Author: The Nack Daddy

Photos

Finny The Carpenter

Finn has taken on many personas lately as his imagination has kicked in with a vengeance. One of his current favorites is “Finny the Carpenter” thanks to his terrific red toolbox and play tools (thanks Uncle James!), and a book about building a house, loaned to Finn by our friends the Pawligers.

Yesterday, we received an assembly-required cedar chest to store John’s sweaters. Do I need to mention how excited Finny was when he saw the box pieces, the box of screws, and my drill? He went completely bananas and immediately grabbed his toolbox. “Tape measure! Hammer! Screwdriver! Finny the Carpenter building a box!” Here are a couple of pics from his carpentry adventures. We played with the box for a good three hours! (Finn’s Tournament of Roses shirt courtesy of Auntie Laura and Uncle James.)

(Click images for larger versions.)

Videos

The Brothers Domendite

We’re rarely content to call things by their right names, so why should “domendites” (er, toes) be any exception? Henry’s new discovery down there coincides with his big bro (almost) mastering our family’s version of This Little Piggy. Check it out:

Historical bonus: Compare this bit to Finny & Grandma Nack doing the routine back in August.

Audio Clips

The Frumious Bandersnatch

Several weeks ago, Finn & I were playing in the park when some little girls came by and asked to borrow our trucks. That was cool, and Finny & I actually went off a little distance while the girls played in the sand. After a few minutes, the littlest girl popped out of the bushes and called to us, “Hey!,” then rattled off a stream of gibberish.

At that point Finn & I enjoyed a kind of magical moment: We looked at each other and exchanged a look of bemused bewilderment: What is that girl talking about?? In that moment we smiled and shook our heads at the craziness of the world.

Pretty soon the story solidified as, Q. “What was that girl talking about?” A. “Hey, Bot de BAH!” This morning I poked my head into Finn’s dark room and said, “Bot de BAH!” “What that girl talkin’ about??” he immediately responded. Here’s a sample of our conversation:

[audio:http://www.jnack.com/micronaxx/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Bot-de-Bah.mp3|titles=Bot de Bah!]

Videos

Bugs in the crib!

A few weeks ago, Finn was fascinated to learn about how birds eat bugs off the backs of alligators, hippos, and other big beasts–many of which decorate his crib & room. He got a big kick out of my “circling and circling” his head with my hands (birds), pecking bugs off him. “Binny clean, alligator clean!” he’d declare. And naturally, of course, he got into “haaup!!-ing” the bugs off the gators himself. Here’s a small taste of the show:

Milestones

Henry Weighs In

Big Henry is just that! At six months, he clocks in at 19 lbs. 7 oz, 25 and 3/4 inches long, with a head circumference of 45 cm. This means he’s a little chubby for his height, but I’m guessing a growth spurt is coming on since he hasn’t stretched out much from his 4-month measurements. Compared to Finn at 6 months, Henry is 1/2 pound lighter and a little over an inch shorter, but his noggin is slightly bigger.

He was an absolute dream at Dr. S’s office and was quite flirty with the cute nurses. He only squawked for a second after his shots, then we sailed home in the Ocho so he could load up on cereal and milk. Dr. S. thinks we can start weaning him off the Zantac now, and start offering him water in a sippy cup after he eats solids. We’re still waiting for an appt. with the pediatric urologist so we’ll keep him on the antibiotics until we know more.

Audio Clips

Mr. Brown is Out of Town

Let’s be honest: there are certain things that no one–even grandparents–wants to hear too much about, and potty training details must be at the top of that list. Therefore let’s be mercifully brief and just note that the Finnster has turned a big corner, putting his potty chair to good use. He really digs us reading Time to Pee! as we all, uh, wait out the proceedings.

Here you can hear the “Proud Pooper” (as he calls himself) give his thoughts on the subject; click the little arrow to play:

[audio:http://www.jnack.com/micronaxx/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Pooping.mp3|titles=Pooping!]

Oh, I do have to note that as I walked out of his room tonight, I heard a little voice in the dark remark with some wonder, “Poop is brown!” 🙂

Photos

Colander Helmets, ho!

The Tinmen Cometh. 🙂

[Click for a larger view.]

Videos

American Birdman

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Finnster and I like doing lots of crazy little duets based on my murdering of popular music. Recently we’ve turned The Guess Who’s “American Woman” into “American Birdman.” Now when I poke my head into his darkened room in the morning, I can say simply, “Do dee doo doo doo, dee doo!” And up from the crib comes a wavering little falsetto: “‘Mer-i-can Boo-man!” It’s pretty fantastic. Here’s a sample of our routine:

Videos

My pacifier goes “Reeka-Reeka-Reeka…”

Post author By The Nack Daddy
Post date January 6, 2010
No Comments on My pacifier goes “Reeka-Reeka-Reeka…”

Fair warning: This is one of those Videos Where Nothing Happens, but we find it kind of charming anyway. Henry is a real innovator when it comes to his pacifier, treating it like a sandwich. Behold the noisy, Nutcracker-tinged munching:

Videos

Sack of Potatoes

Grandpa Liggett gets in some good, impromptu weightlifting courtesy of one jubilant sack of potatoes:

Miscellaneous

Some new blogging mojo

Do not attempt to adjust your computer monitors! 🙂

We’re making some adjustments to the appearance of the blog–formerly “Finnegan Wakes,” with the new official title to be determined; we want our man Henry to feel welcome, too! The new blog address is http://www.jnack.com/micronaxx in case you want to update your bookmarks, though we’ve set up an automatic forward from http://www.jnack.com/finnegan. It may take a little time for things to settle down, but hopefully you won’t run into any problems. If you have any trouble or see things that look wrong, please let us know.

Videos

Local Engineer Survives Monkey Attack!

Post author By The Nack Daddy
Post date January 3, 2010
No Comments on Local Engineer Survives Monkey Attack!

To say that Grandma & Grandpa Liggett’s gifts of a Thomas the Tank Engine play hut and sock-monkey slippers are a hit is just a wee bit of an understatement. Finn now more or less insists on being addressed as/referring to himself as “Engineer,” and he wakes up talking about “Monkey shoe attack!” Check out a typical session:

Videos

Creepy Mousy II: Finnegan’s Revenge!

Post author By The Nack Daddy
Post date December 30, 2009
No Comments on Creepy Mousy II: Finnegan’s Revenge!

Perhaps you recall our little friend Creepy Mousy, teaser of all ticklish little locals. Well now the creepee has become the creeper! Check it out:

Videos

“AhBluhBluhBluhBluh!”

Dad-O’s gibberish + some background Bocelli = Christmasy good times on the play mat. 🙂

Christmas Photos

Christmas ’09

We’ve had a ball this Christmas having Margot’s folks in town. We’re still busy chasing the lads & fighting the flu (as Finn would say, “Byyuck!”), so I’ll keep things brief for now. Here’s a little gallery (HTML). In it you can see the terrific Thomas the Tank Engine play hut & monkey slippers that Grandma & Grandpa Liggett got for the Finnster; some balls & “Luchador keys” from MrsW; and the righteous “SQRL POD” license plate Mom-O got for the bike trailer!

Photos

Ho Ho Henry

Look at this little package I found under the tree. 🙂

(Click each image for a larger version.)

Christmas Photos

The Nack Family, Christmas ’09

Post author By The Nack Daddy
Post date December 22, 2009
No Comments on The Nack Family, Christmas ’09

As I mentioned the other day, getting our little guys to sit still for a family Christmas photo has been no easy deal! Fortunately, however, Margot’s fellow Madre Veronica was able to catch the dudes at a peaceful moment:

(Here’s a larger version.) Many thanks, Veronica.

Videos

“No Eh-SCAH-pay, Goonie!”

Post author By The Nack Daddy
Post date December 19, 2009
No Comments on “No Eh-SCAH-pay, Goonie!”

Miscellaneous

Of Banking & Dentistry

We’re having big fun with Finno’s imagination these days:

Lately he’s taken a shine to Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day? At one point in the book, Farmer Alfalfa (a goat) deposits his money at the bank (run by a pig, naturally). Up in our bathroom last night, Finn spied some coins on top of the little dresser & started forcing them into a slot. “Finny goin’ to the bank!” he said. “Givin’ money to the pig!”
Several months ago he accompanied Margot on a visit to her dentist, Dr. Vandi, where he was entertained by the kind Mrs. Vandi. In the basement today he spied a manilla office and said, “Dr. Vandi’s office!” From there we were off to the races, with Finn trucking back and forth: “Finny goin’ to see Dr. Vandi and Mrs. Vandi!” I’m pleased to report that Leo’s teeth got very clean. 🙂 “Thank you Dr. Vandi!”

Miscellaneous

A little Yuletide oddity

Last year, Grandpa & Grandma Liggett gave us a great Advent calendar. It’s a large box containing numerous drawers, each containing a tiny ornament, a bit of story, and instructions to sing and/or a figure to the crèche. Finn’s really been enjoying the process this year, though he’s gotten a couple of wires crossed. This morning he was looking at a cast of Margot’s belly when it contained him:
“Mom-O tummy!” he declared.
“That’s right, Finny,” I said. “And who was in her tummy?”
“Baby!”
“Right–and who was the baby?”
“Goonie.”
“Uh-huh. And what other baby was in there?”
“Jesus!”
Oh my. 🙂 We sorted out the confusion, and now Finn’s back to talking about how he went “POP!” out of the tummy. Meanwhile, no word on whether he’s connected the dots in determining that the same Mary who appears atop the Golden Dome in his Notre Dame picture book is the same one that appears in the Nativity scene.