two-and-a-half finn

It's a pretty sorry situation when I'm so tired in that it's easier to just turn on PhotoBooth to snap a photo of my child than to get the camera out and *sigh* go through the trouble of importing ... so anyway, Finn and I were on the sofa after his checkup today watching netflix online and - well, here you go.

His checkup was great. I told him there'd be no shots (thankfully this turned out to be true) and that he'd have to show the doctor his teeth and possibly to jump up and down. When she walked in he immediately opened his mouth wide to show her his teeth. Then he helped her turn on her flashlight and cooperated with all of her requests, answering all of her questions (what does a cow say, where are your ears, etc.) with atypical patience.

My favorite part - aside from hearing how healthy he is at 32 lbs and 34" tall! - was at the end when the doctor was all done, Finn looked at her and said, "THANK YOU for checking me." Just for being so sweet we went to the car wash after as a special treat.

the bear

Tess has a bear-shaped nightlight in her room. It has an LED bulb and keeps her company during her naps and at night. Before I put her down in her crib we always say good night to "the bear" because she totally adores it. I think partially because the bear sort of looks like Tess. Little button nose, wide open eyes and soft, round cheeks.

She gives bear a little drooly kiss.

Today she wasn't really into her nap.

It was more entertaining to look at the snow fall.

And more snow fall. And yet more snow fall.

She's getting so big... which makes me simultaneously happy and sappy.

My goal for the weekend is to film her waving "hi!" or "bye!"

Snow painting

Phew!! This is cheering him up.

Outside

We had to get outside this morning. It's so beautiful out, plus the house smells like - well, I won't get into that. But Tess was throwing up yesterday evening and it was Finn's turn again really early this a.m. Aside from general blah-ness we seem to be on the upswing though. Let's hope this bug has run its course.

Here's Tess in her bugaboo watching her big brother paint the snow.

fun times

It has been one of those weeks ... but getting better. Last night Finn was up with a tummy ache for much of the night. He has never been sick like that before and I had images of everyone in the house being flattened by a stomach bug for the next 2 days. Thankfully he was up at 7 jumping and his crib and singing Farmer in the Dell at the top of his lungs, so we think he's ok. I'm trying to figure out if maybe he ate some dirt at school and it upset his stomach - who knows?? He told Papa today "I ate oyster crackers last night when I was sick!"

Anyway, on a more appealing note, here are some photos of Finn and Mimi baking cupcakes last week - yum.

Little Supervisor

Oh yes, that will do.

Success!

Frosting - the best part.

Mmmm!

winter fun

Finn has had some great times in the past few weeks playing in the snow.

Lord knows, there is plenty of it...!

Is my hot cocoa ready yet?!

Building a snowman with Mimi.

Down the hill with Dada!

nine months

Our friend Brie took these photos of Tess yesterday in honor of her nine-month birthday. If you haven't already seen them on facebook, here's the link - enjoy!

he says

Finn is quite the talker. Sometimes it's exhausting listening to him all day, but lately he's been saying some pretty funny stuff. The thing is, I'm not always even sure that he knows the meanings of the words he uses, but he manages to use them in the proper context. So who knows. It's a good thing he makes me laugh because we haven't been outside for two days.

Anyway, here are a few that I wanted to pass along.

(In the kitchen, I was washing the food processor).

F: What THAT do?

N: Well, let's see. You put the food into this container and the blade chops the broccoli into tiny pieces.

F (thoughtfully): Ohh. That's VERY CLEVER.

["Clever" is his new favorite word. He uses it to describe things that really are clever. Such as himself, or his favorite trucks. Or his new book about tractors. Or the parts of a combine.]

Tonight he was using his pretend phone. He hung up after having a very animated call and sort of pretend laughing.

N: Who was that?

F (matter-of-factly): Enzo.

N: Oh yeah?

F: Yes, he gots new garbage trucks. And recycling trucks.

The fake phone rings again.

F: Ha! Ok, bye!

N: Who was that?

F: Massi. He has new trucks too. Now I have to call Dario.

A: You mean Uncle Dario.

One more and then I'll stop:

The other day, I was giving him a Mash-Up - his favorite thing to eat, of course, since it's basically a tablespoon of applesauce sealed into a pouch and costs like $100.

N: What kind of mash-up would you like?

F: Grape.

N: We don't have grape, but we have orange.

F: Oh, orange! That's totally awesome.

N: (Snort.)

All I can say is, I hope that our senses of humor remain intact tomorrow - a foot of snow is on the way!