Maia Mi

We've been back a while but we've been so busy that I've yet to even mention our trip to Norway. Suffice to say all of us had a fantastic time and Maia, even at her age, got to 'connect' a little to her Norwegian roots. By the time she came home she was a little blonde norse and No was Nei and Hello was Hei!

The flight over was a little bit of a trial - Granny stayed over to help & take the car away after we got to the airport & we got up at 4.30am (Maia stayed asleep) and got the car packed - woke a jolly Maia who was in a great mood and popped her in the car. She didn't sleep at all on the drive (damn!) so I knew she'd be tired on the flight (which she was). We ate breakfast together at Stansted (me - chocolate croissant - (I'm the grown up so I get the treats, right), Maia - yoghurt and muesli)

On the flight she was fine until close to arrival when she got a bit hysterical - overtired and fed up with trying to play with her seatbelt (she's got this huge thing about clips and straps at the moment). But if I remember rightly she cheered up once we landed getting to my brother's after that was pretty straight forward. What shocked me was how she went up to a totally new room, in a totally new house, in a totally new bed and went for a 90 minute nap there and then!!!

Overexcited & overwhelmed Maia hardly ate for about three days and woke up loads in the night - but she settled in after that and even if the nights were a bit tough, she was up for anything in the day. We went to Vigelands Parken to see my big sisters and they (of course) loved her. We went to see my niece Charlotte, her hubby Per and their little 'un Alfred (who is so sweet). And then.... 17th May, which warrants a post of its own - which was a day and a half spent with my sister and her kids. Of course there was also Ernst Simon and Randi and little Sofie who was a little bit friendlier this time around - the best part was when they spent half an hour splashing in the bath together - it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen - we captured a little bit on a mobile phone but it really doesn't quite show just how manic the two girls were!




Another flight next - off to Bergen this time for my brother's 40th. This time we meet daddy at the airport and again she surprises me by settling in pretty easily in a new house. I'm totally sleep deprived at this point as Maia seems to think 5am is a good wake up time (it's so light in Norway by then), but as I've managed to slowly wean Maia off her morning feed during the past few days Dylan takes Maia off each morning we are in Bergen and I get a lie in - ABSOLUTE LUXURY!!!

On the night of his party, Maia is too excited by the doorbells and visitors to go to sleep right away, but WOW, she just babbles to herself (I can hear her say 'ding dong' every time the doorbell signals another arrival) and then she finally goes to sleep and sleeps through the WHOLE BLIMMING THING! including a bunch of blokes sitting right outside her door having a whisky party. her bedroom is right next to the party room! excellent - let's hope she can sleep through other parties!

we take a trip on the floybanen up to a great view of bergen and we also have a go on Torleif's boat (Maia absolutely loved that).

what was also fantastic was that their cat had kittens on the day after we arrived and we saw her give birth. not sure how much Maia understood but she did love the kittens, even if she didn't quite understand the fuss we were all giving them.

A great trip all in all, lots of family giving Maia lots of attention & lots of learning and new experiences - by the time we got home maia seemed a slightly older baby and has been sleeping really well (touch wood) and been really content.