Wow am I ever behind on this thing.
Oskar is 10 months old. 23 + pounds. 29.5 + inches.
Rolling over easily. Sitting up strong. Not a crawler (still prefers not to be on his stomach). Loves to stand. Just began taking steps when you hold his hands or around his tummy.

Some pictures for your enjoyment...

Hiking can be exhausting for all of us.

Oskar's First Thanksgiving

Uncle Lars and Aunt Jenny

Oskar after enjoying some Swedish meatballs at the Sons of Norway Lutefisk supper.
He ate some lutefisk too, but his face was cuter after meatballs. Wonder why?

Takin' a break at the Tieton Arts and Crafts Bazaar.

Walking to church from our house. 8:00 AM

A few straggling pears.
Apples waiting to be picked.

Apple boxes for transporting to the packing houses.


Adventures in Grapes, at home after Oskar's bedtime.
Homemade grape juice. Yum.
45 pounds of grapes.
Prepping grapes for raisins and grape juice.


At the park- because a post just isn't complete without Oskar.

More of Oskar James, Summer 2009.
In reverse chronological order.

Daddy home for lunch with us today.

Oskar sportin' some new pants I sewed for him today out of an old sweater of Mark's.
Cozy for fall!

Oskar and Grandpa Nystrom in Yakima just a couple weeks ago.

Oskar and Mormor.


Thanks for the overalls Heidi! I love them!!


This tummy time stuff is hard work, and not much fun!


Sitting all by myself, on the otherhand, is GREAT fun.
Future Viking?


Cleaning up the cob after daddy ate most of it.


No words needed.


So precious.


Grandma and Grandpa Swanson at the Minneapolis Airport.


Oskar sitting in daddy's old rocking chair.


Mormor, Grandpa, and Oskar in Decorah.

Here is Oskar after enjoying a midafternoon snack. 

He's in a pretty good mood, but just about ready for a nap. 

Click here to view these pictures larger

Summer 2009
Oskar will be 6 months old tomorrow and we haven't shared any pics on here since his 4 month shot. So, here are a bunch of pics from our summer so far.
Oskar is growing like a weed. Full of smiles (for anyone but the camera) and laughing more and more. Prefers to suck his big toes to his thumb. Getting the hang of sitting all by himself. LOVES to stand with your support (truly LOVES it and doesn't seem to ever get tired). So interested in the world the he really doesn't like to go to sleep. And just sprouted his first two teeth this weekend.

"Whoa. This is me at 4 months, but tomorrow I'll be 5 months old! 

Can you believe it?"

[Belated] official 4 month stats update

Oskar James Swanson
18.1 ounces heavy
26 3/4 inches long
Oskar is holding his ground on the upper end of the growth charts- 93 and 94% for height and weight, 99% for head circumference. Unfortunately we left the camera in Yakima and the computer still won't let us download pics so there are no new photo updates here. However, elsewhere on the web Oskar and Mark made the slideshow on the Covenant Annual Meeting webpage.

These three pics are me trying to figure out how to download pics from Shutterfly for a blog entry without including the entire album as a slideshow. Not quite there, but he's still cute!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Oskar serious. (He does smile alot, just not for the camera.)

Click here to view these pictures larger

Beautiful baby. Doesn't he look relaxed?

Click here to view these pictures larger

We have a 4 month (+ 3 days) old. 

When did that happen? Time has flown by so quickly I am in disbelief each time I look at Oskar. As soon as I delete some files from the computer so it will let me download new pics, I'll post some and you'll see that he hardly looks like the same baby we brought home from the hospital. (We're 90% sure he is however.) He's lost all of his original hair but the bottom inch at the back. If you're trying to picture that, imagine the view of your bald grandpa from the back. That's Oskar's head too. He is holding his head up high, grabbing things, putting everything in his mouth, drooling and blowing bubbles, laughing some, smiling and talking all the time (when he isn't staring at something so intensely you wonder if he's ever going to look away), and bringing us loads of joy. 

Memorial Day weekend in Portland

Here are some shots of Oskar with his dad, both uncles, and soon-to-be-aunt Jenny. Pretty cool to have a long weekend with all of them.

"You're going to make me wait how long before I can eat that stuff?"

3 Month Update
Oskar doesn't go back in to the doctor until 4 months, but unofficially he weighs between 16 and 17 pounds. He is growing in length as well, but I haven't measured in awhile. At the moment he is wearing 6-9 month clothes. He is definitely losing his baby hair (as you probably noticed from the pics). It started with a funny bald spot all around his head from moving it from side to side to look around, and now it seems to be falling out all over as the new stuff grows in. The new stuff is still brown just like mom and dad.
He is sleeping very well at night. For awhile now he's been snoozing one 6-7 hour chunk, and then waking up every 2 hours. Last Saturday he slept 10 hours straight! His daytime sleep is another story... as he doesn't like to be out of reach of mom.
Every day he gets more and more curious about the world. He loves being carried around in your arms (unfortunately he doesn't enjoy the sling carrier so mom's arms are getting pretty sore... but on the bright side, I'll have at least one arm-of-steel in a few months) and seems to be taking it all in. He is finally starting to enjoy tummy time, especially with a mini-"Boppy" pillow under his arms, and will hold his head up high and look about. Not rolling over yet. He also loves to talk and can go on and on in a conversation with people, or just his forest friends on his bouncy seat.
We continue to be amazed each day at the miracle that is growing and changing before our eyes. Just over three months ago he was still inside me, and now he is making his opinions known to and sharing his smiles with those around him. Makes your heart melt.

He may have been born in Washington, but deep down inside he's a Minnesotan, I know it.

Oskar is 3 months old, which is 21 months old in dog months, but he's a human, not a dog.