Advent Calendar

I will again this year have an Advent Calendar here on my blog. There will be a new picture of a bridge for every day, similar to last year. The first entry appears at 6 in the morning on the 1st  of Advent and then from the first of December all the way to Christmas day for you all to enjoy.

This year I have a contest going with this Calendar: You get points if you can name the bridge and tell the location. The first three correct answers in the comments everyday will get 3, 2 and 1 point (so you better get up early). After Christmas I will announce a winner who collected the most points. The winner will receive a free beer from a local brewery next time he or she visits us. If you don’t like beer there are non-alcoholic alternatives too, just let me know after the announcement.

Just remember, don’t wait for me to post it on Facebook, I typically don’t get up this early now and some days I might forget to post it at all, still the posts will appear on the blog at 6.

I will moderate the comments, so you might not see it on the page until later and you might not be first just because there is no comment on the post yet.

Here is the first bridge:

Golden Gate

This one isn’t in the contest; it’s the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Have a joyful time!

She walks

Today was the day. Our daughter has started to walk. Now she walks from one place to another without holding our hands. (Holding our hands is still the preferred way of getting around though).

Susanna sent me an sms at lunch where she told me that our daughter had walked about 1.5 meters. I didn’t think I would see her walk in the evening, but I was wrong. She now does walk, not that far so far, but still 1 meter here, two meters there and oh she’s over there now.

We do have another concern though. She has started climbing. I think it might even be one of her favourite things to do. We have a small stool with a step. Two days ago she made it up to the table as the stool stood in front of it. Today she just went up and down a few times, (we have moved it away from the table to the piano).

Our daughter after climbing up the stool:

By the way; Toro I owe you a beer.

Someone wants to walk

My daughter has a new thing going on. She wants to walk. Bumping is just not good enough anymore. (Bumping is explained in the post of How to not feel rejected).

We realized yesterday that she was a bit grumpy. Didn’t really know why at first. She didn’t need to go to the potty, (yes she does most of her business there), she didn’t want to get a snack from Susanna and she didn’t want to play with some toys she shouldn’t like cables.

As soon as Susanna or I held out my hands, she grabbed them, pulled herself up and started walking. Before she just would have bumped to her spot, but not yesterday. It was walking day!

After a while she did let go of our fingers, only to lose balance and we had to catch her to not hit her head or worse.

Just a few days ago walking with her was an easy thing, I could steer her the way I wanted. Yesterday she started complaining when I steered away for a room she shouldn’t enter. She then very decisive led us to the little pool we have had put up in the garden. She wanted to bathe.

She really practises standing. First holds both hands, then one, then just something else, like my leg or a table, then nothing, plumps. Stretch out arms to someone to get pulled up again.

I don’t know how I feel about it. I know she will learn to walk eventually, but she really doesn’t have to start so early. (Sure there are kids that start earlier). With her walking around, climbing will evidently come soon too. More things have to be child-proofed. More than one pair of shoes has to be bought. Cables protected. Flowers moved. (She likes digging in flowerpots). And she will be even faster from one room to the other. With bumping I can look away for a few seconds and I still have a chance to find her again.

Here is a picture of my daughter walking with Susanna and one of her walking with me

Susanna and Johannes walk with Ellinor

There are some things that will be better as soon as she walks by herself.

Our backs will be lest bent. If she holds my pinkie fingers I can walk with an almost strait back, but normally she grabs some other fingers first and it’s a bit hard to change fingers while she is holding on like it was for life.

We won’t have to follow her everywhere. We do have places where she can go by herself. It is comfortable to just sit down in one place and let her explore without one having to walk with her all the time. Bumping had the same pro, maybe even better due to the slower speed.

So let the betting begin: When will she walk by herself for the first time? I’ll buy the winner a beer. (Winner is the one guessing the date closest to the actual day here in the comment field. In case of a draw I’ll have to buy two (or more) beers. Susanna and I will be the undisputable judges of this contest).