Month: February 2009

Mr. Finn’s been working awfully hard at saying words these past couple of weeks, and we’re happy to report that he’s starting to make some progress! Here is his current vocab list:

• Down!: where Finny looks longingly after he drops his food over the side of his chair.
• Yeah: in response to anything that sounds like a question. (Undoubtedly this will switch to “No” at some point all too soon!)
• Good-a-Good-a-Good-a-Good: not really associated with anything specific, but he sure likes to say it!
• Duck, Moo, Arf Arf Arf, and Roar!

[And hey, let’s not forget “Da Da!” He’s much more purposeful in saying it, and other day he greeted me with a simple and direct “Dad!!” How terrific is that? 🙂 –J.]

Ah, poor little Finno has come down with quite the intense cough and cold! His upper lip is doing a great recreation of a Slip n’ Slide—blech!
The two of us have been kicking it bachelor-style for a few days while Margot visits some pals in Seattle. I’m typing this after midnight, listening to the monitor and hoping the whole thing doesn’t become a full-blown case of the croup. At least Carol has had some experiences with that sort of badness & was able to set me up with some health info yesterday (e.g. if your child wakes up coughing and crying, run a hot shower for 15 minutes for the steam, then take him outside to the cold night air for 10 minutes).
We miss mama, but she’ll be back soon enough tomorrow evening. In the meantime, Finn had the freaky experience of hearing her on the phone; many quizzical looks followed. We went for a long walk this evening, and he was good as gold until *exactly* the maximally distant point, so I ended up carrying him the 1.5 miles home (and here I’d been complaining that I get no exercise ;-)).
Nearing home, Finn spied some balloons attached to a sign and lunged back at them. He was really fascinated, so we went inside and I splurged for a pair–$2.17 very well spent! Now in addition to learning about (and shouting) “Down!” (i.e. where he keeps dropping his dishes), he can learn about “Up!”

Finny is definitely a physical little boy! He’s so intrigued by mastering new skills, and so observant of adults as we go about our business. For instance, Finn wants to walk up the stairs big-guy style–just one foot in front of the other, hoisting himself up the stairs while standing the whole time…no crawling and belly-flopping for this guy! I think he sees us go up the stairs and thinks “I can do that, too!”. So John and I hold his hands and help lift him to the next step once he gets his foot planted.
He’s also decided to master clapping this week. Just out-of-the-blue started clapping all by himself! And he’s also mastered his “seafood casino” toy–which entails pushing a big purple button to get little spinners (covered with fish illustrations) rolling–something that takes quite a bit of coordination and has heretofore stymied our boy.
Probably the most fun thing he’s been doing is self-initiated peek-a-boo. Tonight he repeatedly positioned himself behind the door frame, slowly peeked around the edge so dad could get a look at him, then slowly edged back behind the wall again. Quite the little show!

This is our first Valentine’s Day with Finnegan, and we both agree that he really puts the L-O-V-E into the day. And speaking of first Valentine’s Days, our good friends Alex and Bryan Hughes welcomed their son Miles into the world this morning at 12:17a.m., making this V.D. the best one ever for the Hughes family :D. We are going to the hospital this afternoon to meet little Miles and bring some treats to Alex (who labored throughout the day yesterday, and into the night) and Bryan to celebrate.
So it’s a big, happy, love-filled, heartwarming day all around. Finn’s enjoying the cards and little gifts he’s received from Auntie Laura & Family, and both sets of grandparents. We (Mom and Dad, that is) have a dinner date tonight, so Carol will babysit her young Valentine while we go out. Much love to you and yours!
[Update: Here are some photos (one, two, and three) of darling little Miles. We had a great time visiting with the new fam yesterday & fortifying them with brownies. –J.]
[Update two: And Here’s me with Miles. 🙂

Big news today–Finn’s going to have a little brother! We had our 18-week ultrasound this afternoon, and got to see our little guy for the first time. We’re super-excited, of course, and can’t wait to meet him in July! Now comes the hard part–thinking of a name! It took us quite a while to come up with, and then settle on Finnegan, so we’ve got another big challenge on our hands.
Here are some shots of El Segundo (HTML), who looks perfect and healthy, and who’s currently weighing in at about 1/2 lb. He’s got a long way to go to catch up to his (ever-bigger) big brother, who just hit the 26.5 lb. mark.
[Oh man, it’s all too wonderful. 😀 I can’t believe that we can watch our little bambino just hanging out, doing the backstroke, hiccuping, and more. Man, and to think that a year ago our wild, romping, cackling Finnster was not too different! Excuse me while my heart just explodes…! <:-) --Dad]

Another weekend, another swim class for Mr. Finn. This week, no-holds barred head underwater dunking!
We’ve been making baby steps towards a full-face dunk each week, getting him used to splashing, then getting mouth and nose wet, and finally a few quick dunks underwater. He did great! To get the babies comfortable with the whole situation, the parents go underwater first then pop up and smile, and when it’s the babies’ turn, we sing a song, swish them back and forth (heads up, of course), then a quick blow of air on their faces and under they go. The breath on their face startles them a bit and they suck in their breath right before going under. There was only one instance where Finny swallowed some water and spit it right back out like a cherub from a baroque fountain. He seemed to enjoy himself even more this week than in the past, so we think swim class was definitely a good move.
The rest of the weekend was spent charming the guests at our friends’ baby shower, and then wrapping things up with tons of Dad-led horseplay and what John likes to call “inversion therapy” (flipping a chortling Finn upside down).