Micronaxx

Finn was lucky enough to score a VIP invite to an older woman’s birthday party this weekend…We thought perhaps a May-December romance was in the offing, but everything ended up purely platonic. That’s good, considering Anja, the birthday girl, is only two, and Finny is only half her age! (Anja attended Finny’s b’day party earlier in the month, and her dad Bruce offered the following commentary: “Two year-old at a one year-old’s party! Cougar’s on the prowl!”)

Here are some pics (HTML) from the party.

A couple of weeks ago (wow, time is starting to fly), our friends Bryan, Alex, and new little guy Miles joined Margot, me, and our Cheekmaster General at Alice’s Restaurant up in the nearby Santa Cruz mountains. Both dads had fun piloting the families up the endlessly twisting roads, and surprisingly the car seats remained refreshingly puke-free! 🙂 Finny enjoyed some high-speed “drive bys” from a couple of fetching doggies, after which he got down and did his best pawing dog impression. Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of the goings-on.

The weather around these parts has been really fantastic lately, so we’ve been getting outside with Finn a lot this week. He’s really been enjoying his new wheels, watching airplanes fly overhead, barking and waving at passing dogs, and exploring all kinds of plants within reach. [He even put a little flower on the back of a friendly old kitty yesterday. –J.]
Today’s adventure was going to the big park about a mile from our house. We Bobbed our way over, and then set Finny loose in the various tunnels, climbing equipment, and bouncy rides. He had a great time, and John got some cute phone-pix of our man in action. Here’s the day’s gallery (HTML).

After two days of partying and coming to grips with the fact that our boy is indeed 12 months old, I took Finn to the pediatrician today for his 1-year check-up and vaccinations.
The stats: 26 lbs. 7 oz., almost triple his birth weight! 31.5 inches tall, a gain of 10.5 over his length at birth. Head circumference of 40 cm., which doesn’t mean a lot to me other than that his head is growing right on track with the rest of him.
The fun stuff: Our doc is amazed at how early Finn started walking, and she was also quite shocked and pleased at his cognitive milestones. We were in the jungle-themed exam room, and Finny was “roooar”ing at the lion and “ooh ooh ooh”ing at the monkey decals on the walls. When I told the doc that he could follow simple instructions (Can Finny put Penguin in the wagon?), recognized a lot of words, and could even say a few, she was really excited. She thinks he’s ahead of the curve on the verbal stuff (I can’t say we’re too surprised, given the constant chatter and vocabulary showmanship between John and me). We sure are proud of our super-tot. I keep hoping that I’ll hear “Mama!” someday soon!
Here are a few more b’day photos (HTML)

We think that an important part of hitting the 1-year mark is getting your own set of wheels. To that end, Finny’s Nack Grandparents bought him the all-time classic Cozy Coupe for his birthday. While Finn and Dad romped around in the yard, yours truly put the Coupe together…you’d be amazed at how many individual parts had to be snapped, screwed, and shoved together!

The car even came with some really nice decals for the dashboard, rearview mirror, and license plate. As I pulled out the sheet of decals, John chimed in “Do you want to do the stickers? I’m really good at stickers.” (Imagine this being delivered with the innocence and glee of a 6-year old boy.) He graciously allowed me to apply the stickers–by far the easiest part of the assembly!

Here are some photos (HTML) of our 4-wheeled adventures around the yard and driveway. We think Finn’s really going to enjoy his new ride!

Our friends Matthew & Lori (themselves parents of a cute little guy named Cooper) gave Finn some terrific gifts just before Christmas. Alongside a Fisher Price bus (which Finn terrorizes Godzilla-style, leading to our calling it the “Disaster Bus”) and a neat Charlie Parker board book, they gave Finn his own kid-sized stroller. Now that he’s more sure on his feet, he loves to load the stroller with stuffed pals, then cruise around the living room. In this little gallery (HTML) you can see him in action, also enjoying his big Radio Flyer. I instinctively withdraw my ankles to a more secure location. 🙂

Finn is getting to the age where A) lying down through a whole diaper change seems like a real imposition on his go-go social calendar, and B) tearing around in various states of nakedness seems like a *great idea*! (Wait til he can start undressing himself…) We therefore find ourselves taking a somewhat more, ah, flexible approach to his attire.
In any case, we continue to have a ball with the little guy, and you can see some more examples of our “horeseando” in this gallery (HTML).

We had quite a fun little weekend with the Finnfatha. Prior to his haircut he had another great day in the pool, this time going underwater with Mom. Throughout the weekend he took a whole new interest in feet, with Margot discovering him under the kitchen island, waving at her painted toes. (He also loves trying to literally knock your socks off, then put them back on you.)
Oh, and upon reading a little book showing babies doing various things, he responded to the “Reaching” page by shooting his arms straight over his head! Tonight when I said “reaching,” he again shot up his arms, then went looking for the book. I know everyone thinks their kid is a genius, and of course we’re no exception. 🙂
The big new adventure was a trip to the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in nearby Los Gatos. Even though the day was a little chilly, we bundled Finn up and went for a little ride. He seemed to have fun, oohing and aahing while waving at doggies, trees, and little girls. His too-small engineer hat made him look like a little old man, we thought (Margot says her grandpa, I say Henry Fonda). Our outdoor picnic plans got scrubbed by the weather, so we ended up enjoying a little car picnic instead. Here’s a gallery (HTML), plus a little video:

The music, incidentally, was featured in the train-riding sequence in Slumdog Millionaire. Finnster is our Squirreldog Engineer. 🙂