At the mökki, we had a great time. Vaari took the kids out in the canoe and they loved it.
Lumi even got to try her hand at paddling.
25 July 2016
Canoe Time!
At the mökki, we had a great time. Vaari took the kids out in the canoe and they loved it.
Lumi even got to try her hand at paddling.
20 July 2016
Otso's 33rd Month
Summary
It has been a month of vacation - - first Mazan, France, then two weeks with Grandma at home, then to Finland. He is happy and healthy.
Learning/Development
He is getting better at coloring. He chose colored pencils when grandma let him pick out a toy.
Language
He likes to talk about Lumi's treasure box, but it comes out something like "feavver box".
The common language for the kids in Mazan is Norwegian and it's fun to hear him speak it.
He is speaking a lot, but most of that is repeating whatever Lumi says. Sometimes it seems that she is his primary English teacher.
11.7 Charmingly blunt: when Lumi was doing a craft he kept trying to interfere and begged to "mess it up!"
In Finland, he is still speaking a lot of English to his grandparents. Often it seems that he isn't even aware that it's not the right language to use. But he uses Finnish when we supply him with the correct words.
Toys/Games/Other
He doesn't want to swim.
He is enjoying the yard immensely in Mazan. He likes petanque, Frisbee, Foosball, and just running around on the grass. He also likes to throw a ball at the trees.
We went to a flea market to replace the kids' lost clothes, and picked up some cheap dress up clothes for all the kids to play with. Otso has been wearing the shawl from the Beauty and the Beast costume.
He found some beads and wanted to keep them in a private area. I guess we need a special treasure box for him too.
The car racing track in Saimaa is lots of fun. But he still doesn't want to go to sauna.
Social
He has been playing with most of the kids in Mazan : Adele, Clemence, Marie, and his sister.
Eating
Favorite foods: ice cream on a stick, watermelon
He hasn't been eating much in Mazan. He doesn't enjoy bread with toppings.
He still won't eat berries. Even fresh blueberries in the forest.
Sleeping
He hasn't been going to bed very easily in Mazan, but fortunately it is a relaxed atmosphere so he can stay up a bit.
We have seen a lot of erratic sleep from him in general, even after we are home. It could be the light or it could be that he is ready to give up his nap. We are waiting a bit but taking advantage of some nap-free days on weekends.
With Grandma he has been missing his naps a lot.
Health
He got a fever on 3.7 (as did Lumi). Perhaps they picked it up on the plane.
He's having a lot of pee accidents still.
Stats
Clothes: size 98/104. Shoes: size 25 or 26.
Teeth: 19, cutting the last one too!
Weight: 15.1 kg on 8.5
Height: 93.5 cm on 1.5
Events
22.6 sommerfest at barnehage
24.6 flight to Paris
25.6 train to Avignon, loss of suitcase, arrival in Mazan
1.7 train back to Paris, dinner with Mama Dollie and Isabel
2.7 flight home to Oslo
4.7 last day of barnehage before summer, Grandma arrived
9.7 long hike from frognerseteren to sognsvann
15.7 grandma headed home; we flew to finland
16.7 play with August and Hilla, then playground with Asher, Emery, and Gaia
17-21.7 mökki in Saimaa
Random
He sneezed and said "I have bless you!"
At the mökki, he keeps calling Lake Saimaa "the pool".
13 July 2016
Summer evening
Me: guys! Guys? Can you just stand next to isä for a second so I can take a picture? Guys?
10 July 2016
03 July 2016
Lumi: 5 Years, 5 Months
Summary
It is now summer, and Lumi is really enjoying it. She loves to swim and loves the ease of throwing on shoes and heading out the door (instead of putting on an additional couple layers).
She has real moments of kindness with us and with others, which is encouraging to see.
Social
14.6 she told me that she spoke with one of the boys in her class who is a delayed speaker and he happily responded as much as he could and she said "so i'm a little bit friends with him". we are so proud of her -- this is a kid who is picked on a lot by the older boys.
In Mazan, she and Adele really got along. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of Clémence, and they left her out a lot.
At barnehage, Toni and Helmine are her best friends.
Leisure
Weeks 23 and 24 were friluftsliv uker here in Oslo, so they have trips every day. It's great that she gets to do all these different things, but one effect is that Lumi is quite tired every day.
She doesn't have any favorite toys lately. Her area of focus in the living room is her "treasure box" which is full of interesting things like beads she finds. It is out of Otso's reach and it holds an aura of mystery and excitement for him.
We went to a flea market to replace the kids' lost clothes, and picked up some cheap dress up clothes for all the kids to play with. Lumi liked them all: Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and snow white.
She really loves the pool in Mazan. We need to plan swim time for her in the fall, even if it isn't organized lessons.
She's into Star Wars now! we have read the Lego kids' book of A New Hope, and watched most of Phantom Menace.
Learning
We're doing some fun games where we make up stories together. Like "...and then they saw a big hairy ..." and she has to fill in the noun.
28.6 she made up a great story to accompany her drawing. it was very creative and we were impressed.
Language
Since the other kids we are staying with in Mazan speak French, Norwegian is the common language. It is fun to hear her speak it so comfortably.
She loves those activity magazines for kids, so Kimmo had a friend get a couple in Finnish to keep her Finnish strong.
Food
She still isn't a terribly enthusiastic eater for most things. Watermelon and berries are notable exceptions.
30.6 she declared the grilled steak "the best meat in the world"
Health
Now that it's warm, she has been wearing shorts more, and therefore skinning her knees more.
She got a fever on 3.7 (as did Otso). Perhaps they picked it up on the plane.
Stats
size: 110 (5T) or bigger in most clothes. 28 shoe, maybe 29.
height: 110 cm on 1.5
weight: 17.9 kg on 8.5
favorite color: blue
favorite food: watermelon
Events
5 - 9.6 isä gone
6.6 helmine joined us for dinner
11.6 helena joined us for dinner
18.6 Maja birthday party
19.6 Raija birthday party
20.6 toni joined us for dinner
22.6 sommerfest at barnehage
22.6 sommerfest at barnehage
24.6 flight to Paris
25.6 train to Avignon, loss of suitcase, arrival in Mazan
1.7 train back to Paris, dinner with Mama Dollie and Isabel
2.7 flight home to Oslo
Random
22.6: "I'm going to be a pizza man when I grow up. Or a trash man! And every day when you guys put the trash I will get the trash. "
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