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We are Moving!

Close to three years, 458 posts, 41,674 page views. When I was sitting in the dark on the first night in San Francisco, bored and insanely awake at 4am with jet lag, I never expected that this blog would still be around today. I am sure glad that it is. 

And a common theme on this blog is change. Change of country, change of becoming a parent, change of workplace, change of housing, change of becoming a parent, again. Change, change, change.

Beware; Parents With Camera

What is it with parents and the need to communicate when their kids do things that millions of other kids have done, and will do in the future? A parade of photos and videos of burping, eating, sitting, walking and talking kids with hysterically proud parents announcing it like if it was the cure for cancer. 





In my mind, when your child is born, you have in your arm this tiny person, so small, so fragile, and so completely dependant on you to take care of it. And for some reason, this image get stuck in your mind. So whenever your child does something, burp, eat, sit or similar, you remember that tiny, fragile person that now can stick peas into his or hers nose by themselves.

Flipping It

I have always had a bad back now that I sit and stare into a computer monitor all day long. However with two children, my back now look back at this with a fond memory of what can only be considered a slight discomfort compared to what it has to endure now.

And it is obviously all my fault. It is not like Miss Cupcake came up with the idea of standing on my shoulders by herself, to later scream 'flip it', which is the queue for me to do exactly that - flip her. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but after a couple of times, the back is begging for mercy. So it is nice to had Mr Bear around, that takes 'flipping it' to a whole new, more mellow level.

Vocal Bears

I was dubbed by the nurses as the hospital where I was born as 'Gnölis', which would translate freely into something like 'the one that makes a lot of noises'. They even used this on charts; 'Gnölis' was washed this morning. Because that was what I was doing, constantly. Noises. A low, chanting like an Indian chief sitting by the fire to sing the evil spirits away. 

So when our pediatrician talked about Mr Bear as being 'very vocal', you might think of him following his dad's footsteps. But there is a big difference. Mr Bear is talking. He clearly is commenting on his surrounding, pondering on the state of the world, making funny comments about his parents. Too bad we don't understand. I am sure it is very interesting stuff. 

Viva Las Vegas, Baby

Life has different stages. When you are a child it is all about playing, and then you start liking girls and your life is ruined for ever trying to get their attention. Then you are off to university where you master in the art of jelly shots, and then it s time to start working and handle coming to work with a hang-over. And then… children. [dramatic pause]. 

A quick example; last time in Vegas I landed around noon, I was married at 2pm, out of cash at 5pm and drinking Gin & Tonics from then on. This time around, we came to Las Vegas with Miss Cupcake and Mr Bear, so things were somewhat different. We are already married, so not much point in re-doing that. We did put more emphasis on the hotel pool, the Bellagio fountain, the Eiffel Tower and other kid friendly things. 

Character Building Love

Having a sibling is a never ending source of material for 'build your character' help books. My case is obviously not any different. My dear sister introduced me to fun around the clock with games such as 'who can give most candy to the other' (I won) and 'how fast can you run after what I need' (always the same answer; faster than last time). Character building was the name.

You talk about how you understand what love really is when you have kids, because you had no idea you could love someone so much. Looking at Miss Cupcake and Mr Bear, the same thing happens; it is amazing to see how much they love each other already. Mr Bear will pay 100% focus on his big sister whenever she is in the room, and no one can make him laugh as she cans. And whenever Mr Bear is crying in the arms of an adult, Miss Cupcake is sure to scream across the room that 'you are making my baby brother sad!'.