Her Realm

So this blog being called "Berji's domain" and all, I thought I would tell you how Berji reacts to the new little person in our lives. We had Berji long before we had Eirena, so she is accustomed to new baby noises, smells, etc. And she also knows that little babies (particularly in the winter) mean lots of fuzzy warm blankets. For this little heat seeker, a newborn's accouterments are paradise. There are of course the warm blankets all over the house, ready to grab at a moment's notice. But there is also a nice cozy napping spot, the bassinet. Berji and Eskil often take naps together, on opposites sides of the bassinet, of course. And then there is the activity gym, with its mat covering the cold cement floor. Don't forget us being so tired in the night we don't care or notice if she has wormed her way into the blankets on our bed and is all snuggly that way.
But my favorite was this morning. Dr. Daddy got up early to catch a flight. So Eskil and I woke up too. After Dr. Daddy left, I fed Eskil and convinced him of the beauty of going back to sleep by laying him on my chest. When I woke up, I had snoring and purring on me. Eskil was on my chest and Berji was snuggled in with us, partially on Eskil's feet and under the blanket. Her highness has extended her dominion over yet another mere mortal.

All a matter of leverage

So Eirena finally had her 3 yr old well child check. One of the sheets was a list of accomplishments/capabilities. Eirena could easily do all of them except ride a tricycle. The doctor asked me about this and I told her it was probably more of matter of motivation than skill. So I decided to test my theory. I told Eirena that if she learned to ride her tricycle, pedaling all on her own, she would get a treat. A really big treat. An ice cream treat. That very day, she asked to get out her tricycle and practiced on it, oh 3 times before she could pedal. So, just to make sure this was really a skill, we told her that if she rode her trike from point A to point B at the park, she would get the treat. Yesterday, she did it.

She is still pretty slow, but perfectly capable.

While Eirena was meandering along, Adisu practiced running.
And then took a turn on the tricycle. His legs aren't quite long enough to make the revolution, but other than that he is pretty good. Sheer willpower.

While Adisu was on the tricycle we sent Eirena running.

Look! She almost looks coordinated here!

Kid Pics

Eirena lolling about
great quote: "These cookies are green because they're made of grass." (She was referring to pretend cookies made of the weed... that didn't sound any better, did it?)

Adisu having fun kicking a ball again (after taking a few month hiatus from kicking)

Eskil letting me capture mini smiles finally. He has some really great big ones, but most often he busts those out when he has a nakey bum and I'm not going to take the time to capture pictures then.