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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I'm in Waste Management



In this video you can see Finn stop to say 'Cheese' to the camera. He says this whenever he sees you come around a corner, during hide and seek, or any other game where you can suddenly see someone, or suddenly face them. It's really funny.

Over the Bromo and Through the House...



Those of you who don't know us well, Bromo is the black and white dog finn climbs over like a bump in the road to get away from the daddy monster.

The Boy in he Box







Finn LOVES playing with Daddy, AND with boxes.


Onward!

New Words

Finn now tells you when he has poop. and when you change him, he tells you it stinks.

It's the best thing he's ever said.

Big Boy Bed


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Due to recent economic strain, we have decided to forego the making of the casing for Finny's big boy bed, and opted to alter the crib he has for a little man's bed.

It's awesome, he goes right to sleep at night and gets himself right up in the morning, and goes to find the dogs before mommy is up. Though mommy is a little sad he doesn't come looking for me first. :(

We're having some trouble keeping him in bed at naptime, because he wants to get up and play, but I suppose we'll figure that out as well.

We had a hilarious parent moment! As we went to check on him before bed, our hearts melted, and we both felt the need to kiss, touch, or otherwise fuss with our little boy in his big boy bed. Normally this does nothing to wake him, but last night, he woke right up, and then we ran for the door, hoping he would go back to sleep. We heard a 'whhhhump' as he slid out of the bed and onto the body pillow on the floor.

I ran back in and scooped him up quickly as Tom turned on the music, and he was back asleep in no time, but it was VERY funny that he was just fine until we messed with him, and that he just limply sort of rolled out of bed. The sound was the best part, I think.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Almost Party time!

Finn's party is coming up! I left the detail off so no internet creepos showup, but let me know if you didn't get yours and would like to come!

I'll send you the real invitation.

Click to see it bigger-- it's pretty blurry because I had to scan it, and it was a pretty pixelated image to start with.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Hard at Play

AH AH AH AH AH

This is One minute and twenty one seconds of my life.

Every day.



Awesome.

And very, very loud.

More Stuff in Stuff

This is one of Finn's favorite toys. It's a choo choo with a storage compartment in back for a guy, or a load of some kind.


Look closely, he appears to have put something in the compartment.


Upon further inspection, it became clear that he placed a wooden yellow crane inside his train. Not only can he rhyme, but he also has great physical dexterity. I couldn't tell you how he got that in there, or how hard he had to work, because I'm not sure it's coming out.


And now, the train goes inside something. Something in the train, something on the train. Everything in it's place.



And for the finale, he will now sit on the container holding the train, holding the crane, because darn it, it has wheels and he wants to ride it! This didn't work, but man, the process was fascinating to watch!




Words

Finn likes to tell us it's cold now, and shiver and hold his arms together when he's cold, or he knows he needs to put his coat on!

He's also very quick to point out fish, frogs, bugs, cheese, choo choos, and all sorts of other things.

He says so many words now, and strings them together! It's so exciting!

Nipples

At some point in every boys life, nipples become very exciting.

Surprisingly, Finn has reached this point now!

He has started lifting his shirt and fondling them, pinching them, poking them, and laughing incessantly. I can't get him to stop!

At La Leche League yesterday, he must have done it for half an hour! It was so funny-- and I was glad to not have to be embarrassed by it in a room full of moms!

When he wears a onesie or shirt that tucks in, he waits until diaper change time to grab his nips! I tell you, he is too funny!!!

Mister Manners

We've gotten very good about saying please, and he does the sign as well (dragging an open flat hand across the upper chest).

We're working on 'thank you', and he will do it for Chuck, but has only done it for me once or twice and then stopped again. I tell ya, the power of peer pressure starts so early-- he hears the trips doing it and follow suit without any prodding at all! Maybe Chuck is just a better parent than I am, too, who knows?!?!?!

'I'm sorry' is not even close to coming. He won't say it, and gets really angry. He is very willful, and though we broke him of tantrums MONTHS ago, they are back with hitting both himself, and YOU in the face. We've had to take to some physical restraint (to avoid injury to all parties) and time outs, and are hoping this will work quickly. I hate doing it, and often have a time out and a few tears, myself, after the big ones. The terrible twos are rearing their ugly head (just in time), and I'm hoping I'm up for the challenge! Time to get tougher!

Anyhow, here is some 'please' and some play time! You can see him doing the sign if you look for it. It's good to know he listened to those videos and could at least understand us, even if he never used his signs to talk back to us.

Bak on the horse....

Playing in the busket with Daddy...



And NOT easily discouraged!



The Unsinkable Mr. Finn.

We love him so much.

Concentric Circles



Let's all take a moment to appreciate Tom's bathrobe, or there would be a lot more of him to see!

Monday, November 17, 2008

SNOW

Today, as I drove to buy some special wipeys for Finn's unending diaper rash, it began to snow.

Gian, Fat, Cascading snowflakes, that delighted him to no end. By the time we got to Target I had him saying 'no' (snow minus the S) while pointing and laughing at the flakes.

The best part was driving through town with the biggest fattest loveliest snowflakes, and smelling the smoke of a pile of burning leaves.

It was a moment in time filled with nostalgia for several senses, and an excitement for a winter and a Christmas with a boy who will understand that this is all for playing with. Life just got a little more exciting.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Big Boy Bed

Well, it's time.

NO, not to get rid of Murrey (I wish). Any takers???

Finn has a climb-out-proof crib (featured above) that is gorgeous and has served us very well (thank you grandma), but he still tries to get out, and nearly every day --sometimes many times in a day-- he gets his leg stuck in one of he slats and we have to rescue him.

He's a big boy, and we're movin on up. My mom left behind a twin bed for when 'Finny gets bigger', and Tom and I are going to make him a nice bed frame. Though I'm sure Poppa will be largely involved in it's construction, I will be painting and designing it and Tom will build it. Maybe my dad will even help a bit, since it will be built in his garage, someplace I'm not sure he will ever leave.

Anyhow, my theme will be counting sheep, (inspiration) and I think it will be very cute, and we hope to have it done in time for Christmas (though with holiday engagements creeping up on us, I think we may be short on time). I think it will fit nicely into the primary color scheme of his room, adn will be easy to paint over and update for more kids.

We also bought this in green to keep him safe inside but not trap him. The bed will otherwise have three sides, and nice long pillows to keep him from going 'bump' in the night.

It breaks my heart he is so big already, but I do think he's ready. I wish there was a new baby to put in the crib, but good things come to those who wait... right???

Oh, and thanks to Michelle (K), we have a great theme for his birthday-- CANDYLAND! I only have a few ideas so far, but I'm sure once my juices get flowing, I can make it spectacular... but first I need to work on the invitations!!! Again, I'm open to suggestions....

Punk rock Mama


Take THAT Thirty!!!!

All I need is a nose ring and I'm set. Youth will not evade me.
Neither motherhood, nor time, nor age shall defeat me when I have hair dye!!!
MWAHAHAHAHAH!


This is Buckbeak. She is a dear, dear friend, and we have the SAME HAIR. I did them both at once, aren't we trendy? Last time I saw her I cut it too, I'm so handy! We also painted our nails pink to match our hair, and are going to get pink heels to go out on the town in~ FUN.

Jesus! Are my boobs really that big? Good lord, call Dr. Rey, I need a surgical intervention.

Pardon the peaked complexion, we've all been very sick with bloody diarreah (scary, but doctor said it's okay) and vomiting for almost two weeks now.

Poor Finn also had a yeasty diaper rash and was SOO very miserable, but he seems much better thanks to some antifungal cream and powder, and mommy's special homemade diaper cream. I will miss his 4 hour sick boy naps when he does get better, but I'm hoping he'll get better soon so we can go out and play with our new mom's group before it gets too cold!

ROCK on.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Halloween

Finn's first costume was a ninja. He looked very cute. The triplets came to our Halloween party, all dressed as super heroes, and Finn had a GREAT time running after Sarah. Here they are taking a breather, and sneaking a few kisses.



By the end of the party, Mr. Maniac man had torn his costume off of his body, and into three pieces, so I had to run out and find another one. Being at the mercy of the retail establishment (I usually buy online and early) I had to get him what was left, so he was a mouse. And he wasn't happy about it.

I should probably mention that it was an unseasonal 70 degrees that day, so his warm fuzzy costume, which would have wonderful against late October wind and rain, made him sweaty, and angry. But no less, before running out to another party of our own, we had time to make one stop for Trick or Treating with our new neighbors Michelle and Topher.

Here she is, glamorously doling out candy to Finn, who very politely said please. He liked this part.

And then Uncle Topher stepped in to hand him a 'special' prepared bag of goodies, and then two extra bags of good stuff for being so cute. Finn also liked this part.


Especially the cars, which he carried with him to bed that night, and told us all day until we got to grandma's house, that he had cars.



We tried to make a few more trick or treating stops, especially to the neighbors I used to trick or treat at, but Finn got very angry when he couldn't play with their dogs or the other kids, and after a huge tantrum we thought it best to go home. We had plenty of a candy, anyhow.

Pumpkin Farm Day

This is a picture of a boy who thinks he is very excited to go to the Pumpkin Farm.

This is what he looked like inside the pumpkin farm.

As you can see, he didn't like it very much. Of course, I was heartbroken. Halloween is my favorite holiday, I love it much more than Christmas, and the pumpkin patch visit is my most looked forward to holiday tradition. I was SO disappointed.

We spent less than an hour at the farm altogether because he never stopped crying. He was terrified of the animatronic things (understandably) that were everywhere, and he was suspicious of everyone and everything because they scared him so much.

Tom and I had planned a weekend day to go, but Finn barfed his breakfast that day, so I had to take him myself. Because of this, I brought the wagon to help carry the pumpkins and to keep him from getting crowd claustrophobia. He did not sit in the wagon AT ALL, but I had to drag it with me everyplace, and couldn't go into the petting zoo and other parts of the farm he would like because I didn't want to leave it outside unattended. I carried him in the Mei Tai the whole time, and was sorely disappointed by the whole trip.


This face says, 'mommy, get me out of here.'

Once we packed up to go and he got his little punkin, he was very happy, though.


I passed a farm stand that sold pumpkins that looked cute, and I was determined to stop and have a fun day with Finn. It was much lower key and turned out to be a great decision! He loved the bunnies.

And he REALLY loved the chickens.




Click here to listen to him talking to them.



I found some unpasteurized unprocessed apple cider (SO hard to find), as well as some good, fresh farmstand jams, pickles, and some mums to decorate the house with. It turned out to be a fun little excursion, after all, which made me feel much better.


Displacement


These pics are old, but Finn now understands that 'things' can fit into or onto other 'things'. So strange combinations of stuff are popping up all over.




Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Up to date

For those who don't know, I will be officially sending in my DONA certification package this Friday, which means I ought to be certified in a month or two.

I'm also provisionally certified to be a Bradley Instructor (up on their webpage in lights and everything), and start my first class in January.

These certifications by themselves take most people 3-4 years to complete. I did it in about a year and a half. I really have been working hard and look forward to seeing what it's like to being 'just' a stay at home mom once I'm all done. I am still going to finish up my La Leche League peer counselor position work, but will be taking my time over the next few months.

And I guess I will still be cleaning houses, too, so maybe less of that stay at home stuff than I thought! Well, maybe now that we have a pres-elect from the party with the donkey instead of an ACTUAL donkey, the economy will improve and I won't have to do that much longer. One can only hope. And for the record, none of us could be happier Obama won. We're lighter on our feet than we have been in years. The power of hope is incredible. And the power of racism is lesser, though I'm still horribly ashamed of the some of the responses the color of a man's skin has to illicit from some of the toads out there. If only we could mandate healthcare AND education, America would be a healthier, happier place for sure. And the republican party would have a lot of 'splaining to do...

Anyhow, I learned of a new feature offered by Gmail (owned by google, as well as blogger and many other awesome things) called Google Reader. You sign up through your google mail
(Gmail) account and can 'subscribe' to my blog, and it will give you updates when I post new stuff. My sister turned me on to it and I though I'd pass it along. Of course, I will be able to see who is subscribed, so if you're one of my 'secret' viewers, you may want to just stay anonymous so we can both pretend you're not sneaking peaks at our little life. I even put a little gadget in the sidebar where you can see who my readers or 'followers' are so you can check one another out if you'd like-- again, this is where the anonymity issue would come into play, as this is automatic.

Anyway, Happy Subscribing!

Lazy Mom

Sorry, I have been really horrible at keeping up. We're all moved in, but still don't have internet on my computer, which is where we keep all the pictures and my whole life, so I don't have anything new for you yet-- soon, though soon. And I have some Halloween pics and stories for you as well as some stuff from before the move.

Finn is turning into a lanky little boy before my very eyes. In just a few short weeks he seems to have grown into, and is now growing OUT OF all of his Christmas and Birthday gifts from last year! He's so very tall and thin. Like his mother was, and not so unlike his cousin Sammy soup. It really will be interesting to see who he looks more like as he grows, because there are so many similarities.

One difference, though, are his vocal skills. He makes a lot of noise, but not as many words as I would like him to. Mind you, he's quite average in his development, and seemingly all boy because he sees the world as a giant jungle gym, and has no interest whatsoever in talking, words, or being read to.

I'm also not one of those 'on top of' moms who is all up in their kids face about everything. I know he's a bright kid, and I want him to find his own way and teach him at his own speed instead of mine. Tom and I have very different ideas about education and teaching than most couples these days, so I find that those who cram learning down their kids' throats look down at me for not being more 'into' it.

But, I am who I am, and we're moving along. He knows most of his letters, but won't tell you about them unless he hears other kids doing it, or is in the right mood. He knows a lot more words than he lets on as well, and it's really a battle of the wills to get him to use them. Just this week we mastered 'thank you', which he has signing for over a year now. He has known what it meant all this time, and knows what it means, but wouldn't even try to say it until properly, diligently, and significantly motivated to do so.

He is a very stubborn boy, which of course he got from me. I suppose my dad is laughing at me from beyond as I struggle to show Finn who is boss.

He also REALLY likes to slam doors, turn off light switches, and hit things. He REALLY enjoys kissing me with such vigor that he slams his head into mine with affection. He also does these great climbing hugs wherein he starts on your chest and climbs onto your head. Don't be fooled by his attempts at affection-- they're all just ploys to hit or climb on you. Like I said, he's all boy.

We're really into cars, boats, and choo-choos these days. Pulling up at a train crossing is like he won the lottery, and from the wails afterwards, you'd think he won but then lost his ticket.

And we're also on our second old-school butcher block hacked up mommy hairstyle. His hair is thin and wispy but curly and cute. It's getting darker and thicker, but if it gets too long, it just hangs all limp, so I keep cutting it into layers to promote the curls. But don't worry, no traditional boy haircuts here, we're way too cool for those. :)

OK, enough for now. My little man needs a snack and some quiet time before bed-- which he tells you he wants to go to now by going upstairs and waiting for you in his room. Too cute!