bday greetings

Proving that it doesn't take much to please Finn in the way of music, my mom and I were trying desperately to get him to say my sister Katy's name in honor of her birthday tomorrow (he kept saying TACO, but no KATY). He really enjoyed the singing, hence the "more! more!" whenever we finished. I understand completely, those of you who are unwilling to hear the birthday song three times in a row. But in any case, we send lots of lovely greetings down to Miami Beach today and wish we were there to celebrate with you. And get facials. And drink champagne. And thaw.

But for now, we sing.

crocs

I bought Finn some fleece-lined crocs a couple of weeks ago knowing that they were too large (he wears a 5, they're a 6/7) but he spotted them "hidden" - not very well, clearly - in his closet today and didn't take them off for most of the evening. Except of course when we went out to dinner and he refused to leave them on. I think he has definite opinions about his clothing and shoe options, which is hilarious and fun and a little bit scary all at the same time!

mon cheri

Maybe not the best picture but it was so hilarious yesterday when Finn found my new beret that I had to get him on film; unfortunately, it's not on video otherwise you'd be able to see him walking around the kitchen chanting "hat! hat! hat!" He certainly does have an eye for style, I have to give him that. (Unless this hat is actually not in style at all and I just don't know any better since my Vogue subscription ran out last March.)

house

Some of you have been asking for photos of our new house, so I'm posting them here. As you'll see we're a bit light on furniture in a few rooms and hope to fill them up a little bit in the next few weeks! As soon as we finish unpacking. Oh, and then buying nursery furniture. Oh, and then having another baby.

front hallway

i have big plans for the living room

view from our porch to the b&b across the street

our spotless kitchen (haha)

the french doors in the dining room are my favorite.

family room-slash-guest room

some recent obsessions

Don't look too closely or you'll notice that all of these photos were taken in the same general location (our family room on the 2nd floor where we have spend a LOT of time these past few chilly days...) Here are halfway-decent pics of Finn and his favorite things of late, along with my vow to start being more interesting.

Monkey slippers. Need I say more?

A balloon. The subject of intense focus for three full days.

And - just when I thought we might have escaped the Elmo bug, it hit! He now only wants to watch Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. I ordered a stuffed Elmo which arrived today and COMPLETELY made Finn's day. Hasn't left his side in an hour.

the happiest

We love this photo that Aunt Heather took of Finn last week. When he's wearing an article of clothing that he really likes you can totally tell - in this case, it's his State Line hat, which looks awfully spiffy with his (sadly too small) fleece. I can't look at his smile without cracking one myself!

toiletries

If you have spent time with Finn lately then you may know he is mildly obsessed with bottles of all types, especially bottles of his "products". This week his favorite toy is his bottle of Johnson's baby lotion, which must be kept in plain view at all times as to avoid any drama. As shown in the top two photos, he likes to take Lotion for drives in his car as well as feed it and give it water (not shown). I keep most of Finn's skin care products in the top drawer of his dresser, a situation I'll have to remedy after turning my back for 30 seconds today and then noticing that he was cleaning his ears with baby swabs. Funny thing is that he actually did a good job, but I'm not delusional enough to know that giving a toddler q-tips is a bad idea. Especially since they went straight into his mouth as soon as he was done.

This afternoon we went to our first music class at 171 Cedar Arts, a big arts center right down the street from home. It was fun and nice to get out and meet some other kids and moms, but of course it wasn't the same as going to our old music class where all of my friends in New Haven go -- it will take some time to get to know people and this was a good start!