Her son is her favorite topic right now - and probably for a long time afterward. "Your son rolls belly," she says excited. "to his back, and then to his belly again. And- and he pushes with arms and legs when he is on his belly. Your mother says he is trying to crawl. She says he is quick to learn."

She has a spare little hope that Ivar will not be so caught up in this new wife that he misses it. She wants him to see the progress Ragnar has made in his absence.