Six Month Update

Miia is now six months old. She is no longer just a baloney loaf that eats, poops, and cries (she still does these things, but she does them with a certain flair and style now...and she does lots of other stuff too).
She is now 13 lbs 13 oz and 26 inches long/tall. She is in good health, despite a brief cold that she had. Luckily for us, she sleeps through the night without any trouble. Over the past few weeks we have introduced solid foods, which she enjoys (some more than others). What she really likes is spreading the food far and wide with her hands. Typical baby behavior.
She sits very well now, but has yet to figure out how to roll over. No teeth have appeared so far, but we are waiting for the day when they will come.
The baby is much more exciting than the rest of our lives...Mark has applied to graduate school and we are keeping our fingers crossed...we will be leaving Utah at the end of July in any case. We've been here long enough.

Miia at four months!

Miia is now four months old!

We went to the doctor's office yesterday and got the new stats. She is now 24.2 inches long (62 cm) and 12 lbs 1.5oz. She is a little on the small size overall, except her head, which she obviously gets from her father.
She also had some more immunizations yesterday. She howled a bit when they stuck her with the needle, but she recovered and wasn't fussy that evening.
She is learning new things very quickly. She loves to chew on her fingers and reach for toys above her. She hasn't quite figured out how to roll over, but she is getting there. When she is on her tummy she holds her head up and looks around.
I've included a video of her laughing that we made today. She had a major blowout while she was with Kristiina in the university Bookstore so we had to give her a bath, hence the scandalous clothing. Cheers!

Lots of Changes!

It has been a while since we have posted on this blog, and quite a bit has changed. We moved at the end of August into the basement of a house. Our new neighborhood is fairly quiet and there are some parks nearby where we go for walks. The basement was renovated just before we moved in, and the first few days that we were here they were putting on the final touches...like the front door...but it all worked out and its a pretty nice place to live now.

Kristiina gave birth to a baby girl on October 1st. The birth went well and the baby is great. Her name is Miia, and she looks like a baby. People like to tell us that she looks like one of her parents, but the jury is still out on which one she will look like. She has lots of dark hair, but it is starting to turn more and more blond.

Mark graduated from BYU at the end of August and has been working since then. He has been working at the same job that he did as a student, and has been looking around for other opportunities. We hope to move back to Europe soon, so he is also looking at jobs and graduate schools in Europe.

Kristiina was on maternity leave for most of the fall. In December she returned to work part time at JC Penney's. When she is gone to work in the evenings Mark and Miia get to spend time together. Kristiina is working on finishing her last few classes through independent study and will graduate soon.

We had a good Christmas together. Miia seemed to enjoy all of the lights and sounds of the season. We've had a cold and snowy spell the past few weeks (nothing compared to what we endured in Finland) but we've been snug here in our little home. Happy New Year to all, and we hope the 2008 brings you peace and prosperity!