Photos: Christiansborg, Nybrogade, Magstræde, the mess the wind has made of the bikes at Nørreport, Summerbird flødeboller tower at Torvehallerne, Bøgedal at 360° Nord.
Another weekend walk: pre-snow storm and without the peddle-go-no-where winds of this week.
The countdown to our little trip back to Vancouver for the Easter break has started. Just Thor and I. We’ll take the long flight home as an adventure and do our best to get as many visits in as possible. Mostly we’ll be savouring the time home with family and dear friends, just hanging out at the beach and walking a kilometer or two through favourite neighbourhoods and old stomping grounds. It is an odd time right now – with no set vision of the future or of what is to come. Which is why it will be so important to treasure every moment of this trip, leave any worry back in DK and appreciate all the heart-warming goodness of being home.
9 days to go.
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Saturday (after Thor and I went to morning sing-a-long class) we met for brunch at Sult to celebrate a birthday with friends and friends of friends – two of whom are expecting their first babies sometime in June. Listening, asking questions, you sit somewhere in the middle between envy and relief. You can feel a little envious of all the anticipation around becoming a parent for the first time and the deep rooted happiness that envelopes you every time your baby does a summersault or elbows you in your spleen. There is that great joy of knowing that he’s protected and healthy exactly where he is. On the other hand there is the relief of knowing that your child has come into the world safely and of being well familiar with how upside down your world is (it’s the not knowing that’s scary). Each day with this little person is just as challenging, natural and fascinating as the last – and he only becomes more awesome, the more he becomes himself. Upside down, as it turns out, is a pretty great place to live.
We jump started Sunday with brunch at Cafe Julian (a great favourite) at the National Museum – followed by some happy laps around the exhibitions by an extra energetic Thor. He danced and stomped his way through the North American Indian Pow Wow show – a true indian incarnated. We speed walked our way afterwards through the intense cold that is shocking Copenhagen at the moment over to Torvehallerne for a glass or two of micro-brew while our little indian slept tucked in and warm. Dropped the boys off at home and ended the day with good friends at their new place in Islands Brygge. Now that felt like a proper weekend.
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Photo: Lego Duplo app with three little (very popular) 1 minute films
Ironic maybe, that a mother (pre)set to haul her boy outside and away from computer games in favour of good old fashioned fresh air – should be so apt to letting her one year old swipe, tap and pinch his way through iPad app after iPad app. We bought our (to be shamefully accurate) electronic babysitter with the sole intention of using it to FaceTime with Thor’s Mormor in Canada – and while we do that – admittedly less than I’d hoped (both Thor and his Mormor are incredibly busy people) – it does get used to buy us a little time here and there – every minute of which adds up I’m sure – to more than we’d call ideal. It’s buys me 10 minutes in the morning to shower, make coffee and brush my teeth. It buys Jan 10 minutes to finish up some client work. It might buy us a little time to make dinner. And it might also buy us some patience at the grocery store or in the car. I admit it. It buys me time. But at what cost? It’s something I think about.
That said – our (or to be more accurate, Thor’s) iPad does have some redeeming qualities – among which are a number of apps we can (with a margin of relief) call educational entertainment. Here are a few of those getting the most tap time at the moment:
SoundTchLite* (pictures of animals and correlating sounds)
Lego Duplo
Toca Monsters
Talking Pierre (Parrot)
English Language
BalloonSchool
Color Drops
Fisher Price – Shapes and Colours
Fisher Price – Where’s Puppy
Fisher Price – Let’s Count
Fisher Price – Animals
Danish Language
Cirkeline
Rasmus Klump
Ordspillet
All of the above apps are free (what can I say, we’re cheap) – but it might be worth the buck (or a few kroner) to pay for the full version and avoid the clickable ads.
Aside from FaceTime, the best app in Thor’s world right now is DMI (the Danish weather app). Hands down. Our little meteorologist can tap his way through precipitation charts and wind forecasts like no other man can.
Related Links
A guide to 8 fun apps for kids ages 3-8 Vores Børn, In Danish (none of which we’ve tried yet but if you have I’d love to hear about them – and any others that have been a hit with your own iPad monster)
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Had five days off with Thor (three days last week plus the weekend) – each very good days and all well spent. We walked, we explored, we visited friends and we got our hair cut. There is something about slowing down, playing with your kid in the sandbox – just you and him, nothing else scheduled for the day and just being allowed to be present for so many hours in a row that feeds your soul like nothing else.
There has been a great deal of upheaval and being turned inside out this past year. There are still some big question marks looming but finally, finally, I feel like I am about to land solidly again. Not now – but soon. Not tomorrow – but this year. And that is enough – to breathe and to know that things will be fine, one way or another.
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lists|
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A recovering/relapsing list junkie – I’m learning to take my to-do’s a little more lightly. Not by choice, mind you, but out of hold your horses how much free time do you think you have reality. Being mother to a one year old teaches you to curb your expectations as far as productivity are concerned – like nothing else will (full respect to those of you with more than one!) So while I still make and re-make my lists (doing my part to keep the post-it note company in business) I include some of the fun stuff too – and maybe one or two things I’ve already done so I can feel just a little efficient – when really I’m not so much any more.
Rytmik/Sing-a-long hour with Thor Saturday morning at the new library
Saturday dinner & Skybar drinks with the Mødregruppe ladies
Sort design magazines – thin 100 down to… 10?
Sort books – thin (outdated UX and design books especially)
Basement – anything I can get rid of there? Sell?
File 2012 taxes (I am hopeful delusional)
A good long city walk – take photos. Explore. Drink coffee. Breathe fresh air. 3.5 hours done. Yes.
Fitness/gym (5km run)
OS update and google what the f is going on with choked software downloads (why does this always end up taking such a crazy amount of time?)
Groceries
Update Thor’s journal (photos, video and text)
Send invoices & answer emails
Make weekend list
And totally unrelated: I found out today that I earned holiday days for next year while I was away on maternity leave (last year). The unexpected news totally made my day – and what a great way to start the weekend: making a list of ways I’d like to spend my vacation..
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Thor and I spent a several hours this Saturday walking one of my favourite routes in the city: from Kongens Nytorv, along the cobblestones of Nyhavn, around Skuespilhuset, up along Langelinje past the Admiral Hotel, atop the petals of Castellet, through the Latin District of the city and over to the lakes. Bundled up in the pram, Thor watched the cyclists stream past, the tourists snap pictures and the runners watch their footing. People walked their dogs, girlfriends caught up on the week and everyone, all of us, could drop our shoulders a centimeter or two for having the day free. While Thor slept I brought him into a cafe out of the cold where I could read the paper and linger over a latte. No plans, no commitments, just peace.
We rounded the day out with a semi-spontaneous visit to a good friend in Nørrebro. It was a visit long overdue. I went home from there, and from the day, having thought and felt and breathed. And that too, has been long over due.
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The weekend is here and Thor and I will be cozied up, doing our best to get over the colds we’ve been fighting the last little while. There is something to be said for a weekend with no crazy plans- just a couple of low key visits, a workout or two and very a long walk in the nature reserve. We’ll watch the candles flicker and glow, settle in to a good movie maybe and feel tucked in, safe from the chill outside. When Thor is asleep there are projects to be looked at, that much is always the case, but otherwise we’ll take the hours as they come… quietly.
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Photos: White Rock East Beach, Strait of Georgia, Cascade Mountains.
It’s always hard to leave this place.
We got a little optimistic – thinking friday afternoon plus the weekend would be enough to get the three of us over our jetlag and start fresh at daycare and work on Monday morning. Jan and I are fine, but Thor is still up, and by up I mean wide awake and ready for trouble between 12:30 and 4:30am each night. It feels almost standard now (after a week of the same) and we go on shift so we can make it through the following day without relying too much autopilot. Thor took the flights and the lack of sleep on route like a trooper though, so we can’t fault him the mixed up sleep schedule. Good to be back and re-establishing our rhythm.
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