GOING HOME

... for Christmas: With only 30 kilos of luggage, a mostly happy baby and a desperate need for a vacation we headed towards Europe, our first destination being Austria.


Langenlois has so much to offer: The two cousins, grandpa and grandson, aunts and nephew finally met. Samu is being entertained and taken care of by many wonderful people. And there is always something new to discover.

Four men on the stairs

"Where is the nose, Elias?" (He knows it all!)

Sing us a song, you're the pianoman, uncle Laurenz!

Carpet games


Uncle Laurenz can show you fascinating things.

Cousin Elias and aunt Verena ♥

Opa knows what the crocodile says.

WHEN

your baby wakes you up on Sunday at 6 am after 3 hours of sleep, you can either whine about it (which, admittedly, we did), or turn a crappy morning into a wonderful one, e.g. by taking a little hike up a hill and watching the city wake up in a beautiful sunrise. What a perfect wake-up!

THE BEST

way to keep cool and keep things in perspective during the last week of the semester: Playing with little Samu. For a few moments, you forget all the stress ...

Thank you Ingrid for the most beautiful Marimekko balls! We all love them and play with them all them time. (Yes, all 3 of us.)



Toes rock.

IT TOOK US

over four months to finally introduce Samu to this group of wonderful people. Thank you for a fun Chinese night, friends! Thank you for hosting it, Kaishan! And thank you Siri for knowing the answer to almost all questions.


Somehow our men didn't make it onto any picture. Ooops.

WE ALL

need a break sometimes, especially before the last week of the semester. Perfect timing for pikkujoulut (Christmas party), especially when it's hosted by the most creative Happy Family and their newly adopted gorilla. What a great night!

Samu, meet Estrella, Estrella, meet Samu.

Party!

(Countries represented: USA, Jamaica, India, Ivory Coast, Japan, Denmark, Finland, Austria)
Parents chatting, children chewing.



Father and son

Estrella

The artist (aka Santa) and his masterpiece.

If partying is what gets him to sleep, maybe we should party more. ;-)


Thank you, Ben, Ingrid, Johanna and Estrella for a perfect night! Thank you Samu for being the perfect party baby!

A BIG DAY

for Samuel: First, he got a new outfit, and this time we went seasonal and dressed him up as poro (reindeer). Then he sat in his high chair for the first time. A completely new perspective! And then he met Santa Ben. Pretty exciting!



It's so much easier to be important from up here!

Watching isi (daddy) cook

You know Christmas is very close (or over) when Marko starts writing Christmas cards.

Happy poro

Santa Ben, have you lost a reindeer?


Ben, you are our most favorite Santa ever!

REMEMBER

that little baby that slept through most of the day? Barely! Samuel has become super active. He is awake a LOT and when he's awake he is really awake. Several hours of literature, sports, walking and music lessons per day are a must. What a perfect way to release stress at the end of the semester when things at school/work are crazy.

Fun with mum, dad and toys



Samu's favorite new item: the mirror



Everything is a rattle.

Finally ...

HIGHLIGHTS

of our week, which consisted mostly of work and very little sleep, were skype chats with family members, putting up our Christmas tree, and walks in the snow. We can't wait for this stressful time to be over!

Awwwwww!



Let the season begin!

Thanks, Mum and Dad, for doing this to me and calling me "Elton".



Even we you get carried walks are just exhausting.