Priceless moments

This is one of those moments where you can’t help but post something.  Thankfully, I had my new iPhone handy, otherwise I would have been the only person to be able to enjoy this moment.  Now, I can share it with everyone!

Usually, on such a messy day, like today, Arvid gets either a bath or a shower.  Bath, he takes and someone watches… and likely gets very wet.  Showers, usually involve me in the shower with the boy.  Today was a first, at least as far as I know.  Instead of the normal options, I turned on the water, stripped him down and watched him walk into the shower.  He closed the doors behind him and started to play and have a good time.  After a while of playing, he started getting silly.  Well, I have many pictures to prove it, so here is one!

Of course, since I had my new iPhone, so I also have a short clip of it here for you.

Bubbles on glass

Understanding my son

There are people out there that are really good at blogging all the time about life and the stuff going on.  Well, after a nice long pause, you can see that I am not one of them.  However, I certainly have not forgotten!

The summer is coming to a close, sadly.  Arvid is growing and changing all the time.  It is so amazing to think back about how he was a year ago, 6 months ago or even just a matter of weeks ago.  Changes happen that fast!  For those parents that have more than 1 child, you are probably thinking, ‘Duh’!  Maybe others are thinking the same thing, and they don’t even have kids.  I find it amazing how there are so many websites out there that try to come up with a clear ‘this stage happens here’ list.  Sometimes they are helpful, sometimes they are not.  Often they can have the effect of making a parent really happy because their child it ahead of everything.  Other times they can cause the ‘that website doesn’t know shit’ feeling because their child doesn’t do what they said they should be doing.

Think back a generation or so.  If you wanted to know about raising a kid or stages or a child’s growth, you actually had to go and buy something called a book!  Now, what do we do?  We simply ‘Google it’.  In another 20 years or so, someone will have recommended that all kids have some type of computer chip implanted.  Then the parents will only have to look at their iPhone App that connects to it to find out how they are doing. ‘You child is BELOW average’ or ‘Your child is in the TOP 5%’.  I hope not!

Okay, I will put my brain back on track.  Or at least closer to on track.  What would your life be like without power?  Without cars?  Without most of the modern day things we take for granted?  Okay, now I will translate that last collection of questions…  How would we be as parents if we didn’t have all these ‘online guides’? Didn’t have Google to explain to us why our child has a runny nose?  Something tells me most would be better parents…  (I did say MOST, not ALL!)

Where is this completely random collection of thoughts coming from?  I have no idea!  Well, maybe I have a little idea, I just can’t explain why it just popped into my head tonight.  Early on with Arvid, and being a new parent, I was often trying to understand what stages were coming up next, what was normal, etc.  We would take Arvid for his weekly, then monthly and soon yearly checkups so that they could see that he is ‘normal’ or not.  For a long number of months now though, I have just looked at Arvid for who he was and reading less.  He is an ever changing little boy.  He is perfect in every way and I don’t care if he is ahead of the curve or below it.  Does that mean he can’t be a pain in the butt?   Of course not!  Right now he actually has the habit of crying a lot around mom, mainly because he wants to be as close as possible to her.  That can be difficult, especially for mom.

So then the question from you likely becomes… So, what is your point?  I’m not sure that I have one.  Maybe I do.  My son has changed my life in so many ways.  He is a healthy, happy and growing boy.  How do I know that?  I look at him, I watch him do his thing, I play with him, I talk to him and I listen to him.  I tell him how much I love him and I know he understands me.  I can feel it and see it when he has a big smile on his face, or even tears in his eyes and he curls up with me to be close and be held.  I feel it in the way that he tucks his head into my chest.  There is no book, no website and no person that can help you see those things.

Differences…

It has taken me a long time to sit down and write about the differences that I have seen or noticed.  Part of that is just due to time available to sit and write a lengthy post and the other part is just that so often it is hard to see the differences, but yes there are many!

Here are a few that don’t relate specifically to having children.

• Yes, the taxes are higher! Though, I have been asked by Americans I know or have met, if it is really 75% – 100%.  Hmmm, for me, it is 30%.  If it was 100%, I guess that would mean that I get everything paid for by the government, even our flat!
• People can actually travel without needing a car!  I actually know a few people that don’t even have a license to drive and some of them even have kids.  I think to a person from the US, that itself is or could be a huge shock.  Though, now I understand that you really can live life here without a car.  Well, unless you live in the countryside.  Though I still can’t imagine a life without a car.
• Selection is one big area lacking in Sweden.  I like food.  I like food that is good for me and food that isn’t.  I like all sorts of food!  Here they don’t have a lot of selection when it comes to food.  Actually, I would almost say that they have NO selection when it comes to food.  You can’t find good Mexican food to save your life.  You can find many ‘multipurpose’ restaurants  that have almost anything on the menu, some of them are even good.  There is something to be said for being able to go to a really good place for good food and it being styled correctly.
• They are terrible when it comes to translating movie names.  Some they don’t touch and leave as is.  Others they decide to translate.  I don’t have any actual examples right this second, but I have seen this tons of times.  Even some Swedish realize how bad the translations are.  Actually, they aren’t even translations, they are complete renames! (Fake example: “Sex and the City” would be “Women Doing Strange Things”)
• People here are generally more environmentally aware.  Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise, maybe it should.  I don’t know.  Before living here, I had been spending a couple years in Africa where almost everything was burned… no matter what.  Much of it was burned on the side of the road. Plastic bottles were everywhere.  Basically there was no real love for nature in the areas I was in.
• This should come as no surprise, but there is actually a history here that goes back a long way!  I think the line from L.A. Story is great, where Steve Martin says something like, “… and some of these houses are nearly 20 years old!”  Considering that Stockholm was founded somewhere around 1250 or so, it is easy to understand why some of the buildings are so old and a major part of the beauty of the city.  You find that as you travel all over Sweden though.
• It is hard to get pulled over in Sweden.  Take that from someone with a early history of speeding tickets in the US. Maybe it has something to do with being far wiser now… or more lucky?  Maybe a little of both.  However, here you deal with more speed cameras, which they warn you about, rather then speed traps.  Though speed traps do exist. With that said, they also take speeding tickets very seriously.  Even parking tickets can run you at least $100. Maybe $150.
• Prices you see are what you get charged.  Not like in the US where they advertise prices and then when you go to pay you get charged more because of the taxes.
• Trucks are not needed to pull trailers.  It is pretty funny to see some smaller cars pulling large trailers.  Here they have known you don’t need big cars.  Of course, you can still find them, but when you are paying roughly $8 a gallon, why would you want to?
• They have no real concept of customer service.  Maybe that is a good thing and then again, maybe not.  It depends on what kind of person you are.  When I shop, which I admit happens about every season… I think.  Maybe less.  Anyway, when I shop I go in, find what I want and then buy it.  I don’t need to be chased around a store by someone telling me how good something would look.  Then there are other times where you have to find a person that works at a store and see if they can help you.  Often they can’t even answer your questions because they only know how to charge you for what you are buying.
• Please take a number!  That is one of the strange things that Sweden loves.  Go to a store, bank, need surgery, etc…  Take a number a wait your turn. I have actually gone to stores that have NO ONE in them other than me and they wouldn’t help me until I took a number.
• And last, but certainly not least… Kind of connected to my ’surgery’ comment… You can afford to go to the hospital without going broke.  Now of course this has to do with the high taxes and it might take some time depending on what you need, but that is one of those things that I don’t mind at all.  It is worth it.

Moving on to children related things.

• You can afford to have a baby at a nice clinic because it doesn’t cost you anything! Yes, again that comes from the high taxes.  In the states that is a different story.  Especially if you have any complications.
• You get a monthly payment from the government when you have kids, not just a yearly tax break.
• You can even afford daycare here, again thanks to high taxes.
• Something that you discover after being to the states is that when it comes to shopping for kids here…  It sucks!  Yes, you can find some really great stuff, but you have basically no selection.  If you want REALLY nice stuff, go to Denmark.  If you don’t know what you want or you just want to look at everything possible to buy for a baby or child, go to the US.
• I don’t think it matters what country you are in.  If you go to a McDonald’s that has a playground, it is still completely nasty!  I am sorry if this offends anyone.  I am not one to be too picky about cleanliness, but damn! Of course, I have also seen mothers (in Norway) meet at McDonald’s, let there kids play on the nasty playground so they can hang out and drink McDonald’s coffee. (I am not sure which part of that last sentence is worse.)
• One of the big things here, talked about on my blog and others here…  It isn’t just the mom that has the right to take parental leave to be with the newborn baby.  Dads can do it too!  You get something like 450 days that the parents can split up.  You can use as little or as much as you want, depending on how much or little you need the money.  Yes, you take days and those days you take, you get paid for!  If you don’t use up all your days, you can save them until the child is 8 years old.  I think we have about 150 days left.

Vacation over, back to work.

I think that from here on out, every vacation will be a new experience, even if going to the same places.  Traveling with a 15 month old is a challenge, but that certainly doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it!

Over the last two weeks we traveled more then 2200 km, in a car, with a 15 month old!  He did great 90% of the time.  The other 10% of the time, Arvid was a typical 15 month old and his parents were on the edge of going crazy.

We started the trip off with an evening drive to Värmland which went as smoothly as could be.  We enjoyed a bunch of time with family there and even got to spend a bunch of time with some extended family and their children.  That was a lot of fun to see.  The kids ranging in age from 3 years old to a matter of months.

Arvid loved being outside in the beautiful weather.  We are thankful that he has his parents ability to enjoy the sun and even get a little color.  He went swimming in a lake for the first time and had a great time.  He found it so entertaining to climb out of the water onto the dock and then back into the water.  He even attempted to ’swim/crawl’ at the same time.

Before heading to Värmland, we didn’t really know where we would go next, but by the end of our time there, we had decided to head off to Norway.  A little place called Sogndal.  We left at about 3 in the morning so that Arvid could sleep more in the car…  That was the theory.  We was awake for at least an hour and a half before finally going back to sleep.  The 8 hour trip out was broken up by a wonderful little stop by another lake where we had breakfast and enjoyed the early morning silence.

Our cabin was right on the largest fjord in all of Europe.  It couldn’t have been more spectacular!  We didn’t have the best weather everyday, which was fine.  We were forced to relax inside at times and take it a bit easy in general.  Arvid had a blast exploring our cabin all the time and then outside.  However, we still don’t know exactly why, but he ended up having a reaction to something, maybe a sting of some sort, so we eventually ended up taking a little trip to the local clinic for some treatment.  However, since the clinic was closed, the only option was to dial 113, while we were sitting outside of the clinic.  That would be another blog post.  Anyway, after that, no other excitement, at least of that type!

The last day we had perfect weather that we took full advantage of.  We climbed up over the fjords to get a look from above.  That was a sight to see!  Arvid slept half way up and half way down.  It was a great climb and one of the most amazing views ever!

In the end, we had one final step and that was to get home.  With about 12 hours of driving to do, we tried to time things to Arvid’s schedule as much as possible, like his naps.  That worked out pretty well until he was REALLY ready to get out of the car.  Fortunately we were able to break up the drive and even stopped for night on the way home and finished up the drive the next day.

Arvid was a very happy boy during the trip and even happier to see his home.  It was a lot of fun to see him recognize his home.  As soon as his feet touched the ground in our flat, he was off pulling everything out and having a blast!  Of course, it didn’t take long for our place to look like a massive storm rolled through, but that was fine.  Our boy was doing his thing and having a great time doing it.

Every vacation or even short trip, from here on out, will change in ways that we will always see.  It will of course offer new challenges, but all sorts of new excitement as we watch our little guy grow up.  Later in the year he will be taking his second big trip to the states.

Vacation

I have been terrible lately about writing.  Okay, for a while actually. As one thing ends, another begins.  That is the story for me lately.  As my daddy leave ended, work began to pick back up to full time again.

Now however, we are off and traveling.  Road trippin’!

First stop, Årbotten, Sweden.  We will spend a few days here before heading on.

Årbotten

After Årbotten, we are heading to Norway to see a part of the world that none of us have seen.  I promise to post some pictures from that!

Arvid has been a good road trippin’ baby most of our trips, so we are hoping that continues.  Lately he hasn’t been in the best moods, but that likely has something to the teeth coming in… we hope at least.