American Mom in Finland

One of the strangest things about parenting for me has been the way things change. I imagined that, because I would be home with Soren, all the changing would seem slow and gradual. That’s true for his size - when, precisely, did he become so heavy?? But not for anything else! Every few weeks you wake up expecting the same routine as yesterday, only to find you have an entirely new baby. These are commonly called “leaps” thanks to the Wonder Week’s franchise, though like most baby books the content isn’t a perfect fit. We’ve had nursing strikes and feeding frenzies. Boredom days and stranger danger phases. Days where he will only sleep if he’s held, and days where he refuses to sleep if he’s held. It’s the baby lottery! This last week has been monumental. It’s like a new skill appears every day! First, he had a language burst. No longer content to just do “mamama” he has added g, k, b, and the occasional p to his repertoire. Mostly, this becomes “booka booka booka.” I love it! ...

Snow! Finally! It’s been strange listening to Americans complaining about huge snowfalls while Helsinki, of all places, has had none. But finally we got a solid coating and it looks like it’s going to stick around this time! Up until now, the temperatures have had little bursts of heat or cold, but mostly temperatures hovering around freezing. If you have lived in a northern climate, you know what this means. Melting and freezing, coating everything in a solid coating of ice. The sidewalks have been brutal. Aaron and I have been using the tank stroller for stability (thank you Emmaljunga) and seriously considering buying ice spikes for our shoes! Winter road care is a lot different here. To put it simply, Wisconsin is a lot better at it. Maybe it’s because Wisconsin is car dependent, or maybe it’s the “I’m going to sue the city because I slipped!”attitude. The actual GOAL of snow care seems to be different. Sidewalks and roads are plowed/brushed/shoveled, but...

Welcome back! Did you miss me? It turns out managing an active growing baby and a full time MBA course load takes more hours than there are in the week. It took a lot of support from Aaron and even more coffee, but I’m finally, FINALLY done! It’s weird to me that I started this program while working at Eaton, and finished two jobs, one new country, and a baby later. Oh how times have changed! Now I’ve finally got the free time to get some much needed relaxation, family time, and generally getting my life back together. We spent the very first day of no school going to the “Christmas Path” and drinking glöggi our in the fresh snow. Soren has finally been cleared of all food allergies, so I'm finally back to a normal diet. I had to phase foods back in one at a time, but I introduced the last food on Christmas day. What a joy to finally be able to try out all the seasonal treats during the holidays! Karelian pies, Fazer and Panda chocolates, cookies and so many pulla....