dolly

I'm not sure which side of the family Tess can credit for her perfect baby skin but in any case, it's sort of unreal. Not one blemish in four months!

We want to wish my dad a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow ... your present is a little more, um, complicated than I had anticipated. This will all make sense when it arrives a few days late. Hugs and kisses from all of us.

big girl

What's up? I'm just sitting here on the couch.

That's right. Sitting up.

All Finn wants to do is help keep Tess happy. He's a great big brother.

baby number two in the jumperoo

I can't believe she's already in it. She's growing up so fast! (sniff!)

Stats

Finn and Tess had their 2 year and 4 month checkups yesterday. They are "perfect in every way" - the doctors words, not mine (although they could be, with the good sleep we've been getting lately...)

They are both in the 50th pct for weight at 28 and 13.5 lbs, and 90th for height at 36.5 and 24 (or 26?) Inches. And of course 80th for head size. I thought it was pretty cool that they are both in the same percentile for everything, and who knew they'd be so tall?!

The Corvette Gene

He's got it on both sides. As you can see he's slightly entranced with Papa's '60!

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Finn's 2nd Birthday!

Finn turned two last Saturday ... such a milestone. I swear he's already started talking and acting more like a little boy. It's bittersweet because although it's nice for him to outgrow some of his toddler behavior, it's hard to believe he"s growing so fast!

Anyway, we had a great day and here are some of my favorite photos.

Finn and Mimi took a walk in the meadow near Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jean's cabin after the memorial service for Aunt Ruth, which was actually a really lovely start to the day.

I was really excited about the dinner that Colleen made - YUM!

Finn was just waking up from his power nap.

Priceless expression upon finding his birthday balloons.

The Mayor.

He is still talking about his birthday cake (AND birthday cupcakes. Lucky guy.)

There was a cupcake on his tray, and then there wasn't.

Tess watches with interest.

A NEW DRILL!

He love love loves his drill. It's not a real drill, by the way.

Thanks to everyone who came to his party and helped us celebrate with cards, phone calls, etc! It was really a great celebration and has really upped the ante for next year ...

sibs

Talk about turning a corner. I'm so relieved that Finn has recently become more interested in Tess, and less interested in knocking her over the head. He's really cute with her, always wanting FINN HOLD TESS or standing in front of her waving (HI TESS! HI MISS TESS!) or like this morning, while she was in her bouncy seat, grabbing her feet (YOU READY TO GET OUT, TESS?) and yes, I'm typing in caps because that is the volume in which he speaks to her.

Tess does appear to know who he is because from the time she's been able to focus, she's been eyeing him warily - part self-defense, part interest, I'm guessing. And now when she sees him she smiles so I'm hoping this peace lasts for a while...

the best dress

We wanted to get some additional photos of Tess in her baptism gown before she outgrew it; here are some of my favorites. She was such a good sport that I might try it again! heh.

(I wish I had as much talent as my mother-in-law - who made the dress in a weekend - has in her pinky!)

Gimme a T! Gimme a W! Gimme an O! 2!!!

I'm not particularly sentimental on this blog, but on the eve of Finn's second birthday, after putting him to bed, checking on his twice and covering up his cute little feet with his treasured blankie, smelling his head multiple times and whispering how much I love him, then looking around at all of his cars scattered throughout the second floor and thinking many time how lucky we are to have such a wonderful son ... well, I think maybe there are moments in which it's ok to be a total sap and this is probably one of them.

Since tomorrow is going to be a very busy day with celebrations spanning three generations of family - beginning with a memorial and ending with a birthday party - I wanted to write a quick note this evening to tell the Finn-formerly-known-as-Peanut that your daddy and I love you very much ... on this day in 2008 we were a happy couple but never could we have known how much your presence could make our lives that much more wonderful. Happy Birthday!

Before I collapse into bed, here's an exchange we had earlier tonight. If you can't tell, it's all about the dessert for my offspring.

Me: Finn! We're going to have your cake party tomorrow!

Nana: That's right! Guess what kind of cake you're having? What's going to be on your cake??

Finn: ROSES!

(Correct answer: trucks. But that's ok. Let him be pleasantly surprised.)

Tea Time with Ella

Aunt Heather took these photos last month of Finn and Ella's play date (she's his second cousin and closest nearby relative). With the addition of the playhouse, cozy coupe AND sandbox, the backyard of his grandparents' house is now officially kid heaven.

Preparing tea. An exacting task.

Tea time!

I love his serious face...

... and his perfect little profile.

Nebraska

This past weekend went by in such a blur (sadly, not due to an abundance of cocktails but rather due to excessive airplane-ness and sleep deprivation) that my photos were a complete disaster. We flew to Nebraska for my cousin Tyson's wedding to his lovely girlfriend/now-wife Mallory, and most of my cousins and their kids were there, so it was really fun. Just so fast. And we only took the little camera and due to the constant child-chasing didn't capture many of the sweet moments (like the entire time at my dad's house) on film. Anyway. It was a fun time and made me wish that my family lived closer by like everyone did in the olden days.

Finn loved playing trucks with his cousins Noah and Grady. At some point Finn must have said something to the effect of "No trucks for Finn!" because they all started saying it and I must have heard the phrase 27 times in 48 hours. No trucks for Finn. I have no idea what he was talking about, but maybe he sensed that they were 3 and he was only (almost) 2... Don't get me wrong. They played great together. And please don't say No Trucks for Finn in front of him ever again.

Andrew trying to demonstrate to Finn that the horse isn't scary. When we got home, I said, "Finn, tell Nana what Cousin Simon brought to Aunt Judy's in the trailer!" and he said, "A cow." Close.

Here we are. Up close we were gorgeous.

For more details and a much more interesting blog post about the weekend check out my cousin Tisha's blog. She wasn't too lazy to bring her SLR!

After the Sandbox

I remain far behind on posting all of our cute summer photos. Maybe part of the reason is that every time I turn on my computer, I end up watching this video of Finn being cleaned off post-sandbox about half a dozen times.