27 July 2017
20 July 2017
Otso: 3 Years, 9 Months
Summary
The big event of the month was leaving Oslo and moving to Helsinki. He did not have strong friendships in Oslo, so he is not missing the friends quite like his sister. But he is definitely frustrated with all the confusion and lack of routine.
In the new house he has his own bedroom and he is very upset when Lumi does not allow him into her room.
Learning/Development
He likes to count.
In Finland, riding in cars is new. For the first day, at every red light he demanded "why are we stopping?!"
Language
Now that we are in Finland and we hear more Finnish around, he is speaking more. At first he said "he talks like vaari!" but now it's becoming clear to him that this is normal. He says "hyvää päivää!" instead of "hyvää yötä" to mummu.
He has lots of cute English constructions, like instead of "we bought" he said "we buyeded"
One thing that always comes in Norwegian is the request for someone to push him faster on the swing, so he says "more fahrt!" or "big fahrt!"
Toys/Games/Other
He loves cars and legos. I brought home a catalog of Legos from the toy store and he calls it the "batman magazine". He is interested in the classic Batman toy, "with the blue helmet".
27.6 trip to grocery store to use up Norwegian coins, and the kids got spinners
The Leikkipuisto in Maunula has a shallow pool, which has been a godsend to us. It's refreshing on a sunny day and it is such a novelty that the kids are very happy to go there.
Social
He is primarily focused on the family, instead of outward with other kids. That said, he does have fun at barnehage with other kids.
Rolv gave him a sweet going away present -- a Karius and Baktus mug
When he is angry, he calls people "baby".
The move has been hard on the kids because we have had work to do at the house, and we have been staying in vaari's apartment. It was a disappointment to not move in immediately. Otso seemed okay at first, but now his temper gets the better of him often. He goes from seemingly okay to enraged in a matter of seconds. We have been asking Lumi to just not engage with him, even if it seems like he's having fun, simply because it has so often turned into a fight.
Eating
Favorites: eggs, ice cream, pancakes
He only likes milk and water to drink, and sometimes hot chocolate.
He does not like maple syrup, or icing on cake, or fruit in his ice cream, or juice, or other fruit-y sweet things.
He liked the pigs-in-a-blanket served at sommerfest.
He does not want to eat strawberries, but he likes hunting for them. He loves the peas from the garden in Nakkila, even though last year he did not want to try them.
Sleeping
He is resistant often at night when trying to get to sleep. But he rarely comes into the parents' bed anymore.
Health
He still wants us to be "really careful!" every time we are near any of the ouches -- the cut from last month on his forehead, or his knees.
Stats
Clothes: size 104/110. Shoes: size 28.
Teeth: 20
Weight: 17.6 kg on 2017-05-12
Height: 102 cm on 2017-05-21
Events
21.6 barnehage "sommerfest"
25.6 Oliver's birthday party
29.6 moving truck, night in hotel
30.6 last day of barnehage, fly to Finland
11.7 kids and äiti drive to Nakkila
17.7 drive to helsinki, first night sleeping in the new house
18.7 movers arrived
Random
30.6 He said that his food went into his mouth and into his tummy (sort of a quote from Peppa Pig) but then he added "and into my legs!"
12.7 he had some great descriptions of items we were searching for :
When Mr. Lau was missing, he said to Lumi, "if you see something black, and fluffy, with a black tail, that's Mr. Lau."
When we couldn't find the moose slippers, he said "they are brown, and they have eyes."
The big event of the month was leaving Oslo and moving to Helsinki. He did not have strong friendships in Oslo, so he is not missing the friends quite like his sister. But he is definitely frustrated with all the confusion and lack of routine.
In the new house he has his own bedroom and he is very upset when Lumi does not allow him into her room.
Learning/Development
He likes to count.
In Finland, riding in cars is new. For the first day, at every red light he demanded "why are we stopping?!"
Language
Now that we are in Finland and we hear more Finnish around, he is speaking more. At first he said "he talks like vaari!" but now it's becoming clear to him that this is normal. He says "hyvää päivää!" instead of "hyvää yötä" to mummu.
He has lots of cute English constructions, like instead of "we bought" he said "we buyeded"
One thing that always comes in Norwegian is the request for someone to push him faster on the swing, so he says "more fahrt!" or "big fahrt!"
Toys/Games/Other
He loves cars and legos. I brought home a catalog of Legos from the toy store and he calls it the "batman magazine". He is interested in the classic Batman toy, "with the blue helmet".
27.6 trip to grocery store to use up Norwegian coins, and the kids got spinners
The Leikkipuisto in Maunula has a shallow pool, which has been a godsend to us. It's refreshing on a sunny day and it is such a novelty that the kids are very happy to go there.
Social
He is primarily focused on the family, instead of outward with other kids. That said, he does have fun at barnehage with other kids.
Rolv gave him a sweet going away present -- a Karius and Baktus mug
When he is angry, he calls people "baby".
The move has been hard on the kids because we have had work to do at the house, and we have been staying in vaari's apartment. It was a disappointment to not move in immediately. Otso seemed okay at first, but now his temper gets the better of him often. He goes from seemingly okay to enraged in a matter of seconds. We have been asking Lumi to just not engage with him, even if it seems like he's having fun, simply because it has so often turned into a fight.
Eating
Favorites: eggs, ice cream, pancakes
He only likes milk and water to drink, and sometimes hot chocolate.
He does not like maple syrup, or icing on cake, or fruit in his ice cream, or juice, or other fruit-y sweet things.
He liked the pigs-in-a-blanket served at sommerfest.
He does not want to eat strawberries, but he likes hunting for them. He loves the peas from the garden in Nakkila, even though last year he did not want to try them.
Sleeping
He is resistant often at night when trying to get to sleep. But he rarely comes into the parents' bed anymore.
Health
He still wants us to be "really careful!" every time we are near any of the ouches -- the cut from last month on his forehead, or his knees.
Stats
Clothes: size 104/110. Shoes: size 28.
Teeth: 20
Weight: 17.6 kg on 2017-05-12
Height: 102 cm on 2017-05-21
Events
21.6 barnehage "sommerfest"
25.6 Oliver's birthday party
29.6 moving truck, night in hotel
30.6 last day of barnehage, fly to Finland
11.7 kids and äiti drive to Nakkila
17.7 drive to helsinki, first night sleeping in the new house
18.7 movers arrived
Random
30.6 He said that his food went into his mouth and into his tummy (sort of a quote from Peppa Pig) but then he added "and into my legs!"
12.7 he had some great descriptions of items we were searching for :
When Mr. Lau was missing, he said to Lumi, "if you see something black, and fluffy, with a black tail, that's Mr. Lau."
When we couldn't find the moose slippers, he said "they are brown, and they have eyes."
07 July 2017
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03 July 2017
Lumi: 6 Years, 5 Months
Summary
She is handling the move well. We have not appreciated enough how easy she has made it on us by being excited (rather than scared) and looking forward (rather than backward). The fact that her friends at barnehage are all going on to different schools has helped, because there have been a few ceremonies and rituals to mark it for her. In fact, after the "sommerfest" at barnehage when they said goodbye to everyone, she was ready to go and seemed frustrated that we didn't move immediately.
But the bigger news is that she is reading. She is sounding out words all over the place in all three languages. No books yet, but her progress in the last week of this month was amazing.
Social
She loved playing with 6 month old baby Johan.
She has said that she will miss her friends, but I think it helps that most of the kids in barnehage are splitting up and heading to different schools.
Leisure
The Richard Scarry "A Day At The Airport" book is very popular with both kids.
She is loving the books about fairies (the "Rainbow Magic" series), and we checked out more at the library. We also checked out a Magic Treehouse book and she seems into it.
She is all of a sudden dying to get a dog. Her friend from barnehage has an adorable new puppy and now she begs us for a puppy. "Or at least a cat". 😃
She found the calculator app on her phone (an old HTC that only holds a few apps and very simple games) and has loved practicing addition and subtraction. She even likes to quiz Otso.
27.6 trip to grocery store to use up Norwegian coins, and the kids got spinners
Learning
She likes her workbooks but really resists the "boring" stuff, like practicing the same letter several times. She gets quite frustrated with English spelling. For example, she wanted to write "palace" all by herself, so she wrote out "pales". When she checked it with me and found out it wasn't correct she got really mad and abandoned the whole project.
She is excited about having her own room and getting to make a sign that says something like "Keep Out" for the door. She is excited in general about the new house. We taped a drawing of the house (thank you vaari!) to the kitchen wall and she has been analyzing it.
14.6 she read through the list of names in her barnehage group, with no mistakes.
19.6 I think we can say concretely that she is writing in Finnish -- it is fantastic! She showed me a note in barnehage on 19.6 where she had written "Ustävä koko ajan" about her friends. It seems that she has figured out that Finnish is much better for sounding out words.
30.6 she spent the train ride to the airport reading words from signs all around her, in both Norwegian and English.
Language
7.6 she made a card for kimmo at barnehage. she wrote "Isäle" (=Isälle) "Lumita" (Lumilta) and clearly she didn't have any help because no one there speaks Finnish. it was really great!
She asks about words and their meanings now. She likes the Amelia Bedelia books but finds the humor to be very confusing, namely because she doesn't get the exposure to the idiomatic expressions. Since we live in an international environment, I (Angela) have tried to eliminate those from my speech so as not to be deliberately confusing to my friends and colleagues.
Food
6.5 we went to Burger King after our hike. One of the kids meals has pancake "bites" and she really loved them. She kept saying "these are really quite good!"
Health
11.6 she woke up a bit sniffly and achy.
Stats
size: 116 (6 in US size), sometimes 122 (7 in US). She has long limbs and needs the extra length. size 31 shoe.
height: 117 cm on 2017-05-21
weight: 19.4 kg on 2017-05-12
favorite color: "rainbow"
Events
5.6 hike up Vettakollen
6.6 playdate with Leon
8.9 the "5 Års Klubben" kids all spent the night at barnehage!
16.6 Helmine spent the night
18.6 lunch with Helena & Johan and family
21.6 barnehage "sommerfest", with ceremony for the 5-års klubben kids who are leaving for school
23.6 surprise party at Toni's house for the 5-års klubben -- lumi said it was the "best day ever"
25.6 Emmi's birthday party, Oliver's birthday party
26.6 Stellan's birthday party
29.6 moving truck, spent the night with helmine
30.6 last day of barnehage, Adrian birthday party, fly to Finland
Random
She tells us almost daily that she does not like curly hair and fervently hopes that her hair will stay straight. We have no idea where this is coming from: not liking äiti's hair? a friend's hair? a movie character?
3.6 she mentioned that she likes doing new and interesting things (after we complimented her on her creativity for using barrettes to attach various legos to äiti's hair while äiti was napping on the sofa)
5.6 on why we needed to bring a jacket when going up on a mountain "because it is closer to outer space, which is really cold."
8.6 she said to äiti, "sometimes you are the worst, but sometimes you are the best."
21.6 she was excited to get the family dressed on the day of "sommerfest" at barnehage. Otso wore his Hawaiian shirt. She asked Isä to change shirts to something brighter, then declared him "handsome". She asked that Äiti wear a dress, and demanded to see the options.
3.7 the city bus was taking a roundabout quite fast and Lumi exclaimed "wow, he's a great driver!"
She is handling the move well. We have not appreciated enough how easy she has made it on us by being excited (rather than scared) and looking forward (rather than backward). The fact that her friends at barnehage are all going on to different schools has helped, because there have been a few ceremonies and rituals to mark it for her. In fact, after the "sommerfest" at barnehage when they said goodbye to everyone, she was ready to go and seemed frustrated that we didn't move immediately.
But the bigger news is that she is reading. She is sounding out words all over the place in all three languages. No books yet, but her progress in the last week of this month was amazing.
Social
She loved playing with 6 month old baby Johan.
She has said that she will miss her friends, but I think it helps that most of the kids in barnehage are splitting up and heading to different schools.
Leisure
The Richard Scarry "A Day At The Airport" book is very popular with both kids.
She is loving the books about fairies (the "Rainbow Magic" series), and we checked out more at the library. We also checked out a Magic Treehouse book and she seems into it.
She is all of a sudden dying to get a dog. Her friend from barnehage has an adorable new puppy and now she begs us for a puppy. "Or at least a cat". 😃
She found the calculator app on her phone (an old HTC that only holds a few apps and very simple games) and has loved practicing addition and subtraction. She even likes to quiz Otso.
27.6 trip to grocery store to use up Norwegian coins, and the kids got spinners
Learning
She likes her workbooks but really resists the "boring" stuff, like practicing the same letter several times. She gets quite frustrated with English spelling. For example, she wanted to write "palace" all by herself, so she wrote out "pales". When she checked it with me and found out it wasn't correct she got really mad and abandoned the whole project.
She is excited about having her own room and getting to make a sign that says something like "Keep Out" for the door. She is excited in general about the new house. We taped a drawing of the house (thank you vaari!) to the kitchen wall and she has been analyzing it.
14.6 she read through the list of names in her barnehage group, with no mistakes.
19.6 I think we can say concretely that she is writing in Finnish -- it is fantastic! She showed me a note in barnehage on 19.6 where she had written "Ustävä koko ajan" about her friends. It seems that she has figured out that Finnish is much better for sounding out words.
30.6 she spent the train ride to the airport reading words from signs all around her, in both Norwegian and English.
Language
7.6 she made a card for kimmo at barnehage. she wrote "Isäle" (=Isälle) "Lumita" (Lumilta) and clearly she didn't have any help because no one there speaks Finnish. it was really great!
She asks about words and their meanings now. She likes the Amelia Bedelia books but finds the humor to be very confusing, namely because she doesn't get the exposure to the idiomatic expressions. Since we live in an international environment, I (Angela) have tried to eliminate those from my speech so as not to be deliberately confusing to my friends and colleagues.
Food
6.5 we went to Burger King after our hike. One of the kids meals has pancake "bites" and she really loved them. She kept saying "these are really quite good!"
Health
11.6 she woke up a bit sniffly and achy.
Stats
size: 116 (6 in US size), sometimes 122 (7 in US). She has long limbs and needs the extra length. size 31 shoe.
height: 117 cm on 2017-05-21
weight: 19.4 kg on 2017-05-12
favorite color: "rainbow"
Events
5.6 hike up Vettakollen
6.6 playdate with Leon
8.9 the "5 Års Klubben" kids all spent the night at barnehage!
16.6 Helmine spent the night
18.6 lunch with Helena & Johan and family
21.6 barnehage "sommerfest", with ceremony for the 5-års klubben kids who are leaving for school
23.6 surprise party at Toni's house for the 5-års klubben -- lumi said it was the "best day ever"
25.6 Emmi's birthday party, Oliver's birthday party
26.6 Stellan's birthday party
29.6 moving truck, spent the night with helmine
30.6 last day of barnehage, Adrian birthday party, fly to Finland
Random
She tells us almost daily that she does not like curly hair and fervently hopes that her hair will stay straight. We have no idea where this is coming from: not liking äiti's hair? a friend's hair? a movie character?
3.6 she mentioned that she likes doing new and interesting things (after we complimented her on her creativity for using barrettes to attach various legos to äiti's hair while äiti was napping on the sofa)
5.6 on why we needed to bring a jacket when going up on a mountain "because it is closer to outer space, which is really cold."
8.6 she said to äiti, "sometimes you are the worst, but sometimes you are the best."
21.6 she was excited to get the family dressed on the day of "sommerfest" at barnehage. Otso wore his Hawaiian shirt. She asked Isä to change shirts to something brighter, then declared him "handsome". She asked that Äiti wear a dress, and demanded to see the options.
3.7 the city bus was taking a roundabout quite fast and Lumi exclaimed "wow, he's a great driver!"
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