Tot update

I've had so many blog entries in my head which I haven't had the chance to create and now they seem to be either forgotten or irreleveant. But I have a moment so I'll try to remember some content and do a Finn update at the very least. In list form, the latest changes in the tot's life:

- Just one nap a day. Every day. Finally.

- Boy that he is, he's totally into boobs and trucks. Boobs for the milk, all...the...time...and trucks everywhere we go. All of you mothers of girls will have to let me know if they have a crazy obsession with vehicles at 16mos.

- His first molar. That was fun. How many more do we have to go through?

- His first words. He had already covered Mama, Dada, and uh-oh (not in my Webster's but whatever). Now he has added tickle (usually said at least 3 times in succession), ball, and kaboom (as in our tower of blocks went kaboom or, just as often, Finn went kaboom)

- His first haircut. For whatever reason, I was hesitant to go ahead with this, but he was looking shaggy more often than not and so one day I just did it. I'll share some pics. He could actually use more of a trim already, because I was fearful of cutting away too much of my baby.

This is him just before the big event.


The cut was the day before Easter, so since I slacked on Easter blogging, here he is with the new do in his fancy pants on Easter Sunday.


And because I think he's stinkin' cute, some more photos for your enjoyment.



The darling outfit is actually parts of two outfits. The sailor suit was made by my mom for my older brother and has matching blue shorts. However, the suit was too small for him, so I pulled out these lovely white shorts that happen to match in style and function. These too large vintage shorts were my father's and I'm told there is a matching white jacket somewhere. Really, we're not so poor that we can't buy him new clothes (or in this case, clothes that really fit). I just have a fascination with putting him in my dad's vintage duds and lovely little things that my mom made years ago. (Plus, it helps validate the pack rat nature that I share with Mom.)



He's very interested in reading up on The Beatles.



And because I can, here is what he looked like last year at Easter in another outfit made by mom for my brother, sitting in the same chair as above.

The Guatemalan Irish Twins Session

Yep. And cute too. My last photo session was with Annie's boys who are about 8 months apart. So I had a two energetic toddlers on my hands, although each with his own unique personality. Oh, and a nice doggy, too. Seriously, these boys were a lot of fun (and I think they liked me too). Although, I did a little too much yelling with them and lost my voice for the next 24 hours. All part of the biz.

Hello, Neighbor!

Finn in his cardigan in honor of Mister Rogers' birthday.



All of his new sweaters are pullovers, so we went vintage with this little cardigan. I love when he sports vintage clothes...it somehow makes me feel like we're suddenly transported into a more carefree time, if only for a moment.

(Don't mind his hair - he awoke from his nap with a bit of side flip. Also, I can't quite bring myself to cut his hair just yet.)

a day at the museum

I took this family photo at the Children's Museum, where we recently spent an afternoon with some visiting out of town family. Things started off nice and easy. Among other things, Finn enjoyed the bubble-making see saw with some of his cousins.


But things got really interesting once we made our way up to the third floor water play area. He had no notion of the joy he was about to experience.


Fish anyone?

Finn loves to splash in the tub, so I knew he would delight in this "exhibit". He splished...



and splashed...



and even dunked his face in a few times. He was thoroughly soaked to his toes.



I knew in advance that I should have a change of clothes if we planned on letting him play in the water, but I wasn't thinking about the shoes. He should have been wearing the provided sandals like his cousin Annie.


She wore the shoes, but refused to put on a raincoat.

Once he was done splashing in the pool, he went on to do some hydro engineering with the big kids.




By this point I think his hands were probably numb, but he did not want to leave the free flowing water.

However, the place was closing so we had to do our best to wring him out. He even got his first blowdry.



Our party included 7 kids ages ranging in age from 14 months to 13 years and I think all of them had fun. Actually, we didn't even get to enter the hands on art area on the first floor (which I love). It closed earlier than the rest of the museum, so I'd plan on going there first if you're interested.

Overcome...

So, I've been noticing signs (or so I thought) that my babe is ready to move from his two nap a day schedule to a one nap a day schedule. Yesterday we had a morning playdate that served well as a trial run. Just as I suspected, he fell asleep in the car on the way home, had lunch and then went down for a nap...not too reluctantly, but he didn't sleep all that long either. Today was the first "regular" day of trying the schedule and this is what happened...




The little guy couldn't even finish his lunch before he was overcome with sleep. I kind of wanted to just leave him there, but figured he would end up waking too soon and be really cranky. So to bed he went and without much trouble. He's still out, so we'll see how this goes.

Mmmm....doughnuts

Okay, so I'm late. I'm asking you to just play along and pretend this was posted a month ago. For the second year in a row, Finn and I happened to be visiting Nana and PopPop in time for Fastnacht Day - aka Doughnut Day, Fat Tuesday, whatever you like to call it. We always make homemade doughnuts and lots of them.

Who doesn't love deep fried dough?



Even the little ones lent a hand or two.



A little girl after my own heart. Yes, I had an affinity for eating raw dough.



I said "had". Honest. Oh, you ask where is my kid? My kid was in the next room dumping toys on his face.



He does this all the time. Legos, puzzles, you name it. What can I say?

Soooo...now you want to see pictures of the finished product. Ha, are you nuts?! I like to take photos, but I like engorging myself on fresh from the grease doughnuts even more, so the camera had to be put down. Turns out Finn's alright after all. He made an eager appearance in the kitchen in time to chow on doughnuts just like the rest of us.

Who's that girl?

I'm sure most of you will recognize this darling little lady known elsewhere as The Boss. She just turned one year old and I had the pleasure of photographing her cuteness to commemorate the occasion. She was soooo much fun!



Isn't she a doll?! No offense to any of the other little cuties out there, but I'm having my lawyer look into arranged marriages as I type. I may never have a girl of my own, so I gotta be prepared.

This next one is especially for her mommy. The Boss wants to let you know that she misses her spiky hair sometimes, too.



And despite her growing up, that picture still says baby to me, so Happy Birthday Baby A!!!