Jan 24-31

January 24th is Senja's Finnish Name Day.  In Finland (and several Scandinavian countries) there is a name associated with each day of the year and people celebrate their 'name day' in a similar way we celebrate birthdays.  Hyvaa Nimipaivaa Senja (Happy Name Day Senja!).  Here Senja is admiring the flowers we got for her.

On the subject of Finland, Cadel started going to Suomi Koulu (Finnish School).  It meets just once every two weeks -- he fits right in with his blond head of hair, but is one of few that does not have a Finnish speaking parent.

Cadel's latest pastime is taking all of Senja's toys out of her toy basket and placing them next to her.  Apparently wearing his dragon costume doesn't slow him down.  He proudly announced, "The dragon is giving Senja all of her toys!". 

Senja is perfecting her skill of scooting backwards.  This often means she ends up under the couch.

Jan 10-23 (Senja 5 mo)

Stacey flew back from Hartford to Portland on her own with both kids on January 10th.  It was exhausting, but they made it.  Stacey's first response was that she was glad she did it to get extra time in New England, but isn't so sure she will do it again!  No pictures from that journey -- Stacey's hands were full enough with both kids; no extra hands to take photos!

Senja turned 5 months on January 15th.  She celebrated by learning to scoot backwards while on her belly.  Stacey and Justin celebrated with a chocolate cake!

A few days later Senja rolled over for the first time (back to front).  It doesn't happen regularly yet, all in good time.  And, Senja got her second bottom tooth in at the beginning of the week.  Smiles and laughter abound and she continues to work on her sitting.

We took another skiing adventure out to Teacup Lake at Mt. Hood.  This time we put Cadel on skis.  We were very impressed with his enthusiasm and persistence, amid the cold sleet that was falling.  He worked on his ski jumping form (a skill learned last year in New Hampshire).  Senja opted to snuggle in the carrier this time around.

Dec 27-Jan10 (New England)

Right after Christmas we headed back east...or at least tried.  The snowstorm that hit New England the day after Christmas foiled our original plans.  We persisted and a flight to Cleveland followed by a 10 hour drive got us there.  Phew.  Quite an adventure for Senja's first airplane flight and trip across the country!  Here they are on the plane.  (Don't be fooled by their good spirits, these photos were taken at the beginning of our journey!  But, really, they were quite good for such a crazy trip.)

We spent our first day in Connecticut enjoying the snow.  Senja got to go on her first sled ride.

Then we headed up to New Hampshire to spend time with Justin's family at Tuckaway Farm, seeing the animals, taking sleigh rides in the snow, and visiting with everyone there.  Senja was thrilled to meet everyone and everyone seemed just as happy to meet her.

Senja snuggles in happily with her Grandpa.

  Jennivieve (Lau Ga Ga) and her three great grandchildren.

 Uncle Joel and Auntie Annalisa entertain Cadel and Senja.

Chuck gets the horses and sleigh ready for sleigh rides.

Senja lets Cousin Andreas know that although she's the smallest, she's a tough little one.

Cousin Andreas and Cadel were happily playing with legos until Justin came in and took all the good pieces.

We also got to visit our Boston friends and Senja got to meet two new little playmates Mila Domenicone and Harrison Tinger.

The Fuellhart kids got to meet their newest little cousin and after sitting patiently for a group photo they all had fun playing in the snow.

Justin flew back to Portland on Jan 3 and Stacey, Cadel, and Senja stayed another week in Connecticut.  Cadel and Senja were happy for the extra time with Oma and Gimpa and got to see the Fuellhart clan again.  Cadel had a splendid time playing with all of Stacey and Kerry's old toys.