Skip to main content

Soren Turns ONE!

Look at this big boy! We couldn't be more proud.





After some baby physical therapy and a lot of kneeling playtime practice to build strength, Soren is FINALLY CRAWLING! He put it together the day before his birthday and he is so excited about his new skill! I guess what they say is true - as soon as you accept that they will never crawl and move on, they figure it out!






Things are changing so fast now. It seems like he's learning a new trick every time he wakes up from a nap! And we really need to catch up on baby proofing!

I made Soren a birthday "cake" of zucchini bread with frosting and strawberries. Much as I expected, Soren loved the strawberries, tolerated the bread, and hated the frosting. So mom got to eat the rest :D






Spring is finally here! The ice has finally melted in the sea outside our apartment, and I don't think I ever realized how much I missed the view of moving water. The Finns are, much like Wisconsinites, eager to get back into the mode of spring. I haven't seen shorts yet, but everyone has switched to their lighter jackets and I even saw someone paddleboarding the other day!




The sun is back to turning our patio into a sauna in the morning, so the cats are in heaven.


We're in the final stages of prepping for our trip to the United States. Finland had daylight savings this weekend, which we are actively ignoring with Soren's schedule to make our trip home easier. In fact, we moved his bed time in the other direction. Hopefully we can get the time difference down to 6 or even 5 hours before we fly home, which should make everyone happier when we land. For now, if means we have a 1 year old going to bed at 9PM, which makes me feel super rebellious!

Next post: Lessons learned about flying internationally with a one year old. Wish us luck!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Learning Finnish: progress check

 Do I speak Finnish? No. Omg no. I speak just enough that I can mostly keep up with what my 3 year old brings home from school. I usually can buy something without revealing my ineptitude. I can read many signs with context. But at the same time, I have come a CRAZY long way. Let me demonstrate. 2015 (trip to Finland) I cannot hear sentences, words, or even basic sounds. I cannot hear the difference between y and u, and I can’t keep a/ä straight in my head.  I regularly think people speaking Finnish are speaking Japanese. 2018  (initial move to Finland) I have studied some words from America. Ironically, this will mostly be unhelpful in the long run because I learned to pronounce them incorrectly. I put the accent on the wrong syllable, thanks to my years studying Spanish, and I can’t keep a/ä and o/ö straight.  I am super proud when someone says anteeksi (excuse me/sorry) and I know to move out of their way. I cannot pronounce the name of our neighborhood in a way t...

How Finland has Changed Me

 We’ve been living in Helsinki, Finland for a little over 2 years now. That’s not super long, but it’s long enough that our lives have drastically changed to fit our new environment. I still remember the first day we were in Finland in our temporary apartment, suddenly in a record breaking heat with no air conditioning, trying to figure out how such tiny grocery stores could possible have all foods we were used to, and completely forgetting that we actually had to carry our food home. Never mind the fact that my Finnish was limited to hei (hey), kiitos (thank you), and anteeksi (excuse me/sorry), which does not help you at all when trying to read food labels for allergens. We didn't have any bags, so S had to carry our groceries. It’s strange to think about those versions of us. Raising kids in Finland has forced us to adapt and conform to Finnish norms faster than we probably would have naturally, and I love that. I love that I’ve changed in many ways that will probably be permane...

Adventures in Paivakoti

Well, friends, it's been three months since we returned from America and Soren started in Paivakoti. It's been a game changer for everyone. Let's talk about what paivakoti is, why we are using it, and what the biggest differences are from American day care. Paivakoti literally translates to day home in Finnish. It is a public service, closer to public schooling in the states, so placement is guaranteed within certain conditions. It covers every child over 1 until school age, which starts at 7. Although one is the minimum age, maternity leave is generous enough that many do not start until 3. Soren is attending out neighborhood Paivakoti for half days. The paivakoti is the first floor of the building, while school age classes are on the second floor. Soren has a group of roughly 15 kids, where he is the youngest, and the next youngest is 6 months older. He is the only one not walking, the only one doing half days, and the only one without a Finnish parent. But that isn...