Finn’s become quite adept at wielding a hose & ladle. The rest is wet, wet history:
(Incidentally, the video would make you think we’ve been enjoying warm weather, instead of endless unseasonable gloom. I mean, I do enjoy a good cashmere sweater, but I probably shouldn’t be able to wear it in CA in June!)
From very early on Margot & I have noticed Henry being a weirdly strong little kid, giving powerful hugs & often trying to climb up things like sinks. Now he’s taken a shine to pulling wagons–often alongside Finn, but just as often containing Finn. One recent evening each one grabbed a wagon & hauled them all the way to the park (nearly half a mile away), and the other day Henry managed to pull Finn some chunk of that distance on his own. Check out the brawny man in action:
We all had a ball cruising the Avenue of the Giants following Margot’s half marathon, just listening to Henry’s mind being blown as he tried to count redwoods: “3! 2! 6! 10!… 3!!” We’ll have more photos to share soon, but in the meantime, behold Margot’s surgical piloting of a large German car through an even larger redwood:
Downside: Our sewer pipe went haywire, necessitating some expensive driveway surgery (“Double Double, Toilet Trouble!” as Finn declared).
Upside: The boys got a bay window seat to jackhammering plus a garbage truck PLUS a scooper truck! Great morning for tots, or the GREATEST morning?? 🙂
Ever since, the boys have been playing “busy workers” as Henry says. “I’m Adam!” the little guy proclaims, while Finn adds, “I’m Uncle Louie!” (I enjoy imagining my own Uncle Louie being their jackhammering hero.)
Finn was rocking some major hat hair this evening, and we compared his ‘do that of a horned owl. He wanted to inspect it one more time before it got washed away, and as we lacked a mirror, I fired up my phone’s video camera. Check out the results, including a rhythmic bead-popping duet (sort of the lowest-key Stomp performance ever):
Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ (yo Nacklads!)…
On Saturday the guys and I took our lives (or at least our wrists & butts) in our hands and headed to a nearby roller rink. As Margot was busy with her half-marathon training, I wasn’t sure I could wrangle the guys on my own (on skates, no less!), but I’m glad we gave it a shot. Little pals Bettie, Quade, Cyrus, Hazel, Dillon, and Rachel, plus some little sibs & their parents, were in attendance, and we ended up having a ball.
Here’s a very tiny gallery of photos, plus a clip of Henry & Hazel’s air hockey table dance:
And now, a scene from the bathtub the other night:
Finnegan: “Are we the Irish?”
Margot: “Yeah!”
Henry Seamus: “Go I-nish!”
Me: Beaming!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone. 🙂
Here are the lads this morning:
And just for old times’ sake, here’s a little historic March 17th action featuring our guys:
Henry & Grandma Nack enjoyed playing a little peekaboo during our visit to Happy Hollow. I just wish I’d been a little quicker on the draw & that you could more easily see & hear his cackling. 🙂
We had a terrific time celebrating Finno’s Big 3 a couple of weeks back, and now that the sugar crash has worn off, we can post our little photo gallery and a video from the birthday train ride!
One 3-year-old + one 18-month-old + one backpack/leash? That, my friends, is a recipe for good times. 🙂
When the guys spied the Happy Hollow carousel, Henry instantly did his “pitch horizontal in your arms & do the breast stroke” routine saying “Horsies! Gato! Touch it!!” And so we did, having a blast all around (no pun intended).
We have a long, proud, and hilarious tradition of “meedgit houses“–grown-up leg prisons used to ensnare hapless & guffawing kids. Just as I battled my dad thirty-odd years ago, Finn tested his strength when my folks arrived:
When it comes to physical daring, our big guy tends to take after his dad, being cautious maybe to a fault. That’s why I was so pleased today when, after a little hemming & hawing, he agreed to ride the roller coaster at nearby Happy Hollow park. Despite its small size, I started having flashbacks to age four, when a treacherous “kiddie” coaster was so intense that it blew my mom’s contact lens right off her eyeball! So, how did Fearless Finnster do? You be the judge:
Who loves giant multimillion-dollar “toys”? We do!!
During our long journey home from Oklahoma, it was marvelous to find the big people-movers in the Phoenix airport. Newly fueled up on French fries, Finny was ready to blow off some serious steam, and the long moving sidewalks were just the ticket. I thought of one of our favorite Babar stories, in which the clown monkey Zephir performs “Chase of the Magic Hat.” Check it out!
PS–Perhaps someday he can apply these skills on a Japanese game show.
Gutentag from below the Elbe!
Ever since Margot visited Hamburg last fall, we’ve been talking with Finn about the tunnel under the harbor (see previous). Last night my colleague Jan was kind enough to take me for a visit, and I recorded a little travelogue for the guys. Fair warning: The video may be crushingly dull for anyone over the age of 3, though I’m told it’s been a hit with the target demographic. 🙂
Hen’s little personality is coming out more bit by bit as he explores tiptoeing, causing (play) vehicular mayhem (“Dump!! Oh NO!!”), dancing, and more. Here he shakes a leg (and a book) with Harper and her newborn brother Tiernan:
Something tells me that baby Tiernan Hogarty, glimpsed briefly here slumbering peacefully despite the hijinks nearby, is in for a laughter-packed upbringing at the hands of his mom, Sarah. See what I mean:
Oddly enough, it wasn’t til this past week in Oklahoma that our lads got to experience the power & pageantry of teeter-totter riding. Here they are in action, throwing in a special bonus performance as a couple of quails (per an earlier post):
Our man Finno is a born wheelman–at least when it comes to holiday carnival rides. Little Henry has to put on some inches before joining in the action, but boy will he be ready when the time comes. The video below combines two rides–one at the Zoo Lights in Oakland, the other at the SJ winter festival. Enjoy!
Okay, I have to admit two things up front:
So, you can’t say you weren’t warned. 😉 The other night we took advantage of some (rare) clear weather & took the lads to San Jose’s Christmas in the Park, a little set of carnival rides & holiday displays. The guys remain too little for ferris wheel rides, giving Finn a chance to practice his “glower” face, but we had a good time on some carousels, “bumpy cars,” and the spinning ballon-car ride you see here. Hen was a cool customer as usual, and Finn did well until then end when, Margot reports, he remarked “I hope it’ll be stopping soon!”
