pedeja diena sini gada

nupat ir iesakusies pedeja si gada diena. 12:24. pec 24 stundam (latvija tas jau bus pec 17 stundam...) mes, kur nu kurais, atzimesim 2006. gada sakumu. daziem bus uzdzive un ballesanas, citiem kontemplativs vakars draugu pulka; daziem kartiga mielosanas, citiem vientuliba un klusums, bet lai nu ko mes kurs nedaritu, laikam jau mes visi tomer kaut ka atzimejam so gadu mainu. vel viens punktins dzives plusma. pauze. moments. pieturas punkts.

kaspars vakar nakti atkal janoja un man sodien ir bijusi tada nedaudz nesakariga un noguruma pilna diena. bet esmu vairakkart esmu sedejusi, kasparu midzinadama, domajusi par pagajuso sini gada, par prieksa stavoso jaunaja, par tuviem un taliem, miliem cilvekiem, par navi un dzivi un visu to, kas starp tam plust it ka sava pasplusma . . . un cik biezi es neieveroju to sakartotibu, to absoluti idealo iekartojumu, ko dievs, it ka aizkulises stradadams mana dzive ieliek. pateiciba un uzticesanas - kaut jaunais gads mums biezak lautu ar tam sastapties!

sezu pie datora, klausos, ka pa 'baby monitor' klausuliti skan jaunais daniel lanois ieraksts. baigais miers. visi gul. kaspars ari beidzot ir noluzis. man domas plust nevaldama atruma. gribetos rakstit un rakstit, bet nespeju ieturet isto tempu. rokas nepej lidzi tikt domu gajienam. laikam bus jaiet vien gulet, lai rit varam vel so to paveikt pirms sim gadam oficiali tiek parvilta svitra. lai jums visiem ir skaista veca gada pedeja diena un lai jaunais gads nak ar jaunam atklasmem un brinumiem!

gifts

kaspar and i spent half the day sorting through christmas gifts, which was mostly his toys and new clothes. it's unbelievable how many clothes and toys this kid has acquired in his 5 months!
absolutely astounding! the rate at which he grows out of clothes is quite astounding, as well. only two months ago his godparents brought him some gorgeous wool socks (yes, the hand knitted type) from latvia. at the end of october they were too large. yesterday i packed them away, because they don't fit any more. shocking, but true!

speaking of gifts... we have been totally spoiled this christmas. thanks to all of you! we have been showered with 'laima chocolates' and latvian 'dzintars' products for babies, moms and dads. the favourite toy for all ages - the elephant pillow has been a massive hit. it seems that the elephant has been photographed more then kaspar himself over the past few days. i'm not sure if kaspar will even get his hands on it, because his parents and friends like it way too much! and then there is the talking caterpillar and mountains of clothes and the coolest baby sun glasses... i'm not planning to write a list, as that would be totally boring for me and even more of a bore for you...but thanks!

speaking of growing children... kaspar has outgrown his car seat. that was not supposed to happen until he was 8 months or so. he's too tall. he's already 75 cm. tall and lanky kid! we need to get the next seat a.s.a.p., which is the one that will last him until he turns four or five or something like that. but with our luck, he'll probably grow out of it by age three. anyhow. that's our next outing - a search for a car seat. (thanks to grandparents and great grandparents we have that coming as a christmas gift, as well!) i hate the thought that i'll have to lug him out of the seat every time he leaves the car. yuck. it was so much easier, when we could just carry him inside with the seat and let him wake up slowly. or being able to stick him into a cart, with the seat, and go shopping. no more! those days are over! he's starting to sit by himself. he's discovered the fun of sitting and standing, so, lying on his back is no longer considered fun. bath by itself is no longer fun, either. we now need a bath tub full of bath toys! the infant days are long gone. the baby days are coming to an end. we are getting into the toddler phase. another month from now he might be crawling. and then walking and talking and ooooohhhhhh la la.... it's all happening too fast! i'm beginning to understand the mothers and fathers, who coo over infants and say things like "they grow up so fast!" or "i can hardly remember the days when mine were this age" (even if their kids are only two!) once upon a time i thought it was all a bit of a cliche. how ignorant of me!

speaking of ignorance...i've always known that tabbouleh can be made with bulgur wheat or cous cous, but recently a friend told me she uses quinoa. i had heard about the grain, but i never really knew much about it. well, it turns out that the little known quinoa is pretty much a miracle grain. you have to read about it to believe it... and it tastes great. since i've been making all of kaspar's food from scratch, i've been able to try out different vegetables and grains and such. now i've started to mix the quinoa with vegetables for kaspar. especially the ones he does not like. for example carrots - he will not eat carrots on their own, but mixed with quinoa they go down very well. he seems to love the taste of this fine little grain! and i love the internet. especially when it comes to finding information about random things like this. how did we ever live without it? how did one remember how long the turkey needs to roast? what the weather is like in china? what the people in helsinki nightclubs wear? or what i have to ramble on about today?

this and that and nothing really

hm. is it really the 28th? it is. how is it that over the holidays the days seem to be skipping dates. i could have sworn that yesterday was boxing day. what happened to the 27th? this is a 'night shot' picture of our christmas tree. i like the mysterious night shot pics!

today it rained. any other year, having rain over christmas, would have made me feel totally ripped off. however, this year i've been welcoming the +5 temperatures on christmas eve and even the last few warm days with rain and all. it's so much easier to take a child outside, when the temperature hovers around zero. especially my child, who hates snow suits and mittens and all that jazz. and of course, i hate having to torture him and dress him before we go out. so, the less to wear, the better in my books. white christmas is overrated, anyhow. we had a whole month of gorgeous white snow. then it melted and got warm. but on christmas day we were assaulted by snow flakes the size of kaspar's fist. truly. honestly. i'm not exaggerating, either. wet large snow flakes. well, maybe calling them snow flakes is a bit much. they were more like wet flat snow balls. coming down by the millions. we were on the highway, just on our way home from a gorgeous, yet long day (especially for kaspar) with our family, when the snow began. it took us nearly two hours to get home and kaspar was not happy about it. i hate having a screaming baby strapped in a car seat and a law that won't allow me to take him out of it. if you've never experienced it, believe me, it ain't pretty!


so. today being the 28th, i can say that christmas is over, right? i'm ready for it to be over. i think we have been to four christmas dinners, four parties and met with a few friends on a more casual basis, within the space of one week. and that's after turning down a few invites and not making it to a few others... now i just want to be at home. i think our baby boy is ready for some time out, too. he's still teething, sleeping very little and feeling quite out of sorts. i would too, if it was my first christmas! if it's overwhelming for us, it must be so much more overwhelming for kaspar. i'm glad that we've been able to leave him at home once or twice with mutti. it's so good to have her around!

merry christmas everyone!

here is happy, happier and happiest....

my predictions were correct. i've had no time to write over the past few days. between all the eating and driving and partying, we barely have had time to sleep. :-) in fact, i don't really have any energy to write tonight, either.... but, i hope you are having a blissful christmas day, wherever you are. i wish you all a happy, merry, beautiful christmas and a wonderful new year!