The most delicious thighs

Eerika is fearless. She will pull herself to standing and she happily will let go with one hand or even both hands. Just yesterday, she pulled herself up against an ottoman and then turned 45 degrees and lunges herself towards the couch. She has mastered the crawling ande now follows us from room to room and whines (at times) if she can't get to us fast enough.

My sweet girl in her PJs.

Nothing like her huge delicious thighs and diaper bum squeezed into a pair of skinny jeans.

Thunder thighs and some cushion on the hips has never looked this cute!

Lucky to Have an Older Brother?

Dear Eerika,

You are a tough little girl. You might cry when I leave the room because you like to have me nearby at this stage of your development. But no one can say that you are a cry baby. As your brother lovingly plays with you, you barely ever make a fuss. Most of the time, you are thrilled about playing with him. And don't worry, when you do need rescuing, I do come and get you even thought it might seem like I just take pictures of the craziness.

And one day, when you are little bigger, you will be able to give it back to him. Of course, ever so lovingly:) And I am not sure how well Saku will handle that.

Love,

äiti

Dear Saku

Dear Saku

It is 1:40 pm on a Tuesday afternoon and you are taking a nap. I should be running but I decided to write down some of my thoughts. If I would have to use one word to describe what it feels to be your mom, I would have to use the word exhausting. Right now, you take every bit of my energy as I try to teach you, discipline you, love you and play with you. I am not complaining because I know that the blessing of your presence in my life is tenfold bigger than any sacrifice that I will make for you. But right now, it is not easy. I think there is a saying about battles of minds; well in our house, it is a full blown warfare. You are so intelligent. You are so determined. You are so sweet. And so crazy. You go from 0 to 180 in seconds. You amaze me every day with the things that you say and learn. Your imagination is amazing. Just last night, you were chasing dragons with isi in our backyard. You have a great love for books and you remember little details about them. You love to sing, so we often spend our car rides singing. I think your favorite song right now is "I am a Child of God" and I am glad to hear those words over and over again during the day. And lately, you have learned to focus and started coloring. You are intense and sensitive. You truly are one of a kind.

Last night, around 3 am, you came to our room. You asked from some juice and I told you that I would give you some water. I was expecting a (loud) protest from you, but you silently drank a sip of water and I took you back to bed. We couldn't find your tutti in the darkness, so I just told you to close your eyes while I sang a song for you. Again, I expected you to freak out because you love love love your tutti. BUt you didnt. So there I sat in the darkness as you drifted back to sleep and I soaked in every second of the peaceful moment.

Last Saturday we went on a äiti-Saku date. It was so nice to spend one-on-one time with you. As we drove away from the park, you spontaneously told me "Saku on iloinen" (Saku is happy). I was happy, too.

You like making faces

This is your sad face.

This is your oval face.

And of course, the happy face.

Please know that when I get frustrated with you, many times I am actually more frustrated with myself. I am trying to figure out how to teach you to listen to me more. I am trying to figure out the balance between activities and just good old play by yourself. I am trying to pick my battles and be consistent. I try to show more love and patience. I pray to know how to handle things with you.

Thank you for your sweet love. Thank you for "fixing" your hot wheel car because you thought it would make me happy. Thank you for your little apologies even when we have to apologize for the same thing over and over again.

I hope you know that I will love you unconditionally for all eternity.

Love,

äiti

Have You Ever

Have you ever loved someone so much that you felt like your whole heart was going to explode?

Have you ever felt so helpless that only thing you could do was to kneel down and pray?

Have you ever cried as you asked for forgiveness from your little child after another moment lost temper?

Have you ever begged and pleaded for someone to listen to you?

Have you ever hated every moment of the necessary time out and discipline?

Have you ever wondered how a simple "I love you" can change your whole world?

Have you ever held someone and knew that it was the most perfect thing in the world?

Have you ever marveled at someone's ability to learn so quickly and remember so vividly?

Pee Here, Pee There, Pee Everywhere

There comes a time in everyone's life when it is time to put on the big boy pants and hope that they stay dry.

As we left for our family outing on Saturday morning, we had a sweet pair of Woody underwear drying on the dash.

We also took a pit stop on the side of Houghton.

Since going #2 is little more of a struggle, Saku chilled on the potty while watching iPad.

And it is disgusting that he has his hands in his mouth while he is on the potty.

How did this happen?

Once upon a time, there was a little tiny baby girl who was helpless and tiny and while she was adorable, she didn't do much. And then her äiti woke up one day and realized that her little baby girl had become a busy, crazy life-loving (big) baby girl.

She is seven months now. She crawls everywhere. She is still faster when she does the army crawl but she can do the real "on hands and knees" crawl. She pulls herself up to standing all the time. She loves to roll around on our beds. She gets a huge smile on her face when she sees the bed.

She has one adorable tooth. And she is getting little more hair.

Nothing like a pair of panties, leg warmers and a bow as an outfit.

Eerika likes to play with the dishwasher. It makes it convenient for me to cook or clean the kitchen when she is right there with me.

She is so determined to get up and climb on things.

Nothing is safe anymore.When Eerika sees something that she likes, she goes for it.

Getting up and little closer to the target.

"I did it"

"What can I find from here?"

Full on standing--I cant believe it!!

Eerika, don't grow up so fast. You are in that perfect fun age right now. You fill my days with your smiles, I try to protect you from your brother's crazy antics and you love the attention that we give you. Last night, I nursed you while you slept and my heart was so full of love. I felt at peace and I knew that you are a very special little girl. Then you ended up waking up while I changed your diaper, and you gave me this huge smile. Thank you for that. Life is better around here because you are ours.

Best Buds

On most days when I ask Saku what he wants to do, he mentions his friend Cameron. He also talks about Alia and Brian's motorcycle very frequently. Saku and Cameron make a good match since Cameron is little less intense than Saku is.

Cameron came over for a morning and the boys had a great time. They played in the mud. Cameron laughed at Saku's ridiculous behavior of spitting juice on his bed. They enjoyed 15 minutes of Baby Einstein when everyone needed a short moment to calm down. They devoured two plates of Pastaroni each.

Cam sucks on his fingers and Saku chews on his.

Cameron being adorable!

Cameron started to give a hug to Saku without any prompting from us.

Saku was obviously very focused on the TV since Cameron's wrestling moves didn't phase him.

Saku wore this hat for 2 minutes and then used it to scoop up some water and mud.

I'm glad Saku has a buddy like Cameron.