Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

It was Mums birthday yesterday. Hip hip hurray! Happy Birthday Mikaela! There were presents, balloons, and we had a very nice BBQ party today with Swedish, Dutch and Aussie friends. But most important, we had a very special guest: Morfar (that’s grandpa in Swedish). He came all the way from Malaysia, where his boat is anchored, to visit our little family. Nora loves it: she has the time of her life. Never before has she been spoiled with this much attention. And the best thing is: he’s gonna stay for almost six weeks. What a fun!!!

This weekend we had visitors from Holland. Caroline, a friend from Jan’s former impro-theatre group, is touring through Aussie with her fiancée Niek and their 7 month old daughter Florianne. They are making the trip of their lifetime: in a campervan starting from Darwin, driving through the red heart down, crossing South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, up to Queensland. And then on to New Zealand! Follow them on their own blog: Tica on tour . This weekend they stopped over in Adelaide, to pay us a visit. What a joy it was. We had gorgeous weather, so we went out to the hills at Cleland wildlife park. The little girls hit it off immediately. Florianne, being only 1 month older than Nora, proved to be a great inspiration. Within a weekend she taught Nora how to sit up straight and how to hold her own bottle while drinking. Now that’s progress!!! Guys, it was fantastic to have you around, and we can’t wait until the girls meet again. We hope you have a wonderful time in Aussi...

Can you believe it? Our little girl is already half a year old. It feels like it was only yesterday that Nora was born. Remember the forceps marks in her face and the owl in the garden? Time has been flying. So many developments since those early days: Nora really became a little personality. First of all: she’s not a ‘little’ girl anymore. With almost 68cm - 3 cm above average - it is apparent that she‘s going to be tall. Also it is apparent that she’s very alert. Everything around her is being observed with the greatest interest, even if it means skipping sleep. Our girl has been a good sleeper over night, but she still insists on waking up at 5am in the morning. As for daytime sleep: she can be a drama queen. Where other baby’s simply fall asleep, Nora first needs to throw a tantrum, and let everyone know how tired she is. Funny enough she never cries for hunger, wet nappies, heat or cold. She only screams for tiredness and attention. But she’s a tough nut: has not been sick ...

Haha, you thought I couldn't do it, right? Well, you were wrong! Watch me doing my first Rollover ... PS. do not ever underestimate Nora the mighty ;-) (if you cannot see embedded video above, just follow this link )

Important milestone this week: we’re in Aussie for two years now. And that means we can finally apply for permanency. The last couple weeks we’ve been snowed under in paperwork and bureaucracy to get everything completed. First Nora needed her own passport, before we could apply for a temporary visa like ours. Only when that was granted, could we lodge the real thing. But that’s done now, so from here on it’s up to our friends of Aussie Immigrations. So what’s the ‘state of nation’ after two years? We feel we have built up a life here. The social network has been growing steadily over the last period, especially now with Nora. South Aussie is very family oriented, and it’s easy to make contact to other young parents. In terms of work Jan increasingly enjoys his double role as project manager and account manager for Eclipse’s clients in SA. And although Mikaela is on maternity leave, she is looking forward to join Details handbags again after Christmas. Also there is still plenty to dis...

Who says you can't have a good talk with a four months old?!? (if you cannot see embedded video above, just follow this link )

Who said that in Australia the sun is always shining? Look at us here on our weekend in Victor Harbor. We completely flushed away. South Australia currently is having its wettest winter in 20 years. This is very good news actually. The state has been on water restrictions for many years now due to severe droughts. Adelaide water supplies mostly depend on rainwater catchments in the reservoirs up in the hills. The water levels had dropped to critically low levels over the last couple of years. In winters these were supposed to catch up, but it was hardly ever enough, until this winter. Currently we’re up to over 60% of capacity, which is a luxury. So you could safely say that the locals are ‘singing in the rain’. Nora doesn’t mind to get wet though. We had a spa bath in our Victor Harbor hotel room. It was large enough to fit in the whole family, and when we put the bubbles on it was party time for our little girl. This was her first night away from home, which was a huge sensation in...