Author: The Nack Daddy

After two days of partying and coming to grips with the fact that our boy is indeed 12 months old, I took Finn to the pediatrician today for his 1-year check-up and vaccinations.
The stats: 26 lbs. 7 oz., almost triple his birth weight! 31.5 inches tall, a gain of 10.5 over his length at birth. Head circumference of 40 cm., which doesn’t mean a lot to me other than that his head is growing right on track with the rest of him.
The fun stuff: Our doc is amazed at how early Finn started walking, and she was also quite shocked and pleased at his cognitive milestones. We were in the jungle-themed exam room, and Finny was “roooar”ing at the lion and “ooh ooh ooh”ing at the monkey decals on the walls. When I told the doc that he could follow simple instructions (Can Finny put Penguin in the wagon?), recognized a lot of words, and could even say a few, she was really excited. She thinks he’s ahead of the curve on the verbal stuff (I can’t say we’re too surprised, given the constant chatter and vocabulary showmanship between John and me). We sure are proud of our super-tot. I keep hoping that I’ll hear “Mama!” someday soon!
Here are a few more b’day photos (HTML)

Our friends Matthew & Lori (themselves parents of a cute little guy named Cooper) gave Finn some terrific gifts just before Christmas. Alongside a Fisher Price bus (which Finn terrorizes Godzilla-style, leading to our calling it the “Disaster Bus”) and a neat Charlie Parker board book, they gave Finn his own kid-sized stroller. Now that he’s more sure on his feet, he loves to load the stroller with stuffed pals, then cruise around the living room. In this little gallery (HTML) you can see him in action, also enjoying his big Radio Flyer. I instinctively withdraw my ankles to a more secure location. 🙂

Finn is getting to the age where A) lying down through a whole diaper change seems like a real imposition on his go-go social calendar, and B) tearing around in various states of nakedness seems like a *great idea*! (Wait til he can start undressing himself…) We therefore find ourselves taking a somewhat more, ah, flexible approach to his attire.
In any case, we continue to have a ball with the little guy, and you can see some more examples of our “horeseando” in this gallery (HTML).

We had quite a fun little weekend with the Finnfatha. Prior to his haircut he had another great day in the pool, this time going underwater with Mom. Throughout the weekend he took a whole new interest in feet, with Margot discovering him under the kitchen island, waving at her painted toes. (He also loves trying to literally knock your socks off, then put them back on you.)
Oh, and upon reading a little book showing babies doing various things, he responded to the “Reaching” page by shooting his arms straight over his head! Tonight when I said “reaching,” he again shot up his arms, then went looking for the book. I know everyone thinks their kid is a genius, and of course we’re no exception. 🙂
The big new adventure was a trip to the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in nearby Los Gatos. Even though the day was a little chilly, we bundled Finn up and went for a little ride. He seemed to have fun, oohing and aahing while waving at doggies, trees, and little girls. His too-small engineer hat made him look like a little old man, we thought (Margot says her grandpa, I say Henry Fonda). Our outdoor picnic plans got scrubbed by the weather, so we ended up enjoying a little car picnic instead. Here’s a gallery (HTML), plus a little video:

The music, incidentally, was featured in the train-riding sequence in Slumdog Millionaire. Finnster is our Squirreldog Engineer. 🙂

Our friends Tom and Sarah are expecting a little girl in March, and Tom has made it very clear that Finn (and the forthcoming little Miles Hughes) better watch his step around the little lady. No funny business or gettin’ fresh, if you catch my drift!
The three of us attended Tom and Sarah’s baby shower last weekend, and we just happened to find the perfect little T-shirt for Finny to sport to the party. It was only available in Spanish, so we had to translate…it says “Lock up Your Daughters.” (Here’s a bigger version.) With Finn’s big blue eyes and killer dimple, we think Tom’s the one who should mind his daughter…Finn’s going to have to fend off her inevitable advances :-).

Needing some fresh air today, Margot and I decided to help Finn get a tiny bit closer to his Illinois roots, visiting a little farm and getting (but not eating) some dirt under his fingernails. (We can’t have him thinking that there’s no more to farms than Fisher Price!)
Unfortunately the farm was closed on Mondays, but we had fun bombing around the grounds and looking at the animals through/over the fence. Weather has delayed my folks’ visit, so maybe we can return with them for some more hands-on time with the sheep, cows, and other creatures. In the meantime, here’s a little gallery (HTML) from today’s adventure.