A Weekend in Helsinki: Fulbright Interview

Train to Helsinki.

Aspen & the Director of the Fulbright Center in Helsinki.

The Finnish Fulbright Center in Helsinki invited us to be interviewed for an article in their magazine. They are celebrating 60 years and they want to highlight and showcase how a Fulbright grant can be good for the Finnish society (by recruiting two PhDs to work and live in Finland beyond the grant period). So, we packed a weekend bag and boarded the train for a weekend in the big city!

The interview went well and it was fun to talk about our experience, research, and work in Finland. They asked us many questions about our experience living here, how it was different from the U.S., what we thought of the Finnish higher education system and maternity leave, etc. It was a rough interview for Aspen because all she wanted to do was sleep, but she fought it with screams and tears. But, in the end, she was cuddled by the Director of the Fulbright Center, Terhi (see photo) and seemed quite happy in her arms. (A future Fulbright grantee, perhaps?!)
 
Earlier in the week Aspen turned three months old and she traveled quite well, although the evening in the hotel room was filled with colicky screams. 

Aspen: Three Months "Angel" Baby

Everyone kept telling us to wait until month three. They were right; the colic has melted away and we have ourselves a new baby! Now that the tears have dried up (for the most part), Aspen's personality is really beginning to take shape as she smiles and coos more. She enjoys long walks by the lake, dinner by (LED) candlelight, sprawling in bed, and sleeping in late in the morning.

The big news this month was the international trip and meeting the Colorado grandparents...which will always be such an amazing memory. Seeing my parents with our daughter was so incredibly special...and it made the full circle of parenthood come to life.

A few thoughts:
1.) Maternity leave ended (3 months) and parental leave began (6months). I am still getting paid and I still have six months of leave left.
2.) We toured a private daycare center close to our house and were very impressed. You have to apply for daycare spots, so we applied for a spot starting in April 2014 (fingers crossed we will get it, but there is no guarantee). The spots are very competitive in the city center, so we will also apply for a spot in the public daycare system too. I will write a blog about the daycare system soon!
3.) We hired a babysitter (a master's degree student from New Jersey) to take care of Aspen for a few hours two days a week. This will allow me to take a shower and write (I have two articles due in December!)
4.) Aspen still has fussy moments, but her happy moments far outweigh the tears. Ahhhh!
5.) Her smile is enough to turn any sour mood into joy.
6.) We have slept Aspen outside in the stroller on the balcony a few times since the weather has become colder. Our plan is to sleep her outside in the winter (as this is very common in Finland). More on this soon...
7.) I am moving out of the newborn mom "fog". Just the other day, Charlie said, "Now, that is the woman I love"...as I ranted about a topic related to my research. I am not so tired. I am not so overwhelmed. I am not so blue (yes, I do think the baby blues got the best of me...especially during the colic moments).
8.) There are moments when I look down at Aspen breastfeeding and can finally say...breastfeeding is amazing and I am enjoying the connection I have with her while breastfeeding. It only took two months to get to this point!
9.) We have established a nice sleep routine...11 p.m. to 11 a.m. with feedings throughout.
10.)We are now dressing her in 3-month old clothes or 58-62 European size. The newborn clothes are packed away and we are beginning to cycle through the 3-6 month shelves.

The Grandparent's Adventure Continues...in Finland

After a lovely week in Belgium and Holland, we welcomed my parents back to Finland. They traveled here in April 2012 for our wedding, so they were familiar with the surroundings. But, since their last visit we had moved to a flat by the lake...such a nice area. We happened to land an AirBnB studio apartment in the same neighborhood, so my parents were literally a five-minute walk away.

We basically just hung out, cooked excellent cuisine, and Aspen continued to charm the grandparents. I have to say it was so nice to have my parents around during the day...to help with Aspen. It allowed me to enjoy long hot showers and eat relaxing (and hot) meals. The week went by too quickly and before you knew it I was wiping away the tears as we waved goodbye to my parents on the train. Living so far away, makes a goodbye dreadful.

9 Trains+5 Buses+2 Airplanes+2 Taxis+2 Shuttles = Aspen's First International Trip

At 10 weeks old, Aspen gracefully (and with minimal tears) experienced her first airplane ride and her first trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. We took two trains, one bus, and one airplane to arrive in Amsterdam where we met up with my parents, who had just traveled 5,000 air miles from Denver, Colorado. We met at an airport hotel and I was so excited to introduce them to their first grandchild...it almost felt like I was a little girl looking forward to a long-awaited Christmas day. In no time at all, Aspen won the heart of my mom and turned my dad to absolute grandfather mush. It was so sweet to see.

The next day we bid farewell to superdad (a.k.a. superhusband), as he had an academic conference in Rotterdam, and we (my parents, Aspen, and I) made our way to our Brussels hotel via two trains and a taxi. I had a meeting in Brussels for my post as president of the Erasmus Mundus Association, so my parents graciously accepted this international babysitting gig. While I went to meetings, they proudly became baby wranglers. The last night in Brussels, Charlie and our friend from Georgia (who was at the academic conference with him) joined us.

The following morning, all six of us jumped in taxis and headed to the central train station to catch three (connecting) trains to Haarlem...our favorite, quaint, little village outside Amsterdam. We rented a house in the city center, cooked good meals, enjoyed each others company, and just hang out and relaxed. A family friend from our past paid us a visit. Corien was a Dutch exchange student who lived with our family when I was in high school. Her visit was lovely and we exchanged many fun memories as we ate a Sunday American brunch.

A bus took us back to Schiphol airport where we embarked on our next airline adventure to Finland. A memorable mishap occurred as we were descending from the friendly skies in Helsinki...the change in air pressure got the best of Aspen's bowels and next thing you knew mama and baby were soaked in poo. All we could was laugh (as the seat-belt sign was still on) and let Aspen know that this story will follow her for life.