11 months

Learning to read takes intense concentration

It would be cliche for me to say the time has flown by, especially since every single mom from the beginning of time has had the same exact sentiments, but realizing that in one short month...4 quick weeks...28...okay you get it, Finnegan will be one year old really blows my mind. If I look back on the time it really doesn't seem like the time flew by. Matt, Finn and I packed so much into these past 11 months that Finn's birth seems eons ago. Even so, it is pretty surreal to be planning a birthday party for my son.

Month 11 of all the months seems the most uneventful. I think Matt and I are starting to get into our own parental rhythm. Morning snuggle with Finn followed by a hurried dash to get out of the house on time (normally because I am snuggling too long with Finn), work day, Matt picking up Finn from daycare or his Grandparents house, I arrive home around 6ish to help play with Finn and get dinner ready, a messy sit-down family meal that ends with Finn being air-lifted straight into the tub to wash off most of his dinner, and finally down for his night time bottle, a story or two and sleep. Then it all starts up again in the morning.

Although our routine rarely changes day to day there are always new revelations, stories, laughter and lessons that Matt and I, as new parents, are attempting to learn from and grow by.

Likes: opening every cabinet, drawer, toilet seat and box to see what is inside, pushing cars around the house, chewing the noses off all his stuffed animals, feeding the dogs from the table during dinner & turning on and off the lights in all the rooms but especially the rooms with fans.

Dislikes: laying still to have his diaper put on, putting on pants or shorts, tomatoes, being removed from excitingly dangerous situations such as trying to open the oven, not being able to reach items that are above his head & being strapped into a car seat.

The boy in the box

A box never gets old

Wagon Train

Welcome to the wild wild west people...okay maybe not the wild west, just Placerville. Although some would argue that Placerville is pretty wild.

This year the whole fam jam made it down to main street to see some horses pull some wagons and to vote for the best ribs, and if you were wondering, the best ribs were made by my cousin Ricky.

Putting out the fire

Deputy in training Finnegan

Deputy Matty

Papa and Cici checking out the ribs...serious business

wagons

and more wagons

The Bestest Best Friends



Jill-bean

Matt catching some ZZZ's in the kid tent

Yeee Hawwww Cousin's are fun

This year Placerville held a rib cook-off in conjunction with the Wagon Train and if you haven't caught on yet my cousin Ricky was in the competition.

Here are the ribs in question:

Isn't your mouth watering?

Jilly approved

And here is the man himself, with his winning metal! So it wasn't first place, but he got first place with all of us.

old photos

I finally found some time to get some of my older photos taken off my camera and edited, so here are some old photos

First taste of yogurt. I believe he approved

4th of July parade

Pit stop on the side of the road on our way up to Placerville

Softball practice

Such a true statement

10 months



Month 10 proved to be a very difficult month to get any usable photos of Finn and his number card (hence the late post). I originally tried to get a photo of Finn down by the ocean, but the day I planned the photo shoot, Finn decided he didn't need to take a nap all day and was not in the most cooperative mood. The next opportunity I had was at our very favorite Taqueria, Taqueria Vallarta, and again, Finn was not going to hold the card, let alone give me a smile. The photo below was the best I could do, but I loved his messy face so I am still posting it.

What grand adventure's did Finn get into during month 10 you ask? He experienced his first plane trip up to Oregon for his second cousin's wedding. He experienced his first boat ride up at his Uncle Tom's cabin in Washington and went on his first Moose Cruise (sadly he did not get to see a moose). He has figured out how to walk while pushing his little Radio Flyer wagon (video to follow soon) and is just starting to stand independently by himself. He continues to try any food we put in front of him and has become very good at eating on his own. His favorite foods are shrimp and ribs and his favorite thing to do is blow raspberries at the top of his lungs at the most inopportune times. Matt is still trying to get "daddy" to be his first words but it looks like "dog" might beat him out. Finn can say dog and I hear him practicing it sometimes when he is alone but has not used it in the correct context yet.

I am still trying to figure out my schedule now that I am commuting 2 hours each day so my blog is one of the things I am slacking on in order to get more time in with the little Rugrat. Once I get into more of a flow I am going to try to get back on track with the posts. Thanks for hanging in there everyone!

9 Months

Hot Off The Presses!

Finn is 9 months old

July 14th marked the ninth month of young Finnegan's life. Over the course of these momentus four weeks, events took place that would change the young boys life as he knew it forever. Amid the explosions of fireworks and the din of innumerable parties the little lad discovered the advantages of becoming bipedal and all the new vista's this position allowed him to enjoy. Terrestrial locomotion in a bipedal form has still evaded the young explorer but his adventuous spirit and determination will soon remedy this set-back. He entertained many with his original compositions on the piano, and just recently began accompaning his beautiful ballads with original lyrics, reminicent of the spontaneity and vitality of the improvisational Jazz Movement.  All who have wittnessed his Mozart like talent will be eager to follow his early musical carreer. Independence has been an underlying theme leading up to the culmination of Finnegan's ninth month of life. Parade's were held and attended, fireworks were enjoyed while sitting atop the roof with good friends, beer festivals were graced with his presence and enjoyed by all healthy enough and of legal drinking age to drink and Finnegan perfected the task of self feeding while trying out new flavors and textures. He would like to report that he most decidedly did not like chicken tenders or kiwi fruit, but sweet potatoes and quinoa are two favorites. Finnegan looks forward to a fun filled and prosperous month 10 and hopes to be able to spend most of it in the company of good friends and family.

Enjoying Yogurt for the first time...yum, yum!



8 months

Likes:

Balls of all kinds

The bath tub

Pulling himself up to standing

Follow the leader

Sweet potatoes

Rides on trains

Swimming with Grandma & Grandpa

Climbing stairs

Wind-up toys

Dislikes:

Johnny Jump-up

Poopy diaper changes

Not being able to feed himself with a spoon

Hitting his head on everything

Celery root

An empty bottle

Not walking

 Motor on little dude...motor on!

A boy and his dog

I want to do a series of these because the relationship between Finn and Bleu is just too funny, it goes beyond the high chair

I found the two of them like this the other day while I was fixing dinner. Finn was busy taking all of his toys out of his basket and Bleu was curled up keeping watch over him. Although Bleu looks pretty bored with the conversation!

It's Pizza Friday!

Matt and I eat pizza every Friday...I know this is not the healthiest of habits but it makes the question "what's for dinner?" really easy to answer every Friday. We always get Papa Murphy's pizza so it isn't dripping with grease and if you order the cheese pizza you can put your own topping on and save a ton of money (not that a Papa Murphy pizza is all that expensive). Eventually I would like to get my act together enough to make our own pizza every Friday from scratch...I know, I know, it isn't difficult and doesn't take that long, but you tell that to the grabby 7 month old that wants to touch and put everything in his mouth. Long story short, we like pizza on Friday's (no matter where it comes from or who made it) and now Finn is joining us in our little family tradition.

Do any of you have Family traditions that you have passed down to your children? Or maybe you have started new traditions with your family? Please share with us!

Growing Up

Oh my little boy is growing up so fast...but to tell the truth, I don't really missing the past. I loved being able to hold him snuggled up to my chest and not have to worry about him ripping my earrings out, or being able to set him down on the ground and know he will be in that exact spot when I got back. As nice as all these things are and were I am loving the new things even more.

I love that he will see me or Matt from across a ball field and squeal with delight.

I love that he can crawl to me (more on that later) and then hold his hands up in indication that he wants to be lifted.

I love that when he smiles I see two perfect little teeth.

I love that his personality is starting to come through.

I love all these things so much and I am positive that when he starts walking I'll love that, and when he starts talking endlessly I love that. These things are all the things I imagined parenthood to be, and to be able to experience them first hand is pretty amazing.

Not to leave you on a cliff hanger with the "more on that" comment above, I had a wonderful video of Finn taking his first crawling steps in his room. It was a precious moment and a pretty funny video, and I deleted it! Yup, that's right, the daughter of an IT Director, an employee of a company that touts the importance of backing up your data, did not back up her data and accidentally deleted the video with no way of recovering it! UGGGH! So I have been meaning to get a new video of Finn crawling but life got in the way and a few days after learning how to crawl he learned how to pull himself up, so I am posting a video of him pulling himself up instead. The little bugger is already standing and cruising along anything that will support him.  I'm going to have to re-think my baby proofing strategy in our house.

MakerFaire

I have been wanting to go the the MakerFaire for several years now but I always seem to miss it when it come though the Bay Area. This year I finally made it! Matt was underwhelmed by the thought of so many geeked out people so he opted to stay behind, but Finn and I donned our Star War's tee-shirts and barged over to San Mateo for some serious science and robot fun along with my parents, Mika, Cici & April.

First up, and the sole reason I really wanted to go to the Fair:

ARRR TOOO DEEE TOOO!

There were about 5 fully working droids on display that people had made themselves!  I have put this on my bucket list of things to do.

 

Introducing Finn to R2-D2...he was mesmerized

 I think Cici benefited the most from this trip, everything she encountered was amazing to her

Getting lost in the lighted forest

Showing off her Michael Jackson moves on the lighted dance floor

playing with the light wall

Moving giant Cupcakes?!  Yum

Taking a spin on the solar powered merry-go-round

When Finn wasn't napping he was having fun trying to strangle Papa with his hat strap and riding a Tauntaun looking stuffed animal (I really wanted to buy it but it was in the $300 range, yikes)

I will be sure never to miss this event again...maybe next time I'll make it a two day event!  Geek out everyone!

Choo Choo

A couple months ago Finn got to go for a ride on a real working steam train with his Aunt Laura and Uncle Dusty. He is practicing for their Big Day when he will be in charge of their rings while attempting to walk/crawl/be carried down the aisle.

This Moment

I love this face

This Moment

I will miss this toothless grin when all his teeth come in

A country picnic

A few weeks ago Matt and I took Finn to Roaring Camp, a park near our house that has a working steam train, for a family picnic.  The weather couldn't have been nicer, I just wish my allergies would have let me enjoy the day a bit longer. Hurmph!

Once in the park we noticed a Wanted sign posted for ol' Fast Hands Finn, so we thought it would be best to lay low.

Finn enjoyed himself immensely and we had no run-in with The Law.

Here's to more sunny days and yummy picnics!

Vroom Vroom

Thank you Emily for my Jeep!! I love making the horn go beep, beep, beep.

Belated Easter Post

So this took me way too long to post, but here is my photo heavy Easter post. The day was beautiful, we spent it up in Yuba City with Auntie Mel, the weather was supposed to rain but the sun peeked his head from behind the clouds just in time for some Easter fun and the Easter Bunny showed up to hide some eggs for Cici so all in all we all had a great time.  Now on to the photos!

Cici's Egg Hunt

There is a funny looking rock in that pot

Even April got in on the hunt

Although the girls did all the work, Finn got all the loot.  He didn't know what to do with himself

The Easter Crew

Matt and I played the Blanket Game with Finn and April, they both had a blast

Happy Easter Everyone!