!! I was so schocked, surprised and happy at the same time, it was just amazing. Tonight when I put him to bed I asked him what song I should sing, "tail", which is Ekorren satt i granen...or "Ba,Ba", and his reply was, Bjornen sover...he just continues to amaze me with his vocabulary, in both English and Swedish, and how he remembers all the words I say. I notice now that when I sign, he watches me closely and listens, so I have to slow down and articulate more so he can hear and understand each and every word in Swedish.

Next week is Christmas, and we talk about Tomten and Santa Claus, Bjorn is so excited this year about Christmas, he keeps saying, "next week, Santa Claus", and then he says, Tomten, hehehehe. I will of course pass on the Swedish tradition of watching "Kalle Anka" at 15 on Christmas Eve, as I have a copy on DVD, we'll see if he is more interested in it this year or not.

Hopefully it will not be 3+ months until next blog entry, but in the meantime, God Jul och Gott Nytt ar till er alla (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you).

A wonderful weekend

With all the rain we have had lately, we finally had some sunshine, although it was a little wet on Saturday as we headed over to some of our friends for a Swedish-American get together, but that did not stop Bjorn and I from going outside to chase the chickens, play in the big playhouse and of course ride a little jeep we found on the yard : - )

The best about these get togethers with the other Swedish moms and dads is that we all have a chance to share about our experiences as Swedish parents, but also use our language around our children, share our traditions with them. I think it really helps Bjorn learn more Swedish by hearing it from someone other than me.

Bjorn chasing the chickens : - )

Time to maker dinner...

Funny, no matter where we are, he always finds the vehicles...hehehehe

ON the lookout for more chickens and a really big dog!

On Sunday the weather was fantastic, we had sunshine and very warm weather (30+ Celsius), we went to the Great Falls Balloon festival, an Air balloon festival over in Lewiston, we did not see any air balloons at the festival, but Laura and Bjorn had seen them fly over our house on Friday morning and also this morning when they went out for a ride to get some things. As much as I am scared of heights, it looks like it would be so much fun to do.

Bjorn on his very first amusement park ride - all by himself!!

2nd ride today - had to ride with Pappa since there were no seat belts on this ride.

He loves riding Thomas the Train, and of course, his firemen boots : - )

Freja Eileen Margareta Sandberg

Freja was born on July 10th at 10:45 AM, some complications, but mother and child are doing well today, it was very scary when she was born as I was asked to leave the delivery room and I was never told of what was going on, but about 30 minutes later the delivery nurse came to the room and took me to NICU, where Freja was on monitors for breathing, etc, she had lost conciousness while being delivered and did not breath on her own right away. All I could think of the whole time I was waiting was that something was going to happen to Laura and/or Freja, it was the scariest moment in my life. I am so happy to say they are both doing great and are at home with our son, Björn.

I was home with the whole family for the last 10 days, had to go back to work today, which was not fun at all, have no vacation time left for this year, so I look forward to weekends and evenings when I can spend time with everyone. I will post some updated pictures tonight, I know Laura has taken some great photos of our little Princess. Who knew being a Pappa could be such a joy in life, it is definitely a life changing experience, all for the better :- )

10:e Juli

Då kommer vår lilla flicka till världen, vi har bokat tid klockan 07:30 EST den dagen, första operationstiden dom hade, Laura ville inte göra kejsarsnitt igen, men Doktorn rekommenderade det pga hur stor bebisen har blivit och hur hon ligger i magen just nu, dom sa att riskerna var för stora för att försöka med normal förlossning. Vi har fullt upp fram till den 10:e, mycket ska hinnas med, Björns nya rum måste bli klart, ny säng, lampor, osv.

Vi är båda nervösa samt ser fram mot den nya bebisen, jag bloggar mer om det och lägger upp bilder så fort hon är här.

Peter LeMarcs visa - något som jag brukar sjunga till Björn ibland på kvällen när vi gungar i hans stol inne på hans rum:

Dina fasor, dina våndor finns också i min själ.
Du är mitt kött och blod.
Det bär ett dyrbart namn, det är min kärlek utan villkor.
Jag gör vad jag kan. Så stor och stark på dagen, men så liten mitt i natten, när ingen ser, när ingen vet, kommer gråten mitt i skrattet.

Fem fingrar ska skydda dig.
Ett är månen, ett är solen, ett är polstjärnan bakom molnen. Ett är hopp och ett är tro.
Handens fem fingrar vaggar dig till ro.

Stort är mörkret nu.
Månen är itu, men det är natten som gör dagen ljus och mitt ljus är du.
Och denna jord är rund, finns här ingen annan som kan ge mig sån förtvivlan?
Och som är lika sann. Du blir rädd för dina skuggor, alla hot som aldrig når dig. jag ska sjunga dig ett löfte, och jag vet att du förstår mig.

Fem fingrar ska skydda dig. Ett är månen, ett är solen, ett är polstjärnan bakom molnen. Ett är hopp och ett är tro.
Handens fem fingrar vaggar dig till ro.

Om du tänker dig den skogsväg, vi vandrar ibland, gick vi stigen ner till vattnet.
Din hand är i min hand. Se så långt där ner i djupet, på botten av den sjön, där finns en silverskatt som glimmar, den är din inatt.
Så slumra in och dröm.

Fem fingrar ska skydda dig. Ett är månen, ett är solen, ett är polstjärnan bakom molnen. Ett är hopp och ett är tro. Handens fem fingrar vaggar dig till ro. Handens fem fingrar vaggar dig till ro

Father's Day weekend

Last weekend was a very special weekend for me, I took Friday off as did Laura, so the three of us went down to Portland to the beach, Crescent Beach in Cape Elizabeth. We had the most amazing day and Bjorn loved playing on the beach in the little streams of water, and of course playing in the sand. After the beach we went for lunch and then home for a little rest. On Saturday, Laura had planned a surprise for me, she had reserved time at Picture People, for me and Bjorn to get a picture together. We got a really nice picture of us together, which is now hanging in our living room. Sunday morning, Father's day, Laura made us all a very special breakfast, walnut-maple pancake bake, which was delicious!! After breakfast Bjorn and Laura gave me their gifts, Bjorn had made this very special shirt with his foot and hand prints, the shirt is blue with the prints in yellow, very creative! Laura gave me the Indiana Jones DVD set, something I had wanted for very long time, now we just need to find the time to watch the trilogy and see the 4th one in the movies.

It was the best Father's day weekend anyone could ever have asked for, it just reminds me of how lucky I am to be a Pappa to Bjorn and how lucky I am to have Laura as my wife and Bjorn's Mamma.