Film of Liam and Neela

This is a short film I made for fun of Liam and Neela in a playground near our house. Some funny moments as Liam tries to be a stuntman with jumps and rolls! He was inspired by a short film he had seen on YouTube. This film was shot using our Canon550D with a wide angle lens. I didn't use full HD mode in the camera and then compressed to 640 x 360 format in iMovie.

Nicholas on his first car trip.

Nicholas: This picture was taken of me on my first car trip.

Liam and Neela

Just a few days after Nicholas was born, I took Liam and Neela to the farm up the road from our flat. This was taken on the steps next to the farm cafe. Actually it was not so cold that day, but they both decided they wanted to have hats on!

Our new baby is born

In the early hours of the mourning on July 20th, our latest addition to the Holt family was born. A very sweet and content looking little boy. Caroline was fantastic and Nicholas was born without any complications at home in our flat in Solna.

Finally Spring!

As people in other parts of Europe probably know by now, Spring arrives a bit later here in Sweden.    I used to have lilac blossom on my birthday, now its mainly tulips ;)

Here a few pictures of how colourful nature became in just a few weeks!

Happy Easter!

We had our Easter Sunday one day earlier this year, as Richard is leaving for China on the Sunday.

We started our morning with an Easter egg hunt with Liam and Neela being quite excited about all the things they found. After a nice breakfast which included even an Easter lamb cake, we headed off to a farm nearby to see some real lambs.

Liam decided he wanted to ride on a pony for the first time and seemed to have a lot of fun on the way.

Happy Easter to you all!

Liam’s 1st major Hospital visit

We had a feeling for some time that Liam was not eating regularly and this together with some other signs lead us to have his blood tested. This confirmed our suspicions that perhaps he was gluten intolerant (i.e. had Coeliac disease). The doctors then advised us that he should have a full test to confirm gluten intolerance as the blood test is not conclusive proof. So the procedure is an endoscopy and biopsy of bowel wall tissue. Fortunately for Liam, this is done under anaesthetic for children.

So on the day, Liam and I went to Karolinska - Astrid Lindgrens Child Hospital at 7:30 in the morning to prepare. Caroline, who seriously dislikes hospitals, opted to stay at home and look after Neela. He was very focused and naturally a little nervous when the nurse set the needle in his arm, in preparation for the procedure. He was very brave and didn’t protest a bit. He then got to ride through the hospital to the operating theatre and we got to chat with the team there. The anaesthetist was very relaxed with him and let him play with the pulse recorders as they added heart beat pads to his chest and prepped him. He was still quite relaxed and when the doctor arrived and the anaesthetist popped in the dose in his arm and it was just to say sleep tight and he was out. Everything went well and afterwards he came round in a good mood and we went back to the ward. The doctor confirmed she was sure it was Coeliac disease. Liam was soon asking for food and the nurse produced an ice lolly which made his day. We ate some food and then headed off home. All in all, no big deal, only that now we have to start dealing with a special gluten free diet for him.

A ride in the bed

Liam and teddy getting ready for the procedure

In the recovery room

First food of the day!

Liam in the park

Liam in Haga Park this weekend with Autum trees in the background. Just getting some fresh air as we are preparing at home to go away this weekend. Caro will be in Germany nxt week with Liam and Neela, while I will fly to China on business and joint them in Germany next weekend.

Neela doesn't want to be photographed

We were in the park and I was just about to take a photo when she put her hand up as if to cover her face! Perhaps it was she had just woken up, pehaps the sun was in her eyes, anyway it looked a bit funny.

Sunday outing to Nyckelviken

Today we went to Nyckelviken, which is a nature reserve just a short drive southeast from Stockholm. The Nyckelviken estate, which is beautifully situated by the water, has a long history, dating back to the 15th century.

Nyckelviken was celebrating itself today with the 'Nyckelvikens dag' and offered lots of activities to join in. We looked at all the farm animals, watched people in fancy 17th century dresses dance and Liam learned to pile up hay with a hay fork.

My Birthday present from Emma

So at 50 years of age, there are some things you can do for fun on your Birthday. Knowing this, Emma made a good choice and got me something that pampered to one of my interests, cars. She got me a driving experience ticket to take a little sports car out for a quick spin. Naturally as she is a student with a related budget, she chose the introduction option which was designed to provide a short but exhilarating taste of shear driving fun. This was to take the shape of a quick spin in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante, the open-top version of the Superleggera.

The one I drove was one of just 2 existing in Sweden. When sitting comfortably in the Lamborghini, I asked the instructor, if there was any policy on speed, he simply replied “its your driving licence”. The Performance of the Gallardo is simply stunning. The V10 power unit with a displacement of 5.2 liters generates 570hp. It catapults you and the open-top Gallardo from 0 to 100km/h in a mere 3.9 seconds and keeps on going to a top speed of 324km/h. Being an open-top, the engine and exhaust noise as you rev the engine, which goes to 8500 rpm, is simply fantastic. Its hard to stop yourself from slowing down on a straight bit of road simply to be able to speed up again and hear that roar all over again.

Thanks Emma, even though the drive was short, the experience was fantastic, and despite touching around 250 km/h on the motorway, I still have my driving licence.

Sunny times!

After spending most of the month of May at home due to chicken pox, we are really enjoying getting out and about again. The weather has been fantastic for over a week now and we've had quite a few picnics already. We even managed to get the bikes out of the garage and Neela had her first ride in the trailer, sitting next to Liam.

Neela seven months

Liam is developping a creative streak

Some serious painting

and some serious fixing.

Finally, spring is here!

With an amazing 17°C today, it finally feels like spring has come! You people from Germany and England won't believe it, but eventually even we have some crocuses out in the garden :)

It's just wonderful after this loooong winter and Liam enjoys digging in the sand again, which was covered in ice and snow for such a long time.

Liam making tea in the garden.

In the little garden play house.

Preparing the balcony.

Liam and his friend Tim.

Neela with Lisa, Tim's little sister.