Even more firsts...not all the good kind

Thursday night held a surprise for us...at about midnight Isabella woke up (almost unheard of) and was a little grumpy...and as we pretended to sleep as we sometimes do (so that she might go back to sleep) she shouted out "nenä" (nose in Finnish). And at that we had to laugh. So I went to put her back down to sleep but noticed that she was awfully warm. So this was her first fever! yippee...not! Luckily I had brought some baby medication from Canada so I know what I am giving her. The only options I have here seems to be suppositories! And who wants to do that to a little baby...not me. So instead, she can have a cherry flavoured paracetamol...yum. It was also strange that before bed she didn't drink any of her bottle (again something that is unheard of) so she must have also been hungry. So I gave her a bottle...which she gobbled up...and luckily that was enough to get her back to sleep. But that did not prepare me for Saturday night.

Taneli had gone to Kuopio to get our winter tires that were stored at his grandmother's house since we don't have any room and I was home with Isabella alone. She seemed a little better on Saturday but the night was not good. I think that I must have woken up every 30 mins or so...maybe even more sometimes. The poor little girl has her first cough as well- yippee, another first. It is a deep, rattling smoker's cough. It is the thing that mostly woke her up at night. The other thing was the stuffed nose that doesn't allow her to keep her soother in her mouth...which is always a reason to wake up. So life is conspiring against her (and against me) so that sleep was pretty much impossible. I hope that tonight is better...

On a much brighter note, Isabella seems to be more willing to take steps. Today she has accidently walked a few times and only when she realises does she quickly head south. She was entranced by the TV today a couple of times and let go of my leg and walked towards it. Very funny. She is also walking when I am holding her hands (normally she just goes all floppy) and walking behind her. So there is definitely progress on the walking front. She has also started saying (or rather copying) "What's that?" It is very funny. It isn't entirely articulated but it is definitely "What's that?". I am sure that there will be a video showing up here at some point. Speaking of videos, I tried to get one today of her singing along to a music video. I have no idea what song it was...not one I have heard before and a Finnish one if I remember correctly but it was cute. She was sitting on her knees rocking side to side and singing with incoherant words. But my phone video camera makes such a lound beep when you start it that she always stops what she is doing. I really need to figure out a better way.

More 'Official' Photos

On Sunday (the day after Isabella's birthday) we were invited to my friend Irena's house again to take some more photos. The first ones turned out so lovely that I thought that it would be a great way to commemorate her big milestone. Luckily for her, her apartment has large windows so she is able to take advantage of the little light there is in Finland's winter. We also went outside for a few photos but there was a little drizzle and we were on a tight schedule to get my Mom to the airport. It was amazing that she was able to get these to me the same evening! I can't wait to see what else she managed to get in such a short time...and with a slightly unco-operative (read: hungry) subject!

Birthday Madness...Are you ready?

I never thought that planning a first birthday party would be that difficult. I never thought preparing for a first birthday party would be so much hard work...but it was! I figured out that it is the same amount of work as any other party you would have at your house...only through sheer hard work! I spent some days during the week cleaning up little areas here and there and then Friday there was a real push to get stuff clean as Grandma was coming and we had to pick her up from the airport at 3pm. Then the two of us did some preparing for the party the next day...then Saturday came and there were a million things to do! My goodness, next year it will be a potluck! A lot of effort went into this but it was worth it since everyone had a good time and Isabella got to visit with many Aunties, a couple of Uncles and all her cousins. It was a full house and at times you couldn't hear yourself think but it was nice to have so many people together.

In the morning Isabella opened the gifts that were here already...well, she did a little and we got to open most of them, so it was like having another birthday or Christmas...not bad. She, like others before her, got enthralled by the wrapping and by the first gift she opened and it was hard to get her back to the task at hand. Once the guests arrived we all ate some food and opened the gifts. She got some lovely presents...there was the little walking chihuahua a la Paris Hilton, a couple of large hard books in Finnish that will help both if us learn, a large stuffed Eeyore that she instantly fell in love with, a Hello Kitty hat and glove set and a onesie with a photo of Isabella and her Uncle/Godfather Tuomas of the two of them in France. Earlier in the morning we opened other gifts and there were many pieces of cute clothes and a book and her very own Muumin laptop (not that I believe for one second that it will stop her from playing with mine while I am trying to type!)












But first we had to get the party hat on her...that was fun. But in great motherly fashion I was able to distract her with another hat while putting one on her head. Then she forgot it was there. When the cake came out, she managed to get her fingers in it first...but I guess that it was her cake!


























We sang Happy Birthday in English (at my request) which was nice since I have no idea what it is in Finnish. I guess that we could have sung it in both had anyone had the mind to suggest that. The sparkler, once we got it lit, was mesmerising. The rest of the time was spent catching up and playing. It was good that so many of Taneli's siblings could make it...there were 6 Lallukkas all tolled. And as I mentioned before, all the cousins were together.















In the evening we were able to relax and enjoy a bit of fun. Grandma and Isabella had a great game of tickle as you can see from the photo!

Pumpkins, chip cigarettes, a boy? and the first Santa sighting!

So many things have been happening this week. Poor Bella has been struggling with her first real cold this past week. But I guess that we have been lucky...she is almost a year old and she hasn't had any infections (much to the disbelief of the Dr) or real colds/flus until now. But she has been upbeat most of the time...she is takin' it on the chin and is being a real trooper. The pumpkin was bought because I made a fabulous Nigella pumpkin curry recipe a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to make it again in the future but since pumpkins only come out once a year, I decided to buy one, chop it up and freeze it. I hope that works! So Bella got to play with the pumpkin a little first...it was huge. It weighed just over 9kg...about the same a Bella herself!





Sunday was Father's Day here in Finland and almost everything was closed...but one furniture place was open and even though the last thing we need is more furniture, we went for something to do since it was not a very nice day. First we had a gourmet meal at a Finnish fast food place, Hesburger, and Isabella was allowed to have one small french fry...and she seemed to be most comfortable holding it like a cigarette as you can see...maybe something we have to keep an eye on when she is a teenager!



She was also able to wear her now outside outfit. I bought this lovely blue one because the other choice was brown and orange and I wasn't ready for her to be some kind of advertisment for the 1970s. But the inevitable happened and she was referred to as a boy by one salesman at the furniture store...won't be buying anything there anytime soon. hee hee















When we arrived there, we had our first Santa sighting. I always wondered what he did in his 'down-time'. Now I know...he welcomes people with candies at stores.

There has also been some developments on the walking front. We still are holding out hopes that Bella will 'walk' before her birthday...on Saturday...are we just hopeless optimists? You be the judge...

First Steps and Screams

As Isabella inches towards being a year old, so does she inch towards walking. This past week has seen her progress so fast that I wonder if she will be walking before her birthday in a week! She took her first step last weekend when she let go of my crossed leg and took one and a half side steps before purposely going to the ground. I was amazed! She has been walking around the furniture for quite a while and I was beginning to think that she would never begin the actual walking process as every time I tried to hold her up on her feet, she refused to straighten her legs and would go all floppy. Cheeky girl! Another trick she does is to stick her legs straight out in front of her so all you can do is sit her down...or crawl away like you can see from the first photo! ANYTHING not to stand up and walk. But this past week seems to be seeing changes. She will now take an extra between furniture to get there without crawling and today when she was doing her circuit of the kitchen (her daily exercise) she had to get around me and was able to do that with only the lightest of grip on my trouser leg.

It is so funny but she has now taken to giving a little scream of excitement every time someone comes in the front door. You can hear her as you open the door...there is a yelp of excitement like she has been waiting FOREVER for you to come home. Makes you feel welcome! She does it in the morning as well...maybe I mentioned it in a previous post...but as soon as I acknowledge that she is awake by saying her name in the morning, she gives a little squeal of excitement. She is a delight. She is also a multi-tasker as you can see with the photo of her reading in her jumperoo...not only reading but reading a book that is in Finnish AND Swedish! Wow...that is my little girl! Mama is proud!





The two of us have also been practising saying Grandma during the past week in anticipation of her visit for Isabella's birthday. You can see how well she is doing in the video...

October 31st...what day is that again?

I made Isabella a Halloween costume. After seeing them in a couple of store all over the €20 mark, I thought that I could make one. They were just made out of fleece (which I know means no edges to worry about) so for about €4 I went to the fabric store and bought enough to make the ladybug costume I thought was so cute. It went fine and I was able to stitch it together by hand the night before while watching many episodes of House. I was worried about how I was going to get it on her as I figured that she might protest...an extra layer is not easy to put on her sometimes...especially if it has to go over her head! But there really wasn't a problem. She wore it happily for a lot of the day...and she even didn't fuss when I put the hat part on. That I was not expecting! I decided that Isabella should probably meet some other kids also. So we went to the day care near my house that is a place you can take your kids to play (they have everything there: toys, highchairs, a kitchen, craft area, etc) but the catch is that you have to stay there with them. But that is ok. They get to play and be with other kids and you get to socialise. So when I checked the schedule (as it is usually only open half of the day- sometimes mornings, sometimes afternoons). They also do different activities...so Mondays and Wednesdays are musical...blah, blah... you get the point. And it was Friday and it said "Theme Day". I figured since it was Halloween and all (although they don't really celebrate Halloween...they sure do have enough stuff in the stores for it like face paints, costumes, etc) that Halloween might just be the Theme on Theme Day. So I get there with Isabella and nope...I don't even see a sign of any kind of theme at all. So Isabella was the only one in a costume (not that she seemed to mind). Actually I think that some of the kids were jealous that she got to wear it...we know kids like to dress up. But she was a little cutiepie as usual...she just can't help it.