American Mom in Finland

Look at this little guy! Where did my tiny baby go? It feels like it was just yesterday that we were struggling to get him off his back, and now he only wants to sit! Even the last week has been a roller coaster of changes. Soren babbles with consonants, uses a pincer grip, feeds himself, and even cut his first tooth! In short, everything but sleep 😓 7 months old tomorrow, how can that be? He’s getting so big he’s almost outgrown his Halloween clothing before the month is out. He’s already wearing his 12 month clothing (80cm EU sizing) 😱. Speaking of Halloween, if you knew us in the states, you know it is one of my favorite holidays! It makes me sad to think that nobody will be giving out apple cider this year. I really hope our renters are full size candy bar people! However, I have been very pleased to find that Halloween is not an American only holiday. I assume it was exported through all of the movies and television shows. Trick or treating is prett...

Oh goodness, has it been almost a month? I find myself with less time for updates on here now that school is in session. My days are quite full balancing three classes and a non-stop growing and changing baby! Let’s see, what is new... Aaron and I both had birthdays this month, as well as our third wedding anniversary. We had some nice family time, long walks, and museum visits. Soren also turned 6 months old! The last few weeks have been amazing. Suddenly he just hangs out in tummy time, reaching out for toys or watching cars outside. He also has a play center that he adores, and has learned to make a little hopping motion of excitement. His coordination is suddenly amazing, and he uses that new skill to bring anything and everything to his mouth. His favorite is pieces of paper 😂   Soren is now eating real food! It took him a while to get used to it, but now he gets jealous if we eat  without him. He loves oatmeal and bananas, and toler...

September always comes so fast! The temps are more reasonable, and the sun now sets at 8:30 instead of 10:30. Some trees are already changing here, and I saw my first migrating geese today. The autumn rains have started with the accompanying fog, which looks very strange 5 floors up! My next big challenge begins now - full time school and parenting. As most of you know, I have been getting my MBA through an all online branch of the UW system. I’m thankful it is online so I can continue my coursework without issue! If everything goes right, I will finish All my requirements and graduate this fall 🎉👩🏻‍🎓🎉 I’m going to need to learn to be really productive with nap time! Soren turned 5 months recently, which feels crazy! He’s getting so big - he’s moving into 9 month clothes and 12 month hats! He’s starting to sprout some fuzzy hair, which is hard to see but looking pretty red. Soon we start solid food!!! We have an allergen specialist now, which has me reint...

One month! It's hard to believe we've only been here a month. With everything that's been going on, it feels a lot longer. A bit of delay posting due to illness. Soren and Aaron both caught a cold for about a week. Somehow, I never caught it, by some miracle! Soren got his first baby ear infection, and had a lot of congestion, but he healed up fast enough and never developed a fever so we're counting ourselves lucky. Proof that he's feeling better now! It's also cooled off massively, which feels wonderful. Here on the waterfront, temperatures stay between 60 and 75, a perfect temperature for long walks around the islands. (view of our apartment from the neighboring island) For the most part, we are settled in to our new apartment. We're still missing some big items that will be arriving shortly (coffee table, lamps) but we have a routine to our days, as much as you can with a baby. Our bedroom was a priority, for obvious reasons. Living out of a...