Sometimes Mama shuts herself in the little room behind the kitchen. High screetchy sounds and low buzzy noises vibrate behind the closed door. What on earth is she doing in there?

My other Grandma dropped by the other day. She brought presents and a semla, and then she helped me practise my walking. The semla tasted delicious, a little bit like cream cake actually. It's not so bad being home again after all.

It's nice to be home again, but I can't help thinking about all those we left back there in New Zealand. My fascinating and slightly scary cousin Dima, who took the game peek-a-boo to a completely new dimension. My little cousin Severin with his crooked smile and red bottom. My hilarious Grandma who pops up wherever I go. And last but not least Granpa Lakka who carries me around in his strong arms, and lets me fiddle with almost everything (except his DVD-player). And of course Auntie Rima and uncle Igor who both have such wonderful pullable hair, and all the other relatives I got to know and like. I'm sure Grandma will turn up again pretty soon, but what about the others, when will we all meet again? The last evening as we were pondering this we felt so sad we all burst into tears. Hang on, looking closely at the picture, I notice Lakka is looking quite a bit more cheerful than the rest of us. Maybe he is looking forward to having his DVD player to himself...

A few words of advice from Maxi-bubs to Mini-bubs
Dear Severin
As your older and more experienced cousin, I feel it is my duty to give you a few useful tips. The first one is to stay on the titty as long as you possibly can. It is a known fact that nothing beats the titty. (Except possibly cream cake. And also ice cream sometimes if it is a hot day) My second tip is to work hard on those motoric skills, so that you can get into some serious hair-pulling ASAP. Last, but not least, my final piece of advice: Never let the Red Ass win. Wherever the Red Ass rears its ugly head, trying to destroy our way of life, you have to resist it. (Actually, you might find that the hair dryer is a good weapon in this respect) So remember my words, little cousin: Fight that Red Ass.

4 + 13 + 8 + 2. That's how many hours we were in the air, and this is the state we were in when we arrived in Stockholm. I was tired during the trip, but I didn't feel like sleeping. I preferred to cry and whine and cling to Mama, or Papa when she wasn't around. There was unlimited access to titty, which was good, but not quite good enough. When we came to Arlanda our luggage didn't turn up. We found out that one of our suitcases was stuck in London, and the other in Sydney. Mama said that she would make a note of packing some warm clothes in the cabin bag next time. The taxi was a bit cold, but we all slept anyway all the way into town. When we unpacked our bags from the taxi one bag disappeared somehow. I think my passport was in it. So was Mama's wallet.

Well today i checked out my blog and found that lots of people had taken the trouble to congratulate me. That was really nice! Birthdays are good things actually. On Saturday, I invited all the New Zealand rellies and some old family friends as well to my birthday bash. It was a huge success. The fish soup - prepared from a recipe provided by my private supernanny Erik in Sweden - turned out well, despite the major threat posed by the rancidness of New Zealand butter. The balloons and cakes were all in place, and I was the centre of attention.

As I anticipated, there were lots of cool presents. My cousin Dima helped me play with them, and there was a lot of spinning, rolling, blinking, giggling and bubbling.

These are all the rellies and friends that came to my first birthday party. As you can see, the average age is quite high, although cousin Severin did his best to pull it down.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
Exactly one year ago I found that my present situation was not quite satisfactory, and I made moves to bring about a major change in my life. As it turned out I was actually in a very tight spot, and finding my way out of it was extremely tedious and exhausting work. However, things have really turned around for me since then and today on my first birthday I can lean back and relax, and enjoy the wide open spaces on the shores of the Pacific. On Saturday my New Zealand rellies will come and congratulate me. There will be cake and presents and balloons. You can congratulate me too if you want by writing a comment.

Fish and chips, mince meat pies and cream cake are staple foods for the New Zealander. Tea and chocolate biscuits are also an important part of their diet. Personally, I think cream cake is a good choice. Luckily Granddad doesn't mind sharing.

I love my Mama. Her face is the last thing I see before I go to sleep, and the first thing I see when I wake up. When I'm with her life has meaning, I feel good about myself and the world. But when she turns her back on me it's like the sun is hidden behind clouds. Sometimes I get involved in games with Dad or someone else, and almost forget about her for a while. But then I catch sight of her, and remember what it feels like to be in her arms. Then I holler and yell until she picks me up, and life is good again.

Yesterday we got in to the car and drove for a while and then we looked for a parking space for ages, and then we were at a big place with lots of people running around with big suitcases. And then suddenly I saw somebody i recognized. Grandma! Funny how she always turns up out of the blue, even we are so far away from home.