So last week, Henry was sick. And this week I am sick. Not sure if it’s the same cold, but if Henry felt this sick then I AM SO SORRY BABY!
But in other news, we have moved back home. There is still loads of construction work, but it’s good to be home. After a day of intense cleaning our apartment looks almost normal. Except we sold our dining table so we eat all of our meals on the floor. But whatever.
I can’t really form more coherent sentences now, so I’ll say goodbye now.
We are over being vagabonds now. We want to go home. Soon. Thursday.
Poor Henry got a very nasty cold Thursday night and nothing is worse than a sick baby. But being a sick baby when you are away from home, that is not a lot of fun either. We are really ready to go home and if we have to be sick, at least be sick there.
But maybe he’s getting better? Lots of naps, steam sessions in the bathroom, and mamma cuddles. There is’t a whole lot you can do when your baby is sick, just hold them close and make them feel safe and comfortable.
I am about to join him for a nap now, because a sick baby also means a very tired mamma.
Radio silence in these parts. Sorry about that. We’re still living out of a suitcase, trying to escape the renovations at our place. It is so noisy and dusty, it’s not exactly the nicest being at home with Henry when your walls are shaking from all the drilling so we moved down to Skåne for a few weeks.
Malmö is such a small city, we’ve been walking everywhere. We’ve been here for almost a week and yesterday was the first day I used any form of public transportation and that was just the train to Copenhagen- because walking to Copenhagen from Malmö would be a very long walk.
Needless to say my legs look awesome but my feet very sore.
I guess it doesn’t look like it in this picture, but this kid is so cuddly these days. He loves hugs and being spooned during nap times. He’ll grab my arm as he’s falling asleep and hold it tight and even tighter right as I’m trying to sneak away.
He can crawl now (!!!) but isn’t so fast that he’s sneaky about grabbing things that he shouldn’t. Still, time to baby proof.
And he babbles. I thought he never would. But one day he just started “ba ba-ing” up a storm. And isn’t it revolutionary when they can hold their bottles themselves? FREEDOM!
He’s a happy, goofy, very drool-y boy. That boy of mine. He still has no teeth.
This picture is of me and Gillis. We decided to go to a park on a sunny and somewhat warm day and guess what? Henry was napping, so it was kind of like a mini date. And it was pretty awesome.
During our days, Henry and I meet a lot of friends, go on a lot of walks, sometimes we play with other babies, or take naps, and we always find time for a latte or cappuccino. Now that the weather is nice, we get to sit outside a lot. So great. And rhubarb pie, even greater. This stage in Henry’s babyhood is so lovely. I feel like “I got this” and I think I really do. But don’t quote me on that, because I’m pretty sure I’ll make some mistake like forgetting diapers next time we’re out.
And finally I’ll leave you with this. This is what it looks like at 21:00 in Sweden on May 1st. That light!
We arrived back to Sweden safe and sound on Friday afternoon. It was a long trip, but it was fine. Since then we have been busy. Unpacking, napping, organizing, unpacking some more, and just trying to get things back to normal.
But it’s not normal: The jet-lag going to Europe is killer and Henry keeps waking up around 22:00 and throwing a fuss-party until midnight. He then sleeps until 9:00-10:00 which I don’t mind because OH I AM SO TIRED but it doesn’t help our schedule in any way.
And I miss Texas. I miss my mom and family and grandmother who was admitted into the hospital while we were traveling back to Sweden. I miss how easy it was to plan a dinner with my parents. And silly things like cheap but good tacos or Happy Hour.
And then Gillis was home with us for three weeks. And now he is back at work. I miss him too. It was nice having him there, helping with Henry, and just being around. It’s a bit lonely at home now.
And speaking of home. Our building is being renovated. They are doing a complete makeover and it’s NOISY. There is drilling and scraping and loud bangs at 7:00… and throughout the day. They have a big plastic sheet covering the building so you can’t see the sky. It’s a bit of a downer. It will last till June.
The homesickness gets easier with each passing day. Our routine will be normal again and our building will look so lovely come June. But right now it is hard. I miss home, but I am home. It’s a weird feeling. It’s a lonely feeling. But it’s the life I chose and it’s a good life. It really is. I just feel a bit down now.
We leave on Thursday for Sweden. It feels like these last three weeks were a blur and we are just now starting to ease into the groove of American life. But it’s always like that, isn’t it?
It’s always bittersweet leaving Texas. I am excited to go home and sleep in my own bed but I will miss my family like crazy. I was telling my grandmother that I am homesick for Texas, but it gets easier when you’ve been away for awhile. The sting will lessen after a few weeks and we will go about our life in Sweden as normal.
But we’ve had a great trip. A fantastic, crazy busy, ridiculously amazing trip. And I thought I would share a bit of it today.
Henry got to meet his great-grandmother. I love my grandmother and have so many fond memories of her from when I was a child. She was a red head, just like me and Henry (although my hair is much, much darker now!)
We had some ridiculous breakfasts such as breakfast tacos and red velvet pancakes AT THE SAME TIME.
Henry started to rock on all fours and is so close to crawling. Any day now. Any day.
We celebrated Easter and our kid loved playing with his Easter basket, it was basically the highlight of his trip.
And dressing him like a classic Southern baby was the highlight of ours. :)
We got to go on two dates (!!!) one, to FT33, where Top Chef contestant, Josh Valentine is the pastry chef (!!!) and another at Hattie’s where we had delicious drinks like a Sweet Tea Martini and fried green tomatoes for an appetizer.
I wore fancy dresses from JCrew on both our dates because I never have an opportunity to wear a fancy dress in my daily life. There is something so refreshing about getting dressed up.
Gillis got to spend a lot of time with Henry. Since Gillis is usually at work during the day, this vacation was a great way for both him and Henry to bond and hang out.
And we had the loveliest family photos taken by my friend and photographer, Christina Childress, who did just the most amazing job. I can’t wait to have some of these printed to hang on our walls back in Sweden.
So you know, basically it’s the greatest trip and if I could blend my Swedish life and my Texan life into one then I totally would.
PS. Henry has started to laugh at everything these days. It’s the sweetest sound.
On our third day in Austin we again had breakfast tacos and coffee- but this time it was too cold to eat outside. We barely packed any cold-weather clothes for our trip, so we were freezing most of the day. It’s ironic because we have scarves and sweaters galore back in Sweden…
Since the weather wasn’t the best, we holed up in our hotel room until a bit before lunch. We went to Elizabeth Street Cafe, which was incredibly busy. Gillis said it was a bit “girly” but he enjoyed fried shrimp and yams, I had a lemongrass tofu bahn mi, and we both had spring rolls and Vietnamese coffee. It was totally delicious.
After that we had to try a doughnut from Gourdoughs, which was right next door. Their gourmet doughnuts are ridiculously good. Gillis had one with bacon and maple syrup and I had one with cherry sauce and cake mix powder!
After napping again at the hotel (you spend a lot of time at your hotel when traveling with a baby!) we met an old high school friend of mine for drinks and dinner.
We decided to try East Side King, which is co-owned by Top Chef, Paul Qui. And unfortunately I was so disappointed! East Side King is made up of several food trucks all located at different bars.
First of all, it wasn’t a good day to have food from a food truck, the weather was crummy. Secondly, since all of the trucks are located at bars they have a strict 21 and Up policy- which even applies to babies! I guess Henry would kill the vibe at the bar? We got there around 6:00- so it was still early enough that any bar we went to wouldn’t be noisy or rowdy, especially on a Wednesday evening.
The only East Side King that wasn’t at a bar (where you had to go through the bar to gain access) was at The Grackle and they just had outside seating, and it was freezing… so you know the whole mood was killed and it was just off. The food was fine and I’m sure with better weather we would’ve loved it, but we were all pretty miserable.
Besides his sweater, we wrapped Henry up in a thick towel to keep him warm!
The rest of the evening was really cozy, Gillis and I watched The Graduate in bed with Henry snuggled between us. So basically it was the best night ever despite our culinary misadventures.
We left on Day 4, but not before posing on the side of Jo’s:
And having breakfast at Walton’s Fancy and Staple, which an incredibly cute diner/event planning store and is also owned by Sandra Bullock.
The drive back to Dallas was a little over 3 hours and we were happy to be “home.” I am looking forward to visiting Austin again in warmer, much warmer weather!
On our second day in Austin, I snuck out of the hotel early for coffee and breakfast tacos from Jo’s Coffee, which is right next door to our hotel. While Henry slept, Gillis and I had tacos on the patio.
After that we walked around the neighborhood and saw a lot of cute houses and amazing desert plants like aloe and cactus growing. I loved it. We decided to go to the South Congress Cafe for brunch/lunch where I had a half order of migas and Gillis had a salad with ahi tuna. I also had the a delicious Bloody Mary.
Gillis had a meeting in the afternoon, so while Henry napped in his stroller I had a coffee and then walked up to Hopdoddy’s to try their vegetarian burger. I think the salad I had the night before was better.
When Gillis came back we went for a drive and on our way back we found the most amazing home decor store, Spartan, which had the perfect mix of Scandinavian minimalism and crazy desert ware. I picked up a few items (and went back the next day!) and also a few things from Uncommon Objects on South Congress.
That night we met my cousin for dinner at Z Tejas, but it was raining so hard that it not only flooded the pathways of our hotel but it made it hard to see when driving. Z Tejas was surprisingly good and fresh, I had the veggie tacos with added spice and Mexican cheese.
It continued raining and raining and raining the rest of the evening, but there is something so peaceful about falling asleep while it’s raining.
Stay tuned for Days 3 and 4!
So for part of our big Texas trip we decided to take a mini-vacation down to Austin. I have only been here a handful of times and Gillis has been once, bit it’s a city that we both enjoyed.
After reading reviews we decided to stay at the Hotel San Jose, which is amazing. There is this lovely garden, which smells like wisteria and has a cute little pool and a large patio for drinks. It’s just green everywhere, this little oasis in the middle of busy Congress Street.
We haven’t even been here a night, but I love this hotel. The staff is super friendly, the location is excellent, and it’s so design-y but also minimalistic. Both Gillis and I agreed that our next house would be decorated exactly like Hotel San Jose.
(PS. All of their bath products are Malin + Goetz, which smell amazing!)
After checking in to the hotel, we immediately went on the Austin Duck Adventure Tour. It starts in downtown Austin and then after viewing a few historic sites, the bus turns into a boat and takes you into Lake Austin!
It was super touristy but so much fun. The weather was perfect and if it had been any hotter, we would’ve been miserable- but there was a cool breeze on the lake and we enjoyed the all of the Texas history that Austin has to offer.
After our tour, we went back to the hotel and Gillis put Henry down for a much needed nap and I went out shopping on Congress Street. My main goal was to buy shorts and swimsuits since it is hot here! It was a successful trip, but I’m not so sure about the swimsuit I picked up from American Apparel. It’s a one piece, but their stuff is still a little bit too much for me.
We spent the rest of our evening enjoying drinks on the patio (!!!) and then eating at Hopdoddy for an amazing burger (said Gillis) and a refreshing salad (says me!) and then ice cream from Amy’s and more drinks!
And now we are sitting out on our little patio with the door cracked so we can hear if sleeping Henry wakes. There’s nice music streaming from the main patio and a warm breeze hitting the leaves. Pretty amazing.
Austin, I think I love you.
The photo above is from this morning on our way into Austin. We stopped for breakfast tacos and had to take a picture with the longhorns. :)
Photo taken at 5:00 am, Stockholm, Sweden on Thursday. This feels like it was weeks ago, but we are now in Texas! It was an almost 24 hour day of travel and everyone, even little Henry, did fantastically!
We will be here for three weeks and sometime, when Henry isn’t trying to help me type, I will share some of our experiences.
Until then, hej då!
Today my baby turned six months old. That’s half a year of Henry being here and half a year of me being a mom. Which basically means everything has completely changed since six months ago, heck everything has completely changed since the day I found out I was pregnant.
Let me tell you, the first three months are slow. They are slow and weird and foggy and emotional and you feel like this weird shell of yourself. It’s strange, because you can remember your life Before Baby, you can even say things like, “A few weeks ago we went on a date to that little Italian place,” and you will remember that it was just you and your significant other. You will remember what it felt like to just be two. And then WHAM.
Baby.
And you’re tired, and so sweaty (I can’t be the only post-pregnant woman who gets super sweaty?!) and you’re so in love with this tiny person who screams and cries and snuggles and life has just changed. And life Before Baby seems far away and close at the same time. It’s a hard place to be. You are never really prepared.
I didn’t start to feel like myself until about three months in. And even then it was a different version of myself. It was a mom version of myself and a bigger-hearted version of myself. It was someone who constantly checked to make sure their baby was breathing when he was napping, but also someone who made sure to take a shower- even if the baby was upset.
Those first three months were all about being comfortable and confident in my new role as mom. And in my relationship with Henry, his relationship with me, and about me and Gillis and us together as parents, and us together as us. Those are a lot of changes.
And I think sometimes people forget that and they try to make it how it used to be. But really, it’s not at all how it used to be. It’s harder. It’s better.
Once I became more confident in my version of motherhood, I think I was finally able to relax and marvel at this little human who is by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever known. And that’s the thing: I get to know him. It’s a privilege, really.
If those first three months were so slow, these past three have sped by. Too fast. I love this stage of Henry. All gummy, gooey smile. Crinkly eyes that are filled with such wonder and happiness and complete adoration. Doughy fat folds and a squishy belly. He rolls himself up into a ball and hugs his arms around me when I carry him. He smiles at his reflection in the mirror, he smiles at me, at Gillis, and at strangers. He just started laughing.
And oh my, it’s a really dorky laugh.
He grabs at everything and it all goes into his mouth. He can sit. Kinda. And roll over and he swims across our floor, because he has no idea his legs are made to move him. He loves his toes. And hands. And my hands too.
The joy in this child is incredible. It’s addictive. And watching it develop and grow, watching him, is simply the best.
I get it. I get why parents are so obsessed with their children. Because kids (most likely your own) fill your heart up to a point you never knew was possible. You dream big for them.
Today Gillis asked me, “do you think that Henry will ever be the best of something? Like the best in the whole world?” To be honest, I had never thought of that, but I love that Gillis did.
All of it. The hard and the bad and the good and the love, all of it- is more than I imagined it to be. Which, I think, is the best gift someone could ever give me. A life more than I ever imagined it to be.
