Madera Canyon Adventure

At times I tend to be selfish abou Troy's free time and want him to concentrate on me, help with the kids or do things around the house.  So for once, I decided to give him a morning of "do your thing" and I took the kids to Madera Canyon for a "hike" on Saturday morning. He was planning on working on a new exciting project so we left a happy isi home and headed for our adventure. 

We packed a lunch with us and since I am a food lover, we started our hike with a picnic. Then we started hiking. Mostly the kids just loved playing in the water, throwing rocks, playing in the dirt and running around. It was a great morning. The sun was shining but it wasn't too hot. There were plenty of people enjoying the beautiful day but it didn't feel crowded.

Saku grabbing himself-gotta love boys!

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Yes, I am that irresponsible mom who lets her kids suck on rocks. I have tried to stop the habit of eating rocks but I rather concentrate my efforts on something else since it seems pointless anyways. Judge if you want but don't scold me about it. 

Brave girl trying to climb up the rock

Sibling picture on a bridge

Eerika enjoying a rare treat of Capri Sun. 

Is there anything better than playing in the water?

Saku was in heaven as he was allowed to throw rocks.

Unfortunately, Troy wasn't feeling good and our absence didn't equal productive time for him. It was frustrating for both of us. Gone are the days when you could just be sick and it wouldn't affect so many people and so many things. I really did enjoy our fun morning and while I was feeling pretty tired by the time we returned home, I want to remember that there is nothing better than spending time with our kids outdoors. Even today, Saku mentioned going to the forest and playing in the water in his prayer. He did also say "thank you for isi staying home", which shows that sometimes he likes to narrate things that happen and just puts "thank you" in front of the sentence so he can use it in his prayer.

Wild wild girl

Eerika was in the silliest mood tonight. Troy got home after 6 pm so the kids and I had already eaten. I had put the in the PJs and we were hiding as Troy walked in. Troy brought each one of us a treat. Eerika got a lollipop, Saku a jolly rancher and I got a sour twizzler. 

Troy ended up eating dinner upstairs in Saku's room while Eerika begged more of his soup and Saku played with trains. Maybe it was the excitement of having isi home,  maybe it was the sugar rush from the treats or maybe it was over-exhaustion since Eerika only napped for an hour or so today, but the girl was rowdy and wild and adorable. 

I won't even try to describe the silliness that we witnessed, but I hope I can remember the pure joy that she seemed to feel as she played with us tonight. 

Look at the "apple cheeks" on both of them.

Sharing some potato soup

falling back over and over again.

silly climber

And how cute are her star pyjamas from GapKids. They are 12-18 months but clearly fit her perfectly now. I'm glad I didn't keep saving them for the summer. Though summer seems to be here already as it got 77 in the house as I opened our windows today. 

Saku's words of wisdom

Saku says so many silly, clever and ridiculous things each day. Some of them I remember even after weeks and some of them just slip out of my mind quickly.

Today's highlights

"Isi, you are a nice guy" as Saku and isi walked to the bathroom together.

"Use pretty words" after I had raised my voice at Eerika when she threw her plate on the floor.

"I don't like sorries" as in he doesn't like to say sorry.

Though this was nonverbal, it is still nice to remember. This afternoon, I went to play trains with him. I had just gotten an email so I told Saku that I would read this one email on my phone and then focus on him. About 10 seconds later, Saku climbs on my lap and gives me a kiss on my cheek. Yea, I did put the phone away immediately and we enjoyed some train play together. 

Silly face

Poor dry red cheeks.

Saku has found his first crush. The object of his affection is a five year old Vella who lives across from us. After I said to Saku " Isn't Eerika so pretty" he replied "yeah and Vella is pretty too". Every white car is Vella's car and he gets quite giddy when I tell him that we are going to play with her.  When I ask him why he likes to play with her, he answers "she is so pretty". Oh my sweet sensitive child. I have a feeling that I will be offering lots of hugs and support through many heartbreaks when he grows up. 

Strange Happenings

Last week Saku was battling a cold with a nasty cough and low temp fever. And he would sleep until 9:45 and 10:45. It was the weirdest thing. My kids are usually up by 7 am. Eerika and I would wake up around 7 am, have breakfast, play until 9 or so when she goes down for a nap. Then I would do my thing(aka clean, organize, read for a bit) until 10sh and she woke up and for two days, Saku was still sleeping at that point. 

So for few days, Eerika and I got to experience what life would be like if she was the only child. It was sort of fun to just spent the morning with her. Since Saku doesn't nap anymore, she barely ever gets alone time with me so I think it was good. And then when Saku woke up, we were all excited to see him!

Dear Saku,

You are quite remarkable. I haven't done an update on you for a while. And there is no way to summarize what you are doing and learning because it is so much.

You are potty trained. We have accidents, that seem to always take place right next to the toilet as you can't get your pants off quick enough, but we don't do diapers anymore during the day. I was little frustrated after today's accident and asked if you would like to wear diapers since you peed on the floor. You told me that you aren't a baby and babies wear diapers. Then you showed me a picture of yourself as a baby and told me that you wore diapers as a little baby. See what I mean when I say that you are remarkable.

You have such a wild imagination. We probably wouldn't need any toys as you like to pretend play all the time.  The treadmill becomes a rocket launcher, Eerika's closet is a school bus and our bed works are a pirate ship. I think you also have some nightmares as you wake up crying at night a lot.

You speak a lot and you speak clearly. And it is really all in English. You use words such as "actually" "either" and "few more" and in the right context. It blows me away. You also know how to count from five to one backwards. It is essential as we have many rockets that take off during the day. 

Here are few examples of our conversations

äiti: "Cameron is coming over today"

Saku: "Cameron is my best buddy and Brian is isi's buddy"

äiti: "go and tell isi that"

Saku:"Isi, Cameron is my best buddy, Brian is your buddy, Alia is äiti's buddy and Jackson is Eerika's buddy".

I think it is amazing that you paired our family with Cameron's family members in a "right order".

Grandma: "You have a bad cold"

Saku: "No, I have a bad cough"

Isi: "do you want to go and get your tutti?" (at bed time)

Saku: chuckles "I am not tall enough to get my tutti" (from the kitchen cabinet)

When I speak sternly (aka maybe sort of yell at you) and the apologize for that, you tell that I need to go to time out. If I am truly out of line, I do go to time out for a bit.

You are enjoying being the police when it comes to Eerika's activities.  "NO NO NO" is a frequent sound that I hear as you play together. And we are working hard on using a nicer tone of voice when talking to her. I wonder where you get the stern, sometimes obnoxious tone. You are great about apologizing but hopefully we can do more prevention.

Man do you love your isi. I am slightly envious of it, but I hope that you will eventually remember who carried you for nine months in her belly and delivered you into this world:) By the way, you love to hear the story how you were in my belly when you just a tiny little thing. 

I love you!

Love,
äiti

Saku playing "school bus"  in Eerika's closet.

Awesome smile after I surprised him inside the toy shed outside

Sugar and Spice

Dear Eerika

I had a dear friend in high school whose AIM screen name (you will never experience the magic of aol's instant messaging) was Sugar and Spice. You are sugar and spice. One moment, I tell you that I love you and you respond by giving kisses, which is a darling new development over the past weekend. And then I get startled as you scratch my face just seconds later.

You already know how to throw a great temper tantrum. You stomp in place and yell after you get denied a toy, treat or whatever it was that your heart desired. At grandma's house, I gave you a tricycle to play with, instead of the car that Saku was in, and you looked at it and pushed it hard enough to make it fall over. I am glad that I shared this moment with grandma because it was just too hilarious to witness on my own.

We went to the doctor for your one year appointment and you are growing beautifully. You are just over 20 pounds, which puts you in the 30th percentile and 30.8 inches tall, which puts on the 91st percentile curve. You did not enjoy the doctor's visit and unfortunately, the nurse was really slow with the shots so you kept crying for a quite a while. Next time, I will make sure that they don't take their sweet time while poking you multiple times.

We spent two nights at grandma and grandpa's as isi went to ski in Utah. You made grandma's weekend as you walked over to her and cuddled her. And let grandpa hug you without any protesting. I was happy that someone else got to see your sweet side and get a share of your love.

You just learned to sign "book" and when I asked you "missa kakka on?" (where is poo) after I suspected that you were stinky, you pointed to your diaper. You are a bright little girl. You still get comments about being a "cute boy" or "he is so cute", but I think you are absolutely girly and beautiful. Maybe it is the blue Sketchers that people focus on. I am sorry for not buying you pink ones and I am not sure that I will until you are the next size up.

I spend my Sundays in the hallway at church because you are just too busy. You love to run in the long hallways and people admire your agility. You know how to walk backwards and love to turn in circles when we play music or sing.

Eerika, I think you will absolutely rock our lives and take us on a quite the roller coaster ride as you get older. But I can assure you that I am thrilled to be your mother.

Love,

äiti

Bed Time

I love bed time. And it is not for the reason that the kids are going to sleep and I will have time to myself and with Troy. Though I do enjoy that as well.

While the kids are usually exhausted and tired at this point, they seem to get a dose of giddiness and happiness as we go upstairs to Eerika's room and do our bedtime routine.

Eerika tries to keep bringing books to us one after another. Saku enjoys reading the board books with Eerika.

We say our family prayer. We find a tutti for each kid. We all kiss Eerika good night.

Since Eerika likes to her space, we don't rock her to sleep or cuddle her. We say good night and turn off the light and put on the white noise machine. Most of the time, she goes right to sleep.

However, Saku loves hearing stories from us and cuddling us. So we take turns, though Troy is the preferred person at the moment, and tell Saku stories and sing songs to him. He would like us to stay with him all night-and most nights, he finds his way to our bed at some point. While I am not a fan of family bed, there is something sweet about him snuggling us during the night. Troy especially loves it. As long as he doesn't fall asleep in our bed, we are ok with it.

If Saku doesn't take a nap, he is asleep within minutes of a story or songs. If he does take a nap, it can get quite tricky.

There is a sense of joy when I know my kids are happily asleep. Some days I can look back at the day and be grateful how successfully things went. And other days, I am grateful that the next day brings another opportunity to be more a better mom to my little chicken nuggets.