Post-Christmas Malaise

Lumi caught a cold over Christmas (and it has since passed to Otso). Her cousins left Mummu's house early on Christmas morning so she and Siini spent some recovery time on the sofa watching TV together. The Pink Panther was the worst off of the trio, and remained passed out on the rocking chair until late that evening.

Otso's 14th Month

Summary
We had another bout of sickness this month, but also we have seen Otso walk.

Events
23.11 Helena and Lilja's birthday party
29.11 Thanksgiving dinner (guests Filippo, Amy, Gemma, and Diego)
30.11 Christmas tree lighting in downtown Stavanger
1.12 stood on his own for 3 minutes at barnehage
4.12 took 2 steps before toppling over
5.12 FIRST WALK - a few steps back and forth between isä and äiti
7.12 St. Nicholas celebration with the neighbors
12.12 Lucia day at barnehage
14.12 Baking cookies at Gemma's house
17.12 first Norwegian word "ha det"
19.12 flight to Helsinki

Development
Since the pneumonia last month he hasn't been interested in walking around, either with help or without help. He will happily crawl, but he stays on the floor.
He is making more and more sounds. He sometimes sings along in the car and he can't pronounce the words but he makes the sounds. He also can understand more and more when we talk. 
He is unruly at diaper changes and turns and twists, but he is starting to be somewhat helpful for putting on his clothes. For example, when we tuck his arm into the arm hole of a shirt, he stretches out his arm to push it through the sleeve.
His pincer grasp is often with his middle finger and thumb, and he holds his index finger up. Lately he can both grab and release items like Cheerios.
4.12 he went back and forth from isä to äiti, walking a couple of steps and then falling into the person's arms
5.12 FIRST WALK -- a few steps!
He seems to be spiteful. For example, he will often request to be picked up. But then if I tell him to wait a minute and I do something else first, when I go to him he turns away from my arms and cries, like he is punishing me for making him wait. If he can be distracted by something good and therefore forget his anger, he will accept being picked up, which is what he wanted the whole time.
17.12 says "ha det!" (Goodbye in Norwegian) and waves.

Toys/Games
On 22.11 Hattie gave us some toys (a car garage, a toy helicopter) and they have been a hit with both kids. We put the car garage from his birthday away with the intent to sell it because this one is much more fun. 
He still loves balloons and balls and still doesn't like books. He loves to play with cars.
Both kids are really enjoying playing with the pile of sweet potatoes in the kitchen. They like to pass them back and forth, and sort them, and throw them.

Eating
He won't eat from pouches anymore; I think he associates them with being sick since that's basically all he had during the worst days.
He loves to drink water but refuses cow's milk and juice.
He is breastfeeding 3 or 4 times a day: first thing in the morning, upon arrival home, and before bed. Sometimes there is another feeding in the morning before we leave and sometimes there is a short feed sometime in the evening.
10.12 along with the sleeping issues (see below) he seems to not eat as much right now. We had a brief resumption of his excellent eating habits around the end of November but now we are back to not much. He is also currently only eating a specific kind of bread (PolarBröd) and otherwise only dairy. He will eat breastmilk and yogurt and quark and cheese. Sometimes he will eat a couple of Cheerios too. Apart from those, he will carefully accept what food you offer him and then throw it as hard as he can.
17.12 he has mostly regained his appetite but can be erratic. he is a little obsessed with Mariekjeks (Marie cookies). 

Sleeping
He took some great naps on 22.11 (in the bike trailer) and 23.11 (in the stroller) and the sleep situation has improved at night. It's still not easy to go to bed and he still wakes up crying, but at least it's not every 15 minutes.
From 22.11 to 26.11 (and more?) he has been waking up at 5:00, give or take a few minutes. Every time he has a poop. 
Starting the night of 27.11 we began sleep training, meaning he stays in the crib until 5:00 in the morning. The first night was hard with a lot of crying. But by the third night, he slept a longer stretch than he has in quite a while. Äiti sleeps next to him but not in the crib, sort of sideways on the guest bed. I can put my hand through the crib bars and hold his chest, which seems to relax him.
1.12 last night he woke up at 12:30, and then again at around 4:30 and screamed inconsolably for 45 minutes.  
2.12 last night he needed some help going to sleep and woke up a few times but then slept from 21:00ish until 5:50.
4.12 last night he cried almost the whole night. he had a nap from 4:00-4:30am. äiti nursed him at 5 and then took him out for a walk at 5:20.
10.12 the last few nights have been really difficult. He sleeps a little but will suddenly wake up and start crying loudly. He seems angry. He refuses to be soothed, even crawling away from äiti or isä. He bangs his head against his crib rails when he gets especially mad. When we take him out of the crib and into the guest bed, he rolls away and then bangs his head on the sides. The only thing that can temporarily calm him is nursing and he will stop back-arching if we say "nursing?" to him. But he chews (ouch) and he resumes yelling the minute you take him off the breast. We have gone through the typical culprits:
 - night terrors: no, because he does the same thing when fully awake
 - hunger: no, because immediately after nursing he resumes the yelling. plus he won't eat very much at the table.
 - separation anxiety: no, because he isn't soothed by anyone's presence
 - pain: maybe. he doesn't seem to be helped much by a full dose of pain killer
our current theory is some combination of teething and anxiety about walking. but who knows.
15.12 the worst night yet, trying Pantley stuff like "pull off" technique which seems to enrage him
16.12, 17.12 the nights are just a little better
20.12 won't sleep at night without a breast in the mouth. Since we are sharing a house every night on this trip, äiti has decided to not try to train him to do otherwise until we get home. Hopefully it won't be too hard, because some nights it is really frustrating.

Health
A fever on 25.11
It felt like he was just back to health and now he is vomiting again 3.12. in one evening he threw up on 3 different sleep sacks.
4.12 still vomiting. 
5.12 no vomiting, but still weak and no appetite.

Stats
Clothes: size 86 (18 months) and 92

Teeth: 7 
Weight: ?
Length: 78 cm ?

Napkins are for suckers

Kind of gross, but impressive nonetheless.

Otso pushes the yellow one down

Practicing for Lucia

The Lucia procession at the barnehage on Friday was cute but my videos were all too dark. But here are Lumi and Otso (in their Luciadag white) practicing.

Lumi: 3 years and 10 months

Summary
It has been a good month. Lumi is growing taller and learning more skills. She is sensitive and cautious, but when she is excited about something she is hard to contain.

Events
8.11 lunch with Mira and Dave and Helena and Lilja
14.11 barnehage planning day but she was sick so we didn't do much
15.11 took otso to the hospital and lumi was really helpful and kind to otso
22.11 played at Hattie's house
23.11 Helena and Lilja's birthday party
29.11 Thanksgiving dinner (guests Filippo, Amy, Gemma, and Diego)
30.11 Christmas tree lighting in downtown Stavanger

Language

She is interested in the letters of the alphabet now, and it seems like it must be really hard with the multiple languages (e.g. "i" in finnish is pronounced like "e" in american english) so right now she sometimes spells her name with a combination of languages (like american "u" but finnish "i").
She is practicing a different "r". We aren't sure where it comes from, but it sounds really aggressive and like there might be an "h" involved. 

Learning
She can get herself dressed and undressed now (though often she prefers that we do it or that we make it a fun game).
17.11 we got out the writing and number workbooks and she was very happy to practice writing the numbers and letters
20.11 she wrote her name and Otso's name without prompting or help. Then she wrote a K and called us over. With some spelling help she was able to write Kimmo.
22.11 she helped me write a thank you note and signed her own name.

Social
We are working on overcoming her shyer tendencies.
22.11 she had a great time with the Bennett kids
23.11 she was a bit shy at Helena and Lilja's party but eventually warmed up. The presents she had picked out (hair bands and batons with glittery liquid inside) were a hit.
29.11 Thanksgiving dinner she was a great hostess to Gemma. She let her have her favorite color dishes, and sit in the special chair, etc. And they played together and had a great time. They played hide and seek, they pretended they were going to sleep in Lumi's bed, and they generally ran around the house at top speed.

Toys, Games, what have you
She tried a bicycle with training wheels at the sports store and loved it.
She loves to listen to "Sutsi Satsi" in the car. I played some 90s R&B for her and she deemed it funny but she liked it.
On 22.11 Hattie gave us some toys (a car garage, a toy helicopter) and they have been a hit with both kids. 
Both kids are really enjoying playing with the pile of sweet potatoes in the kitchen. They like to pass them back and forth, and sort them, and throw them.

Food
After some American candy (chewy sweet tarts) she had a horrible tantrum. We are staying away from candy for awhile.
15.11 she insisted on buying Leverpostei (liver pate) at the store, which is a really Norwegian thing to eat. she carried it in her hands from the cash register to the car and then into the house and then opened it for lunch.

Health
Not sleeping well this first week, which has been made much worse by Otso's terrible nights. Lumi has woken up several times due to his screaming.

She seemed under the weather on 7.11 but seems to have regained her appetite on 8.11.
14.11 she was feverish and tired. she stayed in and got some rest and seemed spectacular the next day.

Stats
size: 104 (4T) in most clothes, 27 shoe
height: 99 cm
weight: 14.3 kg on 15.11

Random

10.11 it's dark now in the morning when we get up, and the bathroom light switch is high enough to be out of reach for lumi. today she went for her morning pee and we heard he say rather cheerfully but sassily "i need some *light* in here!" and then announced "i'll get a light bulb!" Then she ran to the living room and grabbed one of the light-up balls that grandpa and mama dollie had brought and she continued to hit that against her belly so it stayed lit while she was in the bathroom.

On 15.11 when we entered the hospital, she walked right up to the information desk and announced in english "Otso is really really really sick!"

On 29.11 before breakfast she requested "the kind with the crust in the pot". It took a minute to figure out she meant boiled eggs.:

peek a boo

Otso's 13th Month

Summary
Otso seems to have blossomed a bit at barnehage and is generally more confident. However, he has also developed a habit of complaining loudly whenever he is dissatisfied, which is often. Sadly, we think this is the end of cheerful babyhood and the beginning of irrational, difficult toddlerhood.
The huge event this month was the pneumonia. It was horrible to see him so I'll. He lost weight and he was very uncomfortable.

This picture from 17.11 shows a sick (but on the mend!) Otso.

Events
21.10 birthday party at barnehage
24.10 mummu arrives
25.10 ullandhaug tower, dinner at the neighbors'
26.10 proper crawl!
27.10 mummu leaves
31.10 halloween party at Hundvåg playgroup
1.11 selma kristine's birthday party (lumi's barnehage classmate)
5.11 walking with one hand support
8.11 lunch with Mira and Dave and Helena and Lilja
12.11 doctor diagnosis: pneumonia. And an eye infection. And also just to make it exciting: 2 new teeth cut through.
17.11 babysat by Joëlle; starts eating again!
20.11 back to barnehage

Development
24.10 walked using stool as a support.
26.10 proper crawl for the first time, and is now pretty confidently crawling. He still prefers to be walked around holding on to an adult's hands.
5.11 walking with one hand support; he was tricked into it first because he wanted to hit a balloon with the other hand. then he got to enjoy it.
He seems to be left-footed, heavily favoring that foot for kicking balls.

Toys/Games
He loves cars and his little hammering toys.
He is still not interested in books.

Eating
He loves frozen peas. He loves cooked broccoli and carrots. He loves sauteed zucchini. However, it doesn't matter how much he loves whatever he's eating, he will still throw it off his plate/tray when he is done. This is not a charming habit.
24.10 first pizza -- approved!
28.10 first time at barnehage they said he ate a lot
29.10 still ravenous, eating huge portions of salmon and zucchini.
10.11 with the arrival of the pneumonia, his appetite was gone.

Sleeping
29.10 was a horrible night, with many bouts of hysterical screaming.
30.10 pretty bad night again.
31.10 bit äiti while "dreamfeeding"
1.11 night weaning again
10.11 he is so sick that I am nursing at night again.

Post-sickness he still isn't sleeping well. He cries harder than ever in the evenings, and wakes up several times and can be inconsolable.

Health
30.10 came home with a runny nose.
2.11 my nipple was cracked and painful. i thought it was yeast, but otso showed no signs in the mouth. i went to the doctor on 3.11 but he said it wasn't yeast. he tested my blood for a  bacterial infection and it showed nothing. so he said to just use topical antibiotics (something like Neosporin and rubbing alcohol) for a couple of days. Sure enough, after Neosporin plus a bandaid for 2 nights, it went away.
5.11 facial skin looks red and irritated
7.11 came home with mucus in the eyes
10.11 they called from barnehage in the afternoon and said Otso was feverish. We brought him home. His fever was over 38. He vomited.
11.11 stayed home from barnehage. Eyes are crusty and he is tired and unresponsive. Vomiting during the evening and night. Fever over 38.
12.11 fever over 38 in the morning. Still not eating anything other than breast milk, and mostly vomiting that right back. went to doctor. Diagnosis of pneumonia. He sent us to the hospital for an xray, where they confirmed that it looks like pneumonia. So he started a course of penicillin.
He also cut 2 new teeth on 12.11: right upper lateral incisor and left lower lateral incisor
14.11 still feverish and not eating so we went to urgent care. They basically said it will take a week so we should just use ibuprofen and paracetamol to keep him comfortable.
17.11 Joëlle babysat in the morning so both Kimmo and I could get some solid work in. And that afternoon he started eating again! By dinner we were back to a familiar routine: him eating vegetables and shrimp as fast as we could hand it to him.

Stats
Clothes: size 86 (18 months).

Teeth: 7 (two new on 11.12!)
Weight: 10.02 kg, though this must have gone down during the sickness
Length: 78 cm (almost 85th percentile in Norway)

Random

Feeding Carrots to Isä

Lumi: 3 Years and 9 Months

Summary
Lumi is doing well. She has bad days but overall she seems braver and happier.

Events
4.10 learning to use the balance bike, riding around the house
13.10 orthopedic doctor appointment
19.10 Otso's birthday party
23.10 action day at barnehage
24.10 Mummu arrives
1.11 Selma Kristine's birthday party

Language
She is getting stronger every day in Norwegian. It's almost frightening to see how much she uses it when she is playing at home, because we fear that it will replace English and Finnish.

12.10 Lumi can count to 12 in Norwegian

One "floater" teacher at the barnehage is helping her with some vocabulary drilling. Also her teacher Hege made us a little book with pictures of common things in the classroom and their Norwegian names. We go over it with Lumi and that seems to be helping everyone learn.

Learning
Lumi's barnehage is run by a church mission, and she learns a lot of God- and Jesus-oriented songs. Occasionally they teach them in English, and that is even more discomfiting.
14.10 she came home singing
"I have decided to follow Jesus!
I have decided to follow Jesus!
I have decided to follow Jesus!
No turning back, no turning back." 
The "no turning back" line is especially creepy.

On 19.10 during Otso's party she had a pee accident. Kimmo took her to the bathroom to clean up and change clothes, and while they were cleaning Kimmo taught her how to wash herself (armpits, etc). She used a lot of soap and seemed to have a great time.

On 2.11 we were out for a walk and started chatting with a couple with a dog. When they asked Lumi what her name was, she answered "Lumi." When they seemed puzzled, she spelled "L-u-m-i." I was impressed!

Social
She has friends at barnehage and the language acquisition is helping that. 
She had a great time at Otso's party. There were a bunch of little girls and they had a blast running around the house. She also surprised us by sharing her talking My Little Pony with her little friend Irene. Irene was very taken with the pony and Lumi let her take it home to borrow it for awhile.

Toys, Games, what have you
She seems drawn to whatever anyone else is playing with. 
11.10 we rented The Little Mermaid from the library. She loved it. After 2 times through she said to me "I don't like Ursula", so she seems to be figuring out bad guys vs. good guys.

We were delighted to see that Lumi has started playing air guitar. Her favorite teacher at school plays guitar and she seems really interested.

Food
She has discovered lemon pepper and will happily eat lots of meat if she can dip it in a pile of lemon pepper.
Frozen peas are making a comeback as a favorite food.

Health
We went to the orthopedic doctor on 13.10. The arm is not perfect but it is straighter now than it was 6 months ago. He said that unless her motion starts to look limited, we don't need to come in again.
Then he called the next day and said that he reviewed her xray with another doctor and he wants to see her in 1 year.
She has "healed" some bumps by holding 1 frozen pea on the fresh wound.

Stats
size: wears a 98 or 104 or 3T, only buying 4T or 104
height: 96.5 cm
weight: 13.5 kg

Random
9.10 version of Magic Penny "love is something if you give it away, you won't have any more!"

When she goes kakka on the potty, she can easily take up to 10 minutes, so we tell her to call us when she is ready for help wiping. With Kimmo she often makes a code sound for this, shouting from the bathroom: "I am doing kakka! Isä, when I make this sound (click or raspberry or something) then you come help!"

23.10 Lumi introduced Kimmo to another parent with "this is my daddy and he likes coffee and wine!"

Halloween party

We went to the Halloween party at my favorite playgroup today. One of the mother's took great pictures with a proper camera.

Let it gooooooo!

Otso vaccination

It's not a pleasant experience for the parent, but I think it's the right thing to do.

Stairs are hard

Otso's 12th Month

Summary

Otso is mostly cheerful and nice to have around. 

Events
21.9 Preikestolen hike, vaari and leena left
24.9 playdate at Freddy's house to maybe get chicken pox
28.9 Ullandhaug organic farm "food trail" day
30.9 First day at barnehage!
2.10 pulled up to standing in the crib
5.10 bike ride with family
8.10 first morning unaccompanied at barnehage. No tears!
19.10 birthday party

20.10 helsestasjon appointment; vaccinations

Development
Otso is still enjoying being walked around held by both hands, and will get quite angry if he wants to walk around and you need to do something else with your hands. He doesn't properly crawl and he doesn't stand by himself for more than a second or two. He does like to stand to play with toys on the sofa or window sill.
2.10 pulled up to standing in the crib
13.10 walking a short distance with only one hand supported by an adult
On 30.9 we went to barnehage for his first day. The idea is that the first day is just a few hours and a parent is there the whole time, participating along with him. The first hour was spent outside on the playground, where he walked around mainly with a couple of girls from Lumi's class (Marthe and Selme). Then he took a nap in the stroller. I went inside for the samling (circle time, with singing and such). Then the class started their lunch of havregröt (puuro/oatmeal). I woke him up for that and he ate a few bites, then played on the floor with a couple of the bigger kids who very sweetly brought him lots of toy cars.

Toys/Games
He loves to be tickled.
He loves to give and take an object back and forth with someone.
He loves toy cars.
10.10 they did a finger painting activity at barnehage but said he was mostly confused.

He loves to throw balls and kick balls.

Eating
The way he signals "I have finished eating" is to throw his food on the floor. He will even accept new food very carefully in his hand and then throw it on the floor to show you that he never intended to eat it.

Favorites: cheerios/murus, yogurt, most things from prepacked pouches, bread
30.9 ate the gröt at barnehage

4.10 we tried to give him a sip of regular cow milk. he seems to like it but not love it.

19.10 we tried to give him infant formula but he did not like it.

Sleeping
He wakes up a lot at night wanting to nurse now. I think we need to try night weaning again.
23.9 moved crib to office. Äiti goes to sleep in there now with him.

The week leading up to the birthday was a rough one, with multiple nights of screaming for many hours. He didn't have a fever and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Maybe a tooth coming.

Health
We are attempting to contract chicken pox before äiti goes back to work by having a playdate with Freddie.
26.9 got a fat lip at Hundvåg playgroup when he got accidentally pushed down and did a face plant.
1.10 poop in the tub again. i think he is constipated.
3.10 Now the poop flood gates have opened and he isn't quite at official diarrhea level yet but it's still intense. He got such a rash that we have switched to disposable diapers for a few days.
5.10 After this weekend of poo, he was restless in bed and then finally puked on äiti at 22:00
6.10 Puked in the morning again, and now has runny nose and cough and a light fever. I took him to the health station and they laughed off my worries ("babies do that!") and chastised me for not taking a temperature measurement so they have a number. I guess I will go to the doctor if it's still bad tomorrow.
19.10 stayed home from barnehage because he was sick.

Stats
Clothes: size 86 (18 months).

Teeth: 5
Weight: 10.02 kg
Length: 78 cm (almost 85th percentile in Norway)

Random

The birthday party on 19.10 was a lot of fun. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Guests: Sonja & Silja, Mira & Dave & Helena & Lilja, Joëlle & Christophe & Clémence, Hattie & Hester, Courtney & Xaden, Sanna & Anders & Irene, Chiara & Fabio & Aurora
Otso mainly played in the middle of the living room floor, while the older kids ran around. We had a sheet cake baked by äiti and a no-flour chocolate cake baked by Joëlle from upstairs. We made him a separate cupcake with icing and a single candle. When most of the guests had arrived, we put him in the high chair and lit the candle and placed it in front of him. Before anyone started singing, he reached for the candle and put the flame out, burning his hand. He sobbed and reached to be picked up. So he sat in äiti's arms while everyone sang, and only later tasted some bits of cake.

Presents from us: car garage, tool bench

Short sleeves

It's not that warm these days but when the sun shines through our living room window, it feels like summer.

Walking around

Otso loves (more than doing anything else) walking around with the helpful hand of a bigger person.

Lumi: 3 Years and 8 Months

Summary
The big thing this month is that she seems to have adjusted to barnehage. There are still days when she says she would rather stay home but mostly she is happy there. She doesn't speak much Norwegian, but she also doesn't seem to have much trouble understanding it. The language comprehension has gone a long way toward her happiness. 

Events
6.9 Suomi Koulu
14.9 playdate at Irene's
18.9 Leena and Vaari arrive
21.9 Preikestolen hike, Leena and Vaari left

24.9 playdate at Freddy's house to maybe get chicken pox

28.9 Ullandhaug organic farm "food trail" day

Language

I guess she is learning Norwegian because she yells "nei!" at Otso.

3.9 she said "Hus stengt" (house closed) and closed the door.

8.9 we had a talk with her barnehage teacher about helping her get adjusted, and asked that she teach her some key words and key phrases in norwegian. Let's see if that helps.

Later in the month the teachers said she understands when they speak to her. I don't think she understands everything, but she seems to have the normal class phrases down, like "wash your hands" and so on. 

Learning
It has been a language-intensive month, but one thing we noticed is that now she is an expert on the swings on the playground. Before barnehage, she couldn't even keep herself in motion. Now she can make herself go fast, and stand up, and move around while the swing is in motion, and even jump off the swing from a standing position while the swing is in motion. It is impressive to watch.

Social
Her tantrums are really bad these days. She bit Äiti on the arm on 6.9, drawing blood. But then weirdly the next few days she seems to have reached a turning point with äiti and has at least taken a break from testing constantly. 

We have been having a lot of trouble with the barnehage adjustment, and the tantrums seem to be a part of that. The drop off is often hard with tears and her asking to stay with me for the day. Then when we come in the afternoon and she is playing on the playground with her friends, she doesn't want to leave. Things that have helped: getting dressed before breakfast (so she doesn't put up a fight about it), keeping the drop off short and using a consistent routine (take off coat and outside shoes, put on inside shoes, last hug, butterfly kisses, and we go), and having a little snack ready for her to eat on the way home.

Toward the end of the month, the drop off at barnehage is easier most days. 

Toys, Games, what have you
She still loves books and watching Dora and various movies.
At school she plays with Play Doh and dolls and she draws a lot.
We made a bean activity box with a lot of dry beans and containers for pouring. 

I checked out a fairy tale book from the library. It has a few simple classic stories (Hansel and Gretel, The Ugly Duckling, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Thumbelina). She loves Thumbelina and has requested it every night before bed for a week.

Food
we are still doing a yogurt snack right before bed. 
15.9 first Jell-O. approved!

Health
It feels like she always has a bit of a runny nose now, but I suppose that is the effect of group childcare.
Despite the bigger bed she sometimes rolls out of it at night.

Stats
size: 98 or 3T
height: 96.5 cm
weight: 13.5 kg

Random
on seeing my Dansko clogs she said "I like your Crocs!"

On the way home from barnehage

Yesterday they held hands like this almost the whole way home. It was a slower trip but I loved it.

Clémence and Lumi

Otso's 11th Month

Summary

Otso is fairly happy, though he is starting to express frustration more. More than anything, he loves walking around with the assistance of an adult. We have had a strange month with his sleep, with some great nights and some horrible ones.

Events
23.8 first top tooth (left incisor)
30.8 children's museum
31.8 hike at Ytraberget with Diego, Gemma, & Fam
31.8 first (and hopefully last) poop in the bathtub
4.9 hair trim
14.9 playdate at Irene's
15.9 tooth (top left lateral incisor)
18.9 tooth (top right central incisor)

18.9 vaari and leena arrive for a visit

Development
He loves applauding.
He loves to be "walked" around (walking while holding onto an adult).
He loves to climb up to standing.
17.9 he took a few steps holding on to the walker toy.

Toys/Games
He enjoys crawling over to the bookshelf and pulling books off and dumping them on the floor.
He likes to hit any 2 toys together. He loves to be spun around.
A favorite game is "drop the baby" where I say "drop the baby!" and pretend to drop him but catch him at the last minute.
18.9 first time making a "vrooom" noise while playing with a toy car

Eating
He eats more than Lumi does. To be clear: not more than Lumi did at this age, but more than she eats now. He loves to use his own hands to eat, so that makes purées difficult. We still do manage porridge sometimes. When he is sick, he eats almost nothing but breast milk and his pre-bed yogurt.
Favorites: pears, cheerios/murus, ground beef, shredded chicken, salmon, eggs, yogurt

In an attempt to do baby-led weaning type feeding, I tried making "porridge fingers". He hated them.

Sleeping
He naps very well in the stroller outside. The typical routine is to walk for a bit with him in the stroller then let him sleep in the driveway outside the office window while we check on him periodically.
20.8 woke up many times during the night crying. at one point the diaper leaked and i took off the wet pajamas
21.8 trying sleep sack again because it feels cooler
25.8 horrible night of sleep again
28.8 decided to nurse at night again because he was sick and not sleeping. 
1.9 last night he slept great and only woke up to nurse once
7.9 back to bad sleeping and nursing all night. i hope it's from teeth, which would mean that it has an end date. 

Health
26.8 woke up (after awful night) with a runny nose
29.8 runny nose again
12.9 fever and runny nose and cough. Vomited in the evening

We have a bit of a diaper schedule: the first 2 diapers of the day are prefolds, because they are the most absorbent and that's when he pees the most. Then we switch to the pocket diapers (fuzzi bunz or charlie banana) or the flip diapers if we are out and about. At night we use a disposable.

Stats
Clothes: size 86 (18 months) in most brands. 

Teeth: 4 (top left central incisor 23.8, top left lateral incisor 15.9, top right central incisor 18.9)
Weight: 9.7 kg
Length: ?

Random
Sometimes his penis gets stuck in his belly fat, pointing up.

Floor time

Teething pains

Otso doesn't really like Orajel on the gums, but chewing on the tube seems to help the pain.

Our generous toy budget

I have been trying to get some good sibling shots. This isn't my favorite but they were having fun. With a broken hair comb that we had found on the sidewalk.

Lumi: 3 Years and 7 Months

Summary

It has been a nice month. Lumi started barnehage, and Kimmo was off work for most of the month on paternity leave. The transition to barnehage has been challenging but also fun.

Events

3.8 play date with Katya and Alexi

5.8 Linnanmäki

6.8 Flights back to Stavanger

10.8 Suomi-Seura coffee social and Lumi played with Irene the whole time.

11.8 first day of barnehage at Lasse Liten

17.8 playdate with Irene

20.8 went to barnehage in the bike trailer!

25.8 switched to a 150cm (full) size bed and had a nighttime accident in it (that is very rare these days, so it was kind of funny)

28.8 "read" a book to Otso

30.8 children's museum

31.8 hike at Ytraberget with Diego, Gemma, & Fam

Language

Her Finnish has really improved in little ways, with new expressions here and there. Some of it is due to interactions with human beings, but some seems to come from the TV. She watched a lot of Pikku Kakkonen in Finland.

After one week at barnehage she says she doesn't know or understand any Norwegian.They are being helpful about explaining things to her in English, but it's not perfect. They are very casual about teaching her Norwegian words, and seem to be counting on her to just pick it up. This makes me frustrated because while I think that she will pick it up in time, it would be kinder to teach her the important classroom words for their activities and toys, to lessen the confusion. As her mother it is hard to watch her not only struggle to adjust to the new people and new environment but also struggle to understand what is happening (because of course they do tell the kids things like "now we will go outside" and "now it is circle time") when everyone else understands.

One hilarious effect is that sometimes we are talking about something at home in English and she informs us that the Norwegian word is "xxx", and gives basically the English word with a vaguely Norwegian accent. She sounds just like the Swedish chef from the muppets .

Learning

Her mind is very busy right now with learning the ropes at barnehage.

Social

She is now jealously grabbing toys from Otso at home.

She was very happy at her barnehage the first week. There is one little girl Signe who grabbed her hand the minute we came in and they play together, despite lacking a common language. Now in the third week, she has some great days and some days that seem really hard on her. She has made some other friends: Chloe, Victoria, Lily.

16.8 our neighbors had some girls visiting who were around Lumi's age and Lumi simply knocked on the door and went inside to play. She even stayed for breakfast, even though it was among French speakers. Kimmo and I were very impressed how she wasn't shy.

17.8 We invited Irene and her parents over for a playdate and dinner. Lumi spent almost the whole first hour explaining to Irene how all the toys worked and how she shouldn't leave certain ones on the floor. She began a lot of sentences with "Muista että ... " (translation: "Remember that ... "). She overwhelmed Irene with her nonstop lecturing. But then Irene finally got comfortable enough to do her own thing and play, despite the continued lectures. And they had a great time. They spent a while with the big Ikea shark, pulling each other around the room and laughing like maniacs.

22.8 Lumi has really started noticing boys vs. girls. When Äiti and Lumi do something she says "just the girls!". And the long standing Isä preference is starting to crumble a little bit, seemingly because of this. We are pretty sure this is a result of some things at barnehage.

23.8 Lumi said "äiti, I love you and I don't love isä." This is the opposite of what she has claimed for months. Is it because she doesn't spend all day every day with äiti now? The good thing is that she isn't pushing Kimmo away now and claiming he is the "mörkö", like she did with Äiti.

Toys, Games, what have you

She is still floating around often pretending to be Angelina Ballerina, and now she likes to wear skirts ("so we can do Angelina dances!").

She is loving the movie Frozen. She now wants to grow her hair long so that she can wear a braid like Queen Elsa.

We rented "Lilo and Stitch" from the library and she likes it, though we think she doesn't understand the plot. We also rented "The Lion King" and she really enjoys the songs.

Food

We're not sure what to credit with the weight gain, but we are very happy that she is up almost a kilo in the last few months. She did seem to get more exercise in Finland and also ate different things. We are trying to do an "evening snack" of yogurt (Turkish yogurt or "ice cream yogurt") just before bed to get some extra fat and calories.

Health

There has been a head lice warning at barnehage, but we haven't seen/felt any yet on Lumi (both parents are paranoid about it and feel itchy every time they think about it, though). :)

On 16.8 she seems moody and has something green in her nose, so we think she is getting sick.

Stats

size: 98 or 3T

height: 96.5 cm

weight: 13.5 kg

Random

6.8 when clearly upset that Vaari was going in a separate car she sobbed, "but Vaari will be lonely in the car. He has to be with us!"

17.8 when admiring Irene's hair (longer than Lumi's, and with multiple braids): "she has everything that I want!" It took a couple questions before we understood that it was the hair she was coveting.

She is happy to be at barnehage but of course with any major change she has been having some tantrums at home. This could also be because she is no longer getting naps, because it's just not in the schedule for her "big kids" class at barnehage. The meltdowns are very dramatic and scary to everyone.

29.8

Ä: Tomorrow we were thinking about going to the kids' museum.

L: And maybe afterward we can go to the grown-ups' museum!

Iris Schoonus photo session

Otso and Äiti posed for some photos for a local photographer. Here are a couple favorites.

Dancing

Lumi is quite interested in snapping, and is learning how.

Otso's 10th Month

Summary

Otso is moving around with the military-style crawl. He smiles a lot, and is generally good-natured and happy to be alive. This month we saw the first time he was playing with his sister but also we saw how now this same sister regards him as a threat to her playtime.

Events
21.7 munkkiranta with Rouru family
22.7 drive to Saimaa
26.7 berry picking in the forest
28.7 drive to Helsinki
29.7 dinner party at Sami and Ilona's house
31.7 playgroup with other Finnish-American families
2.8 lunch at Michele and Janne's house
3.8 play date with Katya and Alexi
5.8 Linnanmäki: Otso rode the baby ferris wheel and balloon carousel
6.8 Flights back to Stavanger
7.8 pulled himself up to a standing position on isä

10.8 Suomi-Seura coffee social 

14.8 started night weaning

15.8 stayed home with Isä while Äiti and Lumi went to playgroup

17.8 Irene's family over for dinner

20.8 10 months old

Development
Otso is crawling faster but still sort of dragging himself with his arms (primarily left arm) and using his right foot to push a bit. He is not doing a proper crawl.

He has started waving, mostly as a friendly hello.

2.8 went from floor to sitting up by himself. 
he hasn't really mastered this skill yet, but he can do it when he is trying and not overly tired or frustrated. this means he can get from sitting to crawling and back to sitting.

7.8 pulled self up to standing using Isä's T-shirt

Toys/Games
Otso loves to play with Crocs, no matter how dirty they are.
He loves peek-a-boo and loves to pull things (sunglasses, hats, etc) off of his own head and that of others.

1.8 first time we saw Lumi and Otso shut themselves together in a room to play

Eating
He is eating more jarred baby food in Finland. The good news is that there is more variety here. He likes to chew on cucumbers and bread. He loves blueberry rahka.
He seems to have made the leap to chewing. He can now handle chunks in his food.
He still likes breastfeeding but he clearly wants and needs other foods for nourishment.
We gave him Lumi's old yellow sippy cup with the straw and he has been drinking a lot of water from it, much more than with the spout cup. The cup is a nice size for him and he can hold it himself.

Sleeping
In Finland we gave up trying to get him to sleep in a crib. And his nap schedule was more whenever it is convenient for everyone else instead of a real schedule.
At night he prefers to sleep on his belly. He has a hard time getting to sleep and will cry for around 30 minutes. We sit with him during this cry. I try to not nurse him to sleep, though we do nurse as part of the night routine.
Night routine: bath, diaper, pajamas, song, nursing breast
The last night in Finland and first couple nights at home Otso woke up at 3 or 4 in the morning almost hysterical. He was inconsolable.
Now that we are back at home, we are trying a new sleeping arrangement: the crib right next to äiti's bed, with one wall removed. And we are night weaning!

On the evening of 14.8, we started night weaning. I feed him in a chair before he goes to bed, then again in a chair the first time he wakes up after I go to bed (usually between 22:00 and 23:00), then not again until morning. In the morning, I wait until the first time he wakes up after 6:00, then get out of bed with him and feed him in a chair. The idea is that he isn't eating during the night, and he isn't eating while lying down in the bed. Why are we doing this? We don't want the breast to be a sleep crutch (which he had just started to do -- for example, nurse a tiny bit to relax whenever he woke up during the night), and we want both mother and baby to get more hours of uninterrupted sleep. The first couple nights it has been hard, and he whimpered a lot. I still slept with him and cuddled him; I just didn't offer a breast. But it seems like he is simultaneously getting a little bit of a cold, so hopefully once that goes away he will be sleeping more peacefully.

Health
3.8 fell face first out of the stroller on the playground. He got a mouthful of gravel and a couple cuts.

15.8 feverish and clearly cranky. He had the fever for a few days before it seemed to finally go away the morning of 18.8. His sleep hasn't returned to normal but it is better.

 
Stats
Clothes: size 86 (18 months) in most brands. 

Teeth: 2
Weight: 9.7 kg
Length: ?