Baby swimming .........

In week 43 when Sofie was 9½ weeks old I started going to baby swimming with her in 'DGI byen'. There are 12 babies each with one of their parents in our class and Sofie is the youngest. The first lesson went well and parents were taught how to hold their babies in water whilst floating on their stomachs and backs and then rotating back and forth between the two. Its a 10 week course and apparently babies can swim under water quite quickly. Below are a few photos of Sofie's swimming progress.

Sofie in her new swimming suit. Babies don't wear diapers in these which sounds 'dangerous'. I hope they can cope with potential mishaps. At 9½ weeks of age Sofie weighed in at 5080 g and had thus put on 1840 g since her birth!
















Sofie's second lesson at 10½ weeks of age. We start each lesson with a song...............I was the only mum amidst 10 dads in this lesson!









......... babies are then introduced to floating on their stomachs.













Having a break and a laugh!
















Sofie floating on her back and smiling up to the camera!













The lesson ends with a song and a good look in the mirror. In this photo Sofie's image got her to laugh a lot.














After swimming Sofie is usually exhausted !! In this photo we let her come into our bed and even though we both vowed she would never sleep with us she got to nap with her dad for 3 hours !














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Halloween

Every year we invite Daniel and Oliver (Sofie's cousins) to Copenhagen for a summer break weekend, but the visit was canceled this year due to Sofie's birth which we were all a little disappointed about. But on the weekend following the school autumn break we made up for this by inviting them over to enjoy the end of Halloween in Copenhagen. It was a really fun weekend, the boys arrived on Saturday and after lunch we headed for the Tivoli gardens. On Sunday we visited 'Ripley's Believe or Not Museum' and the Round Tower in the heart of Copenhagen. We dragged Sofie along to most of these events and she loved catching up with her cousins again. Check out the photos and video below.

Daniel and Oliver arrived in Copenhagen at 11 am on Saturday. We started the day in our flat where Daniel received a belated birthday present from us. It is this cool electronic set which we bought for him almost a year ago while we were still in Boston, USA.................







......... meanwhile Hans and Oliver played with Han's old electric train set which I had never seen in action. It was really cool.













Sofie got some wonderful gifts from her cousins, aunt and uncle. In this photo she is ready for the trip to the Tivoli gardens wearing the sweet hat they gave her.







I have a season pass to Tivoli that got Sofie and me in for free but Hans and the boys had to wait in line in the rain.


















Tivoli gardens were decorated with pumpkins everywhere. In this photo the boys are posing with a pumpkin man.










We bought a ride pass for Hans and both of the boys and this was great value for money. I think Daniel worked out that he tried over 30 rides (a lot of them were repeats of his favorite rides).









We ate dinner on a pirate ship in Tivoli.














Hans enjoying a big mug of beer on the ship in real pirate style .......













........... and the boys enjoying big sodas (pirate style).














Sunday morning bath time ....... Sofie really loves her baths now. The thing she loves most is actually having a shower with Hans and myself!


















Sofie and Oliver relaxing on Sunday morning ............



















......... and a closer view! Sofie really had fun with her cousins and just loves looking at herself in her mirror.











Sofie finally dressed for the day.












Sofie and I started the day at the swimming pool getting ready for baby swimming whilst Hans and the boys headed off to 'Ripley's Believe it or Not museum' we all walked into town together and on the way stopped outside Town Hall to take a few tourist photos. In this photo Oliver is sitting on the statue of H.C. Andersen. This statue is difficult to get photos of without lots of Japanese tourists so the boys were lucky .........












............. Daniel had a go as well.




















Outside the entrance to the town hall.












We all met at 'Jensen's Steakhouse (Bøfhus)' for lunch. This is a super friendly restaurant if you have children and babies with you.









After lunch we walked to the Round Tower. In this photo Daniel, Oliver, Sofie and I pose in front of the tower before going in. The caretaker actually lives on the top floor of the tower. What a great view!

















Inside the Round Tower.




















The last part of the walk up to the top is via a narrow round stairway so we had to leave the pram behind.










Views from the top looking out towards our apartment.












Hans prefers Sofie dressed in tomboy clothing. But I have purchased a few dresses which are quite sweet.










Oliver and Hans playing with model train.

Sofie relaxing in Dads arms



















Sofie is the luckiest baby in the world and gets at least 100 kisses a day from her mum and dad!



















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A relaxing weekend

We just had another great weekend in Copenhagen with fantastic Autumn weather and we got to sleep in until almost 9:00 am on both days!!! Today (Sunday) started with brunch in our apartment with Anne and Ulrik who finally got to meet Sofie. Sofie had a really good time and 'behaved' so we are hoping Anne and Ulrik will babysit some time in the future. Check out some of the photos of the weekend below.

After we'd finished eating brunch Sofie woke up and got to properly greet our guests. In this photo Anne is holding Sofie ................










........and a closer view!













Ulrik is having a good laugh !













After brunch we all went for a really long walk all the way around Christiania and Christianshavn's vold.









In this photo one can see an interesting sculpture that has turned up on the water. I think its supposed to be art.























After the visit, meal and nappy change Sofie got to relax with her Dad on the sofa .........












......... more relaxation this time all by herself!












This weekend we also took Sofie out on her first bike-ride in a trailer behind my bike. In this funny photo she is dressed up for the ride in quite an over sized suit.


















........ and off we go! She really seemed to enjoy the ride and fell into a deep sleep. I guess its because of all the bumping!











Sofie will be getting a passport soon so we have started trying to get a suitable passport photo! This is quite difficult as she wriggles so much. Notice the cute Harvard t.shirt that Dad bought her when we were in Boston, USA
















A content baby after a nice weekend!



















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My mother group has started

When Sofie turned 7 weeks my mother group started. I was really looking forward to seeing Sofie's reaction to all the new baby faces. At 7 weeks Sofie is the youngest baby in the group and the first meeting which took place in our apartment was full of tears especially for Sofie. Below is a photo and video of the day.

Sofie is on her activity mat in this photo and still quite content .....












Once the first baby started crying this set Sofie off !

The following week we all met again and this time Sofie seemed to really enjoy it. I have added a few photos below.
In this photo Sofie practices lifting her head. She is getting quite strong.












Three of the mothers in the group. Clockwise Margit with Sebastian, Louise with Emil and Anne-Dorthe with Albert. The three other mothers (including me) all have girls which gives a nice balance.








Closer view of Margit and Sebastian....














..... and a closer view of Louise with Emil















Video of Sofie practicing head-lifts

In week 43 my second mother group started. The mothers in this group are two colleagues from the cancer research institute. We 'kicked off' our meetings with a shopping trip to 'Katvigs sale' followed by lunch at the culture house restaurant in Amager.
Mette with Sebastian after lunch.




















In this photo Zorana and Filip say hello to Sebastian and Mette.











At 10 weeks of age Sofie already won the heart of Filip. In this photo Filip holds his hand over Sofie's as she practices lifting her head.












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Yoga with Sofie

When Sofie turned 7 weeks old I started doing yoga at Yogakompagniet in Copenhagen with the same instructor that I met in France. This was quite a success. Sofie has now also been weighed again and is 4830 g (a weight gain of 1590g since birth). Well done Sofie!! Below are a few photos of our progress in the yoga class.

Sofie (7 weeks) with Sebastian, a colleagues son Sebastian (10 weeks) ........














.... in this photo they have moved to the center of the room.














Here Sofie and Sebastian pay close attention to what our yoga teacher Laila is saying.

















After 1 week autumn break we attended the second week of yoga (week 43) which also went well and this time Sofie met a new baby girl that she got to hold hands with .......
Sofie (9 weeks) relaxing whilst mum does yoga.
















After yoga, a long walk and a good meal Sofie relaxes on the sofa.


















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A vacation on the Danish Island - Bornholm

When Sofie was 4 weeks old we left Copenhagen for 2 weeks on Bornholm. It was a great holiday for me and Sofie and Hans got to work. The 2 weeks were full of 'first events' for our little daughter including her first bath, learning to use her dummy, going for long walks on the beach, going to church and visiting her first restaurant. Amazing how quickly she is developing. We can almost see her growing and becoming more and more alert. One of the most rewarding things to date is her charming smile. Grandma and grandpa stayed with us for 6 days and great having such patience around. They looked after Sofie a lot of the time between breast feeds which gave us lots of freedom and meant we could even get out to climb on the nice crags on the island. Below are a few photos taken on the trip.

Sofie sleeping in granddads arms as he reads his newspaper...........


















.........and then it was grandmas turn




















Mum got a go as well.













Here Sofie is having her first real bath in the sink and as one can see she also exercised her lungs!!


















We also visited our first restaurant in Svaneke (Pakhuset), it was great with a large variety (smoked, salted ...... ) of the Bornholm specialty of fish (herring). Sofie slept through most of the meal.








........ and more sleeping! Notice Sofie is now using her dummy, thanks to the patience and persistence of her grandparents. This is really great!










We were lucky with the weather and did lots of walking. In this photo Sofie is being pushed by her granddad to the beach at Dueodde on the east coast. Sofie likes bumpy rides and thus granddad is her favorite. Neither dad nor mum can live up to granddads standard and he is missed now we are back in Copenhagen!!!



A view of Gudhjem a lovely town where one can buy the local delicacy 'Solen over Gudhjem' which is black bread with smoked herring and a raw egg yolk on top!! Only dad and grandma wanted this treat.







Not always easy getting around with a baby in a pram .........













This is the first church Sofie visited. One of the beautiful round churches found on Bornholm (Østerlars rundkirke).











Inside the church. In this photo one can see the beautiful wall paintings inside the church.












Glass blowing is a popular craft on Bornholm and we visited one of the many glass shops. Gifts were also purchased!









Hammersharbour (Hammershavn): a very windy place!












More carrying .........




















A very content baby in her pram!!














We also got to climb on Bornholm. To view these photos visit Hans blog
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