Yesterday we returned to the farm park for our Sunday adventure. Finn wore his chicken shirt in order to more fully bond with the wandering fowl. We even packed a picnic lunch with chicken in it (a little weird if you think too long about it), so between lunch, the shirt, and the actual chickens, there was lots of “bok bok bok”ing and “dok-a-dah!” (cock-a-doodle-doo!) from the Squirrel.
Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of our afternoon. We visited the billy goats and cows, too, so they didn’t feel left out.
[PS–During the livestock feeding, Finnster loved talking about the cow’s “beak!” Apparently goats also feature beaks. (I was really glad Barbra Streisand didn’t walk by just then.) –J.]
“Ga-TO!” 🙂
Our neighbors’ cat d’Artagnan (aka Tuxstein, Tuxy, or just “you fat dumpling”) has been a good sport lately as Finny becomes more comfortable petting creatures, ascending the neighbors’ steps, and generally exploring the world. More pix to follow.
Our little hombre is able to get more and more specific about what he likes/dislikes, and what he would prefer to be doing at any given time. He’s taken to grabbing my (or John’s) hand and leading us around while providing other clues about what he’d like.
For instance, this morning after breakfast we were playing in Finn’s room, and he started saying “Hat! Hat!”. He took my hand, led me to the kitchen, and pointed to the basket where we keep our sunhats (a requirement for going outside these days). Then he pointed to the back door. We put our hats on, but since I was still in my PJs, we went upstairs so I could put some clothes on. Believe me, at this point in my pregnancy, walking around outside in my PJs is not something any of the neighbors need to see…
We then went outside and did the usual rounds–a stop off at Richard’s fountain for some splashing and gato viewing, then a walk up and down the block to explore fence gates, ants, and plants. Thank goodness he didn’t poop out until 2 houses away from home, at which point he turned to me, raised his arms and said “UP!”. Once inside, he started saying “mo mos, mo mos!” (code for pretzel bits with cream cheese…he loves them and just says “more more more!”). So we were off to the kitchen for a few pre-nap mo mos. I’m sure he would have been content sitting there stuffing his face for an hour, but Leo was getting sleepy, so I packed them both off to the crib for a rest.
Once he’s up from his nap, I will await further instruction 🙂
Finn is picking up the few Spanish words we use around the house just as quickly as he is the English ones…common Finn utterances include:
We’re trying to limit the crazy Nack-branded Spanglish we use all the time and stick to *real* Spanish words. He’ll have enough kooky English slang to deal with, thanks to us!
We’ve fallen a bit behind in sharing some photos of the fam in action, so I’ve rounded up a gallery (HTML) of miscellaneous Finndustry. The gallery includes:
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!”
Lately Finn has taken a crazy shine to my ridiculous “Der Bomber” jacket, peering excitedly at the coat rack every time he walks past. Here’s a little video of him discussing “Bomb-O.” 🙂
The squirrel-man and his buddy Leo are a pretty inseparable pair. Lately we’ve had a little fun tossing Leo onto Finn’s (and everyone else’s) head as a hat. Here’s a little gallery (HTML) from the goings-on. 🙂
Who needs a fancy new Elmo Phone when you’ve got a sippy cup? “Hehwo?” 🙂 (Click the image for a larger view.)
I’ll tell ya, I’m a lucky guy to get to come home & romp around with Finny. Here are a couple of shots I snagged with my phone as he celebrated the resurrection of our neighbor’s bee-attracting fountain (“BEE!”). (Click the image for a larger view.)
Big adventures this Memorial Day with Finny. FIrst up was brunch at the Pawligers’ house, and some quality playtime with their son Adam, and another little friend, Lazlo. All three piled into the backyard hammock for some R&R after chowtime. After Finn’s afternoon nap, we pit stopped for some frozen yogurt at the neighborhood yogurt hut, then we headed out to the Emma Prusch Farm Park.
The park is a city park not far from us. It used to be a working dairy farm, bequeathed to the city from the woman who owned it in the first half of the 20th century. We’d heard that there are all kinds of farm animals roaming around, a nice playground, and even a large vegetable garden and orchard. Needless to say, we thought Finn would love seeing and hearing the *real* animals that he sees in books.
As soon as we got out of the car we heard the “cock-a-doodle-doo” of roosters, which were wandering around the parking lot! Finn had a great time, and was fascinated by the chickens and goats. Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of our adventures from the day, including the roosters, goats, and Finn’s excited *squeeeeeezing* of some weird fruit from the orchard. We wrapped up the day with some sweeping in the backyard, and some goofando in the bathtub.
Okay, okay, I might be overselling it a little, but today Finn strung together words for the first time I’ve heard. His first sentence was (drumroll please)…
{{ We interrupt our regularly scheduled Finncast with breaking news about our own MLN }}
I’m delighted to report that the little guy and I now share a home with Margot L. Nack, Project Management Professional! Despite much squirrel-chasing and pregnancy-induced fatigue, Margot has been devoting many hours over the last few months to studying for this exam, and today she passed! This certification should be a great help when she returns to the job hunt after El Segundo arrives.
Way to go, hon!! We’re so proud of you.
Margot and I have a weird soft spot for “Lucha Libre,” aka masked Mexican wrestling. Knowing this, our friend Hughes’s mom Eileen got Finn both a tiny “luchador” mask and a whole calendar of luchador portraits. We have lots of fun putting the little mask onto a ceramic penguin, as well as going through the calendar to see “Los Matematicos” and more. (Well, it’s fun until the 700th or so time, at which point one of us has to hide the calendar under the couch.) Here’s a little gallery of the goings-on.
On a related note, I think Finn may grow up with a warped sense of what the term “doctor” means. A few months ago he started checking out our little portrait of the wrestler “Dr. Wagner,” saying “DAK-dah!” I wonder whether he’ll think that “doctor” = masked wrestler, and if so, what he’ll think when we say we’re going to the doctor’s office. 🙂
Join us, won’t you, for another installment of What The Heck Are John & Margot Talking About??
A couple of weeks ago, the three of us cruised up to see our friends Bryan, Alex, and little Miles Hughes at their home in the nearby Santa Cruz mountains. We’ve uploaded some photos (HTML) showing a little (metal) goat-riding, corn-launching, mooning over Miles, and more.
During the course of our great little cook-out, Finn–who normally sticks to Dad like glue–was rather taken with Hughes. He’d protest whenever Hughes would walk inside, and he’d track this other daddy’s every move.
Finally it started to dawn on me: I wonder whether he thinks that’s his daddy. We put the idea to the test. Finding a picture of himself with me in the desert, Hughes pointed at me and said, “Who’s that, Finn?” No response. And then the moment of truth: I pointed at the picture of Hughes and said, “Who’s that, Finn?” “Da-Da!” was the immediate response. 😛
Since then, I’ve discovered that Finn now uses the term “Da-Da” fairly generically to refer to dad-like men, including our friend Tom & various characters in books. I feel a bit better now. 🙂
PS–Thanks to Hughes & Alex for the hospitality, and to Hughes for the great photos. The Papa-razzi strike again!
Now that we’re past our blog’s technical difficulties, we have some catching up to do!
Last week, Finn’s Uncle James was in town for his long-awaited first meeting with our little squirrel. James was traveling for business, and was spending a day in Menlo Park, a town nearby. It was a perfect opportunity to pit stop at Casa de Nack for some Cinco de Mayo tacos, beer, and goofing around with a cute 1-year old. The guys got along great, and we snapped a couple photos (HTML) to commemorate the occasion. We were so excited he came by and got to meet his nephew.
And speaking of nephews, today is our nephew Charlie’s 4th birthday! Happy Birthday Chooch! (James’ visit also enabled us to send Charlie’s present home with his dad.)
Who’s a trendy baby, then? ;-P
I know, I know–I’m setting myself up for endless (and justified) teasing from Margot, Hughes, and probably everyone else, but I couldn’t resist setting up Finny (and El Segundo!) on Twitter. Now the boys have their own little stream called “Micronaxx”, and you can view updates right on this blog: look to the right on the main page.
We don’t intend A) to have Twitter replace the blog, or B) to ask anyone to do anything extra. Instead, it’s just a supplemental way to capture & share little bits of info. For example, we might be at the park and want to share a photo and/or little quip. Twitter makes it easy to compose a message on the phone, then upload it with or without a photo. Just look to the sidebar for these bits.
[Update: Hmm, it seems this service is a little flaky, and the list of messages from Twitter may not show up sometimes (when lots of people are trying to access the site). Hopefully it’ll show up more often than not.]
