All the way to the (isle of) Møn!

Last week we rented a car (YES!!) for four days and took a trip down south to the isles of Møn, Falster, and Lolland. The less than two hour car ride brought us out from the city and into some beautiful and very "hyggelig" countryside. Golden fields and rolling hills made us feel that we were almost back home on the Palouse. Of course, the whiff of sea breeze and proud lines of windmills were constant reminders of island life. Hope you enjoy a peek at our first day on the road...

Here's a view of the bridge connecting Zealand and Møn. By the way, Møn is prounced a bit like "moon", so I was kept amused by reminding myself we were taking a trip to the moon! Dumb, but it doesn't take much these days!

Max chillin' in his stroller.

Ruby enjoyed the hiking at Møn's Klint (cliffs) a lot and was always running ahead. I'm not sure how I conned her into holding my hand at this point...

Ruby was excited to "climb" this tree. She immediately noticed the big lump on the trunk which she identified as its "nose"!

...and if it has a nose, it must need a kiss!

Here is a shot of the cliffs. We got there a bit later than we had hoped, so we decided not to hike down as it was getting perilously close to nap time!

Max attempting to amputate Daddy finger with "gum-power".

Those little white specks are sailboats. Ruby is BIG into counting these days, so at every lookout she had to count how many sailboats she could see.

Daddy and his kiddos.

Such a beautiful walk through the forest...

And as I mentioned... we ate our fair share of ice cream and popcicles!

Our cute little Audi station wagon parked to visit an old passage grave. These tombs are thousands of years old and built into a hill and... well, that's about all I know since I refused to go inside because it was pitch dark AND there were approximately ten million mosquitos inside!

Mommy and Ru on top of the passage grave.

Daddy and Ruby... Max was in the car. But don't worry--he was fine--I promise!

Check back soon for more pictures from our mini vacation!

Two Weeks of Daddy

I'm not sure what Ruby's going to do this Monday when Jared has to pack up and head to work! She's become very attached to all this Daddy-time these last two weeks of paternity leave. We've really spent a lot of the last two weeks out and about, which has been wonderful and tiring at the same time. Trips to the library, LOTS of ice cream, swimming at the local pool, and even a real honest to goodness vacation. As usual, I've taken oodles of pictures, so this will most likely be stretched out over a few posts. It's been a hoot--hope you enjoy the photos!


These first photos are from Jared's first weekend at home featuring our two little angels (one complete with wings!) and our best attempts at a family photo. How do you get a two year old to sit still long enough to take a picture!?!


Max has found his voice these last weeks and has been busy amusing us with his antics. Ruby loves to make him smile and giggle.

Our little wiggle worm taking a much needed break.

As I said... it sure is hard to get a picture of her these days. Notice the new haircut--courtesy of Daddy!

Eeeks!! That sun is bright!

Hmmm... the shade isn't much better.

To the Max!

We think Max may be teething--especially since this was the only way Jared got him to sleep a few nights ago!

Just another sweet picture of Jared and Maxwell in the evening hours.

Max is such a happy baby--he didn't even cry when he got his first vaccinations this week. Just grinned and took it like a man.

All of Max's baby acne is gone and he's charmed more than a few ladies so far with that smile--handsome devil!

Max is teasing us with his rolling ability! He'll do it a bunch of times, then apparently forgets how for a week or more! He's still not doing it reliably yet, but he does enjoy his tummy time.

One more Ruby-ism

Ruby just reminded me of one of her "classics". Imagine Ruby has just lost her temper and chucked a doll across the room (not an uncommon occurence, unfortunately). One look at Mommy and she knows she's in deep doo-doo without me saying a single word. The progression from there plays out as if there were a script...

R: "No time out! No time out! No time out! No time out!"
M: "That's your warning. One more time and you'll have a time out."
(R dissolves into noisy, but usually bone dry, tears.)
R: "No time out! No time out! No time out!"
R: "Oh no! Ruby crying!"
R: "Tissue! Clean up tears!"

Even when my tops about to blow. That last line usually cracks me up a little bit (at least on the inside). You've gotta love the rollercoaster of toddlerhood!

Ruby-isms

Before these days are gone from my feeble memory, I though I better write down a few of Ruby's funnier quirks!

One of my favorites that has been going on for a few weeks now is the classic..."Wha's dat... noiiize?" Quickly followed by her analysis of what the sound must be (usually her own feet!). It's the silliest thing, but always makes us laugh.

Ruby has always been a very conscientious "mini-mommy"--busily changing her babies diapers, giving them bottles, feeding them from her snack cups, and throwing tea parties for them. This last week took the cake though, when while I was nursing Max she plopped down on the sofa with her baby, yanked up her shirt and proceeded to let the baby nurse! She says, "Baby... milk... tummy... huh." I really had to control myself from laughing outloud the first time I saw it. Now, she feeds her babies whenever Max eats!

Another amusing things is this whole "huh" thing! She really loves to end sentances with it. It's hard to really explain without letting you hear it, but it's kind of a super-abreviated chuckle. Like, "I am so clever, don't you just want to laugh... a little bit?". Of course... we usually do!

A phrase that EVERY parent of a two year old hears (a bit too much) is, "Ruby do it!". And we are not spared. She's teaching me to let go though...

On Tuesday, Ruby, Max, and I set out to the neighborhood park once again since all of our Moms'N'Tots buddies are either sick or busy with visitors this week. When we arrived, Ruby instantly spotted the 15 or so 3-4 year olds eating lunch (it was a day-care class). She was checking them out, they were checking her out. Eventually, she cautiously started to play in the sand...until, one by one they left the table to play. For a good 5 minutes she just stared at everyone, but then eventually she started to venture out and went down the slide, walked around by the play houses, and just "checked everyone out". Then, all of a sudden, kind of like in "Forrest Gump", she decided to start running! She just ran and ran and ran all over the place. Then, suddenly, one little boy decided to follow her. After a few laps, a few more joined. Then, before I knew it, there were about eight kids following Ruby saying, "Hej, lille pige!" (which means, "Hi, little girl!"). I called to Ruby to use the phrase we had just been practicing, "Jeg hedder Ruby" (My name is Ruby), but she was too shy and decided that enough was enough and she stopped running. The group quickly dispersed, but it seemed to loosen her up enough to play peek-a-boo with some of the boys in the playhouses and even went down the slide with the "herd" a few times. It was hard for me to just let her go and do her own thing becuase I know that we both get a bit intimidated when we can't understand what the kids are saying, but I'm so glad I let her go. She figured it out, all by herself!

These little things happen every day... I hope I don't forget all the laughter sprinkled throughout these days, even as the battle of wills and war of testing of limits rages on. She's a sweet angel and we couldn't love her more.

Just for the "Greats"!

Talking to my Grandma tonight, I found out that she and my Grandpa have taken the big leap and have decided to learn the basics of the internet just so that they can see recent pictures of the "Great-grands". So, these extra pictures are just you! We miss our family so much and can't wait to see you all face to face again later this year...

Last Sunday I was sorting Max's clothes--he's already wearing 6 and 9 month clothes! After I was done, I had one extra bin leftover. Ruby decided it seemed like a pretty nice hang out!



Jared is the chief barber at our house. Here's Ruby getting her monthly (or there abouts) bang trim!




Just a little bit more... and that's perfect! If you're wondering why Jared's in charge of the hair trimming, check back to last fall--when I was done, her bangs were about an inch long!!




Ruby and I went down to the park these week to play in the wet sand. Ruby enjoyed throwing the sand around and smashing the towers I was building.



Max enjoyed having his nap in peace!

Blame it on the rain

I'm happy to announce that we didn't have a single drop of rain today--hallelujah! I was starting to wonder if our house was going to float away before long and thankful (for the first time!) not to have a basement! It seems anyone with a basement in Copenhagen is busy trying to get water out of it these days after record breaking rainfall. Somehow, June also had more sun than average... hmmm, strange! We have been trying to take advantage of any time that it isn't pouring to spend a little time outside. I think it was actually sprinkling when I took these first pictures, so Ruby wanted a "rain hat" like in Ruby's Rainy Day...this was as close as I could come. Before long she decided it wasn't as cool as she thought it would be and it came off.

Ruby's fascination in Malle (the cat) has dimmed somewhat now that she has her little brother to terrorize. Nevertheless, Malle is always right by Ruby's side in case she might decide to pet him! He'll even go as far as following us down the street when we leave the house and is nearly always waiting for us a few houses away when we return to walk Ruby back home. As much as I hate the cat hair and "special treats" he brings in from time to time, I'm glad he's here for Ruby's sake.

Max is growing so fast! I can't believe that he'll be three months old this week. I haven't taken nearly enough pictures... looks like he's going to join the ranks of all the other second borns with a few scattered pictures documenting his progress. We haven't even managed to get a baby book for him yet!! I know, terrible. He's the sweetest little boy--lots of smiles and the funniest little chittering giggle. His laugh is so cute and infectious that it really makes your day whenever he decides to let loose. He's such a trooper when it comes to Ruby too. She just can't leave him alone for a minute--even when he's trying to sleep. In this picture he'd fallen asleep in the stroller. When we got home, Ruby went inside to get Maja to sit in her seat and "keep him company" while he slept. If the poor guy moves a muscle, Ruby's right on top of him, "Goo' Morring, Max! Nice Nap?" This has illicited more than one groan from Mommy as he's generally only been asleep 30 minutes or less when Big Sister decides enough is enough!

Ruby has also really enjoyed holding Max on her lap for short bursts. She's not all that trustworthy though, as she tires quickly of holding his big ol' 7.5kg body up and is liable to release her hold on him at any moment! Max just grins and bears it though--what a guy! Max is also getting very good at grabbing onto his toys and loves to pull them into his mouth. He's also been drooling like crazy, so it may be that we'll have an early teether with Max too (Ruby got her first teeth at 4 months).

Here's one last shot of our cuties. I am so blessed!