this is where we are.

earning his keep

We arrived on Friday just in time for Finn to mow Grandma & Grandpa's yard! Ok, not really. But he did think it was pretty fun to sit on the tractor.

He's been pointing a lot lately, at things that he wants or things that interest him. Often he will accompany the pointed finger with an insistent or curious "Ba!" or "Ba?" In any case, there are enough bunnies, deer, fish, trees and ants, etc etc around to keep him pointing during most of his waking hours. The good news is that observation must also be tiring as he's been napping and sleeping well for the past couple of days. Fresh air and sunshine help all of us sleep well!

4th of July!

We had a nice 4th in Waverly at the family picnic! We swam in Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jean's pool, ate lots of delicious food and listened to fireworks going off until very late. The weather is just about perfect so we're looking forward to our week here.

graduation from floating school

Finn was up last night from 10:30 to 12:30. I can't remember the last time he didn't sleep through the night (!), so it was sort of disconcerting. This morning it occurred to me that perhaps he was nervous for his floating test, which was at 9:15!! The good news is: he did GREAT. As you'll see, he had to do the "flip over and float" fully clothed as to simulate falling in with his clothes on. When I first gave him to Jody, he didn't realize that he'd have to swim - after all, he had clothes on, right?! Then it slowly dawned on him ... his expressions are priceless. Anyway, he's done with floating lessons until next year, when he learns the swim sequence. Bring on the pools!

baby pool!!

For those who were worried that Finn's floating classes might scar him for life (including me), rendering him one of those kids who never voluntarily goes into a body of water, you'll be happy to know that we went to the lawn club today and he got in ... AND he loved it! None of that sad faced-screaming that I endure while he's at his lessons! I started by just getting his feet wet and letting him splash. So far, so good. Then I decided to bite the bullet and put on his swim diaper an get in with him. It was great! All of a sudden a half hour went by and although he wasn't showing signs of wanting to get out, I decided not to push my luck and come home so that we could nap - which we did. I'm now really looking forward to going back as much as possible over the next few months. Hooray for the baby pool.

happy hour

Finn and Quinn arranged for us all to go to Archie Moore's for dinner last night, and although it was pretty chaotic and loud, we also had a great time. It's SO CUTE watching them interact. Gotta love Quinn's "anticipating the flash" smile.

delicious bagel

I need to take more photos with a greater variety of backgrounds but this week the high chair opportunities were just too good. Finn has figured out how to eat a bagel on his own and now they might be his favorite food.

He had a weigh-in with his pediatrician this week and she & I were both surprised that he just hit the 19 pound mark, putting him at the 15th percentile. He's 28" long, or 25th pct for length. He's such a healthy boy with a huge appetite that I always think the scale is going to say about 5 lbs more than it does!

We had a busy week and swimming was canceled a couple of times so he'll be finishing up this coming week. And finally it's warm enough in CT to swim so we'll be heading to the lawn club soon. I'm going to help Finn test the unheated waters of the baby pool with his toes, which should make for some good non-high chair photos in the next few days.

i'll take thirds

Finn took a long nap after swimming this morning so I had time to catch up on my baby food-making. His lunch was huge. The remains (clockwise from upper left) of: shepherd's pie, apricots/strawberries/lemon zest/yogurt, sweet potatoes with cottage cheese, and creamed spinach. Yes, he ate it all.

Previously, when people would ask me, "Is there anything Finn doesn't eat?" ... I'd say "well, he doesn't love spinach." But I guess if you add enough cream and Parmesan cheese to anything, he will actually eat it. He had 3 servings of spinach today, and in between bites would raise his arms to show me how big he is. Sooooo big!!

Baby Enzo!

We are thrilled to announce the birth of Finn's new cousin, Enzo Enrique Stoka. He was born yesterday, June 22 at 5 pm sharp. Weighs 6 lbs 9 oz. Katy says he's a great baby, just sleeps, eats and poops. We can't wait to meet him on our trip to Miami over Labor Day!!

happy early father's day

We went to see They Might Be Giants last Sunday on the green with a bunch of friends. It was a lot of fun.

Finn loves his daddy. So do I!

swimming week 3

I decided to spare you all the video of Finn floating/crying today ... mostly because I didn't get any good shots and also because it's much more tragic on video than in person (swear). He is really doing great and floating without Jody's hands for a few seconds at a time. Next week is the last week, finally!

We are heading to see Andrew's parents this afternoon. This links to a cute photo of his mom and the blog commenter known as Auntie Ann! The newspaper screwed up and it's actually Grandma on the far left and Ann (Colleen) on the far right. Love it!

this slightly makes my day

the casiotone

Finn really loves music. And musical instruments, especially the electric kind.
As loud as possible, please.

Yesterday, he and Quinn decided to start a band. Their sound is very retro. Aren't they so talented?

Now that they're old enough to recognize each other (or at least recognize another baby), it is so much fun watching them interact. I didn't act quickly enough to catch them snatching the Pirate Booty out of each others' hands and mouths, but you probably get the idea.

this swing!

Yes, this plastic dolphin swing alone, is enough to justify our dues to the New Haven lawn club. This is Finn's expression EVERY TIME he gets to ride in it. Still working on him loving the pool this much (we're in the last week of lessons ... at least I think ...)

if only...

... he liked to float in the swimming pool as much as he loves his bath! Especially when Daddy sneaks in to surprise him.

he loves his grandma

He loves his grandpa too (and nana, and granddad, and the list goes on!) G&G visited this weekend and hung out with Finn while I went to the city on Sunday for Kim's shower. They had a great day and as always, we were sad to see them go yesterday. Looking forward to seeing all of our Waverly relatives in July, though!

Finn is really starting to travel across rooms using the push up on stomach/roll over on back method. Today I left him in his room, went to the room next door to pick something up and when I returned he was almost under his crib. Aaaah!

new hat

I finally found a hat that Finn will leave on his head 50% or more of the time. I think it's a baby gap xxl.

We went to Natalie's birthday party on Saturday and unfortunately I didn't get any good pics of the beautiful birthday girl! But I did get this photo of Brenna and Lucy (top), which i love.

PS. THANK YOU AUNTIE ANN FOR THE COOKIES :)

swimming week 2

I'd be lying if I told you that Finn is enjoying his swim lessons any more than he did the first week, but he's really getting the hang of the float. Only 2 more weeks, little man! Btw if he thinks that the 85 degree pool at Healthtrax is cold, he's really not going to be too psyched about the Lawn Club's unheated pool til say, late August...

the backward scooch

A couple of days ago, Finn started pushing up and moving in earnest. Backwards. Suddenly he finds himself under the coffee table, across the rug, partway under his crib, etc. Fun stuff! I'm now waiting for him to figure out how to propel himself forward and already envisioning the babyproofing that will have to take place immediately thereafter. The days where I can leave the room to get coffee and be sure that he's in the same location when I return are numbered.

quinn & finn update

These pics were actually taken before Memorial Day but i'm just getting them up. Of course the two of them would not look at the camera at the same time so we'll have to try again on their next date. They managed to amuse themselves for at least an hour by taking off each other's socks and passing the squeaky frog toy back and forth. It's hard to believe they're almost 10 months old!

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!