Christmas

We had an enjoyable Christmas week featuring our usual celebrations: Christmas Eve with the B. side of the family and Christmas Day (which is also Granny G.'s birthday) with the G. clan. We were very happy to have Leif and Bjorn's Great-Grandma B. in town (visiting from Buffalo, NY) once again this year, as well as Great-Uncle Timo from northern Minnesota. Leif was not as excited as I thought he would be about opening presents, although after they were open he did have a great time playing with all his new toys, as well as some of Bjorn's. Bjorn was his usual charming and contented self throughout the festivities, despite the fact that all he got to eat while the rest of us were feasting for two days straight were some Baby Mum-Mum rice crackers and a couple bowls of *mouthwatering* baby food, spoon fed to him by yours truly. As for me, I learned how hard it is to remember (or find the time, or a free hand) to take many pictures or videos in the midst of the celebration with two youngsters to attend to!

Here are a couple pictures of the boys wearing their seasonal duds that I took during calmer moments at home, as well as two that my parents took during the Christmas Eve smorgasbord at their house. I'll try to do a better job as our family photodocumentarian next Christmas! (Or maybe I'll pass the baton to Aaron by then, since Santa brought him a new camera this year....)

Leif ~ 2 years, 10 months

Bjorn ~ 7 months

Leif, Aaron and Bjorn at the House of Brynolf on Christmas Eve

Amy getting Bjorn ready to enjoy his baby Christmas Eve smorgasbord

Like brother, like brother (6 months old)

Bjorn at six months:

Leif at six months:

Leif and Finn sing the ABCs

At a recent MOMS Club play date, Leif and his fellow car-loving almost-three-year-old friend Finn gave a smashing performance of the ABC song (well, more of a chant), all while jumping vigorously up an down on our living room sofa. Finn just became the latest member of our play group to become a big brother...and somehow almost everybody's little sibling(s) (twins, in one case) have turned out to be boys, as well. Our Boys' Club is growing by leaps and bounds!

Cousins' bell choir

At a recent family gathering, Vivian and Leif collaborated on a melodious bell choir performance using the set of bells Leif received from Erik, Tami, and Vivian for his second birthday. We'll let you know when they're going on tour :) .

Jumperoo

This video was taken a few weeks ago, soon after we borrowed this Jumperoo from a MOMS Club friend. If Bjorn ever gets tired of playing on the floor and starts complaining, a little time in the Jumperoo will usually restore his good mood.

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a delicious, low-key Thanksgiving celebration over at the House of Brynolf with Grandma and Grandpa B., Auntie Mirja, Erik, Tami, and Vivian, as well as Grandpaw G. and special guest Agnars (a good college friend of Grandpa B.). Gock and Auntie Sarah were out of town, logging a half marathon in Atlanta on Thanksgiving morning before driving up to Aiken to spend the weekend with Jessica and family.

I took advantage of Bjorn's good mood (exceptionally good, even for Mr. Perpetually Cheerful) before the Thanksgiving feast to pass him around for a round-robin photo op.

Aaron did also manage to snap a couple of pics with Leif in them earlier in the day. They capture the spirit of the moment, if nothing else!

Six months old!

We can't believe our little Swedish meatball is already six months old. Happy half birthday, Bjorn!

More play-doh fun

Ummm....I'm not sure that's what those play-doh tools were intended for, Leif, but whatever floats your boat!

Halloween

Leif was still not too into the idea of dressing up for Halloween this year, so we did not take him trick-or-treating, but we did break from our tradition of turning the lights off and pretending we're not home on October 31st. Not wanting to have a bunch of leftover chocolate around the house, we purchased mini packs of gummy bears (which we had already been using as potty rewards for Leif) to hand out to the kids who came to our house. Once Leif got that the big bowl of gummy bears by the front door was only for kids who wore a costume and said, "Trick or treat!", he agreed to try on his Tigger costume from last year, which fortunately still fit him. He still was not crazy about pulling the hood up over his head, but at least having a costume on didn't make him cry the way it did last year! Maybe in 2013 we'll actually make it out trick-or-treating to a few houses other than our own.

Bottlepalooza

Leif's latest toy-that's-not-a-toy is the collection of bottles that I had gotten out and washed in preparation for Bjorn's arrival...and then never used. Since Bjorn is exclusively nursing and the bottles were just taking up space in our crowded kitchen cabinet, I took them out last week and placed them temporarily on the dining room table before looking for a better, more out-of-the-way home for them. Little did I suspect that Leif would quickly adopt them as his favorite plaything of the week! He mainly likes taking the caps off and putting them back on, although he also periodically comments (somewhat mysteriously) that "This one is a lightbulb" or "This one is a flashlight," so some kind of imaginative play is evidently going on, at least in his head.

These photos also commemorate Leif's "Can I use your hair clip, please?" phase. ;) Whenever Grandma B. or I are wearing a barrette or a headband, Leif is eager to borrow it and try it on himself. I think the novelty is finally starting to wear off, but he was quite insistent about us handing over the hair accessories for a while there.

Preparing to launch!

Bjorn has surprised us this past week by getting very interested in pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth on his knees like he really, REALLY wants to start crawling any day now. So far he's quite good at pivoting around in circles and occasionally scooting a few feet backward, but no forward motion to speak of yet. All I can say is, pleeeease, take your time, kiddo! The fact that 50% of the children I care for on a daily basis are immobile is definitely making my life less complicated right now....Once Bjorn starts moving, it's going to be a whole new ballgame.

Autumn at MN Zoo

We took a family trip out to the Minnesota Zoo in October to enjoy the nice fall weather while it lasts. As often happens, Leif fell asleep on the way there and Bjorn woke up as soon as we arrived, so Aaron and I had a little impromptu photo op with Bjorn in the zoo parking lot while Leif finished his nap in the car. Since the zoo is already on winter hours (closing at 4:00 -- way too early!), we had to wake Leif up in order to have any time left to walk around the zoo grounds and see a few things. We just barely were able to complete the trek out to the little farm at the far end of the zoo, where Leif got to run through a hay maze, climb on a tractor, and feed the goats. I'm a big fan of the zoo in autumn. Too bad the beautiful fall colors and warmish weather can't last a bit longer...say, until March or so. (I'd take December!)

Bouncing baby boy

Our little Bjorn has graduated from being merely a bouncy baby boy to being a *bouncing* baby boy! Now that he's five months old, he's strong and tall enough to enjoy this Jumperoo that we borrowed from a MOMS Club friend. It comes in very handy for 10-15 minute stretches if he's sick of being on his tummy or his back but no one is immediately available to hold him and walk him around. And I'm sure I'll make even more use of it once he starts crawling and I need some new strategies to keep him out of trouble!

Future Vacuumers of America

On a recent weekend day, Leif watched from his booster chair in the kitchen, totally rapt, as Aaron vacuumed the rug in our back porch. Since I appreciate how great it is to be married to an ardent vacuumer, I was pleased to see that my first-born child is showing this proclivity as well. Granted, this is not the most action-packed video, but make sure you watch the whole thing so you don't miss the touching moment at the end when Leif solemnly takes the Future Vacuumers of America (FVA) pledge: When he grows up, "Leif is going to vacuum eeeeeevvvery day!"

Leif takes time to smell the flowers

Another belated summer post....Aaron took Leif on quite a few before-dinner walks and trips to the playground this summer to give me some relative peace and quiet (having only Bjorn to deal with) and time to prepare our food without a demanding two-year-old underfoot. We don't have any photos of Leif's favorite nearby destinations -- the chicken coops some neighbors up the alley keep in their driveway and the fire station at the end of the block -- but Aaron did get some sweet shots of Leif literally taking time to smell the flowers along the way. Fortunately, he has not been too intent on trying to pick neighbors' flowers yet, although he does really enjoy popping the little purple buds off of hosta plants. Since I remember doing that as a kid myself, I can't blame him too much for not being able to resist that temptation!

State Fair

It seems I still have some blogging about the summer to catch up on! It's hard to keep posts in order of when things actually happened when I have at least four different sources of material to work from (my camera, my phone, Aaron's phone, and our video camera), and we load the photos/videos from each source onto our computer irregularly and at different times. In any case, here's a photo to commemorate this year's Minnesota State Fair, which Leif attended not once but *twice* in its ten-day run.

After going the first time and getting a taste of what the Fair had to offer, Leif was very explicit about his goals for his second trip there with Aaron on Labor Day: "Leif DOESN'T want to see any animals. Leif wants to see CARS at State Fair!" (Trucks and tractors also made the cut.) Even now, in mid-October, Leif continues to request return trips to the State Fair, and we have to break the sad news to him again and again that the State Fair comes but once a year, and he has a long wait ahead of him before he can go and climb in all those cool vehicles again. Good thing there's the auto show in March to tide him over until then!

Leif's latest project

Try as we might to accumulate interesting toys and get Leif excited about playing with them in the intended fashion, he always ends up finding other things to do that he finds infinitely more entertaining. One day recently, his urgent project for the morning was to remove all of his old board books from the bookshelf in the living room and throw them in the office paper recycling box. Once the shelf was completely cleared off, there was plenty of space for a two-year-old!

Gock, Paw & Bjorn

While Jessica and her girls were in town, Bjorn had some more opportunities to hang out with his paternal grandparents, Gock and Grandpaw G. Here are a few pictures taken at the barbecue at Auntie Sarah's house. Good times!

Three generations

Sleeping on Grandpaw

Playing with Gock

Sprinkler fun

On the few occasions we've tried to interest Leif in running through the sprinkler in our back yard, he's been much more intent on dragging it all over the yard than actually playing in the water. At Auntie Sarah's house, however, with her super cool sprinkler ball, he always has a blast. Sarah invited the fam over to her house for a barbecue while Jessica and the girls were in town, and Rachel and Leif both went crazy in the back yard getting drenched in the sprinkler before dinner.

Smile for the camera!

We learned during Jessica and her daughters' recent visit that, not surprisingly, trying to get both a two-year-old (Leif) AND a three-year-old (Rachel) to simultaneously look at the camera and smile is quite the feat. A feat that I, sadly, did not accomplish this time around. (Libby's off the hook since she does not yet understand English, so she has a legitimate excuse for her noncompliance with our instructions.) Below are my best attempts at a group shot of the three kiddos with Auntie Sarah and Aunt Jessica. Bjorn must have been otherwise occupied when these were taken.

Like brother, like brother

In their chubby-cheek phase, Baby Bjorn and Baby Leif do bear a striking resemblance to one another. We'll see if that remains the case once Bjorn's big-boy features begin to emerge from the pudge in a year or two!

Do you know which one is which? (Scroll down to reveal the answer!)

(top photo: Leif at three months; bottom photo: Bjorn at three months)

Meeting Cousin Libby

Aunt Jessica and her daughters came to town in August, giving us a chance to meet Leif and Bjorn's new cousin, Libby, for the first time. Bjorn and Libby are almost exactly the same age -- Libby was born just nine days before Bjorn in May. 

Gock and Grandpaw G. with their two latest grandkids

 

Libby and Bjorn share some play mat time

More photos from Jessica, Libby, and Rachel's visit coming soon!