April

Since I am still so far behind, I guess I will update everyone on April!
First off, we moved! We bought a house in Kyle, Texas (about 18 miles south of our previous home). We just love our new house and neighborhood, Plum Creek. There are hike in bike trails, stocked fishing lakes, playgrounds, pools, basketball courts, family activities, and more in our new neighborhood. We even have a playground right across the street!

Our new house and the park across the street!

Then on the 14th Suvi had her ear surgery to have the ear tubes placed. This is her at the hospital, riding in a wagon while we waited her turn. It was better than Markku's surgery day-we got to arrive several hours later and it was a surgery center just for kids. Everyone was very nice and Suvi did very well. So far, no ear infections!

Then, one week later on April 20, 2009 we had a very special day. It was Suvi's first birthday! I can't believe a year has gone by. She has grown so much and so has Markku! Suvi really enjoyed her party-especially the ladybug cupcakes I made myself! Yes, everyone, I made them. See the photos?! They look pretty good if I do say so myself! I will turn into a homemaker yet!

Here is the birthday girl eating her cupcake! And look at the cupcakes!

She really like opening presents. Markku could have cared less at his first birthday-but Suvi started tearing the paper off right away. She really got into it!

And of course, here is Markku eating Suvi's cake. He was almost as messy as Suvi!

At the end of April some friends and I (and the kiddos) went to the Weiner dog races in Buda, TX. It was fun to watch the races...I still cannot figure out how to upload video so I can't show you all the races, but here is Markku and his friend Donovan playing at the races. Then we got a family shot (well, minus Heikki) in front of a firetruck!

Technically the petting zoo was an event in early May, but it is a yearly event my new neighborhood puts on. It is called Front Porch days. They have a petting zoo, pony rides, jumping houses, 2 stages with concerts, food and more! It was a lot of fun and it was all free!!!! Suvi loved her first pony ride. Markku has yet to ride a pony. He went with Heikki to Oregon this weekend. He ran his first Marathon in Eugene! Go Heikki go! He did finish, not in record winning time but a very respectful time of 4 hours something--sorry hon, I forgot the exact time! So anyways, Markku was having fun with his mummo and Bill and Aunt Kaisa and Uncle John. Suvi and I stayed home and enjoyed some quality girl time. It is amazing how special that little girl is! I missed Markku so much. He was always too busy having fun to talk to me on the phone whenever I called. It made me so sad, but I was glad he was having fun! I guess on the last night Bill said something about momma and Suvi and Markku got real quiet, his lower lip started to tremble and he started to cry. He really did miss us!

Lastly, we finally went to see the bats fly out from under the Congress bridge in downtown Austin. We have been meaning to go forever, (or for 3 years at least!) and finally did it. It was an amazing site! There are millions of bats there-all of them were mommies and their babies stay up in the concrete under the bridge while mom goes out hunting at night! The black waves in the sky are all bats!

So anyways, I will next update everyone on May and I guess June. Maybe I will catch up soon enough!

Back up to March...

Since I am sooooo far behind, I thought I would take it month by month to catch everyone up! So, back to March! We went to the Kite Festival in Zilker Park, here in Austin.

Markku flew his first Kite. He was pretty good at it-it stayed up in the air and he even took down another kite! He could be a Kite Runner!

One day in early March Markku was out with me drawing on the driveway with chalk. He decided to draw Tillie (our dog). He came up with this picture:

It was his first drawing that actually wasn't scribble! See her body, legs nose and tail?

What a cute boy. He was playing in the closet while Heikki packed for a trip and found Heikki's old Navy cover (hat). He liked wearing it.

Here's me with kids, hanging out:

On March 25, my mother in law got married in Maui, Hawaii. We had a grand adventure with the whole Laukkanen family (well, almost everyone...). Here is a sampling of photos-I took a lot!

Markku and Suvi meet the Pacific ocean. Markku is a little fearful. He told me: " Mar no like dat water. It's too loud!" What a great description of the crashing waves-too loud! Suvi on the other hand loved the ocean. She even surfed for the first time! Markku loved the sand and the kayak:

Here he is playing with his cousin Dashiell. They did ok-except both wanted to play with the one truck we had!

Markku and Suvi were adorable in their wedding attire-Suvi a pretty pink dress with polka dots for her mummo, and Markku in an aloha shirt and khakis.

The wedding was at a ranch on top of a mountain, overlooking th eocean. It was a beautiful day. Mirjami was a gorgeous bride and Bill looked pretty great himself! The Laukkanen's can really clean up!

Isa loves to put on a show with the kids. Look at Suvi fly! We tried hard to get a family pic, but the kids would not cooperate. So this is what we got!

Suvi and her aunt Kaisa, and Suvi with Aunt Liisa and her boyfriend Johan. I mean Suvi's boyfriend by the way. They were very smitten with each other! Suvi just loved him!

Aunt Liisa, cousin Ava and Suvi with a happy Dashiell.

Markku spelling out the sign we found. Quiet Trees at Work! Hidden semi-private beach.

Hiking, sight seeing, trip to the aquarium, hanging out and eating, and watching sunsets rounded out our great vacation! If you think our March was busy, just wait until I post April! Aloha!

Where to begin...

Well, it has been awhile and I can't even begin to think about where to start! To your dismay I am sure, I am unable to find the cords and device I use to download my pics! My mom unpacked my computer, I can't find it! It will turn up soon, or I will buy a new one I promise!

Hawaii:
We went to Hawaii (Maui) at the end of March for my MIL's wedding. It was super fun-with the kids and the rest of the family. We had everyone there: us, Heikki's sister Kaisa and husband John, sister Liisa popped in from her trip around the world with boyfriend Johan, John's brother Jesse and his friend Elizabeth, Great Uncle Hannu and Aunt Wanda, Mirjami and Bill (the wedding couple of course!) and Heikki's brother Mikko, wife Joanna, Their kids Dashiell and the new baby of the family-Ava made her debut all the way from London! It was truly a fun filled week of sun, beach, family gatherings and of course a gorgeous Hawaiian wedding. Welcome to the family Bill!

Suvi loved the ocean-she thought the waves were fantastic! Markku preferred the swimming pool, but loved the sand. Suvi took her first completely independent steps in Hawaii-about 3 at a time. I got to see Sea turtles while snorkeling. I Love Turtles! I can't wait to show you pictures!

New House:
After that whirlwind week and LOOOOONG trip home on a red eye flight, we moved! April 3 we closed on our new house and finally are home owner's again! We love our new house. It is a 2 story house, very bright with lots of large windows. Best of all, there is a playscape in a park across the street! Markku says "I love my oooo house" every day at least 10 times (translation: I love my new house). Suvi likes that we now have carpet for her to fall on and practice walking. I hate that we now have carpet-pets and kids do not make friends with a WHITE carpet! We still have much unpacking and stuff to do, but if anyone is in the neighborhood or wants to be in the neighborhood, come on by! Again, I can't wait to show you pictures!

Suvi's ear tube surgery:
Then the next week (April 14) we had Suvi's ear tubes placed. I had to wake us up super early and drive into Austin last week for this. We should have post-poned moving! Suvi did very well-I hope that these tubes work for her as well as Markku's did. She is a trooper-she was smiling at all the nurses and doctors, making fast friends. She only cried a little after anesthesia while waking up-and nursing stopped that even. You know what I thought was strange--no one even listened to her heart or examined her. No pre-op blood work, no IV catheter. I guess they just depend on her pediatrician to have listened to her heart previously-the ENT doctor never has, nor did the anesthesiologist. I was very surprised when Markku had his surgery 2 years ago as well. It was a very nice facility with nice nurses and staff-they even called the day after surgery to make sure everything was ok.

Now, we are on the eve of Suvi's 1 year Birthday! This time last year I was getting nervous (not in labor yet, but Heikki left for a 4 day stay in California). I can not believe it has been a year. She is such a big girl now. I will for sure post pics of her birthday. We are not having a big bash like we did for Markku. We have been way to busy and with just moving and Heikki's schedule we could not get it done! I am hoping to have a party for Markku's birthday next month! I better get planning...

Ok, off the find that picture downloading device...

We have been so busy these past few weeks. I am amazed how fast Suvi (and Markku) is growing up.

Suvi updates:
1. She is walking while holding on to one hand or a push toy.
2. She waves bye bye and says something that sounds like bye bye sometimes.
3. She wants to feed herself all the time, so she is almost weaned off baby foods! She can't get the concept of putting a spoon in her mouth yet with food still on it. she uses her fingers to shovel in it faster than I can cut it up!
4. She still has only 2 bottom teeth, but I am certain more are coming.
5. She is almost 11 months old! (birthday April 20)

Markku updates:
1. He knows his letters and reads them off to me all the time wherever we go. He only knows the capital letters so far. He taught himself from some bathtub foam letters we have. Friends gave them to us and we are missing a few. He calls "M" and "W" both an "M". He can read upside down! He calls an exclamation point an "i". as well.
2. He finally said another number today besides 2. He said "3" when he had 3 sippy cups of water.
3. He calls his mummos and Isa on the phone to hear there voices and will leave a message if they don't answer.
4. He may be getting the idea of time. He will say, "not now, in 2 weeks!" It started when I told him we would go see Mummo and Bill in Hawaii in 2 weeks, not now. Now he uses it for everything. No night night. Not now, in 2 weeks! or he asks me to save his banana for later-in 2 weeks!
5. He is almost 3 years old! (On May 12)

Heikki and Casey updates:
We bought a house! Our offer was accepted and we are on our way to owning again! Yeah! It is a very beautiful home that is located directly across the street from a very nice park! It is not in Austin, but a town about 25 minutes south. We are supposed to close April 3.
In between now and then we have lots to do. Besides getting a mortgage, inspection, etc, we have a week trip to Hawaii for Heikki's mom's wedding! We will meet our new niece Ava and see everyone in the family again. It should be lots of fun. We don't really ever take these type of vacations, at least not since our honeymoon! Of course, now we will have us and both kids in a room with us for a week, and very long airplane rides. Then we'll see if we ever do it again!
Heikki is almost 35 years old (on March 20)!

Markkuisms

More cute things Markku says:

1. Gas house (gas station)
2. Play house (park)
3. Too loud! (he says this if I am too loud when Suvi is sleeping or if he accidentally sets off one of his toys while she is sleeping). If I ask him to be a little quieter when Suvi is awake, or when he hears Suvi wake up he says "Ok, loud now!")
4. No please (instead of No thank you, of course!) What a polite child I have...
5. Go see more big houses now Mama?- He asks when we are going to look at houses!
6. Yes Mama (or mummo): if I ask him to do something or tell him to be a good boy while I am gone he replies with this! It is said very seriously.
7. Soup bowl: (superbowl!)

Markku's favorite new saying:
Me do! And may be preceded with a loud cry/wail/whine: Nooooooooo! Me do!

So many new feats!

It has been a month since my last post...we have been busy or sick or tired or all three! Here is an synopsis of our past month:

Markku has started calling me "mommy" instead of momma. It sounds so cute coming from him! Suvi has started saying "ma ma" a lot. Markku and I both noticed it on 2/5/09. We were getting Suvi out of the bath and she said "ma ma". Markku then said "Baby do mama!". Kiri heard Markku say " I love you" but I have not heard that yet (hmmm...).

Suvi got her first tooth (the bottom right one) on 2/4/09 and her second on 2/12/09 (bottom left one). She is teething like crazy-getting up multiple times at night and taking sporadic naps. Of course I rushed her into the ear doctor convinced she had another ear infection but it was just teething! She claps all the time and still has one of the cutest laughs ever.

Suvi is also standing all by herself for 10-15 seconds at a time. This started on 2/6/09. She is furniture walking s well and she falls constantly! I feel so bad for her-we have really hard floors (stained concrete).

Suvi started swim lessons in January. She LOVES them. She is going under water for about 2 seconds or so now. She is a natural. If she is fussy at night, I just put her in the tub and she is happy as a clam. She has even "gone under"in the bathtub for a second and comes up smiling! Her swim teacher is amazed at how happy she is through it all. She even tries to dive in when seated on the side of the pool.

Markku is saying new words every day now. He has finally become a true talker! Sometimes it seems crazy that I was so worried about his late talking as now I can get so overwhelmed at the constant chatterbox he has become. Some cute words/phrases:

Water house (Emler swim school)

Book house (library)

Sha sha - well, it's how he says Isa (dad in Finnish) but he says it for bicycle as well!

Ruff ruff help belly out back gu- His first really long sentence I heard was in reference to a book on a delivery truck driver named Tom- Ruff ruff help belly out back gu translates into : the dog helped carry the berries out of the back of the truck!

He goes to bed with at least one book and reads it to himself at night and often I go in in the morning and he is reading it to himself again. Especially if they are colorful truck books! (And in case you are wondering, he still has 1 fire truck, 1 bear, 1 Tillie dog, 1 allie cat, 1 baby horse, 1 mouse (an Australian critter my parents brought home and I cannot remember the name of it right now), 1 Toby train, 1 police car, 1 pillow and 7 baby blankets (yes 7! He keeps insisting on bringing more and more into his crib), and at least 1 cup of water which must be "full way top" every night ("no ice").

On the bad side, he is also pushing his sister a lot and taking toys from her. He pushes her off furniture and off his booster seat if she pulls up on that. We have been re-instituting "time out" and are almost up to 3 minutes in time out. But he does say sorry after-when will he remember BEFORE?! It is tough as Suvi cries/whines really loud when he does anything-so then we have her screaming, mommy yelling at Markku and then Markku crying as we walk to time out! It must sound horrible to my neighbors!

Last week we had Mummo Laukkanen and her fiance Bill here visiting. Markku loves it when they are here. He loves to be real loud with Bill and his mummo gives him all sorts of sweets to eat. They had fun hiking with Heikki at Enchanted Rock State Park-even Suvi loved to touch the big rocks! They built sand castles that resembled the big rocks and Markku still talks about the "big rocks!".

Markku is helping cook now. He breaks the egg shells into a bowl and mixes them up and pours them into the pan for me. He helped mummo Laukkanen make cheesecake and stared in fascination at the mixer going round and round! Then he licked the beaters clean! He runs and gets his stool anytime he sees me start to cook so he can help! It is lots of fun-but way more messy and takes a lot longer now. We made sugar cookies for Valentines day-but he just licked the frosting off and handed back the cookie for more!

We have decided it is time for us to buy a house again! I can't believe it has been almost 3 years since we left Alaska. Austin is too expensive for us-especially if Heikki leaves for another airline or gets furloughed etc. We are trying to downsize our spending and increase our savings-we don't ever want to be one of those people in foreclosure or bankruptcy! We have started looking in a town about 20 minutes south of Austin called Kyle. Markku loves to go into all the homes. He looks for all the kids rooms and tries to play with their toys or on their swing sets. He doesn't like it when they are empty or just full of adult stuff! He asked to "go bye-bye momma's car see big house" the other day!

This picture is from our fun "Little Lounge Lizards" disco dance party at a hip wharehouse district dance club in Austin. They have a shark tank under their dance floor. Markku and Suvi were entranced! As Heikki said, it is the closest I have been to a hip Austin night spot ever!

Suvi pulled herself up on the ottoman on Jan 4. She is now pulling up on anything she can-furniture, people, Tillie and even trying to walk from one thing to the next. She falls often, but doesn't seem to mind most of the time. She is still army crawling but she is FAST and kind of gets up on her knees.

She is eating finger foods herself-most get in her mouth. Her pincher grasp is really good and she can find even the smallest piece of dirt or a leaf, etc. on my floor. She even ate an apple slice the other day (I thought she would just gnaw on it like a teether, but she actually ate the whole slice and wanted more!)

She has another ear infection, her third where she has needed antibiotics. She has had several other episodes with fluid in her ears. Our pediatrician is sending us to the ENT doctor for a consult. Heikki and I are happy-we were ready to go after her first one! We loved Markku's tubes. Ironically, his have fallen out and we are now keeping our fingers crossed that he won't need anymore placed. So far so good with him.

Markku is talking more and more every day. He is trying to learn his alphabet as well, and "spells" words. He points to all the different letters and randomly calls out letters. Sometimes he even gets them right. We have these foam alphabet letters in the bathtub and one night he was saying the letters and got 5 correct! Tonight he got 2 correct, but most nights they are just random. He wants me to spell everything though. We are also counting everything as 2. He wants me to count everything and say the real number, but he just says "2,2,2,2,2,2!" Today we were leaving music class and I was trying to get some errands done. I figured if I went to the mall to do most of them, then I wouldn't have to get back into the car so many times. So I headed to the mall. when we turned into the parking lot, Markku says "Here it is. Mar go mall now." I was amazed that he knew where the mall is. We do not go often and the last time was before Christmas. He always tells me when we are near our house and can even tell me which way to turn-when in the car or in the stroller/walking, and he knows mummo's house as well. He knows Gymboree and swimming, but those are all places we go to every week. When we drive at night he tells all the neighs (deer) to stay away, go night-night in trees! I appreciate that and so far have only had 1 deer and 1 raccoon disobey him. Luckily we didn't hit either!

Markku and Elizabeth

We had 2 play days this month. The first with a friends little girl Elizabeth. IT took about an hour and then after lunch they played together very well. Markku wanted her to go wherever he did! It worked out great. His second was his friend Donovan's birthday. He played piano and drove in a 4 x 4.

I have some great movies of the pianist and 4x4in toddlers, but have yet to learn how to post them. I will try again tomorrow as it is late-and in case anyone is still wondering, Suvi is NOT sleeping through the night yet! We are worse than when she was an infant (she gets up about 5 times a night!), probably because of her ear infection. And now she can get mad, mad, mad!