Incompetence and irresponsibility

Baldilocks III

2011-11-13T22:45:00.002+01:00

Not been much blogging action recently, but that isn't say there hasn't been action here, big plans are afoot for 2012 so this coupled with plenty to keep us occupied on the child front means little time for anything else, i've even had to sell a car.
So it is about time for some catch up pictures and videos, hot off the press, so this is actually how he looks as of an hour ago.

Seems like Brand has the Conibear 'no hair' gene too, the little fluff he did have is long since donated to his bed sheet, gives him that real hard man look, don't you think.

Bodypopping, is there still such a thing? All the rage when i were a lad you know, i think, maybe.

Brand seems to have quite a knack for it. Just needs to work on his breathing.

He also has a knack for stuffing his hand in his motuth too.

Brand Henry Tjorteland Conibear

2011-10-27T23:01:00.002+02:00

So his name is finally decided.

Brand Henry Tjorteland Conibear

No not a common name here either, for any great reference point you are going to have to think of Ibsen's Brand

silent 'd', btw.

Henry after Silje's maternal grandfather.

Brand considers how much of a hassle spelling his name to everybody, forever, is actuallly going to be.

Beware of the carrots

2011-10-13T22:43:00.001+02:00

Maud discovered that when eating raw carrots with loose teeth there can only be one outcome.
Time for the tooth fairy to visit for the second time in a week.

Critical mass and other happenings

2011-10-08T13:57:00.001+02:00

Henny's hair, finally after a marathon 3 years and 2 months, has reached critical mass. Instead of walking round with it sticking out all over the place it falls, almost neatly, unders its own weight. Still not had it cut, that will be the next milestone.

another loss for Maud...

again a bit on the early side but the first front tooth has gone, the second is flapping about in the wind, so will follow shortly.

He hasn't either teeth or hair, so doesn't care.

Nut I, II and III

2011-10-05T22:00:00.011+02:00

Difficult to compare as they we all born at different stages both early and late and of course the pictures take at different stages.
It would also appear that most of my early pictures of Maud are pretty out of focus, thankfully me and my camera did have some moments of clarity (and maybe digital cameras have become even more idiot proof too)
So here for a rough comparison. I, II and III

Up to date, for the moment.

2011-10-05T21:39:00.000+02:00

So some up to date pictures take in a lull after a day at nursery for the girls, a day at work for me, a day being a baby for Lillebror aka. Jr. no name.

A lillte brother is quite exciting....

but Nintendo is more exciting.

Kids in vests hang out, Maud has her appearances to keep.

Facebook meh, Milkface is where it's at.

hectic a go go

2011-10-05T21:31:00.000+02:00

So what have we actually managed to do in his first 3 weeks, really?
Well he has of course eaten, slept and pooped a lot, had visits from Mormor and Morfor and Grandma, bothered his sisters by crying while they are trying to watch TV, kept us awake at nights, kept us busy during the days.

Not so often this photo opportunity comes around., and everybody sits still long enough for it to be taken.

It had to happen

2011-09-28T23:01:00.000+02:00

No words required.

although i must just say that it wasn't much to do with me, Grandma bought him the kit, and his mother and big sister wanted him to try it on. So i got my way without actually doing anything at all. Shame i'll been an even older old giffer by the time he wants me to come out a play footy with him.

backlog

2011-09-20T19:56:00.016+02:00

More kids = even less time to blog, or do anything else at all really.
so here is some catchup photos and info.

Still no mane for the poor little fella, at least he has a home eh.
Birth weight 4.212 kg
Length 53 cm
Head circumference 38cm

no prizes for guessing who made this snazzy outfit fot him. Here modelled on the way home from the hospital a couple of weeks ago.

Riverdance, anybody?

The first weigh in by the district nurse

some of the few boy coloured clothes we have.

New addition

2011-09-18T10:49:00.005+02:00

He didn't really want to come out, 13 days overdue and still no sign of an appearance meant that it was time to force the issue. Silje, the doctors, midwives and nurses did their stuff and at 01:56 Thursday 15th September out he came 'Jazz Hands' style. And no he didn't appear wearing that hat.

two minutes old..

Seems like he has made the most of his extended time inside his mother, he tipped the scales at healthy 4.212kg
Measured 53cm from top to toe and 38cm around his head.

Of course he had a couple of older sisters who were very eager to meet him and for once they did actually seem lost for words.

Untitled from matt on Vimeo.

Still no name at the time of writing but this is soon to be decided.

King for a day

2011-08-28T08:31:00.000+02:00

I don't know about you other 'grown ups' but i'm asking myself, how did i actually get here? Only 20 short years ago i was, well 20, with the world at my Dr. Marten booted feet. And whoosh suddenly 40, eh? what happened.
No denying that i have been a grumpy old man since, actually always, so this is only my age finally cathcing up with itself.

I must now also sadly concede at the age og 40 and 1 day that i will never play in goal for United.

So king for a day, i had a bonfire on a cake.

and Silje kindly made me a crown, just to make feel that litte bit more superior, i know everybody at the table was jealous.

During our summer holidays somebody.........

2011-08-03T21:19:00.004+02:00

saw a red sky at night,

smiled a lot,

overcame their fear of boats,

felt the wind in their (never been cut) hair

got bigger,

didn't catch anything again,

got the fishing line caught in the outboard engine,

got hugged,

ate too much jelly and squirty cream,

perfected thier 'fake come on just take the picture' smile,

rode on a donkey

overcame thier fear of holding animals,

and then wouldn't put them down,

went to the beach,

got wet,

celebrated their 3rd birthday,

had a proud older sister for company,

got an umbrella for their birthday,

opened some more presents,

squirted themselves in the eye with a water pistol,

perfected their bikini pose at the age of 5½

marveled at top quality chinese craftmanship.

went to the beach again,

layed low on a lilo,

pushed thier father in the sea.

22.07.11

2011-07-30T22:15:00.000+02:00

Ummmm, blimey.
We were thankfully 500km away at Silje's parents summer house at the time of the explosion so weren't directly affected.
The handicap of no internet connection there has hindered me from being able to update our status until now.
Not much else to add that hasn't been reported in the media so far, Oslo, Norway and maybe even all of Europe was caught unawares.

Summer starts here

2011-07-06T21:21:00.000+02:00

A visit of the Conibear clan from various parts of the world was the catalyst for a few days away from Oslo for a change, first up Vrådal not so far from Oslo really but a good 4 hours or so drive due to the twisting roads. The forecast for the week hadn't been good but besides a rainy journey down it wasn't too bad at all.

A BBQ supper is always part of a summer trip away right?

Our livingroom with a view.

Lots of jumping was done, this being one of Mauds favourite pastimes.

Whereas eating is probably one of Hennys least favourite pastimes, except when it is icecream naturally.

Plenty of wildlife for us city types to see out in the country too, absolutely no idea what this actually is though.

This is a snake, that i know.

This is an ever popular pastime too.

Boat trip.
A quick trip on MS Fram

Sticks and water, i could probably have left them there for hours.

Midsummer celebrations

It was then on to the next stop just outside of Sandifjord, lucky we hired a minibus eh.

Where... there was a beach, for kite flying....

sitting about....

sandcastle making

and in the evening another midsummer celebration, even tough it no longer actually was.

one out all out

2011-06-13T21:15:00.001+02:00

It was only a matter of time before the second one followed where the first one had led.
I expect we will be seeing the tooth fairy again tonight.

The new tooth poking through is looking mighty fearsome close up too.

FIFO

2011-05-31T10:19:00.002+02:00

Fisrt in first out.

we were excited when it came and now we are excited when it fell out.

Been wobbly for a week or so a now Maud decided (mostly by accident than design i think) that it was time for it to come out.

Time flies by when you're the driver of a train.

2011-05-25T21:56:00.001+02:00

Which i'm not but it still does anyway.
So where were we again? I've been busytastic moving work to new offices the past month so little time for much else beside that unfortunatley.
Speeding headlong into June already so it's time for a quick recap before summer arrives properly and i get swamped in the backblog, which I will i'm sure. Possibly.

We saw elephants at Tøyen (2 minutes from where we live), like you tend to do every so often, so we stopped to take a closer look. I think the girls we pretty amazed and how gigantic they actually are.

Henny spent some time in a bubble

I think the smiles give it away somewhat, fist ice cream of the year, erm, somtime in april.

'you can't catch me'[stop to look at twigs] aaaaand, continue running.
The random world of a 2 year old.

The Maudster

Easter means getting the trampoline out again at the summerhouse.

Do i really need to say who these knees belong to?

Henny discovered a new found love for wood, well a certain plank in particular.
The gang of four discuss something earthshatteringly vital.

yeah a forced, come and sit over here and have your picture taken by these flowers photo.

This is norway.

Henny found a new favourite pastime and went from one reluctant town walker to hillside champ. She walked up pretty much all the way herself (i kid you not)

and was rewarded for her gargantuan efforts with a fine view of ~~Trumpton~~ Flekkefjord.
The red arrow marks Mormor and Morfars house

here without Mauds head

and then she insisted on walking all the way down again

the sun came out good and proper in May so the flip flops were hastily dragged out from winter storage (you all have winter storage for you flip flops right?) and put to good use picking up gravel on our never ending road works.

more flip floppery... arm folding is the new latest and greatest discovery by the way.

It was recently the national day, so ice cream all round.

Oooh Oh a we went here too, and it's not blackpool. and it was cold, despite being March.

and finally i'll just leave this fine photo here for you to contemplate.

Henny in stitches

2011-04-18T21:29:00.000+02:00

Currently down in Ff at mormor and morfars enjoying an easter break.
Weather is more like summer than easter and the girls are enjoying playing out without having to put their thermals on. Henny's favourite activity, is sitting in the swing and getting me to push her so fast that she hops out of her seat, she can easily spend half an hour without break with this particular activity. Maud is as ever a bit more leisurely.

A slight mishap last friday morning ended with Henny having two stitches in her chin, Henny being the super fidget that she is, and not one who likes cleaning her teeth, managed to fall off the stool in the bathroom and ended breaking her fall on the edge of the basin with her chin.
We managed to strips it together enough to enable us drop Maud in at nursery and then take a trip to A&E.
Didin't wait more than 5 minutes to be seen, and the doctor decided that a couple of stitches, rather than glue, was the answer. So thats what he did, without any anesthetic too. Henny put her super brave face on and didn't shed a tear, she was rewarded with a diploma, necklace and a ring by the nurse.

So this is as of this evening, 3 days after said incident. Looking good, another scar to add to her growing collection.

Grabbing the limelight

2011-04-09T13:05:00.000+02:00

With big sister Maud on an overnight visit to Tante Ingvill on the posh 'west side' of the city Henny had a chance to grab all the attention at the breakfast table without fear of being shouted down.

Maud at 5

2011-02-18T19:59:00.003+01:00

So after a big countdown the day finally arrived, Maud 5 years old.

The customary birthday crown was made at nursery and is very proudly modelled here.

Even during the opening of cards Henny was as equally excited about the whole thing.

Again a video for those of you with a spesial interest in all things Maud here is the present unwrapping 5 minutes or so.

EDIT: a cheeky addition to show that once i had turned up the volume up, karaoke a go go.

Nut junior got in on the act too. We might need to work on the words though.

Winter (sports)

2011-02-13T20:30:00.000+01:00

Surprise!

We are still here, we are still cold, we still have snow. Slightly milder in January, which passed by without a single blog for many reasons, the main one being that the battery in my camera no longer holds a charge for more that 24 hours, so i forget this and when it's needed, it's dead.
So february came and it got colder and we got a whole heap more snow dumped on top of the stuff still here from before christmas.

Still this gives us a chance to get the winter sports gear out, being half bloods they aren't quite born with skis on their feet and Mauds natural cautiousness has tended to dictated her previous attempts. They are now both getting the hang of it though, shame i have no idea if they are doing anything wrong or not.

Last weekend Maud was skating with her friend Ingeborg.

Good view of the ice rink from the grandstand made of snow.

A quick breather. The pop bottle crates are a learning aid, ice is slippery stuff at the best of times but with ice skates things take on a new dimension. The crates slide nicely over the ice so they are just the thing to hold on to while you find your feet.

Maud puts on a fake 'oh, i'm going to fall' routine.

Henny wasn't in the mood for skating so she took a strol on the ice instead, it was quite pleasant around zero with the sun shining.

This weekend was skiing, much colder this time with -9 and a stiff breeze but they weren't put off and really started to enjoy themselves.

Next stop....

2010-12-12T23:05:00.002+01:00

Christmas. Not quite panic stations yet, i don't do panic stations anymore anyway, but Christmas is coming and we, for the first time in our lives will be staying in Oslo AND hosting Christmas since silje will have to work over the (what should be) holidays.
Our known style of not really ever doing anything until the last possible minute is in evidence again this year too and with next weekend already booked for other stuff this is our last chance to get things finished. So silje has been busy in the kitchen making Christmas foods and i stay out of the way and do other things.

Vegetarians look away now....

rullepølse

vegetarian safe (as far as i know) baking

even gluten free too.

Jumping in their long johns

2010-12-12T23:05:00.001+01:00

We pack them off to nursery all wrapped up in thier long johns but when they get home the top layer of clothes often gets removed for heat loss purposes, the result is very unflattering but they don't seem to care in the slightest.

Big bed

2010-12-12T23:03:00.000+01:00

The Christmas visit of G&T also gives us an excuse to upgrade Henny's sleeping arrangements so that G'ma no longer has to put up with a camp bed when she stays. A proper bed.

Maud provides the muscle and lifts Henny in to the new world of big bedness.

Looking at the pictures now i must admit that her room looks a bit like a prison cell but that because it was a quick switcheroo, out with the cot juggle the furniture around and shove the bed in. The details come later, maybe.
Anyway we'll push her breakfast of bread and water under the door at 5:30 sharp.

Long cold one.....

2010-11-30T14:36:00.000+01:00

and unfortunately it's not beer, looking bleak for the rest of the week. Hope it won't be like this until february.

Add caption

Blogstapation

2010-11-26T18:53:00.000+01:00

So my blogging is flagging, dunno why really, sometimes it's just the way it is.... so excuse no.1 we have been away on a short getaway to Prague. With team nutster safely packaged off to Ff we had our first no kids break for a few years.
Plenty to see in Prague and easy to walk almost anywhere you want to go which suits us fine. Not as cheap as it used to be but there are still good places to eat for reasonable money. Can't imagine what it would like to be to go there in the summer though it was touristy enough in the middle of October.

TV mast with giant babies crawling up it

Idling

2010-11-26T18:52:00.000+01:00

Really not much to report, life has been ticking over in the usual modern time crisis style blur.
Henny has been falling around like one of the three stooges as usual resulting in another cartoon style forehead lump. Placed in EXACTLY the same place as last time, you can even see the scar from the recent head split in the middle of the lump. She must have a heavy point just there.

The snow has arrived early this year and it is C-O-L-D.

Maud tests her face elasticity, luckily it all went back to where it should.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2010-11-26T18:28:00.001+01:00

The nutsters zedding it hard.
Henny doesn't move after being tucked in like a Egyptian mummy, and is asleep in about 2 minutes, Maud wriggles around like an earthworm on acid until she also makes a date with the sandman.

Team nutster

2010-10-03T15:22:00.000+02:00

Team nutster getting ready for the autumn and winter.

Sleep eater

2010-09-26T20:51:00.001+02:00

Summer saw the end of sleeping during the daytime for Henny so the late afternoon can sometime be a trip down struggle street and she isn't always able to last the distance.

Or is it the way she eats? maybe she only has herself to blame, eating up all the exciting stuff first and being left with the boring boring pasta, so boring it sends her to sleep?

true love??

2010-09-20T22:04:00.000+02:00

A visit fom Martinus and family over the weekend gave Maud a chance to do some catchup.
Always straight back into the swing of things whener they meet up.

They do sometime have to spend time with the smaller ones though, just to cramp their style.

Slacker

2010-09-20T21:14:00.000+02:00

Been a huge lull in blogging recently, so i have to do some unblogg type of thing and do a micro-recap. G&T with guest appearance by the Auntie Sarah at the end of August.

Never mind doing up the buttons check out my clown feet Nora Batty tights.

Always willing to get some quality tme with Auntie and uncle with the added bonus of getting away from her parents.

Henny impresses auntie sarah with her erm... mePad.

but then uncle tim ups the ante, so to speak, and impresses Henny with his iPhone.

So if i do this....

you now have snot on your screen. haha.

the main attraction

2010-09-20T21:00:00.000+02:00

It has to be said though that Grandma is the the top attraction and never gets a moment to relax from playing games, reading books, cleaning teeth etc etc.

Activity time hosted by G'ma

What else to say, one very pround Grandma.

Henny tells her 'why did the chicken cross the road?' joke. Seems to get Maud every time.

head splitter

2010-08-18T11:44:00.002+02:00

After falling out of the nappy box boat you may have thought that henny would be a bit more careful, sadly no, a few days later this is what you get for playing rough.
Henny should maybe consider wearing protective head gear all year round. There was a slight mishap while playing with her big sister.
A comedy Tom and Jerry style bump with open wound. Hardly life threatening but it needed a quick repair.

Luckily they were at home with captain I&I the best mechanical engineer in the house.
So a suitable fix was made.

you will have to excuse the last two pictures which were taken with my phone :-(

still all patched up and not many tears shed.

to sea in a carboard boat

2010-08-17T23:05:00.001+02:00

Nappy box boat was played with for a good couple of hours, until it capsized and a passenger was mildly injured.

Lip balm is important out on the ocean. Henny forgot hers.

hmmm soft lips, go on give us some.

Sunglasses are also important when out sailing on a sunny day. Henny forgot hers.

Maud gives us the hollywood wife yacht cruise pose while Henny laments her lack of...., well all necessary equipment. She would later also regret not wearing a helmet.

Birthday bonanza

2010-07-29T21:53:00.002+02:00

Slightly delayed birthday blog mainly due to me being a dunderhead by misplacing the camera cable.
Anyhow, chicken pox was over just in time for the big day but the evidence of her illness was still quite plain for all to see, luckily mamma hadn't chosen a red polka dot dress for this years celebration.
The presents piled up and Henny got on with opening.

She hadn't even opened it yet but this present was a big hit anyway.

With present opening done and dusted it was time for the food.

For someone who is a super fussy eater things went down pretty well

Even had time to go and mingle

Before dragging Maud off for a bit of

secret chocolate eating

busted

2

2010-07-27T09:41:00.000+02:00

Sneak preview of how the birthday girl looks today

Lilo

2010-07-26T11:58:00.000+02:00

Yes g'ma in contrast to my childhood this is the modern illness remedy, fresh air and sun

The sun cure

2010-07-26T11:40:00.000+02:00

This is almost more of a tweet than a blog but the worst seems to be over,
a night with the miracle pill paracetamol got her through and we are now sitting on the beach.

The pox round II

2010-07-25T11:20:00.000+02:00

The inevitable finally happened and henny got the pox too. Only a mobile phone picture now since we are
at the summer house without pc or indeed internet (barely signal on mobiles either). Seems to be suffering more than maud did and isn't really a happy camper.

(hope this first attempt at mobile phone blogging works out ok)

pox - day 5

2010-07-12T08:27:00.000+02:00

looking better today, less red and almost all the blisters have now done thier thing and they seem to be beginning the next, more scabby stage. Still no sign of Hennny having it.....yet.

pox day 4

2010-07-11T09:07:00.000+02:00

more redness more blistery, just counting the days until mini nutster gets it now.

chickpox - day 3

2010-07-10T08:51:00.000+02:00

Plenty more spots overnight, so many in fact that Maud has now lost count.

chickpox update - day 2

2010-07-09T16:10:00.000+02:00

Yes it's the chickenpox, on my return home from work today plenty more spots to be erm spotted. No temperature and the patient is in fine spirits (aided by plenty of DVDs)

Health update, the pox?

2010-07-08T19:30:00.001+02:00

HH's teeth seem to have jiggled themselves back into position over the last few weeks, probably helped by the dummy sucking ban too, and now look like this, slightly chipped and a little bit wonky but firmly stuck in place.

The next on the list is the Maudster. Her best friend in nursery came out with chicken pox symptoms (vannkopper, to you Norwegians) about two weeks ago, so two weeks down the line it was only natural that Maud starts too.... is this the beginning of chickenpox, i think it just might be. Spots and cold / flu like symptoms.... Hmmm 3 days before they were due to go on holiday. Wonderful.

If it was my home

2010-06-18T19:40:00.000+02:00

makes you think.

teeth update

2010-06-17T17:03:00.000+02:00

Not so keen on showing her teeth here, snazzy new jacket though.

with a little help here we see that they have turned out not too bad considering how they look a few weeks ago. Hurrrah!

Getting the baby to sleep

2010-06-16T22:00:00.000+02:00

Henny's baby that is, outside on the balcony in the pram.

A super summers day today, well should be really seeing as we are almost at the longest day already.

weekend sun

2010-06-09T17:48:00.000+02:00

A weekend in the sun, live music and icecream.

Ice cream chit chat

2010-06-09T13:38:00.000+02:00

Was a wonderful summer weekend and we sat in the park for a while eating ice cream........Henny loves ice cream.

Faceplant

2010-05-28T21:59:00.000+02:00

The faceplant, a nasty trick of gravity if ever there was one.
One moment you're going about your business the next some part of your face is saying hello to something hard and totally unforgiving. Quite distressing when you're a grown up, even more so when your not even two.

Henny found the hardest granit kerbstone at nursery and duly faceplanted - teeth first. Ouch.

Typically i was in Gothenburg planning how i'd like to arrange my bits and bytes for the next threes years while all this happened.

The dentist took pictures, no damage to the roots, but the teeth are mighty wobbly, chipped and sticking out a bit funny. Looking a bit better today, althought the top lip and gum are still swollen.
The patient is super upbeat and not complaining at all she even allowed me to take a quick photo or two tonight.

One silver lining on the cloud is that it gives us a reason (dentists orders) to not let her have her dummy in bed anymore. Now this she has complained about, going cold turkey after many months of dummy abuse ain't easy.

Another appointment with the dentist on thursday and were hoping she's going to tell us that they have reseated themselves. Cross your fingers.

Hotdogs and ice cream day

2010-05-18T20:45:00.002+02:00

So that day rolled round once again and it was time for the national day, and Auntie Sarahs Birthday! A day off work and the chance to eat hotdogs and ice cream.
Mrs. I&I put on a lavish spread for bruch and we invited some bods, Ingeborg (mauds best friend from nursery)and mer mum Tone, another Tone with her man Frode and boys Jens and Mikkel.
So the girls were all set for a spot of brunch and seated themselves early.

and then regretted the wait.

When it arrived we had some happy campers.

I scream, you scream...

2010-05-18T20:10:00.000+02:00

Henny pretty much skipped the lunchtime snooze and headed off for to seek out that ice cream we promised her

Henny's patented ice cream divining rod

I spy Maud, Henny and Jens, all busy making a mess.

I think gramdma has a few pictures of me with this exact same beard.

round 2

2010-05-18T20:09:00.000+02:00

Ice cream number two for Ingeborg.

I think Jens was asked to eat a hot dog before hed got another ice cream.

Ice cream nuber two for Maud, blimey are we crazy parents or what.

Live with waffle number one, i think.

Down on the farm

2010-04-27T19:29:00.000+02:00

A cheeky saturday to sunday trip to Stange to visit Martinus and family, a great trip to gets us away from the city and together with reasonably warm weather, well blue skies anyway, almost like a holiday.
Maud and Martinus got back to their old ways after no time at all and there was plenty for them to do with a whole farm to play on. Maud never usually gets the freedom to just go off and play.

Saddle up.

snack time.

Sun and water

2010-04-27T19:28:00.001+02:00

A picnic by the lake in the afternoon, a fantastic almost still day with cloudless blue sky, the first really warming sun of the year, so much so i was ever so slightly tanned by the end of the day.

how many kids in sunglsses pictures do we actually need, strangely i never tire of them.

poking stuff with big sticks never gets boring either.

cold? nooooo

2010-04-27T19:28:00.000+02:00

Don't be fooled by the wooly hats it really wasn't that cold.

erm ignore the snow on the hills in the distance, it really wasn't cold at all.

throw those stone and watch em go sploossssh

relaxa buggy

This is England

2010-04-12T20:34:00.001+02:00

Soooo, seems like an age ago now but we were in fact in Manchester over Easter. The girls eagerly awaited 2 weeks of non stop playtime with Grandma, uncle Tim made a guest star appearance too. This retro blog might take a few days to get through - time is short - and there are many things to be done.

So lets begin at the beginning - As we left Oslo, hoping to see the back of the snow for the first time in 3 months

and landed and dressed to go out, Henny isn't so keen on the snow so walking outside without, so to speak, was a treat.
She wasted no time starting the lookout for her favourite animal - ducks.
Duck hunt number one was a washout.... how hard can it bee to find ducks, this wouldn't be the last duck trip failure either.

so we tried again. Henny scanned the water and is overjoyed to see ducks.

Mission accomplished for today. Not that they ate much of our lovely 3 day old bread i have to add.

in, out, what's it all about....

2010-04-12T19:52:00.003+02:00

new toys that's what, well grandmas new old toys, to be more precise

the three musketeers? little pigs? wise men? billy goats gruff?....... stooges?

No.....

Wise ~~old~~ owl and the two little nutsters.

early morning input... extreme dangerous high chair balancing, unsurprisingly they were getting to the kitchen before Grandma in the mornings, so we could do what we liked :-)

Uncle tim supervises the daily eating of the fish fingers / meatballs / roast potatoes.... sadly this is all Henny will really eat.*

* Not strictly true.

Ger off my land...

2010-03-03T23:19:00.000+01:00

Evidently it was a top secret Lego building session and as in all good investigative documentary style reporting i was chased away from the scene, thankfully she was very good natured about it all.

(this would be a nice video if only Henny didn't have a slug trail on her top lip.)

The big thaw begins

2010-03-03T22:50:00.000+01:00

Finally it looks like we might be getting some warmer weather, certainly finally edged above the zero barrier this week, super sun warming our frozen bones. As always though it didn't get better until it got a bit worse first, saturday saw another snowfall, so we decided to go to the shops, all together, as a family unit, and we walked.

Mummy bear, and the two little nut bears. Three quarters of family I&I.

Expedition underway...

Even on a saturday morning our local supermarket is overly populated. Just a few swedes. Boom kertish.

'you know you talk so hip man'

2010-02-25T20:39:00.000+01:00

mormor and morfar were here for Mauds bitthday which gave them plenty of time to spend with the little nutsters.

Uggggg, this book AGAIN.

Bez

'You're twistin' my melon man'

Here we are, hey it's almost summer, should i bring out the old 'what happened to global warming' line. No? OK

4 x 2

2010-02-25T20:25:00.000+01:00

Not content with one celebration maud invited her chums round for a bun fight, which also meant more presents of course.

Henny carefully watches over her stuff, count 'em out and count them in again.

more cake...

which made it remarkably quiet considering there were so many kids here.

how about this for a dream present, a real, yes real, princess dress.

F is for IV

2010-02-18T20:36:00.004+01:00

For those that don't know, life actually begins at 4. Fact.
So with great anticipation, coupled with a daily countdown, the day eventually came - Maud M.T. Conibear age 4.
Now i'll get my excuses in early with this one, it's not easy capturing a geared up birthday girl who is bouncing off the walls high on the thrill of actually understanding what a birthday is all about. But here is the 'best' of what we managed.
I also forgot to document todays weather just so we can look back in years to come and show that yes we did used to get snow on Maud's birthday.
The snow is still here and it's time it wasn't. Bah.

We managed a sneaky present before i had to go to work and Maud to nursery to celebrate with her friends.

Back from a taxing day at nursery it was time for more visitors (uncle Trond just happened to be in town) and of course presents.

Snazzy hand made outfit courtesy of who else but Mormor, Maud's dress kind of breaks up the overall effect but you get the idea.

yeah that's right indoctrinate them early just so they expect to get jewellery every birthday for the rest of their lives.

and here we see this years nursery crown, pink natch.

and cake, yeah OK it's a wooden one, but went down a storm.

No we didn't forget you Henny, but it appears we did forget to wipe your nose. (this is what photoshop is for i guess)

and to end a long celebratory day the cake finally comes into focus.

Seems happy enough to be 4

Super G (and T)

2010-02-11T21:20:00.000+01:00

1 month and a few days is nothing in the age of man but unfortunately this is blog world and one month and a few days here is an entire aeon. Sorry.

Your screens, well probably maybe mostly ours over here in 'we love snow land', will soon be filled with hour upon hour of winter olympic sport type stuff.
Grandma will unfortunately not be in the British bobsleigh team but maybe she should be.... check this the original super G. - faster than a speeding bullet and then some.

Uncle Tim shows how truly fearless he really is.

Winter break

2010-02-11T21:00:00.001+01:00

January saw G&T make another trip to Oslo, this of course means the girls get to tire grandma out with thier demanding schedule, plenty of reading,

footbal practice in a newly aquired kit direct from Manchester.

plenty of monkeying around

and as we've seen before, snow time.

Grin like a maniac.....

2010-01-07T21:51:00.001+01:00

eat like a monster, well OK maybe not quite like a monster as they tend to eat everything in sight, Henny sticks to bread, baby porridge and a few carefully selected foods. Amazingly and in spite of her limited diet she is bang on the average weight and height curves at 11kg and 79cm

Mrs fussy eating her porridge

Maud was the complete opposite and ate almost anything when she was getting the taste for food. One thing that they do have in common though is a huge appetite for all things sweet.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T21:40:00.001+01:00

Jul 2009
One of the whitest christmas holidays for quite a few years here in Ff, only a quick trip here for us this years as we have to be back at work again on monday, still here a quick peek at what we have done.

First thing first Maud and Henny see if there are any presents with their names on.

tons of snow also means tons of outdoor time too.

Maud in her finery ready for the mad scramble that is present opening.

december 25th and its snowing...lots.

Scary Santa

2009-12-26T21:35:00.001+01:00

Trying to get this lot to stand still more than about 0.5 seconds is pretty much the impossible task, Maud and Nora aren't so bad but Henny and Henrik have bad cases of ants in the pants. So this is the bet shot there is.

Quite unbelievably santa managed to visit us too, Henny was too shocked to move.

It all turned out all right though, small girls and pink dollies are a good combo.

Guess who got a new jacket for Christmas

Pink of course

2009-12-26T21:32:00.001+01:00

And what did Maud get for Christmas, well the main attraction of outdoor stuff was without doubt and bright pink pair of skis and matching ski boots, I don't think Henny is convinced that that fashion will ever catch on.

lucky that we had plenty of snow so she could try 'em out

All padded up and ready for take off. Luckily Maud has inherited the Norwegian ski gene from here mother and is a true natural.

Refreshments courtesy of Mormor

No 'L' plates required

2009-12-26T20:40:00.001+01:00

Got to say that i'm mightly impressed, not that i know anything about skiing, but i know that my first attempt wasn't anything like as controlled as this.

Mr Fearless

2009-12-26T20:38:00.002+01:00

It's really no woder that Henrik has been a visitor to casualty more that once during his first 4 years, the boy is pretty much ready to try anything that involves danger.

Downhill - nut nr.2

2009-12-22T21:47:00.003+01:00

Henny like her sister before her loves a bit of sledging.

find a slope, strap her in, push her off, real simple fun.

Check out Martinus' new house in the background at the top of the hill.

Henny is now a full time walker too, and almost a talker. Has a few words bust mostly just babble, but the big breakthrough is that she can now let us know when she has a dirty nappy.
She tries saying 'bæsj' (a kids word for, well google it or something) but this comes out as 'dash'.

Which brings a whole new meaning to 'I really must dash darling'

Getting a Christmas tree....

2009-12-22T21:02:00.002+01:00

Norwegian style.

Now Silje has done this all her life but it's not as easy for us to get down south of Norway for the annual Tjorteland tree chop so this time we paid a visit to Martinus and family to check out their new house, and go and find their tree.
Obviously this is their own land we are chopping from, Martinus' farfar is a farmer so trees aren't really in short supply.
Was a chilly -10 but a nice still crisp day so out we trudged into the woods to find our victims.

Lean over, this won't hurt a bit,... probably. Martinus and his Farfar check out a likely candidate with a big saw.

tree choppin'

2009-12-22T20:06:00.002+01:00

obviously there is always time for a little snack.

Silje and Hans come triumphantly out of the woods with a fine specimen.

Carried through the woods and back to the cars, two trees one for Martinus and his family and one for his grandparents. We were offered one but our car was full of sledges.

The waiting is over.....

2009-12-06T20:46:00.003+01:00

in more ways than one :-) Suddenly it happened, Henny showed us that she really can walk when she can be bothered and i blogged for the first time in a decade, or something. Admittedly she has been pushing her car around for a long time now but not actually walking unaided, until she finally found out that it might be fun to try it after all.

Have to excuse the background 'noise' but the good bit is Henny suddenly conducting the music half way through her trek round the sofa.

She still isn't a full time walker and resorts to crawling when she wants to get somewhere fast but i think she finds it fun.

R & R

2009-10-24T23:23:00.002+02:00

So with Mamma I&I off on a jolly to London for a week starting today, i'm here holding the fort with team nutster.

They are a difficult crowd to please (this is an archive 'hey dad where's my food' shot) I'm going to be seeing a lot of this in the days to come but with added breakfast, elevenses and lunch too.

So first thing on the timetable for today was bath the smallest, easy job, a real water baby, the only problem comes when it's time to get out again, even after a severe skin wrinkling 30 mins in the tub she refuses to budge, only way is to let out the water.

rest of the day was spent doing a lot of this, well for them anyway.

one small step....

2009-10-24T23:00:00.002+02:00

or two.

Henny might just finally be getting ready to leave her plastic zimmer frame car behind.

Eagle eyed reader will observe a change of outfit from earlier in the day due to poosplosion.

The daily routine

2009-10-24T22:10:00.001+02:00

Couch potatoes.. watching childrens TV right before bed time.

and when they wake up again it's time for the morning rumble and transport to nursery on my way to work.

wish i was this cherpy in the mornings

Team nutster.

catchup

2009-10-20T20:09:00.001+02:00

A big slice of quick catchup to try and get back on track.
A vist from Auntie Sarah was the last big happening, sadly it coincided with communal contageous family sickness, heavy colds all round, well mostly me Maud and Henny, which eventually ended with Henny being diagnosed with acute bronchitis so not the luckiest time to travel all the way from Canada. Still we made the best of it a did get out and about a bit.

Hamster on the roof [of the opera]

ramdom shots

2009-10-20T19:18:00.000+02:00

The beauty of having visitors and holiday is that sticky buns become ma more regular thing.

Mauds showcase

2009-09-27T12:45:00.000+02:00

Maud has been lucky enough to inherit the camera that went for a swim during the summer, the camera is obviously poorly but the pictures that it produses are quite cool non the less, all these are Mauds own work, even more impressive considering the screen no longer displays what is being shot.

Guest appearance auntie Sarah.

Self service

2009-09-21T19:30:00.002+02:00

Another video just for those especially interested in watching small children eat.

Eating isn't really one of Henny's strong points, to say that she is a fussy eater would be a bit of an understatement. Porridge and bread are still the two most eaten foods although she has admittedly started nibbling on rice cakes too.
Yesterday there was absolutely no way that she was going to let me feed her, so we let her try herself, with a remarkably good result.

Football Super Sunday

2009-09-21T08:59:00.005+02:00

Not very often that footy gets a mention on I&I, but hey it's my blog and when two local derby results go your way on the say day it needs to get mentioned.

4 - 3 against the bitter blues noses, winning goal 5 minutes into injury time,

hehehehehehehehe........

Oslo derby on the same day, Vålerenga v Lyn.
Vålerenga hadn't beaten Lyn in a league derby since 1981!

15 minutes gone 3 - 0 up, 4 - 1 at the final whistle, i was there, it was good.

Lots of shocking defending and goalkeeping in both games, but quality entertainment value if you end up on the winning side.

In the library

2009-09-17T19:47:00.002+02:00

Henny doesn't do bedtime reading, she gets up in the morning and then reads. In fact she reads every book she has from cover to cover, and then does it all again.

What you doing?

reading

i got it from here, look, there's plenty more.

see!

She has now gotten the hang of her zimmer frame too (disguised cleverly as a car to avoid embarrassment) doesn't seem to have a very tight turning circle though.

All clear

2009-09-09T19:51:00.000+02:00

So Henny had a check up at the hospital today involving an ultrasound of her liver and surrounding bits and a chat with the assisting surgeon afterwards. The verdict - still some slight damage in the liver but absolutely nothing to be concerned about, hurrah!.....an all clear stamp in the service book and no more check ups deemed necessary.
Henny celebrated by sneaking into Mauds room and borrowing the kitchen facilities, a three course dinner was served up in no time.

Activity day

2009-08-26T21:56:00.000+02:00

A super busy day encompassing:
A pre work motorcycle lesson for me, oh yes mid life crisis Harley here we come, i'm hardly awake at 7 in the morning but it's the only time i can fit it in, poured with rain which made it all the more interesting for my debut.
Henny's first day, well few hours but it's a start, at nursery.
Maud's group moved into their new building today, a fully revamped former office.
After nursery activities today too as Henny restarted swimming lessons and Maud took her first steps to super stardom by joining in at a child singing group.

So Henny gets to see what the big deal is with this nursery place and starts tidying the toys...

followed by a quick tasting session, important to pick up as many foreign bacteria as possible on your first day,
mmmmmmmmmm snotty nose here we come.

Wheels and legs

2009-08-23T20:08:00.001+02:00

Both Maud and Henny on the move this weekend, Saturday morning i took Maud to the shops to buy a bike, only one with pink handlebar grips would do, and luckily we managed to find just the bike. Unusually for the usually super cautious Maud it didn't take her long to get in the swing of things and was soon risking life and limb charging up and down the tarmac.

In the afternoon Maud had to pack away her crash helmet as i had managed to wangle two free tickets to the circus. Safely seated with a good unobstructed view, but sufficiently far enough away to ensure that there would be no chance of spectator participation in proceedings, we were entertained by all you would imagine a circus would have to offer. Maud was impressed enough to want to go back on sunday too.

Henny too is getting bolder and is now able to stand unaided, well at least until she realises what she 's doing and her knees give way with surprise.

Summer Holiday 2009

2009-08-11T22:16:00.001+02:00

Bit of a look back in time to see what we got up to on our summer hols, this will only be a scratch on the surface obviously, 4 weeks and 1000 photos, not gonna post em all.
Started the hols, which would include 4 birthdays and a wedding packed in along the way by getting Martinus and family to joins the first week which included a trip to the zoo. Lets go.

The first day of holidays a glorious sunshine can't ask for more than that.

Mork and Mindy.

Cheeky monkey.

-----.....-----

2009-08-11T22:00:00.003+02:00

Henny perfects her new favourite sleeping position.

There would be plenty of al fresco eating during our hols seafood and cake featured heavily on the menu, but not at the same time, obviously.

and here we have a historic photo for a couple of reasons, Maud daring to touch a living creature without freaking out and this is one of the very last pictures to be taken with this camera, a few minutes later said camera would be found hiding in the rock pool along with the very crab it had just snapped. Doh... I managed to save the memory card but salt water and electronics don't really mix so well. Bah.

-----.....-----

2009-08-11T21:50:00.004+02:00

Whos been feeding the baby ice cream?

Even Maud couldn't resist a kitten

Henny returns her food to sender.

and yes the obligatory small child in sunglasses shot.

.....-----.....

2009-08-11T21:48:00.003+02:00

Henrik was a bit fan of Hennys and henny a fan of his, together they clapped but not always in time. ah well.

Maud got to drive uncle Abrahams digger, can you see her concentrating?

Henny got stuffed into all kinds of new gear to keep her from the enemy that is water. Hooded push chair cover is a blast from the past.

buoyancy aid that must be the most frustrating garment on earth when you have short arms as your hands no longer meet in the middle.

-----......------

2009-08-11T21:42:00.002+02:00

Henny got her first pair of shoes and a pair of wellies

Maud eating her supper.

and so it was time to leave the kids behind for the weekend and drive to Kragerø for Solveig and Magnus' wedding.

Silje and her Victoria Beckham pose.

.....-----.....

2009-08-11T21:31:00.002+02:00

Bit of a reunion for Maud and Kristiana who moved back down south to Hidra a while ago.

Henny found something she liked to play on and pulled wheelies all round the garden.

Maud uses her newly discovered jumping skills to the full and manages to land without breaking anything too.

bit of a break for a slide...

and then back to more jumping.

-----.....-----

2009-08-11T21:25:00.004+02:00

Maud went to the bank and deposited her life savings, which quite mysteriously keeps growing all by itself down there in Ff. Magic.

Wherever Henny was Nora wasn't far away and wherever Nora was Maud wasn't far away. Maud things that her big cousin Nora is most probably one of the coolest people in the world.

THERE'S MORE click on 'older posts'

-----.....-----

2009-08-11T21:23:00.003+02:00

Double trouble.

We had rain too, didn't seem to dampen the spirits too much tho.

Birthday nr 3 was Morfar Egils 60th, the ultimate seafood and cake fest.

Trampo-trampoline

2009-08-11T21:21:00.001+02:00

Mormor and Morfar very kindly raided their piggy bank and bought a trampoline for the summer house, which of course gave pleasure to kids of all ages.

Maud reads the safety instructions before commencing.

and then proceeds to bounce and fall herself in oblivion.

I see sheep

2009-08-11T21:18:00.001+02:00

strange wooly white creatures wandering around certainly got Hennys attention.

Birthday nr. 4

2009-08-11T21:17:00.001+02:00

Birthday number 4 of the holiday was, fittingly enough, Henriks 4th birthday celebrated the only way he knows how by climbing on or over stuff.

Present opening when your 4 must be as close to the perfect thing there is.

Even Batman made an appearance, a good day.

music master

2009-08-11T21:11:00.001+02:00

Henny complained about the music played in the PW, so during a pit stop she clambered into the front to make the point.

Frankly Pappa this music leaves something to desired - theres nothing for the kids.

but i tell ya what we could listen too...

this!