We got a bit tired of our dull old IKEA TV unit shelf so we decided to replace it. It turned out great!
All that remains now is to get a new screen. The one we have now is a freebie we got from Åsa’s uncle. It’s an old slide screen that does the job but is getting old. I hope to buy a new one at the end of the month.
Today started off crappy. Carl didn’t sleep well during the night so was very grumpy. The horrid weather didn’t help at all. Obviously what you do on a cold rainy day is go to an open farm so that’s just what we did and it was great fun…
The day then got bad again when I was contacted about my mobile phone. My new and rather expensive Samsung Galaxy S2 died in China and The Phone House refuse to replace it under the guarantee because it has been damaged by moisture. Quite how that happened when it hasn’t been anywhere near moisture is anyone’s guess!
Luckily our insurance company know a lot more about customer service and are replacing it for me. Now I just need to go and buy one. Well done Folksam!
Then we went for another walk to post some more paperwork about the adoption. On the way back Åsa and Carl stopped to play in the playground but we had Scout and she’s not allowed in so I couldn’t go too 
All in all it has ended up as a good day with some minor upsets thanks mostly to the idiots at The Phone House.
We took it fairly easy for New Year’s Eve as we didn’t want to get Carl all hyped up or panicked. Thomas, Anna, Jimmy, Louise and David came round for a meal, some drinks and catching up on all the gossip. We were worried that Carl wouldn’t sleep or would be woken by the fireworks. He was an angel and went straight to bed after his bath, was asleep inside six minutes and then didn’t wake for the rest of the night even when there were really loud bangs outside.
Since getting back from China we, like most people, have been busy organising what we’d be doing for Christmas. In the end it was pretty much as normal. Christmas at Kicki and Tommy’s followed by Christmas Day at our place. The first job was to decorate our Christmas tree.
Then it was time for Christmas Day. More presents and much more food!
While Åsa sorted out lunch the men took Scout for a walk. The lake was partially frozen with totally clear ice. It looked very strange to see ducks seeming to walk on the water.
Then it was back inside to get the dinner ready. We didn’t have time to order a turkey and even less to cook it so we decided to keep it simple this year. Lentil soup followed by a yummy Jamie Oliver beef stew then a Christmas bomb for pudding. It was delicious!
Carl is already planning a career as a footballer. He’s decided he’ll play for Barcelona at club level and Northern Ireland at international level…
Today we went for a walk to the shop to drop off and pick up some Christmas packages. Unfortunately the package from mum had been delivered to the wrong shop so we had to walk a bit further to get it. It ended up being good though because there is a thing in Norrviken that I’ve wanted to see since I first heard about it. In 1912 the summer Olympics were held in Stockholm. For the marathon events the runners ran 13 miles straight out of town to Norrviken then ran round a post and 13 miles back to the stadium. The post isn’t far from our house and was between the first and second shop so we finally got to see it.
So we’ve been home for almost a week now and I have to say that everything is going pretty well! Of course we are not getting quite as much sleep as we might like and there are times when we lose our patience but overall we are so happy 
We’ve been to the tax authorities to try and get Carl registered into the Swedish system so we can sort out his passport but, of course, you get one piece of info from one person and one from another. Now we are arguing with them about exactly which pieces of paper they need before they can register him. That means we’re going to be delayed getting our parental leave money but Åsa (aka Superaccountant) has made sure we have enough to get by.
We’re slowly getting into a rhythm so that Carl has set schedules for sleeping, eating etc. It helps settle him in and feel secure in this new and very strange place. We get up early, eat breakfast then mess around a bit or do some shopping. Then he has a snack and more playing followed by lunch, an afternoon snooze (usually in his pram while we walk the dog) then dinner, a bath and bed. After that Åsa and I usually pass out in front of the TV for a while then hit the sack ourselves, ready for the next day’s adventure!
Well that was quite an adventure. Carl refused to sleep the whole way from Beijing to Copenhagen so he was very tired and grumpy. Not much fun Then the security people told us we couldn’t take the bottle of whiskey we had brought for Johan (see below) through as it was over 100ml. The guy pretty quickly realised I was tired, cranky and about to snap so he told us to get round it by going through passport control and checking in another bag. We did that and it was no problem
Our friend Johan came to pick us up (thanks Johan, please email me the photos) and drove us home which was great We then went straight to bed and slept for about six hours. Today it’s been all about getting our clocks set straight. We introduced Carl to Scout which was fun and then went for a walk. Carl and Åsa went to bed at his usual time and I’m about to head of myself but first, a few pics…
This will probably be the last post under the adoption heading. From now on it’s just normal life
PS: So nice having a stable internet connection again!
Carl has a bit of a cold and a very blocked nose that made him snore all night. In honour of that we may have to change his name to Janne Jonas Carl Jian John Walker. Anyone who has ever tried to share a room with either the man called Jane or Skåne’s best ambulance driver will know what we mean
And this really is the last report from China. The bags are packed so all we have to do now is eat breakfast, check out and head to the airport.
HOME!!!
We know there has been a lot in the news recently about the pandas coming to Edinburgh zoo but Beijing has had them for ages and today we went to see them. We were very brave and took the tube there. It cost us two Yuan each (about 20 pence) and then there was the huge cost of about £1.50 for the entrance to the zoo.
We’d heard about the poor conditions and were a bit worried but most animals had prety decent enclosures. Not the Hilton but not too bad. The major exception was the big cat house. They had “normal” and Siberian tigers as well as lions which were, as usual, amazingly beautiful but they were kept in fairly small concrete boxes with the minimum of toys and stimulus
The pandas were exactly as they should be, sitting on their butts eating bamboo
