Catch up - Part 2: Nine and a half months

Last wednesday Finn learned how to clap his hands. I would often clap them for him, but then just out of the blue he clapped them together, completely unprovoked. It started out pretty awkward, but he quickly got the hang of it. I think this is the first skill he's learned that he is truly aware of and it makes him so happy. He'll just do it every now and then and get this great big smile on his face. Awesome.

Last Thursday began R's week off from work. We didn't have a major vacation planned, but wanted to have time to both work on our major house project (more on that later) and to do some fun little outings as a family. On Sunday, we went to the Midwife Center family picnic and talked to one of the midwives who has an 8 1/2 month old about our babies' lack of teeth. Well, it was later that day that I discovered something sharp poking up through Finn's lower gums. The only real sign that I saw was a runny nose, but that also coincided with the sudden fall weather and my reluctance to turn the heat on in September. His naps, however, have been pretty short, which makes getting things (major house project) done during a nap very difficult and frustrating. I am grateful that he hasn't been too crabby otherwise.

Along with the sprouting tooth, he's started sticking out his tongue. In a couple years I may not be a fan of this behavior, but right now it's cute.

His other new activity is what I will call "The Marcus", named after Annie's son who has an amazing talent for launching himself into the air from a sitting position. Finn has started to do this, only he get's so out of control that he usually ends up falling backward or on his face. And he's never gone completely airborne, so maybe Marcus should give him some pointers.

No time for a photo...maybe next time, along with more on the so-called vacation week.

Catch up - Part 1

I know I've been MIA for a while, so I thought I'd try to get in a little catch up post if Finn will allow it. I've been busy working and playing and working. Two weekends ago we spent some time in Morgantown visiting some friends and their son, Eli. We weren't able to make it to Eli's first birthday party the week before, so it was nice to see how he's grown and see him and Finn interact. Finn got to know their two large dogs, Sasha and Buckley. It's been a little while since he's been around a dog, so it was like a new thing to him again. He was frightened when we first arrived as they were very excited to check him out, but soon the tables were turned and Finn wanted to check them out. While we were there I was lucky enough to take Eli's 1 year photos. Here he is, with one of his favorite items...



Now it is back to work...stay tuned for part deux.

Baby update

Finn turned 9 months last week. He is almost 20 pounds and is 29 inches long. We visited family over Labor Day and he has officially outgrown his 13.5 month old cousin, Annie. His hair is also growing. Here's a recent picture of him upon waking from a nap with an exceptionally cool hairstyle, no product needed.



Cute, huh?

His new favorite thing to do is crawl up the stairs. He tries to do it when I'm not looking and then as I approach, he tries to go faster to get away.

Still no teeth. I think they start to come through and then those little chompers recede back into his gums. Is that possible? Probably not.

I'm finding it hard to believe that his first summer is coming to an end. We've been so busy, yet it seems that there are lots of things that we didn't get to do. Luckily we'll have many more summers to come.

My Turn - show and tell

Amanda, of AJKnitting fame, had to show off her fancy, new sewing machine here, so those of us with...hmmm...well-loved machines are sharing as well. So here mine is:



It's served me well and I don't have any major problems with it, so I doubt I'll be getting a new one anytime soon. I'll just dream about serging and automatic button holes for now. Although there was just a coupon for a brother machine at Costco - I think it expires today actually. That's okay.

Oh, Annie, I would love to see your machine! I don't know why Cara neglected to make such a request.

3

That is the number of seconds that Finn can stand on his own...no hands. Impressive, I think. He just wants to stand and climb everything, even when he's nursing. Picture this...his mouth latched at the appropriate place (you don't really have to picture that, not in detail anyway), his feet on my lap and his butt way up in the air. That describes our last feeding session with him trying to climb up me while still eating. He's a maniac.

3 is also the number of naps that Finn continues to take. I tried at about 7 months to get him into the 2-3-4 schedule, but he was always cranky after 2 hours awake, so we stuck with what was more like 2-2-2-4. Now, he's dealing well with being up 3 hours after the morning nap, but his naps are ending up being so short that he needs a third one. One hour naps, so the schedule is now more like 2-3-2-4. Ughhh. How is this supposed to work? I think I was better off before. Now his feeding schedule is getting thrown off as well. What to do? Is there something I don't know?

my lover, Sean

This is going to be pretty photo-intensive...just 'cause.
Here is the giant sock, all knitted up:


I was trying to get a shot of the babe with the stocking as a size comparison. This was last week, pre-crawling, but he kept getting away from me, even when I stuck him inside it.

Is that baby bottom in handknit not the cutest thing? I really should have him in wool soakers all the time.

Now for the detail. The loop that I added:



The heal:


The toe:



And the end result after felting:



Most importantly, it's big enough to hold all the loot I expect Santa to drag down the chimney. Happy, happy!

We've got mobility!

I've been so busy chasing baby that I feel like I am way overdue in posting about this momentous occasion! Last weekend, Finn started crawling...and at the same time...pulling up to stand wherever he can. Here he is trying to get his new stocking!



The babe's already got a fondness for the handknits! And I must say that I am very happy for BabyLegs - his poor little legs get all red without them.

So, we're pretty unprepared for this mobile creature. There really should be some kind of warning. It didn't take too long before I decided to put up a baby gate, which we just happened to have gotten on Saturday morning, pre-mobility. Maybe that's it...buy a gate and the kid starts to move. In any case, he loves being a caged animal: