Glædelig Jul!

Here are a couple of shots of our holiday season. These are taken at Mortens aunts house where we always gather together the day after Christmas. Max discovered the piano right away and had a good time banging away on that. Christmas Eve was spent at Anni and Jens together with Mortens two aunts, whom are just tons of fun. There was wonderful food, presents and dancing around the Christmas tree. This year, Max got a drum set (still over at grandmas house - thank goodness!), lots of books and parts to his train set plus a handmade train from his grandpa in the States. Mom and Dad are wearing their Christmas presents in the picture!

War wounds

Yes, well, I guess they all have to start somewhere with the first war wounds. Max tripped over the log wall of the sandbox at daycare and split his lip wide open a few days after his birthday. Both Morten and I had our phones turned off, (duh...) so it was Anni that came and got him. She was all butterflies until she saw him sitting there eating soup with a hole in his lip. Still Max, thankfully!

But it did need to be stitched up. Morten was working at the hospital when they drove him up to the ER and he came tearing down in his white coat to help out. They (thankfully) insisted on using a plastic surgeon since lips are quite hard to sew, apparently. He got a little painkiller that worked pretty quick so when the surgeon asked him if he was getting sleepy, he told her "No. I have a pee-pee!" Congratulations, she replied.

It took 4 men, including Morten to hold him down, and that was not a lot of fun for daddy. "I'm done, daddy!", Max told Morten with tears in his eyes and I think Morten would have traded places with him right then. But then it was over, and he was just a little sore for a couple of days.

I didn't get a good picture of him right away so you can see how swollen it got (and for bragging rights..) but here he is sitting on his changing table (also dressed in the new sweater his great aunt knitted for him!) and there you can see his little stitches - all 3 of them.

But as you can see, we spoiled him a bit after and losend the reigns on what he should eat. Of course, he chose always Ice cream.... (sweets always numb the pain, right??)

Silly Goose

Here's Max doing what he loves best these days - playing the drums. "trommer! trommer!" he says (drums! drums!). And there is only one way to make the magic of the drums even better and that is by watching the U2 Vertigo tour DVD every day for the last 2 months. But on the bright side, he now has valuable information like who the leadsinger is: "Bono sings" (that is what he is saying with his fist in the air there...reciting a line from Sunday Bloody Sunday - "we can be one!!). He knows "The EDGE!" plays guitar, Larry plays the drums and Adam is on the bass. I love that band, but we are seriously considering the necessity of getting another DVD before we burn this one. I never thought I could compare U2 to Teletubbies.......

But seriously, the kids got rythme, and I'm not (that) biased! He really can knock out a 1, 1-2; 1, 1-2 beat on his plastic horse. We thought we were imagining, but have captured it on tape. Hopefully can get it on the blog one of these days.

He says himself he is a "Silleh GOOSE!", and here he is, being just that. There is no doubt the boy is 2 years old now - I am literally getting grey hair - but he is a sweet little silly goose, and we wouldn't trade him for the world!

Birthday Boy!

The 22nd of November was Max's second birthday and he celebrated all day long. In the morning, his friends from daycare came by to wish him well. The video at the bottom shows Max's best friends - Magnus (in blue) and Elias (in green). Towards the end of the clip, Silje pops her head in, too.I think Max accidentally pops poor Magnus once with his drumsticks. I can say from experience that I understand why Magnus cries...
But the day was a success! Max showed them (and shared!) all his toys and everyone got to eat homemade rolls ( a Danish tradition), drink juice and cocoa and got a box of raisens. You can also see one of Max's teachers - Anne- in the other shot tickling both Magnus and the birthday boy. Max has a great time at his daycare and we are truly glad for all that they do to make his daily life fun and exciting.
Later that day, it was time for the family celebration. Mom made a chocolate cake with cherries and lots of candles, grandma and grandpa came by (with LOTS of presents) and a good time was had by all. The picture is of Max opening his train tracks that have been lots of fun. He also got books, cars and a guitar.

All Hallows Eve

Halloween is getting to be a bigger holiday over here, but as of yet, kids don't dress up and beg for candy at our doorstep. They wait to do that in February for a holiday called FasteLavn (kids gorge themselves on candy to kick off the fasting period that leads up to Easter...don't we call that Lent in English?)
But to celebrate our own little way, we cut up a Jack-o-Lantern and called him, what else, Jack. Max liked to take his hat on and off and blow out his light and he warmed up our oh-so-dark mornings.

The other shot is just of the booger-bear with his favorite meal: hotdogs! Or, as they are called here, pølser (pr. "puhl-ser").

Max's vocabulary is just huge these days. Conversations revolve around drawing, reading, blocks and Legos, balls, guitars and drums.
In fact, when Max gets home, he doesn't want to watch cartoons or read a Winnie-the-Pooh book: he wants to watch daddys video of the U2 - Vertigo tour. "Guitar-drums!" he says when he walks in the door, "Bono singing", "The Edge", "Larry plays the drums".

What good taste in music our son has!

Our favorites story these days:
There is a Danish phrase "Altså!" (pr. alt-sah), which people use for just about everything. It often has the same meaning as "Oh, man!", but can also be used for "I mean.....", "Uhhhhh....." "Good grief!" and all sorts of other stuff.
So, the other day, Max was begging to taste my coffee. He never gets to, so I thought, sure, why not - then he'll know that he definitely DOESN'T want coffee from now on. So, I put the cup down to his mouth and he took a big drink.
The look on his face was priceless, his nose all scrunched up and his tongue sticking out - as if someone had given him vinegar and poop mixed with a lemon. He looked up at me and said "Altså, mor!" - which translated just perfect to "Good grief, ma! What in the world are you drinking?"

Autumn in Aarhus

It has been a glorious autumn in the frozen north! Usually we are turning up the radiators at the end of September and pulling out our wool sweaters. But we made up for a very wet summer with a lovely fall this year! We got the first frost in early November and that means that the leaves stayed on the trees all the way to the end of October and turned all sorts of colors. There was sunny skies, no wind and no rain (very un-danish in the fall), and that called for weekend trips out to the forrest.

Here we all are out at Moesgaard (pr. "mosegore") enjoying the crisp air. The building in the background is part of a century old flour mill and saw mill. The mill still works and every Sunday, you can go in and see how they ground corn, the old fashioned way. The mill was also attached to a large sawblade. So, it was like a 1900's Wal-Mart: get your flour milled and your logs chopped all at the same place!

None the less, a very cozy place to spend the day. The beach is just off to the right (the river flows directly into the harbor), horses from the neighboring farms ride through, and there are little fish in the ponds that are dammed off from the river.

The pics are pretty self-explanatory: Max with Farmor and Farfar, Max with daddy (Morten), us as a family, the pretty view, and the video is of Max discovering the endless opportunities of Sticks! Guard your face and the family jewels - Max has discovered Sticks!

Buddies

Here are a few of Max's buds.

There's Jonas sitting up there with Max on the pillows. They were watching TV together (Tractor Tom). Jonas is the son of our friends, Amy and Thomas. Further down is Jasmine (that's Max crawling around in the background). She is the daughter of our friends Patricia and David.

The video is of Max and Fillipa. Fillipa is the daughter of our friends Daniel and Mirjam. They go to the same church as we do and the same daycare, so we got to keep Fillipa one evening and the two got along famously.

There are lots of other friends in Max's world (just no pictures!) But at the daycare there is the 3 "M" muskateers (Max, Magnus and Miles) as well as Molly. Whenever we ask Max what he did today at daycare, he says -"Play with cars-Magnus-Miles".

And at church there is also Lucas and Ulf - good playmates one and all. (Hope to get some pictures of the others before long!)

Singin' in the Rain

If you can't enjoy the rain at least a little in Denmark, you'd better move...

Can't beat it, join it!

Summer 2007

What a wonderful summer it's been! There's been lots and lots to do since the boat trip, thanks to farmor Anni and farfar Jens and lots of good friends.
Max got to go several times to the beach and to fun, quaint little towns on the coast when we were allowed to borrow the car.
Farmor and farfar also took Max (and his parents) to a safari zoo. I think the parents and parents in law enjoyed the animals the most, but Max did seem interested in the zebras. But mostly, it was the playground and "eess!" ("is" is the danish word for ice cream) that had Max's attention. Both of which he got lots of, as you can see from the picture of Max with his grandpa Jens.

Then there was a wonderful weekend at a summer house with friends Anders and Diana. They got to play mommy and daddy and the real parents got to play singles again. And with the big yard, the beach close and millions of rocks just begging to be thrown in, it made for fun times for all. And when there was no beach right close at hand, a big tub full of rain water was perfect for chucking the decorative rocks into. The "throw in the rock" game is a true winner and I would bet hours were spent that weekend perfecting the game. You can also see an unsuspecting Max getting ready to be tackled by his daddy. Max was playing soccer but daddy was playing football.....

Then we all got to spend a truly perfect weekend at a Christian summercamp with friends. There was great teaching and a sandbox. Who could ask for more? Somebody else cooked, somebody else cleaned and it didn't matter that Max threw food on the floor. Heaven on earth, I tell you. Here you can see him with our friend Theis. This is another one of Maxs favorite words; "Theis (pronounced Tice)". All men are Theis. When I ask Max if we should call daddy, he gets on the phone and says "Theis". Needless to say, Theis secretly loves this and thus, our kid. Like I said, those who love my kid become dear friends quickly. He and his wife, Allison, took Max occassionaly and let me and Morten play by ourselves. Really great time.

And the last picture is just of Maximus Augustus, playing with a train set he borrowed from his friend, Lucas. He's getting big, isn't he? Not much baby left over our little Gladiator.

Favorite food right now: hotdogs, apples, ice cream.
Favorite toys: cars, tractors, trains, puzzles
Favorite words in Danish: "is" (ice cream)"hvad er det" (what's that?) "Theis", "Olav", "Magnus" (his best friend at daycare)
Favorite words in English: "hotdog", "boat", "mommy", "daddy", "motor"

Boat Ride with Olav and Marie

Morten's aunt Marie and uncle Olav recently bought a boat and offered to take us all three out on one of the lakes close to our home. The lake is actually a series of small connected lakes and springs so it makes for interesting little nooks and crannies; one of which was the perfect spot to go for a swim.
Marie made a lovely lunch and Olav grilled some ribs for us in a shady cove. Max got to run up and down hills, play with other people's puppies and eat lots and lots of fresh snap peas.
Further up the lake, we got to see how the other half lives and cruised by all the "good money" as they call it here. We docked and Marie pulled out coffee and cake and we pretended like we belonged there.

On the return trip home, Max sat with Marie the whole way and the two of them fed the ducks, chatted about the boats motor (Max's new words are "Olav" and "motor"), and then Max crashed out to sleep; first on Marie's lap and then got moved down below deck.
They have a saying here, "Take the child's hand, take the mother's heart." Needless to say, Olav and Marie have this mothers heart.

This was one of those summer days that you remember in your head for a long, long time...."Yeah, that was a great day...."

Spring 2007: One and a half years old

Back in Denmark, there was lots of growing to do and lots of things to see.

Max learned to "back up the truck" and park his little butt in a low chair in the States, and so we kept the tradition going here. This picture shows his expensive new chair (a piece of styrofoam from our new dishwasher - Hallelujah!) Max is a little whirlwind most of the time, but every now and then he likes to take a break and read all by himself. Here he's reading his favorite book, or should I say, favorite page of the book, which is a page of "Tiny Things" from a book he got from Mormor.

The next picture is to show how Max has started wandering around the house. We think he picked it up from watching Teletubbies (which is what he is doing in the next picture). Teletubbies like to put their hands behind their backs and stick out their bellies when the giant windmill signals the antennas on their heads (yes, I know my sense of normal has entered The Fringes) and that is just what Max is doing too. He walks around the house like a little gentleman Teletubby with his hands behind his back all the time.

The next picture is pretty self explanatory...Morten and Max after a bath. Both of my boys get a bit slap happy before bed. Don't want to get into details, but Max's clothes came off, diapers got onto heads and there was just general silliness that evening.

And the last picture is of Max right at 18 months. He's walking (and running) quite well and loves puddles. Here, he has on galoshes and got a chance to splash unhindered about in the muddy water. Another time was less the Kodak moment. We were going to a friend for dinner and would have prefered that he stay clean and dry, but he found a lovely 6 inch deep puddle while we put his stroller away and gathered up his changing bag. By the time we turned around, he had already sloshed in it up to his knees and had a big smile on his face.

Max is chattering away now. He speaks mostly Danish by his own free will, but will say anything you ask him to say, also in English. He has about 100 words, we estimate. As I write this, though, you would think he only had one: Støvsuger. This is the danish word for vacuum cleaner and the boy is obsessed with it. He points at cars, cups, old men, mommy... anything and says Vacuum Cleaner. He uses his spoon, his finger, straws, rubber ducks and whatever else that looks like it might suck dust and pretends that it is a vacuum cleaner. A few days ago, farfar and farmor were driving him home from daycare and they told us that he said it without stopping from the time he got into the car until he got home and could go and find the vacuum cleaner. He won't touch it while it's running though, and would prefer to sit on an arm as it's a noisy pet.

There is a chance that Vacuum Cleaner may soon be replaced by Boat. This is one of the few words Max chooses to use in English. We went to The Tall Ships Race that is being hosted in our city and Max got to see lots of boats. So, now he uses lego plates, plastic bowls and plates as boats while he shouts "BOAT, BOAT" in a deep voice, mimiking the foghorns he heard many times at the boat show.

Getting to be a Big Boy - 13 and 14 months

"Now that I'm over one year old,

knock it off with all that baby stuff, ma." You'd think that's what he would be saying if he could say anything understandable. Right about now, it's all about climbing mountains and rolling tractors. Max is willing to try just about anything and surprises us all the time with how much he can accomplish all by himself. All he needs is about 20 pounds of food everyday and a good nights sleep.

Favorite words right about now are, hands down, Tractor (in English) and Book (in Danish), and Max says them with gusto as often as possible. He can also make the sounds of all sorts of animals and seems to understand everything we say in both English and Danish.

New Year 2007 with MorFar

We also got to spend a few lovely days with Morfar. Grandpa took Max (and parents) to the zoo, to the mall, out on walks and out to eat. We had great weather and had a great time.

The top two pictures are at the zoo in Tucson. We spent lots of time looking at the ducks and the flamingos (and in the shade.)

The bottom two pictures are right outside of the Saguaro National Monument where we stayed. We drug the stroller over hill and over dale to some really neat petroglyphs etched on the rock by the side of an arroyo (dried up river bed). Max was more interested in the saguaros and all the rocks (they're everywhere!!) He tried as much as he could to get out of the stroller and go and touch all those very interesting looking cactus and could spend hours gathering pretty rocks if we would just let him.

Christmas with Mom and Tom

Yes, believe it or not, with all that wonderful sunshine in the background, it WAS Christmas in Tucson!

Here's Max with his grandma (mormor). One shot is him and her looking at the snowglobe (a big hit for sure) and the other is opening presents on Christmas Eve.
There is also one of grandpa Tom and Max taking a walk out in the gorgeous desert landscape on New Year's Eve.

But as you can see, it wasn't all American style: We did reinforce Max's Danish side. Grandma bought Max a viking hat which we tried consistently, but without much success, to get Max to walk around with. And we still put him out for naps in the garden. It was about 20 degrees Celcius every day, so it was more like Danish summer, than Christmas. We loved it!