2.09.2011

My baby turned six months today, I win!
I am focused on learning how to speak Danish, how to be a good mother, how to be more patient, how to be a runner- en lidt, and thinking about what is coming up next.
Life is cycles and waves a rotating roller coaster you can't see very far ahead on. Life is Space Mountain at Disney World going down a drain. I need to be sitting here thinking that the best part about a roller coaster is the climb right now because I have been going through one of those stomach bottoming-out parts lately.

With the six month birthday feeling kind of like a place I want myself to remember what life was like I am giving myself a monumental challenge today.  I want myself to write a book between now and whenever I get a job in Denmark. Realistically, this "getting a job" thing will probably coincide with entering E in danish "kindergarten" which starts at 2 år 9 måneder. If a I have the decent makings of a book at the start of that time I may spend some alone at home working on it alongside applying for work.  I think this is a realistic goal to set myself and if I complete it... well I can't really get there mentally yet.
 
But it definitely gives me enough time to really have a grip on speaking Danish- I expect to be able to hold my own in a conversation with E's teacher... or Jytte's parents and, of course, in a job interview :)
It gives me something to do if I get bored at home but with a little bit more pressure and expectation than a hobby.  I think sewing is something I like doing once in a while... like on big projects or custom items. Writing this book... a novel I expect... will take a lot longer than any sewing project I would willingly take on.

So I set myself this goal today and if it all goes well then I might mention it again :D

2.08.2011



My sister is staying with us for two months so that I can take Danish courses. She has been here for two weeks now; this, the third week, is the first week where she is not jet lagged and we are not sick.
E is six months old tomorrow.... E er seks månder i morgen :-)
And, he just started "high function" crawling today. He has been "almost crawling" for about a month now, slowly becoming more efficient at scooting on the floor, getting up on his knees and then adding his arms. It has been amazing to watch the progression.  He has yet to realize that this newest iteration of crawling is much more efficient.  In a few days I am sure he will be moving quickly across the room in a furry of opposite hand to knee action!
It is not a surprise to me that this new stage of development comes after he has finally started sleeping as much as he did before we went on our holiday meet-the-baby tour. Sleep is the key to this whole "having a baby" thing. Learning that just because E has woken up doesn't mean he has slept enough has been probably the most important thing for me. I try to give him an opportunity to fall back asleep every time when he wakes up. I have learned as well that just because he is awake doesn't mean he doesn't want to sleep, sometimes he is over stimulated and just can't get there. On the train I have had to put my coat over his head to put him to sleep, otherwise the world whooshing by is just too distracting.
We have traveled on the train quite a bit lately. To København (Copenhagen) and back to Brande twice in January. My sister and I spent a day exploring Copenhagen and I carried E in the sling (I made) the entire day.  it was not as exhausting as I thought it was going to be. We are going to Paris for a few days in early March and I plan to carry E around all the time then too.
Yeah so make the baby sleep even if he doesn't think he wants to, even if he just woke up, even if he is too distracted to try, even if covering his head makes him scream and cry; otherwise he is more whiny and clingy to his mama then he needs to be. At least, when he is well slept he will spend time with his morster [a Danish word for an aunt who is the mother's sister], giving me time to learn Danish.
I will say that I am very pleased to be able to learn Danish over the internet with Netdansk instead of having to go to a Lærdansk school. I feel like I am learning at a good pace and so do my Danish friends. I was worried about the travel time and being in a classroom because of my narcolepsy. I think I would fall sleep a lot more if I was in a conventional setting trying to learn Danish. As it is I do have some narcoleptic issues.  Like today, I was so tired while I was studying vocabulary I had to make coffee- caffeine is the only drug I can use to help me with my narcolepsy these days. I had a cataplectic spasm and dropped my coffee mug, it spilled all over the counter! But I made more and studied more and didn't nap- VICTORY!
Soon (I think) I will start talking to the Danish doctors about managing my narcolepsy.  I'm not going to take any drugs for it until E has totally weaned himself, but it will be good to get my new Danish sleep doctor before that happens, especially since I'm thinking I will try to work when E starts in the Danish "kindergarden"

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