He's come around...

So, after all that scariness with Finn's language vacation, we seem to have turned a corner. Though he went a few months without learning more than a few words total, he's learned about 10-15 in the last week or two.

Chuck and Meva turned us on to some awesome videos for language development, and now he says letters, numbers, words, and even tries to count and sing the alphabet song! I also worked with him really hard to boost his motivation to learn more words and it really helped.

I took Finn to see Dr. Zooooooom, my OB and his ped. for a while, and ha all but laughed when I told him my concerns. Finn is NEVER quiet, ans was making sounds all through his visit. I guess pre-word sounds are a good marker of progress, and not just the words-- whcih is a huge relief. Finn is literally not quiet all day (much like I was), so that's really encouraging.

The doc says boys are slower than girls as a general rule, and that Finn was more than on target. He also rold me stay off the internet child development sites! While we were there, Finn even said a new word-- coat.

So, we're not too worried anymore, and if it wasn't so difficult to get him in to be screened, we'd do it anyhow just as a precaution. But my life is 10x crazy right now, and Tom's working 60 hours a week, so it's no dice. Maybe when things are little more manageable, we'll get him checked out, but it's likely by then, this will be a distant memory. :)

Gettin' my ears lowered

We went to this great place called Cool Cuts 4Kids near Borders in OP. It's AWESOME. They have cool chairs, movies, video games, a train table, and all kinds of things to keep the kiddos distracted.

I thought he would freak, but he didn't, the distractions worked, and got a little commemorative card for his baby book with hair and a picture after his first (official) haircut.

Mom, why is this lady touching my head?

Look, it's the word factory!!!

I don't like that noise by my ears. It's scary.

But I LOVE getting my hair combed. She does it slower than mommy-- probably because I don't try to take it from her all the time.

VROOM VROOM!!!! HAIRCUT TIME!!!!!

For $17, who can beat that? That's the price of NOT holding a screaming kid while getting hair in your mouth, and it's totally worth it to me!
(Though I'll probably still do most of his cuts at home).

Big Day

I had a cancellation this morning, so with as nuts as my weeks have been lately, I made haste to get some things done off my list-- including Finn's first haircut, and his two year (belated-- and they always will be because he was born during the Christmas rush) pictures.

Captain Stud man.... moving up in WHOLE numbers now....

This one reminds me of my dad because of his body posture. He also looks so big here!

Nevermind the tears in his eyes-- just look at those curls!

You wouldn't believe what we had to do to get these-- he screamed the WHOLE TIME. It was crazy. I tell you, photographers are shameless, and they just might have the best job on Earth.

Looking forward to another year with mom and dad! WOO HOO! GO TWO!

As always, let me know if you want one and I'll order you one!

Out of Order

Finn's speech development is coming along. I admit, I worry because his physical development was so early (and remains ahead of the curve) and his speech is just average.

He has a hard time with hard consonant sounds, but seems to have to no interest in learning. He also doesn't really seem frustrated by his lack of ability to communicate with us, so I guess he's just not motivated.

However, as usual, he's doing things his own way. He is skipping things like shapes, colors, animals, and other basics, and can tell you about all kinds of weather, and description words. I don't understand how he can skip the nouns and move on to the adjectives, and abstract things, but he seems to be doing that.

He says rain, snow, sun, c-c-c-cold, silly, outside, pretty, and some other things, for example, but won't say home, chair, red, blue, square, or circle. He does, however, completely understand the concept of possession, and tells us all day long that everything is 'mine'.

He's an interesting kid, and he makes us laugh every day with his nonsense. I can't wait until he can talk to us better, but I suppose I will just have to!

Another Shiner

Finn got yet another black eye-- these pics are a few days in.

He had a giant hematoma sticking out the side of his face, big as a blueberry. He climbed on the kitchen table (glass top) and pulled off the tablecloth, and promptly an right into with his face. This is why the tablecloth is on there.

It was an hour before my first class (that I teach) was starting, and I had to call Mev in a panic, thinking he had a head injuty and needed to go to the ER. Thankfully, it was just a normal face smashing, and nothing special.

And here he is acting like a monkey. Which he is.

Filing System

This cracks me up all day long. There are ALWAYS cars in my filing cabinet. This is why.

Playing with Uncle Chris

These two are always a riot together.

I'm not sure who is enjoying this more, Chris, Finn, or Bromo.

I think maybe he was born to be a dad.

Another Visit to the Children's Museum

Finn got a real big kick out of these glow sticks. Maybe he will grow up to be a raver. But I hope not because then I would have to make fun of him.

I don't wanna work! I just want to bang on me drum all day!
(Todd Rundgren)

Drum video

Light show video

OOOh, creepy...

It's Gary's hand. He moved it all over the house. It was really funny.

He got kind of creeped out when he first pulled it off of him, but then had a great time trying to get the hand to hold things.

Fun in the bathroom

Of course this only happens when mommy is indisposed, but hey, at least he enjoys it.

And here's the T-shirt that explains it all.

I tried to be good but I got bored. Nuff Said.