Captain Says

As we were building with legos today, Saku was flying his airplane around and said "Captain has turned the seat belt sign on". Yes, he did spend close to 15 hours in an airplane on Sunday.

Also it should be noted that he was very obedient about keeping his seat belt on. Our plane had individual TVs for each seat, which made me say a silent prayer of thanks, and as Saku's movie would be interrupted by the "put on your seat belt" sign, he would very quickly put on his seat belt if it wasn't on. 

If my commands came on the screen as well, he would be just as obedient, right?

Unique children

One thing that I have learned to appreciate about having two kids is the variety of strengths as well as age appropriate developmental traits that each kid has that balance the other kid's no so favorable personality traits or habits. 

 Eerika is a feisty girl. This means that she does not like it when people tell her no and she gets mad. She gets "I am walking out of here while crying my heart out" mad. YET she gets over her frustration very quickly and moves on with her life. 

Saku is a deep sleeper. He is actually a great sleeper. He sleeps in most days and there is no need to "tip toe" around him when he is asleep. If I could have known this four years ago when I thought he would never sleep, I wouldn't have worried so much about his sleep. Note: I should have not read those books about sleep that told me if he doesnt sleep well now, he will never sleep. Okay, I dont know if they said that but they sure seemed like that in many ways. 

Eerika loves to nap at 2 and 1/2 years. When she is tired and cranky, she will actually sob and say "I need a nap".  I am wondering if this will change once we get rid of tutti in the following months. I am tired of her increased dependency on tutti, but am I tired enough of it to possibly sacrifice nap? 

Saku does not throw toddler temper tantrums anymore. He gets upset and frustrated, obviously, so now he either tells us that he is upset or he pouts. While I am working on the fact that pouting doesn't help him, it is SO nice that he wont just have melt down over something small. Unless he is exhausted. 

Practicing being with a baby

There is so much to write about. I want to write about it in a timely and eloquent matter. I want to catch the beauty and love of the past month. Yet I know that I won't have the time to do it, so I will have to prioritize and try to write down at least glimpses of everything.

The kids loved little Elsa. Anna and Risto named her Elsa Eira Erika. Her middle names are pirki mummi's middle names, which make it special. Anna has been very good about doing little things along the pregnancy and after Elsa's birth to remember mom. At the blessing day lunch,  Marianne käärretorttu on the menu just as mom served in all of our special occassions. She also bought few decorative stuffed animals from Pentik, which was a special store that they liked shopping together. Through Anna, I have been able to remember mom more. 

Back to the kids and Elsa. They both asked to hold her multiple times. Saku even wanted to stand up and hold her. For some reason, we said no to that request. Saku, in a true manly manner, was happy to hand Elsa back to an adult as soon as she started crying. Eerika was more patient and wanted to keep holding her. 

Both of kids were sure that Elsa said "hello" to them. Eerika was good about making sure that Elsa had her tutti. Both of the kids thought that her crying was loud, which is very ironic since they crying volume is off the charts. 

When we got back to Tucson, Saku and Eerika were playing with their babies. Saku's baby was a stuffed animal lion and he was so good about holding the "baby" right and shushing sound to calm the crying baby.

It was so fun to watch with Elsa. It gave me a glimpse of how they will be when they get another sibling. It also gave a glimpse of how much life will change for us when we have another baby. You forget how needy and unpredictable the newborn stage is. It was very sweet to see Troy cuddling Elsa and having her sleep in his arms. When someone asked if he had missed it, he laughed out loud and said "no" without any hesitation. Can't blame him while I am very much wanting another baby:)

Few Lines from the little ones

"Ukki, can we ask Jesus to make the sun go down so it can be tomorrow"

Saku is very much looking forward to isi coming here on Saturday. "One day and two more nights".

"Can we pray that my cough goes away right away" while we are playing at a park.

We said a prayer and while he has coughed a bit today still, there is a huge difference. I think this little boy's prayer was answered. 

Eerika: "I want to go there" as she points to somewhere while on my lap

I: "you dont have shoes, you cant walk there"

Eerika: "you have shoes?"

I: "yes"

Eerika: "you can walk over there"

Way to work your logic, little girl!

Eevi-täti visits

 I spent my Saturday afternoon doing this and I loved every minute of it. She was not in my arms when she was eating and sleeping in the stroller during our walk. That's it. It was awesome!

 When Anna announced that she was having a baby, I was so excited. I would get to share motherhood with my sister. I planned on helping her in any possible way and I was excited to help. I remember being overwhelmed and tired, yet so happy after Saku (and Eerika) was born and how much little things such a meal or a quick note or even a blog comment meant to me as I needed encouragement and love and just to share my excitement with someone. 

I didn't come to Finland until tyllerö was three weeks ago. Anna and I emailed often and I saw many pictures, but it still felt surreal that my little sister had a baby and I hadnt had a  chance to be with them. I had wondered how Anna was doing because having a baby can be a shock to your system and your marriage. 

Anna has rocked it. And Risto has been amazing at helping her. If I didn't love her so much and think so highly of her, I probably would be very envious of what a smooth transition it has been for them. This has also been a sweet thing to notice that while the natural thing is to envy those who "have it well", it has been just pure joy for me to watch Anna and Risto. 

This sweet baby has been so calm and slept well during the night. I had visions of camping myself on their living room floor so I could help in the middle of the night. Well it hasn't been needed, so I tried to help in another way. 

For the record, this was one of those times when I was helping someone and it truly was a bigger blessing to me.

The moment I walked into Anna's apartment, I demanded to have the baby handed over to me. She has been very much liking being held and I was ready for it while Anna could do whatever she wanted. We talked pretty much non stop the time I was there. I do not think we have ever talked like that. It was so good for my soul. We made food. We went for a walk. Anna decorated and took a shower while I held Tyllerö. 

One of the best gifts anyone can give me is to truly love my children, understand them and enjoy them and as I held Anna's girl and sang to her and chatted to her, I was grateful that I can love someone else's child like that and hopefully it makes Anna happy as well. 

I am so grateful that Ukki and Mummi were watching my kids while I was at Anna's. When I got home  that night, they were all in our bedroom reading books and as happy as can be. 

A Friend who Aspires

This is a woman who I adore and respect in so many ways.  

I love being around Lotta. I have always loved being around her. When I walked into her house, she was making letut while her seven kids were playing around. The two youngest (2.5 and 1.5 years) were sitting by her next to the stove. You can just feel the happiness and love in the house. She is expecting her 8th baby in less than a month.  Jope starts his third year of med school five days after the due date in Helsinki, which is 1.5 hours away from their home. When I asked if anyone was coming to help her, she said "no, the older kids are great at helping".  It seems like having seven kids is not so hard, yet she doesnt do this by pretending that it is easy. It just seems natural to her. It is amazing. I will think of her when we are blessed with our third child.

I dont aspire to have her life.  We live in different ways, but I do aspire to have her beautiful perspective on life and a constant positive attitude. When they say that home is supposed to be a piece of heaven, I think she is exactly creating that in her home.

Being Called to Repent

Sunday was a bit of a rough day. And the previous statement is a bit of an understatement:) In the afternoon, I was letting the kids watch a movie so I could take a nap. Just an hour and they got watch a movie, which in our house hold is sort of a treat! Well, they just wouldn't keep quiet. yes they are only 4 and 2 but still. I really needed the nap. 

I asked few times for them to be quiet. Then Eerika ended up pulling a pillow from underneath Saku's head which meant that he slammed his head to the tile floor. And then he cried very loudly. And then I got very frustrated and I might have yelled at Eerika. 

After Saku stopped crying from the physical hurt of getting his head banged to the floor, he told me 

"We don't yell in our family unless there is a fire. I dont like it one bit".

I completely agree with you, my sweet son. 

I really am not a yeller. It happens very rarely. I might get frustrated but I do not yell much, but man, my tired brain was not rational. Yet Saku did really remind me that there should not be any yelling in our house.