Road trip

A trip inland taking in some dramatic scenery, an icy carpark and a candle factory with a scary tree sculpture (... guess where I got my hair cut).

The price of a haircut in Norway .....

... promotes a more local solution.

Christmas Day

As ever, a good haul of presents. She got a camera and has been happily snapping away for the past few days. I had hoped to load some up and do a blog of her Christmas but she discovered the "delete all" button earlier today.

Christmas Eve

This year, for the first time, Sophie eagerly anticipated Christmas Day. She now fully understands the whole Father Christmas, Rudolph thing and would ask to hear Slade whenever in the car to "cheer me up" (... Norway can be a bit grim at this time of the year).

Tee Hee

Photo quiz

Q: What's pink, shimmery and has a wimple?
A: Our daughter after a visit from Grandma and Grandpa.

Playing on the computer

Getting excited yet?

The digestive cycle of Barbie's dog

Jo's Mum and Auntie Val have just visited for a week, an event which always cheers Sophie up and fattens Beastly up. We're currently in the deep freeze here in Norway and I guess you are too (unless you're reading from Qatar Dani). I've become rather indulgent with the electric seat warmer in my car (... although there's something distinctly unwholesome about it). Sophie has been in a very cheerful mood recently. Today she's been playing with Barbie's dog Tanner. You put food in it's bowl, it goes into the mouth, comes out of a little hole under the tail, you scoop it magnetically into the bin and it slides into the dog food box, whereupon the cycle repeats. It's possible to lose a whole afternoon as you can see from the pic. Check out the "train" chair we got made for Sophie while she's in the cast. She really likes it.

Back in Stavanger

It has been a week since Sophie had her operation. Here is a selection of photos taken since then. She is getting back into a routine and (as you can she) will not allow her temporary setback to get in the way of some serious home computing.

Update from Bergen III

Tomorrow we are going home. Sophie and Jo will fly down to Stavanger and I'll set off in the car a few hours beforehand to hopefully meet them from the airport. The logistics of getting Sophie home have proved challenging, particularly as she's a bit delicate and Jo will have to manage on her own. Still, we've secured an ambulance ride to the airport and the airline has promised to convey her to the gate. Today the sun has come out and it really is a Winter Wonderland here. We've built a mini-snowman, thrown snowballs around and blown and popped countless bubbles. Sophie is in a great mood as you can hopefully sense from these pics (... guess which one Sophie took).

Update from Bergen II

It is now three days since Sophie's operation. She is recovering well and starting to eat again. All of the tubes connecting her to the various fluid systems have been removed and she is able to take trips around the hospital in a wheelchair. If she continues to improve at the current rate we will be able to leave in the next day or two. The next logistical hurdle is getting her home. It has been snowing constantly for the past 24 hours (see view from Sophie's hospital window) and we've watched cars sliding around on the roads outside. The driving option seems a bit optimistic so I'll probably take the car and Jo and Sophie can fly back down to Stavanger.

Update from Bergen

The surgeon is very pleased with how the operation went and yesterday's X-rays showed that everything is in the right place for the healing process.

Sophie is recovering, feeling a bit brighter, watching lots of DVDs and getting lots of treats. She should be able to go for a walk in a wheelchair later today. They think we can head for home on Monday.

This cast goes to her left ankle and right thigh but it is in a sitting position and it doesn't have the dreaded bar between the legs. It should be a lot easier to live with.

News from Bergen

Sophie is now resting after a long day, most of which was spent in theatre. She went down at 8.30 this morning and came out at about 4pm this afternoon. First indications are that her operation went well. It was much bigger than last time with some femur reduction, femoral head rotation and socket reshaping. She's just fallen asleep watching Bobinogs in her own room with Jo sharing. I'm off to get some sleep. It's really cold here; it snowed today.

Kid Buggy

Not much happening in Norway today. In anticipation of Sophie going into another cast after her op (in 10 days time), we've bought this "kid buggy" (... call it a pushchair at your peril). It's one of those all terrain jobs which doubles as a bicycle trailer. We have been told that Sophie's cast will put her in a position bent at right angles at the hip. This means that she'll be able to sit up which will be a great improvement over the previous cast. We feel a bit better prepared for this than last time although I'm not sure Sophie will be as compliant as before. Fingers crossed. On Monday 17th November we will take the long drive to Bergen from Stavanger. This will be an adventure in its own right with some long tunnels and two ferries.

Bonfire Night

Sophie learning all about English Roman Catholic revolutionaries

The Firelady and the Fairy

Sophie and her new chum Saskia playing dressing up.

Ballet

Thanks for the lovely dress Nana!

Hip update

We haven't really posted much about Sophie's hip since we moved to Norway. She has seen a specialist here and had a CT scan (she was very brave and lay perfectly still). The upshot is that the brace she is wearing is not doing the job it was intended for. She is going to need further surgery. This time she will have some pretty major hip reconstruction of both the pelvis and femur. So, the date for this operation is set for 18th November and it will be done in Bergen Hospital. Afterwards Sophie will go into a plaster cast (as before) for 6 weeks until the end of the year. She has been a very brave little girl and hopefully this will put an end to it.

Big bed

Sophie has now migrated from her cot to a new bed which she thinks is great.

Sophie's photos

Sophie has recently become a keen photographer. Here's one of Beastly she took earlier today.

The Terrace and the Guest Room

Our New Home

Here are a few more pictures of the front and back living rooms, the kitchen/dining room and the dog kitchen, the play room and Sophie's story spot on the landing.