There is a first time for everything

Since walking around in the house waiting for a baby to appear is rather nerve wrecking and tiresome, and since the whole family did need some sort of escape out of the city, we decided to go to Nådendal and the treasure for children that can be found there, Mumindalen or Muminworld as it appears to be called in English. Sophia was nothing but smiles and happiness for hours before our little roadtrip; she packed her own suitcase and said yes to basically everything I asked her to do. Quite soon after our departure she started asking where Mumindalen is and if we are there yet, I just tried to explain that it is 'långt, långt borta' and that she will probably not get to see Mumintrollen today since they will have gone to bed by the time we arrive. This was, of course, hard for her to grasp. We drove straight to Nådendal and walked to the gates of Mumindalen, they were closing, but luckily Sophia was happy with the 'we'll come back first thing tomorrow'. We drove to our resort, complained about our room, got an upgrade to an apartment, managed to get Sophia into bed and sat down knocked out after an intensive day, me being one week from due date and Hendrik just having started his holiday. Since this weekend was THE weekend, I had picked a hotel that I thought would deliver all we wanted in one go, how wrong I was. Breakfast, which is one of my favorite meals of the day was an insult to the hotel guests, an insult. The apple and orange juice tasted like water, there were no hard boiled or soft boiled eggs, just something that they called scrambled eggs, but it was scrambled NON-EDIBLE stuff! The fruit came straight from a can and even the yogurts were LOW quality, it was SAD, so SAD and it makes me angry that they have the nerve to serve this kind of "food", it really does feel like an insult, I ask myself 'are we Finns not worth a better breakfast than this?'....

Enough about that, Sophia was happy and we were on schedule. The drizzling started as we walked over the bridge to Mumindalen. Now, when the sun shines one does not think about rain, at least not I, so we had NOTHING to shield us with, only Sophia's stroller had its rain cover. Luckily Mumindalen did have shops and there we bought 3 raincoats to cover our already wet bodies. Mumindalen is an outdoor place so for pretty much 4 hours we walked around in the rain, trying hard to remain sane and happy, Sophia managed pretty well, for us adults it was harder, seriously!!! Now, unfortunately also here the food just really "pissed" us off, WHY only serve bad food choices, why??? Again, what an insult to the children and to their parents, Sophia wanted pizza, it was her day, so pizza it was OR should have been, it was horrible and disgusting!! Sophia did get to meet with Mumin mamman and pappan, as well as Mumin himself, and she was happy with that. But also the characters were a disappointment, the acting was half hearted and mainly in Finnish, although Mumindalen has visitors from all over the world. After 4 hours we had had enough and decided to leave. Most importantly though is that Sophia seemed happy, this was after all, her first visit to a theme park and regardless of the rain and the shitty food she had experienced something new, something that she had never done before. So had we of course, and I hope that our next experience as parents will be more pleasant. 

We stayed one more night in Kultaranta and today, Sunday, we headed for Helsinki. However, we wanted to go swimming somewhere nice first and ended up in Ekenäs, a first for both Hendrik and me. I picked what looked like a decent restaurant and waited about 30 minutes for a bad Feta Salad and Tomato Soup....30 minutes!!!!!!! Sophia was not in the best of moods so it was a rather quick operation once the food arrived. We did visit one of the best playgrounds so far, so Ekenäs receives a plus for that AND the beach was right smack there in the center of town and there Sophia had her very first proper swim in the sea with Hendrik. It was AMAZING to see them play in the water together, especially since Hendrik LOVES the beach and water, also amazing to fold your daughter into a warm towel and feel her shaking from the cold and excitement,  GULLIG!!! Would not mind going back to Ekenäs if there is a nice bed and breakfast around, seemed like a cozy place for a weekend trip.

All in all we had a nice mini holiday, we were together and Sophia got to see her Mumintroll. Oh, and yes, she also had serious candy for the first time and to nobody's surprise she is just as much of a candy monster as her mother. I am pretty sure that it was not a smart idea to open THIS pandora's box already now, but hey, what is done is done.

Finns are good at many things, but entertainment and food are not amongst those things, this needs to change, I hope it will, I hope there is a new generation out there who raises the bar for what is "normal".

Sophia and her Marimekko nighty

There are not that many shopping opportunities here around Herttoniemen Ranta, but just around the corner Marimekko has their factory store. Marimekko is as Finnish as a brand can get and it is a brand that I grew up with (Carrie Bradshaw has Marimekko curtains in her apartment, to give you an understanding of how big Marimekko is). About 1 year ago I bought this sweet little night gown for Sophia from the Marimekko factory store and two weeks ago I showed it to her, convinced that she would say 'blä' or 'vill inte ha' or something of the sort, but instead she said 'åh fiiiiiiiin' and immediately wanted to put it on. Even better is that mommo has the same nighty but in different colours, something which Sophia was thrilled about. And is she not just adorable in it :-)

Me and driving

Before I got my drivers license I dreamed about the black Porsche I was going to drive one day, I could not imagine anything cooler than stepping in and out of my little sports car. In Finland you can drive from the age of 18 and that is when most youngsters get their license. As I approached 18 I realized that for me the driver's license was not so important after all, I was in no hurry to drive. My grandmother taught my father how to drive and so my father thought that it would be a good idea to teach me how to drive too. I was studying in Vasa at the time so we practiced driving during the weekends when I was at home (and actually I also practiced driving in Vasa with my room mate on the parking lot of the school...until the car broke once, that's a different story though). Our driving lessons usually consisted of me and my father driving around in Jakobstad on Sundays, a day when there were only a few, if any, cars on the streets. We were basically just cruising, my father tried to teach me a thing or two about traffic rules but I only listened with one ear, for me it was more important to learn how to handle the car... When you learn how to drive with a parent you naturally also have to have some theory, we were not so diligent on this, I read the book and figured 'piece of cake'.  To make a long story short, I failed the theory part 6, yes SIX times and the practical driving test 2, yes TWICE. I ended up taking a few lessons with a driving school, both theory and driving lessons, the teacher was strict and I did not dare oppose to anything he said. I finally got the license. The year after I went off to Maastricht to study and I only got to drive during the holidays when I went home. Due to the lack of driving experience where more cars than mine were involved, I developed a 'fear of driving'. I felt very insecure about driving on a motorway or in the center of big cities, well, anywhere where you had to focus on more things around you than your own car. Soon I realized that having a Porsche one day would be terror for me, I mean, how could I ever drive a car like that, when I was so scared of driving. For years my fear remained solid and I had somehow accepted that I will always be a bad and scared driver who will always have to live somewhere where I am not dependent on a car. And then we moved out to the suburbs and as going back to work approached I realized that I had two choices; 1) Go into town by bus every morning in rain, snow, sunshine etc. and going back by bus, wasting time or 2) Overcome my fear of driving and save an enormous amount of time and sanity. I started driving small distances around the neighborhood building up my self confidence, going out on the highway I was so scared that my feet were shaking and I had had stomach pain since the night before. I felt comfortable behind the wheel and I felt comfortable in my car, it was the other cars that were the problem. I was thinking about going to a shrink to deal with my fear but then a friend asked me 'what is it that you are really afraid of when it comes to driving' and as I thought about this I came to the conclusion that I was scared to 'piss off' other drivers and right after that I just realized that I have every much right to be out there on those streets and those highways as everybody else and that I also pay taxes for these roads and that I do not have to feel like I am in the way. After this realization my feet stopped shaking and the knot in my stomach opened up, my fear was gone. It has taken me a year to feel really comfortable driving, and now to feel comfortable about driving to places where I have not driven to before, but the fear is gone and yesterday Hendrik even complimented me saying what a good and confident driver I have become. I have to give Hendrik part of the credit, he is a very good and secure driver and having sat next to him over the years seeing how he handles certain traffic situations has thought me a lot, both good and bad, nowadays I do not hesitate to raise my fist to other drivers if I feel that they are not behaving as they should, to the extent that Hendrik is a bit worried. The next step for me will be to drive in Peru after that I am ready to drive pretty much anywhere in the world, except for Capri, driving there is INSANE. The dream about the Porsche is but a distant memory, now I dream about a mini cooper or a mini fiat 500, although it has to be said that I love my Volkswagen Golf and I have to confess that I will actually miss driving to and from work.

Sophia and her moffa

When Sophia was born I saw a side of my father that I had not seen before, he was absorbed with Sophia. The first days of Sophia's life my father called every day, sometimes several times per day, to ask how Sophia was doing, he was not asking how his own daughter was coping or his son in law, only Sophia mattered. If he was in Helsinki for business he would do his uttermost to be able to drop in on Villagatan just to take a peek at our little princess. My father did not mind getting up at 05.00 if I was staying with them, to entertain Sophia, they would lie on the living room floor together and my dad would mimic with her and show her things to keep her happy, and she was. The whole diaper changing business etc. was not something that my father was very keen on, he always left the room, although he did bring out the smelly diapers. I could really sense how he could not wait for Sophia to get a bit older so that they could do more interactive things together, something that I, on the other hand, was not really looking forward to, considering that many of the things my father endeavor may very well include some kind of adventure that I would not approve of. Many were the times when my father wondered out loud when he would be allowed to hang out with Sophia on his own, without my HAWK eyes. Well last Sunday that moment finally came (actually it came once before when Hendrik and I went to Boston and my mother unexpectedly had to go to a funeral in Stockholm, so my father flew to Helsinki to pick up Sophia from daycare and brought her home, cooked her dinner etc. but that is another story). My niece was going to have her first communion and I as the godmother was asked to be present during the blessing in church. I realized that bringing Sophia to church for 2 hours was not a good idea and my mother wanted to attend the ceremony as well, with Hendrik in Helsinki, the only option left was that my father would look after Sophia. In the morning of D day I had planned to dress Sophia in her "party clothes",  eat breakfast with her and pack our suitcase since we were heading back to Helsinki after the communion.  Sophia REFUSED to wear any of the clothes I had brought with me for her to wear at the "after party" and she had a major tantrum. My father managed to calm her down and she ate breakfast on his lap. I left the clothes behind and told my father to try to get her to wear one of the two outfits at some point. My mother and I left a happy Sophia and a happy moffa, moffa reading his newspapers and Sophia watching one of her many DVDs. During the ceremony I kept thinking of things that could be wrong and sent several sms messages to my father 'make sure Sophia does not hit her head when you put her into the car', 'the wet wipes are in the toilet downstairs', 'remember that you have to feed her around 11.30' etc. At the after party I was anxiously awaiting their arrival, and arrive they did,  Sophia sleeping in the car with the same stockings and shirt that I left her in, plus shoes and jacket. For 30 minutes my father had tried to convince her that she should get dressed, she refused. When my mother and I left the house my dad was still in his PJs, so he also had to get dressed, he left Sophia playing in the living room and went to get dressed. After a while Sophia walks in and says 'how are things going in here?' ('hu gå de här'?) and had very strong opinions on what moffa should and should not wear. They had had an excellent time together. The night before as moffa was reading Sophia a bedtime story, she patted him on his arm and said 'my moffa' ('min moffa') to which I said 'but it is also the baby's moffa' and then Sophia said 'no, buy a new moffa for the baby' ('nee, köpa ny moffa åt babyn'). I am afraid that as Sophia grows older she will realize just how adored she is by her moffa and will definately use this to her advantage and that is ok. I will be ok with my father babysitting again since he did follow all my instructions and really did try his best to make Sophia wear what I wanted her to wear, he failed but so did I.  My father is very capable of taking care of Sophia for a couple of hours, maybe even a day, but it will take loooooooong before I would dare leave him in charge for more than that, there are too many things that he simply does not think about.

Skincare

I have the privilege to work with skincare products and although I am not a chemist or a product developer I have been involved in several product development processes and have learned a thing or two about ingredients, good and bad. There is a wave of organic, 100% natural and pure products etc. and as a consumer it can be quite challenging to really understand what is what and perhaps more importantly who is bullshitting with the "natural part" and who is not. Now that I am pregnant I try to be extra careful with what I use in the bathroom. I have always had sensitive and allergic skin so I have had to think about these things way before my pregnancies. Some of the products that I use today are Ecocert skincare products made in Finland, the only ones available actually, i.e. not only do I choose products that are Ecocertified but also products that are made in Finland, win-win products with other words.

What are Ecocert skincare products? Ecocert skincare products are products where 99,2% of the total ingredients stem from Organic Farming, only a small percentage of the ingredients are synthetic, i.e. not natural. Ecocert is a French organisation that carries out the cerfitication of the products, i.e the certification process is carried out externally from the company.

There is a whole debate going on whether synthetic ingredients are or are not bad for us, some are, yes, but far from all. When choosing products one should also consider not only your own body and how the various ingredients can have an effect on you, but also how the product effects nature, what happens to the product once it goes down the drain (literally speaking)? It is also important to know that not all of us have skin that tolerate natural ingredients, on the contrary the likelihood that a product with natural ingredients cause an allergic reaction is perhaps somewhat larger than in a product that is all synthetic, nevertheless it is worth a try.

The Ecocert products that I currently use are;
1) vivisanté natural skin - skin oil
2) vivisanté natural skin - facial oil
3) vivisanté natural skin - facial cream
4) vivisanté natural skin - cleansing gel
5) vivisanté natural skin - body lotion

These are all absolutely delicious and fantastic products and can be purchased from http://www.vivisante.com/shop/Catalog/Series/natural.

I also use;
1) Dermonature Shower Gel (Ecocert)
2) Primo Body Oil

Primo Body Oil saved my belly from stretchmarks during my first pregnancy and I cannot live without this product, it does not have a certificate of some sort but is made out of a mix of different oils, these products can be purchased from http://www.dermoshop.com.

Something else that is great with these products is that they are NOT crazy expensive like so many other products out there.

Interior

Already as a small girl I knew how I wanted my surroundings to look, I had an instinctive feeling of how things should be placed. I have never been very messy and would even (I know) cry sometimes when the cleaning lady had been to our house and had left the carpets rolled up in my room or forgotten to bring down my chair from my desk, my room was clean but not organized and this got to me. When I did not get what I wanted I tried to make it. My first years out of the "pinnsäng" I slept in a box bed that could be rolled in under one of my brother's beds during the day. I badly wanted a "normal bed" with four legs, but since I shared the room with my brother this was how it had to be. I decided to "build" my own bed, so I took two small chairs and put a board on top of them, I then took a small mattress and placed it on top of the board. How did I sleep? Every night I fell down from my bed, OF COURSE, so my bed and patience lasted for about one week, that is when both my brother and myself had had enough of night time awakenings. When I was seven we moved to the house where my parents still live today and I finally got my own room and my own "real" bed, I think the bed was the best thing about moving for me. I wanted Mumin wallpaper but was told that I would not want to have Mumin on the wall for very long and my walls were covered with white wallpaper with a light blue board. I have thanked my mother many times for this, after 6 months I would not have wanted to have Mumin on my walls anymore. As a student I could not afford to decorate my room exactly as I had wished for, but here as well I did what I could with the means that I had. I used to buy interior decoration magazines and dream how my house would look one day, or how I would like it to look. I have always had a very strong sense of how I want things in the house to be organized and I will be restless until things are in their place. I still love reading interior magazines, I cannot get enough of them, sadly now that we are moving again I will have to get rid of many euros worth of magazines because Hendrik does not see the point of moving them from one house to the other. So, I am going through all of them again and pulling out pages for inspiration, this also works well, its just that I feel that the magazines themselves are part of the interior, but Hendrik then says that so does Time Magazine etc., so the discussion ended there. Not only interior magazines inspire me but also my surroundings, wherever I am I seek inspiration, I have many friends who have a good eye for interior and they all inspire me. Decorating a house or a room or anything really is a creative process that takes time, after all, a house is never ready, there is always something you want to change or add, but that is part of the fun. Soon we will be moving into our new home and it will take some serious planning to get it right, since it is a lot smaller than our current home, that is a challenge I willingly take on. I wish I was even more handy than I am, that I could easily build my own furniture (and I do not mean assemble IKEA furniture because I can do that and I am pretty good actually) and fix things in the house, I actually think that it should be part of school education, of course you learn some practical things in school, but I think it could be so much more. Like which paint to use for which material, which screws are best used for what material etc. there are so many things that would be great to know just like that, without having to ask somebody. I did once re-dress a sofa, without having any experience whatsoever and I did manage to get it to look exactly how I wanted, but since then I have not tried, it takes time, time that I don't have at the moment. Next to not having time I do not really have the patience that it takes to build something, I want what I am creating to be ready within a few days, not weeks.

The pacifier

Last Friday I set out for a ME weekend, a whole weekend in Berlin with only myself and one of the absolute best friends that a person can have. Berlin deserves its own post, now on to what happend the weekend when I was not around. Friday night Hendrik informed me that he had decided not to give the pacifier to Sophia anymore, no matter what. Of course the pacifier has been discussed at length for months, its a blessing and a curse and we have been well aware of the fact that we should get rid of it. I can admit that for me the pacifier has been a tool to calm Sophia down, make her stop crying, continue sleeping, shutting up etc. The reluctance from my side to stop giving it to her has been 'well, how will she fall back to sleep then, when she wakes up in the middle of the night' and 'how will we solve tricky public situations without it' etc. so, purely selfish reasons, altough its not like Sophia minded the pacifier, of  course not, many times she stated that she 'LOVES THE TUTT'. I strongly believe in preparation for what is to come, i.e. normally I would have told Sophia like a week in advance that on Friday we will throw away all her pacifiers, now there had been no preparation whatsoever, so not only did mamma go away but also suddenly she was faced with a life without her beloved pacifier. From a distance I started feeling so sorry for my little girl, but at the same time I was curious to see how it would go, especially the night. Well, Sophia slept through the first night, no problems, although all of Saturday was apparently a nightmare both for father and daugther. Night number two also went by without Sophia waking up and she woke up Sunday morning in an excellent mood. The two had a lovely Sunday together where the pacifier was hardly mentioned. I came home Sunday night and thought 'oh, well now the spell is broken, Sophia will surely wake up tonight and ask for the damn thing', but no, she slept through the night again. Monday morning when Sophia sees me for the first time since Thursday night she is happy BUT asks almost immediately for the pacifier, naturally there is some crying when she realizes that I too, will not give it to her, but she calms down and we move on. Next big test was how Sophia would be able to nap at the daycare without the pacifier, that too was no problem, she fell asleep faster than she usually does.When I picked her up later that same afternoon she also asked for it, but just to test me, just a quick little, 'tutten?', and then acceptance. We are now on day six without the pacifier and its safe to say that whatever happens we will stick to our plan, no more pacifier. She is having major withdrawal syndromes, they appear to be tantrums but are worse than tantrums, but these too will pass I am sure. I am very happy about the fact that it was Hendrik who initiated this strategic move, so thank you, thank you for that! Of course now I find pacifiers in all sorts of places, snapping them before Sophia spots them :-) An era is over, my baby is not a baby anymore, but a determined and strong minded little girl. The next strategic move will be stop with the diapers.