Today, Little Dude decided he was too cool for naptime. And by 'too cool' I mean he literally laughed at me most of the day, especially when I was trying to get him to sleep. He wasn't super fussy or tired or anything most of the day, he just refused to sleep for more than about 15 minutes at a time (except for one 30 minute nap).

By the end of the day, momma here is super tired and fussy. 

Happy 2nd Sunday of Advent!

Glædelig 2. Søndag i Advent!

'write what you know'

Do you know that annoying feeling of having lots of writing ideas and inspiration and all the wrong times? When I finally have the time/patience/energy to sit down at the computer to write on the blog and read other blogs, I've completely forgotten all of my good ideas.

So I guess it's time to go back to the basics and 'write what I know'. But what do I know?

That time is a precious commodity when you have a little one in the house.

Sometimes I feel like a I live in a strange, paradoxical world where I never have any time yet still manage to be bored some times.

Even though the term 'bored' seems like the wrong word to use. Rather, the days can seem endlessly long.... there is always something to do, or something that should be done. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, and similar never-ending projects.

I also know that my standards for 'clean' have gone down. Our home is cluttered and dusty most of the time because I often choose to use Little Dude naptime for either Christine naptime, TV time, or walk-around-the-neighborhood-time.

Ah, but life is good.

LD

Just a few random pictures that haven't yet been shared on the book of faces.

because I usually only post attractive pictures of Little Dude,
 I figured you should see one where he makes a funny face

He's a little thinker, but very happy and loves to play

'Tigerspring'

The last few days, Little Dude has been 'fussy.'

'Fussy' for Little Dude is actually quite calm compared to the stories I hear from other parents, but it is still heartbreaking for him to be unhappy and not be able to help him. He doesn't scream, but he seems restless and seeks comfort. He has also been a good sleeper for about 3 weeks - but last night he woke up every 3 hours and was hungry and needed some cuddle time.

A little internet research showed me that LD is just in time for his 8 week tigerspring.

I've done some reading on Tigerspring before, but never memorized them or read that much into it. But it is remarkable that he is this on time and pretty much fits the description right on the dot.

He has slowly started to notice that he has hands and that he can actually control those odd things at the end of his arms. It also seems that he is making more conscious noises - 'talking' on purpose.

There are a few of the things I already noticed a while ago: such as the way he has purposely been turning his head toward noises (especially our voices) and he has noticed and been fascinated by shadows on the wall or moving objects.

He is easily overstimulated, but also seems to be quite content and entertained for a long time when he is 'playing' or looking at his toys. But suddenly he gets angry with them and needs comfort.

bum bummelum

So. Here we are. 41 weeks pregnant. It's not that much fun. 

We've tried taking long walks and coaxing him out with other promises. Like promising him lots of soda and candy all the time.

The best one so far has been: the longer you stay in there, the more embarassing we are going to become as parents. 

Looks like we need to start preparing to be the most embarassing parents to ever grace the planet. Hey, you asked for it Dude. 

Tips and advice welcome.

Although I'm fairly sure we can manage 'be embarassing parents' pretty well ;)

40+1

Yup, officially gone over time and past the due date so..... Please come out little dude? Please?

A birthday and a due date

Yesterday was a fantastic, baby-free birthday - the last one as just another chick and not as someones mother.

The boy woke me up with a birthday song, coffee, and rundstykker. We got to eat breakfast together before he had to leave for a long day of work. I got to take over the couch for some Go'Morgen Danmark and more coffee. This was followed by a brief hormonal meltdown over being overheated, all alone on my birthday, starving children in Africa, missing my mom, and the weather being horrible. Hey, no, it doesn't make sense.

It was made slightly better by a massage, yay, followed by the company of lovely Lene for lunch. We were joined by J for coffee, cake and 'boller' (which, because I am lazy, was instead franskbrød). Later we were joined by C for more coffee and eating and talking.

Finally we were joined by the boyfriend for a while before heading out to Cafe Chinos for huge, gross, greasy, delicious Burgers! Pretty much a perfect day. (Except for the fact that I drank too much coffee and soda all day and all night and I am fairly sure I did not sleep more than about 1.5 hours last night!)

Oh, also I got some great presents!


Today is my due date, which means Little Dude is welcome any time. Come out Come out wherever you are!

an impatient status update

Tomorrow I reach 38 weeks, so I guess really I should just wait and write tomorrow. I'll do my best to actually post some picture tomorrow. I promise! (to do my best, that is...)

Anyway. I am as big and round as ever, but have luckily only grown a few more small stretchmarks. The hole that used be meant for a belly button ring is all stretched and red and I am pretty sure it will never look the same. 

Little Dude is nice and active and kicking and moving (more moving than kicking, really). 

Today I returned from the last part of this years Summer Vacation - affectionately nicknamed 'Tour de Danmark rundt' - since it has taken me to Aarhus, Billund, Sønderborg (x2), København, and Thy. This last short trip was to celebrate the 30th birthday of my sister-in-law. I'm pretty sure some people thought I was crazy to be about 4 hours from home this close to my due date, but honestly, all distractions have been welcome lately. I may as well admit it: I'm kind of bored most of the time. 

We're pretty much ready for the baby. We have clothes (although it's hard to know exactly how much you really need?), the bed is ready, etc. We need a few small items, but nothing urgent that would be needed the first day. And I've heard a rumour that it's still possible to leave the house and do some shopping even after you have the baby....

I'm still eternally happy and thankful and blessed (and all those wonderful words) to have had such a complication-free pregnancy. I know it could take another 4 weeks - but so far, I've only gained about 9 kg and I'm not swollen or filled with water.

 I have trouble sleeping, I'm tired and hot all the time and ridiculously thirsty. But that's also about it. I mean - my hips can be a bit sore every now and then. The floor seems really far away. Sitting in the same position can be uncomfortable over a longer period of time. I have to pee pretty much nonstop. But overall I'm not bothered. 

Either way - I'm still ready for him to get out of there, so please feel welcome any time!

37 Weeks

Yup, today I reached the magical date: 37 weeks! To the uninformed (such as me, a mere 9 months ago when I knew very little about pregnancy) this means that baby is officially 'full-term'  -- Or in other words, if he were to be born today, he would not be considered premature. This also means that we will officially be parents within the next 5! weeks. Labor will be started at 42 weeks if he doesn't show up on his own.


It's a nice milepost to reach, and I think it has calmed both of us a bit to know that he is know pretty much ready to be born.

It's also started me on even more of a 'getting ready frenzy' to make sure everything in place if today turns ut to be the day. I mean - any day now, it could start, and within (about) 24 hours we could be parents. How crazy is that?

on Baby Preparations

Hot DOG it's hot out there!

Actually, not really, it's probably just me. But Whoa. I'm just over heated pretty much all the time, and nothing can really seem to help - cold(ish) showers, minimal clothing, open windows all over, sitting outside in the shade - tried it all. I miss airconditioning. (sad face).

Anyway, we've working on little house projects the past few days/weeks. The 'nursery' is now just about assembled and decorated and we've rearranged our bedroom to make room for the aforementioned nursery. We're hanging up some pictures on the walls and starting to prepare for packing bags for the hospital (mainly for Little Dude so far, and then just a list for our stuff). Pictures to come.

The fogs

After several days of energy, I had a foggy day today. Or, in normal people language, a day where I was tired and just needed to sleep, eat, and lay on the couch watching TV. A perfect lazy sunday, actually.

Speaking of language, (nice segway segue right?) is it too early to start researching baby language development? You see, I have this plan of giving my baby the gift of being bilingual, so I need to be finding out, like yesterday, how to go about this most efficiently.

So if you are an expert on this, or if you're 'just' a mother, or 'just' someone with an opinion, and idea, or other - let me know!

Happy Sunday!

Weekly Roundup

It's been two weeks since I rounded up a week, so here it is again. A two-week round up, I suppose. So, what happened in the past two weeks? I'm not sure I remember, but let's give it a go.

• The most beautiful wedding, a beautiful weekend, fun parties, cute babies, gorgeous bride, happy couple. Last weekend was just about perfect. Saturday morning we went to Vejle to celebrate a wedding at Hotel Comwell. After an outdoor ceremony by the water, there was a festive brunch with the nearest family, complete with some traditional speeches, but still very lowkey. We then checked into a different hotel downtown and had some time to relax and change before the evening party. Here, we celebrated with the happy couple and about 25 of their closest friends.
• The weather was hot and humid and sunny, which was fun for the most part, except for the whole part where it was hot as balls.
• Two visits from mother-in-law, one visit from newly wed sister-in-law, baby-bonding time over the weekend.
• Continued the tradition of sleeping a whole lot. Baking a baby is hard work. Apparently
• My second trip to the midwife, where everything looked just fine and Dandy. My uterus measurement (? - symfyse mål) is still slightly bigger than average. Little Dude was estimated at about 1200 gr, which is within normal range but slightly under average - making me even more convinced that he will probably be long and skinny, just like has daddy (PLEASE let him have those good genes from his dad - tall and skinny!)
• The dreaded glucose testing! (read more here)

Mah Belly! 26+ weeks

It's been a while since I spammed belly pictures, so here we go, fresh pictures taken just this morning.

26 weeks + a few days

26 weeks plus a few days

So no, I'm not really that huge but I definately feel and see the difference.


After the jump, a few pictures that I forgot to post last week......

Weekly Roundup

Lily and Marshall - the new Ross and Rachel

It's Sunday, the day of rest, and another week has gone by! It's been a good week. Let's do a roundup, shall we?

• I rounded 26 weeks - and by rounded, I mean, I am now even more round.
• Swimming still feels good, but makes my arms hurt. Possibly because I tend to forget to kick - meaning my arms are pulling my heavy body almost exclusively.
• On Thursday, I had my last class ever. (Barring any further education, such as an MBA or some sort of diploma etc.) Rephrase: last class as a regular student!
• My aunt and uncle approved our new apartment (and, I found out, are readers of this blog? - at least on of them is)
• Little Dude starting doing a new trick that literally makes my belly jump and vibrate. I'm thinking somersaults?
• Starting to count down the days for my Lene to return to me from farfaraway land - Thailand. I'm only a little bit jealous of their adventures!
• Shout out to newly engaged Heather and John - today I figured out why I love Marshall and Lily so much on HIMYM - they remind me of you guys! (except I think you may actually be cuter...)

Other:

I literally laughed out loud when I read this article, and felt a little thankful that no one has gone out of their way to tell me horror stories about childbirth, labor, delivery, and motherhood.... yet! Actually, people have been suspiciously silent, which is also making me worry about what I'm getting myself into. 

Caroline Wozniacki won her fourth title of 2011yesterday and looks to be in prime form for the French Open starting today! Here's hoping for a Grand Slam title!

It is entirely coincidental that this turned into a Top 10

1. Little Dude is kicking me as I speak (write?).
2. Got my hair cut today, a good 2-3 inches or so, overcoming my irrational fear of the hairdresser.
3. Had my last class (probably) ever.
4. Boy and I celebrated with some sparkly afterwards. As in lemon-lime soda.
5. In class, we learned about Jung and Myer-Briggs personality testing. I'm an INFJ (introvert, intuitive, feeling, judgemental).
6. Is it wierd that may main worry was "what if it tells me I don't have a personality?"!!!?!?
7. Currently having a major wardrobe crisis because I am enormous, nothing fits, or I've already worn that outfit around these people. The occasion is a 25th birthday party tonight.
8. I think Little Dude may have the hiccups right now.
9. I should probably have about 27 blogs on different topcs because this blog is turning into a cornucopia of random thoughts from my mind.
10. I'm still not sure why I have a blog or why I write the things I do.

Disclaimer

I'd like to disclaim that I have nothing against the color blue. In fact, I luuurve blue! It is one of my favorite colors. I am just a little bit frustrated at the baby clothes selections in most store. And the toy selections. I'm sure there will be more posts on this in the future.

However, don't be alarmed, Little Dude will be wearing lots of different shades of blue, but I'd like him to also know and wear other colors. I am also certain that owning some purple items will not make him gender-confused (Besides, since he will most likely be very pale, blonde, and blue-eyed, I have a feeling blue will be a good color on him).

It makes me feel a little angry inside

Spent the morning on campus, turning in the introduction, thesis, and literature list for my final in Project Management. I then took advantage of being in the area to stop by Bilka (what I like to call the Danish Target equivalent) to pick up those essential items that you can only get at a place like Bilka or Target!

Whenever I go shopping, I can't help but stop by the baby departments. I'm really, really, really trying to limit my purchases and buy things on sale. - and to only buy things that I really like or are really necesary. It seems that I've perfected the practice of walking around, checking prices and clothes and yet only buying a few items. This is good. I like perusing the clothes and finding a good deal, and figuring out exactly what I still need in different sizes.

However - look at these pictures and tell me if you find anything just a little wrong:

Think this is bad? I also fell in love with these little bodystocking with Winnie the Pooh:

You can't really tell, but the body is a pale pink and comes in a set of two.
The other one is a darker shade of pink.

 

The only problem is: Pink is probably the only color Little Dude will not be wearing until the day he can pick out his own clothing and decides pink is the right fit for him. Not matter how enlightened I like to believe I am, I still have a mental block ainst the color pink on a boy- mostlyy because I'm afraid he will hate me when he gets older.

The boy choices just weren't as cute, and I'm really just not that big a fan of the velour:

I'm sorry for the quality of these photos.
They were taken with my cell phone.

This is my favorite part:

If you don't understand the Danish -I'd like to point out that 'pige' means girl and 'drenge' means boy. Yes, that's right, they've even labeled the clothe diapers/burpclothes and the towels by sex so that you remember to buy the correct color for your child!

WHY is it impossible to find non-gendered clothing - what's wrong with green, yellow, red?

Out of downright protest, I bought this:

Supposedly 'girly' clothe diapers for my little boy.

Even though it was labeled as being the color "girl". Haha! And besides, purple can also be super manly - it's the color of the Ravens!

Mah Belly - 23 weeks

I'm playing a bit of catch-up here, and posting a belly picture I took on friday at 23 weeks.

Also a sneak peak at the new apartment -
here: the bedroom, still slightly messy

It's Aliiive!

I’m sure you all are just thrilled to hear that we are now back online. After successfully moving over a week ago, we just today got around to figuring out the internet problems… anyway. This means we are officially moved in!

I am loving the new apartment. We have much more room, a much bigger kitchen, a miniature table-top dishwasher, a separate bedroom, lots of closet space.... What's not to love?
Little dude is alive and well and has some VERY active moments. Boyfriend has now officially felt kicks and I've even seen them from the outside a few times. It's not that I can see elbows or feet, but I just see my belly moving. Sometimes the kicks are so perfectly timed that I've been starting to wonder if he's having hiccups!
Will post pictures later/another day. The apartment still seems to be a bit messy most of the time as we find permanent homes for all of our stuff. I also have some belly pictures but I am too lazy to transfer them over right now – I am eager to go outside into the sunshine, go for a little walk, and maybe get some ice cream.