Daily Jamie

The Loser Cruiser

The Stockholm-area transportation bureau has this great rule that if you're pushing a stroller you get to ride the bus for free.  This is because when you get your ticket stamped or scan your pass you do so at the front of the bus, but if you have a stroller you have to enter the bus from the back door so the free ride keeps you from having to leave your baby at the back while you get your ticket stamped at the front.  I've taken advantage of this a few times since it's either a forty-five minute walk or a bus ride to the train station, but I decided today that I'm going to try to do it more often in the future once I realized that train ticket prices increased this month.  Not by much, but still.  So no matter how long it takes me to get where I'm going, when I'm traveling with Jamie it will be by bus.  I'm on maternity leave, after all; my time is cheap.  Oh, and now that it's autumn, stinky bus season is over.

Daily Jamie

Two-Headed Monster

It is the perfect early-autumn day.  The sun is shining and it's nearly as warm as any Swedish summer day, but instead of kids carrying towels and fishing poles down to the lake they're carrying backpacks full of homework home from school.  It even looks the same, aside from a few changing trees and a sprinkling of leaves on the ground, but it feels and smells totally different.  I strapped Jamie into the sling and set off on a walk around the neighborhood.  His neck is strong enough now that he can hold his head up and look around the whole time, sticking out his tongue like a dog to taste the breeze.  The first few days after a trip to America are the hardest, so it's nice to get a day like this to remind me why I love living in Sweden.

Daily Jamie

Usurped

Oh, Saba, you're still our little baby, you don't need to get into Jamie's crib to prove it.  Now get the heck outta there!

Daily Jamie

When we left for America two weeks ago Jamie liked his vibrating jungle seat, but seemed pretty unaware of the toy animals dangling off of it.  As I write this, though, he's kicking his legs wildly to the music while holding a conversation with the monkey.

Procrastinating, Big Time

Oj, oj,oj, the current luggage and laundry situation is exhausting me just by existing.  The Swede is done with his part so what remains is essentially just new clothes that I bought for myself and that Jamie received as gifts and the fact that the quantity is so overwhelming means, as you can imagine, that we made out like bandits.  As fortunate as we clearly are, I can't help but feel sorry for myself that I have to do this job and I'm so commited to putting it off that Jamie and I stayed in bed until five o'clock this afternoon.  Next up, I'm going to feel really sorry for myself when my baby never goes to sleep tonight.  

Daily Jamie

The Rest Of The Trip

The Swede's Leadership-and Compliance-Lovers Conference began last Sunday, so I spent last week running around visiting with family and friends in between hanging with my mom and Jamie.  Since I hadn't gotten a chance to chat with Austin at his concert we met at Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Bob's to catch up.

I had lunch with my old work family, Julie and Kelly, and then brought the baby over to Swagelok to introduce him to the whole gang.  It felt great to see everyone again and it was particularly special to share him with a bunch of folks who have known me since things were, well, not bad but definitely not this good.

We didn't get to see much of The Swede during that week, but the time we did spend together was extra cozy and much appreciated.

Jamie met my friend Katie's sweet baby Ashley and they commanded their little baby space ships while Katie and I talked teething and the like. 

One of the best moments of the trip was the family party that Mom and Ray hosted.  I got to see my Uncles Larry, Jim and Scott, my Aunt Mary, Cousins Marissa, Grace and Keith, and got to meet Keith's step-daughter Laylah and new baby Linkoln, plus Scott's chihuahua puppy Rudy.  Grandma and Grandpa were also there, of course.  A few people were missing, including The Swede, who had to spend the evening at a work event, but it was wonderful to see the folks who were able to be there.

On our last full day in Ohio, Mom and I drove a couple of hours to see Kristen, my best friend from college.  I got to meet her husband and baby Tyler and see her parents, aunt and uncle, and grandma, who I hadn't seen in years.  I didn't know until this visit when I would ever have the opportunity to see Kristen and her family since she lives in Virginia.  They made the drive from Virginia to see us, so even though it was only a couple of hours it was extra special.

I always feel like I don't get enough time to be with the people I want to see when we're in the States and this time there were a few people who I wasn't able to meet with at all, unfortunately.  Mostly, though, I wanted to spend as much time with Jamie and my mom as possible and while it will never feel like enough, I'm glad we got the time we did.

We're Back

The Swede, Jamie and I landed in Stockholm this morning and have slept all day long.  Jamie was a prince on the plane and it feels great to have the trip behind us, but I miss my family and friends like mad.  I can't wait to get unpacked and settled back in to our real lives and, of course, regular blogging.  So I'll catch you 'round the 'net again real soon.

Daily Jamie

September 23rd

September 24th

September 25th

Daily Jamie



September 20th

September 21st

September 22nd

Daily Jamie

When Your Baby's Baby Has A Baby

Today began with an early-morning, four-generational breakfast with Mom and Grandma Joyce.  It was much earlier than last year's breakfast, which you might expect would devastate me, but see that baby there on the table?  The one sleeping soundly because he's been awake since 4:30 am?  Yeah, he's slowly but surely coaxing me over to the dark side of the early birds.  We had our typical deep and meaningful conversation, peppered with comments about Jamie from the many ROMEOs at the restaurant.  And for those of you not in the know, a ROMEO is a Retired Old Man Eating Out.  Thanks for enlightening me, Grandma, and for the two egg combo, as well!

Awesomeness

Need I say more?

The Wickhams

A few years ago, my mom married a wonderful guy who has an equally wonderful family.  Ray's granddaughter Jazmin's birthday party was this evening so I got to spend some time with them and introduce them to Jamie.  The Cleveland Browns had played and won, so everyone was in a great mood and dressed in their orange and brown.  Jamie got passed around while I enjoyed the buffet, and Jazmin especially enjoyed some quality time with the little guy.

Mom and Ray's grandson Nick, while not quite ready to shoot any actual hoops, was pretty awesome at dribbling.

Ray's daughters Denise and Cindy both have a few kids apiece so we chatted about mommyhood while watching all of our sons be adorable all over the place.  The best thing about Ray's people is that even though I've seldom spent any time with them, they all make me feel like part of the family.

The Latest

We've been mighty busy here in Cleveland these past few days so I hope you'll forgive my recent blogging laziness.  The Emmy's are on and there's a sweet baby and his grandma who I want to cuddle with, so I'm going to keep it short, but I wanted to update you on the goings-on stateside. 

My cousin Austin has an awesome band called Roscoe who played to a packed house on Friday night.  The Swede and I listened to their last album on repeat for three days straight on our roadtrip to Montana last summer, so we were super pumped when we found out that they were having a concert while we're in town.  We were a little nervous that Jamie was going to freak out at the loud music, but he was fast asleep the entire time.  Not that he was bored, of course.  I think he just wanted to make sure I could enjoy the concert as much as possible.  He's considerate like that.

On Saturday I met up with Jamie's aunties Katelyn, Cary and Kate for Mexican.  They showered him with love and kisses and gifts and even though there weren't any margaritas and I was carrying a diaper bag, it felt just like the old days.

Daily Jamie

September 16th

Oops, I missed the 17th!

September 18th

Greetings From Niagara Falls

Daily Jamie

September 14th

September 15th

Daily Jamie

Snug

As you know, I've been wild about my Fisher Price baby carrier but have found it to be a bit cumbersome to get Jamie in and out of as well as uncomfortable on my shoulders after wearing for awhile.  Enter the Moby sling, which I've been coveting for weeks but waited to buy till we came to the States because of the major cost savings.  I finally got it today and it took a bit of time to figure out how to wrap it, but he loves it already (probably because it feels like the old days) and I feel like a total hippie-Earth-mother-type carrying my baby around on my person.

Daily Jamie - One Day Late

Cozyin' up with Grandma.

Daily Jamie

Guess where we're going tomorrow?

See Ya When I See Ya

Hey, team!  It's been a crazy weekend and tonight we're packing up for our big American vacation so I'm just popping in to say that the blogging may be a little light around here in the next few days, but I'll at least try to keep up with the Daily Jamie.  So take it easy and keep it real.  Per the usual, of course.

Daily Jamie

Chick Magnet

We took off for the medieval festival in Söderköping rather early yesterday morning.  I knew that we had planned to pick Elin up after school and that we were meeting the rest of the family and friends when they arrived on the train later that afternoon, but even so we left home much earlier than necessary in my opinion.  And here's why: my man, The Swede, World's Best Husband, had secretly booked a facial for me at a swank salon in Söderköping.  It was magical.  So I luxuriated under masks while a professional literally massaged my eyelashes and contemplated how lucky I am for a whole hour.  Afterwards I stumbled, drunk off of relaxation, back onto the street where The Swede and Sarianne were waiting for me.  We walked to Elin's school where we brought Jamie up to her classroom to show off to her friends, one of which had never seen a real life baby before.  It was surely just the first of many times that Jamie will be surrounded by chicks in his life.