The "Finnster, et al."

Finn has learned to blow bubbles. He will purse those little lips together and blow spit everywhere. I tried to capture the essence in the picture above. He is having a great time with the bubbles. Sometimes he blows them on his own and other times he will copy us blowing bubbles. It is really cute, but his new found talent couldn't have come at a worse time. Reason being, we are trying teach him to eat solid foods. He still isn't really keen on eating the cereal, but enjoys playing with it. He has figured out that it is fun to blow bubbles with a mouth full of cereal. Of course, by necessity I am the trajectory of the cereal . Finn has had this little sleeper since before he was born. It is one size fits all. I used to let him sleep it in when he weighed less than 10 pounds. I was so silly. It fits him much better now. Finn found his toes today. I love when Finn makes this face. It certainly is not his most flattering look, but it makes me laugh. Kodiak truly believes that...

We are in the process of teaching Finn how to soothe himself to sleep. Basically, you put the baby into bed awake and let the baby go sleep on his own. If the baby cries, the parents are to reassure the baby by going into the baby's room, put your hand on the baby's chest, stay for a minute or two and then leave the room. The parents are to reassure the baby as needed until the baby goes to sleep on his own. This is apparently called the "Ferber Method" and is suppose to help the baby sleep soundly through the night within one week. Last night was our second night using the "Ferber Method" and it was awful! Finn cried for 45 minutes. Michael and I reassured him several time before he finally drifted off to sleep. I have never heard sounds like that come out of Finn's mouth before. I couldn't help but laugh at his crazy noises over the baby monitor. He woke up once around 3:30. We didn't feed him. Michael went in his room and soothed him and he e...

Check out those black socks next to those tree trunks! He just needs a pair of sandels and a straw hat to complete the look. Today was a great day! First, Finn slept all the way through the night. He didn't cry one time - not even when we put him to bed awake. Second, it snowed. We were told that there was a 100% chance of snow. Of course when I woke up at 5:00 there was absolutely nothing on the ground. However, around 9:00 it started coming down hard! At 10:50 we got an email saying that all State offices were going to close at noon!!! YAY ! The state hasn't closed since 2003. Third, Michael and I got to eat lunch at Qdoba's after leaving working. The best part was we had two entrees, chips and queso and a drink for $1.63. My husband can really sniff out a deal. Fourth, we got to pick Finn up early from Victoria. When we got home we built a fire. Fifth, Finn took a nap in his crib. Granted, he cried himself to sleep, but he took a nap nonetheless. Sixth, we are making...

Today we took Finn to the pediatrician's office for his four month shots. He did great! He cried right when the nurse was giving him the shot, but was fine minutes later. I didn't even have to give him any Tylenol until later on in the evening. At this appointment Finn weighed 19 pounds 7 ounces putting him in the 98 th percentile for weight and measured 26 inches long putting him in the 79 th percentile for height. During the appointment I mentioned to Dr. Thompson that Finn was a very wiggly baby and that he was difficult to hold. She told me that he will probably calm down once is able to move around on his own. Dr. Thompson got a preview of Finn's wiggly- ness . He wouldn't sit down and was constantly fighting her to stand up. Once he was standing he would lunge forward. At one point it looked like Finn actually jumped towards her (he jumped the same way he does in his jumping gym).Luckily she caught him. After that she made the statement that Finn was in fact ve...

I didn't get to see very much of Finn today (hence the lack of pictures). I left the house with him at 7:00 this morning, picked him up at 5:00 and was out the door at 6:00 for church. I didn't get home from church until 8:30, so the minute I got home I had to start rocking Finn to sleep. While rocking Finn and I watched the State of the Union and the Republican response. He really seemed interested. He would stop eating and turn his head all the way around to look at the screen. (I think it was all the clapping that kept getting his attention). I guess that's what happens when you have two parents who both have a degree in Political Science.

Well, it has started . . . I can hardly wait for the teenage years. At least for now he can only look mad at me. Tonight before Finn went to bed we all went up to his room to play with some of his toys. He really seemed to like the rolling duck, but the lady bug was another story. I sat it in front of him and pressed it - the second the balls started moving he genuinely looked scared and then started crying. I thought that he was just getting sleepy so I tried it again . . . same result. I put the lady bug back on his night stand and gave him another toy. While he was preoccupied with the new toy I pressed the lady bug. Big mistake - I think I really hurt his feelings. After a few minutes I put it in front of him again except this time I just let him look at it. He liked it much better when it didn't make noise. I was bound and determined that Finn would play with this toy. His Great Aunt Laura gave him that lady bug and by- golly , he is going to play with it!!!

Well, Finn had another lovely day in the nursery. He didn't even make through Sunday School before they called me to come feed him. Right after Sunday school was over we rushed over to the nursery. When we got there we found Finn sound asleep. One of the nursery workers carried him next door, being very careful not to wake him up. It looked like he was carrying a very sensitive bomb - you know the kind that if you touched it just right - KABOOM! That's my boy - the ticking time bomb! They told us to go on to service and they would page us if he woke up. During the entire service my eyes were on the screen - I didn't want to miss the page. Luckily, one never came. After service we went to pick Finn up. As we turned the corner on to the hall where his room is we saw Finn out in the hallway. They told us that Finn was much happier being held outside in the hallway (who knows). It looks like we have one of "those" kids - the one people wish would stay home with a mil...

Yes, for those of you who know me well, the title of my post is from the Rocky Theme Song. Why you may ask did I pull out the "big guns"? Scroll down and see. Close, but no cigar. There it is! Finn enjoyed tummy time this morning! I have figured out that Finn likes tummy time in the morning right after he gets up. He didn't stay long (10 minutes tops), but he played and smiled the entire time he was down there. He constantly has drool running down his chin. I bet that is two inches worth. Disgusting! This afternoon Finn and I went to Victoria's to film a YouTube video with the girls in our Sunday School class. The purpose of the video is to raise community awareness about the Long Hollow Baptist Church youth group. We filmed for about two hours. Finn was pretty good - he didn't even mess up a take. Finn actually had a good time. He had five girls fawning over him for two hours. It must be so hard to be a baby - hint the sarcasm . When we got back home, Finn took...

Well, Finn is officially too fat for his bumbo . I really thought that we would get an entire year out of this little seat, but for the time being we can hardly squeeze Finn's little fat legs into it. His legs are funny! His upper body is pretty normal sized, but his thighs are enormous. When we try to pull Finn out of the bumbo his bottom and legs get stuck and when he stands up it looks like he is wearing a bussle (I have no idea how to spell this) . I love having such a fat little baby! Finn looks like an Ewok in this picture, doesn't he! After work, we met Brandon, Carissa and Addison for some pizza at Painturos . Finn sat in his car seat on top of the table for at least 15 minutes while we ate our salads. This is a record for him. Of course, about the time I congratulated him he was ready to be held. I love eating pizza with Finn, I can hold him with one arm and eat with the other hand. It works out perfectly. Plus pizza is mighty tasty. Finn must have had a big day a...

Call me crazy, but this one reminds me of M.J. Today Finn spent the day with Victoria. Usually he stays with Victoria on Wednesday and Fridays but today we was with her on Thursday because Gran had a doctor's appointment. On Thursday nights Michael and I attend a couples bible study at John and Victoria's house. Since Finn was already at their house, we went straight over after work. Finn was sound asleep when we got there. After a while I had to go in and get him out of the crib and feed him before the other couples arrived. He looked so sweet when I looked in over the crib at him. I really enjoy our bible, because all of the couples that attend have babies under the age of one. While we were eating dinner all of the babies were playing in the floor. J.T., Micah and Carter, were all playing on their bellies. Finn was the only baby playing on his back. But he was also the only baby laying around in only his diaper too. My new mission is to make Finn like tummy time! At around ...

Finn has figured out how to jump in his gym. He has always bounced around in it, but I think the bouncing was byproduct of his lousy balance. Well now he is purposefully jumping. I had church tonight so Finn stayed home with Michael. When I got back from church I found Finn sound asleep on Michael. I rocked him for another hour and then we put him to bed. I decided not swaddle him becuase he has been busting out. This did not work well. Finn was awake within five (5) minutes. So Michael swaddled him and we all laid in the floor in his room and waited for Finn to fall asleep. I bet it wasn't two (2) minutes before Finn was out like a light. I have no idea how we are going to break him of the swaddler. I imagine that we will wait for a weekend to start.

I think Finn is starting to adjust to my going back to work. He was very happy when I dropped him off at Victoria's house. Everytime he would look at her he would grin. He is also doing better with his bottles. Today was a very average day. I picked Finn up Victoria's house and we went home to eat dinner with Michael. Michael had a basketball game so Finn and I played for a while and then Finn took a bath. After his bath, I put Finn in his duck robe. It is still a bit big on him, but he seemed to enjoy it.