Holiday Friends

Odin has many friends in Sweden! Yesterday we visited with Peder, Lena, Arvid, Joar and Cornelia. Below Cornelia's father, Peder, tries out what it would be like to have twins...

Odin is especially fond of Joar...He sat with him relaxing in the bean bag for some time.
Today we visited with Torgny, Maria, Evalina, Lovisa and Hedvig. Evalina and Lovisa are great babysitters, but Odin's favorite is Hedvig (the 6 year old daughter). While Hedvig was sitting by the Christmas tree, Odin walked up to her, turned around, and backed up until he was touching her, then sat down. Very cute!

Sledding

Today we took Odin out on one of his Christmas presents, a pull-behind sled for toddlers. It was rather cold, so we really had to bundle up, but Odin still had a lot of fun even with all the layers!

In Sweden gifts are opened on Christmas Eve, so we followed the new tradition. Odin had a lot of fun tearing things open and playing with the boxes, paper, and ribbons. Oh, and also the toys!

More WATER!!

We have recently moved our water playing activities into the bathroom so Mom doesn't have to clean up water (our bathroom floor is heated so the water dries really quickly) and Odin absolutely has a blast. Every time we go in the bathroom he climbs up on the chair and squeals with delight...he can turn the water on and off and adjust the flow of water without any help. He's also pretty good about turning the water off when we ask him..."Odin the water is going to overflow, you need to turn the water off and let some drain!"
Although Odin really loves splashing in the water most, he also enjoys checking himself out in the mirror...
The only part about water play that Odin doesn't like is when it comes to an end...if we don't have a good distraction for him, leaving the sink can result in one serious heartbreaking tantrum!

Early this week we were blanketed with snow and it seems every night we get a little bit more. We are now living in a cold winter wonderland. The snow is so beautiful and it really helps brighten this amazingly dark place. Today the sunrise was 9:30 and sunset 1:45! But we will be getting more light starting tomorrow; today is the Vintersolståndet (Winter Solstice).

First Love

At Open Preschool Odin found his first love...today was the St. Lucia celebration and there were many girls to choose from. Odin walked over to one attractive (although bald) Swedish little girl and decided she was to be his! He gently patted her a few times and then leaned in for a kiss! He went on to play with other toys and children, but came back to the lucky girl three times for more kisses! The love-sick Odin with a happy father watching his daughter being courted by Odin.

"Your lips are so sweet..."

"Hey dude, I'm only one-year old!"

Swedish Tree

Today we ventured out into the forest to get a Christmas Tree. We went to some local forestland owned by one of Kenneth's friends in Umeå.

We left a little "late" in the day and it started to get dark on us! I believe this picture was taken at 2pm. But we were able to find the perfect one...
Kenneth and Anita helped us in finding our perfect tree and then made Odin super happy by giving him a special ride back to the car.

Open Preschool

Sweden is a great place to raise children. There are playgrounds everywhere (no kidding, you can walk 5 minutes from one set of swings to the next), walking paths all around, nature trails to explore, and best of all there is Open Preschool!

Open Preschool isn't what it sounds like...you don't drop your child off and expect them to be "schooled." Instead you GO WITH your child and PLAY with them and other children (and other parents). Odin typically goes with mom to open preschool two mornings a week. There are anywhere from 10-30 other kids to play with and all the toys you can imagine!

Open Preschool goes from 8am - noon (but we rarely make it there by 8am!). It always ends with group songs. Mom hopes Odin is learning a little Swedish by listening to folks sing in Swedish.

During the singing children tend to sit on their parents laps...but not Odin! He'd rather go around the room greeting everyone.

And he also likes to dance while we are singing.

Dishes

Tonight after dinner we decided to let Odin do the dishes...
He had a blast!

But got water everywhere!

So mom had to mop the floor afterwards, but that was OK b/c Odin...

had already vacuumed!