he will thank us later...

"I really don't know about this."

"MOM. How are you allowing this to continue??"

Yesterday Finn began taking swim lessons. He's in the infant program called ISR (Infant Swim Resources), which teaches babies 6 months and older how to float if they fall into the water accidentally. We heard that it's a great way to get them acclimated to the water without using floaty toys, as it will teach him confidence in the water. As you can see, he just loves his lessons (haha). Today was Day 2 and he did much better than yesterday as far as the hollering and comfort level, so I think by next week he should be a pro!

Nebraska pics

For this and more photos from our NE trip, click here!

baby + kitty = total cuteness

Our friend Karen has the most adorable new kitty named Hana, who hit it off with Finn. He would hold her favorite cat toy (as you can see, at times he has one end in his own mouth) and she'd pounce on the other end. Pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life.

Finn had his 9-month checkup yesterday and we were surprised to learn that he doesn't weigh 25 pounds. As a matter of fact, he may be tapering off for a little while as is common with breastfed babies, and I'm supposed to feed him MORE! He is now 27 1/2" long (25-50%), 18 lbs-9 oz (25%) with a head circumference of 46 1/2 cm (90%). The percentiles are surprising because people always comment on what a big boy we have ... in actuality he just has a big adorable head.

knee-high by memorial day

Finn's 1st trip to the Wagoner farm

Phew! we're back home in CT after a whirlwind week in Nebraska. The weather was perfect and we saw SO many people, as you'll see in the photos to be posted soon. very soon. In the meantime, here's Finn in the corn behind Great Aunt Judy's house. Instead of knee-high by the 4th of July, the corn was knee-high by Memorial Day (to a 27-inch long baby, anyway).

good times in nebraska

Sorry that we've been so busy during our Midwest travels that I haven't had time to post any photos! We were in Omaha for a couple of days, and I took this pic of Finn while we were at the Children's Museum there. More fun stuff to come... ps. he is a great traveler and also loves to meet people, two skills which are coming in very handy this week.

learning to read

... Well, it's more like "learning to take all of the books off of his bookshelf" ... but in any case, we're happy that Finn is so interested in his books. Currently, his favorite activity is to sit on his floor and go through all of his board books, and occasionally to request a couple of them for me to read to him. (The same couple, but that's fine as he's learning to "oink" along).

by the sea

We drive about 20 minutes west to Guilford this week to check out the town green and views of the Long Island Sound, and now I understand what all of the fuss is about, as it is total cutesville. Finn and I enjoyed sitting by the water for a while (in my lame attempt to wear him out via crisp sea air!) I love how he lifts up his face to feel/sniff the breeze.

how to eat watermelon

If you are a baby and you would like to eat some watermelon indoors, this is our recommended course of action.

First, you need a professional watermelon-eating apparatus, such as the mesh feeder shown.

Second, you need a watermelon-eating outfit such as the long-sleeved bib Finn is wearing here.

Please note that even with these mechanisms in place, the watermelon juice will still manage to find its way to the cloth high chair seat, every surface inch of the high chair itself, and the floor surrounding said high chair. But it is totally worth the mess because watermelon is DELICIOUS!

preppy baby

My blue-eyed guys.

Finn waiting patiently for his omelet, whole-wheat pancakes and salmon (seriously!)

Some more photos from Mothers Day brunch. Ahh ... it was such a nice day. I now understand the hoopla over Mothers Day (uh, sorry I didn't really get it before, Mom!!)

Finn is really getting into the solid food thing. This morning after he finished his pears and oatmeal, he ate 1/3 of a banana. It's really quite impressive, how much our little 21 pound guy is capable of eating.

Happy Mother's Day

I am celebrating today by doing very little! Andrew and Finn let me sleep in while they went for a walk and returned with a bouquet of peonies and lilies, which are some of my favorite flowers. We went to brunch at the Lawn Club, which was great ... it was fun to watch Finn enjoy his first omelet and salmon. So far my first Mothers Day has been pretty fantastic!

lunch date

Finn waiting at our table as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

This is his "Godfather" expression. It's pretty spot-on.

Finn and Jillian were like the prom king & queen...

...or the stars of a Ralph Lauren ad.

Yesterday I went to lunch with my friends Marla, Annie, Michelle (also new moms), and we had such a good time. It was great to get out and try a new place while celebrating our first Mothers Day. Finn and Jillian were so good, too! I'm already looking for another reason to go back.

Yesterday I left Finn in the living room sitting up and came back in to find him on his tummy, pushing up and trying to scooch again. I'm theorizing that he's been eating so much in order to build up strength to start moving, but he might just love food.

Nine Months!

Finn is 9 months old today. Phew! As everyone has been telling us would happen, he's been reaching - or at least reaching toward - new milestones almost daily. Tonight, for example, he demonstrated his unwillingness to go to bed by starting to pull himself up in his crib. This afternoon he almost scooched on his tummy in order to grab a tantalizing bag full of bath toys. Then he almost successfully grabbed a delicious container of yogurt out of my hand, and before that he picked up a cup (the non-sippy kind) and drank some water. That was cool. Lately during mealtime he's been pointing at whichever of the three bowls he typically has in front of him to tell me what he'd like for his next bite.

Always an adventure ... and now, 15 seconds of jumping for your viewing pleasure.

field trip

We took advantage of a break in the dreary weather today to check out the zoo in Bridgeport with Val and Carson. Finn was a little annoyed about missing his morning nap but I think he appreciated the change of scenery, and some of the animals (he was pretty intrigued by the peacocks and tamarind monkeys). I think we'll have to check out the Henry Doorly Zoo when we're in Omaha in a couple of weeks!

healthy appetite

I didn't have the perfect photo for today, although this one kind of says it all. It demonstrates Finn's assumed position upon arrival in the high chair: arms out, ready to flutter his fingers and receive his three courses of food, eyes wide open wondering what is next. I cannot believe the amount of food this baby can put away! This morning I pureed 1/3 bag of corn as well as some "summer savory" (leeks, tomato, potato, corn and parsley). He has already eaten almost all of the corn. And the summer savory ... wow. I gave him 2 cubes at lunch, which he devoured and wanted more. I gave him 2 more cubes and he was still upset when it was gone! It amazes me that he's so long and lean. Now that he's finally napping on a full tummy I'm going to figure out what's left in the kitchen for me to eat.

two teeth

Finally, Finn's two bottom two teeth have broken through! He has been a much happier baby the past couple of days as a result. Unfortunately, there's no way in the world I'll get a photo of them just yet... Nana, Grandma and Auntie Ann all tried to no avail, but we were able to feel them.

Finn eats like a champ, and as a result, I spend quite a bit of time these days preparing his food. This morning, for example, he had some banana/mango/pear smoothie with oatmeal. Then for lunch he had a bowl of lentils with sweet potato, some green beans *and* a side of applesauce with prunes. An hour later he was still hungry so he ate some frozen mango in the mesh feeder and another little bowl of applesauce! Hmm. I have no idea where his love of food comes from, haha. We are members of a CSA and receive a box of fresh veggies from a local farm each Thursday, so it has been fun to try and come up with things for Finn (as well as for Andrew and me) to eat. Chances are without the CSA, Finn wouldn't have had any potato leek soup yet - but as it turns out, he loves it. So far he eats whatever we give him and seems to like it all!