Becoming an Espoonian

Yes. Now it is official. We've become Espoonians. For more than a week we are living in our new apartment. And in many ways it is actually better than I thought. The apartment itself is nicer. It is actually quite spacious, now I think better planned than the previous one. The best thing is the big kids room, fitting both beds and all the toys. I like the east side kitchen window - good to have the morning sun while you get up to make your coffee. I like also the north-west living-room and bed-rooms windows - although before we moved here I thought about it as a disadvantage. But now it's actually quite nice to look at the sun set. As for now we also have a nice view, because all the quarters around our building are still empty. There are some meadows and some ground water with ducks and birds happily living there. In a few years we will be surrounded by other apartment blocks, but hopefully not so soon. On Saturday we made a bike trip around the area and it looks very much like a country side. Fields, small paths, meadows, forest. And of course the top thing is that Angry Birds playpark right behind our building. My kids are becoming little monkeys while going there, running and jumping and sliding all the equipments. What is I don't like? Using the car too much. It is now every day commuting and it means being in a traffic jam. Of course it's not an enormous traffic jam. It means usually driving for about 30 minutes instead of 17, but still. I have to try the bus connection and use it time to time, especially on those days I am with my son (who is still using a stroller, so I have a free ride with him). So it looks like we've made everything for our kids. Our daughter's school is no more than 500 meters from our house and we can see it from the living-room windows. The already mentioned Angry Birds park. For our son of course all the construction sites around. The first thing he does after he wakes up is checking what is going on there. "The crane is moving!" - he exclaims. "A new truck is going there! Mommy look!" - with so much of excitement. The nature and fresh air. But, when the kids are happy, so are the parents, right? I hope so :-). 

It's different

In any sense of those words it is different. When I compare how were my feelings towards Wanda after she was born and how are they now. With Wanda I was in a euphoric state, my state of mind was pure happiness, I felt like I was not walking any more but flying overwhelmed with total joy. But soon after came stress about everything I was doing with her - what does that crying mean, should I do this or that - and to find answers I was rushing to my books like "The happiest baby on the block" or on the other pole of the scale Tracy Hogg Baby Book. And I was frustrated because my baby didn't work like babies in the books. And now is different. I'm so totally calm and relaxed so far. I trust myself, my intuition and my love. I don't rush to any books. I'm enjoying the moments having my baby on my belly. I just follow him and myself. And it makes me feel good. But also I don't have that euphoria. It doesn't mean my joy and love is any less than with Wanda. No, it is just very different. I feel so peaceful. I feel that our family is so complete now. I love this tiny creature - this tiny miracle of life. I enjoy every minute with him. I'm so happy but in a calm and peaceful way. Different are also the objective conditions. The standard of life we have here comparing to the one in the States. It makes a huge difference. When our daughter was born it was mid July in New Jersey. If any of you is familiar with the weather conditions out there knows that it is usually 35C and very humid and no wind and no clouds at all. And we had a poor AC so in our apartment was hot and unpleasant. The AC working full time made that horrible noise. It was impossible to take the baby outside cause any later than 6 AM it was too hot already. So for the first month I was literary stuck in our bedroom. And now we have very nice and comfy apartment, the weather is like you can see - cool, but it's October already. I have everything I need for me and the baby, my husband has two weeks of paternal leave and he's relaxed too. So, anyway it's just this good feeling that everything is all right and right on time and in a right place.