Otso's 26th Month

Summary
The big change this month is complexity of speech. He makes sentences and shares opinions. He seems comfortable in Finnish, English, and Norwegian. They say at barnehage that he is talking all the time now, and we see the same thing at home.

Events
20.11 new tooth
22.11 ice skating with Toni (otso just watched), swim class
24.11 stayed home from barnehage

27-29.11 visit from Diego and Gemma (and parents!)

7-10.12 stayed home from barnehage

11.12 lucia dag celebrations at barnehage

12.12 baerum verk & pancake house

19.12 we opened all the christmas gifts from the american side of the family!

20.12 pancakes with viviane and family, afternoon at pedro's house

Development
He seems to have lost interest in walking to barnehage. And since he is close to 15 kg, it's not so easy to carry him. 

He can count to 10 in Norwegian.

Language
Sentences are popping up all the time.

1.12: "What Isä doing?" It was cool to hear him construct that kind of question for the first time.

He still has a lot of little phrases that only parents can understand, like "sap" = "sit on your lap".

When he sees a picture of Santa, he says the Norwegian word "Nisse".

"Christmas" is pronounced something like "missmiss", as in "missmiss tree", "missmiss cookies", etc.

He has a bit of a lisp.

Social
He and Diego had a great time playing together.

Toys/Games
Little figurines are still quite popular. He carries them around and puts them on things.
He also loves the Skype "dancing monkey", and is really enjoying Google's "Santa Village". We played the games on there every day while he was home sick.

Eating
20-22.11 he ate quite poorly and (either consequently or due to being) very grumpy.

Sleeping
He is still sharing a room with Lumi, though we are thinking of changing that.

Health
He is starting to be able to blow his nose. He knows what he has to do (close mouth, push air out through nose) but he doesn't blow hard enough to do anything.
23.11 had fever in the evening and wouldn't eat
24.11 still a bit feverish; stayed home.
25.11 had to pick him up a bit early because he wasn't feeling well.

5.12 horrible fever in the evening

6.12 stayed inside all sunday to rest, fever again at night

7-10.12 fever again; stayed home from barnehage

Stats
Clothes: size 98. He wears size 23 shoe, but those are getting tight.

Teeth: 16 (right lower canine 20.11)
Weight: 14.6 kg on 11.11
Height: 88 cm

Random
otso knows what he wants but can't always say it (among other frustrations, no doubt), so we often get horrible tantrums out of the blue. for example, he'll just be calmly sitting there, and point to the water cup and say "water," and then you ask him "do you want water?" and then he nods, and then you hand him the cup. and then he collapses face down on the floor and sobs. sometimes he'll throw the cup of water at you before collapsing. 

he throws in anger, and he has a strong arm.

often we hear lumi singing and then otso responding with his little "no, mumi!" because apparently he doesn't enjoy it.

Winter warmth

When she was feverish the other night, Lumi put on a fleece sweatshirt of Kimmo's and climbed into the sleeping bag from her baby box (äityspakkaus from the Finnish government) to get cozy.

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer By Lumi

Sick!

This poor guy has been sick and is now staying home from barnehage for the fourth day in a row. Here is a rare smile.

Lumi: 4 Years and 10 Months

Summary
Lumi has mostly had a great month. We have had a lot of visitors, and Lumi usually enjoys that.

She is subtly growing more rational and it's wonderful. She can be quite kind and considerate when she is in a good mood.

Events
8.11 Ola's birthday party, swim class
11.11 accompanied Otso to helsestasjon
14.11 visit Pedro
15.11 suomi kerho, swim class

17-21.11 josh visiting

22.11 ice skating with Toni, swim class

27-29.11 visit from Diego and Gemma (and parents!)

29.11 swim class

Language
8.11 we were told her Norwegian now sounds like Oslo dialect.

It's hard to report monthly progress on this because the development is subtle. But she seems to be doing great (except sometimes speaking to Kimmo in English).

Learning
6.11 she saw a picture of a little girl refugee, called her "beautiful", and was interested to hear more. it was a good moment. i tried to explain the loss of home, etc. i'm not sure how much sank in.

Social
She is starting to branch out socially at barnehage and plays with other kids.
9.11 we had a meeting with the barnehage teachers to discuss her development. apparently lumi is doing just fine (except for occasional bouts of stubbornness, which we are definitely aware of), and comfortable. she speaks norwegian with the other kids, and sometimes english with her teachers. she loves to do the bead activities and sing.

we had a really nice visit with Gemma & family. Lumi and Gemma had a great time together.

Leisure
8.11 more progress at swim class! due to the teacher's urging, she is trying to not hold her nose when she dives or jumps in. she also practiced swimming underwater and also on her back (and kept herself easily afloat for 5 seconds on her back; it looked much more smooth than the doggie paddling).

Food
She is better than she used to be about trying new things, but she still isn't a great eater at meal times.

Health
Nothing to report here and we are grateful about that.

Stats
size: 110 (5T) in most clothes. 28 shoe. She is skinny but getting taller.
height: 107 cm on 11.11
weight: 16.7 kg on 11.11

Random
8.11 on the way back from swim class she saw an evening gown in a window and said she wanted it. i asked where she would go with it and she replied, "I would wear it to a birthday party...to a grown-up's birthday party!"

15.11, explaining why she couldn't bike the rest of the way home "Ei oo energia jaloissa!"

When we arrived at barnehage on 16.11, the front door was locked. Lumi said "Oh no! I think the barnehage is stengt!"

21.11 cuteness :
L: Otso, should we play together? 
O: Yeah! Play together! 
And they trotted off to the living room. 

24.11 she is delighted by "Open your mouth and close your eyes, and you will get a big surprise" followed by a cookie shoved in her mouth.

1.12: she had just found otso's special Mickey Mouse and he was very happy. Lumi said "it's nice to make someone happy because happy is not so loud."