Oh, Sunniva, what an incredible autumn it has been! Two busy months have gone by since I last wrote to you, so I hope to record at least something of what you've been up to before you wake up from your nap on the balcony.
October passed in a fog of sickness for all of us; you got the normal barnehage cold and accompanying fever at least twice, and of course you passed it on to Mommy and me. By Halloween you were feeling better, though, and you were fascinated by our pumpkin carving and jack-o-lantern lighting. Mormor, Morfar, Kathrine, Andre and Elise were here that weekend to help celebrate, everyone laughing as you ran around in your little coat (looking like a purple pumpkin yourself) saying 'Happy Halloweeeeeeen! Happy Halloweeeeeeen!!'
Exhausted as we all were, and worrying that your sleeping was never going to get better, I jokingly said that all I wanted for my 35th birthday was for you to sleep through the night. Lo and behold, those first two weeks of November your two best sleeping weeks ever! You were finally able to go to bed in the evening without us rocking you (either in our arms or in the stroller), and - even better - you only woke up once or twice all night every night!
So we had a wonderful birthday weekend with a surprise visit from Mormor that allowed Mommy and me to have a babysitter for once, but of course we were so tired when we got to the concert in Oslo (and we thought it was so strange to be around a bunch of grown-ups without kids clinging to them) that we came on home before midnight to be with you.
We've just had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, our first here in Huldreveien, and you now love 'yummy turkey' because we've eaten it for three days straight - as it should be! It's very important to me to continue these American traditions so that you can enjoy them as much as I did growing up. Your friend Tuva was here with her parents Ole and Elin, and we also invited Camilla and Mikael. Morfar and Andre came early to help with the preparations, and the whole event was a big success despite you having gotten a fever the night before. Once the guests arrived you were having way too much fun to notice that you were sick, and you were even feeling well enough to dance about and sing along as we sang from your special songbook - Sunshine, Della Mae, Loggin' Man and Cuckoo.
Everyone loves to see how much you love bluegrass and that you can sing whole verses by heart already! Every time I pick you up in the barnehage you say 'music' when we get into the car, and then it's up to you to choose which track you want to sing along to. Dancing is one of our favorite family activities, too, and I really can't think of a higher joy than spinning around our living room with you and Mommy with the music blasting and laughter abundant.
Alright little one, it's close to 11pm now (you woke up earlier, of course:-) so I'm going to go lie down next to you now. You've taken to sharing a bed with Mommy and me whenever you wake up, and even though we're all still sleep deprived to a degree, there's no place we'd rather be than by your side, holding you, comforting you, listening to your breathing and knowing that you are safe at home with us, resting, dreaming and getting ready for a new day of discovery and joy.
