Ilona Aada Pauliina (in English)

Happy birthday to me, vol. 2

2006-02-19T02:26:00.000+02:00

Today it was the turn of the family to come to my party. It's very useful to have lots of cousins. Not only do they teach you how to walk, they also help you open your presents...

and make you smile=)

Later in the evening we were joined by my godmother Seliah, her boyfriend Arttu and Outi. And they had some wonderful news to share, but I promised not to tell...

Happy birthday to me, vol. 1

2006-02-18T02:17:00.000+02:00

I'll have my first birthday on Tuesday, but there are so many people wanting to celebrate it that mum decided we should have several parties. The first one was today and on today's guestlist was eg. my hairy godfather Vekku. Both Cassu and I were a little afraid of him at first but he's actually quite nice when you get to know him.

This picture of me blowing the candle on the first of my birthday cakes is a bit fake. Mum couldn't find the matches so there was nothing to blow and anyway, with my cleft palate it would be impossible for me to blow hard enough... But at least I got my finger on the icing and it was lovely, yummy!

While I was asleep...

2006-02-18T02:13:00.000+02:00

I'd love to have friends for a sleep-over. There's enough room in my crib for a couple at least.

And the best place to start a new day is my own chair.

Chocaholic on the make

2006-02-01T02:10:00.000+02:00

Today mum gave me my first chocolate biscuit (a jaffa cake) ever and it was finger-licking-good! Wish I could lick my own face, too...

My favourite chair

2006-01-26T02:06:00.000+02:00

I got this chair when I was 6 months old and only now I've learned to climb on it myself. This is now my favourite place to spend time with my babies.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love...

2006-01-06T01:51:00.000+02:00

... didn't give me any partridges in pear trees or anything else that weird, but I did get a couple of presents anyway. My cousins Ville and Elmeri were back from Thailand and so they came over to our place to open the presents Santa had left them at Grandma's. Grandma, Grandpa and Anna and her parents came too. I just love having visitors as there's always somenone to play with me then.

Ville loves horses and most of his presents were to do with this hobby of his. I don't think I would have been as excited over a brush as he was.

Anna may be a little too young for me to play with just now, but I'm sure she'll soon be old enough.

Luckily Elmeri shares my interest in just running around being wild (well I don't exactly run yet, not unaided anyway). Jumping on beds is also very high on our list of things to do.

New Year's Eve

2005-12-31T01:26:00.000+02:00

Mum wanted to stay at home with me for my very first New Year's Eve . We invited Riitta and Cassu to keep us company. Mum had taken a photo of me and Cassu on this sofa on my first day home back in February. I must say I seem to have grown a bit since then.

However hard I tried, I just couldn't keep my eyes open till midnight. Luckily some people sent their fire works off a little earlier so that I didn't miss all the fun.

Boxing Day

2005-12-26T01:20:00.000+02:00

The thing I love about Christmas (apart from the presents) is having enough people around to keep me entertained. Here's my cousin Oskari helping me walk around the flat for the first time. His first not mine, as it's usually Grandpa who gets the honour (and pain in his back).

Christmas Day

2005-12-25T01:09:00.000+02:00

Today we were joined by my three older cousins Jenni (who's also my godmother), Oskari and Mimmu (they'd spent last night with their mum) and yet more presents were handed out. I even got a few more. Like this mobile phone. About time I got one, too.

Everyone kept saying they'd had so much to eat yesterday, byt yet they were still stuffing their faces... And I made sure I got my share. The doctor had told mum that she could gradually start introducing milk into my diet, but I wonder if this was what she had in mind?

Santa Claus is coming to town

2005-12-24T00:49:00.000+02:00

Here in Finland the Christmas celebrations start on Christmas Eve. The family gathered together at Grandma and Grandpa's place for Christmas lunch. This year only my uncle Panu and his family were missing (they were spending Christmas all the way across the world in Thailand). This was the first Christmas for both me and little cousin Anna and we both dressed up as little elves in order to make the day go faster. We had, after all been told that Santa would be coming later this evening. While the rest of the world has to wait till tomorrow morning...

And then they were there! I felt a little cheated as I hadn't actually seen Santa bring the presents, but mum promised he'd come for a real visit next year. But look at all my presents. I must have been a very good girl all year.

It turned out that they weren't all just for me, but a great deal anyway. I do love these gift wrappings and fancy srtings!

Here's my uncle Jukka helping me unwrap my very first Winnie the Pooh book. I wonder if honey tastes as good as Winnie the Pooh says it does. Just can't wait to be old enough to have a taste. Mum says it's not heatlhy for babies. But I'm a big girl already!

Season's Greetings

2005-12-23T00:46:00.000+02:00

Our hairy friend

2005-12-18T02:11:00.000+02:00

Today my godmother Nunnu and Taina&Erik came for a visit and Nunnu of course broughtVekku with her. I don't really know what the deal is with this hairy friend of mine. First they try to get me to pat him and then they won't let me do it real hard. A girl can get angry for less...

Visiting Cassu

2005-12-17T02:15:00.000+02:00

Today we went to visit Cassu for a change. We had a lot of fun playing together but strangely he didn't like me licking and drooling over his toys. But he does look after me well. Many adults are scared of my cleft palate and therefore won't volunteer to feed me, but here you can see what a good job Cassu made of it.

Santa Claus is coming to town

2005-12-16T02:06:00.000+02:00

Today we had a Christmas do at the playgroup we sometimes attend with mum and look who came to see us! I had never met him before, but I wasn't at all scared. Haven't I after all been a good girl all year long.

On the town...

2005-12-14T02:00:00.000+02:00

Today we met my two boy friends for coffee. Our mums spent time together at the hospital before we were born and the three of us were born within a week of each other. Noel has been the biggest from birth but Eetu and I (both born prematurely) are catching up as fast as we can. Next time I hope our mums take us some place we can run around in (if only we learn how to do this first)

Cookiemonsters

2005-12-06T22:54:00.000+02:00

Today was Finlands Independence Day and instead of dressing up nicely and joining the party at the presidential palace (we weren't even invited, wonder why?), we decided to have a party of our own to get our Christmas cookies baked. We joined forces with Casper and Riitta and got so many cookies done that there were even a few left over for Christmas. And see what a lovely gingerbread house we also managed to put together. Next year I'll be able to participate in more than just eating, I'm sure.

Let it snow, let it snow, let....

2005-11-27T00:40:00.000+02:00

Last night the ground had suddenly turned white and Cassu came over to take me out to play in the snow.

After a while it started raining instead, so we continued our games indoors.

Santa's little elf

2005-11-26T00:18:00.000+02:00

Mum dressed me and my baby up all funny and was at it again with her camera. The best shot won't be published till our cards arrive, but here's a couple we didn't select.

Testing, testing

2005-11-23T23:58:00.000+02:00

Mum's been thinking of buying a digital camera so she borrowed one from Riitta in order to test if it's really what she needs. We're going to take some pictures of me for our Christmas cards, but first mum just wanted to find out how it really works. Here's a few test shots. And in case you didn't notice, I love everything with tomatoes in it...

And here, at last, my first teeth can be seen by the whole world!

And its not just the teeth that we managed to catch on film. Suddenly I stood up in the crib (my great-grandfather slept in it over a hundred years ago) that mum was using as a prop for the photos! This was my first time ever. How lucky can you get to have a camera shooting you right that moment...

Anna's christening

2005-11-19T01:48:00.000+02:00

Today we drove to almost the Russian border to join in the christening of my baby cousin at her maternal gransparents' home in Lappeenranta.

Meet Anna Saara Aurora and her mum Tuija

Everyone said it was a lovely ceremony, but I must say I enjoyed playing with Anna's other cousins Ida and Wilma a lot more than all the standing around and what not.

House warming in Lahti

2005-11-14T23:44:00.000+02:00

Outi & co have been inviting us over for a long time now and now we finally made it; right on time for their house warming party. Lovely flat, lovely party! And at last we were able to congratulate my god mother Seliah for her 18th birthday (which she'd celebrated back in September while I was recuperating from my operation). Here's also mums godson Don joining in the fun.

Seliah was trying her hand out in a bit of match making as she'd decided to wed me off to her cousin's son and I must say Jesse and I had a lot of fun together. The rest remains to be seen...

Yet another coffee shop date

2005-11-09T23:36:00.000+02:00

Today we went to see Peppi and her mum at a coffe shop. We'd met them at the cleft workshop in September and being single parents our mums had more than the cleft thing in common. And although we girls would have prefared a playground to the coffee shop, we ended up having a fun afternoon out.

Music, maestro!

2005-11-05T01:42:00.000+02:00

I was born with long, slim fingers and people always tell me I will be a pianist when I grow up. So maybe it's time I started practicing.

At last they believe that I'm old enough for the swings and slides and all the fun stuff at the playground.

I can...

2005-11-04T01:34:00.000+02:00

During the past month or so I've learned loads of new things, so no wonder I don't really want to waste any time sleeping. I'm much too busy learning. I can sit without any support and crawl backwards like a crab. The only problem is, how to get out once I'm there.

Nette's visit

2005-11-03T01:27:00.000+02:00

Today Janette came to play with me. She's 11 months older than I am and has BCLP (bilateral cleft lip and palate for the uninitiated) just like me. She had her lip and soft palate fixed when she was 4 months old and will have her palate closed in a few weeks time. And yet she can already say all the difficult consonant (PTK...) and even drink with a straw! Things all the text books say are impossible. So who knows what I can do next spring...

Anna's first visit

2005-10-28T01:18:00.000+03:00

My baby cousin Anna visited us for the first time today. Mum wanted to give her some of my old clothes, but thay say she's so much bigger than I was at her age that most of my lovely ones don't fit her. I can't understand this, to me she seems tiny enough!

Now that I'm the big girl I had to do some showing off as well. Here you can see me with my latest party trick; Miss Eats-With-No-Hands,

Birthday boys

2005-10-15T01:02:00.000+03:00

Today we had a double birthday party for my uncle Jukka (40) and cousin Oskari (14). Last weeks birthdayboy looked ever so tiny standing next to these two.

Once again all the adults went crazy when they realized that all us cousins were together at one spot. How many pictures do you really need? Several dozens it seems...

There's one good thing about these family functions though. There are always enough people to keep me entertained. Here's uncle Jukka having a go.

Horse riding

2005-10-09T01:34:00.000+03:00

There's was a fete at the local school today and they had horse back riding and horse pullin a cart that you could go on a ride on. Cousin Mimmu took me for a spin and it was so exciting and the cart went really fast. I don't know yet wether I'll be a horse girl myself when I grow older. Two of my godmothers are keen riders and my cousin Ville has now taken up riding as well. Mum says she wishes that I'd pick up an interest in something less expensive, though...

Elmeri's birthday party

2005-10-08T01:24:00.000+03:00

Cousin Elmeri's 2nd birthday was a couple of weeks back, but he had to wait for his party till today. He loved us singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles. And once again it was like the Oscars awad ceremony with all those cameras flashing non-stop. Here are the cousins that were present. I was glad to see Anna joining us as she'd spent most of the party sleeping. Babies are just so boring! Well, I'm sure she'll grow out of it soon and then we can show everyone what girlpower is all about.

Get up, stand up...

2005-10-01T01:18:00.000+03:00

Mum likes to pretend that I can already stand up although I can only do so when someone holds my hands. I don't crawl, have any teeth or sit without support which many of my peers seem to do. But I'm getting there, slowly but surely!

Cleft babies united

2005-09-23T00:59:00.000+03:00

This week Mum and I have attended a course for cleft affected babies and their families. There were 8 of us babies + two older siblings of one baby and we came from all parts of Finland. They had arranged it so that each of us had our own child minder all through the week. And we had so much fun eating, sleeping and playing while the parents attended classes on various related subjects. The lecturers varied from plastic surgeons to social workers and speech therapists. Mum seemed to enjoy herself although she says the group used up the paper tissue supplies crying their eyes out during some of the group discussions. Some things are just too painful to talk about, says Mum. But mostly there was laughter and intense questioning of the experts. Hopefully we'll be called back for a reunion in a year or two and see how everyone has turned out.

Baby no more

2005-09-17T00:55:00.000+03:00

Today my baby cousin Anna was born so I'm no longer the baby of the family. Mum took these last babyish pictures to show that she could compare them with the ones taken when I was little.

Working nine to five...

2005-09-15T00:49:00.000+03:00

All the ladies at Mum's office had begged us to come for a visit so that they too could see my new lip and today was their turn. There are simply so many people wanting to do it that we're having to make them queue! But I do love the attention.

Dancing cheek to cheek

2005-09-13T00:37:00.000+03:00

Sometimes music just sweeps you away and today it happened at McDonald's of all places! We'd gone for burgers with Mum's godson Dodo and according to Mum they were playing our song. So off we were dancing cheek to cheek, me literally drooling over Dodo. He wasn't too chuffed when he noticed what I'd done to his sweater and the dance was cut short.

Introducing my new baby!

2005-09-12T00:25:00.000+03:00

Today Mum took me shopping for the first time since the operation. And a good thing she did as I'm now the proud mother of the baby you can see in this picture! We looked so much alike in our jeans that Grandma simply had to buy her for me.

I wonder why Mum never lets me have a coffee as she seems to enjoy it so much? Well, water tastes just as nice I'm sure, especially if you drink it from someone else's cup.

TGIF

2005-09-10T00:43:00.000+03:00

And still more shooting

2005-09-09T00:35:00.000+03:00

The day after the stitched were removed

Home, sweet home!

2005-09-08T00:26:00.000+03:00

On Wednesday I was taken back to the theater and instead of seeing a show, they removed the stiches from my lip. Mom was allowed to take me home as soon as I'd recovered from the sedation and had eaten a little to prove that I had. When we got home, the first thing mom wanted to do was to reshoot the last photo taken at home on Friday. Can you spot the difference?

Tuesday

2005-09-07T00:05:00.000+03:00

Now they only keep me in restraints when I'm sleeping as I do move around a lot in my cot. But I quite like these "handcuffs" as I can make a lot of noise by pulling at them hard. Wish I could take this hospital bed home with me tomorrow. I'm sure I coud fit all my soft toys in it and there'd still be some room left for me.

And Mom was still going on about my new smile...

Just another manic Monday

2005-09-06T23:52:00.000+03:00

Mom says my smile keeps changing every day so she has to record each new stage with her camera. I think she still misses my wide smile, though...

Hello, new smile!

2005-09-05T00:11:00.000+03:00

Today I felt like a completely new person. The stiches still affected my facial impressions, but I did manage to flash a few smiles and towards the evening I started to do a lot of giggling as well. Back to normal. Mom was trying to get me to smile for the camera all day and being such a good girl I did grant her a few on-camera smiles.

Wake up!

2005-09-03T23:57:00.000+03:00

When mom came back to the hospital in the morning, the nurses told her that I had had a good night and had behaved like a little angel. That is, as long as I had had someone by my side to entertain me when I was awake. It's such a bore to be forced to lie down on your own. I want some action!

Soon after this pic was taken, all the tubes got taken out and mom got me out of bed. I was starving and luckily mom fed me my favourite, mashed apple/pear mixed together. Yummy! Later in the afternoon grandma came for a visit and this is how I looked then. about 24 hours after the operation. Pretty zoomed out still, I'm afraid...

Bye, bye old smile!

2005-09-02T23:39:00.000+03:00

On September 1 mom took me to hospital for blood tests and what not, but they let us go home for the night. I was glad to be sleeping in my own bed and I think mom caught a few winks as well. This is me just before we left for the hospital. I look quite happy to go although it was very early.

At nine the nurses whisked me to the operation theater and mom was only allowed as far as the lifts. But I certainly was excited to be riding in this fancy bed. Little did I know of what was to come.

At 3 o'clock I was brought back to the ward and mom got to see my new lip at last. The nurses said the operation had gone well but they hadn't really appreciated my demonstrating that I already know how to turn over to my stomach. So they put me in this "straitjacket" for the rest of the day. Not fair! But I was probably fast asleep the rest of the day as I can't remember much else.

Last wide smiles...

2005-08-31T23:36:00.000+03:00

The night before my lip operation was due (once again) grandpa and grandma came for a visit to catch a last glimps of my wide smile. Looks as if mom isn't the only one to miss it!

The night before my "halfbirthday"

2005-08-20T17:15:00.000+03:00

I will be 6 months old tomorrow and here are a couple of pictures taken the night before the big day. I just love sucking my fingers and fist. I wonder how many I can get in once the doctors will have fixed my lip next week...

"I think Ilona loves me...

2005-08-16T17:01:00.000+03:00

...and I love her too" said Mum's godson Dodo and he had it right. Dodo's big enough to hold me and feed me, but he simply refused to change my nappies! I wonder why?

Cleft meeting

2005-08-14T16:38:00.000+03:00

Today we met some other cleft affected families at a gathering held at Suvianna's place. The other kids present, Juho & Ada had very little time for me as they had their own games to play and, alas, I was too small to join them! Luckily there were many grown ups there who queued up to get a chance to play with me.

At Grandma's with my cousins

2005-08-10T16:25:00.000+03:00

Isn't Mimmu just the funniest girl in the world! Both Elmeri and I just love the way she's always ready to play with us. She tickles and tosses and tips me around and I just can't help laughing out aloud when she's around. Elmeri loves his Tyttö as well.

One sunny day...

2005-08-02T01:14:00.000+03:00

Mummo (my grandma) came to town with us and here we are enjoying one of the last days of the summer (says my ever pessimistic mum).

...knees and toes...

2005-07-31T01:00:00.000+03:00

Hey, I don't think I've ever seen these before...

Zoo

2005-07-30T01:04:00.000+03:00

See what lovely pink flamingos we saw at the zoo!

Bookworm

2005-07-29T00:38:00.000+03:00

Now where did I get this interest in books...

Linnanmäki

2005-07-22T00:47:00.000+03:00

Mum's godson Don came for a visit from Lahti and we joined them for the day in Linnanmäki amusement park. I just loved the lights and sounds and all the people although they didn't allow me on any of the rides yet. Well, maybe next year. Here's a picture of Outi and me enjoying the action.

the six

2005-07-11T00:17:00.000+03:00

Mimmu's 12th birthday brought all us six cousins together for the first time in my life. There's a place in between for our cousin "Albert" who will be joining our group in a few weeks time.

me and my high chair

2005-07-11T00:11:00.000+03:00

The first time ever that I was sat on a high chair and look how well it went, Wish they had given me something nice to eat as well!

Cool sunglasses

2005-07-09T00:21:00.000+03:00

This was taken on an outing in Seurasaari and features Casper, Riitta and my sunglasses.

Midsummer

2005-06-25T01:40:00.000+03:00

My godmother Nunnu invited us over to her house and garden in Vantaa to celebrate Midsummer (juhannus) as has been a tradition for years before I arrived. Vekku the dog gave me a few licks (although he was forbidden) but I wasn't afraid. Maybe mum will get me a dog once I'm older...

Visiting granddad's shop

2005-06-20T01:45:00.000+03:00

Granddad says he's retired, but you wouldn't notice it as he's always in and out of the shop (second hand books). Mum says I worked behind the counter with her while I was still in her tummy (just as granddad had worked with his mum).

The operation

2005-06-09T01:31:00.000+03:00

Here I'm all set to go for my first lip / soft palate operation having already had my pre-op medication and wearing the gown. An hour later they wheeled me back with my lip intact. Something to do with my blood saturation and the doctors not wanting to take unnecessary risks... They simply told me to go home and grow bigger. They expect me back on August 10, so now I really need to start working on my eating (not that that's ever been a problem)

Smile!

2005-06-05T01:17:00.000+03:00

Mum wanted to get a picture of my wide smile before the operation (planned for June 8) and after a whole roll of film, she got these.

My Christening

2005-05-22T00:37:00.000+03:00

My christening was held at mum's second cousin Elisa's private chapel in Rehakka. Here you can see me: with my mum; getting ready with my mum and godmother Seliah; with all my godparents; having a bad hair day!

Oh, no! Not yet another picture...

2005-05-10T01:05:00.000+03:00

Don't they ever leave me in peace...

VAUVA!

2005-05-06T00:52:00.000+03:00

My cousin Elmeri wanted to shower me with affection and demanded that he could hold me in his lap like everyone else. Vauva (baby) is one of the words this 19 month old big guy can say.

Mayday

2005-05-01T00:46:00.000+03:00

Mum wanted to go out and celebrate Mayday with friends so I got to stay with grandma. And we celebrated as well.

My 1st on-camera smile

2005-04-21T01:13:00.000+03:00

This is one of mum's favourite pictures of me

Me and my mum

2005-03-29T02:03:00.000+03:00

Easter bunny

2005-03-28T01:37:00.000+03:00

me in my hospital bed

2005-03-02T23:35:00.000+02:00

My first homevisit

2005-03-01T00:59:00.000+02:00

The doctors let mum take me home for the day when I was one week old. And the nurses had dressed me up in mum's favourite design, Marimekko.

My very first week

2005-02-25T22:22:00.000+02:00

was spent in the children's ward at the hospital. I was so small that everyhone was afraid I would not be able to feed enough on my own (what with the cleft and everything) but I showed them wrong! And to think that this hat (a present) would soon fit me like a glove (?)...

Enter Ilona

2005-02-21T20:59:00.000+02:00

On February 21 I saw the world for the first time. Mum had been in and out of the hospital for a few weeks as she had pre-eclampsia and the doctors had to keep making sure that everything was going ok for me. When we reached week 36+ 3 the doctors decided it was time for me to come out. Little did they know when they started the c-section. To everyones surprise I was a lot smaller than the ultrasound had predicted. I was 46,5 cm tall and weighed only 2075 g. And to top it all, I had inherited my mum's lip i.e. I was born with a cleft lip and palate. To read more about this condition visit www.widesmiles.org I was rushed to the children's ward so that I wouldn't freeze, but first they let mum hold me for a minute or so.

Jus when mum had started thinking that they had taken me away for good, the nurse brought me in for a visit (mum wasn't allowed out of bed yet) and see what a lovely dress they had dressed me in!