Our "Finn"omenal Summer Begins

I think last year we called it "Finntastic Summer #1." I am so grateful to be able to spend the summer with Wes and Finn. We have already spent a lot of time at a lot of different parks. We are also SO HAPPY to now have a fence around our yard. It makes playing outside so much more enjoyable for Wes and I. We no longer have to fear him running out into the street when we turn our back.

He goes through slide phases - he either loves them and will go down it no matter how big or could care less and has no interest.
He always loves splashing in puddles.

Supporting Dad's free sandlot baseball program.

First sandlot practice - great turnout. See Finn in the middle of everything?

Eating custard at the Taste of Champaign.

Doctors, doctors

Finn is overall a happy, healthy 18 month old. He is 33 inches tall and 26.6 pounds (about 70th percentile). I say overall because he had a fever a couple days before the appointment and we also noticed a sore on his tongue. Dr. Schuster said it was just a viral infection that would clear up on it's own, but to watch for any persistent or new symptoms.

However, two nights later I could hear Finn wheezing in his sleep and some other funny noises. When I went in to check on him, he immediately stood up and reached for me. I found a wet spot on his sheets that led me to believe he had thrown up (one of the symptoms to watch for). We called the doctor on call and were told that if he was struggling to breathe, we should take him to the ER. So...ER visit #2 was upon us. Finn wasn't acting too sick (even singing in the car on the way to the hospital), but he was not happy with having to be examined and it only got worse when he had to have chect x-rays taken and a breathing treatment. He was diagnosed with croup and a viral infection (can't remember the name). He was happy to leave the hospital and was once again singing on the way home.

More Fun Times

Getting slathered in sunscreen.
Enjoying a popsicle. Finn woke up a few days ago and immediately wanted a "sicle" and to go "side." He was not happy when we denied both requests at 6:30 in the morning.

Trucks!

Always ready to help Daddy.

He obviously put his own sunglasses on.

Taking a break from sidewalk chalk.

We stopped to play at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana on the way home from lunch this past weekend. Finn was quite interested in this piece of art. It was too hot to do the sculpture walk, but we'll definitely do that soon now that he's old enough to explore a little more.

Like father, like son even down to the ball in the hand.

I was folding laundry and Finn crawled off the couch next to me. He had his back to the basket and wasn't paying attention. All of a sudden, whoops - he had fallen right into the basket. Luckily my phone was right next to me. Poor kid is lloking to me for help and I'm taking his picture.

Finn got a kick out of throwing rocks into this little puddle in the alley. After every rock he threw, even the little ones, he'd say, "Whoa!"

Mother's Day

I had a nice Mother's Day. Kandy babysat Saturday night (a little mother's day gift to her) and Wes took me out to dinner. We went to a local steak place in downtown Champaign, but then remembered that it was prom weekend. On top of that, there was a ballet at The Virginia Theater just down the street and we quickly found out that the wait was about 2 hours. We decided to head to a local Italian restaurant instead and had a nice dinner. On the morning of Mother's Day, Wes and Finn let me sleep in and I awoke to the smell of cinnamon rolls. We headed to Springfield that afternoon to spend the afternoon with my family. It was a beautiful day and the spent a lot of time in the backyard playing baseball. Here's my little leaguer...

Since it was Mother's Day, I think Finn should have been wearing his Cubs hat. Oh, well...
I forgot my camera and had to take pics with my phone. I didn't get any good ones with all the boys, but thought Finn looked especially cute in this one. Of course he has a ball in each hand.

Love that little guy! Being his mom is the best. He certainly couldn't be sweeter and he makes me laugh constantly. He is definitely the best part of my life. I am so lucky to have him (and his daddy)!

Outdoor Days

I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted. I can't say I've been extremely busy, although the end of the school year always gets busy and this one ended with quite a BANG (more on that in another post). We've just been spending all of our free time in the yard. Wes has gotten into gardening this year and has done a TON of yardwork. I usually spend my time trying to keep Finn in the yard or chasing him as he throws a ball up and down the sidewalk. He made friends with some neighbors a couple houses down that have a dog named Lady B and everytime he walks by their house he says "doggie."

We got an old tractor tire from a friend (thanks Jake!) and made a sandbox. Finn really doesn't like the feel of sand on his feet (I remember this from our trip to Florida last year), but he has seemed to have gotten over it enough to play in the sandbox.
I gave Wes a hard time when he came home with this tool set for Finn because we seem to keep buying him toys and he already has SO many, but I had to apologize in the end. Finn really does enjoy them and will sit and play with them for quite a while.

Here is Wes building our compost bin.

And because it's the way Wes does things, here he is taking apart the compost bin after he actually thought through how he wanted to do it. We like to say he gets "rammy" and just dives in and gets started and then decides how he really wants to do it. Definitely better than just sitting around thinking about it and never getting around to doing anything. I find it endearing.

And here he is reconstructing the compost bin.

Of course Finn had to get inside and check it out.

Using his tools to help Dad.

Good work, Daddy! Here's a hug for all your hard work.

A little back story on this picture - I walked into the kitchen earlier in the day to find a banana peel laying on the counter. I started to get a little annoyed because is it really that hard to open the garbage, but Wes doesn't usually leave trash laying around. Then I realized he was saving it for his compost bin. I thought that was cute so I had to take a picture of him preparing to drop it in.

Getting that latch on there tightly.