Category: Photos

During my mom’s little visit this past week, we enjoyed introducing Finn to Hershey’s Kisses (“Choco-boca dudes!”), playing with Doh, scrubbing down Henry, whipping up cookies (which now dominate Finn’s consciousness–“Mo’ cookie jar!”), and reading a new book from Grandma. Here’s the gallery (HTML).

Henry really knows how to turn on the charm. After a long, tiring day, I was somberly changing him into his PJ’s, and when I looked at him, he cracked his biggest, sweetest grin at me. How could I not melt?
He’s really perking up these days while he’s awake, and we’ve recently captured a handful of fun pictures of him in action. A little tummy time with Dad-o, some “singing” with Mom-o, and some smiles from his big bro. Here’s the gallery (HTML).

Our pal Maria from Kansas City (last seen at Chez Nack making a very young Finn squeal for his supper) just sent us a super fun Tickle Monster book–complete with ticklin’ gloves! Check out this little gallery (HTML) of shots I snagged with my phone camera. You can see Finn having a go at Dad-O’s “sweet, bony knee” (“BonyNEE!”), elbow, and more.

Henry’s been working out a lot these days, mostly doing what Finn calls “Goonie push-ups”. (The pediatrician calls it “tummy time”. How dull.) He spends some designated time each day on his tummy in order to strengthen his neck muscles and improve his head control and upper body strength. (He hasn’t started working on his sexy core yet!) Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of his efforts, as well as some candid pics of him enjoying his little swinging chair. Apparently he’s working on his facial expressions, too!
P.S. Finny took his mom’s old baby doll, put her face-down on the rug, and said “baby, push-ups,” then later referred to the baby doll as Goonie. Pretty great.

I received an excited email dispatch from our kitchen yesterday: “We are having a Play-Doh fiesta right now! :-). I bought a little kit with 4 Play-Doh cans & a bunch of cookie cutters and squishers, and Finn is just having a field day! The combo of tools and squishy ‘Doh is a winning one for our little guy.”
Check out the gallery (HTML) of doughy good times!
PS–Margot says that Finn’s expression in the pic above reminds her of Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein.

Recently Mom-O introduced Finny to a flashlight, and boy, you’d think it was Obi-Wan Kenobi giving Luke a new lightsaber: that kid was off to the races! A whole new “KindaDEEP” was born, and soon we were having fun putting the light under our chins and saying “Spooky Dad-O! Spooky Binny!!”
Pretty soon we were doing “Spooky Leo,” and then Finn jabbed the flashlight into my throat and said, “(s)pooky neck!” From there it was game on, with Finn marching around and labeling everything the light touched as “‘pooky!” (“‘pooky ceiling! ‘pooky floor! ‘pooky baño!”) When I asked about “Spooky Goonie,” he smiled and said, “Nooo… too tiny!”
Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of our luminous antics. Oh, and by the way, a little “PigCup” makes an awesome saber-enhancer!

Apropos of nothing, happy Tuesday. 🙂


(Click the image for a slightly larger version.)

Our neighbor Richard is kind of a folk hero to Finn–big, barrel-chested, and always operating some kind of cool vehicle (Corvette, vintage Beetle, old truck, Lexus, etc.) or implement (weed whacker, hose, pickaxe, etc.). His gato-poop-blasting technique is a particular hit & explains why Finn would look at the sprayer in the tub and exclaim “Poop!”
Lately Finn has been taken with watching Richard push leaves with his leaf blower, and he now loves to grab tubes of all sort and go “WHEEoooWHEEoooWHEEooo… leaf blowa!” As it happens, despite our having lived here for nearly three years, it’s only in the last couple of weeks that Richard has learned my name. Prior to that he’d guess things like “Mike.” Therefore Finn’s imitation sounds like, “WHEEoooWHEEooo… Hey Mike, Hey Mike!” ;-D
Here’s a tiny gallery (HTML) of our tube-wielding amigo.

During my parents’ visit, “GrammaNACK” brought Finn & Henry two great matching outfits apiece–blue & yellow onesies featuring little lions. The last time we tried to photograph them together, however, we unfortunately experienced Operation Nuclear Trainwreck (thanks to some bad napping).
This time, however, things went much better, as you can see in this little gallery (HTML). Margot was also able to catch Henry eyeing (and starting to swat at) some little felt birds, as well as Finn modeling some crazy-big sunglasses.

I snapped a few shots of the lads looking cute this weekend, including:

• Henry doing his best to blend into the faux-foliage, sporting green-on-green
• Finnster enjoying the fruits (er, kernels) of his Liggett grandparents’ popcorn largesse, and
• Finn going bovine, trying out a little cow mask while Mom dons a doggie mask

Here are the photos (HTML)!

Recently Finn got a ringside seat to Henry’s bath, and another day his little friend Esther Williams–er, Anja!–popped into the tub with him for some spontaneous bathing fun. Here’s a micro gallery (HTML) of the aqueous stylings.

Our self-proclaimed Big Guy doesn’t have time to screw around using just one sippy cup at a time. 🙂 (Here’s a larger version.)

Henry is starting to develop in earnest, offering up some new non-cry squeaks & even favoring us with a few proto-smiles! Just as Finny had his “invisible shows,” the G-Man is starting to stare with rapt attention. In this tiny gallery (HTML) you can see him contemplating (and spazzing out to!) one of those simple black-and-white picture books. Margot reports that he got mad today when she turned the page. Hey, don’t mess with a man’s literature!

It’s an exciting day for Dad-o and Finny today. We finally got the bike trailer (a super nice gift from John’s folks!) that we ordered from the bike shop! It’s a Burley D’Lite ST, which will fit two kids and also converts to a stroller. So now we can pop both boys in for a stroll, or Finny for a ride to the park. Henry is too small for trailering: he has to be old enough for a helmet and unassisted sitting-up. Finn and Dad-o took it for a test ride to the park this morning, so here are some pics (HTML) as they set out from the casa. There are some really great parks in our neighborhood that are just far enough away that walking takes too long, and driving seems wasteful, but biking over is just the ticket.
In addition to converting to stroll-mode, the other nice thing about the trailer is that it has a pretty roomy cargo area behind the seat, so we can haul a picnic lunch, or sand toys/towels, or even a couple sacks of groceries. We’re looking forward to logging lots of miles with the guys! Oh, and soon, in addition to the orange safety flag, the trailer will be flying a small jolly roger on top :D.
[Just for my dad’s benefit, I think I’ll add a bumper sticker that says “GOON IS MY CO-PILOT.” 😉 –J.]

The gazebo has been getting a good workout, hosting my folks and their books plus various visits from Finn. Grandma Nack blew Finn’s mind with her “Surprise Lap” routine, humming a jaunty little Irish lullaby, then “dropping” him at the end (as he yells “Dump!!”). Now we hear him waking up in his crib, singing & saying “GrammaNACK!” Here’s a little gallery (HTML).
Off to grab a waking-up Finnster,
J.

We’re having a ball with my folks being in town–cruising in a wagon, swinging, riding the slide (“Kindasteep!”) backwards & forwards, reading Mother Goose (“GeogiePogie!”), and more–and of course the Papa-razzo is snapping away. I haven’t had much time to select photos to share, though, so in the meantime here’s just a fun little sequence of Finny hamming it up:

(Here’s a larger version.)

Tonight Margot and I gave Henry (aka Goonie, aka the G-Man) a bath, and while it wasn’t his first, this time I was able to grab my camera. Check out the photos (HTML) of our littlest guy doing the backstroke.
For a fun comparison, here’s Finny’s first bath (and, what the heck, a later one, too). Seeing those pics & realizing they were taken less than 18 months ago (!) really drives home the truth in all those cliches about “they grow up so fast.”