April 5th 2010 - USA Trip Summary

The time is passing by so fast and we have already been back in Sweden for two weeks.
Unfortunately Alicia has been sick since we got home. She has had a awful cough that doesn't want to go away and the fever comes and goes. I took her to the doctors on Saturday and they prescribed some inhalation medicines for her. Hopefully they will work!

The trip back to the States was perfect for us. Before we left Sweden we had thought about a couple of goals we wanted to get accomplished in the DC area, and we were able to achieve everything.
We wanted to spend a lot of time with family and we did. Many days my dad, Linda, and I would hold a daycare from around 10:00-12:30, watching Jamison, Harley, Alicia and Damien. In the evenings Dad got the kids excited as always, and Mom was able to cuddle with the kids until they calmed down enough to put in the bed. As a family we did many activities together. We went to Chincoteague Island for a long weekend, we all went out to eat numerous times together, we often would just hang out together and chat, and most importantly we played Apples to Apples on two different occasions! It was great to have the family constantly holding and playing with the kids. The family gave us some practical ideas that we can use to help Alicia, and they taught us fun activities to do with the kids. Alicia and Damien loved all their aunts, uncles, Pappa, Ma Mere and most of all their two cousins.

Most days around 12:30 we would take off and go on a daily outting. Sometimes we would stop by and visit friends or relatives at work, three different days we played tourist and went and had a long day walks in DC, we also had three daytrips out to the outlets, some days we would have a late breakfast with different old friends who had new baby(s), and a couple of days we went on little hikes.

It was great that we were able to introduce Damien to all of our friends and family. We were also able to reintroduce princess Alicia to everyone. She has not been back to the US since she was 5 months old and that time we had to leave in a hurry, because she had started getting really sick. With some of our friends that we haven't met since then, we were able to talk about how things are with Alicia, but more importantly everyone was able to see the person Alicia. Throughout the trip her charming personality shined through. Everyone was able to see how far she has come, how beautiful she is (I must have heard that from everybody that met her), how strong willed she is, and how much Linda and I love her. It was great to be able to talk to our friends about some of the ups and downs we have had with Alicia. We were able to explain how we get so much support for Alicia in Sweden, and how we work on different goals to help Alicia with walking and communicating to name a few.
We can write on the blog or talk on the phone trying to be able to let people know how well she is doing, but I think it was reassuring for everybody to meet her in person. We were so happy that none of our friends have changed, everybody is the exact same toward us before we had kids as now after we have had kids. I have been away from NVA for 11 years, and the friendships I have back there are as strong today as they were the day I left.
The kids did some growing of their own. Damien has really impressed us with his strength. As long as I can remember he has been able to stand if I am helping him with his balance. On the trip he got even stronger. Damien had his first smile over in the US as well. He also seems really content and Linda and I are able to read his signs. Some major progress Alicia did was to be able to stand on her legs when we held her under the arms. A couple of times she was able to stand by just holding our hands! In the US Alicia got her ears pierced with beautiful pink earrings. She looks so pretty with them. She also got a haircut that was looked wonderful.
Overall some of the best time was when Linda and I would be able to push the kids around in the stroller and just relax, talk, and get to know each other and how to operate as a family of four.