Okay, I know it’s a totally invented milestone, but our littlest guy has officially done a “half century” in terms of days on earth. In recognition, here’s a little gallery (HTML) of the two boys this past weekend. The bats are gifts from our baseball-loving pal Ginna. (Thanks again, Ginna!) The Cheerios holding them in place are functioning as chocks. 🙂
Henry had his one month checkup this week with Dr. S. He currently clocks in at 12 lbs 2 oz, 22 inches long, and has a head circumference of 40 cm. This puts him in the 90th, 75th, and 90th percentiles, respectively. His throat has healed up from the reflux thanks to Zantac, which he will continue to take. We have to up his dose of antibiotic for the kidney since he’s getting bigger.
He has also started becoming much more alert and aware of his surroundings, which also translates into a lot more difficulty in getting him to fall asleep and stay asleep. The changes in his sleep patterns between last week and this week are marked. This week we’ve had a lot more fussing and sleep-fighting, and it takes a lot longer to get him really and truly asleep and have it stick for more than 10 minutes. That means he and I are spending exponentially more time in the rocking chair, and also exponentially more time awake in the middle of the night if he’s not in the mood to continue sleeping. Yeesh. The last couple of nights have been rough, and it’s hard to remember to be patient and empathetic when your baby is wailing at you from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m!
Yesterday Finn was sitting on my lap while we were recounting the day’s events. I looked over at him to find his right index finger shoved as far up his nose as it would go. “Hey Finn, what’re you doing with that finger up your nose?”, I asked. Finn looked at me, then took his left index finger and shoved that into his other nostril. “Two!” he said gleefully.
July 2, 2009: Finn turns 16 months old! Hard to believe, and even harder to believe that El Segundo’s arrival could be any day now. We keep waiting for “Gundo” and he keeps teasing me with phony contractions, but has made no definitive moves towards his big entrance.
Meanwhile, Finny keeps picking up new words every day. New ones include “handle”, “eagle”, “hanger”, “ice”, “antenna”, and “Beetle” (re: our neighbor’s vintage VW bug). He’s decided he likes watermelon, and he tried a dill pickle today and surprisingly, liked it a great deal. He really hammed it up when he made his “pickle face,” but kept on asking for more!
Yesterday, Finn went on a bender about “BrokenHam!”, careening around saying it over and over, and cracking up in the process. He and Dad would take turns shouting “BrokenHam!” and giggling. Turns out, he was referring to Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham, which he’s been enjoying. How it became broken, I do not know, but it’s hilarious nonetheless.
The sprinkler and garden hose antics continue. Finn has gone through a couple outfits per day due to his interest in the garden hose and the new spray nozzle we got for it. He basically points it at his face and tries to get a drink from it, so you can imagine how quickly he gets soaked from head to toe. He’s also taken to hosing down the Cozy Coupe–gotta keep your ride clean, man!
Here’s a little compendium of photos (HTML) from the past week or two–including piggy-back rides, attempts at jumping, visits from friends, and neighborhood expeditions.
Our little fighter had his 15-month check-up today with Dr. S. Once again, he blows away the competition and has gone through quite a growth spurt, to boot! He is 33 inches tall, weighs 28 lbs 12 oz, and his head is 48cm around. He clocks in at the 90-95th percentile on all counts.
Dr. S was astounded when I told her how many words Finn can say (we’ve counted about 75) and that he can even understand abstract concepts (for instance, he says “Leo!” when we’re trying to be sneaky and say “his buddy” or “Finn’s little pal”). She says that for boys, the average at 15 months is more like 15 words! Unfortunately he was dozey and not too talkative during our appointment, so she didn’t get a sampling of his skills. She did, however, get to meet Leo :-).
While we were waiting for the nurse to come in with the vaccination shots, I started whistling little tunes to keep Finny entertained, which he really enjoyed. As soon as I would stop he’d look up at me, pucker up, and start blowing through his lips to get me to start going again! (A mom can only sing the short lyrics to “Pony Boy” so many times…so whistling is a good alternative, and fascinating for Finn.)
Last night we had a little impromptu taco night with our pals Tom & Sarah, their daughter Harper (11 weeks), Huez* & Alex, and their son Miles (3.5 mos). Here is a little gallery (HTML) of shots from the evening, starting with the touchdown of the cute tots in our backyard. Finn was mad for guacamole and chips, so many thanks to Alex for letting us keep the leftovers!
* Pronounced by Finn as “Oot!”
“BeeBeardBoo, LightDogPolka…” Walking after Finn outside today, I found myself reciting little mnemonics, trying to make sure I could remember (and report) all his little goings-on. At exactly fourteen months of age, he’s one busy dude.
Recent stylings:
Finn is officially thirteen months old today! Just in the last week, he’s hit a few more milestones. For instance, he now says “Mama” directly to me, quite frequently. It’s unspeakably rad!
He is also very interested in some new characters in his story books. He is fascinated with the yak in our animal alphabet book, and wants to skip right from “Ape” to “Yak” so he can say “Yak” & “Moooooo”. We also have a book where the main character turns into a big bug who is slurping some kind of goo, and Finn *loves* to skip to the bug page and make slurpy noises. Oh, and his current favorite book is a hilarious one called “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!“–we must read it at least 3 times a day.
[Oh yes, and Finno and I love to play “Sproingy Doorstopper.” First we party on the actual sproingy doorstopper, making it waggle & chatter. Then I stick out one index finger, pull it back with the other, and then make it go all sproingy doorstopper, complete with surprisingly good sound effects. 😉 Finn is fascinated. –J.]
Margot and I are so happy to say that one Finnegan Liggett Nack, a.k.a. the Finnster, the Finnfather, Birdman General, Lord of the Delmas Manor & all around terrific kid, is officially one year old! Thanks to everyone who joined us for his b-day shindig yesterday. Without further ado, here are some photos (HTML).
Today marks Finno’s 11-month birthday! Which means we only have one more month until his
He is such a happy tot, and gives us plenty of reasons to smile. Three cheers for taking it to 11!
Finn turned 10 months old on Friday, Jan 2. In honor of this milestone, we present the following top 10 list.
10. A budding imagination!
9. Dancing to music
8. Light fixture symphonies courtesy of our chandeliers, a pencil or spoon handle, and Dad
7. Recognizing words and phrases
6. Saying Da Da Da Da!
5. Walking walking walking
4. Laughing uncontrollably while being flipped upside down by Dad
3. Laughing in response to Mom and Dad making stuffed animals “talk”
2. Emptying containers of all kinds–drawers, toy bins, the Goldfish cracker container
1. Remembering where Mom hid the aforementioned container of Goldfish crackers!
Today marks Der Finnster’s 8-month birthday. To celebrate (well, mostly coincidentally), he balanced on his feet unassisted for the first time! I had him up and tottering for a couple of seconds this morning, and this evening he was up for even longer. (I’d like to think it was for 8 seconds, a la bull riding. ;-))
In miscellaneous news, we’ve coined more Finn argot lately (building on the first installment from earlier in the year):
P.S. We can now add another “ocho” to The Big Ocho. Another tooth, his 8th, just broke through. –Notorious M.O.M.
Seven months, seven teeth! The Finnster has been with us 215 days (!) and just keeps getting better and better. 🙂
Today he took me on a little walking tour of the back yard, taking his first steps on grass. Finn is way into all things stringy/fringy/frilly these days, and the grass really threw him for a loop. First he stood on his left foot, pawing the grass inquisitively with his right, after which he switched sides and pawed with the left. Once he found his footing (literally), Finn took me on a culinary tour of all the backyard plants, attempting to snack on each one we passed.
Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of the guy taken over the last few days. Seeing him nicely lit as he sat on the “Dipetorium,” I exclaimed, “Finn, dude, you’ve gotta warn me if you’re gonna be radiating that much cuteness. I’ve gotta have time to prepare!”
Our boy is six months old today! Much like his birthday in March, he chose to roar his six-months in like a lion. For the first time in a looooong time, Finn had an inexplicable bout of post-bedtime outrage, with an hour of nonstop crying and screaming. I wondered if it wasn’t a precursor to our doctor visit this morning. The good news is, he got over it, went back to bed, and got up at 6:15am ready to party.
Now on to the stats: 19 lbs 15 oz, beating mom’s estimate of 19 lbs. 27 inches long, and a head circumference of 44 cm. Lots bigger than he was at 4 months, when he was already a strapping 16 lbs! We might start calling him Babyface Nack, heavyweight champion of 983 Delmas Ave.
The doc was super-impressed by Finn’s ability to sit unassisted–apparently this is an 8-month skill! She also saw several teeth under the gums, so we should start seeing them come out soon.
He had one shot and only cried for a few seconds, then fell asleep in the car on the way home, where he miraculously stayed asleep as I transferred him to the crib. Whew.
Just a quick note: Today marks our little guy’s five-month birthday. Hooray!
Finn celebrated by showcasing his many new tricks: “talking” to the objects he puts in his mouth, rolling from front to back and back to front, bestowing huge smiles on his mom and dad, and practicing his “1-2-3-STANDING!” routine. This is where mom holds onto Finno’s hands, and says “1, 2, 3…” and pulls him up, at which point he completely bypasses sitting and shoots straight up onto his feet. (Look for videos soon!)
We capped our day with a short ride in the BOB and our usual bathtime/bedtime hijinks. Tomorrow dad will be looking after Finn while mom meets up with 2 expecting girlfriends for lunch and the 3rd-degree about all things pregnancy-related.
In today’s installment, our hero visited the doc for his four-month checkup. Finn weighed in at sixteen and one-half pounds, and twenty-five inches long. We also discovered that he’s got an emerging companion to the tooth that broke through last week, so we can expect more teething activity!
Finn rocked the doctor visit like a total champ: calm and cool the whole time, with only 2 seconds of crying when he got his vaccinations. We were instructed to keep up the tummy time so our guy can continue to strengthen his back and arms, which will lead to eventually sitting up on his own. We also found out we can use sunscreen on him (whew!) to protect his fair skin when we take him outside. The sun hat and stroller canopy only do so much!
Finn’s noticeably more tuned in to people’s voices, and turns his head to watch and listen to you while you talk. He’ll even stop crying to listen! We’re still working on the “hey, why don’t you stop crying and sleep?” milestone.
Well, we had a wonderful time in Leadville with Finn’s grandparents, cousins, and aunt. The weather was fantastic, we got some nice scenic drives and walks in, as well as plenty of relaxation. There’s nothing like sitting on the front porch looking out over a vast green valley surrounded by enormous snowy peaks as far as the eye can see.
Of course we also had our share of sleeplessness since Finn’s routine got all cattywompus, but overall, he was a total champion. He never cried during the many altitude changes, and he was charming the socks off his elders with that dimple and big smile. Speaking of smiles, Finn’s got a new addition to his grin–his first tooth emerged this week! He was teething on John’s finger, and John felt something distinctly sharp on Finn’s lower gums…and lo and behold, there was the tooth!
Another milestone was achieved just tonight upon our return home. We’ve been trying for about a week to help/let Finn figure out how to get himself back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night (which has become quite frequent these days). We have adopted the “wait 10 minutes” rule before going in to help him resettle, in large part due to the fact that “helping” him seems only to wind him up more, and he’s getting to the point where he should be able to soothe himself. The past few nights have been awful–many more episodes of wakefulness and crying, for longer stretches. Tonight, we put him down for the night, and after 30 minutes he woke himself up and started crying and fussing. We waited, and he cried more, and got madder, and we waited some more, and he seemed to be calming himself down…and after about 12 minutes, he had put himself back to sleep! So now we know he can do it, and we’ll continue our wait-and-see approach before we “help”. I hope this is a sign of more positive sleep developments to come.
Today was Finn’s 2 month checkup with Dr. S. We can hardly believe he’s 2 months old already! He weighed in at 14 lbs 12 oz, and 24 inches tall. That’s one inch taller and more than 2 lbs heavier than last month. He also gained 1 cm in head circumference (40 cm vs. 39 cm last month). So he’s definitely a healthy, thriving boy.
Finn also got a couple of his vaccination shots today and let me tell you, it was no picnic. It continues to be no picnic. FIrst off, by the time he got his shots, he’d already been roused from a nap (which he was late in getting anyway because he fought it so hard this morning), stripped down to his diaper for weighing, poking, and prodding, and he was hungry because it was coming up on time to eat. Those three things alone create a squalling, red-faced baby. Then we hit DEFCON 1 when he got jabbed twice in the thigh for the vaccinations. I had yet to see him that distraught.
And the distress carries on–he’s been mostly asleep today, sleeping off the trauma and pain (I imagine), but when he’s awake, he’s really upset. Crying inconsolably until he falls asleep again. The doc said he’d be extra fussy and boy was she right. I just got some baby Tylenol (per her suggestion) and dosed him up to see if that will take away some of the pain from the injection site. He’s asleep in the sling on my chest right now after our brisk walk to Walgreens to get the Tylenol.
Wish us luck the rest of the day!
[Update: I’m happy to report that Finn had chilled way out by the time I got home. The three of us had a nice rest of the evening, and Finn got to meet a nice Irish gent named Steve who dropped by with gifts. –J.]
