Christmas 2007

We are home again after a visit to Mark's family in Idaho. Nora and Henry had a great time and especially enjoyed playing with their cousins. Henry and Elijah being read to by Grandpa. We stopped and had dinner with Grandma Irene on the way down. She gave the kids stockings to open. It was a good start to the vacation. Henry loves his car. Mark and Nora set up a nativity scene there.

Nora's wish for a lot of snow to play in was granted.

This horse was Mark's when he was little. Henry was a little hesitant to try it at first, but developed a taste for riding.

Busy

Henry the train engineer.

Nora's rest time usually is just time to play in her room. Last week she lined up all her animals in order to take pictures.

Baking

Last week our church held its annual bake sale to benefit the local pregnancy center. The kids spent the morning with friends so I was able to focus on baking. It has been a long time since I have been all alone! Nora kept a close eye on the decorating when they came home.

Better than Amtrak

Today during her "rest time" Nora rearranged her furniture to make a train. She and Henry are currently on their way to Spokane. Nora said that she was "thinking about stopping for coffee on the way."

Ready for winter weather

The kids like to dress up in their outdoor clothes and run around the house. Rarely does a day go by without someone wearing a hat or asking for help with mittens. Henry's headpiece here is actually a doll dress.

Laundry reprise

The laundry video is the favorite of a few people. Here is another look at my staff in action.

More fun

Nora and her aunts did some baking on Friday. Nora is very good at adding ingredients and helping flatten cookies on the baking sheet. Note the Finnish aprons everyone is wearing.
Henry cuddling with the big blue dog.
On Sunday afternoon we decorated our very small tree. But it provides plenty of joy.

Thanksgiving

Liisa, Anja and Steve came over to spend Thanksgiving. It was a fun day. Before we "celebrated lunch" Nora taught the visitors to play Tier auf tier, her animal stacking game.
We made lunch our big meal to fit in with the normal routine for the kids. Nora made a jello salad to contribute to the meal. Nora enjoyed finding things to be thankful for and started in the car on the way over with "bread and cheese." Throughout the day she would add items: "broccoli, peanut butter sandwiches, turkey, milk" among others made the list. Most of her gratitude was food related. She finished the day with a monologue in her bed. "I'm thankful for corn, I'm thankful for peas, I'm thankful for people, what else?" "I'm thankful for turkey sandwiches..." It went on for about 15 minutes and was funny to listen to.

Play Dough

It was a gray, wet morning. Nora and I made play dough. Then she and Henry tried it out. Nora felt it was very important to have a lot of "tools" for working with the dough.

Here is the recipe we used.

In a saucepan combine
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Stir together.

Slowly add 1 cup water
1 Tbsp. oil
food coloring

Stir until smooth.

Cook, stirring, over medium heat until dough comes together in a ball. Cool and knead until smooth. Will keep in an airtight container.

Aunt Vickie came to see us

Kirsti's aunt came up from California for the weekend. She brought bubble wrap which was a huge hit with the kids. They spent a lot of time hopping around on it. Nora could pop quite a few when jumping and even Henry was occasionally successful. She read books and was a good audience for stories.
Another highlight was lunch at the airport before she left.Henry points out the airplane visible through the window and other restaurant attractions.

Happiness is... a cement mixer

We joke that if Henry could pick his career now he would choose garbage man or long-haul truck driver. Iso (Kirsti's dad) is adding on to his shop (the affectionately nicknamed "industrial complex"). So today we went over to see some of the men at work. Henry uttered a deep "ooh, ooh" as he caught sight of the action and spent the rest of the time in awed silence. He could hardly tear his eyes away.The end of an era; this pile of debris was my chicken coop.

Trick-or-Treat

It was a banner day. There were treats at playgroup (and pizza). After resting we went trick-or-treating downtown. There are about 3 blocks where merchants stand outside and give out candy for two hours in the afternoon. It is just perfect for little ones; it is still daylight and there are other kids to look at. Nora's technique improved with practice. She started out barely opening her sack, but was a pro by the time we finished. Henry was less impressed with the outing, although he did like the firetruck in the plaza.After dinner Mark carved a jack-o-lantern for Nora. She helped by stirring the seeds and making design decisions.Then they had popcorn while supervising the rest of the operation.
Here they model the face Nora requested the pumpkin have. It turned out to be a pretty good likeness.

Dancing Chicken

The girls were allowed to wear costumes to ballet today. Nora went as a chicken. We left the fleece legs off of her outfit so she wouldn't get too hot. There were several fairies and princesses, a butterfly, a cat and a dog. The class does their spinning with wands in two groups (safer that way). Here Nora waits with a fairy and butterfly.

Can this be comfortable?

Always in motion

I have been waiting for this Marimekko shirt to fit Nora for a long time. She wore it once or twice last winter with the sleeves rolled up, but now it is just the right size. We are having some warmer days this week and enjoying the sun.

Stats

Henry had his 18M doctor appointment today. He is about 30 in (75 cm) tall and weighs almost 23 lbs (10.29 K). He is close to the 10th percentile for weight and height. This means he is climbing the curve a little, since at a year he was at the 5th percentile in all categories. Healthy boy.

Liisa-Täti came to visit

Liisa was here this last weekend (and she brought chocolate). She also brought cupcakes from "hello, cupcake" in Tacoma. The kids had fun showing off for her. They love a fresh audience. And I had someone to prod me in to finishing a few small projects. Sisters are good for that sort of thing. This is a game of "Ring around the bridge." Nora creates hybrid versions of games that only she understands the rules to. So this is a ring-around-the-rosy/London Bridge combination.Liisa and Anja found this riding coat and matching hat for Nora. It is a little big, but at the rate she is growing should fit in no time. Nora observed that she "looked like an old lady."

Eighteen Months

He didn't feel much like smiling today because of his cold.
I wanted to write a little about what Henry is like while I remember. At eighteen months old he is getting pretty good at using the spoon at mealtimes. He is an enthusiastic eater overall, trying most things that he is offered. On Saturday he added the word "mah-may" to his vocabulary. And no, that isn't mommy, it is short for edamame (young soy beans). He likes most vegetables but his favorites are those that are red, orange or yellow.

He has been using words for a while but is adding them quickly now. He tends to repeat the last word said to him. About a week ago he started nodding while saying "yeah, yeah" and shaking his head with "ei" (no) so now he can answer questions. His first handful of words were: up, kukka (flower), auto (car), hi.
He started walking just before he turned 16 months. Up until that time the scooting served him well. He spent about 2 weeks doing both and then he decided he would walk full-time.

Henry and Nora get along well. There is occasional teasing, but life is much more fun with a sibling for company. Henry loved to watch Nora when he was a baby and some of his first smiles were for her.

He loves cars, trucks, vehicles of any kind. He excitedly points them out with an "Auto, auto." Big vehicles get a deep, baby growl of "ko, ko."

First day of sitting up at a little over 6 months old.
Scooting around at 1 year.

Funny

Yesterday at dinner Nora had something to tell Mark. After relating the brief incident, she mentioned that she "heard it on NPR."

Pumpkin Harvest

It was a pleasant morning. On the cool side, but warm enough to play outside before lunch. There are a few volunteer pumpkin plants in our yard. Most of the crop shows up too early for Halloween, but there are usually a few to provide some fall color. Here are the kids with the 5 we picked today and with last year's much more impressive yield.
The striped hat Henry has on was Kirsti's.