Butterfly

Emma got her face painted at LEGOLAND today.

Almost!

Dina is on the verge of crawling. She's very excited by rocking on her
hands and knees.

Mmmm coffee

My cousin's plane was late, but we got to sit and wait in Starbuck's!
Oh please, oh please come to Billund airport!

Night out

So there is a world outside of Billund. Had my first night away from
Dina to see Duran Duran in concert. Not only was it a great concert,
we got to meet the band! It made the separation anxiety worth it. But
can't wait to get home now...

Thoughts on nursing bras...

Yes, welcome to my world. It's one where I feel compelled to write about finding a good nursing bra. I picked up a Medela seamleass softcup bra when visiting my sister a few weeks ago, and it's been the best find. It's really supportive, and it covers in all the right places, which helps when trying to be discreet. Between that and my Glamourmom tanks, I'm ready to keep nursing little Dina for as long as I can stand it.

Lovely Dina

A full day of travelling and she was the belle of the ball. She had
grown men goo-gooing, children ooo-ing and ahh-ing. "what a (good,
happy, pretty, sweet, insert compliment here) baby you have!" Dina
played to the crowd, smiling, cooing, NOT sleeping. And here I am at
4am, blogging and not sleeping. Yeah. My baby is cute.

Check-ups

I took the girls to the doctor yesterday. Dina had her 5 month shot and Emma had her 3 year check-up. They are both thriving, Dina maybe a little more so! She is holding steady at 11 kilo but she's gotten quite long--74 centimeters.

Emma is an above average 101 centimeters and a slim 15.7 kilos. The doctor complimented her on her language skills. She was very impressed by how she could switch between English and Danish.

Emma was so sweet to Dina when she got the shot. She stood by, very curious about the whole procedure and then hugged and kissed Dina when she cried. Of course this morning we were back to, "you're my mommy, not hers!".

Dina had a tough night. She was pretty feverish and uncomfortable. None of us got much sleep. She's sleeping now and I'm going to try to do the same.

Emma at the salon

Emma got her hair cut this weekend. She really wants to grow long "princess" hair, but at age three, she won't keep anything in her hair to hold it back. So she has short bangs and we're trying to grow out the back.

The hair dresser added a pink heart to her hair and there were many tears when we had to wash it out. I wonder sometimes if I'm responsible for the pink, the dresses, the make up and nail polish obsession. Or does she just come by it naturally? Maybe at 15 she'll start wearing black and stop shaving under her arms to rebel.

After the hair cut we went to LEGOLAND and had some nice Emma and Mommy time. I'll worry about the rebellion when it rears its ugly head.

Like a baby

Dina hasn't been sleeping well the past few days and I guess it caught
up to her while I was having lunch at the cafe.

Cheese!

A satisfied birthday girl. She didn't quite understand that the party was for her, but she knows where to find the camera.

LEGO cake

More cakes for children's birthday parties... I baked the cakes for
Emma and Anders birthday party at LEGOLAND today. Emma's cake was a
layer cake version of the pink princess cupcakes and I made this blue
LEGO brick for Anders. Both cakes were chocolate with cream cheese
frosting.

I'm obsessed. Let them eat cake...

Pink Princess Cupckes

Now this is truly my life in Denmark. Baking pink cupcakes for Emma's 3rd birthday.

Dina rolled

3 months and 4 weeks old and she did a full roll from her back to her
stomach. I'll have to be watching her like a hawk from here on out.
I have a feeling she'll be on the move as soon as she can figure out
how to get her chubby little body going.

Cafe Succes

Billund is a very small town. There were no cafes until just recently. A cafe opened in the Billund center, next to the church, the library and the bus stop. It also happens to be across the street from my office at LEGO.

Since I walk Dina everyday to "downtown", we are becoming fixtures at the cafe.The center is a wireless hotspot, so it's a nice place to sit, nurse, eat and play with my iPhone.

Noah and Dina

Sanne and I took the babies to lunch in Billund today.

Iphone...I think I love you

The first picture taken with my new iPhone. And my first blog post via
email sent from my iPhone. I'm in geek heaven.

Spring in Denmark

We had a white Easter.  Just when everyone is sick and tired of the cold and rain, it snows.  It was actually nice. The sun has been shining, and that counts for a lot despite the snow.  It still is starting to feel like spring.  

I just can't wait to take the baby out for a walk without bundling up or wearing my snowsuit, which seems to be a source of amusement to everyone from my 3 year old to strangers I pass on the street.  (sigh)

My huge baby

Dina had a little check up today. She’s 8.8 kilos/ 19 lbs and 66 centimeters/ 26“ long. That’s great for a 6 month old. But my little bundle is only 2 months old. Oh, and did I mention the tooth that’s coming in?

Dina Isabel

Dina was born at 10:49 a.m. on Thursday, December 13th. Exactly a week past my due date.

The good part--other than having a beautiful baby--is that the labor didn't last that long. I had my first contraction at about 6:15 that morning and they were about 8 minutes apart. By 8:00 am they were 5 minutes apart and we were on our way to the hospital. By the time we got there it was 8:45, the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was 8 centimeters dilated. Two miserable hours later she was born.

But this labor made me appreciate just how easy I had it with Emma's birth. Apparently I'm fine delivering a 4670 gram/10lbs 3oz baby (Emma) but a 5058 grams/11 lbs (Dina) was really friggin' hard. Go figure. I didn't have the sense of well being that I had after Emma's birth, I guess it was losing so much blood and having (oof) stitches. And no drugs. A decision I regretted.

But everything about this pregnancy was hard. And almost immediately I felt so much better than I did during my entire pregnancy. I could think again, and even though I had to recover I had more energy. I cried in the car on the way home the next day because I was so relieved (I'm sure hormones had nothing to do with that) that I didn't feel... handicapped anymore. I literally felt like I had a chronic illness throughout my whole pregnancy.

Emma has been doing great with Dina. No issues to date, other than a few bouts of temper when she feels she's not getting enough attention. At least, I think that's what is upsetting her. She's 2 years and 8 months... so it could be anything. But she wants to hold Dina, and help change her and bathe her. She likes giving her kisses and stroking her face. She's really quite sweet with her.

Today is Lars' first day back to work and Emma's first day back to daycare after the holidays. As I've been writing the sleep deprivation just hit hard--and I realized I can take a nap! Zzzzzz