WARNING: Written from a mother's point of view.

According to Parents, firstborns often tend to be:

• Reliable
• Conscientious
• Structured
• Cautious
• Controlling
• Achievers

Firstborns bask in their parents' presence, which may explain why they sometimes act like mini-adults. Firstborns are diligent and want to be the best at everything they do. They excel at winning the hearts of their elders.

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Ann-Louise is all of these things and much, much more - again, in my perhaps somewhat biased opinion. She is a very loving and caring person and a very loyal and supportive daughter and friend. She is very hardworking and has achieved a lot. Perhaps one of her only weaknesses is that she sometimes lacks self-confidence and puts herself down.

Like me, she really enjoys basking in the sun. She has been a true companion (as I get older I will probably have to use a different word) several summers on our "girls only" trip to somewhere warm and sunny! Although she is still quite young, she has traveled farther than I have. In 2013 she traveled to Japan on a class trip and then spent some time afterwards in Thailand before returning to Norway.

In October 2017 she bought an apartment in Kongsberg, located in a very cozy house with 3 apartments that was built in the early 1900s and refurbished in 2007.

WARNING: Written from a mother's point of view.

After Ann-Louise's rough start to life, I was wary of having another child. Ann-Louise, however, really did not want to be an only child. She talked constantly about her getting a "little sister". She was such a caring child, and we had prior to Ann-Louise's birth always talked about having at least 2 children, so we finally put our fears aside and decided to go for it.

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I could tell you some interesting stories about his birth - including colorful details about me jumping out the birthing pool (I was foolishly determined to have a natural birth) - but I will keep it short. Bjørn-Eirik was a whopping 4,8 kilos (10.91 pounds)! His head was so big that they had to use forceps to get him out. He was delivered by the head obstrician, who claimed to have delivered all 6 of his children. He reminded me of a football coach. All that was missing were the cheerleaders. He was, however, assisted by several nurses almost sitting on my stomach and pushing for their lives. Except for a slightlig deformed head because of the use of forceps he was a healthy and beautiful baby boy. It didn't seem to bother Ann-Louise that she didn't get a little sister. 

Despite being almost 5 years younger than Ann-Louise, Bjørn-Eirik always wanted to play with the older kids. He followed in his sister's footsteps as far as extra-curricular activities are concerned: played soccer for a little while, took riding lessons (dressage), took French Horn lessons  and played basketball. Like his sister, he cut out everything except basketball. Although he quit the band and stopped taking French Horn lessons, music has continued to be an important hobby. I am, of course, biased but I think he is quite talented. He plays the guitar and piano and sings. We have missed being entertained all of the time after he started university. I am, however, sure that the students at Ås will get to enjoy his talents while we will have to settle for being entertained when Bjørn-Eirik visits us.