Owa update

Charlotte has been bringing me my slippers lately (nice service, eh?) and she tries to put them on my feet. But, when she puts the one on my formerly 'wounded' foot she still says owa! It has been 2 weeks! It probably did not help that when her pappa and I were changing her diaper, we somehow knocked a heavy snowglobe off of her dresser. It was a nice one with a sterling silver plated base and is quite heavy. Nils saved it with his foot so it did not hit the ground. But, ow! He saved it with his foot! And it was the metal edge that dug into his foot when he broke the fall. That was another foot owa. Any tips? I am afraid we have traumatized her!

Chatting

Some more words our little talker has started saying: hat, scarf, eyes, sheep, night-night, boo!, juice, off, cars, outside.

Un

The prefix 'un' is sort of 'u' in Norwegian. So, 'uheldig' as you saw in my prior post means 'unlucky.' Makes sense. But there are some 'u' words that take a little more brain-stretching to understand. Such as 'udyr.' 'Dyr' means 'animal.' So, does 'udyr' mean 'unanimal?' It sort of means 'monster.' And 'uvær' means 'unweather?' It kind of means bad weather or 'storm.'

Owa!

I had a little wound on my foot, and Charlotte became very concerned. I left my sock off so it could dry out and heal, and she would come by me, stop what she was doing, squat down to peer at my foot, cock her head and say "owa!" as if she knew it hurt. She then sat on the couch last night, took her socks off, and examined her feet thoroughly. She picked off little specs of sock dust and said "owa!" I tried to explain that her feet were okay, and Mamma's owa was not so bad either. She does not forget easily, though! This morning when I got her from her crib, she tugged at her socks and said "off" and when i helped her get them off she said "owa" again.

Uheldig

= unlucky. Sometimes one has a streak of bad luck. Mine was this past weekend. I cannot even remember every little unlucky thing since there were so many, but here are some of the lowlights... I tried to wash a chenille blanket. This is something I will never do again! Our washing machine broke down in the process and the blanket came out half of what it used to be. The entire chenille fabric came off! The washer got clogged and Nils and I spent the better part of Sunday night flushing the machine to get all the fluff out. We eventually were successful, but now despise chenille. Then, I thought a workout was in order to relieve some stress. I took Charlotte so she could play in the daycare, but... the daycare employees overslept! No one came even after half an hour so we had to go home. On my way to catch the bus for work this morning, in the rain and slush, I discovered my engagement ring was missing! I had to spend an hour and a half retracing my steps and being late for work. I eventually found the ring at home in our entryway. So, fortunately everything turned out well in the end God proved to be on my side, but my patience was definitely tested.

Bryce

Charlotte misses her cousins dearly. She says their names a lot and she is pretty stuck on saying Bryce. Whenever she sees a picture of somebody and we ask who it is, she says "Bryce!" whether girl or boy, young or old.

Croissants

Nils is a talented baker of yeast breads. This I knew. But... he really knocked our socks off when he made homemade croissants last weekend! What better treat than to wake up on a Sunday morning and dive into a homemade latte and a basket full of fresh buttery hot croissants?

Painting the kitchen

With the New Year comes new projects! Our first one is painting our kitchen. It was a pale whitish/yellowish/green color before that clashed with the cabinetry. So, we bought a bucket of gray and after some cleaning and spackling, we will throw it on the walls and see how it looks. Next project is building a bar/counter with cabinets along an empty wall in the kitchen.

Ice

After a heavy snowfall and warmer temperatures, the whole region here is one big ice-skating rink. I took Charlotte to Solhellinga (daycare) this morning and could not get myself out of the driveway! Completely iced over. I tried putting mats under the back tires, I tried rolling the car onto a patch of snow for a little more traction, but then I just kept slipping closer to the house. The daycare leader had an idea... we took a giant playmat and put it under the back tires too. No luck. Then, she thought of the sand in the sandbox. She put on her boots, I watched the kids, and she went out, sprinkled sand all over and got the car out! When I pick her up, I think I will skip the car, put on my boots, and walk.

Inuit babies

I guess we had a long day and were starting to think a little strangely... Nils asked me very seriously, how do the Inuit change their babies diapers? Isn't it too cold to get the baby naked and change a diaper? Good question! I tried to find some info and found that maybe they go diaper free or use sealskin. "Diaper-free parents around the world learn the telltale signs of elimination. For example, a squirm, a particular cry, a certain glint in the eye. We take the infant to a-potty or hold him over a toilet or sink or a tree and say "pee-pee" or make a "ssss" sound - this is baby's signal to let go. Some parents also use sign language."