Finn-O isn’t the only little Nack who flips out over changes to his sleeping setup: check out Henry making his crib a cackle-rich environment (with an obligatory pause for light inspection):
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Category: Videos
One of the highlights of our visit to Yosemite this week was seeing all the tremendous, thundering waterfalls in Yosemite Valley. As we made our way to Yosemite Falls, which consists of the upper and lower falls, Finny proclaimed the upper falls “Dad-o Falls”, and the lower falls “Goonie Falls” since they were smaller than their parent falls up above. We all had a good chuckle at Finny’s observation and nomenclature while we walked through the mist coming off the falls.
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Return of the Light Brigade
We continue to have a ball here in Yosemite, where the weather has gone from cold/rainy to lovely to downright spectacular. While we work through a growing backlog of photos to share, here’s a video from last week. Henry is following in his brother’s footsteps, falling in love with light fixtures just as Finn did at this age. Here’s a little video of our electrical inspection/isometric shoulder workout regime:
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Tilting at Windmills
Some months ago, Finn started taking a real shine to windmills (“Make it turn-turn-turn!!”), even seeing them in any cross-shaped object (e.g. looking at the lights hanging above the Safeway produce stands, “That a bunch of windmills up there!”). Around the same time, Adobe HQ was being outfitted with a bank of new Windspire windmills. Finn has been eyeing them from the freeway, and on Friday the whole family got a chance to see them up close.
Fascinating as the windmills were, I like how Finn keeps his priorities straight at the end. 🙂
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Swingin’ for Leo
In addition to taking some great pix during their visit, our friend Adolfo captured a video of me plus our three boys in the park. Note Finn & Henry’s subtle but impassioned battle for control of the lion-buddy. 🙂
The big day has finally come…time to set up Finn’s “big boy bed”! Grandpa Liggett has given Finny the bed from his childhood, although the bed itself is probably older than the Civil War (purchased at a farm sale waaaaay back when by my grandpa). It’s a beautiful big wooden bed. All we had to do was get a new mattress for it, since nobody really wants to sleep on one that dates to the 19th century.
In addition to the new, super-comfy foam mattress, we got giraffe sheets, a monkey pillow, and bed rails so our guy doesn’t tumble out in his sleep. I got the whole shebang set up this afternoon before Finny’s nap, so he could check it out and start taking some practice runs. The accompanying video is a pretty good summation of his excitement about the new bed, although for now he has chosen to continue sleeping in the crib (which is still set up in his room).
[On that note, I was pretty sure that “Bedlam” was going to turn into “Bed-lam,” with the Finnster going on the lam! Mom-O made it clear, though: Leaving the bed meant heading to the crib–an offer he accepted. –Dad-O]
Finn has been really into giraffes lately, loving to watch all kinds of YouTube clips about them. He especially loves how their super-long tongues can scrape leaves off of “beating sticks” on trees. This has led to lots of horse–er, giraffe–play involving the zookeeper (Dad-O) and the strings of his hoodie sweatshirt:
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Dueling Zerbertists
Henry, having decided that blowing raspberries with just his mouth is passé, kicks things up a notch by blasting Mom-O’s bicep. Big bro Finn cheers him on. 🙂
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The Mom-O n’ Henry Chuckle Hut
Sure, sure–you’ve seen plenty of the little guy guffawing already, but who wouldn’t like a little more? 😉
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“Beat ‘im!”
The video is a little slow to get going as Henry makes a noble attempt at proto-crawling. Soon enough, though, big brother Finn offers his frank assessment of what to do with the G-Man once the little guy is of age. 🙂
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“Show the Boy!!”
Well, even if I can’t make it to the gym anymore, at least I can launch a little ~35lb. beast into the air a few times to get tuckered out. 🙂
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A brotherly peck on the noggin
Finn has always been great about giving the “G-Man” a smooch on the head at bedtime, and here I’ve caught him in the act:
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Henry Nack, human laugh factory
If this doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what would. 🙂
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And now, Finn tries to tear Dad’s arm off…
Man, this is what I get for slacking off on the gym: My physique has deteriorated to the point where Finn believes he can tear my arm off & is willing to give it the ol’ college try!
Just some typical Thursday evening foolishness at Casa de los Nacks:
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Leo is My Sous-Chef
Tired: Just stuffing Veggie Booty into one’s mouth.
Wired: Having Leo do the stuffing!
Join us again, won’t you, for another trip through the Not-So-Secret Nack Family Decoder Ring! Recent additions to our weirdo canon:
- Meat Cigars: Finn & Mom-O have devised a new snack consisting of rolled-up turkey slices that hide a delicious cream cheese payload. These double at fun–and completely ineffective–telescopes. Fair warning, though: that usage tends to result in a toddler with a case of Cheesy Eyeball.
- Beating Sticks: Oh, this one will be hard to explain in mixed company someday. On weekends, Finny & Dad-O like to go to “Traintrack Park,” grab fallen tree branches, and chase each other around with them. My playful threats to “beat that butt!” have led Finn to ask for “Mo’ beating sticks!”
- Dipit Cheese: Pretzels being “dipits,” cream cheese (into which they’re dipped) is now “dipit cheese.”
- Delicious Pocket: That’s how the big guy says “Tlaquepaque,” the name of the Mexican restaurant down the street. Now we can’t drive by without him pointing out, “Delicious Pocket sign! Delicious Pocket wagon!”
- Bonk: Finn-ese for “Cheers,” as he noted during our Thanksgiving toast.
- OhJeez: Over Christmas break, Finn grabbed some toilet paper and started tearing it with gusto. “Dad-O say ‘Oh Jeez!,'” he was delighted to report. From there it was “Do mo’ OhJeez; Mo’ OhJeez in the crib!” It was all fun and paper-pulverizing games until Mom-O found a shredded pile stashed beneath his bed.
- GatoDipes: Not to be left out entirely, little Henry has upgraded to new, heavy-duty “GatoDipes”–the better to contain his newly crib-wasting bladder!
Bonus: Here’s a little taste of OhJeez. (No real mystery about Margot’s lack of enthusiasm for the practice. ;-))
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The Brothers Domendite
We’re rarely content to call things by their right names, so why should “domendites” (er, toes) be any exception? Henry’s new discovery down there coincides with his big bro (almost) mastering our family’s version of This Little Piggy. Check it out:
Historical bonus: Compare this bit to Finny & Grandma Nack doing the routine back in August.
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Bugs in the crib!
A few weeks ago, Finn was fascinated to learn about how birds eat bugs off the backs of alligators, hippos, and other big beasts–many of which decorate his crib & room. He got a big kick out of my “circling and circling” his head with my hands (birds), pecking bugs off him. “Binny clean, alligator clean!” he’d declare. And naturally, of course, he got into “haaup!!-ing” the bugs off the gators himself. Here’s a small taste of the show:
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American Birdman
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Finnster and I like doing lots of crazy little duets based on my murdering of popular music. Recently we’ve turned The Guess Who’s “American Woman” into “American Birdman.” Now when I poke my head into his darkened room in the morning, I can say simply, “Do dee doo doo doo, dee doo!” And up from the crib comes a wavering little falsetto: “‘Mer-i-can Boo-man!” It’s pretty fantastic. Here’s a sample of our routine: