Category: Miscellaneous

From pediatrics.about.com:
“At 8 months: your child is 22.5 pounds, and that is at the 97th percentile for weight.
your child is 30 inches, and that is at greater than the 97th percentile for height.
your child has a head circumference of 18 inches, and that is at the 93th percentile for head circumference.”
RAAAWR!
“He is a two-and-a-half-foot, seven-toothed man-mountain,” says Dad, shaking his fist slowly with delight. 🙂
Meanwhile, and probably not coincidentally, Finn has taken to trying to climb up me while I hold him. Seeing him kicking at a bee today in the stroller, I was reminded of the mighty Kong swatting at planes!

Loving wordplay as I do, I sometimes (okay, often) morph Finn’s nickname “squirrel” into “squire,” making him our little Squire. The other day I decided to learn what, exactly, a squire is and does (or did). According to Wikipedia, “The typical duties of a squire [i.e. things Dad will now expect of Finn] included:

• Carrying the knight’s dad’s armor, shield, and sword,
• Holding any prisoners the knight dad takes,
• Rescuing the knight dad should the knight dad be taken prisoner,
• Taking the knight dad to safety should the knight dad be injured,
• Replacing the knight’s dad’s sword if it broke or was dropped,
• Replacing the knight’s dad’s horse with a new horse or the squire’s should the horse be injured or killed,
• Dressing the knight dad in his armor,
• Carrying the knight’s dad’s flag,
• And protecting the knight dad if needed.”

Alright! I think I’m really going to get into having my own squire. 🙂

Major physical developments today, folks! We put the little Mr. down for his nap this morning, and lo and behold, as we watched him on the monitor, he sat himself up and laid himself down three times! This is a big first for Finn. He has been working diligently to figure out how to get to sitting from lying down, and it usually entails grabbing one of our hands so he has something to pull against. Not anymore!
Next step (we hope): coordinating all the movements that result in crawling. He’s got all the individual pieces nailed, he just hasn’t pulled them all together into locomotion yet.

I’ve been adding more and more items to Finn’s diet, since he seems keenly interested in all things edible. He is always lunging for our food, and since that’s not really an option (tortilla chips anyone? How ’bout an apple or cup of hot tea?), I figure I can at least start offering some more advanced baby-friendly chow than he’s been eating. I’d be getting a little weary of pureed everything if I were him.
Yesterday he got to try some Yo Baby banana yogurt, as well as some Cheerios. I, of course, was trying to get Finn to pluck the Cheerios out of my hand with his fingers…practicing his fine motor skills and all. Yeah, well that lasted for about 2 Cheerios and then our boy just cut right to the chase. Leaned over and stuck his open mouth right on top of my palm, hoovering up the few remaining Cheerios with gusto. Take that, pincer grasp! It was absolutely hilarious.

Big news from Finnland, today, dear readers!
Finn’s been working on “talking”, by mimicking us, hooteling, and practicing different sounds. Carol, our babysitter, has been trying to get him familiar with “mama” and “dada” lately, and…drumroll please…Today while Carol and I were “talking” to him in the crib, he said “mama”! Twice! And very distinctly!
Now I realize that he may not associate that word with me, but I have to say, it was absolutely thrilling to hear it come out of his mouth. Now I’m obsessed with trying to coax him into saying it again!
[Man, I feel left out! I missed the alleged utterance (though I could hear something going on in the other room), but in any case, I now have to work on getting Finn into his “Dada-ist” phase! –J.]

Finn is discovering that he is a “me.” Over the past couple of weeks, in ways subtle and obvious, we’re seeing him realize that he has a self. He has gotten mad a couple times when we–or another child–have taken something out of his hands, either because it wasn’t a safe thing to chew on, or the other kid wanted her toy back. He furrows his brow and gets frustrated when he doesn’t get what he wants (“Gee, I wonder where he gets that trait?”, I asked, knowing that the answer was “from both parents!”).
He can’t talk yet, but we can tell that when he gets frustrated, he’s thinking “Hey! You’re taking that from ME! You’re walking away from ME!” We’re trying to encourage him to crawl during the few instances where he rolls onto his belly, and he just doesn’t want any part of it. “Hey! No fair! You’re not picking ME up off my stomach so I can practice walking! What gives?”
And tonight, for the first time in several weeks, he had a bedtime meltdown and got so absolutely Angry (note the capital “a”) when I would come in to check on/try to settle him but not pick him up out of the crib. I could see in his eyes he was angry, thinking “You’re leaving ME alone to cry in here! I don’t care if it’s bedtime! Don’t leave me alone!” I love the little bugger and we’ve had such uneventful, lovely bedtime experiences with Finn that we’re not used to him doing anything but rolling over and going to sleep. It killed me to see him so mad. Thank goodness he finally fell asleep…leaving us to wait for more “me” sightings tomorrow.

Finn is turning into one toothy fella! In the past week or so, several of his upper teeth have emerged–both his two front teeth and his two top incisors. I was so focused on waiting for them to appear that I totally missed the lower incisor that was coming in at the same time. Then when I caught a glimpse of his open maw (waiting for cereal and peas, no doubt), there it was, the Secret Tooth!
All those choppers, even though they’ve not fully dropped into position, are really changing the look of our little guy’s face. He looks more like a little boy and less like a little baby each day. We were out visiting with our neighbors this afternoon and our friend Karen absolutely could not resist doing the “Grandma cheek pinch” on our squirrel. Sorry Finno, but I think you’re doomed to a lifetime of people coming at you with fingers ready to pinch that adorable face!

Coming back from Seattle early yesterday was both great and awful. Great because I got to hightail it out of Seattle, with its accompanying bad mojo, and back to the lovin’ arms of my boys. Awful because in the melee of racing to the airport and getting to the gate to catch said earlier flight, I lost my cell phone and got pretty bummed about all the work chaos as I sat staring out the plane window.
I’ve been in a weird place today. I think I’m kind of grieving for all of the work I put into WaMu for the past 6 years, and my bad mood kind of rubbed off on Finn a little. I yelled at my new (sucky) cell phone and it really freaked him out. I apologized of course, cleared my head and showered him with cuddles, and we both moved on.
Finn’s got some new toys, and right now his current fave is the little birdhouse and stuffed birdies that our pal Clare gave him. It’s so cute–you can stick the little birds in through the roof, or through a door in the side, and the birdhouse is transparent so you can see the avian chums hanging out in there. Clare, who is an avid birder and vegetarian, may be slightly dismayed to know that Finn’s really got a taste for fowl! All four of them have been introduced to his gaping maw. I think he likes the quail the best. (Sorry Clare! But really, if something ends up in his mouth, it means he LOVES it!)

Well, we’re officially declaring an end to Finn’s infant stage. He’s moved very comfortably into being a tot. What’s the difference? Well, according to our unscientific poll (respondents include me, John, and our babysitter, Carol), there are some significant achievements that catapult a baby into tot-hood. The biggies include rolling from front to back and back to front, deliberate reaching, grabbing, and object manipulation, laughing, eating baby food, having teeth (#3 just appeared yesterday!), sitting up, and the ability to self-entertain.
Another thing that we think marks totdom is the fact that we are able to communicate with Finn and he with us. No, we’re not discussing Nietzsche, but we are able to tell when he wants things, when he’s happy, tired, or working on some new skills. Speaking of which, John is helping him “walk” towards me right now!

Finn’s had an interesting week. I think his two front teeth are about to make their big entrance, and it’s really thrown little Finno for a loop. I also think he’s got a lot going on mentally and physically as he’s sitting up all the time, and his dexterity keeps improving. There’s so much to learn how to do! (And it is with much glee that I tell you he seems to be favoring his left hand!)
Because of all this new and sometimes painful stuff, he’s been uncharacteristically fussy during the day. Nothing keeps him satisfied for long, and as we switch him from one location to the next, or try to distract him with toys, he squirms and cries and makes really strange expressions with his mouth. Although he’s been sleeping pretty well at night (thank goodness!!) his naps this week have been either very short or nonexistent, which does not help with his attitude. An overtired, teething Finn is not much fun to be around.
I think the good news here is that John and I are really relaxing into being parents, and we’re feeling a lot more competent and pragmatic when Finn is inconsolable, uncomfortable, or just won’t sleep. I guess we’ve hit the point of realizing that stuff is going to happen, you can’t plan for it, and you can’t always make it better or know how it’ll turn out, so you just do the best you can and try to keep your little guy cooled out (if possible). The phrase “this too shall pass” keeps popping up in my head–made very real by experiences with Finn that while unpleasant or unpredictable, do actually end at some point.
6 month check-up on Tuesday! We’ll report Finn’s stats. Any guesses on weight? (I’m saying 19lbs. Dude is HEAVY!)

Finn keeps racking up new skills on a daily basis. It’s happening so fast we can hardly keep up! One of the best changes made itself known last night, and we’re hoping it’s the start of a beautiful new chapter in our lives. Finn slept 11 hours straight, from 7pm to 6am! Woohoo!!!
We’ve been giving him small portions of rice cereal in the evening to see if a) he’ll eat it, b) he likes it, and c) it will help him sleep longer. The results on all three counts are positive. He literally lunges at the spoon when he sees it coming, and gobbled down the entire bowl of cereal last night (which was 1 tablespoon of cereal to a few tablespoons of milk, proferred in a zillion teeny-tiny spoonfuls). I figured he was ready to start test-driving food when he was constantly making chewing motions and observing us carefully as we’d eat and drink.
So, with an 11-hour stretch of sleep under our collective belts (that equals eight uninterrupted hours of sleep for me, since I won’t go to bed at 7 p.m.!), we’ll keep up the evening cereal and see if we can establish a trend.

Our Finn has been demonstrating some Olympic-style talents today. We’re having a tough time determining which particular feat is most deserving of a gold medal, so we’re taking a survey. Let us know which act is the biggest accomplishment, then we’ll dial up the officials and request a medal!

1. Sitting up from a lying position almost unassisted
2. Eating his first bites of semi-solid food (rice cereal)
3. Tripod sitting (Finn propping himself up on his arms)
4. Plank pose (Finn on hands and toes, body straight like a pushup)
5. Taking nasty-tasting/smelling vitamins without complaint

We’re celebrating John’s birthday today (8-8-8!), which is also our last day in “Big G,” Galena Illinois (John’s hometown). We’ve been in Illinois since Monday, after a long, and to be totally honest, totally brutal journey out here. John and I are convinced that our trip from San Francisco to O’Hare was designed as an experiment in cruelty for new parents. Long story short, after a multitude of delays and several totally understandable meltdowns by a tired Finn, we made it to our hotel at about midnight local time. We made it without baggage or a car seat, but at that point we didn’t even care.

While Monday was mostly a downer, Tuesday was a mix of ups and downs. We got our baggage and cleaned ourselves up. We had two scheduled visits with most of John’s mom’s relatives in Chicago–all of her sisters and many of their children and grandchildren. We had a great time visiting with folks we hadn’t seen since our wedding, and introducing them to Finn. In between outings, we tried to get our sleep-deprived boy down for an afternoon nap, but it ended up just being two hours of crying.

After our second family visit, we returned once again to the hotel. Little did we know that naptime was only a taste of what was to come, and what we later dubbed “The Battle of La Quinta.” Suffice it to say that with only a 1-hour morning nap under his belt, Finn was completely overtired and completely overstimulated. We put Finn down to bed following our usual routine. He slept for 30 minutes then spent the next three hours crying and screaming his brains out. Nothing would calm him down, and we were all crammed into our hotel room, each trying to gut it out in our own way. Finally Finn wore himself out and slept for 10 hours straight.

Once we arrived in Galena, Finn’s schedule has evened out, and we’ve had a couple of more normal days. We’re happily back on the upside. Finn’s been catching up on his sleep and being a *lot* more fun to be around.

Thursday brought many of the Liggett relatives out from Wisconsin and other parts of Illinois, including my aunt, uncle, two cousins, and a few of cousin Brad’s kids. It was great to see them all, and Finn got a beautiful handmade quilt from his aunt. Thursday also brought many Nack relatives as well! John’s cousin Alicia, her husband Fito, and their adorable son Alejandro flew in from Texas and pitstopped in Galena on their way to Iowa for a funeral. The “lawyer Nacks” also came by–Joe, then Tommy and his wife Sarah, and their son Gus (3 months older than Finn).

Another “up”: Last night, John and I got to go on a hot air balloon ride with his brother Ted and girlfriend Stephanie. It was a gorgeous evening and floating over the idyllic rolling countryside was amazing. We wished Finn was old enough to enjoy it, but it’s motivation for us to do it again. Today brings us to John’s birthday party later this afternoon, so Finn is resting up so he can sparkle for the party guests!

Tomorrow we drive back to O’Hare for our flight out. After Monday’s ordeal, we were miraculously able to reschedule our return flight, which had us flying through Dallas and arriving home at midnight, to a much more reasonable nonstop back to SFO. That should cut about 6 hours off our travel day and hopefully keep Finn a little more even-keeled.

Finn was a dream traveler on our journey to and from Colorado, especially on the plane. The secret of his travel skills? He brings a his own travel pillow, built right into his face! Check it out:

Here’s hoping our little friend is such a good sport on Monday when we journey to Illinois, and especially next Saturday when we return late via a connection in Dallas.

My work situation is really ideal when it comes to work/life balance. Right now I get a lot of time with Finn since I don’t have an epic commute to and from work every day. I also get to see Finny at lunch for some cuddle and playtime, which is great.
I think I’ve gotten kind of spoiled, because when I do have to travel for work (which is only 1 day at a time), I’m amazed by how much I miss my squirrel! It really makes my day to see him first thing in the morning, smiling and babbling when he wakes up. After he eats, we play for a little while until I go to work. It’s a fantastic way to start the morning, and Finn is such a happy guy it just lights me (and his dad) up. And at the end of the day, it’s great to hang with Finn and do bathtime, storytime, and bedtime. Lots of goofing around and smiles, and lots of snuggles before we tuck him in.
Yesterday I was out the door by 5 a.m., and back at 10:15 p.m., so my only squirrel time was gazing at my sleeping boy. It made this morning that much sweeter–hearing him wake up and start talking to Leo, his stuffed lion, and then going down to greet him was terrific. There’s nothing like looking into those smiley big blue eyes and giving my boy a squeeze to start the day.

Today marks the second installment of “Finn n’ Dad Batchin’ It”–flying bachelor-style while Margot flies north for the day to school bank nerds on… well, whatever it is she schools bank nerds on ;-). Just now the wee man went to bed, hopefully down for the evening. (This follows much outstanding cooing, mutual face petting, and general good times.)
This morning I took the squirrel to the doc for a pair of vaccinations. I know it’s insanely cliched & every parent thinks his child is a genius, but Finny seemed to know just where he was, to the point of derailing completely into nuclear-grade histrionics when I laid him on the table. After maybe 60 seconds, however (up to and including the shot), he clammed right up and remained as cool as a cucumber. The doc remarked that most kids keep screaming their heads off all the way out of the office, but Finn was a portrait in cool. I dub him The Iceman. 🙂

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
{scary-guy voice} GET IN MY MOUTH!!
😉
Follow up:
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Get in my hands…
good, good…
{scary-guy voice} now GET IN MY MOUTH!!!
In short, getting stuff into his mouth is pretty much the singular punchline in the Finnster’s life these days. He reminds me of the goat speaking in an article on The Onion: “I bet you got a nice pant leg. Lemme chew a hole in it. I could chew it until you yanked it out of my mouth. If you don’t mind. I’m telling you, I could use a little something to chomp on…”

Finn has recently become a huge fan of being on his tummy. We always put him down to sleep on his back, and within seconds, he has rolled over onto his tummy. There he remains for his entire nap or night’s sleep. Initially, we’d go in and flip him back over, but inevitably he’d roll over again within minutes, so we stopped intervening. He seems to be sleeping better, and we’re all for that. Between tummy sleeping and sleep training, we have been catching a lot more zzz’s as a family than we were a couple weeks ago.
Finn hasn’t yet worked out how to roll himself back over to his side or his back, so it’s a good thing he doesn’t complain about spending all that time on his belly! We’re trying to give him plenty of opportunities during playtime to figure out how to get off his stomach. He’s *thisclose* and we think he’ll get it figured out in a few more days.

As a new mother, I am spending a lot of time learning about babies and sleep. Sleep is critical to a baby’s health and development, and I want to help Finn develop good sleep habits. When he was 2-3 months old, he spoiled us by sleeping for seven- or nine-hour stretches without a peep. As he got older and his sleep cycles changed, he started waking up more often and seemed to need our help to get back to sleep. Recently, we have found that our “help” ends up aggravating him and making it even more difficult for him to settle. After doing a lot of reading, working to set up good habits and sleep rituals over the past couple of months, and consulting with our pediatrician, John and I have agreed to try the “progressive waiting” technique developed by Dr. Richard Ferber, to help Finn learn to go to sleep and fall back asleep on his own.
We know that everyone will not agree with this approach. Sleep training techniques are very polarizing, and Ferber’s technique is often referred to as “crying it out”, making it sound like heartless, cruel, and unusual punishment. Now, having read his book and talked to our doc, and taking into account Finn’s personality and tendencies, we feel that this method will work well, and is the most efficient way for Finn to learn to settle himself. In a nutshell, you want your baby to learn to put himself to sleep without relying on sleep crutches like rocking, patting, shooshing, etc., which we think are helpful things, but actually aren’t (as evidenced by Finn ratcheting up the crying and wakefulness when we show up).
Ferber’s technique is a structured way to let your baby learn how to do this on his own with a minimum of interference from us. We go in and briefly check on/reassure him at prescribed intervals until he falls asleep on his own. And according to our doc, the earlier you can teach your baby how to take care of himself, the less likely it is they will have sleep problems as they get older (and which are harder to resolve as they age).
We’re on night #2, and so far, Finn is doing really well. Last night we checked on him twice, and right after that, he fell asleep. A grand total of about 40 minutes spent on “Ferberizing.” He awoke at 11:30pm and we did the intervals again, and he only needed one check. Tonight, we put him to bed and only checked on him once after 12 minutes, then he put himself to sleep. We’re also doing this at naptime and he’s making progress there, too. We were already 75% of the way there since we’d already set up a predictable bedtime routine, and had started putting Finn in the crib while he was awake, and then sticking around and soothing him to sleep.
We love our little guy, and we know he’s smart enough and capable enough to learn to soothe himself, and so far he’s proving us right on all counts. Good sleep habits are good for the whole family, and a well-rested Finn makes everyone happy.