August 22, 2009: Dad's birthday

It has been a big week in the Bräuner household with mum starting back at work, Sofie going to care 4 days a week. BUT it's a very happy time with lots of celebrations and today it was Dads turn to be celebrated. We started the day eating breakfast on the balcony whilst Dad opened all his presents. Then headed off to the beach to enjoy as much of the good weather we could.

Sofie and Dad

Dad got a new bike helmet from Sofie and a new digital camera from Mum. Sofie and Mum also chipped in together to buy Dad a new climbing technical backpack.


Dad riding his bike at the beach with his new helmet.













Mum & Sofie on the beach at Amager Strandpark. At first Sofie hated the sand .....



A video of Sofie the first time we put her on the sand. I think it felt weird on her hands, just look at the way she is lifting them whilst she crawls.

.... but she quickly got used to it check out this photo and the following 2 videos of her after about 10 minutes of getting used to the sand.






Dad & Sofie enjoying a moment together looking out at the view.















..... and then it was Hopla time.
















The birthday father and daughter enjoying dinner. Dad requested BBQ food so we had BBQ sausages, fish and beetroots. In this photo Sofie copies what Dad does with his hands.











August 23, 2009
The next day was also super weather so we started the day eating breakfast on our balcony and then going for a run with Sofie in the jogger. Dad also installed the security doors to our balcony. This was something Sofie was very curious about and even though she wanted to help I think Dad would have preferred that she kept her distance.


Sofie (Nosey pants) watching Dad install the security doors.

Furniture walking is become very popular. Check out Sofie doing her exercises in the next two videos.





Sofie walking exercises.


ET phone home ....

Monday August 24, 2009
Then it was suddenly Monday again and back to day care for Sofie. Here she shows Dad how well she can clean her plate!


Previous posts.

August 20, 2009: Sofie's first birthday

Today (August 20, 2009) is Sofie's first birthday and thus a big day in the Bräuner household! Sofie wanted to get the most out of the day and thus woke up at 6.30 AM - 45 minutes earlier than normal! We went into her room singing birthday songs and then it was time to get her first present and homemade hot cross buns:

Sofie (looking pretty sleepy) holding a home baked hot cross bun with a Danish and Australian flag.
Happy Birthday!


















Sofie immediately liked her new farm cards and book!

Sofie had a great but tiring day in daycare so after getting home she had a good nap and after dinner she got to open the rest of her presents from mum/dad and the Australian side of the family (her Danish family is gathering in Copenhagen next weekend).
In this photo she waits in anticipation. She got lots of great presents and not all appear in the photos below.


Checking out the sorting box given to her by one of her Australien aunts, the other Giraffe dada is holding in the background was also a present from her aunt.


Sofie blowing out her first candle (with mums help).


Sofie politely claps along whilst mum & dad sing her birthday songs in Danish and Englis


Sofie studying one of her new 'get up and walk' pull toys.


Sofie reading her birthday card from grandma and grandpa.

A few of Sofie's cards and some presents. Notice the painting of Sofie. It was a present made by one of her Australian aunts, a great idea.

A close-up of the painting - this was Sofie at her Christening.




























When Sofie was 13.5 weeks old we made an impression of her hand and foot in clay. We repeated this on her birthday. Check out the photo of the comparison here. She was much less willing to participate this time round so the prints are a little distorted but one can definitely see the change in size.





Click here for some fun and go 1 year back in time and see how Sofie looked back then some 7 kilos and 24 cm ago!

Previous posts.

Back in Denmark - The last week of maternity leave

August 9, 2009

Even though we had a fantastic vacation it was great finally arriving home. One of the simple things all three of us enjoyed getting back to was Danish black bread. We are all feeling the jet lag but luckily Sofie is adjusting quickly to the 9 hour time difference.
It's mums last week of maternity leave so a lot of relaxation is on the agenda.
Time really does fly and its hard to believe that a whole year has passed.


We spent our first weekend home enjoying swimming in the harbour and a lot of the other activities offered at the Islands Brygge Harbour Cultural Festival 2009.


Coming through !!!!! Yesterday Sofie finally learned how to walk in her Winnie the Pooh car. Nothing can stop her now and any obstacles are simply run over.


A new game which Sofie created herself this morning was the tickling game. She lifts her arms high in the air and waits for one of us to tickle. When we do she breaks into laughter!! Fun.

August 11, 2009
Sofie will turn 1 year old in 11 days. Today I got to thinking that she is quite the little globetrotter and has visited 12 countries in the space of her short life. It's a shame she won't be able to remember so much of her trips.

I have generated a map here:
Before the age of 1 year Sofie traveled in Denmark, France, Norway, Australia, Iceland and USA and was in transit in Sweden, Germany and Thailand.

Whilst I was pregnant Sofie also technically visited Canada, Spain and Ireland.



August 14, 2009
We are already thinking about getting ready for winter so we buy Sofie a 'flyvedragt' which is warm, padded and water-/wind proof!!


















............ and we also buy wet weather gear.





















We also buy Sofie her first pair of 'first step' shoes. At 12 mo. Sofie's feet are 10.5 cm long and she is baby size shoe 18.



















I spent my last day of maternity leave with Sofie. One of the days adventures was going to the doctors for Sofie's 12 month vaccination (see her thighs) and also a check-up. Sofie got a very clean bill of health and the doctor was very impressed that she didn't cry when he injected the vaccines!!

Sofie is 76 cm long and 10.0 kg. At birth she was 52 cm long and 3044 g so she has done well growing her first year!!

Monday August 11, 2009
Sofie's first morning ever without Mum went well and here she eats breakfast with Dad before heading off to day care.












Previous posts.

USA, California 2009 - days 17 - 18 in San Francisco

We arrive back in San Francisco and check into the Holiday Inn where dad has his conference. We are surprised at how cold it is, but luckily on our last two days the 'Fog City' does treat us with lots of sunshine.

One of Sofie's favourite games is peek a boo. We say 'Where is Sofie' after which she promptly hides behind the closest thing available. See this
video.


Another favourite game is playing catch. Her dad says Sofie has a good eye for the ball and I think he plans some serious tennis matches with her in the future.

Lombard street in San Francisco is really famous so we thus have to visit. On one section of this street their are 8 sharp swings on a 100 m stretch of road and this has made the street famous.












After this we head to Ashbury-Haight street area. This is a Hippie paradise so definitely a spot mum wanted to see.

Mum & Sofie outside one of the colourful shops in the area.
















Sofie was dressed appropriately in a very 'flower power' dress. Notice the bow in her hair. Something we have started doing as we have grown tired of people saying 'what a precious little BOY!!' when they see her.


Sofie has finally learned how to wave to people and now politely waves to everyone we meet.


Rolly-polly on the bed is Sofie's main sport just now and the clothes on the bed are all the new clothes we bought her at the Califorian outlets. prices were around a fifth of what the equivalent labels would cost in Denmark.

The next day Dad had an appointment at Stanford University mum & Sofie went along as we were curious to see this highly prestigious university.

The old entrance to the university.















An example of some of the older buildings.















After sightseeing at the university mum was dying for a coffee so went to the mall close by to find a Starbucks. This is a photo of Sofie when she finally woke up.


















After Dad finished his talk and meeting we all went back into town to walk over the Golden Gate bridge. Check out this video of the view as we approach.


This is the view from the top of the bridge. Admittedly I was really spooked by the height and the fact the cars on the bridge were so close to us.

After our walk we went out to a local Vietnamese restaurant. Here Sofie and dad look at the menu.

Sofie eating noodles with chop-sticks.

The next day dad had to speak at a Bio-Science conference so Sofie and mum relaxed at the hotel. Before we knew it was time to go to the airport.

Sofie reading a few of the magazines on the plane.




















We had a great flight and Sofie slept 10.5 of the 12 hour flight in the crib supplied by the airline. In Munich we however parted ways with dad who continued to a conference in Vienna. In this photo dad waves to Sofie.

















Kiss goodbye for dad who had a direct flight to Vienna.
















Mum & Sofie had 5 hours in transit and when we finally arrived in Kastrup at 23.40 we were pretty busted as can be seen in this photo taken with mums mobile.


















This was the baggage that mum had to carry home along with baby Sofie!!!! Pretty extreme.




















We got to bed at 1 am and Sofie slept 13 hours straight. In this photo she looked quite refreshed but the spark went out at 3 pm at which time she had another nap until 6.30 pm.
A GREAT TRIP !!

















Previous posts.

USA, California 2009 - days 14 - 16 at Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon

We spent our first day driving through the Giant Forest and heading to Kings Canyon.

The redwood trees in the Giant Forest are the largest by volume and even though they are not the highest, they are still very tall at 80 to 100 m high and also very old at 1500 - 2000 years of age.
Try and find Sofie in this photo.
Here she is.









Mum & Sofie standing inside one of the Sequoia giants! It would take 20 people to dance around the base of this old tree!!!






Video of Sofie crawling! To see a video of how she moved before our trip click here


Film of one of the giants.

400 steps in the giant forest took us to the top of Moro rock and a 360 view.

In the forest one of the giants fell over the road and instead of removing it they made a tunnel which is very novel.



Sofie & Bab-ba in the tree museum checking out pine cones.














Sofie & Ma-ma in the caves. Unlike the Australien limestone caves these were actually marble!! Not nearly as impressive but still quite beautiful.


















More photos of the cave formations.





















Back in Three Rivers we looked for a place to swim. As in Australia water shortage is also a big problem in California. This boat ramp leads to a dried out spot where water used to be.

We finally find a great spot and Sofie thoroughly enjoys the refreshing water.


Back at our B&B hotel Ba-ba and Sofie have a wrestling match. Sofie is the undisputed winner of the first round!! :)
Previous posts.