Northern nightlights

To join in with Earth Hour, the girls ate dinner by candle light tonight. We almost forgot, but luckily  remembered at the stroke of 8 p.m.  Peter was out for a walk, but Cait ran around and turned off the computers and the few lights that were on.  It is now light out until almost 9 p.m., so we really don’t have a need for them to be on during the day.

Of course, once it starts to get dark, it really gets dark.  I must admit it was nice to turn the light back on at 9 p.m.  At this point, Peter also realized the truly dark(and cold) nights are going to be few and far between soon.  He had been watching the sky avidly from 7 p.m. on and at 10 p.m, with the girls in jammies (well, one of them), a book for Cait (she can’t go anywhere w/out reading material) and blankets, we headed out to the country side. 

Why?  For (possibly) one of our last viewings of the Northern Lights.  They will become harder and harder to detect as the summer draws near, the temperatures warm and the skies stay lighter longer.  Since we will likely leave in early June (but don’t hold us to that), we don’t have much viewing time left.  We drove out as though heading to Hveragerdi and found a stopping point a few kilometers later.

Without a camera with the appropriate features, we could not take the stunning photos we could have had.  We were far enough from the lights of the city to get a breathtaking view of the green and then pinkish lights as they expanded vertically.  Cait and Nicholas slept through it, but Kelsey climbed into my lap as we watched the sky from the front seat.  We can only hope she will remember this experience for years to come.

It was fabulous…natural lighting at its finest.  If you are ever here in the winter on a very cold, very clear night, head out to the countryside and enjoy the show; you won’t regret it.

Kelsey

is a feisty nugget of sweet and stubborn.  Like the month of her birth, she can enter a room like a lion, but leave like a lamb.  She is full of logic, has a memory like a steel-trap and curiosity about everything under the sun.

She is fiercely competitive and terribly loyal.  Slow to unfold in the morning, she is a firecracker by sunset.  She can be a pesky little sister one minute and a loving over-protective older sister the next.  She has her father’s Mediterranean skin and her mother’s long fingers.  She can pull off the dress-jeans-sweater-tank top over turtleneck combination with an unshakable confidence that makes you wonder why you didn’t think of it. 

She is incredibly independent but won’t leave without giving you a hug, a kiss and a pat on the back.  She is our little bubbly bundle of energy, Kelsey D., and today, as another year has flown by, she turns six.

Happy Birthday, Kels!

Clang, Clang, Clang Goes the Trolley…

We are technically on hiatus due to much feeding and other care of the new one AND due to our visitors! We will get photos up soon (check out their flickr badge – awesome Northern Lights photos!), but need to show them around Reykjavik a bit more.

In other (veddy quick) news, check out the title!  Figure it out?  First person to guess correctly (who didn’t already know) wins a trip (lodging) to visit us in our new locale…Yes, perhaps our motto in two years (when we depart said post) will be:

We left our hearts in San Francheesy Francisco!  Yep, it is official, in June 2008 we are off to the West Coast and will spend two fun-filled years there…Legoland, wine country, SUNNY (WARM) DAYS & shorts, here we come!

Oops, guess I gave it away…oh,well, visit us anyway!

Up, up and aweigh!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No, it’s Baby Nicholas being weighed by the nurse.  He had his second weekly nurse visit today and to utter surprise and delight, gained 200 grams  (or for those not keen on metric, 7 ounces) since last week!

Now, I had no reason to doubt that he was gaining weight as he certainly feels much heavier, but I was convinced something would be off.  I know this is nothing more than fears stemming from both of the girls being so jaundiced, and having a harder time with weight gain and overall health.  So, I was proven wrong and very happy about it.

So, here is a photo of Little Buddy Junior (the second) in his unique weighing device.  The cloth is a burp rag we bought, but have yet to need other than to weigh him!

Smiles!

Just now as I was cooing over Nicholas (who wouldn’t?), he looked up and smiled right back at me! A nice big smile that lasted several seconds.

Now, technically not his first, if you count the ‘sleep’ smiles.  We can’t ever seem to snap a photo, but he will give these quick little grins while off in dreamland.  He even has a dimple!  Yes, only one, on the left side and hope to grab a picture of that soon.

Home Visit!

Today was the nurse home visit.  I think her name was Bjork (no, she didn’t wear a swan around her neck) and she came to check on Nicholas’ overall health and discuss various services offered by the health clinic. 

Yes, in addition to the visits by the mid-wife, we now receive 3 visits from the nurse.  In fact, some of our visitors will get to take part in two weeks and witness the most ingenious scale she brought.  I wish I had thought to take a picture (no worries, will get one next week!) as the baby was wrapped up in a cloth diaper and looked as though the stork was bringing him in for a landing.

The best news, of course, is that he is very healthy and gaining weight back.   His birth weight was 4070 grams, 6 day weight was 3820 grams (only 6.38% loss!) and weight as of today is 3900 grams (2.2% gain!).  The nurse was very pleased with his weight, color, everything.  Most importantly, he has not taken a bottle, no supplements, nothing ‘extra’, which is extremely pleasing to us.  After the jaundice debacles with both Caitlin and Kelsey (and the misinformation we received), it is so refreshing to be able to feed him naturally and not be stressed about weight gain as the sole factor, as his overall appearance is slightly more important than just that.

And, yes, still working on updates from the past thirteen days…check back soon!

Will I finish this post?

For whatever reason, I assumed I would be much better at keeping everyone up to date on Nicholas’ accomplishments, updated pictures, videos, and all while managing the girls’ needs and my own.  Oh, yes, I would be grateful for Peter’s help, but really, can’t I still do it all?  Um, right!

Except that my days now consist of me dragging myself out of bed to settle onto the couch or chair and feed  the little nugget for hours on end.  Not that I mind, mind you.  I know I am giving him the best possible nutrition and he seems to be thriving by all reviews.  However, I forgot how I have to remind myself to not sweat the small stuff and some things really can wait as he will only be this age once…

Since we have managed, if nothing else, to take at least one picture per day…oh, who are we kidding, more like 20, I am going to now back-post Nicholas from Day Two on…today’s picture will have to wait though, as he is currently curled up on my chest, asleep and as sweet as can be…