It's Only Natural

Freyja received the most fabulous little package the other day...a beautiful amber necklace from Grandpa Theo and Grandma Szilvi...but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to blog about it until now!

Over the centuries, people familiar with Baltic Amber came to believe that it had medicinal qualities. One of the things they believed was that it assisted in relieving tooth pain. Specifically, amber hung around a child's neck was said to help reduce the natural irritation and pain that accompanies the growing of new teeth.

But amber is special to Freyja in another way...

I named my daughter after the Scandinavian goddess by the same name, and she has a significant relationship to amber...

Freyja's greatest treasure was the Brisingamen necklace, which was hand-crafted with amber and gold by four dwarves with such artistry that it glittered like a constellation of stars in the night sky. Around Freyja's lovely neck it became an emblem of the fruits of the heavens and earth. She in her turn, produced treasures for the earth whenever she cried and Freyja wept profusely, especially during her search for her husband, Odur. When her tears fell on rock, they turned to gold. When shed at sea, they turned to amber.

It is my hope that, in addition to the medicinal benefits of amber, she also has, flowing through this necklace, the protection of the goddess for whom she was named.

I'm sure if she could, she would say thanks for such a pretty little gift!

My Baby

Oh, little sweet-pea...I remember when you were so tiny...and I always will. Just promise me that you won't grow up too fast, okay?

Yule Baking

I planned on posting this awhile ago, but completely forgot! But, at least now I know I won't be spoiling any surprises!

About a week before Christmas, mom and I baked several different cookies, and then put together some holiday gift bags for friends...made up of all the goodies we made...

We had a lot of cute cookie cutters, but not a very good collection of recipes to use them with, so we had to do quite a bit of research. We found several recipes for rolled cookies, and chose the ones we thought would be the most yummy. Then, we threw in my famous peppermint bark, I made up an impromtu bark to use up some chocolate, and we made a regular cookie that we couldn't resist...even though it couldn't be made with a cookie-cutter.

Here are the highlights:

Julbock-shaped Rolled Honey Carrot Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting and Walnuts:

Dala Horse-shaped Rolled Dutch Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Frosting and Chocolate Sprinkles:

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark:

White Chocolate Bark with Dark Chocolate Chips:

Snowflake-shaped Sugar Cookies, Dipped in White Chocolate with Almonds:

Leaf-shaped Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies:

Pineapple Cookies with Lemon Glaze and Walnuts: (My Favorite!)

Tree-shaped Traditional Shortbread:

And here are the cookie piles each person was given, ready to be packed up:


The results? Well, I have to admit...while the cookies were pretty good, they weren't as fantastic as I thought they would be. Maybe my expectations were too high! Ha! Even so, I'll be doing some more research for the next Yule bake-a-thon...so we can make some even more spectacular rolled cookies. Yummy!

P.S. I'm sure some people are wondering...what is a Julbock and what does it, and a Dala Horse, for that matter, have to do with Yule? Well, according to the Swedish tradition, a Julbock (or Yule Goat) brings the holiday gifts, and a Dala Horse has been used as a Christmas symbol since the time of the Vikings. Images of both are below...

Chez Freyja

We've been experimenting with eating solids foods for a couple of months now.

When I say "solid", what I really mean is "finely blended", and when I say "experimenting", what I really mean is that it's only been over the last three weeks that Freyja has actually been eating them with any enthusiasm.

Before that, attempting solid foods went hand-in-hand with looks that just screamed, "You're kidding, right?" and "Ha! I don't think so!", lips slammed together so no spoon could dream of entering, and on the off chance it actually got into her mouth...a look on her face like she just tasted a sour lemon.

Then, one day I went to spoon feed her a little solid food...and there she was...mouth open like a little bird...and so she's been, a happy little eater, ever since. If she could eat the food right off my plate, I think she would. It's weird how these things happen...

Of course, milk is still her first love, but it has now been decided that the following foods also absolutely rock:

Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Bananas, Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Green Beans, Carrots, Rice Cereal, and Oatmeal

Now, mealtime with Freyja has become fun! She squeals in sheer delight when she sees the spoon coming. Yay!

It's 2008!

Happy New Year to all my friends and family! When the ball dropped tonight in Times Square, I was watching it on TV, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with my baby girl...and so I gave her a little smooch when the New Year rang in, as is the custom. That's when I realized...it's going to be a great year for the two of us! A time for new beginnings. I hope it's a good one for all of you too!

Yule Happenings

Christmas this year was a new and exciting experience, because it was my first one as a mom! There are all sorts of things for little children to do around here during the holidays, but since Freyja is still so little, we had to hold off on those. So, it was a low-key Christmas...but great all the same...

Really, the best part for me was watching her look at everything with such an innocent sense of wonder and excitement. She loved looking at all the twinkling lights and the Christmas decorations. She wanted to touch the cottony snow, small wooden nutcrackers, and the ornaments on the tree. I really enjoyed seeing her take it all in, and thought that it must be so amazing to be her...trying to figure out what it was all about...

One of the things I really had fun doing was having Freyja's pictures taken a few weeks before Christmas...

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I was so sure that I would get her all dressed up and looking adorable...and then she would totally freak out and cry when the photographer tried to get her to smile and then the whole situation would be a complete disaster. She's been going through a little "stranger anxiety" phase lately, which usually results in her crying or doing some lip quivering at people who try to smile at her or talk to her who aren't in her usual cast of characters. But, it turned out that Freyja absolutely loved the photographer. It suddenly struck me that this lady was an old pro at this kind of thing. She had probably seen her fair share of children with all sorts of personalities...and she knew just what to do to keep Freyja smiling and happy throughout the whole shoot. It was great! We even had a chance to take a couple of pictures together...

A few days later I took her to the mall, where they have an absolutely beautiful old-fashioned children's carousel, and put her on one of the smaller horses. Well, it was really a rabbit! Since she's still so little and can't support herself yet, I had to kneel down next to her and help her hold on! I felt like an idiot, but I didn't care! I guess it's just proof that you'll do anything for your kids. She laughed and giggled the whole time...she was just so cute...and I'm so glad I took her. It's one of those things that I'm sure she'll grow to love more and more as she gets older...

On Christmas Eve, we had a nice family dinner. Freyja sat at the table with us in her festive "Santa Loves Me!" bib and enjoyed her own yummy dinner of peas, apples, and rice cereal. She seemed to love the fact that she was sitting with everyone...

We opened gifts after dinner on Christmas Eve, which is our usual tradition. I didn't think Freyja was really going to be into the whole unwrapping part of things, but she figured it out pretty quickly and was yanking and tugging at paper like mad! She absolutely loves tearing up paper. I think that amused her more than the actual gifts...



Freyja actually received quite a few things...two wooden rattles, a soft doll, a set of wooden stacking rings, a soft ABC's book, and a knitted horse.

On Christmas morning we had a nice breakfast, and then opened up small presents and candy from our stockings. Freyja enjoyed playing on her rocking giraffe (a cute variation of the rocking horse), which was from Santa, even though her little feet don't quite touch the foot-rests yet!

Overall, I think it was a great first Yule for Freyja, and next year will be even better, I'm sure. For her second Christmas, I'd like to take her to see the reindeer at the zoo, to holiday story-hour at the children's museum, and to see the Christmas parade...but we'll see what happens!

Birth of a Blog

So, here I am. I've been forced into blog-dom. Well, not really. It's just that it's much easier to discuss all the odds and ends of a particular situation in a blog entry where you can spice it up with all the photos and links and much-needed fancies. I can't promise that I'll do this a lot, and then again, once I get started I might not be able to stop...but either way, there should be a few neat things posted here every once in a awhile...