Why do I say that? Well, the Swedes have been here for two days now, and I am very happy to have to come to work today. Never thought I would say that, but even with my boss holding meetings to see why things are not getting done it’s a lot quieter here than at home.
Just an example.
This is our family room just waiting for the arrival of guests.
And this
is the same room last night. See anything different? In the first one the Legos are in their boxes, the smaller toys are in the nice big toybox. But toys can’t be played with when they are in a box, and toys get in the way when somebody wants to climb into the toybox.
This is the group that arrived Friday night.
Sorry, not a very good shot, but it is hard to get a photograph of three things that are continually running in different directions. Any similarities evident?
Three boys, Alex, Adam and Axel Joe. Alex is extremely intelligent – he speaks Swedish! I don’t know any words in Swedish except for Nei! (that’s the equivalent of the American No!) But it only works if said in a stern voice. And then the results only last for about six seconds, or until you turn your back, whichever comes first. The twins know that a smile works, but still try the laying on your back rolling back and forth and screaming at the top of your lungs while kicking your feet on the floor thing.
After two days Alex is continually talking to me. It would just be nice if I understood anything he said. The twins aren’t talking yet, but know that if you point at something and say ‘Eh’ you sometimes get it.
I had to go out Saturday and get locks for all the doors. I thought things belonged in cabinets and drawers, and did not realize that stuff looked so much better when thrown on the floor. We’ll see how long it takes for little fingers to figure out how to push down on those plastic catches. If you don’t know what I’m talking about here then just ask Tess. I’m sure she knows.
Here’s the best shot I could get of the twins.
That’s the wagon we got to take them to the park. There’s a nice little park just two blocks from our house. They are quite good on working the slide. There is one play structure for little kids and a bigger one for older kids. Of course, at eighteen months they love the big kids slide a lot better than the little slide.
Looks like I picked the right DVDs. For the past year I’ve been buying Thomas the Tank Engine and Spongebob videos and sending them over to Sweden. I figured at least some of the English would rub off, but it doesn’t seem to have worked. I did keep some of them for myself, especially the Fraggle Rock ones, loved those doozers. Works here – when Spongebob comes on Alex just sits transfixed before the TV. The twins ignore the tv right now, maybe in a few years it’s magic will take hold.
Better pictures to come – I’ll try to at least get them all together.
For Clare:
1. Having a houseful of kids all happily playing.
2. Being able to come to work where it’s quiet.
3. As noisy as they are, kids are still fun (sometimes).
No comments:
Post a Comment