Eight Months Old!

Happy 8 months Finnegan! I am officially one of those moms who laments about how time flies and how I can't believe he is (fill in the age) already. Well, it's true. It is amazing to me that Finn is already 8 months old. He has so much personality and is so much fun.

Trapped in the couch. Notice how he has the camera flash timed and drops his eyelids just a bit.Checking out his first rainbow.He needed a little help to stand here. He's been trying to pull himself up, but we don't have much for him to grab onto. When he tries it in his crib, his feet slide through the slats.Here's the best shot of his teeth I could get. His bootom left and top right are through. He slides his jaw to the right so he can put them together and even grinds them every now and again.And here's his scrunchy, snorty, laughing face. I know if looks like he's growling, but he's actually breathing heavily through his nose (see puppy dog video). He cracks us up!

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Yes, there is a cut below Finn's left eye. That's the result of his little flicky wrists. Since he discovered his wrists and ankles, he is constantly rolling his hands and feet. He also flicks his wrist back and forth whenever he's holding something. Yesterday I had just finished reading him a book before his afternoon nap and he took the book in his hand. He then decided to flick that wrist and bang, right under the eye. Who said reading never hurt anyone? Poor thing cried for a few minutes, but luckily "London Bridge" still does the trick so he was calm and ready to nap pretty quickly.

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It's been an amazing 8 months and I can only imagine what's to come.

My Little Puppy Dog

Check out Finn's puppy dog impersonation. Also, catch his deep nose breathing semi snort he does to get our attention or make us laugh.

Root, root, root for...which team?

Summer Fun

Life is good this summer, or should I say Finntastic? I have nothing exciting to report, we've just been having a great time being together. We've taken lots of trips to the park and library. Lots of walks and time swinging. Lots of snuggles, smiles, and now smooches. That's right, Finn is now giving big, open mouthed, slobbery kisses. I've received three of them so far. Yes, he may just be trying to eat my face, but I will consider them kisses.

Visiting Daddy on the farm.

Lunch on the Quad.

Enjoying the swing.

First ride in the big biy car seat. We'll get to turn him around to face forward in just a few more pounds.

Love the pic on top, but didn't get the flowers in there. We just finished our walk around Meadowbrook Park. It's a great place to take a walk. There are beautiful prairie flowers and sculptures along the path and even though there are many people walking, roller blading, and jogging, it is very quiet and calm.

Still trying to get a picture of Finn's teeth. One has popped through on the bottom and his top right one is just below the surface. He hasn't fussed about teething too much. There have been a few fussy moments, but overall he hasn't been bothered by it all too much.

Finn has also gotten passed the 40 minute naps. He has been regularly napping for an hour and a half to two hours twice a day. He sometimes takes a third catnap, as well. I have also cut out Finn's final feeding of the night. I would go in and feed him while he was sleeping before I went to bed for the night. It was supposed to help him make it through the night without waking hungry. It worked, but I thought he could make it without the "dreamfeed" so I tried giving it up. He woke around 4am for a couple nights and I fed him, but has been sleeping through the night ever since. He goes down at around 8 and has been sleeping as late as 7-7:30. Definitely loves sleep like his mom and dad.

I will hopefully have pictures to share of our finished basement soon. It is nearing the end of the drywall stage and we will hopefully be ready to paint next week.

Finn's Firsts

We are thoroughly enjoying 7 months! It seems like Finn is doing all sorts of new things. Besides his first roadtrip and first time having his feet in the sand and ocean (gulf, I guess is more accurate), he has had some other firsts.

This one's a little blurry, but it's Finn's first time in a big boy restaurant highchair. This definitely makes eating out easier. Finn can sit up and people watch and we can feed him Puffs to keep him content and occupied.Here's Finn's first swing at the park. He obviously loved it!Finn has started pulling himself up. We sat him in the laundry basket the other day and he was happy to sit there and play. Next thing we knew, he started arching his back and pulling himself up. Here he's leaning back for the camera. I have video and will upload it once I have a chance to edit it.

Keep checking back for another first picture. Finn has a couple teeth getting ready to pop through. We can feel the corner of one on the bottom just emerging and can see one of his top teeth just below the surface. Growing so fast!

Final Destination - Seaside, Florida

Thursday morning we got up and had a quick breakfast with a friend of Kandy's who now lives in Atlanta. After that, we hit the road again. We ran into some traffic and it took a little longer than we hoped, but we finally arrived in Seaside around 4:00. Amanda reserved her company's condo which is located right across the street from the beach and right above one of the buildings in the center of the town. The city is beautiful and the condo is amazing. Hanging out on the balcony.

Looking out of our balcony to the right. Look familiar? The Truman Show was filmed here.

Looking out our balcony to the left. That's the Gulf of Mexico. I'm not sure if it was because he was tired or just a little unsure of where he was, but Finn pretty much kept his head snuggled on my chest. So sweet! No bathtub in the condo, but the kitchen sink was just Finn's size.Headed down to the beach.Feet in the sand for the first time.Feet in the water for the first time.Amanda and Corinne playing in the waves. Corinne LOVED the beach! Staying cool in the shade.Why is everyone else so tired?Finn looked adorable in his "beach duds." We got these at a kids consignment shop and it is sized at 2T. Really? Kids sizing is so crazy.Finn was asleep by 8 on the 4th, but when the fireworks started at 9 he woke right up. I went ahead and pulled him out of bed and we were able to watch the fireworks over the Gulf from an open balcony area in the condo complex. Great show and Finn went right back to sleep when they were over.Cousin Corinne was great with "Baby Finn Finn." She even put on her froggy dress when she saw that he had his froggy shirt on. Happy group shot. Where's Grandma Kandy? Not sure why we didn't set a timer and get her in the picture, too.

Our first family vacation was fantastic, or should I say Finntastic? Finn was a great little traveler and we had a wonderful time. Looking forward to many more family vacations!

Off we go...1st stop, Atlanta

Last Tuesday we left for our first family vacation. We were ultimately headed to Seaside, Florida to meet Amanda and Corinne, but were swinging by Atlanta to check one more baseball stadium off our list. We departed from St. Louis with Kandy after Finn went to sleep Tuesday night and drove for about 5 hours. We finished our drive Wednesday and arrived in Atlanta at about 3:00. Our hotel was about 2 blocks from Turner Field so Wes and I walked there and Kandy and Finn stayed behind. We had great seats and the Braves won.

So happy to be out of the car and rolling around on the bed!

It was HOT!