On the Upside

Thoughts on two challenges connected to a life in Vienna that makes it feel rewarding and worthwhile.

Silja's vocabulary is rapidly expanding these days, and it is mind-blowing to see how she picks up three different languages like the most natural thing in the world. In daycare she says Papa Arbeit, Auto, geh mal and baba (see you) The other day they were playing outside when Bjarni came to pick her up, and one of the teachers said to her: Du musst an die andere Seite gehen Silja - and she turned around and walked the other way to the slide. Bjarni and I are looking at each other and are like: Whoa!  

I have requested a copy of my journal at the hospital where I gave birth. I need it because I had a complicated birth, which has led doctors to suggest a C-section might be better next time. I got the copies a while back, and it's strange to to look through them and, in medical terms and handwriting I can barely make sense of, be reminded about the crazy intense experience a birth is. When I think back I'm quite stunned that I managed that whole thing in a language I only master on an intermediate level. So in addition to the informative purpose the documents serve, they are nice little cue to myself that I gave birth in German! And hey, if I can do that, I can do pretty much anything.

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Fasching

We have been celebrating Fasching over the last couple of days. Eating fastelavnsboller, the Danish equivalent of Krapfen with Danish and German friends, and today Silja celebrated the festivities in Kindergarten dressed up as a little lamb -- very Icelandic.

Today we have settled where we will stay in Boston until the end of August. Turns out we will have a garden over the summer. Oh yeah!

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Brazilian Generosity

South west of Vienna, far far away in the tropics of Brazil has a sweet old grandmother made four pairs of soft knitted baby shoes for Silja. I got them earlier this week, when I met with my dear friend Priscilla for lunch. She went back home to do fieldwork in Brazilian prisons over the summer (yeah, forget about my coffee dates with skilled migrants in Vienna...) and the grandmother gave her a bag with more shoes for the friend in Austria, who had a baby. She also provided two pairs when Silja was newborn. Oh well, now they don't fit. In fact we need to go and buy new shoes, because those feet are growing so fast, but we'll save these little ones well, and hopefully the hand-knitted goods from a Brazilian grandmother will eventually fit someone else's tiny feet.

Have a happy weekend!

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Busy, but

when they call from day care and ask you to come and pick up a little one, who is sitting with a red swollen eye (allergic reaction?), you of course don't care about the abstract meta-theoretical texts you are reading, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense anyway. And when the little one wakes up after her nap, the swollen-ness gone, you of course suck the marrow out of that afternoon with apple/cinnamon buns, somersault in the bed and drawings of shoes (go) and cats (mao), which is all the little one cares about, when it comes to drawing.

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Nein

Last week our little Wiener kid said her first word in German: Nein!

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...

"There is no better way to understand just how amazing humans are than the front row seat a child gives you to observe it all unfold from scratch each and every day, from literal square zero. Children give the first four years of your life back to you."

Currently phones and hats (in various forms) are hot hot stuff...

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Family and Fall

Just a real quick post about the latest here. Silja thankfully recovered quite quickly, and Bjarni was able to change his return flight and came back five days before planned (relief!). He was celebrated with balloons, strawberry cake, and two happy family members who had missed him, upon his return.

Having our little unit complete again and not dealing with all that dissertation craziness, things are returning to normal, which is GREAT! I am currently trying to catch up on my studies, preparing for next week's exam, while the other two are having a laid back time; I came back the other afternoon to a completely quiet apartment. I suppose jetlag goes well with a little one, who is still a little more tired than usual after being sick.

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On a different note fall in Vienna is looking its most beautiful at the moment. Despite the gloomy weather all the different colors are absolutely stunning.

That's it for now. Happy Weekend!

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Frauen Power

I came across the Frauen Power tea in a store recently, and bought it sort of jokingly to be prepared for two weeks home alone, while Bjarni is in LA. We got another week to go, and it's gone pretty smooth thus far, except today Silja is sick. Again. Ugh! This is the 3rd time in two months. Last time was otitis, and now it seems like some virus is being passed around in Kindergarten. Poor little kid! She's been tied to my hip today. We tried to make a collage with the free stickers you now get at the local grocery store, when I ran out of other hip- and fever friendly things to do. It turned out to be a project more for the mommy though (who nevertheless got into it..)

When not ill, she is currently busy finding and trying on her cousins' pink shoes that have been handed down to her. They almost fit now. I hope she's into pink shoes again tomorrow; otherwise I definitely need more Frauen Power.

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Silja. In Motion.

I was filming Silja a little bit throughout the day yesterday, initially to show my sister Helle her walking around, but got a little carried away when I was sitting with all the little pieces at the computer, and decided to combine them all, so that our families in both Denmark and Iceland can get a feel for her current state of being, since it's going so super fast. So here she is, 14 months and on a constant move.

http://vimeo.com/29927467

(Music by Mae: A melody, a memory)

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Inside Outside

Pictures from the weekend that started out with a sick kid with fever, which resulted in staying indoors and an Italian cake baking project with fresh figs that turned out amaazing, and ended with a healthy baby (yay!) and a trip to the park.

And PS. I'm still dreaming of hammocks... We are currently discussing whether or not the hammock project would work in Boston. To ship or not ship a hammock?

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She's got it!

She has been walking around with her little push cart for months, took her first solo steps three weeks ago, and this weekend she let go of the hands, didn't rely on any encouragement, and I could peak into the living room and see her walking around all by herself. Oh, are we proud!

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Ozean

We finally made it to the Ozean exhibition at the kid's musuem at MQ. Next time we'll drag Bjarni along. I think he will like it too.

Bliss

Day care is shut down for a week for maintenance purposes, which means I got a good excuse to put my studies on stand by for a little bit and hang out with Silja full time. So I am currently the mommy strolling through the sunshine with a coffee in hand and lots of time to stop and explore all the things that catch those little curious eyes. It's the greatest! Bjarni, who is green with envy of our vacation mode, compensated tonight by a large pitcher of Sangria. I'm sure that makes for some great research.

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Hot hot hot!

Today was one of those days, where everything seem to happen at a slower pace due to the weather. 36 degrees. That's HOT for Northern European like us. It was too late, too hot and presumably too crowded to head to the public swimming pools after returning from day care, so what to do then? We ran to the nearest spot in the shade in the park with a washing tup with cold water, which made it out for our own teeny little kiddie pool. Silja was entertained, and I got to lay down and close my eyes for a little bit. Not bad at all!

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One

Earlier this week our little Anna Silja turned one. She has gone from a helpless little bundle to a little person with her own way of being, her own will and preferences (which is expressed quite clearly at times despite the lack of verbal skills!) Some of her current favorites include dogs, her own toes, blueberries, eating with a fork, books (she loooves books), pigeons, standing without support, snuggling and dancing.

She seems to respond equally well to both Icelandic and Danish (German I don't know), but is still saying just a couple of words (in Danish). We are having a lot of fun with the baby sign language, which she has been actively using the last three months.

This past year has been what I expected beforehand in terms sleep deprivation, stinky diapers, piles of laundry and endless love and admiration for this little being that is ours. Even though I guess it's all more intense than you can prepare for. What is still surprising (even though you hear it all the time) is how crazy fast time goes by with a child. That and to experience the drive such a little human has to learn and acquire new skills. Sure we are there to provide support along the away, but the turning around, sitting up, crawling and walking all happens by itself. That's pretty damn amazing!

We are so happy for our little big girl, who is perfect just the way she is.

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Little Tornado

This little tornado is now all over the place, leaving behind trails of mess. As soon as she's eyeing an open closet, drawers, or the dish washer she speed crawls to explore what is hidden inside, before it is closed again. Many of them she has already figured out to open by herself. I'm too busy to keep a regular schedule with the gym at the moment, but following behind in those trails I suppose is keeping me in some form of shape as they are repeated several times a day...

Today she is 11 months, and it seems so surreal we will celebrate her first birthday in just a month. What happened to our teeny tiny baby?

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Balance

Today has been quiet and unproductive. We got a bit of a crazy (but fun) schedule ahead of us with trips to Germany, Hungary and Denmark spread out over the next five weeks, which coincide with the spring semester going into intensive mode. I could use a little more time to balance it all out, but I'm ready to roll with it and will focus on all the sweet people we are soon to see again rather than paper deadlines, thesis proposal and exams.

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Wednesday

Morning: Studying | Midday: Class | Afternoon: Playing | Evening: Zzz'ing

Schönbrunn Again

We have had an amazingly relaxed Easter with lots of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather, eating lamb Sólvallagata-style and putting together those little toys of Kinder Überraschung, which made for the Easter eggs this year. As we have started to discuss and semi-plan in more concrete terms what will happen after our stay in Vienna, I suddenly find myself being nostalgic about all the things I have come to cherish here and all those things I/we still haven't done (which is a lot!). I should make a list!

Pictures from today's trip out to Schönbrunn

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