Sabine’s Blog

Chère Liv Marie, (petite choupinette)

When you turned three months, we were at the cabin on Erleholmen in Godøysund. The first time we went there you liked it a lot, you were very calm and slept a lot… The second time was a different story.
This third month, went by quickly and was really marked by the absence of poop! Yes, it seems that I have spent the month of July waiting for you to poop. The first part of the month, you pooped about twice. For the second time, we waited 10 days! And the three days before it finally came you cried, farted a lot and finally you were relieved before sleeping one night! We never thought we would be so excited about a poop!

The following week we were getting ready to go to Bergen for two weeks. We had friends over for dinner on Wednesday and you cried because you did not want to sleep. It was a wonderful evening, we were sitting outside, the sky was clear and we could see miles away. No wonder you wanted to hang out with us on the porch.

The following days it became increasingly hot and I avoided going outside with you, staying in our cool basement apartment. Somewhere in there, your sleep rythm must have been disturbed and you cried more than usual especially when tired. We would wait for the cooler evenings to walk you in the pram, but even then you cried two nights in a row.

We drove to Bergen on a scorching hot day. We left a 10 am and it was already about 30 oC. You were good and slept a lot in the car. We stopped to pick nick and had to protect you from hungry mosquitoes. We stopped often to make you eat and drink. I was concerned that you were sitting in the chair for so long and that it would not be good for your back mussles. After 6 pm, you started crying understandably fed up to be in the hot and dry air-conditioned car for so long. I sat next to you giving you foot massages to sooth you.

Our first week in Bergen was marked by hot hot weather…which disturbed your sleep. You started not wanting to nap in the afternoons. But of course, it must have been disturbing for you to be in the car and in a different place every day, meeting all those different people… You met your grand-daddy and granny from Florida for the first time! Granpa Vigar was very moved to meet you! The first Sunday in Bergen, we went on a boat trip with uncle Atla’s boat.  It was fantastic and you did actually sleep for a while inside the boat, that day. After that, we swam in the fjord everyday, the only way to find relief from the heat. Your uncle Kristian even watched you once while me and daddy went swimming.

On Wednesday night, we went to the cabin with your other granma. Your great gran ma joined us the next day. It continued being hot and you found it more and more difficult to nap in the afternoon. Instead, you got cranky and cried much letting your granma and great granma think that you were a fussy baby! Everyday became a struggle to make you sleep… Strangely enough, you slept well all night waking only for feed and sleeping again immediately. Then there were some tensions because it was not easy to be in that small space with people that are not used to babies anymore. Then they left, the weather cooled down (we were even glad it was raining!) and you relaxed a bit with your parents. We put you in the shade for a morning swim, carried you to pick mushrooms and for a walk in the islands. You nap only in your pram, in the Baby Bjorn, in the car or in a boat…

The big change was that we tried to make you sleep in your crib instead of in bed with us. Since you are so sleepy at night now, it worked!! You have since been sleeping in your little crib on the lamb skin and me and your daddy sleep a little better with fewer back and neck cramps.

Finally, we came back to civilization on Thursday. There we went to aunt Ida’s birthday party. It was fun with lots of people and food and cakes. But again maybe a bit too much hassle for a little baby. You power napped on the sofa and then were carried by uncle (in fact your great uncle) Ketil who loves babies! Then we said goodbye to everybody and your gran pa and ma from Florida who were a bit sad because we don’t know when they’ll see you again.

So came the end of our vacation in Bergen. I took the train with you on Friday while daddy drove across country. On the train, you slept for three hours straight rocked by the movements and the sounds!!  But then, you had gotten up earlier that morning…

July 11, 2008. Today it has been two years exactly since we moved from Iowa after selling our house. Two years after, I am still dreaming of visiting the house. Selling this house has been one of the saddest recent events for me.

In all those dreams, I get there and I want to see what changes have been made. The owner lets me in. I go around the garden and see all the flowers that I planted. Then I go inside and room after room, I see what they have done. Sometimes, I am appalled by the changes, sometimes, I do not recognize the house. Sometimes, I am reassured.

In the latest dream about the house, I took Liv with me to show her around.

Recently, we saw that “our” house was resold again this year! It felt weird.

We are now looking for a new house in Bergen but somehow I think that my Iowa house will never be replaced.

Vidéo filmée le 16 juin 2008:

I am amazed at the delicious food that we manage to eat in our household of “newly-baked” parents! That’s called team work But the meals are simple and with fresh, seasonal ingredients, they usually only take about 30-40 min preparation.

Here are the menus for this week:

Sunday: Ricota and mushroom stuffed pasta shells.

Monday: Cantaloupe melon and Serano ham, mozarella and tomatoes with fresh basil, variety of cheeses.

Tuesday: Stir fry of chicken with sweet peas, zucchinis and spring onions, accompanied with creamed carrots.

Wednesday: Fresh tagliatella with vegetables (zuchinis, sweet peas and red sweet pepper) and shrimps in a crème fraîche sauce. Strawberries and vanilla ice-cream.

Thursday: Homemade herbed hamburgers, grilled zucchinis and potatoes, lettuce salad. Homemade chocolate mousse.

Friday: Half-homemade fish soup with cod and shrimps served with rice.

Miam, miam!

Cousin Arthur à 8 mois.

Liv à 2 mois.

En tant qu’alsacienne, j’aime bien faire une pâtisserie par week-end (une tradition de là-bas).

Dimanche dernier, j’ai fait un gâteau au fruits rouges norvégiens: un génoise, puis une crème patissière et enfin des fraises, framboises et fraises des bois..

It is a tradition to make one cake each week-end in Alsace. Last Sunday, I made this strawberry, raspberry and wild strawberry cake. The fruits were all from Norway.

30 seconds of peaceful sleep (with the fist and thumbs up)!

shot when Liv was 5 weeks old.

30 secondes de sommeil paisible (mais avec le poing et le pouce)!

Filmé quand elle avait 5 semaines.

On June 20th, we went to the cabin, Kaspar’s mum drove us to the ferry. We had planned this week-end around St Hans to enjoy the longest Norwegian summer day at the cabin. But it was cold and rainy. I changed to a wool sweater on the ferry to Tysnes (this is typical for the middle of June on the west coast). A taxi was waiting for us to take us to where the boat is. Kaspar got a ride from a German couple to the little motor boat. During that time, Liv woke up and started to cry for hunger. I breastfed her squatting down under the mailboxes, swaddling her in a blanket! She did not seem to mind. We were just done when Kaspar came with the boat and it started to rain. We packed Liv in a life vest that proved to be too big and covered the upper part of the pram with the rainproof plastic cover. Liv made big eyes the whole way to the cabin, not crying but staring intrigued. I was worried she would be cold despite the fact that she was wearing several layers of wool! The first evening was spent by the fireside while enjoying warm tea…

Wenche and Kristian joined the next day with a new fridge. Kaspar had set the net the night before but all we got was a mean crab and lots of sea weed and a couple of jelly fish.

The weather was ok on Saturday, meaning that we could go outside part of the day without getting soaked. In the Baby Bjørn, I took Liv on a tour around the island. On Sunday it was cold and rainy most of the day. I spent my time by the fireside with Liv sleeping on my chest while Kaspar and Kristian worked on replacing the fridge and arranging the kitchen.

We caught a fish in the net the next day: a flounder with red dots called “rodspete.” The color is not due to some decease and it is actually the best of the flounders (so we learned!) We fried it for dinner and it was indeed delicious.

Liv had a small colic fit on Saturday evening but otherwise, she slept really well all week-end and so did we ! Wenche thinks it is the good air of the fjord while Kaspar evokes the “aura” of the cabin. It is true that that place has always had a relaxing effect on me.

This month, we saw the doctor with Liv Marie at the Helsestasjon. She has gained weight again and at 6 weeks, she weighs 4.340kg! The doctor looked at her without talking or explaining anything. We were wondering. Then she just said everything was ok except for the belly button that had not closed itself. It seems to be an ombilical hernia that goes away by itself. We left unconvinced that this was nothing to be concerned about.

That same week, I went to see my homeopath to get a footsone therapy treatment - in other words, a one hour foot massage followed by a back massage. Liv Marie was with me and during the first hours she was on my chest sucking and sleeping the whole time! It was lovely to get massaged again and it reminded me when we used to go to get massages at Zender’s in Iowa City but this time I was holding on my chest.

One week later, I went for my postnatal doctor check up. The doctor looked at Liv’s belly button again and confirmed that there was a hernia and that there was nothing to do as it should grow closed by itself within the first year. She also recommended drops called antifoam that break down the bubbles that the baby swallows and that creates cramps.

Liv Marie is changing fast. During her second month, her face is becoming more full, her eyes more open. She is putting on more facial expressions and smiles on a daily basis. We are getting better at understanding her desires and pains and interpreting them. She still has colic fits about three times a week although it is getting more and more rare. When it happens, I hurry to make fennel or chamomile tea and crush some chamomile homeopathic granules to give her. We also carry her with the palm of one hand under her belly and her head on the other forearm or try to push her feet up to massage her belly. She eventually calms down after one or two hours and we are not sure our efforts really help.

She has seriously begun to smile and make sounds at her parents. When she has eaten and has no particular air or gas problems, she is happy and smiles and enchant us with mostly vowel sounds like “aahhh” “euhh” “areuh”. Those moments are special and precious.

In mid June, we took a day trip to Tønsberg, 1 1/2 hour south of Oslo along the western side of the Oslo fjord. It was a nice drive on a sunny day with big running clouds. Liv slept the whole way in the “maxi cozy.” We attended a cocktail party for the housewarming of a “konditori”. It was a guy that Kaspar had met in one of his courses. Liv slept on my chest through the noise of the crowd. We got to taste some chocolates and cakes for free. It was more tempting to the eye though than charming to the palate.

The following week-end, We took another trip to Bergen on the train. This time she did not sleep the whole way but woke up more often and slept a good deal on our chests. We took the train together on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, we visited Liv’s great grand mother quickly; just long enough to take a few pictures and drink half a cup of tea. (see next post for a more detail account of the time spent at the cabin).

I took the train back from Bergen with Liv on Tuesday afternoon after meeting Ninni in town. She helped me carry my luggage and saw me off to the train. About 45 minutes before arriving in Oslo Liv pooped! It was all over and I was out of wet cloths! I got the help of a woman with a baby on the train. Phew!

Ahaaa, the poop issue! Since the beginning of June, she does not poop as often as she used to during the first month. It was first every two or three days and the record now is one week! When it comes it is really powerful and covers almost all her body! So we rush to the changing table and the bath!

Liv is now 4,800 kg and two months. She sleeps better at night- between Kaspar and I- but still wakes up every two, sometimes three or four hours to eat but falls asleep again soon after. Often, I doze off and wake up to find her still attached to my breast a few hours later!

What is new is that she can spend a few minutes in bed awake and chatting without crying. She also seems to enjoy the little rocking chair (what is that called?) where I put her when I have breakfast. From there she looks at me and makes birdy noises. She is the cutest of all!

It was only after a few weeks at home that I noticed that Liv Marie has a birth mark on her neck.
In Norway, they call it a “stork bite” which we think is really cute; can storks really bite? Do they have teeth? Where does this legend that link storks with babies come from?

Ce n’est qu’après quelques semaines que j’ai découvert que Liv avait une tâche de naissance sur la nuque. En Norvège on appelle cela une morssure de cigogne! Comment est-ce possible? Les cigogne on-t-elle des dents? D’où vient cette légende qui relie les cigognes aux bébés?

Some elements of response here:
Un début de réponse se trouve sur ce site norvégien: storknet.com