MAX IS KAX

My darling beautiful baby boy: Max. 

He is turning two in less than thirty minutes and I can NOT believe it. He is the bravest kid I have ever met. Always ready to try new things and so deeply determined if he decides to do or learn something. That saying about going through a stone to get something - that is purely Max. I always playfully call him Maximum trouble. He is seriously going to keep me on my toes for the next couple of decades (takes after his uncle Miikka), but he also has the purest little heart (also like his uncle Miikka). My mom saw the picture of him climbing on top of the play-kitchen and said it reminded her of the trouble my brother used to get into. 

The guy has energy like no one else. At the moment we are trying to learn how to deal with disappointments - his approach is to throw everything and anything in sight. I’d love for him to learn to take it in and express it with words… Maybe after few years we will master this skill. In the meanwhile, I’ll just have to keep him busy. He loves anything physical, and is clearly at the level of three to four year olds when it comes to running, jumping and climbing. Or at the level of a 30 year old bodybuilding man when it comes to eating. :)

But then when I come home from work or a meeting he runs to me and holds me so tight and makes sure I will never leave him. Precious. 

Or when there is only one candy left and both he and J want it, he will give it to his big brother, just because. Adorable. 

Sometimes when he has trouble sleeping he will hold my whole arm and squeeze it so tight until he finds his sleep. My hand always ends up going numb, but I don’t care. Priceless.

Max. At two years old you are really what your name is. Maximum energy, trouble, love and happiness, maximum everything. I really hope you have some slow african genes in you too, because otherwise I will be in trouble in the future. You love balls, any kind. Footballs, balloons, glass balls hanging in mummu’s chandelier… And you love to climb and jump and do anything and everything. As your second birthday draws close you are becoming such a big boy. We still don’t hear that much talking, personally I think you’re just too busy to say anything. But you know how to get the message through even if you don’t use words. Food, more, give me, kiss and love you so so much. You know all the necessary ones. I can’t wait to see how your blossom under the african sun. I love you so much my son. Happy happy 2nd birthday!

PARTY TIME….

Max is turning two on Christmas day and today it was time to celebrate it. As always, I try to arrange something the birthday boy loves to do. For Max’s birthday we hit the gymnastics hall. The theme was the little minions from Despicable me. And the party was amazing. So many kids enjoying anything and everything a gym can offer…

Thank you for everyone who was there, I know you must all be busy this time of year!
Full post on the birthday boy later on…

What to Do?

House wife stories..

I arrived home after traveling for 30 hours to a house of chaos. Tonny was sick during his single-parent week.. Not an easy deal at all. But needless to say, when that happens you just go to survival mode of feeding, dressing and loving the kids. Laundry, no. Cleaning, no. Staying alive, yes. So, I was greeted with a mess and then some. But also with kids that were happy and loving and full of energy, and with no trace of missing mama for a week. Peace of mind since I had been feeling guilty about being away for so long. Thank you my love for keeping them safe. <3 font="">

Lists, lists, lists. The house is full of lists. We are moving with luggage only just after Christmas. What to take with, what to buy still: medicines, laundry soaps, lotions, toys.. Visa applications, canceling internet etc etc.. The amount of things to do is endless... I will breathe when I arrive with the boys safely to tz. Argh! 

Sunday consisted of shopping rolls of paper and some boxes (kids stuff in tz, I'm obsessed about giving them the best room possible, shallow I know, but for a control freak, it's something I can focus my energy on) and it was lunch time at meatball world (also known as ikea). Since after months of waiting my order for extra hands is yet to arrive I told the guys to sit at the table while I went to queue for the food. J is three, M is not even two. And they DID. And ate their food, went to wash their hands and took their plates away and all this WITHOUT asking. I was wondering if someone switched my kids with robots when I was hunting for the food. PRIDE. (But soon forgotten since five minutes later they were running the empty hallways pretending to be airplanes. ) For a second there I thought I have done something right ;)

Today was the first day of being a stay-at-home mom vol. 2. Did we have a lazy morning and just enjoyed, yes, but for two minutes and then I had to clean the car and run around like crazy person until seven o'clock tonight. Maybe tomorrow will be different, maybe next week... Maybe when we have finally settled in DSM.

Goodnight!

It's done.

Before I ran out the door and into the bus that would take me to the airport I finally submitted my thesis for evaluation. Now I only need to present it and get my grade. I love doing presentations, so this part is the easy part. Oh wow, I might actually get my masters degree!!!

At the moment I'm freezing in Brazil and Tonny is staying with the boys. We ended up having like 22 hours together on the same continent. Luckily in less than a months time, we will all be together in Dar es Salaam. I have seen some crazy gymnastics over here. In some cases I am struggling to find any deductions. (Little bit different to the normal judging in Finland.) Brazilians and Russians are fighting hard for the medals. With England and France not far behind. The Finnish girls did good also. Almost everyone stuck their routines, and even though the competition is tough, we have two reserve spots for the finals. Yay! Go Finland. Gymnastics will be one thing that I will miss while staying in Tanzania, I have to check if there are any good competitions on that continent that I could go and judge. 

I miss my boys terribly, the way Max takes my hand when something is making him nervous, and the way whenever there is something good going, on Julius' face lights up like nothing else. Three nights to go and I'm a full time mom and a wife.