October 11th 2010 - "Ge aldrig upp" - "Never give up"

It has been nice now that my Australian football season is over. I have had a lot of time on the weekends with the kids and Linda. We have been getting into good routines and have lots of activities to do together. This weekend we were able to do a lot together. On Friday Linda went to a jewelry show, Alicia went to grandma's and Grandpa's house for the night, while Damien and I went to Matt and Maria's house for tacos. On Saturday Damien and I got up really early. I walked him around the block, where about 20 geese have been gathering every morning. We fed them some bread, which Damien really enjoyed. Afterwards we came back and had a relaxing day with Mom.

On Saturday evening we went to Fredrik's girlfriends birthday party. It was great because Alicia and Damien got to play with their cousin, 7 1\2 month old Nadja. It is always fun to hang out with the entire Swedish family. There are usually between 15 to 17 of us with the kids included. We always eat really good food and have good laughs. This occasion lived up to the standard.

On Sunday we woke up and decided we would go for a hike. We called Linda's parents to see if they wanted to come with us. Even though it was incredibly foggy and pretty miserable outside they said yes, of course because they wanted to see the kids again. Surprisingly it was really nice when we got to the hiking trail. The fog had dissipated and the sun was shining. It was beautiful because we could see how the leaves were starting to change colors. Altogether we walked about 10 km (6.6 miles). I had Alicia on my back and Linda had Damien on her stomach the whole way. After walking a little over half way we had a really cozy picnic on top of a big hill. After the walk we came back home and went straight out to Matt and Maria's to have some Greek food and watch football. All in all in was a great family weekend!


Damien enjoying our walk


Alicia and Mommy at our picnic spot


Daddy with Damien and Alicia

One routine that we have been working on is trying to get Damien to fall asleep. Some things work better than others. There is one thing that has been working far more than anything else when he is over tired and there is no consoling him. That is to put him in his stroller, put him in front of the TV and watch Dora the Explorer. We got introduced to Dora when we were visiting Alicia's and Damien's cousins Jamison and Harley last February. In the US Dora speaks English and some of her friends speak Spanish. Over here in Sweden, Dora speaks Swedish and some of her friends speak English. When Damien gets really tired we put him from of Dora and he just stares and smiles until he finally doses off. Well with all of these Dora programs on TV one can get caught watching them from time to time. I have always thought that the program was good, because it seemed education and it usually had a good message. As a teacher I can appreciated the response time that Dora gives the kids after asking a question.


Damien having a nice nap
This one episode that Damien watches all the time (its recorded) has a message that has stuck in Alicia, Damien, Linda and my head. The episode is about a car race that Dora and here little monkey friend Boots are participating in. They come across all kinds of trials and problems, but every time they do Dora starts the chant, "Ge aldrig upp! Ge aldrig upp! Ge aldrig upp!" Which means, "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!"

Of course Linda and I love this episode. It definitely is something we chant when Alicia is trying something and working hard. It is also something that Linda and I try to live by when we are working with Alicia and thinking about what she might be able to accomplish and what she might not be able to accomplish. We just say to each other, "Never give up!" or "Ge aldrig upp!" The quote also goes really well for Damien. It is a quote that he lives by. Even though we try to stop him he seems to always be trying to get into something he is not supposed to, whether it is pulling Alicia's hair, grabbing things off of the table, trying to eat the cat's food, taking Alicia's toys from her and so on. He also will fight and fight from falling asleep. During these times we plead and plead with Damien to go to sleep, but he does not want to. You can see him saying with his mischievous smile, "Never give up, Never give up, Never give up."