Daily Jamie

Pacifier: REJECTED.  He'd rather suck on our fingers.  And we haven't even been eating Kentucky Fried Chicken.

American Food Culture In A Nutshell

Sarianne gave me a Swedish cookbook of American food and while I don't know when I'll get a chance to test any of the recipes, I already know I love it.  The reason?  This selection from the second page: "The recipes are inspired by the American food culture but adapted for Swedish circumstances.  Recipes for four people, for example, don't yield the gigantic portions often served at classic American diners."  Aha, so the editors have been to The Cheesecake Factory.



Daily Jamie

Okay, maybe he's still a little young for godis.  More for us.

Guests

The Family Segersten is here!  They drove up from Söderköping this afternoon to spend the night with us.  We spent some time on the terrace, then grilled hamburgers just in time for a very important football match.  The boys ate in front of the TV, while we ladies had our dinner like civilized folks at the kitchen table.  That is, until little Jamie lost it and began a screaming spell the likes of which we hadn't yet experienced.  I've been upstairs for awhile now trying to calm him down and I think he may have dozed off.  Maybe.  But I can hear Julia and Elin having fun down there and I'm glad they're here even if their cousin is being a crank master.

Daily Jamie

Duh.

Little Sportsfan

I used to think that baby boy clothes were super boring, but Jamie's growing wardrobe of gifted clothes is incredibly cute.  The thing about baby boys, though, is that everyone wants them to wear their own team's colors.  Obviously Jamie already has an allegiance to AIK, but I guess we can throw on some of those other jerseys on from time to time.  You know, when we're doing yardwork or washing the car or something.  Of course, the Cleveland Indians are kosher since AIK doesn't have a baseball team.

Daily Jamie

Housekeeping

Hiya, dudes!  Just a couple of things I wanted to mention today: 

First, I've finally gotten around to writing Jamie's birth story and since I know that sort of thing isn't everyone's cup of tea, I've added it as a tab at the top of the page.  I tried not to share a ton of TMI and some may argue that the whole thing is TMI, but I really enjoyed reading other peoples' birth stories while I was pregnant and I've had a few people ask about the story, so there it is if you're interested. 

Next, I wanted to explain Jamie's name.  As for Jamie, we had more or less decided that it was our boy name of choice before we even got pregnant.  I'm not sure exactly why we liked it so much, but for me at least it had only nice associations, I'd never known a male Jamie in real life and I'm a big fan of androgynous names so it seemed like a perfect fit.  We discussed other first names, especially old Swedish names that I loved but that everybody here made fun of me for (Kjell, Bengt, Bo) but nothing ever felt as right as Jamie did.  There was never, however, much discussion of his middle names.  I knew I wanted my son to have the middle name Robert, after my mom's father, because he has meant so much to me, especially as an adult.  Reinhold was The Swede's great-grandfather and is one of The Swede and Papa Swede's middle names, so it has a long family history.  I love that we're honoring The Swede's family tradition and one of the most important men in my life through our baby's name.

And last, I don't seem to be able to comment on my own blog!  I'd like to blame it on the website, but I'm pretty positive it has something to do with my lack of technical savvy.  At any rate, until I get it together, please know how appreciative I am of all the wonderful comments.  You guys are the best!   

Daily Jamie

Gauges bore him.  For now, anyway.

Doppelgangers

After exactly one month since I left work, The Swede and I decided we'd head in to the office today and coordinated the outing with Linda so that we could show off the babies to our colleagues together.  About half of the staff was on vacation, but it was fun to see those who actually were there as well as the progress on the office renovation since I've been away.  Also, baby Sukai has grown so much since I saw her a few weeks ago and looks even more like Linda and her big sister Alicia.  I couldn't resist snapping a photo of these two peas in a pod.  Look at those cheeks!

Daily Jamie

Please note the matching lips, ears and eyebrows.



Generations

The other day when we went over to Mama and Papa Swede's we took some family photos and this one has got to be my favorite of the bunch.  I have never seen such open, yet pure and humble pride as from Papa Swede with his son and his son's son.

Daily Jamie

Parents' Dinner

This evening some of our friends pulled some food and drinks together for dinner at our place.  Andreas and Sara brought their three-year-old son Theo and three-week-old son Sam and Emil and Sophie (who are having their baby in October) brought Malte the dog and fixings for pizza.  The guys made the pizzas in the kitchen while we ladies fed our babies and talked newborns.  It was great that everyone helped to make it an easy evening for us.  Plus I finally had an good reason to clean the house.

Daily Jamie

Blue Steel.  He learned this one from his father. 

The Patriot

Today we got to introduce Jamie to some folks who have been waiting a long time to meet him.  Gurra and Gunilla and Ingvor and Roland joined us at Mama and Papa Swede's and came bearing gifts, including an American flag that Jamie took up and began waving proudly.  He was obviously waving it so enthusiastically that he eventually got tuckered out and ended up falling asleep with the thing in his arms.

Daily Jamie

Birthday Present

Jamie got his first birthday present in the mail today, from Jesper and Isa's son and Jamie's future homie August.  It came addressed to him and everything, with a note attached that read, "To little Jamie from August who wants to meet you when you become a bit bigger."  Adorable!  Inside was a cute jacket that will be the perfect size for him when the weather gets cool enough to use it.  What a great friend that August is already! 

Daily Jamie

Team Swede

Well, I've been a mom for four days now and I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but I'm having a great time.  Sure, I'm not sleeping as much as before and there really isn't time to do anything except take care of Jamie (and blog a bit, obvs) but I'm enjoying it so much more than I expected.  Maybe I'm still hopped up on those childbirth hormones.  And surely the fact that he's the sweetest thing I've ever laid eyes on helps.  But the biggest thing making these first poopy, milk-drenched, sleepless days so pleasant is that my husband is amazing.  He's a grocery-shopping, laundry-folding, food- and beverage-serving machine.  I don't know how single moms do this and I am so, so appreciative that I have such a supportive man in my life.  If Jamie has made us a family like never before, The Swede has made us a team like never before.