In preparation for the baby’s arrival, we’ve purchased a few of the necessary items, such as a stroller, dresser, baby-bathtub, some cute clothes etc. We’ve also read a lot of books and internet articles about parenting and baby-related subjects, and generally feel well prepared – or at least as well prepared as any first-time parents can be.

Once we’ve brought the little one home, and she/he is in bed sleeping or in the stroller screaming, I’m sure we’ll be wondering what we’ve gotten ourselves into. Of course there will be moments of fear, doubt, and perhaps even desperation. The bottom line is that you can never prepare yourself for all eventualities.

As long as you’re prepared to do anything in your power for the baby to have a happy childhood, you’re gonna be fine. At least that’s how I see things. Just do your best, don’t over-protect the baby from all the dangers of the world, let them experience all aspects of life for themselves, and support and love them no matter what.

We spent christmas this year at my mom’s, and really enjoyed it. There was an abundance of presents for everyone, the highlight in my pile being a Playstation 3 from Marianne! I’ve already bought two games – Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed (awesome game!) – and some Blu-ray movies I’m looking foward to watch. There was a message attached to the PS3, roughly translated to “Here’s something to play with until life becomes more serious in April ”. I like the message, though I’ve already started planning how to get our baby hooked on videogames and movies too…

I don’t really believe in new year’s resolutions, so I’m not gonna announce any, but I’m gonna try and make next year the most exciting and productive year of my life. With a baby on the way and with everything going on at bitbucket, I feel confident I’ll be able to accomplish that goal.

Looking back at 2008, I see a year of mixed emotions. I haven’t always been my old self, and have had times where I’ve been pretty miserable, and then there have been times of total bliss. All in all, I guess I can’t complain, and there’s no point in doing anything but try and remember the good times and be sure to make the most of all opportunities in the days ahead.

A happy new year to everyone, may it be a wonderful year for all of us!

In two weeks we’re having the ultrasound scan/sonogram, which will probably make everything even more real than it is now, and hopefully we’ll see a baby with ten fingers and toes and perhaps be able to tell if it’s a boy or a girl. Exciting times!

I can’t wait to see the little one… A baby girl, my niece. She was around 2800 grams when born, at least that was the estimate they had given my sister before they weighed her properly. We didn’t get much time to talk, since there are so many things they have to take care of right after the birth, but I hope everything went well the first night and that I get to talk to my sister later today.

My plan for today is to go out and look for baby-stuff, now that we know it’s a girl I’ll go hunting for anything pink!

A new generation has started, and as a friend of mine wrote in a congratulatory text message this morning: “this is the start of a new generation, you’re no longer in the youngest chain of your family”. Feels wonderful, and I’m going to be a great uncle, the one that takes his niece to amusement parks, gives the cool christmas presents (always hard ones, at least until she’s old enough to think clothes are cool), and always has time to explain all those questions that come up: “uuuuuunncleee, why does the dog have a tail”, “are we there yet???”.

Hm, that tear in the corner of my eye and the lump in my throat must be a sign that I’m starting to realize what happened today… uncle Eirik… how weird and fantastic is that!!?

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

~ Elizabeth Stone