Always time for Timmytime!

I've made a bunch of new friends since arriving back in the UK. I see them every day, early morning, late at night and often in the car - they're the characters on my favourite tv show of all time - Timmytime!
Timmy is a little lamb with a lot to learn. He has just turned 3 (in sheep years) and being the only lamb in the flock, Timmy has been used to getting his own way. Now for the first time, Timmy is going to have to learn to get along with other little animals attending the same nursery school. Bit like me, I suppose, when I get round to going to school!

Bonfire Night!

On November 5th I celebrated my first Guy Fawkes Night. And for those on my non-English side of the family I'll quote Wikipedia to help you understand why we Brits light a bonfire and shoot fireworks into the night sky.

"Guy Fawkes Night is an annual celebration on the evening of 5th November. It marks the downfall of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic Conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the Houses of Parliament, in London, capital of England.

It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom where, by an Act of Parliament called the Thanksgiving Act, it was compulsory until 1859, to celebrate the deliverance of the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

In the United Kingdom, celebrations take place in towns and villages across the country in the form of both private and civic events. They involve fireworks

displays and the building of bonfires on which traditionally "guys" are burnt, although this practice is not always observed in modern times. These "guys" are traditionally effigies of Guy Fawkes, the most famous of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators."

So now you know! It was a lot of fun. I went to a display organised by the school my cousins Josh and Harry attend in Pewsey, Wiltshire. My Grandma and Grandad also went with me and my mum and dad.

I'm Back!

I haven't been very active on my blog lately so I thought it was about time I brought you all up to date. Actually, I have been wondering if it would be better for me to be on Facebook instead, since the whole world and their uncle seems to be on it. I'll talk to mum and dad about that and get back to you - but for the time being I think I'll continue blogging - and playing my piano without my pants on!

So where am I? England! Me, mum and dad are staying at my Grandma and Grandad's place - we've been here since October 5 and I've been having a great time. The weather has been warm - well warm for this time of year and certainly a lot more warmer and a great deal less windy than Iceland. It means that I spend a lot of time outside visiting towns and parks and shopping malls and coffee houses and feeding chickens and going to creepy crawlers where I get to do a lot of jumping and rolling and tumbling and crawling. In fact, I've got so much to tell you I don't know where to begin - but I suppose Bonfire Night is as good a place to start...

Princess Matilda!

I was invited to my aunt's 40th birthday party recently and so I picked out an appropriate outfit. Here you see me waiting as usual for my chauffeur dad and my lady-in-waiting mum.

I am wearing my lovely, warm, white coat sent to me from Kevin and Catherine in Paris, my fine pink dress from London sent by my aunt Jo and uncle Steve, pink tights and white shoes complete my ensemble.

Only thing missing is the tiara!

Dad, when are you coming home???

My dad has left me and my mum again! He's in Portugal with the women's U19 team, sunny and warm out there he tells me. Well dad, the weather isn't too bad here in Iceland either - it's about 8 degrees celsius and no wind...

The twins, Aðalabjörg and Sigrún, spent the weekend with us and that was great fun. I'm not afraid of them anymore! Noah and Linda came for dinner on Saturday evening so we made pizza - yummie!

I'm running around a lot but sometimes my legs don't move as quickly as my mind want's them to, which means that I trip once in a while. Yesterday, me and my mum were hiking in the woods and I fell on my nose. It was bleeding a little but I didn't cry for long - I'm a big girl now. I've started to use the potty and I've had some good results lately. I help my mum to flush it in the toilet and everything.

Anyway, I'm off to have a little nap. A princess needs her beauty sleep...

Me, Sanna and Iro

Hej Allihopa!

I was in Sweden a couple of weeks ago, visiting my mum's best friend Anja and her family, Robert, Sanna and Iro (the dog). Sanna is my age, well she is 6 months older and wiser. She has a lovely playroom, with a moose, table and chairs, lots of books and a tea set which I played a lot with. Oh! I almost forgot, Sanna also has Teletubbies, which is her favorite DVD. Every single morning she put it on, to our parents' "delight". We did a lot of fun stuff - we went to the beach, picked some blueberry's in the wood, went to the summerhouse and a whole lot of other things. Me and my mum also walked up a mountain with Tora and her little girls. Man! that was hard work, sitting in the backpack and looking at the wonderful view.

I also played with Iro, a German shepherd, who works as a police dog. He looked after me when I was sleeping in the pram and he also gave me a kiss in the mornings when I woke up.

Then we flew south to see amma and afi in Borås. Unfortunately, I got sick with high fever and a bad cough. We had to go to the hospital (my second time in Borås). Fortunately, it was nothing serious like swineflue or other bad things. As I was sick I had to stay indoors most of the time. I played a lot with Depill (amma's little dog) and amma and afi. Amma has a lot of fun toys, different from the ones I have at home.

After two weeks in Sweden I finally got to see my dad again, who I love from the heart of my bottom. I had great time in Sweden but it's always good to come home.

Happy Birthday dad, yesterday...

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday, dear daaad

Happy Birthday to yoooooooou!

I love you dad and I miss you

It was my dad's birthday yesterday but I just didn't have time to send him a message on the blog - sorry dad! I was traveling the whole day, from Luleå in north to Borås in the south part of Sweden. When I arrived at amma and afi's place I wasn't feeling very well, in fact I had a high fever of 40.4 C. We had to go to the hospital, my second time in Borås, where the doctor checked my breathing and some other stuff. I didn't like it at all and then the nurse came and squeezed blood out of my finger, I didn't like that either. Anyway, I only have some man flu, not the swine flu, with a fever and bad cold and cough. Feeling much better today even though I still had a high fever this morning.

Here comes the sun...

Been a bit busy lately so I haven't done much blogging. Sorry! Anyway, time to catch up. Last weekend it was a three-day public holiday here in Iceland - it's called Verslunarmannahelgi - which translates as the shopkeepers' weekend. Best of all it meant my dad spent three days with me and mum. And we packed a lot in during those three days. On Friday evening after work dad went to the beach with us. I ate a lot of sand. Dad was worried that instead of poop I would be making cement and it might be difficult to change my nappy. At the very least he thought I might pebble-dash it!

On Saturday my dad went to the swimming pool with us. He doesn't normally go to public swimming pools but I think he actually enjoyed it more than me and mum.

In the afternoon we went to Jonsi and Gudbjorg's summer house. Dad played on the trampoline with me and Tryggvi. We stayed the night to enjoy more of the nice, warm and sunny weather we had the whole weekend. On Sunday dad helped Jonsi carry on building his deck while I played with Tryggvi, ate and slept, pretty much the usual.

The sun continued to shine on Monday so we walked along a path on the bay to Nautholsvik beach in Reykjavik - where they pump hot water into the sea. If you ask me, it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference - its still cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - so I didn't think I would bother with any of that nonsense. Still, it was nice to watch mum get carried away building sand castles. She can get quite intense, my mum, with those kind of endeavours!

Wanna Beach...

Went to the "wanna beach" with mum and dad yesterday - well, that's what mum calls it. Actually, it is a man-made cove located in a new housing estate by the sea and its quite nice - when the sun shines of course! Here are a couple of pictures of me posing separately with my mum and dad. 

Thank You!

Just wanted to say Thank You! for all my Birthday cards and presents. I had a really good 1st birthday in England with my grandparents, cousins and friends - so a big, big thank you to Grandma and Granddad, Amma and Afi, auntie Linda, uncle Steve and auntie Jo and Josh and Harry, Jenny and Mike, Angie, and Jenny and Rob from "next-door." 

Daddy, I'm coming home now...

Look out, I'm coming home! I'm looking forward to meeting my daddy tonight - it's been too long since I saw him last. Well, I've seen him on that skype thing but that's not the same. I can't give him hugs and kisses on the skype, can I?

I've had a lovely time with grandma and granddad and I'm going to miss them a lot. But like they say; "There is no place like home".

So daddy, be prepared, I'm almost walking on my own now so I will keep you on your toes the whole time...

Happy Birthday!

It's my birthday today - I'm one! Me and mummy are still in England staying with Grandma and Granddad - in the rain! Daddy came home from Belarus last night and is in Iceland - but I talked to him on that Skype thingy this morning - or rather he talked to me while I played with Grandma and Granddad and pushed my cart about. My daddy wished me a Happy Birthday! 

I hope my mummy gives me something nice to eat today, some cake would be good - well, let's face it, anything would be better than the bird poop she failed to warn me about when we went to the beach in Iceland a couple of weeks ago. Personally, I prefer the kind of food my Granddad gives me. I'm going to miss my grandparents when I go back to Iceland on Thursday. My Granddad and Grandma have been playing with me all the time. They've raised the bar on entertainment and Mum is gonna have to raise her game when we get back - or she'll be hearing about it. And mum, no more bird poop for lunch, either! 

Let me go home...

Another summer day

Has come and gone away

In Paris and Rome

But I wanna go home...

May be surrounded by

A million people I

Still feel all alone

I just wanna go home

Oh, I miss you, you know...

Another aeroplane

Another sunny place

I'm lucky, I know

But I wanna go home

Mmmm, I've got to go home...

Let me go home

I'm just too far from where you are

I wanna come home...

("Home" by Michael Buble - sent to Matilda from dad in Belarus)

The little helper...

I had a busy day today. I started early in the morning you know the usual thing, checked if the "bar" was open (which it was), had some porridge, played with mummy and had my morning nap. After my nap mummy, granddad and I went to Winchester for lunch, that was really nice. We came home, I had my afternoon nap and after that I was full of energy again.

I was helping grandma with the dishes and the dinner. It got a little bit messy but hey, people have to notice when you are in the kitchen... I cooked fish, potatoes and vegetables, delicious if you ask me... To top it all off, granddad gave me some icecream, yummie in the tummy! Spoke to my daddy on skype, who I miss so much, before I crashed into my bed...good night!!!

Daddy, when are you coming home???

I'm in England now, with my mummy, visiting grandma and granddad and I'm having so much fun. We've been feeding the ducks with bread - yes they have ducks in England too - and I've been playing a lot with grandma, granddad and auntie Linda. Unfortunately, we had to take Linda home this evening because she has to work tomorrow. Well... it was fun while it lasted.
I don't know who's more tired in the evenings, me or grandma? She chases me all day long and gives me a push on a little car they have for me. And granddad is always trying to smuggle me some goodies when mummy isn't around. Anyway it is wonderful to be the centre of attention...
One thing is missing though and that's my daddy. He's in Belarus with the U-19 Iceland women's team playing in the UEFA final tournament. They drew their first game against Norway today 0-0.
I miss you daddy and I love you from the heart of my bottom...good night y'all!

Talkin' 'Bout My Girl...

I've got sunshine 

on a cloudy day.

When it's cold outside

I've got the month of May.

Well, I guess you'll say

what can make me feel this way?

My girl. (My girl, my girl).

Talkin' 'Bout my girl (My girl)...

Sent to Matilda with love from Dad.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

It's my Grandma Alice's birthday today - Happy Birthday Grandma! Me and mummy are going to England next week to stay with her and Granddad. I'm looking forward to that - I remember from when I was at their house at Easter that they had so many interesting things to examine and play with, unfortunately they were just out of my reach then but I'm bigger now and I am much quicker at grabbing things. Grandma and Granddad are going to need to be on their toes., so it is just as well they are in the South of France right now relaxing - they aren't going to get much rest when I'm around!

"How do you like Iceland?"

We had a couple of tourists from England staying with us this past weekend, James and Laura. They were very clean, tidy, quiet and polite, and didn't get in my way at all. In fact I liked having them around - James just graduated as a doctor and I had a good time just chilling with him up at Jonsi's summer house on Saturday evening. Laura is my dad's friend's daughter. My dad said that he and Laura's dad, who is also called Gary, used to go to New Order concerts together 25 years ago and seeing Laura again made him feel old because she was just a baby when my dad saw her last. This was their first visit to Iceland so I decided I would take the opportunity to do some tourist things with them, although that didn't include whale-watching, horse-riding or to the Blue Lagoon like they did. Dad says I can do that when I am bigger. On Sunday dad drove us to Gullfoss, Geysir and Þingvellir, referred to by tour guides as 

"The Golden Circle."

James and Laura stood a little bit too close to the Geysir when it blew and had to run for cover.

Next stop was Gullfoss, a big, noisy waterfall which you could walk right up to. 

After that we drove to Þingvellir, a National Park and site of the original Icelandic parliament. 

While Mum and Laura and James walked through  the canyon I decided to take a nap - there's only so much history and sightseeing you can take in a day and frankly I didn't see what was in it for me. I'd much rather have gone horse-riding, whale-watching or splashing around at the Blue Lagoon but what can you do when you only have one vote and there is two of them parent people deciding what's good and what's not good for you!

So James and Laura, as we Icelanders always ask: "How do you like Iceland?"

 

Iceland Celebrates...

"Gleðilega Hátíð!" to my Icelandic family members, indeed to all Icelanders. Today is June 17th - Iceland's National Day which means it is the first time I am able to celebrate with my fellow countrymen, even though I am only half Icelandic. Mum, who is 100 per cent Icelandic and dad, who is not even one per cent Icelandic, took me into Reykjavik city centre where it was packed with people, most of whom were carrying flags, balloons, little dogs or kids like me. For the occasion I wore my new Icelandic sweater that amma Sæunn knitted for me. 

My mum told me to mention that she put the zip on. How difficult can that be? The Icelandic sweater is called a "lopapeysa" and it is made of wool. It keeps you very warm. In winter and summer!   

My New Wheels!

Now that's more like it! This is my new way of getting around - grab onto something that has wheels and put one foot in front of the other and away you go! Easy! I learned this trick all by myself, I started off by holding onto a chair and sliding it forward - that was a few days before my mum and dad bought me this blue cart - they were a bit slow catching on but hey, I can forgive them. 

They just need to keep up as I'm figuring new stuff out each day like eating with your hands and opening drawers and cupboards and finding the remote control for the tv. Life is getting a lot more interesting.

Party, Party!

I went to two birthday parties on Saturday! First, we went to Jonsi's summer house at Miðdalur in Kjós, which is in the countryside about a 35-minute drive from Reykjavík. It was Anna and Arni Bjartur's birthday and the sun shone and the sky stayed blue. It was very hot, well, hot for Iceland at least, but that was alright because I had my sun hat on and mum put sunscreen on my face. This is a picture of me and my dad at the party. 

Mum couldn't be in the photo because she was eating, as usual.

After that we went back to Reykjavík for the birthday party of my twin cousins, Aðalbjörg and Sigrún, and their brother Hörður Már. 

Dad went to the Iceland v Holland football match. I wish he was at the party, he wouldn't have let them stick those rabbit ears on me. Everyone thought it was cute - but I thought it was uncool.

No Dad! This One!

It was time to do a bit more rearranging... 

I needed to go through the dvd collection and see if there was anything for my generation. Not much to be honest, although mum seems to have similar taste to me in movies - Disney films and musicals - dad says it has something to do with "nothing too taxing for the brain," or something. So, anyway, after pulling them all off the shelves, I finally decided on one that looked like it might be for me, but then I spotted the cd collection and decided that needed rearranging as well!

Seal of Approval!

Today we went to the Húsdýra- og Fjölskyldugarðurinn where I saw lots of animals, including a seal that was born this morning. 

I saw cows and pigs and horses and goats and sheep and rabbits and chickens, a turkey, fish, seals and lots of geese. Best thing was when I got to stick my hand through the fence and pet a baby sheep. I didn't dare do that with the goats, though! 

We also met Rannveig Erla and Helga Vala and Ísak Þór who were with their mum and dad, Óli and Halla. It was a nice place and mum says she is going to take me back there again. Mum also said that when we go to England next month she will take me to Finkley Down Farm and Petting Zoo with my Grandma and Granddad. Animals are cool!

The Day I Met a Legend!

This weekend I met Óli Þórðarson, who told me he is a football legend! I don't think he was as good as my dad but I suppose if you play 72 or 73 times for the Icelandic national team you might be quite good. 

Óli doesn't play football anymore, my dad says he's too slow and too old so now he just shouts and coaches a team who are doing very well.  My dad says the only thing he doesn't understand about Óli is that he likes Manchester United. 

I think Óli should be a Saints fan like me, because my dad says we need some more fans, preferably some with a lot of money. 

Óli has a nice wife called Friðmey. They have two daughters, one son, two dogs called Skotta and Jarl, and five chickens but Óli didn't tell me their names. 

They all live in a place called Akranes, which Óli insists always has the best weather in Iceland.

Happy Birthday Mummy!

It was my Mummy's birthday yesterday and as it was a public holiday in Iceland it meant that dad had a day off work so we were able to spend the whole day together. As it was nice weather I decided to be good to mum and went to sleep while she trained with dad's team. We also went for some breakfast at a cafe/bakery and in the evening Linda and Chris and Noah came over and dad grilled some lamb. 

I didn't buy mummy a present because I am too little to go to the shops on my own and besides, my mummy hasn't given me any pocket-money yet. Anyway, I didn't know what she wanted but dad said we are going to pay for her and me to go and visit her friend Anja in Sweden in August and also to visit Grandma and Granddad in England in July. It means that we will be away from dad for two weeks each time but dad won't be in Iceland anyway because he is going with the U19 national team to Belarus and with the A team to Finland. Anyway, just wanted to say Happy Birthday again to my mummy and to say sorry for waking up in the night - not!

Happy Birthday Amma!

It was my Amma Sæunn's birthday on May 8th, last Friday. She recently stayed with us for two months but is now back in Sweden. I wished her a Happy Birthday! using that Skype thingy. My dad wishes her a belated Happy Birthday also and thanks her for all the babysitting she did. Dad told me he was very grateful for that because it meant that my mum could go training and dad says that if my mum is happy then his life is a lot easier and happier!

Music Appreciation Time...

My dad likes music - a lot! He has stacks of things he calls cds and has them all arranged on some shelves. Sometimes, I think they need to be re-arranged - but dad doesn't seem to agree. 

He'll get used to it! 

Dad is coming home...

My dad has been away from us for a week now, he is in Poland with the U19 Women's national team. They have been playing football against Denmark, Sweden and Poland (all very good teams, my mum says) - and guess what? Iceland won the group so now they are going to play in the European cup finals in the summer in Belarus. You go girls!!! Bad thing about that is, that my dad will be away from us again...
On top of it all I've been sick most of the time my dad has been away. I had a high fever for a couple of days so my mum took me to the doctor. The doctor said it was a virus. I probably caught it when I was at a birthday party last week, my friend Birkir Ingi was two-years-old. It was great fun to play with all the kids. But the day after I felt poorly.
My amma (grandma) has been very nice to me, babysitting and playing with me. Afi (granddad) came to Iceland last week and I like hanging out with him.
Oooh, I almost forgot! Afi Steini (my great granddad) was 90-years-old last Monday - that's a lot of years... Unfortunately I couldn't visit him on his actual birthday but there will be a party on Friday, so look out, I'll be there in my party dress.
Happy Birthday afi Steini and welcome home dad!!!

The Generation Gap!

This is a photo of me with my great grandparents, or "long-amma" and "long-afi" as we say in Iceland. It was taken by my mum when we visited them at their home in the Reykjavik suburb of Gravarvogur. My great-grandma's name is Adalbjorg but everybody calls her Didda and my great-grandad's name is Thorsteinn, or Steinni as he is more often called. Despite appearing very interested in a carton of milk he was not a farmer, rather he was a fisherman all his working life operating his own boat out of the town of Faskafjordur in Iceland's east fjords. He is having a party soon to celebrate his 90th birthday. I am sure he will invite me. My grandad Sigurdur (Thorsteinn's son and therefore my mum's dad) is flying in from Sweden especially for the occasion. My dad says we might have to have the fire service on standby because there will be a lot of candles on his cake.

Green, Green Grass of Home!

Just got back from England where I spent Easter with Grandma and Grandad. In England they had this thing called Spring going on - it means warm, sunny weather, lots of beautiful things bursting with colour that mum called flowers, birds singing all day long, trees that had their clothes on (dad said they are called leaves) and best of all they have this soft and silky green stuff all over the place called grass - which was great to play on. 

I went to the park to play on the swing and slide, went shopping in Reading, Swindon, Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth and visited my cousins Harry and Josh and my uncle Steve and aunt Jo. My aunt Linda came to stay for a couple of days which meant we had to go to Starbucks a lot. What is it with big people and coffee lattes? 

My dad said that I get my own special latte when mum gives me her breast.

I had a lot of fun on this trip - especially because, as with all good English people, grandma and grandad had a lot of carpet - which is so, so much better to crawl on than that hard and slippery parket flooring prevalent (big word for me but hey, what do you expect!) in the Nordic countries. It meant that I could move a lot faster and begin to stand up all on my own just by grabbing something and pulling myself up. A whole new world has just opened up. I really like England and love and miss my my grandma and grandad and can't wait to go back to the green, green grass of home!

Busy bee!

Whew! this week has been busy... in a fun way though. I got my second tooth on Monday, finally! It has been bugging me for a week now, keeping me and my parents awake in the nights. Also, on Monday, "Amma" (my mum's mum) came to Iceland from Sweden. She's going to stay with us for about 2 months, yeeeah. 

I've been to the playground for the first time, we played on the swings and went down the slide. I liked the slide a lot. I've been swimming as usual and "Amma" has been baby sitting two nights this week. My mum was playing football with the team that my dad is coaching. All though my dad says she slows down the tempo on practice he's secretly admiring her brazilian football skills... (dad told me mum is paying him to let her come and train). As you can see my week has been very busy but I have not told you the really big news yet. 

On Wednesday I finally realized how to crawl forward and boy is that so much more fun than going backwards. We got it documented on video so now you can see the upcoming star in crawling.  Have a wonderful weekend, love you all....Matilda Sóley

To Matilda...

I never felt like this with anyone before

you only have to smile and I'm dizzy

you make the world go round

a thousand times an hour

just touch my head

and send me spinning

I never felt like this with anyone before

you show me colours and I'm crying

you hold my eyes in yours

and open up the world

I can't believe all this

I want to keep this feeling

deep inside of me

I want you always in my heart

you are everything

I never felt like this with anyone before

you fill my head all full of rainbows

and all the rainbows is

is every step you take

is to be with you forever

I want to keep this feeling 

deep inside of me

I want you always in my heart

you are everything.

("Halo" - The Cure)

Watch out, tooth coming...

Hello everybody! 

Long time, no see ... Sorry, I've been a little bit lazy! Anyway, now that I'm back on the keyboard I might as well tell you what's been going on. 

Not much, to be honest. I caught a cold again two weeks ago and have just recovered from that. It meant that I was stuck in the house with mum for a week or so. Don't get me wrong, I love my mum very, very much but being in the apartment 24/7  for a week and a half can be a little too much, even for me! Plus, there has been something bothering me lately that has made me even more cranky. My mum says it is because I'm getting a tooth... and she is right (as always, well its ok to let her think that). I'm officially joining the tooth-club. 

Almost forgot to tell you that Noah came for visit yesterday. That was fun, I tried to catch up with him (he's two-years-old) but for some reason I can only crawl backwards. Hmmm... I'm trying to figure that out. I sit on my own now and I can get up on all fours but I can't go forward. 

Got to go now, I'm off to see my other boyfriend, Tryggvi. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow...

Bless!!!