Sweet Child of Mine

Delicious little babyface

Some close up pictures of Magnus are well overdue.  I'm afraid he's falling victim to "Second Child Syndrome"--but not because his parents have a been-there-done-that attitude, more because their hands are full managing the first child.  Well now that we are settled into the house and have plenty of space to let Linus run around semi-unsupervised, Mattias and I got our act together and got back into our paparazzi habits. 

He is always smiling

His little personality is still very mellow and sweet.  He's happy to chill in his different chairs or his jumparoo, but likes a change of scenery every 15 minutes or so.  The kitchen and yard are a couple of his favorite spots, where he gets to watch his mamma do busy work.  Currently anything he can get his hands on will end up in his mouth, including my hair.  His feet are a particular point of interest, too.







A few comparisons are also in order.  A lot of friends have commented that Magnus looks a lot like Linus.  Yes, they both have ginormous noggins.  But I think they are more different than they are alike.  Another thing in common-- both boys are damn handsome!  Can you tell which is which in the next series of shots?

Most people will vouch that Magnus' sweetness is infectious.  Swedipino 2.0 is proving to be a great new edition. 

KarlssonKare Update

With all the blog silence you'd think we were getting lazy with the blogging or maybe just not doing anything worth blogging about, right?  Wrong.  We have been busier than we prefer to be, moving into our new rental house in South Arlington.  With my mom's financial help we were able to hire movers to do the heavy lifting, but now we are in the midst of organizing and unpacking.  One thing I love about non-California houses are basements!  It's like an endless pit for storage, and coming from a mere 800 square feet our basement seems massive.

So I just wanted to give you folks a quick photo update.  Now that I'm back at work 3 days a week, Kerstin is a whole lot busier running KarlssonKare by herself.  She has Magnus to herself 2 days a week, and one day a week she braves both boys by herself!  Here's how she keeps them busy.

When there was snow outside she had Linus rake the snow.  If they sold kid-sized snow shovels, I'm sure he would be shovelling instead. 

Lille Magnus still holds a "supervisory" role.  And of course he is still sweet and mellow.  He's happy playing with toys and putting everything into his mouth, but he definitely needs frequent changes in scenery.  Once he's crawling in a few months I plan on outfitting him with an outfit made of microfiber dustcloth to help clean the floors. 

Linus counts spare change to see if he can afford his own brother.  Sweatshirt reads "Brother for Sale: $1 or Best Offer".

Farmor is awesome in that she'll suit him up in rainclothes and let him play with sand in the rain. 

Even Gus prefers to be in KarlssonKare.  Just yesterday Kerstin came by to pick up one of the boys.  With the front door cracked open, Gus heard her voice, nudged the door open, darted across the street like a rocket dog, and jumped into the minivan.  Geeze, you'd think we were neglecting him or something...









And there is plenty of jumping going on, too.  With all the excess "boy energy", Kerstin gives both gremlins the opportunity to express themselves with the Jumparoo and brand new mini-trampoline.

We've said it before, and we'll keep saying it:  We are SO lucky to have Kerstin and Magnus here with us.  Lille Magnus and Linus' childhoods are so much more fun with their grandparents here to love and play with them.  Mattias and I have a healthy marriage and are able to go on dates every couple of weeks.  There's no way we can ever repay them, but I try my best by cooking them dinner as often as I can.  And that's how the Karlssons care for each other.