Swedish Baby Culture and Christmas Photos

  • January 23, 2011 10:33 PM

A couple feet of snow, five hours of daylight and -22 degrees celsius (-8 fahrenheit) doesn’t sound fun, does it? But Pumpkin’s first Christmas was great – I’d say my favorite in Stockholm yet! We spent the holiday with Thomas’ family, where Pumpkin got to meet Tomte, go sledding, and was spoiled by her Farfar, Farmor, and Uncle Mikey. We introduced her to Thomas’ side of the family’s Christmas traditions: Kalle Anka, Bulla, Santa’s Helpers, Christmas Eve presents, and after-Christmas parties, all blogged in past years (2006, 2007, 2009).

Christmas Elf

Now that I’ve got a baby, I notice baby culture everywhere – are there changing tables, high chairs, stroller-friendly accessibility? This is not one of Brussels’ strong points, so I was amazed at how many parents with babies I saw out and about in Stockholm, especially with the freezing temperatures. They just bundled their kids, put them in a baby carrier or stroller, and headed out. The bassinet buggies with four big air-filled wheels were very popular.

My Favorite Christmas Present

You would probably never see this in the US, but a Danish mom recently told me that where she’s from, children are bundled and put in their strollers outside for naps. Thomas’ mom said this is done in Sweden too. After seeing how well Pumpkin napped during our winter walks, I can understand (though I’m not ready to leave her outside myself).

Dreaming of Sugar Plums

Children seemed very welcome everywhere we went – the mall, the movies, restaurants. While sitting in a mall food court during our trip, I counted 4 or 5 breastfeeding moms. There were also high chairs, and a baby lounge and play area. It was quite a contrast to Belgium where young children are not really encouraged in restaurants. You rarely see highchairs, changing tables, or kids’ menus here.

Enough Photos Already!

It’s apparent how welcoming Sweden is to children when you look at the parental leave provided by the government – all working parents are entitled to a joint 16 months paid leave per child – encouraged to be shared between the parents. We’ll have to keep that in mind when we’re ready for baby #2. :)

Despite the harsh winter weather, it was a great holiday, and very nice to see the positive baby culture there. It’s a shame that Pumpkin won’t have any memories of this first Christmas, but hopefully she’ll see how special it was in the photos we took. I’ve posted the album to PicasaWeb.

Two Months: Big Changes

  • January 3, 2011 6:50 PM

Wow, what a change we’ve seen in Pumpkin’s second month. She has completely transformed from a helpless infant to an attentive baby. She’s grown too – 11 lbs now! Sadly, her adorable newborn clothes no longer fit. I tried to squeeze her into them as long as I could, but finally had to pack them away. :(

Pumpkin has learned all kinds of tricks this month. My favorite is her smiling and cooing. She is most active just after waking up and will tell you all about her dreams if you chat with her.

Click for Video: Chatting with Uncle Mikey

For Christmas, she received a bouncy chair that has toys dangling over it. She flails her arms around trying to reach for them, and occasionally bats one, but hasn’t figured out grasping yet. She’s also discovered her hands and will suck on her fingers or fists…or yours if you give them to her. Her attention span has grown too – staring at the ceiling fan can take a good 10 minutes of her day.

Sleep time has become much easier, much to the encouragement of my in-laws over the holidays. We can now see that Pumpkin is getting sleepy when she rubs her eyes. And she’ll now sleep on her back…in her crib…sometimes up to 6 hours if she’s got a full belly!

Breastfeeding is also going much better too. I guess it just takes time to get the hang of it. I’ve been thinking about pumping to give me a little more flexibility, but haven’t been able to with our travels. I don’t want to mess up my milk supply by starting and not being able to continue. Hopefully, we’ll develop more of a routine when we get to San Fran.

With the eating and sleeping under control, I’m feeling much more comfortable as a mother. I think Thomas is feeling more comfortable as a father too. He’s getting more sleep now and has been spending lots of quality time with her. It’s a bit challenging as it’s not his primary language, but he’d really like to teach her Swedish and has been reading and speaking it to her.

This month really was amazing. Toward the end, it felt like we could see new changes every day in her activities, attention, and appearance. She even grew more hair, just like Tomte said. There are more photos from this month posted on PicasaWeb: