Magical carpet

There is a magical carpet in my grandparent's house in Iceland- well, my grandfather's house now. It's not a flying carpet, although that would be a lot of fun, but it is really magical! Last summer I started crawling on this carpet. I had been up on my knees for more than two months, but not realized which potentials that positions could have -until I arrived to Akureyri. I hadn´t been there for many days when I started crawling. Now I´m back to Akureyri, and I´ve been up on my feet for months (since the beginning of august to be precise), and I had started to do a few steps without holding anything, but I lacked the confidence to throw myself into the walking business. A few days after I came to Akureyri, on the magical carpet, I decided that it was time to start walking. The first morning I was very careful, but already in the afternoon I could do several meters, turn around, and clap my hands in ecstasy for the acquired skills! Now, a few days later I'm literally running around as if I'd never done anything else. My Icelandic cousins say that if I have problems getting the talking business going, then I'll just have to come to the magical carpet to fix things...I'll keep that in mind :)

I'll use this opportunity also to wish you all a great new year. In the Christmas-greetings that I wrote just a couple of hours before my grandmother died I wished that you had a million reasons to smile next year. Despite the sad events of the past weeks -or better to say, because of the sad events, I want to emphasis this wish:
may you have a million reasons to smile in 2008.
Big hugs to all of you, Oscar et al

ONE YEAR

I'm in Iceland and I haven't been much in the blog-mood lately...so I kind of forgot to write a birthday blog yesterday! But...yes you're right...I'm ONE YEAR OLD!
We celebrated in a small scale yesterday, with pancakes, blueberry-cheesecake, gifts, hugs and kisses, and the birthday-song in several languages!
I have a lot of other things to update you on...but I'll tell you later...good to keep you a bit curious...hehe! Check back soon...
Birthdayhugs from Oscar

Amma Finna

Yesterday my Elsku Amma Finna, my mum's mum, passed away. It was sudden and unexpected by everyone, and we don't know how to cope with the news. I don't really know what dying means, but it must be something awfully sad, for my mum has been in tears since then. My grandmother was good and kind as a saint, strong as an ox, she made the most delicious food that we can think of, and when she laughed, it was so contagious that even people that didn't know why she was laughing couldn't help but laughing as well -it could last minutes, the whole body would shake, tears would be running down the cheeks and in the end the stomach would be hurting. And that's how we would like to remember her. Amma, we miss you.

Christmas spirit

I saw father Christmas (Babbo Natale) for the first time today at the kindergarten. He was really nice and gave me some sweets. My mum says I looked at him completely enchanted, which is mild to say true. I had to see him also through the window after he left, and I didn't want to leave the window for a while, as I hoped that he would reappear! My mum tells me that this was the italian father christmas, and that next year she would like to introduce me to the 13 jolasveinn in Iceland.
Anyway, seeing this good old fellow brought me just the right spirit to send you my christmas-greetings. I don't mind if I'm a week in advance, for you never know when the net is going to work, and then next weekend we are going down to Arezzo to celebrate christmas with my grandparents (and there internet is hyper-slow, so don't you expect me to blog very much from there -that's also why the winners of the competition will only be notified telepathically).
So merry christmas to all of you, and thanks for keeping me company this year, I hope you have a million reasons to smile next year -and be sure, that if I'll have some, then my parents will be there capturing it digitally. I hope to see you all very very soon.
Big hugs, Oscar

walking-talking business

People keep asking my parents, is he walking yet, and is he talking? Well, I'm in no hurry to learn these things, but to tell the truth, there has been some progress lately. With the walking business, I can let go of e.g. the sofa and walk 1-2 steps towards my parents, but the sensation is a bit scary and it's good to get a hug and an applause when it's done. My parents bought me a toddle truck from IKEA (Thanks Tommi for the advice) to encourage me to walk, and the first day I couldn't get enough of it and walked back and forth our small flat, with one hand on the truck and a big smile on my face. But then I fell (the blame goes to my parents that didn't tighten the wheels enough) and my lip started bleeding. Then I steared away from the truck for a week. Didn't want all that blood again. But I'm starting to get confident with it again, and walk when I feel like it. I'll keep you updated!
About the talking business, well, there is a kind of race betwen me and my parents -I learn to pronounce words and they try to guess what I'm saying. If they don't understand, I try to improve the pronounciation, for it seems that they don't improve very much at guessing. One of my favourite words these days is Dla (sometimes Dadla), which is my way of saying Bjalla, and this is easy for my parents to guess, Und is hundur (dog) and my mum understood this at the first go and so on, one word at a time. Slowly we are getting to the point. And I plan to be able to say Merry Christmas and a happy new year...next year :)

Old myth

Children need TRAN and books, says this poster. Tran is lysi in iceland, cod-liver oil for the english speaking, and they've just found out that it's not such a miracle oil after all (here you can read all about it...if you read norvergian that is). My mum was just about to order a dozen bottle of Lysi from iceland to make more of a viking of me (to fight all the diseases I bring home from the kindergarten) when she read that those who drank Tran when they were young are more likely to get osteoporosis. They put the blame on excess A-vitamin, that has now been decreased from the tran (since 2001), but still -those (like my grandma in iceland e.g.) who were forced to drink lysi directly from the bottle when they were young have a reason to feel that they've been bluffed!

Mr. Dettifoss

Yesterday was some sort of a record-day for me. I had to change the bib 10 times, and 3 times my mum changed it so late that I had to change the sweater and underwear as well. She calls me Mr. Dettifoss, and I think she believes to be ironical! but this really starts to be a problem! Yesterday after my nap we went hunting for the perfect bib, a heavy duty one that can absorb liters of saliva and still keeping that dry feeling. We didn't find anything suitable, so my mum starts to think that I'm the first baby in history to be drooling that much (or the bibs were sold out because of an epidemy of excessive drooling). My mum considered buying lady pads instead of gags, well, in the advertisement they claim that they have little bulk with great absorbency. They've got special LeakGuard that helps pull fluid deep into the middle of the pad and away from the edges to give you protection where you need it most (!!), also, with the latest tecnology where they are made with cotton-like Dri-Weave and are softer than ever for a more comfortable feeling. Why haven't they thought of making bibs with the pad's tecnology? Well, in the end we didn't buy them, for even if they say in the advertisement that you can discretely carry them anywhere you go, then maybe that is more true for the traditional use of the pads, than if you stick them to the chest of your adorable little boy! In the end we came home with a set of 3 low-duty (and rather ugly) bibs and a pack of swedish cotton sponge for kitchen use that my mum is considering sewing into the new bibs for extra absorbency. In case my mum doesn't find a job once she can get around looking for one, then maybe she will start a bib-production business, where she makes stylish heavy duty bibs for me and my friends! Or maybe I will have done with teething by then, and she will have found some new interesting problems to solve.

BINGO !!!

Once you've completed your bingo-card you're supposed to scream BINGO, BINGO, and wave your arms in the air, right? Well, I would if I had any strength in my muscles, but right now I can hardly keep my eyes open, let alone my arms up, and screaming seems to crave too much energy for my poor reserves. In these compromised conditions I have just completed my bingo card of health. This morning I went to the kindergarten as a happy healthy young boy, but came back home, less than two hours later, white as the glaciers in iceland, weak as a sock without a feet in it, and so far the vomit-counter has arrived to 3. Lets just hope that I've won a weekend in a health spa or a boost of immunoglobins or something that will end this chain of diseases that all seem to be coming my way!

My mum was planning to prepare the christmas cards today, but with me in her arms it might proof slightly difficult. Maybe I should try and give her a hand with the art-work!!

Christmas competition

I've heard that Christmas is coming (I guess I'll soon find out what THAT means), so I thought of presenting you with a nice little Christmas competition.

On the left you can see pictures of two young boys. Which one of them is me, and which one of them is my grandad in Iceland? Please write your answer in the comment system. There will be two winners, one among relative and one among non-relatives. The winner will be notified by telepathy on Christmas Eve.

Rules: The competition runs between 1st and 24th December inclusive. You may enter one answer per day. The competition is open to earth-residents only (sorry aliens)! A homemade christmas cookie will be sent out to the winners, but please note that if it breaks in the post, then you'll have won a Christmas-cookie Jigsaw puzzle ;o)

As not all of you know my grandad in Iceland, I'll add here a picture of the two of us from this summer

New bed

Could you please tell my parents to buy me a new bed -my old one has become far too small for me! If I have a problem falling asleep these days it has got nothing to do with the thousands of red spots that are covering my body, the fact that I'm allergic to the antibiotic used to cure my ear-infection or that I'm on anti-histamins at the moment, it's just because I have a slight difficulty finding the right position for sleeping in this tight space.

Back in business

I'm back in business after a week of ear infection and home-with-mum cuddling. It's a pity really, for I had just learnt to clean my nose by myself! It was rather simple after all...rather than letting my mum chase me with a tissue, I just rub my nose against e.g. the sofa or my mum's clothes when I feel the stream of mucous reaching my upper lip. For some reason my mum is not so happy with this discovery (no clapping the hands bravo Oscar bravo) and she calls me the snail!! But if you thought our problems were over with the healing of my ears and throat, then think again! Since monday my body is covered with red spots, from the tip to the toe, tummy and bottom, fingers and toes... and this afternoon we are going to the doctor to check what it is. The first guess is hypersensibility to the antibiotics (which I'm no longer taking), but let's see what Mr. Dr. says. By now I know the doctor's waiting room like my own flat and my mum says that she is going to eat her tongue for comments she made in the past about mums that overreact about their children...after she had me she says that she is not afraid of being considered an overreacting mum, it's always better than being an under-reacting one!!

Haircut-s

Helga made a comment (which not everyone will be able to read, for it is in Icelandic) that I look older than I am because of how much hair I've got! Well, my parents have actually cut my hair twice. First in August, where my dark newborn hair was cut away, and then again in November. I didn't like the haircuts at all, but I guess I would look rather girly if I hadn't had them!!