Status update about our little Mila 16 months and what she likes Favorite activity: Gunga ( swing) and she is saying GUNG countless times from she wakes up until she goes to bed. She knows where the swings are and if I am planning not to go to swing she points in the swings directions and looks at me in a firm way and says GUNG! When she is on the swing she might look as if she would be bored.. But she is NOT bored she is just enjoying and has that very important face on. Most times it is drama to get her off the swings and I am sure she would swing all day long if we let her.  Favourite toy: NALLE ( Teddybear) was Mila´s first word after mamma, titta (look) and tack (thank you). She is using it that frequently that even her small friend which has no other connection with Swedish is also saying nalle as she is carrying a big teddy-bear around. Mila loves her teddy bear, she puts them on her little car, drives them in her small stroller, tries to dress them in dresses, ...

I don't know where she has got her strong will from... (Mr Nikolovski maybe you have any ideas?!) I thought she would be a baby baby for ever and ever. But she is becoming a strong willed little kid for each day. Since a couple of months back she shakes her little head and says no. Actually she is showing with her whole body when she means NO and she is using this power of NO frequently. NO to food (most of the time) NO to give pappa a kiss or hug (most of the time) and NO to go to bed. Well thinking about it the NO list can be made long. With tricks and bribes ( watching P!nk videos) most NO's can be turned in to yes (for now..) What she also started around the same time was to put her little finger to her mouth, looking at me and saying SSSHHH!! Where she has picked this up from I don't know but what I do know is that she is utilizing this more and more. Most often used when I sing ( I know I might not be the best singer in the world but I mean I am not that bad..) I w...

Team Nikolovski LOVE books Loren has a special and very passionate relationship with bookstores. He can spend hours in there. He tak great proud in buying, smelling and reading books  I also love to buy, smell and read books  Mila loves to eat books... When she thinks we are not watching ( well sometimes she doesn't really care whether we are watching or not) she uses her small little teeth and eats the corners of her books. Not just like a little bite and spits it out oh no no this little girl actually eats pieces of her books and she is very fast so we won't stop her. All her books and some of ours now have eaten corners. When will she stop with this and just enjoy to smell and read them like her parents??

Mila is 9 month and 1 week exactly today. As a proud mother I use this forum to show off her new development ( you know I also promised myself not to do that before having a baby, but the need is just stronger then me....) She has really expanded her interests and recognizing objects that is fun to point out. Lamp ( lampa) is still of course most interesting and fun to point out, but now in competition with her two rubber ducks ( var är ankan?..) Stevie ( named after Stevie Wonder) & Whitney ( after Whitney Houston as she has a bodyguard looking scarf on) Airplanes ( flygplan) no wondering considering we live close to Prague airport and their route for the past few months has been straight over us ( according to Mr Nikolovski they should change direction very soon, but it never seems to happen..). I could write a long post about how annoying this fly route is but lets instead be happy that Mila likes airplanes and got to see them every few minutes and that it is very very con...

More and more often pappa takes Mila when he goes food shopping. Mr Nikolovski  loves to go food shopping. I don't share his passion. But I love the fact that Mila share his passion. Great some time to myself and only myself... The house to myself. But as soon as I have waved them bye bye I already miss them. And also I get a little panicky with the big question  How do I best spend my time? Should I start the sewing project that I been thinking about for weeks (maybe even months), do I paint something, read something or just relax. I get a little overwhelmed and paralyzed. So I just simply do some washing. 

Let me tell you about Mr Nikolovski and his friend Adad. But where do I start? Do I start to tell you that they can discuss for hours what year, what month, what day and even what time they did certain things. Bigger events as well as smaller events. " I bought my last packet of cigarettes two weeks ago!" says Adad when they are having a discussion whether or not you can call yourself a none smoker when you smoke regular every time you have a beer. " No you didn't! You bought it one week and three days ago when we went to the cinema!" Says Mr Nikolovski with a great certainty. " Are you sure?" says Adad and starts to explain what he did earlier that same day he bought this particular packet of cigarettes that he is holding in his hand. And this is how they can go on and on and on for a while about the same thing over and over. They discuss politics with a great passion and loud voices. They wave their hands as their voices are getting louder and ...

Beginning of August heatwave in Europe. It was hot in Prague. Team Nikolovski went to explore Vienna and it was even hotter there. But I mean really hot. Like hard to think and breath hot. Like 39 degrees at seven o clock in the evening hot. I might have mentioned it before, I don't do hot very well.. I become cranky and upset. But I am talking really upset and not very pleasant to be around. We had plan to explore Vienna for a few days like we did Budapest. We had a nice little list of things to see and things to try. The list is safely saved for next time we decide to go to Vienna. It was simply too warm to do anything much. I read a very good book, Mila fell out of bed and Mr Nikolovski was busy sorting parking out ( see below for more info..) We of course also ate a schnitzel or two.. Mila's ears was squashed in the previous car-seat, so she got a new one for big girls. Happy baby. Got her first balloon also which made her even more happy. The ballooned made me scare...

It was in May last year Team Nikolovski packed bits and pieces and moved from Sweden to Prague. New country, new city and a new context. Exciting new adventure awaiting us. I know from previous moves that the beginning can be an emotional roller-coaster ride before getting settled down and feeling home in the new environment. I see it as a few different phases that you need to go through. First everything is exciting new and fun. That phase normally follows by one or two dips where you feel confused and a little lost. Thereafter it gets better again and then the curves flattens out and you start to get the hang of what is up and what is down and how to find your way around and eventually feel like home. How long it takes depends on many different factors and I guess it is very individual. It went pretty fast for us to feel home in Prague. Firstly it helps to be aware that moving is no walk in the park, that you have to be active and also to help and support each other. That was team ...

As we are entering Q3 2013, Team Nikolovski is now making the new organizational structure official. We go from a flat organization to a very hierarchical organization. Mila Kristina Nikolovski is a small but powerful boss on the top. Maria Cecilia Book Nikolovski assistant and operational manager of the food supply. Mr Loren Nikolovski assistant and manager of diapers and entertainment. Lates important decission taken by the boss is that nighttime snacking is totally aloud and something she wants to continue with for at least Q3 & Q4 2013.

Talking about rain.. There is so many different approaches to weather forecasts. Mr Nikolovski put his trust in the Norwegians, www.yr.no is without a doubt one of his most visited webpage. My friend Miki put her trust into her phone. " My phone says it will be nice weather on Wednesday" makes me laugh.. But.. Am I the only stupid one that just looks through the window and end up either too cold, too warm or too wet ?

Team Nikolovski and especially Mr Nikolovski is dreaming of our own homegrown tomatoes. Project growing tomatoes is on going. Granddad Sven-Hugo has been consulted. Pots, soil and plants has been bought. We spent a couple of evenings last week and planted and arranged our growing corner on the balcony. Mr Nikolovski has taking great pride in watering, talking to the plants and moving them around to get as much sun as possible. To increase our chances for nice red tomatoes Mr Nikolovski decided to buy organic super growing pellets. The pellets has generously been put in all the pots. Team Nikolovski och framförallt Mr Nikolovski drömmer om egna hemodlade tomater. Sagt och gjort, projektet odla egna tomater har påbörjats. Morfar Sven-Hugo har konsulterats. Krukor, jord och plantor har inhandlats. Under ett par kvällar förra veckan har vi planterat och fixat och donat på balkongen. Mr Nikolovski har tagit stor stolhet i att vattna, prata och flytta runt plantorna för att ge dem så my...

A couple of weeks ago Mr Nikolovski flew to US, Texas for meetings and training with his department. Of all the stories and happenings he was telling me about, this one made me laugh so hard.... When flying back Mr Nikolovski got a bit scared of all the big super scanners they have in the airports in US. Scanners that scan your whole body very thoroughly. Too much radiation is not good, so Mr Nikolovski asked to be scanned manually. In Dallas it was no problem they scanned him with a handheld scanner and he was good to go. In Chicago he asked the same thing. "No problem sir" said the security guard and pulled out a latex glove. "Please take you pants off so I can examine your anus!" Mr Nikolovski had not expected such extreme examinations for bombs and had to think quick to get himself out of this situation. "I changed my mind" he said and try to look as sorry as he could. "Too late, you asked for manual scan and you are getting a manual scanning!...

Mr Nikolovski is appointed as Team Nikolovski's grocery shopping manager. This is an important role and a role he takes very seriously. When the light has fallen he heads to one or two stores to do the weekly shopping. The list is written and he is taking his time touching, squeezing and smelling products of interest. We have done a through ECO hunt and are happy to say that we can find good products organic certified here in Prague. Mr Nikolovski likes his shopping and takes his time picking the right products. He is reading what everything contains and is avoiding scary E-numbers and chemicals, which is to say the least not easy these days. The other day when he came home from the store, he was a little giddy. He said " I am not sure if I am going mad or not.. but I find myself shaking and moving the shopping-cart back and forth like a crazy person.People must think I am a little cocko shaking the groceries just like the baby.." You are not mad och crazy it is ju...

Mr Nikolovski heard on the news the other day that Prague in total had 40 sun-hours from January first to end of February. In February it was the greyest of the greyest week with only two sun-hours all week. No wonder it was amazing to see the return of the sun this weekend. All Prague's inhabitants I am pretty sure were out for a walk on Saturday to enjoy the bright sun rays after all the grey days, hours and minutes. Team Nikolovski was one of them and we went for a long stroll in a beautiful park, enjoyed the view over the city and the first Gambrinus of the year in Letna beer-garden. With the sun comes happiness and dirty windows.. Mr Nikolovski hörde på nyheterna härom dagen snåla siffror på Prags soltimmar under årets första två månader. Ynka fjuttiga 40 soltimmar totallt på två månader. En vecka i feburari var den gråaste av alla gråa veckor med endast två soltimmar. Inte konstigt att det kändes fantastiskt när solen äntligen återvände i helgen. Som alla andra Prag invån...

Team Nikolovski has spent Christimas and New Year getting to know our new little member. We have also managed to watch the series "The Killing" and a bunch of movies (at least managed to see the first 30 minutes without falling asleep). Mr Nikolovski has been serving me great food and we have enjoyed a glass of red wine, salami and prosciutto (products that has missed me for 9 months) But most of the time we have been watching, singing,  hugging, kissing and feeding our little girl. She is such sweetheart and our most used sentence are " Not because she is ours but she is the most beautiful baby we have EVER seen.."

With all this extra time available, I am entertaining myself with a bunch of different projects. Last week I got inspired to make Xmas in Team Nikolovski houshold. Off to IKEA I went. Found some funky fabrics to work with and spend a good few hours sewing Xmas curtains (gives a lot of grown-up points indeed..). I was pretty pleased with the result and proudly presented my work for Mr Nikolovski when he came home.. He looked them up and down and tried to like them BUT admitted that they remind him of a cheap ice-cream stand ...    

  Team Nikolovski has got a new morning routine.. Every morning for the past three weeks when husband is seeing himself in the mirror he comments that he is in a need of a haircut. Yesterday he shouted that he can't recognize himself for all the fluffy hair..I would say it is not that bad, but ok he is ready for a haircut no doubt.. Latest this morning he was promising himself to go the hairdresser this afternoon.. I am monitoring the development, it makes me smile, but I wouldn't put my money on that he will get it done today or even this week..  

My Husband makes great tasty food He creates magic in the kitchen He makes everything taste like heaven even on a normal kind of boring Tuesday His most important ingrediences are: oliveoil, tomatoes, basil, fetacheese & alot of passion...

It lives two identical coffee percolators in the Nikolovski household. Well to be correct they are not hundred procent identical, one is black and one is silver colored.. But the function and the usage area is the same = to make coffee.. Black, strong, fresh, nice, warm, tasty coffee... Is it really possible that one makes better coffee then the other as Mr Nikolovski keeps saying? Same same but big difference?!

My Husband has just bought a new car...My Husband is happy... A red nice and shiny car. A car made out of millions little Lego pieces that he has to figure out how to put together.. To see him work on his Lego projects makes me happy, proud and the luckiest girl who is married to a real life Peter Pan...