Aloha!

Two full days in Hawaii have already flown by, and they have been fantastic. Anna was amazing on the flight here – the flight attendants called her either the “dream” baby or the “perfect” baby – she had a couple of short naps, but mostly she just hung out in our laps and played and talked and then played some more. The kid is unbelievable!!


We got in late Wednesday afternoon to some cloudy and cool weather but then woke up Thursday to sunshine. Anna is loving the warm weather and getting to spend her time with far fewer clothes on than back home in Vancouver.





Today we rented a car and first went to Pearl Harbor before heading up to the north shore to spend some time in the town of Haleiwa, watch some surfing, and go for a little walk in the rain forest to a waterfall. Patrik was so inspired by the surfing that he later took Anna for a wee spin on the board…

One more sleep...

It's snowing in Vancouver today, but here in the Eliasson household we're pretty excited because we're escaping winter tomorrow for a week of Hawaiian sun (sorry to rub it in). In between taking care of Anna and getting out for a walk, I'm trying to pack but there's a good chance I'll be up late finishing up after Anna's gone to sleep.

I was reminiscing this afternoon while looking at some early pictures of Anna. It's hard to believe how much she's changed in 4 1/2 short months. What a precious little thing she was and is and what an amazing little person she's turning out to be.


Anna is really enjoying the excersaucer that she got from mormor and morfar for Christmas. Here she is in it this afternoon.

Sunshine!

What a gorgeous day it was today. We spent the morning at home, where Anna got to try out the jolly jumper for the first time. As you can see, she loved it!


And then this afternoon we met up with Denise, Seungsoo and baby Dexter for a walk on the Stanley Park seawall. Lovely...

Home from Nanaimo

Anna and I have spent the last few days in Nanaimo visiting with mormor and morfar, James and Tim, and cousin Isabelle. Isabelle has gotten so big since we saw her at Christmas. She's sitting up on her own now and she's eating peas and carrots (and peaches) like there's no tomorrow.




Although it was a very nice visit, we were very happy to see Patrik when we got home today and Anna couldn't stop smiling when she saw him. She missed her daddy...

Waiting for the Pizza...

It's Sunday evening and we've been home from the mountain a wee while. Ordered one of our rare pizzas, and thought I'd post a few photos to distract my stomach while we wait for it to arrive.

Yesterday we met up with a couple of friends on the Drive for brunch and then last night we headed out to celebrate Amanda's birthday with some bowling. Anna did very well in the middle of all of the action, though she was mighty tired by the time we got home. I have to say that the Eliasson family are not what you'd call great at bowling.


Today Anna and I headed over to Josh's second birthday party in North Vancouver while daddy worked,


and then we all headed up to Cypress for a short ski and a long fika. Very nice weekend...

Walk in the Fog

Anna and I are so happy that the sidewalks are clear, making it much easier to walk with the stroller, that we went out for an epic walk today. Somewhere around 20 km of city walking. It's been foggy in the city for days now, but today the visibility was a little better than yesterday. I saw on the news that while it's foggy and 2 degrees in the city, it's 15 degrees and sunshine up on the local ski hills. We'll be getting up there this weekend for sure.

Sweden, here we come!

Yahoo! We booked our summer trip to Sweden today, and it went very well. Since we were wanting to book on points, I was a little nervous that all of the seats allowed for points would be sold out already. But, we were in luck and we managed to get the dates we wanted. We're flying out on July 1 and heading home on the 19th - a few days longer than our last trip anyway.

Sshhhh... I think she's sleeping...

We've usually got such a great little sleeper on our hands, but tonight Anna seems to be trying to make up for lost time. She's waking up over and over and over again, and exercising her lungs vigorously every time she does so. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong, so I think she just doesn't want to be alone and she's testing our limits. I'm so weak...

14 lbs, 12 ozs

The house feels so empty and quiet now that Solweig and Bengt are back in Sweden - a little bit strange. It was good to hear from them today that they are back in Lit, and had a good trip home (minus the missing bags)...

Yesterday Anna and I took a trip to the doctor's for her 4 month check-up, and as expected, she's doing great. She now weighs 14 pounds 12 ounces. Still bulkin' up for winter, it seems :)

And today I finished knitting this little yellow sweater vest for Anna. Even though I made it bigger than what the pattern called for by increasing the stitches, using a thicker yarn, and a bigger needle size, she's not going to be able to wear it for long. It just barely fits her now. I'll have to have her wearing it every day for the next two weeks to make sure she gets some use out of it.

It's not goodbye, it's see you later...

Today was Solweig and Bengt's last day in Vancouver. Tomorrow morning they'll be up bright and early to catch an 8:30 flight. This last month has just flown by - it's gone way too fast - but, we've had such a nice time together. They will be very very missed when they are gone, especially by a little girl who is sound asleep right now and doesn't realize that when she wakes up she won't be able to go downstairs and get a hug from farmor and farfar. The thought makes my heart ache.


Earlier today I had to go out for a while, and so Patrik got to feed Anna. She definitely has no trouble taking food from a bottle, and I'm sure she is going to be a great little eater when she gets to try solid food. She already locks her eyes on whatever food we have in our hands and follows it to and from our mouths, and then licks her lips.


And tonight we had a big send off dinner. I'm still too full to sleep, which is why I'm sitting up in front of the computer while the rest of the house is asleep.


Anna worked on memorizing farmor and farfar's faces today. We'll make sure she sees them often through Skype and photos too...

And a whole week slips by...

I can't believe how this week has disappeared. I could swear that it was Monday just a day or two ago... We've had a nice week with, amongst other things, Anna hanging out in farmor and farfar's bed in the mornings,


followed by long leisurely breakfasts,


a little bit of shopping and knitting (Dexter got these today),


and tonight Bengt and Patrik are out at a hockey game. Solweig and I are listening to it on the radio and we're getting a bit nervous because the score is 3:2 for St. Louis at the end of the second period. Kom igen!

Happy Birthday James!

Happy birthday to James (aka Josefin) - hope you had a great dinner out with friends, and that someone thought to give you the bumps. Does anyone do that anymore?

Snow Day

Today Patrik and I threw on some skis at Cypress and spent a few hours on the slopes. What a gorgeous day! The only sad part of the day was finding out how awfully out of shape we both are - both of our legs were burning pretty badly.


While we were taking in the gorgeous views and the stellar conditions on the slopes, Anna was hanging out with farmor and farfar around the lodge. As you can see, she was having a pretty good time too...

Happy Belated Birthday Toby!

We hope that Toby had a fantastic birthday yesterday. We were thinking about him over here in Vancouver, but somehow never made it to the phone until today. Hopefully he got the message that we left on his daddy's phone.

We've had a mellow day at home today, with a few things getting done around the house (the trim is almost done - yahoo!), and some relaxed knitting happening on the couch. Tomorrow it's out in the sun and snow...

Happy New Year!!!

We were 1.6 cm away from having the record for the most snowfall ever in December in Vancouver, and then it started snowing at about midnight.  Too late for the record, but crazy weather for Vancouver anyway.  

We spent new years eve having a yummy dinner with Solweig and Bengt, and then headed over to Mark and Jane's to ring in the new year.  Anna didn't quite make it 'til midnight...