Another Trip to the Park

Wes has been talking about taking Finn with him on bike rides since Finn entered the world. He was also quite specific about the type of bike seat he wanted. That made Christmas shopping pretty easy for me. The bike seat has been sitting in the entry hall since December and we finally had a reason to get it out. Wes and Finn rode to the new park across town and I met them there. Finn was all smiles on the front of that bike.

I bought Finn some velcro sunglasses online. We thought the bike ride would be the perfect time to get them out. Here we put then on...
...and by the time we put the helmet on, the sunglasses were off. We'll keep working on that one.

And now he wants the helmet off. That one's not negotiable buddy.

Let's go Dad!

Finn loved crawling up the steps and through the little tunnels. He also liked this little twistable-cog-gadget-thingy that had tiny marbles in it.

Off and running - again.

Trip to STL

After work on Friday, we picked up Kandy and headed to Saint Louis to visit Amanda and Corinne. It was Kandy's birthday so we had a family dinner and cupcakes. Saturday we went to watch Corinne at her gymnastics class. We had planned to go to the St. Patrick's Day parade, but it was pretty chilly and damp so we headed to The Magic House instead. I remember going there when I was a kid with my friend Angie and her mom. I think it has at least doubled in size. It's a great place to take kids of any age. There are things for the itty bitties, as well as school aged kids. Finn and Corinne had a great time.

This was a room just Finn's size - think Willy Wonka where the hallway gets small, that's how the adults looked scrunching in here. It was filled with different kins of light switches that of course turned on and off lights above them. There were also doorbells to be pushed. Finn spent a good amount of time in here. Actually, he got pretty involved with everything he was playing with and would get upset when we moved him to the next thing, but he'd get over it and quickly get involed with the next activity.

Making music with PVC pipes and flip flops.

Driving a car. The windshield wipers worked and there was a place to fill up the gas tank.

Finn loved the sand box. Wes is already planning one for our yard. We had to drag him away from here.

He also loved everything that involved a ball. The top one has a ball moving down ramps ringing bells along the way. The bottom one here had tubes mounted on the wall at different angles. Finn loved dropping the ball in and chasing it wherever it came out.

There was a grocery store, mechanic, and pizza restaurant. Who knew kids would be so excited to walk around and shop for groceries? Finn decided he needed his own basket. It was a great weekend and a nice cure for some lingering cabin fever. We will definitely go back to The Magic House when we have more time. Thanks Amanda and Corinne!

Spring has arrived...

...at least for one day. Last Wednesday we reached 60+ degrees so we rushed home from work and walked to the park down the street. Finn loves to run around and is very interested in watching, some may say staring, at other kids. His energy is abundant to say the least.

Daddy helping with his form.
Looking like a real golfer here.

Off he goes.

He decided he no longer likes the baby swings so he had to swing with mom.

Enjoying the merry-go-round.

Putting all the way home.

This trip to the park was followed by my first June Cleaver moment. When we got home, Wes and Finn played in the yard while I ran in to finish dinner. We had slow cooked a roast and I went in to make potatoes and veggies. When dinner was ready, I found myself stepping out onto my large porch shouting, "Boys, dinner's ready!" I wasn't wearing pearls and heels, but boy have things changed. :)

Growing Boy

Finally found my computer cord buried in the couch cushions!

Finn had his 15 month well baby visit at the beginning of March. He is a healthy, growing boy. He is still a little skinny-mini-Miller. He weighs 23.8 pounds which is the 40th percentile. He is 31.25 inches long - 56th percentile. Wes can't call him a pea-head anymore because he is now in the 64th percentile for head circumference.

The teeth are now coming at a fast and furious pace. He has two top molars - one on each side, two more on bottom in the front, and at least one more on top. Besides lots of drooling and finger chewing, he hasn't seemed to mind too much.

He is quite an independent little guy. In the past week especially he has really taken on feeding himself. We now all get to eat at the same time. He is very good at using his fork and loves dipping in ketchup. Tonight he was eating his corn niblets one at a time, stabbing them with his fork.

Loves to color and scrunch up his face.

Mr. Drummer boy

Just looking cute. Thanks for the sweet outfit Matt, Katie, Kodey, and Lane!

Dancing and Smooching

Here's a little glimpse of that wild man we know and love. Finn got really excited about Yo Gabba Gabba and was super grooving. He took a quick break to love up on his dad, though. So sweet.

Pics, playing, & personality

It's hard to get good pictures of Finn because not only does he rarely stay still long enough to get the flash to go off, he usually wants to play with the camera. So we have a lot of pics that look like this...

Finally, a pic with mom!

Finn loves to play and has a great talent for taking every toy out of his toybox.

We're working on the putting it all away skill.

Looks like a little man headed off to work with his lunch box.

It is interesting to watch the way Finn's personality changes depending on where we are. He is a wild man at home - into everything. The other day he walked around the kitchen and attempted to open every cabinet. After he made it around the room once, he went around for a second try. We know he is a cut-up at daycare. He'll do anything for a laugh and does the "robot" (Wes and I call it the "bushwhacker" because he pumps his arms up and down like the old WWF tag team - need to get that recorded) on command and will repeat any behavior that elicits a laugh from the other kids. But when we're in unfamiliar territory, he is quite the observer. Standing still and taking it all in, very quiet, very calm. No matter where we are he is our sweet little guy.

Super Sweet Super Fan

Finn and I were watching the Superbowl together and I started cheering New Orleans on at one point. Apparently, I called out, "Go! Go! Go!" because Finn joined in with the same cheer. I thought was adorable at the time, but forgot to tell Wes about it. A few days later we were watching an Illini basketball game and Finn remembered the cheer. Now anytime he sees any sports on TV - baseball, Olympic skiing, even curling, Finn cheers, "Go! Go!" Interestingly he only does it with sports. How does he know the difference? He's definitely advanced. In this clip, Finn saw the Flip camera and wanted to get his hands on it so here's some evidence of his developing language.

Making Valentines

Finn has gotten into the habit of turning his water cups upside down and getting water to drip out. He then likes to spread the water around with his hands and play in it. We figured if he liked to do that, he'd live finger painting, right? We decided that we would have him do some finger painting on big pieces of paper and then cut the paper into hearts and send them to family as Valentines. He didn't get as into it as we thought he might, but it was a new and interesting experience for us all and the end result was pretty cute.

Here we go!

First dip of finger in paint. Finger immediately in mouth. See the red on his lips?

Getting into it a little.

Using a foam brush.

Some of the final pieces of art.